Wicked!

So last week I went to see Wicked with some girlfriends of mine and had so much fun! Had a great Italian pasta meal at Buca's and then was amazed with the musical... so much talent. One of my friends attended the same school in NYC as the wicked witch of the west! She can sing too! It was so much fun and a great story line of how the good witch and the bad witches, of the movie The Wizard of Oz, became who the are. My friend Ali and I thought it would be so much fun to take our daughters who are the same age and friends too! So I took Sydney for her early 10th birthday present! It was so much fun watching their facial expressions as the musical went along! So much joy! Both girls are way too dramatic and love to sing and dance. It was perfect! Now I need to remember not to buy her anything else for her birthday in October.

I have to tell the whole story...we left early with plenty of time and it was a good thing! I was rear-ended on 405 south. And if you know the Seattle area, 405 either way is horrible to drive on at any time of the day, let alone 6:30 pm-ish! We got off the highway and exchanged information, we were all okay as we weren't going too fast when it happened, and made it to the musical only to be charged twice by the stupid machine for parking! So Ali has to deal with that mess and I get to have my van looked at to see if there was any damage underneath that isn't noticable to a woman who doesn't know anything about cars except how to drive them. Oh, I did change a tire once with a little help from a friend! We were tired, but we made it home safe and sound! What an experience we will never forget! Happy early Birthday Sydney!

First Day of Fall

This is what we did for the first day of fall...sprinkler jumping! 81 degrees and hot, hot!

Boys!

This is Taylor's friend Zoe's older brother, Tyler. He came by an awful lot this summer to play, as did his sister. He is a really nice, good boy, who is a freshman this year in HIGHSCHOOL!!! I finally asked Taylor if he liked her and she said, "Yeah". So I asked her how she found out, had he told her, had his sister told her? "Mom, it's pretty obvious..." was all she said. She doesn't like him any more than a friend, but in a couple of years she'll be in highschool...please don't grow up Taylor! I am not ready for all of this! Here they are rotating the tires on the go cart. I will say she looked like that all year long... since school has started this year though, she is making sure her hair is combed and looking nicer...she just never cared before. I'm in big time trouble!

Work Day

While everyone else worked outside... Taylor chose to do this! I guess you can choose to have a consequence or not, right?! Twelve year olds...ugh!

First Day of Preschool for Bryant

Bryant started Preschool officially today! I get two hours to myself! Today I am blogging, starting laundry and cleaning house! Last week he had two visit days to get used to the classroom and the other children. When I left him this morning, he was laying down on the floor hiding his face! Too funny! There was one child crying and the rest were quietly playing and Bry on the floor!

Oregon State Fair

What would the State Fair be without sweets and grease!? We were all feeling a little oily after eating dinner: Bloomin' style onion, Mount Hood piled high Fries, corndogs, Hawaiian chicken and rice/noodles and soda... mmmmm. This was Sydney's dessert choice, a huge lolly!

Bryant was a bit put off by the goats, not too sure what to do!

Nana had to stop the lady with the Llama so the kids could pet it, ewww!
While we were waiting for Nana, Dad decided to teach the kids a slapping hands game! Not sure if this was a good idea or not...
Bryant chose good old Cotton Candy for his dessert.
Back at Nana's house, Sydney and Bryant put on a show for us. The wood pieces are the stage and the wooden handle in Bryant's hand is his guitar.
Dancing with Nana.
Uncle John (Todd's younger brother) has been in Korea for the past year and was on leave before leaving for two years to Germany this week. He is in the Air Force. We hope to be able to visit him while he is there! Neither one would be serious for me!

Seventh Grade Attitude And All...

Sydney's First Day of School!

Today was Sydney's first day of fourth grade! First of all we couldn't find her backpack last night. We searched everywhere for it! I just found it at the bottom of the closet under the stairs upside down. The back is black and she mistook it for all the other black bags in there. Secondly, she came down in her new outfit and shoes complaining the shoes were hurting her feet! Ugh! I guess she's grown in the last month! Good thing we are heading to Portland this weekend where we bought them! She was like, "Bye Mom" and took off to line up with her class and that was that! She is all grown up! We are both happy with the teacher she has and can't wait for a great year!

Fruit Fly Trap

Directions for a fruit fly trap...

Find a jar or container. I like to use something clear so I can see if I am actually catching anything. Next you need some fruit. I have found tomatoes and berries to be very effective, something juicy. Then you need a piece of paper rolled into a cone, the hole in the end should be no larger than the tip of a pen and tape to support the shape. Then put it into the jar and make sure there is plenty of room and it isn't touching the bottom or the fruit. Then tape around the top of the jar so they won't slip out that way. They can crawl in but cannot get out. I love it! I've also tried putting saran wrap over a container and securing it with a rubber band, then poking holes in the saran wrap on top with a toothpick. We always have fruit too and it won't always fit in the fridge. Good luck!

Got 'Em!

I hate fruit flies! Look how many I caught in a half hour this morning! I put a blackberry, cherry tomato and half a small yellow tomato in the jar, finally got the right combo!