Who needs the Partridge Family?

Coming to an arena near you...

Nolan the "Mr. Awesomeness" on drums

Nick the "quick fingers" on Guitar

Connor the "get your ear plugs" on vocals

And Kelly the "I've got a cramp in my wrist" on drums.

Yeah...you don't want to miss that show! :)

In all seriousness...we've been having fun jammin' together with our new Guitar Hero World Tour game. My kids are learning all the classics from my youth..."Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor, "Living on a prayer" by Bon Jovi, and sadly..."No sleep Til Brooklyn" by the Beastie Boys.

Good times.

Beautiful Autumn Day

We spent part of our Saturday at the pumpkin patch with some friends...

Thanks to this sweet little girl.

Olivia and her brother, Nathan, (who I wasn't able to catch on film...that kid is quick.) celebrated their October b-days at this HUGE pumpkin patch.

(Olivia and Nathan are Marianne's grand kids.)

Eileen, Stephanie, and Marianne enjoying this rare warm October afternoon.

Nolan taking a pumpkin break.

Nick also found a nice resting place.

Here's the whole crew headed for the corn maze.

Wow...all four of us in ONE photo. Amazing.

Hey, it's farmer Jay!

Have you ever seen a goat on a cat walk before? Nope... me neither.

Cowboy Nolan roped another one.


We couldn't have asked for nicer weather to accommodate our day at the patch.

All of the kids had a great time playing together, tromping around the farm, and munching on roasted corn and funnel cakes.

Good times!

Hallelujah for Brenda

OK...I'm feeling a little less than a stellar mom this morning.

My kiddos woke up to see two cute bundles of homemade cookies that my dear friend, Brenda, made for them just the day before.

When they spied these little gifts of sugary bliss their eyes lit up and they practically did a dance of joy. They begged me to let them open them up and try one even though they hadn't had breakfast yet. Being that I'm a total sugar-holic I caved and said "Of course, dig in!"

Now Brenda bakes the very best cookies of anyone I know. She's a baking pro. You should have heard the words coming out of Nick and Nolan's mouths. Things like... "Wow, this is the BEST frosting I've ever tasted."... "How does she make cookies in ALL these different shapes?"... and my personal fave from Nick "Hallelujah."

Now, I know I've made cut-out cookies with my boys before. But has it really been that long since my kids have seen a cookie cutter? Oh the shame.

Next time I go grocery shopping I will walk by the refrigerated dough section with my nose up in the air, scoffing at the array of "lame mommy" cookie dough that is calling my name. Next time I will get the mixing bowl dirty and crack an egg or two, and for heaven sakes I will dust off my cookie cutters so they can see that I too can make cookies into ALL kinds of crazy shapes!

Thanks Brenda for the fantastic cookies, as you can see they were very much appreciated!

A great weekend on the Eastside

What a lovely weekend it was...

The sunny drive over the mountains to see our good friends was punctuated by unbelievably beautiful fall colors.

Nick said the red and orange foliage looked like lava flowing down the mountain.

We drove into P-town with our little car packed with excited passengers, two scooters, and a bag stock full of board games...

It was going to be good!

Let the good times roll...

Just look at this cute kid, don't you just want to reach through the screen and give him a smooch?

Ha...I'm lucky, 'cause that is just what I did. Many times over!

Nick and Nolan had a blast playing with Spencer, Hannah, and Sienna. Here's Nick out front riding scooters with...Brad! I love the little pink number Brad is wheeling around on!

Hannah, Sienna, and Nolan take time out to smile for the camera. I swear I really didn't punish them and put them in the cage...although, this picture kinda looks like I did.

So, it's evident the kids had a wonderful weekend.

What about the grown-ups?

Well,

can you say "Molten Chocolate Cake served with raspberries and whip cream?" That is pure fun in a ramekin if I ever I saw fun.

How 'bout a serving of homemade chicken pasta swimming in a creamy, peppery, cheesy, plus bacon for good measure sauce. Served with homemade bread sticks and artichoke feta dip? Yeah, now you're really jealous... We ate like kings!

Did I mention my friend, Karen, is a cooking genius? Lucky me.

We managed to belly up (maybe our bellies were a little larger this time around) to the kitchen table again for an exciting game of Balderdash. (My personal fave...that I have to beg Connor to play with me about every 5 years or so.) We were laughing so hard at one point, I had to take a time out to wipe my tears away.

We ALWAYS have fun with this crew. It's so nice to have friends like Karen and Brad. Our kids get along fantastically and so do we. Can't ask for much more than that. I guess I just wished we lived closer together. I was bummed driving away knowing I wouldn't get to see them for a long while.

Thanks for making our trip so much fun. We love each and every one of you!

Move over Kenny G., Nick S. is in the house.

Last night, Nicholas was invited by his band instructor to perform at a local cafe.
His band teacher, Darin Motamedy, is a well known jazz musician that puts on concerts from time to time around the Puget Sound. He teaches at several of the schools in our school district and invited about 8 kids to play at his concert last night. Nick was pretty excited to be one of the four kids from his school chosen to play.

Check out their performance! They did a fantastic job. It's kind of hard to see Nick in the beginning of the video because my camera is crummy and because of his small stature!

We are proud of that kid! His grandma, grandpa, and great grandmother were able to attend the show and I'm sure they were beaming with pride as well!

Way to go Nick, all of your hard work and daily practicing has paid off!

~~~BOO~~~

I love our neighborhood.

It's a rare sort of place where everyone waves as they go by, even if they have no idea who you are...

Neighbors are always looking out for one another and lending a helping hand whenever one is needed...

People come together every single year for end of Summer BBQ's and Easter egg hunts...

Nick and Nolan's neighborhood highlight happened just last night. The door bell rang and when they opened the front door they were greeted by a big Halloween bag jam packed full of candy, glow bracelets, skull necklaces, Halloween stickers, cute kitchen towels, and a pumpkin candy dish. They were jazzed! We had been "Boo'ed"!!

This little tradition starts each October and slowly spreads throughout the entire neighborhood. Once you've been "boo'ed", you have two days to "boo" two other families. Pretty soon soon all the doors in our neighborhood are sportin' ghostly signs on the front announcing they have been "boo'ed". It's a lot of fun.

So last night, after poppin' some skittles, Nick and Nolan began contemplating who could have boo'ed them and plotting their booing tactics that would be put into action in the following days.
They love sneaking around the 'hood at night secretly placing the goods on the front porches before ding dong dashing away. Their adrenaline pumps as they hide behind cars and trees. They like hearing the families squeal with delight when they find the loot that they have just left behind.

It's a fun tradition that my kids will fondly remember from their childhood. Just another one of many wonderful things I truly love about this place in which I live.

Donut Friday Round One

Just a shout out to my pal, Karen.

Thought you might like to know that we have followed in your footsteps. The boys and I just enjoyed our first "Donut Friday".

You should've seen the looks on their faces when I told them we would be going out to get donuts for breakfast. I think they thought their mom had been replaced by a donut loving alien or something. So, off to the supermarket we ventured to pick out our favorite donut, then we piled back into the car and headed off to school. We sat in the parking lot munching away happily between swigs of O.J.. We chatted for about 15 minutes more about everything under the sun.

Thanks, Karen, sharing your "Donut Friday" tradition. It was a fun and delicious time well spent with my kiddos!! They think you are AWESOME!

Why?

It's been a year since I started this blog of mine.

Many times after telling someone about my blog, they ask "why do you have a blog?"

In the beginning, I started out with the notion of spinning tales of my family life and keeping in touch with friends and family. Especially those I rarely get the chance to see.

It's been a fun way to document the craziness I like to call my life. After all, I am the blessed mother of two boys. I've received a lot of comments from people who say they love to check in to see what's going on with us. And that makes me happy.

It makes me happy to keep in touch with friends and keep the family up to date on Nick and Nolan's affairs. But one of my very favorite parts about this whole blogging thing has got to be the wisdom and inspiration I've learned from some other bloggers out there. I probably have about a dozen blogs I frequently read and it's not unusual for me to be moved by something they have written.

I've learned about some amazing families that have uplifting tales of strength even though they are facing insurmountable sorrow. I have kept in touch with one of my favorite people in the entire world who is always a source of happiness for me. She makes me laugh, makes me think, makes me proud, and makes me glad to know I will always have her as a dear friend. I've met others who have opened my ears to great new music, and I can't even begin to list how many times I've read stories from other moms that have brought a smile to my face.

I didn't even think about this benefit to blogging when I started out. I like that I often come away feeling uplifted, refreshed, and inspired by what I have read.

Keeping a record of my life's little hurdles, knee-slapping laughs, memories, and it's ongoing journey is what keeps me typing away on this here keyboard. I like reliving moments from past years and being able to share what today has revealed. It's fun and rewarding.

And so that is why.