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| Alex won first place |
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| Alex and his friend Mason |
Birch and I have been laughing a bit at this cool 3-D shot. Doesn't it look like she is already a bit on the grumpy side? We've got quite a bit of drama at our house with just Alysee so I think I will be eating lots of sweet candies to sweeten her up a bit before her birth.
This is a really neat shot looking down at her head showing the right ear (which we were intentionally looking for any abnormalities) and her right arm and hand.
Tyler relishing cable network cartoons.
How long has it been since you have watched The Black Stallion? Alysee, Coop, and Nate were captivated by the horse. After the first leg of the show, Birch and I found that we were the only ones left watching it.
Alex is really honing in on his pool skills. We got a medium size pool table for Christmas so Alex has lately had a lot of practice. He loved playing on this regular size table.
After lounging around until about 3:00 pm we headed to White Pass mountain where the kids did some sledding. I stayed in the car with sleeping Cooper. Although the sledding wasn't quite as good as the kids have had this year they did have fun being in such deep snow.
Alysee said it was very tiring walking in the snow all the way up to her bum.| You Are An ISTJ |
 The Duty Fulfiller You are responsible, reliable, and hardworking - you get the job done. You prefer productive hobbies, like woodworking or knittings. Quiet and serious, you are well prepared for whatever life hands you. Conservative and down-to-earth, you hardly ever do anything crazy. In love, you are loyal and honest. If you commit yourself to someone, then you're fully committed. For you, love is something that happens naturally. And you don't need romantic gestures to feel loved. At work, you remember details well and are happy to take on any responsibility. You would make a great business executive, accountant, or lawyer. How you see yourself: Decisive, stable, and dependable When other people don't get you, they see you as: Boring, conservative, and egotistical |
| You Are An ISFJ |
 The Nurturer You have a strong need to belong, and you very loyal. A good listener, you excel at helping others in practical ways. In your spare time, you enjoy engaging your senses through art, cooking, and music. You find it easy to be devoted to one person, who you do special things for. In love, you express your emotions through actions. Taking care of someone is how you love them. And you do it well! At work, you do well in a structured environment. You complete tasks well and on time. You would make a good interior designer, chef, or child psychologist. How you see yourself: Competent, dependable, and detail oriented When other people don't get you, they see you as: Boring, dominant, and stuck in a rut |
So what have I been up to the past month?
Bowling...yes, I am a regular. No, actually I only ended up bowling a few times because Uti (aka uterus) didn't seem to be enjoying it that much.
Cooking...this was our Christmas Eve feast. We all love pizza!
Sewing...I'm actually not a big sewer woman. Birch primarily does the scout patch sewing and I like to save the rest of the mending for my mom--thanks mom! But we were in need of two more stocking this year. Actually we only needed one stocking but I figured if I was going to haul out the sewing machine I might as well make the baby's at the same time. I still have yet to hand stitch Cooper's name and the baby's--guess that will wait for next year. If you are counting we do have a stocking hanging for our baby Sara Elizabeth that died at 19.5 weeks gestation in 1999.
Cleaning...seems like there is always something that needs to be picked up, washed up, wiped up, vacuumed up, etc... Lately Cooper has added an additional angle to all the cleaning. Just as I set the table or throw something in the garbage he is scampering up the chairs on top of the table to swing on the chandelier or dump whatever I just put in the garbage onto the floor. This is the first week he has got to "experience" the mud room. Alex thinks we are mean to punish him with a timeout but it is so obvious that Coop is climbing, etc... in spite of heeding his parents' warnings. Could he be normal?
This past Monday Birch went with a co-worker snow shoeing. They both had a great time together enjoying a good workout and natures beauty. They ran into this snow covered cabin in the woods.
I love how Birch has really made an effort to keep in shape...it means that he will be around longer to give me massages, travel to warm places together, and enjoy life together.
Birch and his co-worker Eric.
Another long coming project that Birch and I have been working on is our new chore and behavior program. We have found a theory that we think we are really going to like but because of several things it has taken us a long time to get the program up and running. Birch made these boards and my talented sister-in-law did all the vinyl cutting for us. We have bought the chore and behavior cards through the company and have laminated them. Now we just have to hole punch everything and present the program to the kids. I'll let you know his it all works out.
I love this picture because it shows Birch's wonderful disposition with the kids. Look at the smile on his face while he is instructing the kids on proper ginger bread house construction.
Just so you don't think it was only the kids having fun. Birch also had a tough match of boxing against one of his brothers.
For the past several months we have noticed that our mini-van was in need of new shocks. Birch has always liked to do the car maintenance work and I have been grateful for his skill in this area. Unfortunately this story doesn't have such a happy ending. This is Birch doing something with the struts (I think).
Birch started this killer project at 6:30 am in the morning and didn't come to bed until 11:30 pm that night. In the morning I started out being a nice supportive wife knowing that this project was going to consume the morning (that is the time we had estimated for the project) plus it was going to save us about $100.00 from taking it into a quick repair shop.
By the end of the day, I don't think Birch would even have given me a thumbs up. After all the trips to the tool stores to by additional tools not originally projected, borrowing a neighbor's truck to do these trips since the car was not driveable, and then taking the car for a spin at 11:30 pm at night only to hear a clink clink sound. Monday Birch took the car to Les Schwabs where they quickly took the shocks off again (this is the part that took FOREVER for Birch because he didn't have the right air tool thingy) and then tightened a little screw the clink clink was gone. Even though the whole project ended up costing us MORE then if we had hired it out, Birch still claims that it was a good experience and he is glad he now owns a few more tools. In hindsight, I think I would have gone to the store bought him a gift card and then enjoyed the day together as a family. I'll have to remind myself that in the future.