Sunday, February 28, 2010

My Molly Girl







She is growing up.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Neon Trees

I heard this band for the first time a few weeks ago and loved their song, "Animal." Coincidentally, they hail from Provo and from what I've read, they used to really suck, but miraculously have changed and are catching a lot of attention. Now, mind you, I don't really listen to the words of most songs and didn't with this song until the 3rd or 4th run-through so a little warning, the lyrics are a bit animalistic (haha--no pun intended:)). I just like the tune--very catchy. Have a listen for yourself (and don't pay attention to the words ((which you will now for sure since I told you not to :)).

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

A Rare Family Day

It seems like with all the weekends I work, we rarely get a full day for just family fun. So when both Kevin and I had President's Day off, we took advantage. When the weather warmed up to probably 55 degrees, we loaded up the bikes and headed north to the Columbia River. On the south side is a long, very wide path that runs directly next to the river and is relatively flat. This is perfect for us since one of our loads was heavy with two kids being hauled behind in the burley and on the alley cat. Kevin took the first leg with the kids--riding to I-205--and I the return trip. The kids got a little cold, but warmed up on the trip back by snugly squeezing together in the burley. The burley trailer from Kevin's brother, Scott and the Alley Cat, from our friends, the Rost's have been 2 of the best gifts we have ever received (Thanks!) They have definitely been well used! The photos I took were taken with our new Nikon digital camera. We've gone from 4 mega pixels to 10! Sharper images? Truer colors? You be the judge.


















Friday, February 12, 2010

Kids Love Valentine's Day

I haven't been good about blogging lately--I even missed Christmas. So to make up a little bit, I'm going to post several pictures from both Molly's and Keenan's school Valentine parties. First though, I'm going to post a few of Keenan at his new preschool, Milwaukie Cooperative, the same school that Molly went to as a preschooler and of which we all love. And as I do this, I'm eating Fun Dip (a blast from the past), trying to spare my children from some of the way too much sugar they've ingested/accumulated over the past few days. I am really good at canceling out my gym work-outs.

Keenan's Favorite Toys at Preschool: The Dinosaurs


Marble Tower


Thomas The Train (The track is "glued" down, but Keenan tries his darndest to pull those tracks off (succeeding with a few of the pieces).


Bird Seed Exporation/Digging Table


Playing Candy Land With Mom


Molly's Valentine Ice Cream Party (with classmates Makenna and _____)


Silly Face





The Sugar High Kicking In (j/k :) )


Keenan Placing his Spiderman Valentine's in his Classmates' Bags


Making a Valentine Craft Project. The little crayon shavings Keenan is placing on the waxed-paper heart will be melted together with additional tissue paper pieces, etc. It looks great hung in one of our windows.


Eating a GIANT sugar cookie PLUS an ice-cream sunday


Saving the best for last: Opening the bag full of Valentine's


The Spread

It's no wonder a fifth or more of american children are obese--americans love their holidays and love to celebrate! And I'm no exception. I've got more goodies waiting hidden for the actual day (Sunday). Ahhh well . . .













Friday, February 5, 2010

Happiness 101

Watched Happiness 101 last night which was really very interesting. I'm going to write a few of the points down so I can look back and read them when I inevitably will forget.

#1 Allow yourself to be human. It is okay to feel a full range of emotions including anger, sadness and frustration. Ignoring or repressing them will only intensify them.

#2 Take mini daily breaks, monthly breaks and vacations (for at least a week at a time) every 3 months (ideally) or so. (I've been telling Kevin for years now he needs to take "mental health" days, but he has never heeded my advice.)

#3 Stress is not the problem. The inability to recover from stress is. Exercise, deep breath/meditate, get a good night's sleep. Exercise is akin to taking an anti-depressant.

#4 Simplify, simplify, simplify.

#5 Live in the present. When you are with your loved ones, are you really there? I know I find myself thinking about all the other things I should be doing and am not just enjoying the moment.

#6 Always be grateful. Write down or verbalize 5 things to a loved one that you are grateful for (I already started this last night.)

Check out this website by the author for additional information if you are interested.