Cornhole and Smores

We had a nice Sunday evening at home. Papa finished putting the finishing touches on the cornhole game. For Christmas, David and Nicole gave us the makings for the game. Nicole made the bean bags for us in Angel red and Dodger blue. We had some friends come over for dinner and a little bit of cornhole. Afterwards we got out our fire pit and had some smores. Sister Bear said she liked camping.

Here are a few rules and terms for playing cornhole.

1. Decide who goes first. This is usually the ugliest person.

2. Clean the area of debris, especially dog poop

3. Cornhole, Holer: A bag that ends up in the hole.

4. The Great Cornholio: A person that throws 4 bags in the hole. All present are required to bow down to this cornholer.

Princess Party

Sister Bear had a little birthday party at our house the weekend after her birthday. She wanted princess plates and napkins and to paint her toenails. So that is what we did. She had 3 friends over last Sunday afternoon for cake and ice cream. This time the cake was chocolate with pink icing and two of her princess figures on top. I'm not sure what happened with the cake this time. The cake started splitting after it was frosted. Oh well, they just wanted to eat it. The girls did a little craft and then they all had their toenails painted. Brother Bear disappeared with the brothers of Sisters friends and we didn't hear a peep from them until it was time for cake. When the cake was over they were gone again. After cake and ice cream Sister opened her gifts and gave each of her friends a hug. She's not a huggy person to other kids so it was pretty funny. Papa said he didn't think that he would ever be surrounded by so many Barbies or princess figures. After everyone left Brother and Sister played so nicely together. Later that night Sister told me she really liked her princess party.

Humor

What does a green light mean?

Go

What does a red light mean?

Stop

What do you put in the toaster?

BREAD

not toast which is what some people say.

What do you get when a big brother teaches this to his little sister?

A little sister who repeats it to her mom ALL DAY LONG!!!!!!!!!!!!

She's 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Sister Bear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Can't believe our little girl is 3 years old already. I can still remember Brothers 3rd birthday like it was yesterday. Sister was very excited for her birthday. She knew what day it was and every time she heard someone say April, her ears perked up.

Sister wanted Minnie Mouse for her cake. There was a serious back and forth between Princesses and Minnie, but in the end Minnie was victorious. She picked out her cake mix at the store. Funfetti. So I made a funfetti cake with pink frosting.

After Papa got home from work she opened her presents. Then after dinner it was yummy cake time!
Lucky Sister she gets two cakes. Next weekend we will have a little birthday party at the house with a few of her friends.

Sounders Game

The weather on Wednesday was great.

The weather on Thursday......not so much!
We were headed out to the first Sounders game of the season.

Qwest doesn't have a roof like Safeco does.
Oh well.

The drive to Seattle was mostly drizzle.

By the time we got to our seats, which were four rows back, it was raining pretty good.

I brought some bags to put on our seats. We didn't need them. People stood the whole time.

Poor Sister, she couldn't see.

But she was a trooper, eating her way through first half of the game and trying to collect the big pieces of sparkly confetti which falls from the sky.

I brought sandwiches which we had to eat fast so they didn't get soggy.

We were given club level passes. So at halftime we went up to the club level which had an inside restaurant and big viewing area.

Dry.

Warm.

But we weren't four rows back anymore and couldn't hear all the chanting and cheering.
Dry and warm though!

Sounders win!

On the walk to our car we encountered a very LONG freight train we had to wait for.

Brother tried to sleep in the the car on the way home but Sister talked the WHOLE way home.

First Game as an Angel

Brother Bear is playing for the Angels this year!!!!!!

He (and I was, too) was very excited for that the Angels were going to be his team this year. Well, the Angels are his team every year but this year he is actually playing on the Angels. Sister and I will be be well outfitted as we cheer on Brother. We have plenty of hats, t-shirts and sweatshirts. I saved some of Brothers old t-shirts, so Sister is able to wear them.

Just like last year Brother is playing catcher. There isn't anybody else on the team who wants to play catcher. This means Brother will get to play that position most of the time.

The day was great for the Jamboree Games. SUNSHINE!!!!!! Sister and I didn't even wear a jacket or a sweatshirt! Some of Sister's friends are gone this year. The boys moved up and had to go through the draft again, which broke up the little sister gang of the Blue Jays. That's ok...Brother is an Angel!

Basketball weekend

We spent Friday and Saturday night at Papa Bears work for the last two basketball games. Friday was Think Pink Night. Brother sported a pink polo and was looking pretty spiffy. Sister had on a dress with her pink sparkle shoes and every necklace she owns. On Saturday night the guys all gave Brother a card with a gift card in it. Sister enjoys helping out her dad too. She pulls coolers and puts ice bags in the coolers.
Brother ended up not feeling well Saturday night so he didn't help past halftime. He went into the training room and laid on a table and watched tv.

Ladies Man

This past weekend Papa Bear had to go to Eastern Washington for basketball. Its about a 5 hour drive. They left on Thursday afternoon. Brother Bear didn't have school on Friday because of Presidents Day so he was allowed to go along. Every once in awhile he gets to go on an out of town trip with Papa. Brother is Papa's helper on the bench, passing out water bottles and towels. I went to get him early from school on Thursday. He was pretty excited to miss the Valentines party in his class. He didn't miss out on the valentines though! The women's team travels and plays the same schools as the men's team. They came prepared with Hannah Montana valentines for Brother.

I don't think he's too embarrassed....he's smiling.

No Snow

No snow.

This is the first year since we moved here in 2005 that we haven't had any snow.

We don't get alot of snow here, so I think it's still fun and exciting when we do get snow.

The kids are bummed.

Their aunt gave them this awesome snow paint to use.

It's been put in the closet.

Maybe we'll get to use it this winter.

We might just have to save it for next winter.

Guess for now I'll just have to look at old pictures of the snow.

Stickers

We went to the store the other day and the kids got these stickers from the checker while we were in line. They stuck them on their foreheads and just laughed and laughed. Sister would take hers off and check if her eyebrows were still there. Brother said he had a uni-brow and then asked if there was such a thing.

Broken Comb

Papa Bear did Sister's hair the other day. For those of you who have never seen Sister when she wakes up, the back of her hair is a rats nest in the morning. I use a detangler spray on her hair when I comb it out. I don't think Papa knew that. So, he set about to do Sister's hair.

I am in the other room and I hear "oh no you broke the comb." Her rats nest was so strong it broke the comb. Brother comes upstairs and sees the broken comb.
Brother- "hey my comb is broken."
Mama- "you don't comb your hair." His hair is getting very long and shaggy. Half the time he goes to school without combing it.
Brother- "but when I do comb it that's the one I use."

Saturday

Saturday here at the Bear Household. Nothing much to say since nothing much is going on right now.
Sister Bear is in her room coloring before she takes a nap.
Brother Bear is at a friends house.
Papa Bear is at work.
I am reading family blogs and paying bills on-line, anything to keep me from the large piles of laundry on the couch that need to be folded.
After I pick Brother up we will head on over to the university for the basketball game. Brother helps Papa on the bench. Sister sits in the stands and spreads the contents of her backpack on the bleachers while cheering for her favorite players.
So, that is life at our house on this drizzly Saturday in January.

Underwear

Sister Bear has been potty trained since early September. I've been lucky both of my kids were very easy to do. Sister Bear is still so proud of using the toilet and wearing underwear. She loves her Minnie Mouse and Tinkerbell underwear. We will see someone with diapers in a shopping cart or a commercial on television for diapers and she will turn and tell you "I don't wear diapers anymore, I wear underwear!" I'd been putting her in pull-ups at bedtime because I didn't want to mess with having any accidents and having to change sheets in the middle of the night. Every night at bedtime Sister would look at you with those big blue eyes and say I want to wear underwear to bed. Finally I gave in the other night and so far we have had four nights of success!!!! Yay!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROTHER BEAR!!!!!

Brother Bear turned 10 today!!!!! Where has the time gone??? Seems like it was just yesterday we had his first birthday at the little house on Harwood St. He sat in his highchair not sure of what he was supposed to do with the cake in front of him. He wasn't one of those kids who dug right in, he didn't like getting his hands dirty.

Lucky Brother!!!! Today the schools observed MLK day, so he had the day off of school for his birthday. He had a friend spend the night after his party. This morning we got up and went to Seattle to Beth's Cafe. We like to watch Man vs. Food on the travel channel and this is one of the places he went to. They have a 12 egg omelet, with unlimited hash browns. The guy didn't finish the challenge on Man vs. Food, but we had big plans to.

Beth's Cafe is 50 years old and you can tell. The service was quick and the food was pretty tasty. They give the kids a cup of crayons and a handful of paper to color on. The walls in the place are covered with peoples drawings.

We ordered the 12 egg ham and cheese omelet with hash browns and sourdough toast. Sister Bear isn't too keen on eggs so she had a giant pancake. They bring the omelet out on what looks like a pizza pan and it is definitely big. So Papa, Brother, his friend and I went to work on meal. Between the four of us we cleaned the tray. Good thing we had a birthday dinner last night because I don't think we'll be hungry come dinnertime.

Party!!!

Brother Bear had his birthday party today. It's always tough trying to figure out something to do for his birthday. I don't really want a handful of boys rough housing in my house. If we could play outside, no problem, but up here in the Pacific Northwest that usually isn't an option this time of year. Well, we could but they would come back in wet cold and muddy. So, we had the party over at Papa Bears office. Think this might just be the future of all birthday party locations. Had the whole gym to ourselves. Papa Bear led the boys in field hockey, soccer, dodge ball and flag football. They took a few snack and magic juice breaks, had some cake (chocolate) and opened a few presents. I think the boys had a good time. They were red faced and sweaty when the party was over.

After the party we let Brother have one friend spend the night. We had his favorite meal (spaghetti) for dinner. Had a good laugh watching Americas Funniest Home Videos. The boys slept downstairs and watched Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. They were pretty tired because there wasnt any talking past 10:30.