Just Me!!

I have much to be Thankful for: My sweet wonderful sexy adoring husband My three beautiful, healthy, smart children My mom and dad, sister and brother My country and freedom My ability to purchase and shop on Black Friday My job My friends My health My warm house and all that it offers us My Cat, Goliath My car (it's hanging in there) and much more.

Keyling is our child through World Vision. We have sponsored her for three years now. She is provided education, immunizations, and medication as needed. Every December we get a updated picture and a card. Merry Christmas sweetheart! We think of you often.

Second year in a row going to the Chalet. Three days, two nights with Mark all alone is heaven, plus the hot tub encourages relaxation. Thanks to mom and dad and Harry and Arlene for splitting kid duty!

I had planned to take my daughter to Disney on Ice but didn't purchase the tickets in advance. I believe this is the problem that follows a person who is spontaneous, way too frequently. I improvised and for a fraction of the cost took the whole family to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in Bellevue. It was a quick trip with a yummy side stop at Uwajimaya for lunch and later the Apple store for a dessert for Mark;) The play was low keyed, but had some great young actors in it. The mirror lady was fabulous, and the Queen's dialogue spot on. The rest of the cast were newer actors with little to no experience, and it showed. After all it was a kids' theatre production. They said no pictures but I decided to break a few rules and get a few snap shots.

Wednesday's weather finally cleared up and we only had a few drizzles for our trick or treaters to deal with. We took the kids back to Lacey for the 2nd year in a row. The neighborhood is perfect for trick or treating because the houses are close together and joined with sidewalks, plus it is located about about a mile from my sisters house. The homeowners even dress up to hand out candy. Unfortunately everyone else knows it's a great place and this year they had record breaking numbers in the 200's! Crazy! The kids had a blast. In the end we went back to Shannon's, let the kids look at their candy, and left Charlie for an overnighter with Ryan. Kids, Mark and I grabbed Taco Time and had good convo around our own dinner table! Perfect evening... Valerie-Katniss Ethan-Phantom of the Opera Charlie-Unicorn

Monday brought about lots of hype. Vals appointment for her braces was scheduled at 1010. We made it there in time for her to brush before application. I love the ladies there. They have a Keurig, a stocked fridge of water, iPads in the waiting room and a brushing station. They are all very pleasant and helped Val relax through this stressful time! She did great. I could tell she was nervous so I took her shoes off and massaged her feet during the application. She wanted both Mark and I to be with her so we sat there for 2 hours. She said that having them placed on didn't hurt, but later she asked for Tylenol because they started hurting. My poor baby! After that ordeal, she was still smiling so we took her over to the mall and bought her some much needed bra's , britches , and boots !

Traditions are out this year. Our family loves October but for some reason the much anticipated month has been a complete bust sans (except for) Charles' visit. We bowed out from this weekends pumpkin patch meet up with Mike and Shan, and cancelled the yearly Halloween costume party. The kids have been extremely moody, ungrateful, and just lazy. I have been at odds with them, and on occasion Mark. We did our best to shake the bad vibes and head out to Museum of Flight for a spooky Halloween time. We did have fun! I rode on a haunted SIM flight with the kids, and we walked through several historic aircrafts. We boarded Air Force One from Kennedy and Eisenhower's age, and quickly walked through a retired Concord (which made me extremely claustrophobic). We left the various Halloween activities to the other little kids and spent most of our time viewing the aircrafts of WW1 and WW2. Interesting!!! The kids got in for free since they wore their Halloween costumes. We grabbed a qu...