Just Words...

So, I'm using my new laptop (!) right now and I have an urge to do some sort of update on this blog of ours, but no pictures to put up. I'm still waiting for the Hubby to set that up so I can get pictures off our computer downstairs while being upstairs...What technology! If only I knew how it worked. :) We haven't been up to too much, but enough that I thought I'd jot down our latest happenings. First of all, Samantha just finished up a soccer class at the Issaquah Community Center. She's loved it enough that I signed her up for Spring Soccer, through the Issaquah Parks and Rec. I've never played soccer on a real team, or wore the gear, so I was just looking up what I need to get her, online. Now that we've got her signed up though, she's not acting thrilled about it anymore, although she said she'd try out this season and see how it goes. That's my girl! We went up to the Ensign Ranch a couple weekends ago to play in the snow. We stayed over one night in the family cabins and was only gone for about 24 hours. Short and sweet. Too bad I had to pack our whole house, I felt like! Seriously, going "camping" with children is so much work! Or going camping at all, actually. You need all the bedding, clothes, extra clothes, snow clothes, sleep stuff (stuffed animals, blankies, music things, more stuffed animals!) Yes, it's quite a chore. You also need food, drinks, cooking stuff, all the paper products, garbage bags, wood chopping and fire stuff, games, toys, the list goes on...BUT, it was fun! We got their Friday afternoon, unpacked, started the wood stove up, and headed out to play in the snow. Once we were frozen and wet we came in and I made some good old hot dogs and macaroni. The kids played and had fun running around upstairs and snacking on all the goodies we brought. We also tried to stay warm. The wood stove was small and didn't do a whole lot of warming. Not at first at least. By the time it was bedtime it had warmed up enough to not have frozen fingers and we crawled into our sleeping bags for a good night's rest. Well, Samantha and Parker did. I was up with Collin so much! I only slept a few hours that night. And, poor Jeremy was also awake for two reasons: 1) He knew I was up, so he got up with me. 2) He had to keep the fire going. It was freezing outside, which meant if the fire didn't stay burning, we would freeze! He even left in the middle of the night in the van to get more firewood at the wood pile. What a good guy. :) So, it was a rough night. We made it though. On the positive side of my lack of sleep, I was able to watch the snow falling all night and I had the warm fire to sit by. Morning came all too soon (or maybe not...) and we had our breakfast and headed back out to the snow. It was a beautiful day, with the sun shining and new fallen snow. Very pretty. We finally headed out around noon and took the scenic route through Cle Elum. We stopped in North Bend for lunch and made a pit stop for chicken feed and got our car washed before heading home. Great weekend! Tired, but fun! Another happening was the loss of our kitty, Cinders. She was such a great cat and LOVED being with us and snuggling with us. We noticed she was gone, which was so not like her. She's always stayed indoors or kept herself in our yard. She was gone about 6 days when Jeremy found her in a pond in the woods in our backyard. It had been pretty cold, so were thinking she may have stepped on it, thinking it was solid and fell in and drowned. Who knows? She didn't have any trauma or signs of being attacked or anything. Weird. We're looking to get a new kitty soon. The talk of a dog has also come up, but we'll see about that one. I think that's it. We've had two birthday parties that Parker and/or Samantha have attended last week. Both were super fun! One was at a trampoline place and the other had a bouncy house at it. Score! They loved them. Collin has been super talkative and I can pretty much hold a conversation with that kid. He's getting so big! He'll be two next month. I just can't believe it. Right now, I love that he ends every phrase or word with "ok, mommy." Even when I'm disciplining him and telling him to do something it's "ok, mommy." Too sweet. It's been a fun month so far. I'll get some pictures up next time! Happy St. Patrick's Day!