What Month Is It?

Is it March or is it December? I think the weather is a little confused. This is what we woke up to today. It snowed yesterday off and on but it never stuck. Today it snowed until about 11:30 and then the sun came out and most of it melted. Now as I write this it is snowing again. I am ready to be done using the wood stove....my walls and blinds in the family room need a good scrubbing. Later in the week it is supposed to be 57 and sunny! Funny when that seems hot. They said on the weather channel the other day that this winter Seattle has had more snow than Denver.

Our New Addition

The Bear Family has a new member! Meet Zoey. She came to live with us today. Zoey is almost 8 weeks old. She is an English Cocker Spaniel. Her dad and sister live up the street from us. The puppies were born right after Christmas. They were so tiny, I could fit one in the palm of my hand. Brother Bear is beyond excited!!!!! He is currently laying by Zoey as she sleeps. Sister Bear doesn't really care except when Brother tells her to get away. So far she has only stuck her hand in the water dish once. Let's see how long it takes for her to eat some dog food.

The other dog in the picture with Zoey is her sister Lucy.

Brother Bear is 9

I can't believe that Brother Bear is 9!!!!! Where has the time gone. We didn't have a digital camera before he was 4. So I have posted pictures from his 4,5,6, 7 and 8th birthdays. For his 9th birthday we took him and a friend to the movies and out to Red Robin. Gramma and Granddad are here visiting and they stayed at home with Sister Bear. To top the day off we had cupcakes and Brother had his friend spend the night.

Happy Birthday Papa Bear

Happy Birthday Papa Bear!!!!! Today, the big bear is celebrating his birthday on a bus with the basketball team. I have been trying to age him. I keep telling people he is going to be 37. He so politely pointed out that if he is going to be 37 than I am going to be 39, and that is not true! So, I make sure that I remember that he is going to be 36. Since Papa Bear was going to be out of town for his big day, we made cupcakes yesterday and took them over to his office after Brother Bear got out of school.
A slide show in honor of Papa Bear!! Happy birthday, we love you!

So Long 2008!

Adios, Sayonara, Au Revoir, Ciao, Zai Jian, Tot ziens, Ha det bra, Yasou, Shalom, and Goodbye 2008!


(I googled how to say goodbye in other languages and wiki How provided me with a lovely list. We have Spanish, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Chinese/Mandarin, Greek, Norweigh, Hebrew and of course English. I didn't list the proper order though of how I placed them.)

Well, it is time to close the doors on another year. 2008 was an uneventful year in the way of big, monumental events, which was good. 2008 was a year filled with much health(except for the part where we all got the flu) and happiness in the Bear family home. We are thankful for our family and friends and wish you much happiness in 2009! So....hasta la vista!!!!

Snow Days

Well, Brother started Christmas Break a little early. We have snow and ice which makes getting to school tricky for some. Sister Bear loves the snow and constantly tells you she wants to go outside, especially when she sees her brother out playing. It snowed yesterday afternoon and it took Papa Bear almost two hours to get home from work, normally its about 25 minutes. Today we ventured out to the store to get some groceries just in case it stays pretty icy. The temperature never got above freezing today and it is supposed to snow again. We've had a fire going constantly which keeps our family room nice and toasty.

M & M Throwing

For fun we sit around after dinner and throw m & m's at Sister Bear in her high-chair. We had a bowl of m & m's on the table and Papa Bear started throwing them at her. She would just laugh and laugh. I had to shorten the video in order for it to fit on here. The full video is just too funny.

Lights!!!!!

We have Christmas lights on our house!!!!!! I am so very excited!!!! I've always loved Christmas lights. When I was younger we used to always drive around and look at the lights. I still do it with my family when we go back to California to visit over the holidays. This is the first time Papa Bear has put lights up on our house. When we lived in California he got out of doing it by saying that it wasn't our house (we rented) so he didn't want to put lights up. Then we moved and got our own house but we were gone a lot the first two years over the holidays and then when we were home, just didn't get around to it. So the other day Papa Bear had a day off and he said we could go see what lights they had left and he'd put them up. I was giddy!!! Off to Lowe's we went for the 50% off of all holiday decorations. Let's just say there wasn't much left to pick from. Across the street we went to Home Depot. Side note: it has gotten a little chilly here. Sister Bear and I are fascinated with the Weather Channel. She loves to watch the maps and I love seeing what the temperature is. Must come from all those years in California without seasons. According to the weather I have set for Brother Bears school it was 45 degrees with a feels like temperature of 38 and it was raining sideways. But there was my Papa Bear out there on the ladder hanging up the lights for me. Since he hung the lights up with pelting sideways rain, I think that asking him to paint the bedroom for me now might be pushing it a little bit.

Chocolate Hands

We had a Christmas party on Sunday evening and pulled out the chocolate fondue fountain. Well, there was a lot of chocolate leftover, so I dipped a bunch of items and put them in the refrigerator overnight. The next day I let Sister Bear sit in her high-chair and have a chocolate covered graham cracker. She really liked it but not the mess on her hands.....which she proceeded to wipe on her face.

Elf Dances

I tried to get the dances all on one post, but I couldn't get them to work that way. We've got the Disco, Charleston and Country Elf Dances.

Disco Elf

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Charleston Dance

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

My Turkey

The following was written by Brother Bear (grade 3) for school on how to prepare a turkey.

This is how I make a turkey. First, I go to Safeway and buy a large 20 pound turkey. I also buy stuffing for the turkey. Next, when I get home I wash my hands. Then I stuff the turkey with the stuffing and pull out the wishbone and make a wish. Finally I put the turkey in the oven and cook it for 30 minutes at 90 degrees. Then I take it out of the oven and put it on the table and then I eat it. That is how I make a turkey. The End.

So Sweet

For the most part Brother and Sister Bear get along pretty good. Sister loves Big Bird and Elmo. I let her watch Sesame Street the other day while I was making dinner and it was really quiet in the other room. I went in and found her and Brother just sitting in the middle of the floor watching Sesame Street. He was talking to her about what was on. They were going over the letter "Y". Then later they came in and laid on the floor and colored....well he colored and she made some marks on his paper.

If only they could be so sweet all of the time......

Soccer Slide Show

Soccer season has ended for Brother Bear and now the wait begins for baseball practice to start. We had great weather this year for soccer. Only two rainy games this season and not too cold. I think we had a colder season for baseball. Brother scored 21 goals this season. He has quite the skills on the soccer field. And I'm not just the proud mom. I've had parents from other teams tell me that he's a good player.