Tae

You asked for it and here it is. For those of you curious about Tucker's new girlfriend, Tae, here is a picture for you. Tae is half Japanese, half Honduran. She is a Sophomore at the Univeristy of Washington and Tucker met her at his cousin Kelly's sorority--which of course tae is also a member. She is a very sweet girl and Tucker is quite smitten with her. The spend pretty much every day together. Dad met her when he came up in September and gave her two thumbs up. We like her too (when we get to see her). This cropped out of a bigger picture that Spencer took for the Sorority. Tae has had Spencer take photos for the sorority twice now and he has done a pretty good job (though he says he won't do it again because some of the girls "are not very nice".) So now you have met Tae.

T-Day

This year we spent Thanksgiving at our house with just our family, Oma & Opa and Tucker's girlfriend Tae. It was a small group compared to past years. I always make pumpkin pie and rolls (the same rolls we always had when I was growing up--Parker House). Dennis does the mashed potatoes and Oma brings dressing and Waldorf Salad plus relish items. Usually we cook the turkey on the BBQ but this year we did it in the oven and it was great. Spencer, by choice, is always in charge of table decorations. He makes place cards for everyone each year from the craft paper we have. These are this year's place cards. He always amazes me with his creativity. He got these leaves off the tree out in front of the house, dried them off (it was rainy & yukcky on T-Day) and proceeded to make these awesome place cards!
We weren't actually totally alone that holiday week. We had seven little visitors for the week. My friend Michelle was "fostering" a pregnant cat for a local shelter. The cat ended up having six adorable kittens a few weeks before Thanksgiving. Michelle and her family were planning on going to Florida for the week for the week of Thanksgiving and needed someone to watch all the kitties while they were gone. Spencer volunteered (he was motivated by the $50 Michelle said she would pay). Tucker was all for it because he had come to Michelle's house with me one time and met all the kitties and was totally like a little kid about it. So we had the kitties from the Saturday before Thankgiving until the Monday after--basically 8 days. Long enough for all the boys to get attached (well mostly Tucker & Cooper). They even named all of the kitties. These pictures are of a couple of the kitties in Tucker's vest pockets. The striped one they named Doug.

This one may or may not be Tolouse, Thomas O'Malley or Simba. There were three gray kitties (two that were identical--born in the same sac), and a tiny black & white kitty (Marie). Yes, most were named from Disney's Aristocats movie which Tucker & Tae had recently watched.

My personal favorite was Marie because she was the smallest. They were extremely cute, especially when they were in a feisty mood. We also had the mama kitty which we called Mama Kitty. They stayed mostly in the downstairs bathroom but we boxed in a section of the hallway outside the bathroom when we let them out to play. We didn't want them all over the house, mostly because they were major pooping machines. Cooper made the mistake of feeding them some milk one day--boy did we pay for that one in a major, runny way! So yes, the downstair smelled a little poopy, okay alot poopy, but it was still fun to have the kitties for the 8 days.

And no, we did not end up keeping one despite Cooper's fervent wish that we could. Despite their awesome cuteness, kitties become cats and we just were not into having another one! It was fun while it lasted though. Well not so much for Spencer as he was on kitty litter patrol everyday, plus he was afraid of Mama Kitty for some reason. For the rest of us though it was fun--even Dennis on occasion.

Last Meet

Yesterday was Spencer's last meet of the season for X Country. There were 10 schools at the meet. Spencer got to run for the JV team which was the next fastest boys after the Varsity team for Ballard. He was supposedly number 14 so he just made that. (There was a third race that was for all other boys who were no Varsity or JV). So every team there was running their top 14 too so it was a race of 140 boys. His last race last week he ran the same course in 20 minutes even.So, he was running with a faster group than he usually does and he said he could tell it and thought he had done a pretty good job. He ran the race in 19:17! That's a big leap in x-country. He was very excited because his goal had been to break 20 minutes and he sure did it. It was a great way to finish off the season. I think if he keeps running with a faster goup of kids his time will continue to improve.

I know I keep make posts where Spencer is the topic. Spencer would say that's because he is my favorite (not true). We don't see much of Tucker these days between his work and his girlfriend. Cooper is playing soccer but it is on Sunday and Dennis is the only one who has been going to the games and he has not been taking pictures. Both are doing well though.
Dennis & I took a trip to Phoenix a week ago and had a great time. We played golf four days in a row. We had a great time. Sadly I got sick while we were there. Not sure if it was a cold or finally letting go of the stress of the start of school and other things. Still sick a week & a half later.
Today would have been my mom's 82nd birthday. Not sure what I can say other than that.

Things We Did This Summer

Visited Idaho. These first to photos are by Cooper who went for photoshoot drive with Grandma, Aunt C & Spencer. I loaned him my camera so he could take pictures too. With one day of "rest" in between (acutally that would have been a day of work for Dennis & I) we were off to the Washington coast for the annual Chandler campout.

We actually got excellent weather this year for a change from the past couple years. The water was still really cold but that did not stop Cooper the boogie board king from being in it pretty much all day.

Home for a week of work then it was off to the central Oregon coast. Dennis got some trade for a free motel "suite" right on the coast in Florence OR. Famous for it's huge sand dunes & rugged coast line.

This photo was taken by Spencer near the end of a "moderate" 3.5 mile round trip hike. We actually didn't make the full round trip. We turned around shortly after he took this picture because we were concerned about the sun going down before we could get back. We think it ended at this beach you can see down below, but we will never know.

This was the view from the "middle" of the hike which is on the other side of the "moderate" hike hill that the first picture is taken from (again photo by Spencer)

This is the top of the light house that is in the middle of the "moderate" hike. (photo by Spencer)

This is the lovely beach you could see outside our motel window. We walked about a mile down the beach and back.

Spencer hamming it up (photo obviously not taken by Spencer)

Cooper's "island". It was gone by time we turned back to head the other way.

We were joined on our Oregon adventure by Dennis' cousin Barbara (taking the picture), her husband Darren (in the hat & white shirt), their son Christian & daugther Caitlyn. Since we have a free, 3 bedroom suite and they were headed home to California and planned to go through Florence, we invited them to stay with us. We had a great time. Darren joined Dennis & I for a round of golf at a really great course right near our motel.

And yes, we did try out the sand dunes. Maybe we just are the adventurous type because it seemed more scary than fun. We rented a four passenger dune buggy for 1/2 an hour, of which about 10 minutes of it found us stuck on a side hill fearing that the buggy would tip over. You really can't tell from the photo, but the front week is about a foot off the ground the back driver's side wheel was buried and there was about a four foot drop-off on the drivers side. Luckily we were able to flag down one of the rental guys and he came and got us out--after which we headed directly back to the rental place.

Back safe and sound at the rental place. Cooper & Spencer got a little neck jolt from Dennis driving us off the ledge of another dune. It really was deceiving out there. You really couldn't tell as you came up a ridge whether it would be a smooth slope on the other side (which you could go down) or a straight drop (which you couldn't). Not sure if going with driver would have been less scary as they drove like a "bat out of hell". At least we can say we did it though.

After one day of "rest" (another work day) we headed off to Riggins for our annual rafting trip with the Guidos. Always a fun time that never disappoints. This year the waves seemed particularly high and Bill soaked me every time (perhaps that is because I was sitting up front).

There is always fun to be had afterwards as well in the Guido's pool. Cooper could spend 24/7 in it. He entertained Laura and Spencer for about an hour throwing these littl rockets across the pool and having them race to bring them back to him. I was surprised at how long they played that game.

Cooper with the "rockets". They all had a great time and the weather was awesome.

And that is what we did. I know there is still a little bit of summer left for us, but I am back to work on Monday and it's a jam packed three weeks until school starts on Sept 7th so who knows if we will be able to squeeze in any more adventures in this summer. The ones we did do involved alot of driving, but we had a blast on them all.

Happy Birthday from Spencer

For my birthday in May, Spencer gave me a "photo shoot with dad" because "we didn't have any good photos of the two of us" and "since mom always takes the pictures we don't have any good ones of her". He also insisted that we "dress up nice" and he would pick the location. So Saturday he laid out some "choices" for me on my bed (which were all black) and I talked him into a little color and made Dennis change from the blue and white striped button up shirt to the plain blue one. (I thought with me almost in all black and him in tan and a striped shirt might be a little too much contrast or too much going on). We trooped down to the Locks and Golden Gardens. It was a little too sunny and figuring out the lighting was a little challenging for him. He took 98 pictures and only kept about 5 of them. The subject matter apparently wasn't too cooperative either. According to Spencer "one of you would be smiling or the other wasn't" So this is is first attempt. We are gonna give it another go probably some evening when the light is softer rather than midday like the first attempt. I put in the black and white version because the color is a little washed out. Not bad for his first attempt I think!

Movin' On To Middle School

Today was Cooper's Promotion from elementary school not Graduation but Promotion. It's the end of 14 years at that school which seems pretty amazing. The poor neglected 3rd child had a little ceremony with the rest of his 5th grade friends. This first picture is with his three best buddies Avery, Nick & Jack that he has known since before kindergarten even. We call them the 4 musketeers. All but Nick are headed to the same middle school where I work.

This is Cooper the ham with his principal, Mr. Floyd. He has been the principal for only two years of the six that Cooper has been there. In his time there he had 3 different principals.

Cooper was asked with a group of friends to present the 5th grader's "gift" to the school which was new basketballs for the school.

I added this one just for fun because it is Cooper again being a ham which pretty much is every picture ever taken of him. Parents from his school always talk about what a nice, fun kid he is and how much the love being around him. It's awesome to be the mom of such a happy-go-lucky kid. He really IS awesome!

I just threw this one in for fun. This is Tucker on the back of his truck with his good friend Justin. The back of the truck he just wrecked one Wednesday! Yes, it is true another vehicle bites the dust. Well actually it can be repaired luckily but it seems he is not capable of having a car for more than a year without doing damage. I can't really imagine what it would be like to be a new driver in a big city myself. I never got in a wreck as a kid, but I didn't have as much traffic to contend with of course. Hopefully things will go better for him once we get the truck repaired!

Still Not Much to Say

This is a picture of Cooper from last year when the kids who did crossing guard got to go to Wild Waves as an end of the year celebration. I posted it for lack of something better. Cooper is finishing up his last year of elementary schools and if I remember to bring my camera I might just have some pictures of some of the festivities in the future. Remembering the camera being the key point.
Spencer finished up the track season with two personal best times at the JV Track Meet. He ran the mile in 5:30 and the two mile in 12:01. His coach is expecting him to be one of his "top runners" in cross country next year.
Tucker continues to work (very little) and go to school (one class). In his free time (alot) he mostly hangs out with his girlfriend, Tae. He met her at his cousin's sorority and we have met her once when she came over for dinner. She is a nice girl.
What can I else can I say other than it continues to rain up here on a regular basis, although there are moments of sunshine occasionally now. Today appears to have been mostly sunny in Seattle. I say appears because Dennis & I went up north to play golf (for my birthday which is today) and the weather was not as nice up there--should have stayed down here to play. Although Dennis is a happy camper because he shot a record score today. Me, not so good. Oh well.
As to birthday celebrations, I have requested pasta for dinner and apple crisp for dessert. Mostly I'm just glad I don't have to cook. We WERE going to go to the Oregon coast for the weekend (then I really would have had some pictures to post and something to say) but I did mention that rain thing we have going on here so you can understand why we didn't. We will probably go some other weekend this summer when the weather may be better. I say "may be" because it appears to be shaping up as one of those rainy summers that we haven't had in quite awhile. Not that I am truly complaining because it beats the weather in the midwest by a mile. Tornados vs. drizzly rain--I'm fine with the rain!
So there you have it. Not all that interesting, but at least it shows that I'm alive!

A Post About Nothing (in particular)

I put in this picture from Spencer's track meet because that is the only new picture I have of anything to share. I didn't even take this picture myself that's how lame I am right now. There is a parent who goes to the track meets that tries to take pictures of lots of different kids. Spencer has had three track meets now and we have attended none. Why? Well because they have all been at a high school somewhere far away and the weather has been super crappy. So being the uncaring parents that we are, we opt to stay home rather than go sit in the rain for a couple hours. We stink it's true. Spencer is running the mile and the two mile. At his last race he ran his personal best and shaved 5 seconds of his last time. He ran the mile in 5 minutes 40 seconds. It's setting up for a really good cross country season next year. His coach says he is expecting really good things from him and can't wait to see what happens with him in the next year or two. I think he has found his niche'. Speaking of rain, can I just say that I am so sick of the rain this year! The weatherman reported that we had 3" more rain that for the month of March than normal. Now that might not seem like alot, but trust me it is when you have to wake up to it day, after day, after day with no end in sight. We have had occasional patches of sun on a given day but have yet to have a full day of sunshine. Rumor has it that we might see a change in the weather towards the end of the week but I'm not holding my breath for that one. I certainly has gotten old and that's all I have to say about that or it could be depressing!

Just to keep things random, Cooper has become and oragami fiend. He likes to get on Youtube and watch step by step instructions on how to make things out of paper. He has learned how to make some pretty cool things. If I wasn't such a lame mom right now I would provide a picture right here....but I didn't. I have actually given him permission to use the craft paper I have had for years and years just sitting on the shelf. I figure someone should get some use out of it. It also keeps him from using the paper from the printer. No mattter how many times I tell him to use the scrap paper, he is always pulling out fresh paper. The good thing is it is working his brain, spacial skills and hand/eye coordination in a different way than playing video games. (The penguin picture is in here just to break up the monotony of all the typing. They are Cooper's favorite animal so the placement is appropriate--just pretend it is really a picture I took)

He was just in a play at school (again no pictures--however some friends had their cameras so I am hoping for some photos from them). The play was The True Story of Dr. Jekyl & Mr. Hyde which was about as "true" as you can be in a 20 minute play. Big ham that he is, he got a lead role and played Dr. Jekyl. He did a pretty good job and projected well. His best bit was his evil laugh which I'm sure he would be happy to perform if asked. He also got a good laugh during the question & answer session at the end of the play when he called the boiler room which is in the basement at the school the "Dungeon of Sorrow" in a very dramatic voice (you had to be there I guess).

Tucker is finally back in school taking a pre-math class. I call it pre- because it doesn't count. It is the math class he needs to take to get to the math class he needs to take to get to the one that actually will count. Luckily he tested and got to move up two math classes so he didn't have to take four classes to get to one that counts. He seems to be ready to apply himself but time will tell. I volunteered him at Cooper's school to administer spelling tests to kids in Cooper's class twice a week. They had sent out an e-mail saying they needed help and I was thinking about taking one day a week from work to do it and then I thought of Tucker and what a good thing it would be for him to do. He such a good kid, he didn't mind me volunteering him and already did his first tests last week.

So that's the end of my randomness. Now at least I can come to my blog and not feel guilty because I have finally updated it. Whew that is a load off my mind!

Sigh - Tucker is 19

So very true. Don't know when it happened, but we all got older. Yes, I know I have about a week behind (his birthday was literally a week ago Saturday). I've got no excuses. We had a little family celebration which didn't include the usual Chandler Mexican fare. Tucker opted for Swedish meatballs and Caesar salad oddly enough. The nifty vest he is wearing in the photo was made for him by his Aunt Lisa similar to the one she made for her own son, James, for Christmas. He also got a new stereo for his truck, tickets to Comicon (or Nerdcon as Spencer was want to call it) and quite a bit of cash which is always useful for a poor boy like him. (Comicon is a comic convention which is happening right now as I type. A three day affair at the convention center featuring comic book authors, illustrators plus other Sci Fi kinds of thing--complete with people dressed as super heroes, Star Trek & Star Wars characters, etc. So yes, Spencer is correct in calling it Nerdcon). Tucker is currently working at Office Max though not as many hours as he needs. He is supposed to be looking for more work...or hopes that his old job at the Dirt Exchange will be available again soon (it's getting more towards construction season again so hopefully that work will pick up). He will be back in school again in April so he won't have quite as much free time on his hands as he does now. He's still a pretty awesome kid (if mom's are allowed to weigh in) though he is currently suffering from that self-centered, ego thing that lots of kids this age seem to have. This too shall pass I assume. It's hard to believe my little 6 pound 8 oz baby turned into this 5 o'clock shadow (well okay a day or two without shaving) boy!

I've Got Nothin'

I keep thinking I should update my blog. Then I think, "With what?" I could tell you about my new cute boots that made me fall 5 times at work the first day I wore them with the big brown bruise on my left knee pictured as proof. Only I didn't take a picture and how thrilling is that anyway.

I could tell you about our Christmas but pretty much the only pictures I took were from this day where we got our tree. I have none at all of Christmas itself.

I could regale you with stories of Cooper's comical basketball team, but I've only seen one game and don't have any pictures of that either. Although it is funny to watch them finally get "called" for things they have been doing for year--traveling, 3 seconds in the key, double-dribbling, stepping over the line when throwing it in. Really only a video could do it justice, but I haven't got that either.

I could tell you of Spencer's high school woes, but that's just a typical teenager story. Plus it would probably just add to his misery knowing it was shared. Suffice it to say, he will survive it all and look back on it in wonder one day just like we all did.

How about Tucker's school and employment constant changes for a topic of conversation. No, that's not really anything new either.

So lest you think life is all dull and uninteresting for me, here's proof that you can be surprised. Dennis spent this past week in Florida, which he pretty much does annually. On Friday, the day he was returning I got this lovely arrangement at work. The funny thing was, when it was delivered I was on the phone and ignoring it. Imagine my surprise when my co-worker looked at the tag and brought over to my desk. I was still wondering who could have sent me flowers (it's true). When I read the card I almost started crying. See Dennis rarely sends flowers (can't even remember the last time) so when he does send them it is always surprising and that makes it all the more special.

Maybe I do feel like I don't have anything interesting going on right now. The reality is while it may not necessarily be interesting, I've got everything. At least everything I need and that's what really matters.