Monday, December 17, 2018

Gingerbread Army


Playing Life ~ D and his husband ended up having twins
D: Girls in the trunk, boys in the front! 


(12/3) I worked from home today.  D had an afternoon pediatrician visit, and as we walked in, we ran into my brother and his kids. They don't live nearby, and we don't get to visit as often as we'd like, so it was extra funny to run into them out and about!


(12/4) My office offered an abbreviated self defense course for real estate agents a few months ago, and decided to have the instructor come back and teach the full course.  It was a great way to kick off the morning!


(12/5) I worked in the boys' classrooms today, and was at the school pretty much all day.  It was a rough and very long day, followed by afternoon appointments.


(12/6) Work day for me, and school for the kiddos today.  After work, I went shopping for our YWCA Adopt-a-Families for Christmas. My office sponsored two families, each with three kiddos this year.  It's so fun playing Santa.  I bought a ton, and hope the kiddos will be thrilled!


(12/7) I worked from home today so that I could wrap and deliver everything I bought yesterday. After getting everything packaged up, and dropping it off at the local YWCA, I finished my day out at home. Shew!  Whirlwind project ~ but I love it.


(12/8) I did nothing this morning, and it was glorious!  I sat and read my book for hours, and enjoyed my coffee, and the tree. This afternoon, Sarah and I went shopping with her mom.  We had some mulled wine, and thoroughly enjoyed going through the shops on First Street in Snohomish.


(12/9) I missed last night's family movie due to being out, so watched it this afternoon while the boys played screens. Dog Days was so cute!  I highly recommend, even if it did hit me in the feels. We went to the Silvertips game tonight.  Tips won a well-matched game!


(12/10) I worked from home today.  Dad made bourbon fudge for my work's holiday exchange tomorrow. He has pretty much perfected the recipe by adding a little orange zest.  Yummo!


(12/11) Today was filled with meetings and trainings.  It's going to be a busy 2019! The cookie exchange was awesome, Dad's fudge was a hit, and I made sure to take home a haul to the kids.


(12/12) I worked in the boys' classrooms today.  D uncharacteristically stayed in his classroom, instead of hanging with me while I was there.  So I got to help kiddos with their worksheets, and prep holiday gifts.  Super cute!  I left and came back a few hours later to work in J's classroom. I had a meeting after school, so Dad took D to his appointment.  Tonight was rough, and none of us is too happy about some upcoming changes.


(12/13) Work day for me, and school for the boys.  We had breakfast for dinner tonight, which is always a fave, and the boys waited for me to get home before starting Ellen's Game of Games.  Hilarious!


(12/14) Work day for me, and school for the boys today. It was a quiet day at the office, and a nice way to cap off a busy week.


(12/15) Dad took the twins to J's hockey this morning so I could go to Zumba with Sarah. C went to a birthday party at Elevated Sportz. So fun!  The grands came over to do gingerbread houses and sugar cookies with the twins this afternoon. After they left, we had dinner, and went to the Silvertips game. The Tips did their annual Teddy Bear Toss, and we chucked out a few bears for the cause.  It was a great game!  Though with the toss, and the ice-clearing brawl, the first period took an hour.


(12/16) Sarah hosted gingerbread cookies at her house today.  The kids had so much fun!  We ended up doing a quadruple batch, and the kids made an entire gingerbread army!  They played out in the rain, in the clubhouse, and us adults had time to visit and watch the game. It was super fun!


(12/17) Work day for me, and school for the boys. One more week!

Sunday, December 2, 2018

Holiday Hustle

   

Me: At Sarah's house, they root for the Cougars. At our house, we root for the Huskies.
J: Yeah, that's the sad thing about Sarah's house.

Ruffling J's hair ~
J: MOM!! Don't damage my hair!

D: How can you tell me and J apart?
Me: You're very different people.  You say different things. You have different eye colors. You really thought I wouldn't be able to tell?
D: No!  Because we have the same birthday.
Me: Right.  That makes you twins, but you're still very different people. 


(11/4) J had a game this morning. Much like his older brother, I had to pull him aside and remind him that there's no checking at his level, and most definitely no whacking other kids over the head (regardless of whether or not they're wearing a helmet!). He played well for the rest of the game, and I took him to pick out donuts for the fam as a reward.


(11/5) Someone is preparing to be a teenager. C had a ... breakfast of champions? Mashed potatoes and a donut. It's conference week here, which means half days for all of the boys.  I had D and J's today, and C's will be tomorrow. The twins are doing fine academically. Writing is a struggle for D, and he will receive services to help make it easier.


(11/6) Work day for me. We threw dinner at the boys, and then headed out to C's conferences. I kept checking my phone for election coverage while we were waiting in line to visit each teacher, and then got to go home to sit and watch the live coverage.  Dad headed off to work later this evening.  By the time I went to sleep, I was feeling better than I have in a few years.


(11/7) I had the day off, and volunteered in the twins' classrooms today.  D had an appointment after school.  By the time we get home on Wednesdays, and get homework done, it's pretty much bedtime.


(11/8) Work day for me, school for the boys, and day off for Dad. We were notified that D's teacher will be gone tomorrow, that there will be an assembly, followed by an early release. That all spells disaster for our kiddo that does not do transitions so well.


(11/9) We elected to keep D home today, and he helped Dad shop, and then make chicken fried steak.  It was delicious!  It took me fooorrrever to get to and from work today.  I'm so glad to have audiobooks to keep me company! D decided on Monopoly for game night tonight. The men played until Dad went bankrupt.


(11/10) I ended up waking up pretty early today and was met with a Deedle who was very excited to cook. He had picked out a scone recipe, and we managed to get them made and cooked before I headed off to Zumba.  After Dad woke up this afternoon, he and C headed down to the car show in Seattle.  The twins and I stayed at home, and they did some Xboxing while I read my book. 


(11/11) Veterans Day ~ No ice for J today, so we made it a lazy day complete with a movie tonight.  We watched The Incredibles 2. It was super cute!


(11/12) We had the day off from work and school in observance of Veterans Day. C has been wanting to make slime, so he made a very sticky mess that predictably ended up everywhere.  Dad purchased a DNA kit for our dog. He swabbed him today and sent off the sample. I'm excited to find out what he is!  We have our guesses, but who really knows.  With this kit, you can also find his relatives. It gives me flashbacks to sending my kit in, and finding a whole bunch of siblings!


(11/13) Work day for me and the boys had school.  Nanan picked the littles up and joined us for dinner.  The boys look forward to her visiting every week.


(11/14) Day off for me and I worked in the boys' classrooms.  In D's they did the same art project that C did in first grade (D has the same teacher C had). It was so fun to help all the kids with their turkeys ~ and they turned out adorable.  C's is on the left, and D's on the right below.  Both C & D had appointments this afternoon, and we all met back at home for soup and sammiches.


(11/15) Work day for me and school for the boys today. I'm working on a big project at work, so that's been pretty all-consuming when I'm there.  By the time I get home, I'm ready to turn my brain off and watch TV.


(11/16) Work day for me.  I had planned to take off a little early today, but got called home before noon. Argh.  The twins had a play at the Seattle Children's Theatre this evening - And in This Corner: Cassius Clay. It was so well done but was a heavy subject and was a little beyond the twins' understanding.  They got restless midway, and Nanan ended up taking them to the quiet room, while I stayed and watched the rest of the performance.


(11/17) D *begged* to decorate for Christmas.  It's super early yet, but our neighbors have their exterior lights up already. I relented, and told him we could do a little today. Most important was the strand of lights for their room. C went up to a friend's house this afternoon, and I got out our totes, and pulled out a few things to put up after running him over.


(11/18) J had a hockey game this morning. When we got back, I met up with Sarah to go for a long walk supposedly because I needed lots of steps for one of my StepBets.  We eventually walked back to her place, and she had figured out the ruse by then--her hubby had gathered all of her friends for a surprise birthday party.  I stayed for as long as I could, but we had tickets to a hockey game this evening, so I had to run home for that.


(11/19) Work day from home for me and school for the boys today.  The boys had a good day, and we had a quiet night in.


(11/20) Busy day for me.  I had meetings all day at work and drove our Thanksgiving basket for the YWCA down to the Seattle location. I love doing that every year!


(11/21) I worked a half day from home.  Once Dad woke up, we loaded up the car and headed to the grands' house. There was a four-hour backup for the ferry, so we elected to drive around. It was a long drive, but we enjoyed it.  Grandma had the place all decorated for Christmas, and D was so excited!


(11/22) Happy Thanksgiving! I brought my camera, but took only a few pictures today.  Doh! We had breakfast this morning with Jake's family. Grandma, Amber, and I snuck out for a walk afterward.  We went out to the marina and back. Shannon's fam arrived shortly after we returned. Grandma prepared a beer and chocolate tasting for us adults as a snacks--Now, I'm not a big beer person, but the pairings were quite tasty!  Dinner was amazing, the cousins had a blast, and it was so fun being there with everyone!


(11/23) Home again, home again!  We had breakfast with the grands, and then got loaded up.  We just missed the first ferry, but easily got on the next boat. Sarah invited us over to watch the Apple Cup this evening.  YAY DAWGS!! I don't watch much football, but do enjoy watching the Dawgs beat the Cougs. Sorry, Sarah!


(11/24) C made crepes this morning, and they were so good! He was up bright and squirrelly, and had Dad bring them up so I could have breakfast in bed.  So sweet! I took the boys to a movie this afternoon.  We went to see Ralph Breaks the Internet.  J didn't want to come with us, because he didn't want to leave the computer.  I told Dad to feel free to kick him off whenever.  Dad decided he'd bore him with getting him a haircut.  LOL


(11/25) It's after Thanksgiving, so I can now get our tree! I was going to go yesterday on Small Business Saturday, but the small business I was going to buy from isn't getting trees in this year.  Harrumph.  So I picked a grocery store tree, and called it good enough.  I put the lights up, and D decorated the entire tree.  He so loves everything Christmas!


(11/26) Work from home day for me, and the boys had school.  Today was pretty uneventful, and I didn't do much other than working, ferrying the kids, and walking to coffee with Sarah.


(11/27) Weeee, meeting Tuesday! Tuesdays are all hands days at work, and my day was one big meeting.  The boys had school, and Dad slept while they are gone.


(11/28) I had a meeting at the school this morning, so had Dad bring in the boys.  I worked in D's classroom in the morning, ended up tagging along to library, and only left when it was lunch / recess time.  I went home briefly, and then went back for round two in J's class. D had an after school appointment, to which I hauled his greatly miffed booty. He was super *on* today, which made homework oh.so.much.fun!  Part of the twins' homework includes a character focus, and this week's was what they are grateful for. J said he was grateful for doing his homework (lols), and D said he was grateful when he hugged me. Melt.  He can be so exasperating sometimes, and then he says or does something sweet.


(11/29) Work day for me, and school for the boys. My company's holiday party was this evening, and we were at the Parlor in Bellevue, which overlooked Snowflake Lane. We got to watch the parade from the balcony while it "snowed."  Nanan watched the boys for us tonight.  While we were out, a fuse blew in the dining and living room, taking out all the lights, and the exterior Xmas lights. Luckily the fridge and stove were still operational, so dinner was still possible.  We'll have to get that sorted. I'm not really sure what the issue is, since we've had the Xmas lights set up like that before, and they've been fine all week.


(11/30) Work day for me, school for the boys, and unfortunately very little sleep for Dad. Thankfully, he didn't have to work tonight, and was able to turn in early.


(12/1) December already?  Wow.  We hosted Nanan today and cooked up a full Thanksgiving feast.  Yummo!


(12/2) Lazy Sunday on tap today.  I don't have plans beyond making coffee.