Halloween & Playoffs

We had a fun Halloween.  Evelyn had a friend join us for Trick or Treating, James mostly went and hung out with Caleb and his siblings, Anna and I were accidental twins and David found one of his school friends to hang out with while we were out.  We had a fun time, then Anna and Aaron and I took off a bit early for water polo practice, which as you might guess was poorly attended...  

James had a primary activity on Wednesday, David was there too since I stay to help out usually, and the kids had a blast acting out Bible stories with costumes and props and such!  

Eileen's 18th birthday was on Wednesday.  She had classes on Wednesday, so Dan and I took her out for lunch on Tuesday instead, we had fun eating sushi and chatting in between her online classes.  Eileen wanted a cheesecake instead of a traditional cake, so she had a white chocolate cranberry cheesecake!  yum!  She also got flowers from Grandma and Grandpa Cox and notebooks from Grandma and Grandpa Jones.  

On Thursday, Eileen had a field trip for her marine biology class.  She needed a ride though, so I got to take her and hang out with her at the zoo!  We had a super fun time watching and playing with the penguins.  I would have thought that watching penguins for an hour and a half would have been boring, but it turned out to be a lot of fun.  Eileen had a tassel that they would follow and so we would play with them and had fun observing lots of human interaction!   Then on our way out, we got to see the trainers feeding the otters!  It was so cute!!!  They would hold out their hand for a little otter high five and it was so fun watching them with their keepers!  I love otters!  It was a rather chilly and windy day, but we had a great time together and Eileen got herself a couple stuffed animals as a souvenir! 

Friday was the beginning of State.  We had our first match on Friday afternoon against Tualatin and beat them easily.  We then had a few hours to hang out and wait for our second game. Our second game didn't go so well.  We weren't playing our best, but even that would have been ok - what was most frustrating was the reffing.  My girls were called out over and over again for things they didn't do leading them to be upset and frustrated and to play worse.  We had known it would be a hard game, but having the refs do that was much more awful than losing.  

Saturday, Anna had an Encore event for most of the day, I had a rehearsal in the morning which was a lot of fun and then in the evening, Dan and I went out to see a movie.  We went to see Ticket to Paradise which was cute and had dinner.  

Church was wonderful!  We had an amazing fast and testimony meeting with a lot of the youth bearing powerful testimony!  What an amazing generation of kids they are!  Our afternoon was spent with ward choir and games and chatting with family.  

Fun and Family

We've had a busy week with school and activities and water polo and such.  We had our last game of the season on Tuesday.  We did our Senior Night before the game to celebrate our awesome Seniors.  It was fun, but a bit bittersweet - They are amazing kids and we will miss them next year.  :(  

Our boys lost the game, so they are done for the season - their practices from here out are optional.  The girls won and are heading for the State Playoffs next weekend.  I promised the girls some of our homemade oreos if they won Metro, so on Wednesday, I brought them their reward.  They were a big hit.  While eating her second cookie, one girls asked if I would be her mother.  I told her yes - and that they were all already my girls - to which Maddie said "we know"  <3  

We had a busy weekend - Anna had a dance with a friend from Water Polo on Friday night - their church was having a dance and invited her to go - she had a blast!  

Saturday, Anna and I had our first practice for Peter the Rock.  It was neat, but we didn't get music yet.  :(  I'm looking forward to singing again though!  

Aaron and Dan had a service project in the morning and had a good time working hard and helping out a neighbor.  

After, Aaron, Anna and I went to play water polo - we had a good turn out and had a lot of fun!  It's neat to see how much they have grown!  

In the evening, John and Melissa and Isaac and Adam came over for dinner and games.  We had fun playing together and then after they headed home for the evening, Dan and I headed over to a costume party that some friends were having.  We didn't really have costumes, but we had fun hanging out with friends and checking out their creative costumes!  

Today was the primary program!  The kids did such a great job!  I got to sit with the Sunbeams and we had a blast trying to keep them from fighting and running away and playing with the lights.  They are such fun kids - but a handful!!  

After church, I headed down to Salem for the water polo seeding meeting.  It went about as expected, though not quite as well as I'd hoped, but it is what it is and I'm looking forward to State.  Had a nice time chatting with a couple of the other coaches, then headed home for tithing declaration and family fun time!  

Rain!

We've had a busy week!  School, orthodontist appointments, water polo, ward parties and activities.  

We have nice weather early in the week, so we took advantage of it and spent as much time after school playing as we could.  As much as I will be glad for the rain, I will miss the idyllic days of standing in the sun chatting with other parents while the kids run and play with their friends.  

We had water polo games on Tuesday and Thursday this week - but it was obvious by Thursday that they were dragging and tired and burnt out, so we spent Friday playing games.  Still got them a work out, but hopefully a fun one.  

Friday evening, Dan and I went to the temple together and ran into John and Melissa there!  So after, we went out and got some dinner together.  The boys had a Trunk or Treat at the school that Anna took them to, and Evie had her Acro class.  

Saturday was not as busy as had been planned, but still busy enough.  We had a fun ward harvest festival with chili and games and trunk or treating.  The kids had fun dressing up.  I took Eileen out to get the last of the stuff for her costume - the only Link shirt we could find was a kids large - but thankfully it fit.  We had fun and there was a great turn out!  

After the ward party, Anna and Aaron went to the Stake Dance and had fun while Eileen and I sat at home and hung out in the craft room.  

Dan thought Aaron and the guinea pig looked funny watching videos together on Aaron's phone.  

Church today was wonderful - the choir sang and did a wonderful job, and then we practiced for the primary program next week.  After, we had a nice quiet afternoon playing games and hanging out together and chatting with family.  

It's beginning to feel like fall... kinda.... maybe not....

It's starting to look like fall a bit - leaves are beginning to change colors, but while it's cool in the evenings and morning, it's still getting pretty warm during the day, so we've been enjoying the weather while it lasts.  Playing at the playground after school each day and playing outside at home.  

The water polo team only have one game this week, so it was a bit of a break.  It was an easy game for the girls and a good game for the boys.  We also had a team pasta dinner on Friday.  We had a great time lots of games and food and fun!  What an amazing group of kids and what a joy to get to work with them!  

Dan told the kids that he would pull out the Halloween costumes this weekend, so they could look at what is there and what they want to wear, and so of course, James and David have been dressing up in them all weekend and getting creative with crazy combinations.  :)  

Saturday morning, Anna and I headed into Portland for an audition for  musical program.  It was a kind of funny audition - the director seemed more interested in giving voice lessons than listening to what we had prepared - we only got one page into the songs we had prepared.  lol  He seemed really nice though and said he wanted us both.  He also wants to hear Anna on the trumpet.  After, we headed home.  Sandi came over with the kids to visit for a bit and brought Popcorn over to meet our kids and Koopa.  They did well together, and Popcorn is adorable!  Koopa growled a couple times, but otherwise, did a good job being nice to her.  

 After, Aaron and Anna and I headed over to play water polo with the masters group.  We had a great time and Anna had some great shots, and I had a couple great blocks too.  In the evening, Anna and Aaron went to a youth dance and had a great time.  

David had a busy social calendar this weekend, he had a birthday party in the morning and another one in the afternoon.  He had a great time and loved to tell me all about it!  

This morning though, David woke up saying that his "neck was hurting inside"  So I looked inside and it looked like there might be white spots, so we kept him home from church and got an appointment at a pediatric urgent care to get him checked out.  They tested him for strep and it was positive, so he's now on antibiotics.  :(  The doctor said that he can go back to school on Tuesday though, so at least this should get better quickly.  

And yes... more water polo :)

We've had a fun and busy week!  Monday I volunteered to help out at the high school, there were some biology classes in need of help monitoring on a field trip just outside the school, so I went and mostly just helped carry stuff and helped keep an eye on everyone.  Then as we were heading back, there was  a girl lagging behind who was really struggling with the heat all the walking and standing and other sensory issues, so I walked with her and tried to distract her - turns out that she is also a big Legend of Zelda fan and so we talked about that and she writes fan fiction, so I told her about Eileen and the stuff she writes and pointed her to Eileen's stuff and we had a nice walk and talk back to the class.  I feel like she was the reason I was there that day - and even if I did nothing else helpful, I hope I made her day a bit better.  

Tuesday, I met up with Sara and Emily for brunch and chatting.  We had a great time together and I love getting to live near these amazing women and getting to have these times together!   

My afternoons are mostly pretty laid back.  After I walk down to get the boys from school, we usually stay at the playground after for an hour and the boys play and I read or chat with other parents or just watch the boys play, and it's a nice way to spend the afternoon together.  David mostly plays with the other kids, but he still wants to show me the new things he's trying every day.  

Eileen had her first Relief Society Activity.  They had a fun Halloween themed activity and she said she had a really good time.  I wish I could have been there with her, but I'm so glad to see her finding a place!  

On Wednesday, I spent the afternoon at a friends house crocheting and chatting.  The weather started out a bit cool, but before too long, I was needing to take my sweater off and it was a really nice day to sit outside on her patio and chat.  

Thursday, the boys had a water polo game, the girls were supposed to also, but the other team had to forfeit because they had too many sick girls.  While sad, it was probably for the best since we had an early morning the next day!

Friday we loaded up the van and headed out to Portland area for the Dan Berry Tournament.  We spent all day Friday playing and eating and hanging out.  There were some awesome moments - Anna had some awesome blocks and Aaron some awesome play time - plus the team coming together as a team.  We played monkey in the middle, went for Jamba and were a bit goofy together.  I gave my camera to some of the kids on the team and it was passed around and the picture ranged from fun shots of the kids playing to even funnier shots of the kids being goofballs!  What a privilege it is to get to work with these kids!  Our girls actually took first at our pool for the first day, but they decided to forfeit the second day because of homecoming.  After the day was over, we all went out to a nearby pizza place for food, then headed home to bed!

While I was sad that we wouldn't be playing on Saturday, it also meant that I was able to go play with the Masters group which was a lot of fun - I was playing well and had some really good blocks and it was a fun group - plus I have missed it these last couple weeks! 

Anna was asked to homecoming and went with a group of friends.. She said she had a great time.  She wore Grandma Penny's dress again this year and she looks so cute in it!  The girls had fun getting together to get ready before.  Then they met up to take pictures and then after the dance they hung out at one of their houses around the fire pit.  

Dan and I went to the water polo Wall of Wine fundraiser.  It's a fun adults only event with yummy food and great people.  It was a great evening that just seemed to fly by.  We got some auction tickets and actually won something - we won a little art class to learn how to make a really cool painting!  

Church today was wonderful.  I got to play the organ and play the piano for primary.  I love just getting to spend the better part of 2 hours playing music!  Then ward choir in the afternoon and fun time together as a family after.  

More Water Polo and School

We've had a busy week.  Eileen and Anna finally started back to school this week.  Anna got asked to homecoming by a guy in her seminary class.  We had water polo games on Tuesday and Thursday, plus the girls tournament on the weekend.  

Here's Eileen and Anna on their (kinda) first day of school, or at least first real day of college classes.... 

David loves to climb up the poles on the play ground - this and his working on being able to do the monkey bars is what he spends most of his after school play time doing and likely most of his recesses doing too.... He is loving school and making lots of friends!   James also has a group of friends that he plays with after school, and weather has been so nice that we usually spend an hour there after school letting the boys play.  

Thursday and Friday were both both game against Lincoln High School.  Thursday was a regular season game and then we played them as our first game in the tournament on Friday.  The girls beat them easily both times, but not with out some pain and suffering.  Including this bleeding scratch on Anna.  

 Saturday and Sunday were 4 more games total and we won the first one on Saturday, but lost the other 3 games.  Plus, with few subs, my girls were just exhausted and battered, but they played hard and they played well and they finally look like they are coming together as a team.  I lost my voice - it was going on Friday and now it's well and truly gone...  

Saturday and Sunday were also General Conference!  Anna and I only got to watch 2 and a half sessions, but thankfully we can go back and watch them!  We also made up our usual set of snacks, plus rolls from Eileen.  Yum!!

We also got to go to a baptism this evening and I took Evie and David to the park for a bit to hang out with friends.  Then dinner with the sister Missionaries and bed time!  Now onto another busy week!  

Lots of Water Polo...

We've had a busy week, with some of us being a bit under the weather.  James and David are becoming social butterflies.  They have both had birthday party invitations and David had a play date this week with some friends from school.  Both boys just want to hang out with friends on the play ground after school, so we spend most afternoons just hanging out at the play ground.  

Tuesday was our first league water polo game.  It went well and the girls won.  But best of all - it was really well refed and so the kids were able to have fun!  

James had Activity Days on Wednesday - but was in a bit of a grumpy mood for it, but David had a blast.   

Friday, I met up with a bunch of friends for lunch and we had a great time chatting and eating.  It's amazing how fast the week went though.  It felt like it had barely started and it was almost over.  

We had a busy weekend.  Evelyn and Aaron had a youth temple trip on Saturday morning.  Anna was gone Friday and Saturday at the Encore retreat.  She had a great time, but came home tired!  

Dad and the younger boys kept busy - David had fun painting his fingers and my toes and Evie's toes

This weekend was also the big boys tournament at THills.  It was rough since we were down our strongest player and two of our other experienced players were getting over colds, we also struggled with people getting there on time, so we ended up forfeiting two of our games and just playing half games to get some play time, but still not kill the boys.  They did well - but it was a rough weekend.  

I also got to watch a lot of water polo - including some of the best teams in the state, which was a lot of fun.  I had fun chatting with the other coaches and parents and refs and I'm already looking forward to next weekend.  

Aaron and I were able to go to some of church before we had to leave for the game, and I got to direct the ward choir - and they did amazing.  Anna accompanied us and did an amazing job!  She is so talented and brave!  

School and Birthdays

It's been a busy week.  David is loving school and loves to talk about it after too.  We usually stop and play for a bit after school before heading home.  James generally dumps his backpack with me and David thinks it fun to carry it on top of his.  

 Monday evening, we had a water polo game, and it was a rough one - and one that has led me to communicating with the people in charge of water polo refs in the state.  Which has be seriously stressed out, but hopefully we can get it all resolved with no hard feelings and some changes made.  

Tuesday morning, Dan headed out to CA for a conference with Jon and Sandi.  The conference was good and they got home safe and sound Friday evening.  

Wednesday was my birthday.  Dan had got a bunch of things ready for me before he left, so he cooked my birthday cake and had left a card with my gift in it for me to open on my birthday.  Otherwise, I spent the day doing most of the normal things.  Dan and Sandi called to sing happy birthday to me, but Dan dropped out half way through when he decided that Sandi sounded better alone.  lol

Friday we celebrated Evelyn's birthday.  She is officially a teenager now.  She had a few friends over for a sleepover.  They had a blast listening to music and painting nails and watching movies and eating snacks.  

Saturday, I took Anna and went to play water polo - should have brought Aaron too.  We had fun though and then after, we headed home and I showered and Dan and I went to the temple and met up with John and Melissa, then went to dinner with them after.  I love living near family!  

Today, Eileen and David have been feeling a bit under the weather.  I don't know that David will be able to go to school tomorrow, he was coughing a lot today.  :(  Otherwise, it was a great day.  We had a nice day playing games and doing crafts and chatting with family.  

Back to School...kinda

Dan and I packed up Monday morning and walked on the beach to get breakfast at our new favorite bakery, then we checked out and headed out.  We stopped at Rockaway one last time to get Dan a sweatshirt, then we headed towards Tillamook for a bit, we went to the Blue Heron cheese place and walked through some of the cute downtown shops, then we headed back to Beaverton for lunch and a stop at the game store before heading home.  

The kids did great, Grandma said they were good and the older ones were a big help - but they made her do all the dishes....  Grandma headed out early Tuesday morning - even before the kids were getting up for school.  James and Aaron started on Tuesday.  David and I got to get in our walks walking James to school!  

On Tuesday, David and I went down to the school for a meet the families day.  David got to meet the Kinder teachers and see the class rooms and I got to talk to the teachers and tell them about David! 

Evelyn started school on Wednesday.  The high school age kids started Seminary on Wednesday, and if Anna had realized that Band was first period and not second, she would have started her one class at the high school on Wednesday.  

 

On Thursday, David got to go to school with half of his class for the first day.  They spent their time learning about how things work and getting to know their teacher.  David loved it.  When I came to pick him up, he was sad because he wanted more time to play, so I let him stay and play on the playground for a bit before we met up with James and his friends at the park.    I spent my day cleaning and running some errands with Eileen and Anna 

David's second day of school isn't until Monday - Friday the other half of the class went, but he starts full time every day on Monday.  He loves being in Kindergarten and loves meeting new people and making new friends. 

Saturday morning, Evelyn wanted to go to a little Beaverton Parade.  She had friends from school and church in the parade.  So she and David and I went and had a great time.  Everyone was tossing candy, so David was happy as a clam.  

He was so loaded up with candy that his pants were falling down.  

After, we went home, then I headed out to water polo.  It was great getting to play, I've missed it this week!  When I got home David saw me and ran to me saying "what were you doing?"  I told him I was playing water polo and asked him what he had been doing and he gave me a huge hug and said "loving you!"  It was so cute!  In the evening, we had a ward BBQ that we went to and had fun hanging out with friends and neighbors!  

Church today was wonderful!  I went to Relief Society with Eileen today since it was her first day moving up to Relief Society.  She seemed to enjoy it, though she mostly sat quietly and listened.  It was a great discussion and a great lesson!  After, we had ward choir and they are sounding so good!  Finally, in the evening after dinner, I took Anna to her first Encore rehearsal and the parents meeting before.  It was such a neat experience!  

Eileen and Anna don't start their college classes for awhile yet, but they are all ready for the new school year too! 

Home and Away

It's been a crazy and wonderful week!  It started out with lots of water polo as usual.  Anna and Aaron and I had practice every day and they are amazing.  They work so hard and learn so quickly!  I also had my last week of masters until after the season is over :(  But at least I got a couple good days of play in.  

At home David and I have been having fun together.  The older 3 usually sleep in, so David and I go to my work outs together and play together and have fun together.  He saw on my computer a picture I took of him playing with his Duplo blocks and wanted to get them out and play with them again, so he had fun playing with his blocks and making me take silly pictures of him.   

On Thursday, our family was finally back together!  Eileen, Evelyn and Grandma and Grandpa arrived and I picked them up and drove them home.  It is so good to have everyone back home again and so nice to have Grandma and Grandpa here!  My dad came to the kids water polo practice to watch and help him stay awake since he was still a bit jet lagged.  

On Friday morning, my Dad went home to Texas and my Mom stayed here so Dan and I could have a weekend anniversary trip.  So Friday late morning, Dan and I took off and headed for the coast.  We stopped for lunch, then headed out to go Zip Lining.  We loved it, but when they offered the option to just dip a hand or a food in or get soaked, Dan chose "get soaked" and he did.  So he was very wet and rather cold by the end!  But we had a great time!  After, we headed to our hotel room and got checked in so he could take a hot shower, then we walked down to Rockaway Beach for dinner.  I found some Hawaiian Teriyaki Chicken and he got clam chowder.  

Saturday we started off walking into town for breakfast, then drove to where our adventure for the day was while looking for places to stop and look around.  We ended up walking on the beach before getting back in plenty of time for our horse back riding!  The weather was perfect, though rather foggy at points, it was also warm and not rainy.  We had a great ride though!  

After, we headed back to Rockaway for dinner and some shopping.  We got a couple souvenirs and found an Indian food truck for dinner.  It was really yummy!  

Today, Dan and I walked to church in the morning and then home after.  The weather was beautiful!  After, we played some games and then decided to find a nature trail to go walk around.  We spent the whole afternoon at Cape Meares Scenic Viewpoint.  We checked out every trail we could find and got to see a lighthouse, lots of nesting bird sights, the Octopus tree, a really big tree and a longer hike down to the beach.  It was just beautiful and though the weather was overcast, it wasn't rainy, so we had good weather too!  

After tiring ourselves out, we headed back to our hotel for leftovers and a gorgeous view from our balcony!  We have really loved having this one on one time together!!  It's been a wonderful few days!