Long Weekend In Long Beach

After our wonderful Turkey Day we headed up to Long Beach, Washington for a long weekend. The weather was sunny, warm and perfect. We had a great time. Braley even took a very unexpected swim in the Pacific Ocean which she did not enjoy. At. All. Jayden, Braley and Ansen met up with Mr. and Mrs. Claus and discussed their Christmas lists. Barney even joined our family fun and chased a few kites on the beach. We are so thankful that we had the time to spend together(thanks sweetie for being in town for a whole week. We loved having you home.) Now on to Christmas!

Thankful

I really love this time of year. I love to contemplate all that I am grateful for and think over the past year and all that has taken place. Each year our lives have been so blessed that it is always emotional to realize the fortune and blessings we have received. So here is my Thankful list. I am thankful for:
***A hard working, fun loving husband. I give him a lot of grief about being gone so much but really he is doing it because of me and the mini-him's that roam our halls. He is the most entertaining hubby and daddy in town with all his crazy ideas and fun family outings.
***3 wonderful children. I can't imagine a life without the craziness of these little ones. They make getting up in the morning worth it! Motherhood is an amazing experience and I am glad to share it with them.
***Family and friends spread out all over this great country. It is hard (especially this time of year) to be away from everyone and so I am thankful for phones call, e-mails, blogs, and the good ol' United States Post Office that keep us in contact.
***Speaking of this wonderful country....I am thankful to be an American. I am awed and amazed by all those who sacrificed so much to build, create and guide a young nation so that it could become what it is today.
***My religion. It grounds me, centers our family and teaches the Principals of Jesus Christ. My religion is much of my identity.
***Our family's health. We are a family afflicted by every random health anomaly know to man. This year our ER and hospitalization stats dropped drastically and they no longer seem to know use by first name and policy number. Relief.
***My education. The experiences I had, people I met, friends I made and fun always had are just as priceless as my degree in Business.
***The Office, Lost, or Ghost Whisperer on the couch, in my jammies with ice cream. I'm thankful for a tiny escape every once and a while.
Finally...
***I'm thankful that this year we are going to eat at a restaurant for dinner. No clean-up! Oh and I am thankful for that Costco pumpkin pie in the fridge for later tonight. Happy Thanksgiving!

"Mama, Wook At Me!"

EVERYTHING Ansen does is prefaced by "Mama, Wook at me!" He walks from the kitchen to the living room, "Mama, Wook at me!" He takes a bite of dinner,"Mama, wook at me!" He goes potty in the potty, "Mama, Wook at me!"
Ansen also loves to tell you how much he likes what you are doing or wearing. "I likea your shirt", "I likea your hair", "I likea your driving." (hmmmm. I never hear that from Jason) So in an attempt to keep him so positive and just dang cute we are continually saying "thank you Ansen, I like your.....hat, shoes, blanket..."
Last night Ansen was wearing his favorite hat and I mentioned that I liked his hat. His response?
Ansen: "Mama, you likea my hat?"
Me: "Yes."
Ansen: "Look at my bum!" And he exposed his cute little cheeks! As if to say...you think my hat is cute? You should see my boo-tay! We all died laughing. He was so proud of his bum. He's full of the unexpected! But he IS right..he does have a cute bumper. How he correlated his hat with the cuteness of his little white bum I do not know. It just must be two year old logic.

Ahhhh*Chooooo

Whoever said, "This is the most wonderful time of the year" should have been more specific. For instance, "this is the greatstest season of all" or "this is the most wonderful holiday of all"...that I would happily agree with. This "time" of year leaves my nose stuffy or running, throat itchy or burning hot, chest full of junk and eyes tired. Yes folks, its cold season and I have one.
Here is a sampling of what our medicine cupboard looks like. The girls have been spared thus far--thank goodness! Jason and Ansen seem to be on the mend--yippee! So now it's just getting me better. I have tried a ton of cold medicines but I can seem to find one that really works well. Any suggestions? I would just love to be able to breathe through my nose without feeling jittery, tired or cotton-mouthed. I hope you all are well and virus free. If not, I do sympathize.
So let the Holidays come and the Colds go!

Salmon Fever

This weekend Jason, his dad, family friend Ben hit the lake to cool their salmon fever. They did some manly fishing. They didn't shower, ate junk food, made manly sounds without having to say "excuse me", and caught some salmon!!!!
Jason caught the biggest fishy. He brought it home and cleaned it out and cut it up with the kids watching in complete awe. Once the head was off it made the rounds and gave each child a kiss....nasty. They can't wait to have some Salmon steak. The only way they are going to have Salmon steaks is if Jason grills them outside!

Warning: Sucker Ahead

So I need a moment to vent. I have been stewing over this all week and I just realized that I can not go to church tomorrow without getting this off my chest. Feel free to stop reading now, I just need to throw a personal pity-party for a moment.
Last Sunday I was sitting in the foyer before Relief Society when I heard two people talking around the corner from me. This is what I heard:
A: "Welcome to our ward. I hear your family is new. Do you have any questions I can answer?"
B: "Actually, yes. We are looking for a babysitter for our son. We are gong to both be working. DO you know of anyone in te ward?"
A: "You should talk to Dana Widing. She is the ward babysitter. She loves taking in kids and I'm sure she's be able to help you."
Then person A gave them a ward list and pointed out my name and again said he was sure I could help and that I didn't need much notice....just give me a call a day or two before. ARGGGGGG! I am not the ward babysitter. I am the ward sucker! Really, I don't watch any extra kids except for Jalen and I have had him since he was 2. He's 5 now and I really don't consider it babysitting because he is just "mine" during the week.

Less than 5 minutes later I heard this from around the same corner. (Two men walking toward me--different people than from the above conversation)
A: We need to get Sister....to the doctor 3 times this week and 2 times next week and possibly once a week through Christmas. Who would be available to drive her?
B: Sister Widing might be available. Brother Widing is always traveling so she could probably use the company and she stays at home so her schedule may be open.

Right. Because when your husband is gone all the time and you pull 99% of the weight during the week and you have 4 (remember Jalen) kids and a dog and Apartments to manage and 2 classrooms to volunteer in, and 2 in preschool at different times and Relief Society presidency meetings, and Visiting Teaching, and homework, and oh yeah FUN to have with your kids and you still have to make a healthy dinner, bathe and tuck those kiddos into bed you just think, "hmmmm, I wish I had more to do."

Yes, I know I sound so awful but I can't do it. I know I can't but I can grantee you that when I get asked to help that pesky word "sure" will slip out and I will be kicking myself...hard. I am more than willing to share the load. Serve. And I am willing to help with a few doctors appts. and a day or two of babysitting but just not all of it. How do I let people know I am not a surefire option? Help!

Heredity

I grew up with a father who had a pretty serious "condition." It required all of our family members to help him whenever he needed it. Most of time it was really no big deal. It wasn't his fault that he had trouble. In fact, his older brother has the same "condition." Thankfully I had my cousins and family members to get me through some pretty embarrassing moments. When my dad and his brothers were to together we would all pretend like they weren't different, like people weren't staring. It helped to just ignore the issue. It was obviously a genetic trait that afflicted the Forsberg men of the family. Luckily my little brother was untouched by the condition. So I never thought it would affect my son. Sadly, it is not so. I am now the mother of a little Forsberg man and my recent observations have lead me to believe that I have passed on this "condition" without realizing it.
This awful, tragic, sometimes rather embarrassing "condition" is called: Colorblindness/Fashion Incoherency.
Exhibit #1:
So maybe heredity is much stronger than I gave it credit for. I guess Ansen had to have one flaw. Thankfully he has sister's who will never let him leave the house looking like the above picture. Me, on the other hand, I let him parade around the grocery store announcing "I dressed myself!" What a proud moment. So the days of "what color is this?", "does this match?" and "please go change" will continue. Grandpa Forsberg--I hope this makes you happy!

The Better To See You With

Jayden has joined ranks with Braley and just got glasses. I have never seen her so excited to have something in common with her sister. Jayden's teacher realized that she was standing to see the white board in class a lot and suggested we get her eyes checked. Sure enough, she now has reading glasses. She is thrilled...my pocket book is not. BUT she is dang cute and she is able to see the board without having to stand up. Jayden choose two pair. One "conservative" pair and one pair we call the "Hannah Montana" pair, because they are funky and fun.
I knew kids were supposed to be expensive but good grief!

Pure Magic

The Widing Gentlemen bestowed upon the Widing Gentlewomen the wonderful gift of invitations to Disney Princess on Ice Gala. Last evening myself and my two little Princess' enjoyed a fantastic evening involving Princess Jasmine, Princess Aurora, Mulan, Snow White, Princess Ariel, Belle, Cinderella, Tinkerbell, Goofy, and Mickey and Minnie. Our night was perfect. Our royal seats were so close to the event we couldn't have asked to be in a better place.
Princess Jayden most enjoyed Mulan and her celebration of "girl power" and being just as if not better at hard tasks than boys. Princess Braley could hardly contain her emotions when Cinderella made her grand entrance. The "ohhhhhh"'s and "ahhhhh"'s from her were so quiet and almost enchanting. The Queen Mother (that's me) loved seeing Mickey and Minnie and seeing the little Princess' see them for their first time. It was magical.
Where were the Wding Gentlemen? They were off feasting on pizza and climbing through mazes. We love the thoughtfulness of our guys. They gave us a perfect Princess and Queen outing. Our night was pure magic!

Trick-Or-Treat

Here are just a few pictures of our Halloween. The kids had a great time. The weather was perfect--no jackets, that is great for Oregon. The kiddos loaded up on candy. Way too much candy. Candy they will never see. Ever. They loved going door to door and I am sure they pet every dog within a 5 mile radius. They even met a friendly skeleton and a shy ware wolf. The Widing Trick-Or-Treater's remembered to say "Thank You" at each door which made this Halloween Mama smile like a friendly jack-o-lantern.





We also visited the Davis Graveyard in Portland. It's this great house that transforms the entire yard. Graves, a hearse, a grave digger, a Mausoleum, dark hooded creatures and all sorts of bats, spiders and other nightmarish creepers haunt this yard. Jason and I thought it was positively creepy while the kids just cried because they were so frightened. Mission accomplished. Next time they misbehave I am just going to threaten to take them back there and leave them with the black hooded creatures. Personally, I think they look like Dementors (from Harry Potter), but I don't think that is what they really are. They are just scary.
Halloween was dead perfect this year. We hope you enjoyed yours!