Arctic Blast of 2008

After what appeared to be a "false" alarm "Arctic Blast" in the Portland/Vancouver area this week, full of knee-jerk school closures on the days we had NO SNOW, and school operating on days we HAD SNOW, the doppler radars finally got it right. Saturday the skies opened up and dumped 5 inches of snow. That is UNHEARD of in this area as we are lucky to see snow flurries at this time of year, or any time of year for that matter, on the valley floor.

Unfortunately, overnight, the snow turned into freezing rain and developed a nice 1/4" layer of ice on top of our wonderful snow. So, needless to say, travel conditions in our area are not great, so we'll be spending the day at home. The kids enjoyed playing in the snow/ice mix and helped up shovel the driveway. Colette experienced her first snow, but wasn't quite sure what to make of the situation.

Josie

Not happy Colette

After spending the morning outside, the kids came in and warmed up in front of the fireplace.


Sassy, the kid warmer

I am finally caught up! These pictures were taken today, December 21, 2008!

December 6, 2008: St. Nick Brunch

The Christian Mother's Fellowship Ministry that I belong to at St. Joseph Church puts on a Brunch with St. Nick every year.

I know you have no doubt that Jack exists, but here's an actual picture of Jack just before Santa showed up at the St. Nicholas brunch. So no picture of Jack with Santa, but here's a picture of Jack and me by the fireplace.

My immediate family knows the story, but in case you forgot, here's what transpired after this picture was taken.

So, here you have text book example of why NOT to take your kids to take a picture with Santa after they turn 1 year old. My Christian’s Mom’s group put on Brunch with St. Nick that wonderfully fell on St. Nicholas’ day! Brunch was great, but Jack saw through the window as Santa was walking into the building and, once again, just TOOK OFF. He ran and ran and ran without abandon and without any concern that he was running away from his family and caretakers. If Mike would not have followed him, I am POSTIVE he would be in Canada by now.

As you can see, I attempted to salvage the moment and get a picture with our girls with Santa. Vanessa, of course, wanted to partake, but here, it appears that Josie is looking as though the boogie man has cometh and he is about to eat her toes and Colette is following suit. The look on my face is in reaction to the comedic ridiculousness of it all—my son running to Canada with Mike in hot pursuit, my 2 youngest daughters clinging to me with dear life and literally trying to crawl back into my uterus via the neck opening in my turtleneck sweater and the photographer telling us to “smile”. Truly, a scene out of National Lampoons Christmas Vacation.
Regardless, I hope you enjoy the photo that I painstakingly and mistakenly attempted to preserve for my kids “benefit”.

Copyright: Deb Garrett Photo of 1Studio Photography

(Posted with permission)

Vanessa's Advent Program

Every year, Vanessa's school puts on an Advent Program. Each class sings traditional, religious music in the church, followed by a crazy and insane reception. In all honesty, this event is difficult for us to attend because it is a mandatory event, so there are over 400 families crowded into the church (and tiny parking lot) and the reception ends up being a free-for-all for the kids who end up running amuck. This year, I thought it would be more bearable since we were able to hold the reception in our new parish hall, but it was STILL overcrowded, chaotic and LOUD.

Despite the frustration of having to keep the kids quiet for 2 hours, Vanessa's class (and the rest of the classes for that matter) sounded angelic and wonderful. It was the only event that was able to occur this week due to the "Arctic Blast" that hit the Portland/Vancouver area, so it was nice to get out of the house!

December 12th: Christmas Ships at Grandmom & Pop's

Every year, Portland has a wonderful tradition of the Christmas Ships. Private boat owners decorate their boats and come out on scheduled nights during the month of December and parade around the Columbia River. The boat owners do this at their own expense and out of the goodness of their hearts.

Grandmom and Pop have a front row seat and have us over for dinner and to view the ships as a wonderful tradition the kids look forward to every year.

Sassy's 1st Christmas ships

Josie really enjoyed it this year.

Colette really liked the ships this year, too, since she was only 2 months old last year.

Thanks, Christmas Ship people and Grandmom and Pop!

Back-tracking: My Birthday

Once again, I'm playing catch up...So my birthday fell on a Monday this year, so we celebrated twice. The Saturday before my birthday (November 29) we decorated our Christmas tree, which is our tradition, and then headed over to the Claim Jumper in Clackamas for appetizer and dessert. This is a SUPER SPECIAL treat as it is not organic and filled with gluten and all sorts of bad stuff.

For those of you who have not been to the Claim Jumper, their portions are RIDICULOUSLY HUGE. For instance, the "Motherload Chocolate cake" is enough to serve the entire table. But we did not stop there, the kids had a HUGE sundae and Bern and Shawn had a Mud Pie.

Motherload

(No pun intended)

The fam

The Sundae

Bern and Shawn

Attacking the Sundae

On my real birthday, we had special organic ice cream sundae's, including organic hot fudge and organic sprinkles and coconut

Overall, a nice birthday with lots of yummy goodies.

Our 1st Ever Video Christmas Card Production!

Merry Christmas

&

Happy New Year!

Love, Mike, Cathy, Vanessa, Jack, Josie, Colette,

Sassy the dog, Latte the angry cat,

Ed the Fish and George the Snail

Vanessa puts another season of soccer under her belt

Vanessa wrapped up the fall soccer season this month. The Firealls played up to U11 so gone were the days of being undefeated. They worked hard and the girls grew quite a bit. Vanessa is one of the youngest on the team, so she strugged a bit, but had some great moments on the field.

It was a transition year for her, a lot of ups and downs, but we are proud of her for working really hard. We're not sure what's in store for her for the spring season, but she wants to continue playing, so stay tuned!

BTW: Mike and I now play on an indoor soccer league with the parents of Vanessa's team mates. It's a lot of fun, but, man, there's not a week that goes by that we don't realize that we are now in our mid-30's. We'll keep playing as long as our bodies allow us!

Jack's 7th Birthday

Jack turned 7 on November 10th, since his birthday fell on a Monday, we celebrated on Saturday, November 8th. We had a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme--Jack's current "obession". The usual showed up: Grandmom & Pop, Aunt Bern & Uncle Shawn, Aunt Eileen & Declan. This year we added our friends, the Girolami's to mix it up a bit. It was great to have them!

Aunt Bern, Josie & Jack having some tickle time

Colette gravitating towards the balloons

Uncle Shawn all festive

The Vincer & Sophia in the background

Mike and the chocolate fountain

Leo and Declan

Happy Birthday to Jack!

Gone are the store-bought cakes in our organic household. But Jack doesn't seem to mind.

Jack loves cake, period. He could care less if it was organic or not.

If he could just put his face in it, he would.

Finally. Cake.

Colette's boyfriend, Mario

Aren't they the cutest?

Colette making music with Mario

Presents!

Jack's gifts seemed to all center around planets, space and science this year. He really likes his gifts!

Jack examining the directions to his new computer game

Thanks everyone for coming and for the gifts!

Here's Jack on his real birthday. Yes, more cake.

Obligatory photo time:

Jack and Josie

Daddy and Jack

Vanessa and Sassy

Mommy and Jack

Jack and Sassy

Jack-man, you've come so far. We are so proud of you! Keep up the good work and keep reaching for the stars! We love you to the moon and back, bubby. Happy Birthday!