Back to It!

After all the Summer fun it was time to get back to the routine.

Beren Started 10th grade this year!  I am still homeschooling him, except in Math.  He is too advanced for my math teaching capabilities and takes math at a private Christian school, this year he is taking Algebra 2.

He attends twice a week and really enjoys it.  He has had the same teacher for the last three years and has made some great friends!

Eris started her Junior year of College this year.  She is now taking classes solely focused on her major and is loving it!  She moved to a much nicer dorm this year and gets along great with her roommate.  She also attends many clubs and has bonded with quite a good group of people.

Beren really misses her when she is away, he took full advantage of the Move in Day wait times to show his love for her!

Fall came up so quickly after school started and Eris was home the weekend before Halloween to go Pumpkin and Apple Picking.

The apples were all at the VERY tops of the trees, so we had to work for them!

It was a beautiful, cool, sunny Fall day, we had a great time together as a family!

The best most awesome and favorite Holiday of ours finally arrived, HALLOWEEN!!!

We just love everything about it!

This year I heard about a Zombie Paintball experience and knew I HAD to take Beren.  We loaded up on a train where everyone is given a seat behind a mounted paintball gun.  Then the train takes off and meanders through the dark and poorly lit trail when the Zombies start coming out of the wood work and you just blast away at them.

THE MOST fun Halloween activity to date.  We literally screamed and laughed the entire time.  It was amazing.  He and I then did an escape room and beat the clock, so much fun!

Finally the day arrived to Trick or Treat!  Mostly likely his last year and we will transition into Halloween Parties!

We paired up this year!  He found this mask and planned his entire costume around it.  He made the tail entirely by himself and painted the Mask (it was black when we bought it).

I though it would be fun to go as his dino trainer, which he had escaped from.

This photo is not too far off from real life actually!

The college campus has some great opportunities for shows, speakers and exhibits that are open to everyone.  I was able to check off a HUGE lifetime experience when my hero, Jane Goodall, came to the campus to speak.  Eris had planned to attend with us but at the last minute decided to go to a gathering with her friends.  I didn't mind at all, I am so happy to see her fully enjoying the college experience.  So off Beren and I went.

This woman is among those that have shaped how I see the world.  Her dedication and bravery is utterly indescribable.  I have read about her achievements since I was in elementary school.

She was very taken with Beren.  This moment of her giving him her full attention is something that I will NEVER forget.  A moment that he and I will cherish always.

There really are no words to express what this night, and this moment meant to me.

We stand on the Shoulders of Giants!

We Finished off the Holiday season with a very magical Christmas!  I must apologize, I was so present in the moment and enjoying the day SO much that I did not take many photos.

I did snap this one of Beren with one of his Lego sets all spread out as he begins to build!  I love this, it is just such an iconic childhood moment.

One of the big gifts this year was a new addition to the Household!

Meet Cy (short for cyanide).  Already a family favorite!

Honestly one of the Best Christmases we have had in years!  I am so grateful for the strength and resilience of my little family.  Our lives are so full and blessed!

With the Holidays over we are planning some fun, snow filled adventures.  Not to mention Birthdays and so much more, so stay tuned!

Summers End

Well what a great summer we had.  Beren started us off with a Bang!  He was a master negotiator at the firework stands and got some great deals.  He put on quite the display for us!

Then of course we enjoyed some S'mores.  I set up my grill with some briquettes and it worked out great!

Beren saved some of his Biology labs for the summer.  One of which was the dissection of a frog which he did with his cousin while she was visiting.

He was more squeamish than she was, she was all in there and loving it!

We made our annual trip to the local Art Festival.  It is one of our absolute favorite summer trips.

We are such a creative family and seeing all the amazing works of art in so many mediums is something we look forward to every year.

We must always get an elephant ear there.  They truly make them elephant sized at this festival!

It is kind of hard to see but the kids are standing in front of a drift wood sculpture of a Giraffe mom and baby on display at the festival.

We had so much fun, it just never disappoints!

We were able to spend some time with our friends on their big farm this summer.  They gave our dog Jackson a home when we had to move into a rental that didn't allow pets, which was such a heartbreaking experience for the kids to be sure.

But, we are so lucky that he is happy and loved.  And especially lucky that we still get to see him and spend time with him!  I am truly grateful to them!

In late summer I was sent on my very first business trip.  We were sent to Michigan for four days of training.  It was a very rewarding experience, I learned so much and brought back a whole network of contacts.  Overall a great experience for me.

The only hard part was the jet lag, I have never been through that before.  I took a picture outside one night and sent it to the kids and they sent one back.  Beren was so freaked out that I was in the future!

My photo.

The kids photo, taken at the same time!

Try as she did Eris was not able to procure employment this summer.  So she applied to volunteer at a couple of different places and was accepted at our local humane society.  She works out there four days a week cleaning cat cages and rooms, as well as socializing with them.  

To say she LOVES it is an understatement.  And it is a great way for her to get some experience for her resume!

Beren and I have been doing some fishing this summer.  It has been a great time exploring all the beautiful lakes and rivers nearby.  We have really enjoyed ourselves and have even been successful.  He cleans them on his own and I grill 'em up when we get home.

A big thank you to my brothers for teaching me most of what I know about fishing, so that I am able to pass it on to my son, love you guys!

Eris received tickets to see her favorite You Tube personality for her birthday.  The event took place in early September.

So to cap of our Summer she and I spent two days in Seattle.  We stayed in the cutest hotel on Capitol Hill.

She had a blast, I was totally out of my element but seeing her on cloud 9 was so worth it!

 We had coffee at the Starbuck Reserve shop.  It was insane!  We were sort of overwhelmed by how big it was.  There was so much going on.  They have three different coffee bars, that show case different things each.  

We definitely enjoyed ourselves! 

Now we are in a frenzy getting ready to head back to school, can't wait to share more fun fall adventures soon!

Spring has Sprung

What an incredible spring we had this year in the Pacific Northwest!  We had a lot of rain, which I love!  We also had some wonderfully bright, sunny, but not too hot, days to get out and enjoy this area I am so grateful to live in!

For Mother's day the kids and I took Nany to Northwest Trek just outside of Puyallup.

They house a variety of animals that are indigenous to the Northwest.

A big favorite were the bison!

We were lucky enough to get to see some brand new calves with their mommas!  Definitely a highlight of the trip!

Eris's favorite were the Otters.  They were also very fond of her.

They kept coming over to this rock to look up at her.  They may have been hoping for some treats, but she was smitten.

This sleepy barn owl was also a favorite, I think because we rarely get to see them out in nature on our own.

There was so much more to the park that we enjoyed.  It was a perfect day to wander through nature with family!

We stopped to enjoy a treat before heading back.

It was a great Mother's day!

With the weather warming up we are getting our hike on!

This was a new trail for us just outside of Bellingham.  A perfect warm up hike for the kids.  Not too strenuous to start, and it looped around.  For some reason they don't like hikes that are out and back, they like to go in a loop.

The trail had some really beautiful Old Growth forest.  It never ceases to amaze me!  I love that we can Always find a New area to explore.

We have had quite the congregation of Moths on our porch this year.  I have never seen so many, and so many different species.  Beren has been in heaven!  He found this amazing Beauty early one morning.  

I could not believe how big it was!

To finish up Spring and start off summer we celebrated Eris's birthday!!!

She has three years of college behind her with only one more to go.  I'm not sure I will ever get used to the fact that my baby is all grown up and heading out into the world.  She has really come into her own this past year though.  She has developed a sense of awareness and knowledge that is going to take her far in life.

For her birthday dinner she requested Bbq ribs and a "Fancy" pink cake.  I did my best to deliver!

I am getting much better at the grill and pulled off some pretty tasty ribs that everyone Loved.  

I only had to send one help me text.  (Thank you Auntie!)

The cake was the easy part.  Vanilla with Strawberry Mousse filling, American butter cream and a white chocolate glaze.  All homemade from scratch of course, even the toppers. 

(This is my happy place!)

Fancy & Pink!

Our summer is just getting started.  I hope the weather stays nice and mellow, we have some great day trips planned and can't wait to share them with you all!

Easter Fools

So our March very much blurred into our April with spring break, Easter and April Fools all happening at the same time!

This year for Easter the kids and I decided that they have out grown the traditional Easter basket, Egg dying and hunting.  So a new Easter tradition was born!  

We went Geocaching!  It was such a blast!!!  The three of us were totally into it, following the clues and we all really worked together to find it.  The cache was in the stump of an old growth tree that still had Lumberjack notches in it and as you can see giving it tons of personality!  We plan to do this every year on Easter.  It was great to see the kids accepting the changes in their life with enthusiasm and to see them embracing new family traditions!

As everyone knows Easter overlapped with April Fools day this year.  Eris is terrified of this holiday and as such we have never really been big on the practical jokes.  Beren, however, is really at an age where he gets a big kick out them.  So, I told him he could plan them as long as they didn't involve his sister.  He waited till everyone was asleep and put his plan into action.

I of course woke up before the kids to a quite and peaceful house and went to the fridge to make breakfast only to find................

Everything (and I mean everything) staring back at me!  The most adorable practical joke EVER!!!!

Before Beren's Spring Break his school celebrated Pi day with a Math Fair that included student led math games,  a buffet of Pies (one was even still warm!),   and a Math competition.

Beren won the Geometry competition and was deemed the 2018 Math Champion!!!  Pretty outstanding considering he is the youngest in the class by two years!!

Not to be outdone by her brother, Eris finished Winter quarter at WWU with two B's and A!  That is a 3.09 GPA!!!

It has been an uphill climb for both of them this year and it does my heart so much good to see them succeeding in their endeavors!

With Spring break finally over that means we are back in action on all fronts!

Beren is LOVING his Fencing lessons!  He is very excited to start participating in tournaments!

He is also taking an Art Fundamentals class this year as one of his electives and this was his first pastel sketch.  He was asked to find a photo of a sunset and replicate it.

He nailed it!!!  Even his sister, our resident artist, was impressed!

Sharing this just because!

The yummy Chocolate Graham parfait concocted by Beren and yours truly was as delish as it looks!

Our first weekend after being back to a full schedule after Spring Break and we needed to get out and let off some steam....

The trampoline park is THE place to go to get out all that pent up energy and stress!

Beren LOVES coming to my office!  Who can blame him, it's full of grown men with massive power tools who love to show him the ropes!

This masterpiece was three pieces of copper pipe that Beren got to solder together then grind off the rough edges.  He was super impressed by getting to wield the Torch and use what he called the "can opener of death!"  He is still talking about it and the sword, slash bazooka, slash knight stick goes everywhere with him!

All in all our Spring is off to a pretty great start!!!