New Feature!

I found a new feature on blogger called Reactions. At the bottom of the post you will see it and it is just a fun way to get your quick reaction. Of coarse I'd love personal comments, but this is a super easy way for you to give a reaction if you don't want to leave a comment. Give it a try, I hope you like it!

Minivan Mama!!

We have been thinking about buying a minivan sometime this year, but weren't in any hurry. Last weekend my parents were going to the auto show, so I decided to take the kids and join them. One of the dealerships let me know they had some really great deals on used '08 vans so Poy and I decided to check them out the next day.  That particular dealer didn't have what I was looking for, but after doing a lot of internet shopping we found what we were looking for.

We ended up with a 2008 Chrysler Town & Country in Dark Blue.  It has "Quad seating" which means the mid section of seats is two bucket seats instead of one bench. This was a must for me. I just really like the quad seating better than a bench.  It also has a DVD player which was a total plus.  It wasn't a must, but it was definitely on our wants list. The radio is touchscreen and you can also watch a DVD on it when the car is in Park or off.  It looks like a navigation system, but it doesn't actually have navigation.  It also has a camera for when the car is in reverse, so that pops up on the screen.  It also has the Stow-n-go seating, so you can put all the seats flat into the ground.  Even better though is that when the seats are upright you have tons of storage in the floor.  My car has always been so messy and now I can just throw coats, blankets, toys and whatever else into those bins.  

The other day I took my kids and Carter & Callie out to stay the night at Grandmas. This was our first outing with extra kids and they had a blast.  The girls were in the front carseats and the boys were in the back booster seats.  They watched a movie and giggled the whole way. 

Here are some pics.  Most are dealer pictures, then I have some from our ride with all 4 kids.

Sophie watching a DVD with her Minnie ears on :)

Nolan watching a movie

Cousins enjoying the ride. 

Big Boys in the back seat

Miss Callie

Brother/Sister

We are Skiers!!

At the end of January, Poy and I took the kids up to Mt. Hood to go skiing.  We had taken Nolan 2 years ago, but he hasn't been since then and Sophie had never been before.  Nolan did a great job right from the start.  He needed help the first day on the rope tow, but he figured it out on day 2 and was confidently going up and down on his own. 

We have a harness that is made for teaching children to ski.  With both my kids, when they used it, they tend to rely on me to hold them in the upright position instead of holding up their own bodies.  It was very difficult for me to hold Sophie up and attempt to teach her to ski on the first day.  Although it wasn't raining, it had rained earlier, so it was very wet the first day.   By the time we went home I wasn't even sure I wanted to go back for day 2.  We were soaked through multiple layers of clothing and I was sore and exhausted.

We stayed at a resort that had recently been remodeled and it was very nice.  It had separate units with about 20 rooms per unit.  We were the only family in our entire unit. It was really nice to not have to worry about if the kids were bothering anyone else around us. When we got to our room after skiing, we all needed a very hot shower.  I was amazed at how long Nolan stayed in.

On day 2 we decided to have the harness on Sophie, but not to use it the way it is intended. We only used the handle on the back so that we could easily lift her up, but she was on her own.  This worked out much better.  We pretty much pointed her skis down the hill and told her "bend your knees and lean forward". Away she went and she did awesome!! It was so exciting to watch her cruise on down the mountain with a big huge smile on her face.  I just kept saying to the kids "You are a skier!!"  It was so fun.  I can't wait to go back.

Here are our pics. I only had a couple from day one because I had my phone in my pants pocket and it got wet. Lots of photos of day 2 though.  Enjoy!

This was the end of day 1... we were all exhausted.  They were begging to just go back to the resort.

Sophie was eating snow... she just couldn't resist :)

After her first independent trip down the mountain at the very beginning of day 2.  

We were both so thrilled!

Nolan and Poy waiting at the rope tow.

Although he did great, there were still plenty of tumbles :)

Daddy and Soph on the rope tow.

Smiley girl!

A great photo of my family!

Skiing down the mountain!

Sophie at the bottom.  She did run into that net a time or two!

I believe Nolan was attempting to taste the snow.

Daddy and Sophie skiing.

Poy and Fifi

Me and the kiddos

Can you tell who was taking the pics?  More Daddy and Sophie.

Nolan on the rope tow.

I can't tell if he's waiting for the right time to grab on, or if he dropped it half way up.

Waiting for the rope tow.

The Highlights of our day

Today was the first day that Poy and I are both on vacation and we had a pretty great day.  Here are the highlights. 

We had lunch at The Cheesecake Factory at Washington Square. The kids and I "shared" a pasta dish. Sophie actually only ate some of the chicken and Poy's rice.  She loves rice and always wants to eat all of the rice on Poy's plate. It's pretty funny 'cause he just watches the rice that he wants to eat disappear. Anyway, Nolan as always, was bothered by the color of the sauce. He only eats white sauce and due to the sun dried tomatoes the sauce was more of a pink. The very kind waiter brought us some alfredo sauce to pour on his though, so he ate a bit of that. We shared a slice of cheesecake with strawberries on top, Sophie's choice. It was pretty yummy.

After lunch we headed to the AT&T store and Poy and I both bought new phones. I bought an iPhone which I am excited to play with. Poy decided to get a simpler phone without any type of internet capabilities. He didn't think he would use an iPhone to it's potential, so he didn't want to spend the extra money. Plus, if he has internet on his phone, it's just one more way for him to do work stuff when he is supposed to be off.

This evening we were lucky to get some free tickets for our family to the Blazer vs. Wizards game.  Poy has a friend who works for the Blazers so he gets us tickets a couple games each season.  He was able to get us in the area that has food included in the tickets, so if you have a bracelet you can have whatever you want in this special area. They have a full buffet with everything from shrimp to top serloin. Poy had a slice of the top serloin on a plate and Sophie actually asked him for a bite. I found this quite surprising because it didn't look all that appealing to me, but she really liked it. It's funny to me because Nolan is so afraid to try new things and Sophie will try almost anything. She doesn't eat much, but at least she's willing to try different stuff. Anyway, both kids enjoyed some fruit, and a snack. Nolan chose a pretzel and Sophie had a bag of popcorn. This was Sophie's first Blazer game and she did awesome. She was so cute. As soon as the Blazer dancers came out, Sophie's eyes lit up. She watched for a moment and then said to me "Mommy, when I grow up I'm gonna be a pom pom girl." It was so darn cute.  When the blimp thing flew over us, Poy actually caught the "prize" ticket.  So, the first time we've ever won a prize at a game, it happens to be a CD from the religious music station! When the game was over we were so ready to leave we actually didn't even pick it up. The game was great. It was full of exciting shots and they won. Although I could have done without the snow on the walk to the car, we had a pretty good start to our "vacation" time. 

On Tuesday, we are taking the kids up to Ski Bowl and teaching them to ski. Nolan has been twice before, 2 years ago, but it is Sophie's first time. We will be staying at the mountain on Tuesday night and will go skiing again on Wednesday. Hopefully it will be a wonderful time. I'm sure we will have to practice our patience, that's for sure. I'm looking forward to seeing how Nolan does now that he's 2 years older. Sophie is quite the athlete, so I'm also excited to see how she does.

Here are some photos of us at the Blazer game 

"Is this pineapple?"

Today was all school health screening day at Nolan's school. I volunteered and helped out with the vision screening. The "perk" of volunteering for health day, was a free lunch that you could eat with your child.  I know I haven't ate in a school cafeteria in years, but I thought it would have improved, and when I was in elementary school I always had hot lunch and actually enjoyed it most of the time.  Now, I don't know if it has stayed the same and I just thought it was normal as a kid, but it has definitely NOT gotten better. I had pepperoni pizza which sat on a lovely bunch of french fries.  The pizza was probably some of the worst I've ever ate. I didn't even think of eating the fries cause they looked so limp and squished. It also came with a cup of "pineapple" although it tasted NOTHING like pineapple. So much so that I was asking the kids around me what it was. I asked Nolan to try it and his rule following response was "Mom, we can't share food". It had no flavor, and I love pineapple. It also had an apple juice and chocolate milk... although I don't know why kids would need 2 drinks.  I also asked him if he'd like a drink of my juice and once again I was told "Mom, you can't share drinks either".  He's so funny about rules. Everything is black and white for him... no grey areas.  Anyway, my "lunch" made me really happy that I have been sending Nolan with cold lunch every day. School food is not good. As lunch was ending and the children were being excused, I went to dump my food. I turned around and Nolan was gone. Darn kid went to recess and didn't even say goodbye.  

It just needs a mate

I finished knitting my first wrist-warmer tonight! I should have gone to bed an hour ago, but I was bound and determined to finish. I started it last night and finished tonight, so I'm pretty stoked about how quick and easy it was, and it turned out pretty good if I do say so myself :) Now I can have warmer hands but still have full use of my fingers. Yea!

What's the big deal?

I was fortunate enough to not have to work Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, or Christmas day this year. I am lucky that most of the people I work with want to work the holidays for the extra holiday pay.  Anyway, I worked last night, New Years Eve, from 6 pm-1:30 am since I had the other 3 off.  Anyway, I didn't go to bed right away, so I was up pretty late.  I woke up this morning and got myself and the kids ready for the day and we were out the door at 11:30 to go to Sophie's tumbling class.  I get to the gym and see that they are not open... luckily the kids didn't freak out cause they really hate when things don't turn out the way they expect. It was so cute though because Nolan says to Sophie in his nicest voice "I'm Sorry Sophie, I promise we will do something fun today".  So, my question is, what's the big deal about New Years Day? I really don't understand why so many places are closed. It's just a day... not that I'm religious, but Christmas and Easter are religious holidays, Thanksgiving is celebrating the pilgrims and the feast etc. but New Years Day is just the first day of the year.  Are we off so anyone who stayed out too late can sleep in and recuperate after a night of drinking? I don't know if I feel this way because Poy and I have always worked in a business that doesn't close or what... but I just don't get it.