HI

We are having a great time in Maui.  The kids loved the submarine trip, but Blake was bummed we didn't shell out the big bucks for the real submarine tour where all of the ship went underwater.  I could bob up and down in these waves forever.   Those sea turtles know how to put on a show.

Archaic

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It hit me yesterday, that blogs are dead.  What am I supposed to do?  I have my whole family history on this blog and I am not sure I want to share it daily with everyone on Facebook.  I don't Twitter or Instagram so I am going to wait.  I am going to wait until something comes along that revives the blog and has magical coding fairies to take all of my past posts and carry them to the new platform unscathed.  

Access Denied

My children were out of control so I texted Andrew and asked permission to ban all movies, video games, and tv shows for the month of January.  He said yes and I am the happiest mama on the block.  Blake has never learned how to transition off of media so this has been a breath of fresh air.  I wish I could pull the plug forever, but I know the lesson of self-regulation is an obvious need.  I myself do not believe in potty charts with gold stars or toys used as carrots, but instead try to foster a conversation about the issue (plus lots of rags and carpet cleaner).  It isn't working on either end so I am going to need to find that middle ground for Blake and his siblings.  I wish the boy wanted to throw a football in the backyard!

Richmond Beach

We had our RV winterized a bit up North so we stopped at Richmond Beach to see what it was like.

Wow, kids are lucky to have this vista while swinging:

Two jellyfish Blake poked to pieces:

Blake taking family photos:

Driftwood a plenty:

We have a view of this beach so it is fun to look back and see where we live.  We couldn't make it out, but it is the middle landmass:

Crushin'

Mr. Probz

My new crush.  Do you think Andrew would let me write to Mr. Probz to ask if he could come sing lullabies to me before falling asleep each night?

That might not be appropriate, but a girl can dream.

I wish I had invented his outfit.

Get Outta Our Way

The grocery store goes like this: pumpkins, turkeys, santas, then the 12th Man January arrangement outside.  This is so exciting to have gotten this far again.  Die Green Bay, die! 

Self Stamped

I made a card for myself today.  I don't care if the Seahawks win the Superbowl, but So Help Me God, they better beat the Packers on Sunday.

Salt Water & Cream Cheese

I sometimes buy those variety boxes of crackers.  I eat the darker, sweeter crackers first.  Then come the buttery ones.  Left behind are the salt water crackers.  They sit on my shelf for months before I toss them into the compost bin without even giving them a chance.  My kids were finishing their mini bagel and cream cheese snack when my shoulders drooped a the empty bag of bagels.  There weren't any left for mom and I really wanted to eat cream cheese.  I looked in the pantry for a substitute bagel and caught glimpse of that lone bag of crackers. 

New Year's Favorite New Snack, 2015

Recipe:

Old bag of salt water crackers

Cream Cheese

-smear cream cheese on crackers & drink your fifth glass of iced tea for the day

Willamette University

I found a Willamette University sweatshirt at the thrift store a few weeks back.  This made my father happy because he spent his Freshman & a bit of his Sophomore year at Willamette University in Salem, OR.  We visited the campus on our California/Seattle trip back home so I could see where he enjoyed his Kappa Sigma days.  The campus is fabulous and I still think it is funny that he started out at a Liberal Arts College with 2,000 people (400 total back in his day).  He enjoyed transferring to San Diego State to study Math and Economics.  The campus is beautiful, but comes with a $54K/year tuition price.  

Blake ran around the campus like a streaker (but with clothing on).

My dad's dorms.

View of the library.

2014 into 2015

Okay California, we did what we came to do and it is time to get back on the road to head North.  Two sets of family (we haven't imported the Burton photos yet) and great friends along the way made this trip memorable.  2015 here we come...

Uncle George and George Jr. were nice enough to watch the Oregon State game with me
 to teach me the ins and outs of football.