The Dalles: Hub of the Northwest (yikes, really?)

What a Kramer-Krazy weekend!

We drove through rain, hail, sleet, snow, and tsunami (okay not quite) to hang with Anton's brothers for the weekend in The Dalles (new home to Chris, Heidi, and Maria).

Mom and Dad K joined us as well. It was chaos with a few moments of extreme silliness (as you can tell by the pictures) and overall a roaring good time.

Monica, Maria, and Anja were like conjoined triplets, dividing their time between soccer in the yard with their dads, Polly Pockets, and the "jumping couch." The rest of us talked, laughed, sang, and most of all: ate. Despite my morning run on Saturday, I probably put on 5 bonus pounds. Maybe what we eat in Oregon, stays in Oregon... no pounds added!

Tired after today's long car ride and glad to finally have the kids in bed, Anton and I are now sitting on the floor of the family room in our sweats. We just made a big plate of nachos which we are eating while watching all the sports from over the weekend that were saved on the Tivo. Ah, vacation. What's a few more pounds? I'll eat healthier in '08 (maybe).

HO HO HO

Merry Christmas!

Here are some photos from our Christmas. Monica left Santa TWO chocolate truffles and milk, which were gobbled up sometime in the night. In return for his snack, Santa generously left a Polly Pocket Bus for Monica, to which she exlaimed: "He knew JUST what I wanted!!!" Jack got a turtle and mallot. You whack the buttons on the turtle's back until they're all pushed in and then the turtle's head pops out---- OK now that I'm describing this it sounds pretty sick and deranged but actually it's a pretty cool toy. Jack prefers to push the buttons with his fingers, but oh well. Despite being tired from Great Aunt Elizabeth's bash on Christmas Eve, we all enjoyed festivities at Great Grandma Hazel's in the morning and Great Nana Josie's in the evening, (Although I had to catch a quick nap on grandma's couch between events!) On the 26th we saw more of the Kramer side. It was pretty low-key until Mom K whipped out some new game where everyone around the table has to answer questions about sex and relationships. After that I just kept going to the wine bottle. Things sure have loosened up in the 10 years I've been around this family!!!

Favorite gifts of '07?

Monica is Polly Pocket and Dora crazy.

Jack has an assortment of new toy cars that he LOVES to push around.

Anton has enjoyed several episodes of The Muppet Show on DVD.

And me? With every swig of Mountain Dew I am loving my new Dew-logo drinking glasses... thank you Auntie Dorothy!!!!

Ain't it fine to be 29!

"Ain't it fine to be 29!"... It seems like yesterday that this phrase was written on a surprise birthday party invitation for Chris and Greg's 29th birthday, held down in Oregon. It was a twin party, so Anton and I dressed alike in jeans and blue polo shirts. Too bad I don't have a scanner or I could post a picture from back then... I think it was February of '98!

I celebrated my own 29th birthday in fine Husky style. We beat Cal State Northridge decisively, which put Dad and I in a good mood for the rest of the day. Ryan Appleby didn't give me my 3-point birthday present though. :(

I also enjoyed sleeping in, waffles with the kids made by Anton, and shopping at my favorite store (Kaufer's) all prior to the game. After the game we had dinner with my parents, Grandma, and Janet... whose birthday is the 23rd so she and I have always been birthday-buddies. Monica particularly enjoyed the cake and ice cream and helping Janet and I open presents.

My "big sis" Sara sent me a card containing a sticker that said something like "I am the sister of a generous, thoughtul person" or something like this. Then she dared me to wear it on my birthday... HA! Not only did I wear it EVERYWHERE, it was documented on camera, as you can see. Geezz... challenge me, why don't you? :)

Friday night Monica made a gingerbread house with Nanie and Grandpa Gordon while Anton and I went to the JFK staff Christmas party. This year they really went all out and even included gingerbread cars with peppermint wheels!

Today was a slower day, thank goodness, as we gear up for the next round of festivities!

Monica watched the Nutcracker on TV , interrupted by spurts of her own ballet moves.

She seemed horrified when Anton and I did a little ballet of our own, insisting that to do ballet correctly, you have to wear a skirt!

Build a Bear (or a Dinosaur)

Today was another Christmas adventure. Erica took Monica and Kyle to Build-a-Bear workshop in Bell Square to create their Christmas presents. Monica chose a pink bear and picked out a pink ballerina outfit with pink ballet slippers as well as an additional pair of pink tennis shoes. She named her bear "Dora." When she approached the the cash register, the lady asked her "So, what's YOUR favorite color?"

Kyle, on the other hand, picked out a green dinosaur and dressed him in a spiderman outfit with brown sandals. He named him "Diego." I think the sandals really complete the outfit, don't you?

This evening we exchanged Christmas presents with the Martins in our PJ's. It was just like old times: sipping hot cider and chatting while in pajamas... all except for the 4 kids running around. :)

Party Like a Presbyterian

I have to say that the cuteness factor was off the charts today. Monica had her preschool Christmas "concert" today. All four grandparents were in attendance with cameras in hand. The kids started off with "Baby Jesus"-- cute little song I hadn't heard before (well, outside of the fact that Monica and Kyle have been practicing various pieces of it since HALLOWEEN), then Twinkle Twinkle, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, and Jingle Bells with very long pauses for each child to finish his/her exhuberant "HEY!"

Monica's class then returned to their classroom to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus, eat cake, and have a book gift exchange (Monica got "The Velveteen Rabbit").

I couldn't be happier with our choice of schools for Monica if I was a Presbyterian myself. It is well-organized, caring, and professional. Too bad it doesn't go up to high school. Monica loves Teacher Shauna and Teacher Kelly and has made several friends in her class. And of course buddy Kyle is right across the hall, which is a plus.

This afternoon was a bit of a 3-ring circus, as we had the Martin boys here and none of the 4 kids seemed to be in sync in terms of rest, food, etc. Oh well. I finally just downloaded a rockin' version of "Up on the Housetop," turned it up full volume, and we had a dance party for quite a while. Everyone was much happier after that, especially me. :)

Dad and I blew off some steam tonight at the UW coaches' radio show broadcast from Anthony's restaurant at Shilshole. We ate dinner inches away from asst men's coach Cameron Dollar and head women's coach Tia Jackson as they were interviewed. The men had a good win over PSU last night, so I'm hoping that bodes well for the upcoming weekend. "All I want for my birthday is a Husky win..."

Laundry Strike

That's it! No more laundry! I QUIT!

Okay, not exactly, but as we speak my husband is currently dissecting our dryer.

Me: "Are you having fun out there, dear?"

Anton: "Well, you could call it that."

Please, I know he's enjoying this.

I am just going to enjoy the fact that after this (god willing) I will be able to run the dryer without a horrid screetching noise that sounds like something out of Halloween 3. Seriously, it's gotten so loud I was afraid the neighbors might call 911 to report a domestic disturbance. We have had to organize our laundry routine so that we do a wash load while we're home but then turn the dryer on right as we are leaving so that we aren't home to hear the noise. Assuming that my competent husband can put all the pieces back together that are currently littering my kitchen floor, we should be back in business tomorrow.

Who ate my gingerbread?

Cardinal sin: Anton ate the gingerbread man that Monica had been saving. Whops. This error resulted in several tears last night. So thank-heavens-for-nanie... Monica and Nanie K made gingerbread men and gingerbread bears this morning and this evening she and I had fun decorating them. Monica resisted my urge to cover them in purple and gold sprinkles in the shape of basketball jerseys. We went with the Christmas sprinkles instead.

I've never gotten very into this Christmas baking stuff. Maybe it's because I'd prefer that my husband bakes so I can eat! I do enjoy Christmas cookies... as long as they don't contain nuts, mint, fruit bits, excessive spices, or anything else yucky like that... other than that they're great.

We've finally arrived in the blogging world

Mon Dec 17:

Well here we are in the world of blogging. I'm not sure how this is going to go. My friend Jill inspired me, as did her sister Suzi, who are both devout about their posting. Realistically I can't say I will be as good as they are, however I'm sure if the Huskies have a particulary decisive victory, you'll hear from me.

At first I thought "why would I have a blog?" All our family and friends live here (for the most part). We see everyone frequently, since our house is practically like a dorm. But I thought people might enjoy some of our more humorous day-to-day moments. I also thought how fun it will be for us to have a more detailed documentation of our lives, especially since the kids seem to grow up so fast. I'm probably crazy to start this, as I already have enough on my plate to keep 5 people busy. Oh well. Dr. Phil has been going downhill these days, so I might as well blog on the laptop while I watch.