Arya in her favorite red hat

Zoie

Check out the 80's outfit! Leg warmers, thin blue belt, red sequin shoes .. oh yeah!

A new short hair cut.

Vance

Ferry boat ride home from Bremerton

Hanging out in the pool with dad in Bremerton

Golfing in the field with a full size club

Vance is one of the best drivers you will ever meet, despite only being 3 years old!

"Look mom! Jellybeans!" We were at the skating rink for an Easter egg party hosted by our friends, the Englund family.

No Spring Break for me

This is my spring break week. Zoie was on break last week. I have been working every day for 2-4 hours on completing my 12 pages for my National Board Professional Teaching Portfolio. This is my third and final attempt to earn the required 275 points. I have 271 points in the bank. I need to improve my whole class discussion entry score from 2.25 to 2.5 in order to gain the 4 needed points. I will also be taking a Calculus test in June to help my score. Unfortunately, the scores are not reported until Thanksgiving. After I mail this in (it's due 4/15), I will be so happy. This is very important to me. It will extend my teaching certificate and give me a yearly bonus of $10,000 per year for the next 5 years. It is almost over -- I am editing p. 10 of 12 now and then will send it off to a colleague to review.

Zoie practicing 3/14

Mark Your Calendars!

Mark your calendars!
April 10, 2010 (Saturday)

Zoie will be showcasing her fabulous skating skills at the Northwest Invitational Skating meet in Auburn! She will dazzle you with her jumps and spins.

Her event, Tiny Tots, will probably be in the late afternoon/early evening. (This is an event for 5 and under and is really cute!Kids cry, they wave, they forget what to do . . . )

I will also skate either early Saturday morning and/or Sunday morning.

(27 years ago, this was my first skating meet. Green sequin dress, pigtails with yellow ribbons.)

Carrie skates for Gold -- Almost

For most of you . .. .

Here is a clip of my recent skating competition in Bremerton, WA. What you see is called "Loops". The goal is to trace a 2.4 meter circle. This is the first of the 2 judgings. The second judging was not caught on video, which is a good thing because I dropped my foot twice. Dropping your foot is bad, very very bad. I may have dropped my foot in the past 25 years, but never twice in one judging.

Despite the bad circumstances, I didn't get last place. I had such a high lead after the video shown . . . . I will never drop my foot again. A big wobble is better.

Playtime with Arya

Playtime outside

Arya has not played outside much since she began to walk. Today she did and greatly enjoyed it.

Arya was ready to drive the quad.

Little AJ

How tall is Arya? How about 6 rolls of Angel Soft.

A rare event that Arya ate in her high chair. Obviously it did not go well at the end.

I know this is blurry . . but this is a signature Arya laugh and silly face.

Look . . .I got my bangs cut and now I can see.

The Skating Duo

Zoie recently got her new skates and Vance's are waiting for the plates to be delievered by UPS. They can't not get enough skating . . as you can see they skate in the house day in and day out and Vance skates with me at my practice on weekend mornings. I got each of them new backpacks to haul their skates, since that is their "job".

Fancy Pasta Recipes - Elegant and Easy Pasta Dishes - Delish.com

Fancy Pasta Recipes - Elegant and Easy Pasta Dishes - Delish.com

These look easy and good! Try them and let me know!

Arya's One Year Well Child Check

Arya is growing fine and looks good. The doctor thinks she will be the biggest of all 3 kids. In a way, I agree. Her stats:

Weight: 24 lbs.
Height: 30 1/4 inches
Head Circumference: Big! It was in the 92nd percentile. (I didnt' see the number)

At first, the helper weighed Arya at 21 lbs. I looked at her and said, "That is not right. Please try again." Arya sat on the scale again and the same number came up. OK, I thought. Jean must be totally off as she had told me 26ish lbs a couple weeks ago. The doctor agreed with the weight as children at this age are transitioning to table food and "red" milk ( aka wholemilk) their weight often dips down. But as soon as he picked up her off the table, he said "You are right, let's weigh her again".

The doctor has cared for our family for the past 6 years. He and nurses love to see my trio waltzing down the hall. Same eith my kids -- They love to have a new audience to talk to.

During the visit, Vance kept telling the doctor in a shy voice "She's my friend" (refering to Arya). It was super cute!

Arya's Party

We had a party for Arya on Sunday afternoon. Vance and Arya both woke up at 6:30am. I was able to get Arya back to sleep but Vance was awake. So I took him skating with me at 7:30am. When we returned at 10am, Arya was just getting up. Before the party, we rode bikes and played outside since the weather has been in the upper 50's and lower 60s. We partied from 2:30 to 3:30 and then headed over to the rink for an afternoon session at 4pm. We skated till 6:30, then headed to Jack in the Box for some food, thinking that my kids would crash. But nope! Somehow Vance lasted until 8:30pm. It was a fun day!

The family observing Zoie, Vance, and me doing the limbo.

Vance is a great skater now and loves it! He hardly stopped the 2 1/2 hours we were there.

Arya turns ONE!

After School Bike Ride

There is a field down our street where 1000's of Canadian geese hang out. It is so noisy when they are "talking" and masses fly over head off.

No Zoie pictures because I was carrying Arya in the backpack and Zoie was way in the front. When Vance would pedal fast, I would have to run to keep up.

Arya

Unlike Zoie and Vance, it has taken Arya 51 weeks to start walking. She looks like a big marshmellow wobbling through the house.

What a smile!

Check out Arya's spiky hair after her bath.

John Deere kids

We were on our way to Ty's work for a New Years Eve luncheon. If you look closely you will see that I put part of Arya's hair in ponytail. When Vance saw it, he said "She needs a trim" referring to her hair.