Orange to Green

Taekwondo belt testing for Bayley. I love that he's stuck with this. He's been so understanding about when we just can't make the lessons work. I've decided to try my best to make the other activities work around TKD for a while so Bayley can meet his goal of getting a black belt.

SNOWPOCALYPSE!

I love it when it snows here at home. The kids can go out an play for a while, then come in an warm up and go back out again. When we go to the snow, it always feels like we drove more than we played.

The snow started on Thursday, prompting the school district to send kids home early. Grace had a playdate since Hayden and I were on a field trip, so Bayley came home and joined a snowball fight. Thank goodness one of the neighborhood moms knew where he was, because I was stuck on a school bus freaking out that he never made it home.

Because snow is so rare, we didn't really trust that it would last. As soon as we made it home, all the kids were out in the white stuff. The dogs were truly unsure what to make of the stuff on that first day.

By the second day, there was nine inches on the ground. I was so glad our kitchen was stocked and we could just sit back and enjoy. And make snow ice cream. Because I saw it on Pinterest.


The third day was Kaitlyn's birthday. Her party was cancelled because no one was going anywhere, but we had more fun sledding on the street than we will when we go roller skating. Of this I am sure.

The neighborhood kids spent a lot of time together. There were snow hikes and snowball fights, dragging siblings on sleds, building sled ramps off the tailgates of pick up trucks. We even attempted a snow fort, but the boys quickly lost interest in the actual building part.

Parents were out enjoying the snow too. Jeff wanted to join in the snowball fights, but I don't think the boys found him cool enough. Luckily, Tom & the girls were passing by and could get in on the action.

By the fourth day, things we starting to melt, but they kept the kids out of school for a few more days while things got cleaned up. By then, the kids were looking to expand their snow play and a massive neighborhood snowball fight was called. That half-built snow fort actually came in handy.

Field Trip :: OMSI

OMSI is always one of my favorite field trips. There is so much for the kids to do, they keep busy the entire time. The big challenge is keeping the kiddos together. I had a friend bunch this time, so the hardest part was getting them to be still enough for a picture.

We started with an astronomy show at the planetarium. I wonder how many times it will take for me to see the Night Sky show before I can spot a constellation...

The Tony Hawk skateboarding exhibit and the Physics lab were the highlights this trip. We spent ages with the static ball, making hair stand on end and aluminum pie tins fly across the room. The extreme sports exhibit had them trying out a trampoline, anchored skate boards and video games. Yep. Video games.

We cut the trip short because snow had started to fall. We loaded the kids onto buses and hoped to make it back to school ahead of the traffic. No dice. Two hours of crawling through traffic later, we made it home. Talk about a trip to remember!

Monkey King

What better way to celebrate Chinese New Year than with a puppet theater performance of Monkey King. We hadn't been to Tear of Joy since they moved from downtown. I never know where I am once I cross the river. We found it easy enough, and the parking is free. That's always a perk in Portland.

They had puppet making in the lobby before the show, but Bayley and Hayden decided they were a little too old for that. One of the staff noticed them and came over to talk to them about the history of puppets in China. Who knew Communism dictated the puppets be larger so more people could see them? I really appreciated that.


The performance was very artistic, great for the boys but it didn't really hold Grace's attention. She was good though, just cuddled on my lap.

Since we were already over the river, I decided to try something fun for lunch -- food carts! We've seen them on TV, but Jeff's not into getting his food from a truck. But he was home, so we found one we'd been wanting to try - The Grilled Cheese Grill!

They make their fun grilled cheese sandwiches in an Airstream, but there is a double decker bus that you can sit in to eat. The boys went upstairs, where neither of them could stand up, and Grace stayed on the lower deck. We really enjoyed the novelty of it.

Grace had the Elvis -- grilled bananas, peanut butter and bacon. Hayden had the Cheesus -- a burger with grilled cheese sandwiches instead of a bun. Bayley made his own concoction -- All-American Double Decker with Bacon. Did I mention Hayden put bacon on his Cheesus? My kids love them some bacon!

Back To Basketball

Tis the season for basketball! Hayden's excited about his team this year - he knows all the boys and their team color is green. Wins all around. However, I'm still having camera issues. Le sigh...

They were a bit overwhelmed at their first game, but they had it together for game two. They played really well together and all had a great time.

There were some hilarious moments, like when Hayden jumped onto the stage trying to deflect a ball from going out of bounds, or when the other team tried to lift him off the floor to get the ball away from him. Anyone who's given Hayden a piggyback ride lately knows that's not gonna happen ;)

They were so excited to win after their loss last week. I know that if they keep working together and having a good time, they'll be awesome.

Charlotte's Web

Hayden has always like the movie Charlotte's Web ever since he saw it in preschool. When I saw that Oregon Children's Theater was doing a production, I knew he had to see it live. He was so excited that he watched the movie the night before!

We arrived early because at OCT they always od a kids activity before a performance. This time, they had the kids list the qualities of a good friend and hang them on a web.

I expected something quaint and cute. And then, there were aerial silks! Charlotte used the silks!

I was so impressed and enthralled. The characters were great, and everything came together beautifully. But the highlight for me was that Hayden would lean over everything Charlotte would write something (using aerial acrobatics) and tell me what she was about to write. Adorable!

After the play we went for sushi. Hayden had never been to a sushi place without the conveyor belt, and he'd never had udon. He loved udon, but wasn't so sure about ordering sushi rolls he hadn't seen first. We did discover the best calamari either of us had ever had. So good!

There's No Such Thing As Too Much Frozen

Frozen is the first movie that Grace has truly latched onto. She loved it the first time we went, and has talked of nothing else since.

A deals blog shared that you could get free tickets to Frozen from your Disney movie codes, so I worked the system into three free tickets. Bayley wasn't interested, but we were able to talk Hayden into going.

Grace wore her Ana dress and smiled the entire movie! They're going to be releasing a sing-a-long version. I'll have to take her to that too. And get the soundtrack for the car!

Peter Pan

One of my resolutions this year is to have more one-on-one time with the kids. Especially the boys. I also want them to develop an appreciation for the arts, so I'm hoping to expose them to theater, music, maybe even dance.

The magazine I review for hooked us up with free tickets to Peter Pan. The showing was a little late for Gracie, and Bayley wasn't interested. Thank goodness Hayden is game for anything!

We made a night of it and went out for BBQ at Smokehouse 21. So delish! Hayden wasn't sure about trying a restaurant that doesn't advertise on TV, but he came around as soon as I said BBQ. The hogs head on the wall helped too.


Northwest Children's Theater did a great job with Peter Pan. It was just campy enough, and Smee made the show. Hayden loved that the kids got to fly.

After the show he was excited to chat with the actors. He asked Smee how much they ad-lib (a lot), Peter Pan if he was afraid to fly (no), and the actor who played Hook and Mr. Darling which character he liked best (Hook).

We had such a great time together. I'm excited to do it again!

Soccer Season

Hayden's soccer season was great...but not so great for pictures. My camera no longer takes pictures without blurring them, so there is a huge why-bother factor for me. I wind up taking 100 photos and not even using one. Le sigh.

Gracie's 1st Soccer Season

Grace was excited to be on a soccer team. Not so much on the actual playing of soccer. I made sure to make it look good in pictures, just in case she becomes a soccer phenom in the future.

At practice, she once stopped mid-stride and froze. "Oh, a dandelion!" She liked playing with the other girls, but drills were not her thing.


God bless Coach Tony. He always made sure she was included, and played however much she wanted to. He never once got upset when she stopped paying attention to the game in order to pick a dandelion or greet her friends who were playing on the next field.

She liked kicking the ball across the field, but could not fathom why the other team tried to take her ball when it was clearly her turn.

After each game the girls would sit together for a quick snack. I do think that was her favorite part.

She says she wants to play next year. It may have to do with our team being the cutest one ever - with matching hair ribbons and team sweatshirts!