Spring Break (part 1)

After packing up all the food from the pantry (about 9 grocery bags worth) and stashing them away in the art studio, then moving all the dog stuff into the garage, we headed off to our home for the next two nights - the Embassy Suites in Bellevue. We went to the nice cinema at Lincoln Square and saw the movie "21" which we all recommend. Had room service dinner, the hotel TV service was out, so we got to rent a "free" movie and saw "I am Legend" (sort of kreepy, Will Smith was good, but story was disturbing 'end of the world' type thing) and went to sleep.
We came back home the next morning to check on the dogs and allow Ryker to play the first game of a league he's in with a new online video game called "Griff-ball" - his team with some of his friends won - they are very happy!


This is what the kitchen looked like, the sanding of the wood floors sends a fine wood dust EVERYWHERE so the plastic attempts to keep it contained... more on that later. The stain they used the first day wasn't a good blend with the "old wood", so they kept working on it Sunday.
We've had freak spring weather this past week, and this is what the backyard looked like Sunday morning (yes, it was March 30th!) after a heavy snow fall Sat. night. It covered everything over in Bellevue too, as we watched from the hotel windows.
No swinging Sunday - too cold and slushy out there! When we left the house Sunday afternoon, we went to lunch and then another movie - saw "Vantage Point" which we all enjoyed. It's intense, with some plot twists that could surprise you.
Monday morning after our 2nd night at the hotel. Do they looked refreshed?By Monday morning, we were all very tired of the hotel, and not feeling very positive about the beds there... Marina actually thought the hide-a-bed she got the 2nd night was better than the double bed mattress she slept on Sat. night. David & I agree the beds were horrible. The boys traded off one night each on the floor - reporting that it wasn't too bad.

As soon as we were all showered, we took off, eager to go have breakfast and then get home. David has a couple days off, due to working over some recent holidays - good timing for us actually!

Back at home, you can see what Spring is SUPPOSED to look like - just a day later, the snow is long gone, and it's sunny, and almost "warm" - well, that's a bit optimistic, but at least yard work isn't torture! Jzo is out there shoveling up some old, yucky grass which tried to grow in about an inch of old soil, over a base of clay - not a good combination.

Thank you Jordan, for being willing to help your Dad - shoveling isn't a good activity. We got the pantry re-organized, and did lots of floor-to-ceiling cleaning with damp cloths to get all the dust and dirt up. That is quite a job, and the dining room is still a disaster, but that will call to me in a few days. We can walk gently on the newly finished floors but no shoes or anything "on" them for 3-4 days, so there is lots of "stuff" in the dining room which will get moved back into the kitchen and then that room with get it's head-to-toe cleaning/re-org. It needs it!

Marina just put on shorts and a t-shirt to try to catch some rays in the backyard. Many of her friends are vacationing in AZ or Hawaii, so she feels pale (we are all pale!) - Go for it, Marina! I hope you get a little color and vitamin D!

Spring Spirit Week @ Inglewood

oops!

Okay, once again it was "Spirit week/day" at Ryker & Marina's school, so please accept my apology for the blurry photo - had "issues" this a.m. with my camera techniques, but the one of just Ryker is better.

p.s. that is Jordan's "Banyan Tree" art on the mantle behind them!

Easter Weekend w/Stephanie!

Our niece (David's sister's 24 yr old daughter) flew up from So. Cal. to visit us this past weekend. She had been wanting to come see Marina dance, so since the team's showcase recital was on the 22nd, she came for a long weekend and we got to have her for Easter too! This photo was in Kirkland on Lk. Washington looking west toward Seattle. We spent the morning walking around that area while the dancers had a tech rehearsal. It was a long day - great dancing, but over 12 hours from start to finish.
The Pickards joined us for a couple hours in the afternoon of Easter Sunday. We had a casual lunch and since the kitchen floors aren't done yet, the dining room is a disaster thus we all ate in the kitchen & family room. Marina & Jordan thought acting out for the camera would be 'fun', but Steph, Madi and Delaney smiled nicely - thank you!
Caught Ryker with food in his mouth, but Kendyll is photogenic as always! There was a whipped cream fight between David and Madi later on, and Steph tried to catch it on her camera, but it didn't turn out... oh, lots of laughs and fun with family!

Crazy Hair Day

Last Friday was "Crazy Hair Day" at Jzo's school, so of course minutes before the bus arrived, he called me upstairs to help him create a "blue mohawk" which I feel we were pretty successful in doing! I added the "v" coming down from the hairline - as I'm hooked on the scotch tape technique of "stage make-up" I've now had quite a bit of practice doing with the dancers on Marina's team. He still looked good 8 hours later when he got home!

'08 Swim & Dive Team

Last night was the end of season banquet for Ryker's high school swim team. It was casual, and held in the "commons" area of the school. A pot luck pasta feed, similar to the pasta feeds put on for the team the night before big meets. Keeps it simple!

We are so fortunate that one of the parents has amazing camera equipment and takes lots of photos at every meet! It's so hard to get good shots in the indoor pool facilities with the typical cameras most of us have. There was a slide show with photos of each team member, as well as group shots, etc., played on a big screen during the event last night. The 3 team captains presented recognition awards to each team mate, plus at the end they announced the 3 new captians for next year, as I believe it's always seniors and thus they are all graduating. We're proud of Ryker for earning a varsity letter in his freshman year!

New Pergola!!

2 years ago, we considered adding a new room to the back of our house, off the kitchen where the sliding doors are. Well, that never happened even though we got architectural drawings and everything!

We decided this winter to enhance our yard a bit, and modify the hard scape design. No, a pool is just way too expensive, and some of the landscape designers' plans were also way too expensive with elaborate stone patios, built-in custom fire pits, etc., etc..

We decided to baby-step it and just add onto the concrete of the "small" patio off the kitchen, tying it into the curvy design of the "large" patio over in the better part of the yard, and to add some structure off the kitchen part of the house.

We are excited about the bench swing our contractor hand built. It's amazing! We designed the right side of the pergola to extend an additional 6' so it could accomodate the swing. When sitting in the swing, you get the best perspective of the rest of our yard, as your back is to the small end of the yard. There is really neat lighting built into the beams at the top, and at night there is a soft glow out there.

Now, there is a new concrete pad around the corner, so the BBQ is out of the way, and that side yard (where the dogs do their business) is much more tidy!

Still in "progress" on the repair of the hardwood floors in the kitchen. The damage came at the start of the pergola/concrete project when one of the workers pulled the hose bib off the side of the house and the pipes in the pantry wall broke, flooding the kitchen and sadly ruining some large sections of the kitchen floor. Hopefully by early April that will all be fixed and behind us.

Far too long!

Time to update!

1st week of trying to sell this furniture was a BUST! Actually had someone attempt to scam me with the "cashier's check" fraud trick! Okay, re-posted it today, dropped the price and hope to sell.This is my "Miska" style painting. I took a class from the artist known as "Miska" (http://www.miska.com/) with a group of girlfriends. We each either copied one of her paintings exactly, or modified one of them (which is what I did) and 5 sessions later, this is what I have. One final touch still to go (outlining the circle/dots on the cheeks) but otherwise, it's time to varnish and frame! I am actually planning to hang this up in our house. I know it's a bit "modern/abstract" for some people's taste, but I had a blast painting it, and it represents my 3 kids, so it's special to me.

This is a piece I did for my mixed media class - it's an acrylic sheet, all done with acrylic paints. It's sheer, if you hold it up to a window it's sort of like stained glass. If you can't tell, it's abstract trees.
Marina is right of center - this is 7 of the 8 girls on her Jazz team this year. (Bailey is backstage somewhere?) They are all 13-14. The routine is to the Depeche Mode song: "Personal Jesus". Those of you who will be able to come to their recitals either 3/22 or 5/31 will likely enjoy it a lot!

David had to drive up to Vancouver BC this evening, he has a board meeting in the a.m. and we hope he'll get back late tomorrow pm, or during the day on Tuesday. Because he just doesn't know yet, we celebrated Jzo's 12th b-day today. He got a very cool miniDV camcorder, and has already starting practicing his videographer techniques.

Ryker bought himself the newly released (midnight as the calendar turned 3/9) Nintendo Wii, SuperSmash Bros "BRAWL" game. So, since dinner, he has been playing that like a mad man, his cell phone keeps beeping with calls from all his buddies who also got it, and they are all playing it. I put a 9:30 cut-off time out there, think of me in 20 minutes, as it won't be pretty getting all 3 kids to wind down for school tomorrow!