Braces!

Tristan has been wearing a retainer-like appliance called a bionator since January 2007. The next step to correct his open bite was braces. The day finally arrived. Here he is before . . . And after!

So far he had to forgo the chips and salsa at Azteca, and we had a little popcorn party last night. Wish him luck as he endures 2 years without beef jerky, popcorn and skittles!

Birthday Festivities

Check out this party crowd!! Karina and 6 friends ate, played and partied at Karina's first sleepover birthday party! This is Korin, Brianna, Julia, Kassidy, Emma, Madison & the birthday girl.The happy guest of honor.

Juggling balloons on their noses . . .

The theme of the party was dogs. Tristan made up a fun obstacle course to complete while walking on all fours.

Each girl got a dog dish with her name on it. They also ate dessert out of it and took it home filled with goodies the next day.

Part of the obstacle course (boys will be boys!) . . .

Karina with Julia & Brianna

Here she is after opening her family gifts on the night of her birthday.

Another cake!

Lots of great cards and gifts from family near and far. . .

Obviously she had a pretty great birthday. Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate! What a fun age 9 is!

My Little Girl is Growing up!

I love the blog entries of friends showing how their kids have grown over the years. I wanted to do this to celebrate my beautiful daughter's 9th birthday! She is so full of energy and always has a smile on her face. I love to see her skip down the sidewalk, laugh with friends, hug the dog, and play with her stuffed animals. It's those sweet moments I cherish as she gradually grows out of being a little girl.

Here is Karina at 5 days old: And at 3 years old:

At four:

Five: Six

Seven

Eight

And my next post will be all about her 9th birthday! I love you, Karina!

Workin' Woman

The blog posts are few and far between, huh? Well now my excuse is, "Hey, I work almost full time!" Last year I was a substitute paraeducator (instructional assistant). This year I have my very own 5.5 hour-a-day job teaching math to small groups of kids from 1st to 5th grade, and helping kindergarteners learn to read. It is so busy and fun. I'm really loving my job.

The not-so-lovely part is when I get home and the mess is still there! And dinner needs to be cooked! I need to borrow a housewife. The weekends are crammed with errands and chores. And soccer of course. Thank goodness for Sunday nap time! It's been almost 10 years since I worked this many hours. And boy, was life simpler then with one two year-old, no sports, no homework. But I wouldn't trade this crazy life of mine, nor this busy family, for the world. Not even for chocolate or a house in Hawaii.

Junior Golf

We are very fortunate to have the opportunity each summer to sign Tristan and Karina up for the junior golf program at Meridian Valley CC. Only children or grandchildren of members can participate, and the cost is very minimal. (There are a few teenagers on high school golf teams that they award "scholarships" to, allowing them to practice there without being a member.) Each Monday morning in the summer they tee off at 9 a.m. Tristan plays 6 holes. His best score this year was 36, and he had a birdie on one hole. Karina plays 3 holes. Her best score was also 36. :) Tristan was pretty busy with baseball and soccer this summer, but Karina was able to play in a couple of tournaments in which she won these huge trophies! In one of the tournaments she golfed with grandpa. The other was the junior club championship, and Karina had the lowest net score of the 3 hole girls (net = with handicap).

Here are a few action shots I took one morning, when I tagged along to watch. (Normally Tristan and Mitchell, my nephew, walk with Grandpa; and Karina walks with Grandma. They have to have a member keep score for them.)

Karina is lining the ball up with hole for her putt . . .

This is a girl named Sydney who Karina golfed with most weeks.

Here is Mitchell, supervised by Grandpa Houser . . .

And here is Karina at the junior club championship, with proof of her two-day totals . . . gross scores on the top and net on the bottom.

We are thrilled they get to learn this sport at such a young age, and in such an affordable way! It will be a skill they can use their whole lives if they choose.

Summer's Over?

First, my apologies to those (very few) of you who keep coming to check this blog to find nothing new! Our summer was great - lots of sun (really! didn't feel like Seattle at all!), plenty of unstructured time, and a trip to visit my family in California. But it was also busy with 4 baseball tournaments, 3 soccer tournaments, practices, piano lessons, and just general responsibilities that don't go away just because the sun is shining!

That said, I am thrilled that September is here. I just don't DO well with all that free time! I love the schedules that come with the school year. (I even mopped my floor this week?!) It is definitely feeling like fall outside, too!
Here are my kids in their first-day finery, on Wednesday, September 2. Tristan is in 6th grade, which is middle school! Wow! Three days into school and he's had homework in math, language arts, and social studies. He's already used his flash drive and graph paper! (The school supplies get more expensive as they get older, huh?) Karina is in 3rd grade. In addition to cursive, they learn keyboarding (typing) in 3rd grade. (She already knows how to use PowerPoint better than I do.) And they get to learn about salmon in 3rd grade. Big field trip to the hatchery coming up. :) Washington is so weird and cool at the same time.

I will continue to substitute as an instructional assistant this year. I really enjoy working closely with kids who need a little extra help in school. It's also fun to have a job where you get all the same days off as your kids! Next summer, we're planning on fewer ball games and more fun - maybe a camping trip, hopefully a trip to see family, and definitely lots of free time.

Happy late 4th of July!

Written by Tristan

This past Fourth of July was perfect. One reason is because the temperature was perfect. Another is that we had family and friends come over. The last one was about the fireworks. We combined the amount of fireworks with the family across the street. So I hung out with the boy and his cousin from across the street, and Karina hung out with his sisters. But the fireworks were so awesome. We had about fifty big fireworks that go up in the air then explode, about fifteen army men coming down with parachutes, and tons of sparklers and pop-its. Towards the end of the fireworks, we went inside and had some homemade ice cream from an ice cream machine that a friend brought over. My ice cream had chocolate syrup, strawberries, a little bit of caramel, and whipped cream. After everyone was finished, we went out to see the rest of the fireworks. KKKAAAAABBBBBOOOOOOMMMM!!!!