bang rally and a baseball

At long last, I'm getting down to the business of updating my blog!

Last weekend was almost like heaven... warm weather, blue skies, fun activities, time with friends, Mother's Day... and then came Monday. ugh.

One of the fun things we got to do on Mother's Day was watch the girls perform at Olympia's Wooden Boat Show. The sun was out, as were several friends who came down to see Amanda and Emily dance. This video shows segments of their treble reel done to "Cotton Eye Joe". From the left, Amanda is number 2 and Emily is number 4.

In Irish Dance, each step has a word to describe the movement. In the treble reel, "bang rally and a back" describes one of the more common sequences of movements; hence, part of the title of this blog entry. I bet you can guess where the rest of the title comes from!

Check out this arm as he strikes out the batter! (to any recuiters out there... Thomas has to at least finish the 2nd grade before we will allow him to turn pro, so please hold your calls until June 2010, thank you)

Not to be forgotten... a "shout out" to my Mom! HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY MOM! You have shaped me more than you could ever know. I love you! -Toodles

8 things

A couple of weeks ago I was "tagged" to play the 8 THINGS blog game. Finally, I have found a moment to get this done! Here it goes...

8 things I'm looking forward to:
1. Our next outing to see the Mariners play
2. Having dinner planned
3. The moment that Thomas's thank yous from his birthday are completed
4. Amanda's freshman year of high school getting under way next fall
5. Vacation in June
6. Eating on vacation
7. Warmer weather
8. Harvesting the garden

8 things that I did yesterday:
1. Hosted a birthday party for Thomas
2. Spent way too much time at the glow golf place at said birthday party. Man, it's DARK in there!
3. Ate a dinner that others cooked for me at our church small group. Such a blessing!
4. Went to church in the morning
5. Watched Desperate Housewives
6. Apologized to Amanda for getting upset with her
7. Kissed my cute husband
8. Admired the gorgeous curls on Emily's head

8 things I wish I could do:
1. Plan better for dinners
2. Fly. Ironically, I'm afraid of heights.
3. Eat without gaining weight
4. Run without hurting. But on the other hand, if #3 were true, maybe I wouldn't need to run
5. Cure cancer and other diseases that need a cure!
6. See God, face to face. One day this will be true.
7. Spend more time with family who lives Bellingham
8. Will the weather to be warmer

8 shows I enjoy:
Well, I watch so little TV, I have to write about 8 shows I have EVER enjoyed...
1. Desperate Housewives
2. Little House on the Prairie (I have great memories of watching this with my family)
3. Happy Days (same comment as #2 above)
4. Biggest Looser (Amanda got me hooked on this one)
5. WKRP (a great route of procrastination during college)
6. Mariner baseball
7. Arthur (yes, the PBS show for kids. Loved watching that with the kids when they were little)
8. The Practice and its spin-off, Boston Legal

Now, I tag Darrin and Megan! Let's hear what your "8 Things" are!

It's Thomas's Day!

Today, we sing the song for Thomas! You know the one. He's seven today.

We love you Thomas! You add joy and laughter to our family and

you are a great blessing from God!

A few priceless pics are below. These are the kind you would

consider running into the house of flames to rescue. I'll add a picture from today, later.

Amanda and Emily loving up my big tummy with you in it!

Daddy introducing the girls to you. You were probably an hour old.

The girls had helped the nurse give you your first bath and now Emily got to hold you.

Amanda held you next.

Dear Thomas, I love being your Mom! Happy Birthday!

15 is the limit...

... for clams, that is.

Thomas and his friend

Today, we dug clams, and it was a heap of fun. "Clams?" you might ask. "What type of clams?"

Well, we dug razor clams. You might then ask, "Oh, that sounds like fun. Where do you go to dig razor clams?"

We go to Grays Harbor. The low tide was at 7:30AM, which means we wanted to be on the beach by 6:30. Now, we live about 1.5 hours from the beach, so you do the math. We were up EARLY! Amazingly, everyone was pretty happy about it inspite of the dark hour.

See the happy faces? You would never know it was 5AM. How come they don't get up like this on school days?

After admiring the determination required to catch a few bi-valves, you might then wonder how one goes about digging a razor clam. See the video below for a little lesson by Jack's brother, Todd. The tube thing he uses is actually called a "clam gun". No, you don't shoot the clam.

Here are a few pictures of the great day we had.

Emily and Amanda pulling their catch from the sand

Thomas helping me get a big one!

Get 'em, Jack! Look at that form!

Emily's smile says it all

On your mark, get set, GROW!

I love love love to dig in the dirt. There is just something great about getting my hands in the soil, putting the seeds in the little holes, and waiting for the harvest. I haven't had a garden in a couple of years, and then the raccoons ate all of my corn! Well, this year will be different! We have a fence and a dog. No raccoons this time!

Jack built and filled three 12x4 beds for me. I adore that man! Last weekend, when the sun was out, I was able to get everything planted: giant pumpkins, zucchini, carrots, beets, butternut squash, corn, a variety of sunflowers, basil, peas, beans, gourds, tomatoes... I think that's it. No lettuce; I like the kind from Costco too much and I hate the bugs it attracts. Now comes the watering and waiting.

I tried my hand at planning a square-foot garden. Hoping for more veggies and less weeds.

Annie is always a lot of help

Happy Birthday House!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HOUSE!

Today is the 1-year birthday of our new house! We were feeling many mixed emotions a year ago: sad to leave our old house and neighbors, but very excited about moving into the new place and meeting new people. It was one year ago that we drove to our new home, van and truck busting full with packed boxes, and received our shiny new house keys. We took a quick tour of the place with the builder as he showed us things like where the water main was, then sat down to our first meal: Papa Murphy's pizza, eaten on the floor. We felt like kings and queens eating on that pretty new wood floor! Well, many memories have since been made in this pretty new house and I know there are many more to come!

The old house... 3123 60th Loop SE.

We lived there for 14 years.

Leanne's help in getting us moved was bitter-sweet and very much appreciated. She even painted a wall and cleaned after the movers had taken everything out! Leanne rocks!


Many "firsts" have happened in the new home. Here are just a few...

First Christmas cookie decorating bonanza




First Easter Egg dying




The first birthday celebrated was Thomas turning 6

The first New Year's cake... traditionally chocolate, and eaten just after midnight

First cornet lesson, given by Grandpa Dave

Opening Day

I know that the Mariners had their opening day a couple of weeks ago, but today was opening day for the South Sound Baseball Pony League. Thomas's team is a gang of first graders, all boys except for one girl. They named themselves "The Sharks".


Well, Thomas was the starting pitcher for the Shark team today. He was up at 6:30 AM and dressed in his uniform before anyone else in the house was awake. We didn't have to be to the field until 11:10. A combination of nerves and excitement filled the morning!


Arriving at the field, we sized up the competition.... THIRD graders! They were like amazons compared to our six-turning-seven crew. Thomas pitched to those kids and struck out a few of them- good going THOMAS! Jack and I were a proud mom and dad as we heard all of the parents cheering Thomas on as he faced the Goliath-like batters from the yellow team. Those big kids beat us horribly, as you could imagine, but Thomas stuck in there, throwing again and again.

Way to go Thomas! You did great today!

First Pitch of the Game

The release...

STRIKE!!!

Complete focus

Great follow-through!

Now, the picture below is my all time favorite picture of Thomas "playing" baseball. This was 2 years ago. He was playing 3rd base, waiting for the play when I snapped this dandy. He's come a long way in just 2 years!