School's Out For Summer!!!

Come 11:40am today, boys will officially be on summer vacation!!! Sooooo excited to be able to sleep in late each morning for the next two months. And hopefully this will give me the chance to update on blogging. Lots have been going on. Expect lots of updates (hopefully) on here this week of what we've been up to the past few weeks.

Not Enough Room!!!

I'm so frustrated!! I've spent the last 3 days working hard on rearranging the house and utilizing every spare space in this house. Why, you may ask? Because Clifford really, really, really wants his own room. And I'm tired of the boys fighting and bickering all the time. I know giving them their own room won't cure this issue, but I'm hoping it will at least help a smidgen, at least to give them their own space when needing to separate from each other for a while. We're in a 3 bedroom apartment, but we've had the boys share a room so we could utilize the other bedroom for our 'stuff'. The 'stuff' includes all camping gear, tools, scrapbook/project items, kitchen items that won't fit in our kitchen, extra bulk food items that won't fit in the kitchen cupboards, toys, and other 'stuff' that won't fit in our outside storage. And it's not like we keep junk around here. I'm constantly going through and giving away to Goodwill. All this 'stuff' is things we actually use. And unfortunately, our apartment lacks room in cupboards, closets, and the patio storage. Pete comes back home tonight from his trip to Texas, and is taking the next two days off work, so I'll put him to work helping me. Wish me luck:)

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!

Today is our 8th wedding anniversary!! WHOOO-HOOOO! :)

A Full Decade

10 years ago Peter and I went on our first date. He wore a hawaiian shirt and a golfer hat. I wore jeans and a purple blouse. We enjoyed a chinese dinner, followed by seeing "Sum of All Fears" in the theater. We ended the evening with a kiss...our first kiss :) And the rest is history!! Sadly, Pete doesn't acknowledge our 'dating' anniversary. I don't make a huge deal about it, except to remind him each year of what today means. BUT since it's a WHOLE TEN YEARS, I think it's special. After all, without that first date, we wouldn't be where we are today. I would have loved to celebrate today with Pete and some chinese food for dinner...but, as always around this time of year, he's out of town for work. Oh well...

Volunteer Luncheon

This afternoon Pete and I attended the volunteer luncheon at the boys' school put on by the Martha Lake staff. Teachers send home invites to those parents who have helped volunteer in the classroom/school during this school year. I ended up receiving 3 invites from both boys' teachers and the speech therapist (yea, I'm bragging lol). Pete received one as well from Clifford's teacher. The food served was delicious!! I would love to figure out which teachers made certain recipes so I could request a copy! The school choir came in to sing to us as well. And the principal Mr. Trexel gave a little speech and thanked all of us for all we have done. Pete and I both agree that it feels so rewarding to help out at the school. It's a great feeling when you walk down the hallways and kids know who you are and smile 'n wave to you. We look forward to doing it all over again next school year. I received these flowers from Mrs. Castelle (Kristjan's teacher)

Kindergarten Music Performance

Last night we attended Kristjan's kindergarten music performance. All the little kiddos looked so cute dressed up. Kristjan wore his favorite blazer given to him by Aunt Susie, matching pants.....and his Nike sandals. That boy has an interesting sense of style...anyhow...The performance was entertaining. I loved watching Kristjan sing and the animated looks on his face. Sometimes it can seem like a hassle to have to get the boys clean and dressed up to attend some school activity in the middle of the week during the time when it's usually our bedtime, but in the end, it's so worth it!! Clifford and Kristjan can sure be a handful, but moments like these remind me just how much I love them!!

Memorial Day Weekend '12

Pete and boys met up with Daniel and his boys for their annual guys-only Memorial Day weekend backpacking trip. This years destination was Otter Falls up North Bend area. Everyone had fun and came home dirty. As for me, I enjoyed my quiet time. I slept in late each morning, carpet cleaned, scrapbooked and watched movies. It was exactly what I wanted to do :) Enjoy the pics from the guys' camping trip!

School Carnival

Boys' school had their annual end-of-the-year carnival last Friday. Baked goods were needed for the cake walk, so I got in all day Thursday and baked up a storm. I received numerous compliments when I delivered the goodies to the school. I also volunteered myself (and Pete) to help set up after school that Friday for the carnival, as well as sell PTA clothing during the three hour event. Pete split his time between keeping me company at the clothing table and watching over the boys. Clifford and Kristjan had a blast. We bought them each 50 tickets to use towards games and food, and it took almost the entire three hours to use all of them up. The carnival ended at 9pm. I stayed just a bit to help clean up before I decided I was waaaayyyy too tired and headed home. The school carnival is always a fun favorite ending to the school year.

Date Night

Pete and I went out on a much needed date last month. We were originally going to go to Dayglow (a paint party/rave concert), but a week before the concert we just weren't feeling in the mood to go. So we sold our tickets and decided instead to have a date in Seattle. Gordon and Michelle watched the boys overnight for us. They spoiled the boys by taking them to Sky High Sports in Bellevue (a big building with trampolines), pizza for dinner, s'mores and a campout on their living room floor. As for us, we walked around Pike Place Market and shared a lunch at Ivar's. For dinner we ate at Duke's Chowder house in Green Lake. Oh My Goodness!! The food there was delicious!!!! The rest of the evening we spent at home, sitting on the couch, watching t.v. We ended up sleeping in late the next morning, which was really nice. I hope we can go out on another date soon....so nice to get away from the boys once in a while :)

Tiger to Wolf Cub

Last month was the Cub Scouts graduation. We enjoyed ourselves a delicious bbq dinner before proudly watching Clifford advance from Tiger Cub to Wolf Cub! He was all smiles when his leader Eric called his name. Since Clifford joined Cub Scouts a little late in the year, we worked hard to get him caught up with the other boys. He received his Bobcat patch (his Tiger patch is backordered and he'll get that soon), along with his new Wolf book and kerchief. The following week after the graduation his den had their last meeting before taking a break for summer. They celebrated with a pizza party at Eric's house. I just love seeing how happy and proud Clifford is of himself, and to see the new friends he has made. I'm very grateful to be able to spoil my boys with wonderful life experiences :)