Archive for the ‘Jesica’ Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

I hate politics

Saturday, September 16th, 2006

I’m sitting here staring at my ballot for the primary. The only thing I know my position on is the city EMS funding proposition. While I had to do all of this research, I figured I’d post it 🙂

Here’s my voting approach (as scary as it is LOL):

The judges are easy. Here’s a website:

http://www.citizenreviewonline.org

If they refused to answer the survey, they don’t get my vote. If their response sounds bizarre, they don’t get my vote. Check out Joel Penoyar, who wasn’t on my ballot anyway:

As a lower court judge, he allowed a convicted sexual predator released from jail for a weekend fishing trip. (Source: The Oregonian, 2000)

The PUD Commissioner position was harder. This article made sense (even though it was written by a candidate):

http://www.edmondsbeacon.com/localnewsletters.html

I tried to find information on Michael Plunkett, but he appears to be an average politician. I’ll go with the environmental science guy.

Now the Senate position was much harder. First I had to decide if I was going to go Democrat or Republican. Being one that can never remember which is which, I had to Wikipedia both of them. I’ve discovered that at the moment, I’m leaning Republican. Here are the candidates:

http://www.metrokc.gov/elections/pamphlet/pamphlet.aspx?cid=17190&eid=1214

First, I had to employ my method of ‘If they don’t have a website, they don’t get my vote’. That ruled out most of them, actually, although some of them had some entertaining information on the web. Check out this site for (?) Gordon Pross:

http://www.struat.com/justin/gordonpross.html

This guy seems ok… I do like how many issues his website comments on. From the ‘pamphlet’ site above, though, it astounds me that he says he is ‘a full time law enforcement officer’ was a ‘Major and Pilot in the Army National Guard’, is a certified teacher, a graduate of CWU’s paramedic program who ‘worked in the medical field’ AND a licensed minister… how old IS this guy?

http://www.bradklippert.com/core.htm

Massoudi didn’t really leave much issue information on his site:

http://www.ussenatecandidate.com/issues.html

So we’re down to McGavick:

http://mikemcgavick.com/default.asp

I still hate politics.

Posted in Jesica | No Comments »

ABC’s of God’s Grace

Wednesday, September 13th, 2006

Crystal forwarded this to me and I really like it:

A-lthough things are not perfect
B-ecause of trial or pain
C-ontinue in thanksgiving
D-o not begin to blame

E-ven when the times are hard
F-ierce winds are bound to blow
G-od is forever able
H-old on to what you know

I-magine life without His love
J-oy would cease to be
K-eep thanking Him for all the things
L-ove imparts to thee

M-ove out of “Camp Complaining”
N-o weapon that is known
O-n earth can yield the power
P-raise can do alone

Q-uit looking at the future
R-edeem the time at hand
S-tart every day with worship
T-o “thank” is a command

U-ntil we see Him coming
V-ictorious in the sky
W-e’ll run the race with gratitude
X-alting God most high

Y-es, there’ll be good times and yes some will be bad, but…
Z-ion waits in glory…where none are ever sad!

Posted in Jesica | No Comments »

The Fair!

Saturday, September 2nd, 2006

Well, we just returned home from our annual adventure to the fair, $200 lighter than when we left (yikes!). We had to park at the absolute farthest parking area possible, so we all got our exercise! We all had a great time, though. Uncle Ed was kind enough to join us and he took Christian for a little while to the bigger kid area. Christian won a big green mouse stuffed animal and a blow-up stick. He also bought a plastic trumpet which he and Alyson both loved, but it sadly was a casualty today – it disappeared at some point (shhh… he hasn’t noticed yet). Brandon and Daddy had some time to themselves too and had a blast going on the little kid rides. Brandon also won a fish! So of course, we had to buy the tank and a second fish. The fish are currently named Max and Braden (who knows how long those names will last). We have to pick up fish food at the store tomorrow. Brandon also won a big blow-up hammer and two stuffed puppies for Alyson (although one of these was also a casualty today). Alyson and I wandered through a couple of the animal barns and the exhibit areas. She tried to win a fish too 🙂 She brought home a Dora beach ball and carried it all over. We really enjoyed the shaved ices this year – we had to pick the hottest day of the weekend to go! Well, there you have it… another year into the history books.

Posted in Alyson, Bill, Brandon, Christian, Jesica | No Comments »

Updates!

Wednesday, August 30th, 2006

Sorry you had to call me to get an update, Angie, but it was great to talk to you!

Updates:

Christian: Christian can now ride his bike without training wheels. He’s going to be in a 1/2 split class at school this year. I was worried about that at first, but then I talked to the principal for a while and she assured me that it will be a great fit for him. Christian really needs more help with reading. The 1/2 split class with have a lower student/teacher ratio than a straight 2nd grade class. And he’ll get to be one of the big kids in class. He has also started playing soccer. His first game is Sept 9 and he got his team shirt today. He’s number 1 again (the same number he had for the last two seasons in baseball).

Brandon: Brandon is really looking forward to starting preschool next week. I’m taking Friday off of work next week to take him on the first day 🙂 We dug out his backpack and he’s all set. Any time we pass Trinity, he tells Christian “Look, there’s my school. It’s BIGGER than your school!” He’s SO competitive. At swimming, he passed Preschool Swim 1 after the first session this summer. Christian did NOT pass Youth Swim 1 at the first session, so Brandon held that over his head for the 5 weeks of the second session. “I’m in Preschool Swim 2 and you’re still in Youth Swim 1!!”. LOL

Alyson: Alyson is amazing. Tonight she WALKED down the stairs all by herself! She won’t even be two for another two months. She LOVES to color and draw more than anything. She lays down on the floor on her tummy, with her feet in the air kicking, coloring very intricately. She colors more carefully than Brandon! She also loves to read books. She dearly loves her big brothers. She follows them around everywhere, and loves to play Ring around the Rosie with them.

Me! Taxes have picked up again (more returns on extension that I would’ve guessed) and I’ve been spending a lot of time preparing for the new compliance season at work, so I’ve been swamped. The new Sunday School year starts in a week or so too, but that will be fun. I’m thankfully finished with the Intro to Programming class I took this summer. That was really fun. Now I’m trying to code a program that will calculate the fees for tax return preparation (although my software does that too and my rate schedule is really simple LOL).

We’re looking forward to going to the fair next weekend as usual. Other than that, soccer is going to take up at least part of every weekend through the beginning of November, so it’s going to be a crazy fall!

That’s really all I can think of! I promise to try harder to keep this thing updated!

Posted in Alyson, Brandon, Christian, Jesica | No Comments »

Kids’ silliness saves the day…

Thursday, July 13th, 2006

Today has been filled with highs and lows, laughter and tears…

The lows…

I’m filled with sadness for Mom and a couple of my best friends. I don’t know what it is in the air lately disintegrating relationships. BIG hugs to you, Mom. I hope this mess with Johnny sorts itself out quickly in one way or another. Two of my best friends are going through surprising sudden divorces… these were two of the couples that I always thought were the most stable. It’s seems so senseless and painful.

But there have been great laughs today too…

coming home to Alyson, sitting quietly on the couch, with a butterfly net on her head(!) was definitely worth a smile (I’ll get a picture posted)

but the BEST part can be found on bill’s blog. Check out the .mp3 attached to the VBS Skit article. Bill came home from VBS today with homework for our family. They needed an audio skit recorded for tomorrow(!) Christian and Brandon each did a wonderful job, and it is SO hilarious to hear them say their lines!

Posted in Alyson, Brandon, Christian, Jesica | No Comments »

Welcome baby Holcer!

Tuesday, May 23rd, 2006

*Happy Auntie Dance*

Welcome to little miss Abigail Jean Holcer! Congratulations Angie, she’s another beauty :-)

Posted in Jesica | No Comments »

San Juan Island!

Sunday, May 14th, 2006

Yesterday, Christian, Crystal, Joy and I embarked on an adventure! Christian had been saying he wanted to be a dolphin trainer when he grows up, so for a special day I planned a trip to San Juan Island to the whale museum.

Here’s the itinerary as we originally planned it:

5:15 am Leave Lynnwood

6:45 am Arrive Anacortes

7:45 am Ferry to Friday Harbor

9:30 am Arrive Friday Harbor

10 am Whale Museum and misc sightseeing

1 pm check in at Roche Harbor – San Juan Safaris

2 pm Sea Kayaking – San Juan Safaris – 3 hours

6 pm dinner

7 pm be in line for ferry

8 pm ferry to Anacortes

9:20 pm arrive Anacortes

10:50 pm arrive Lynnwood

Surprisingly, we actually stuck really close to our itinerary. We left about 10 minutes late, but arrived in Anacortes on time. We had an expensive breakfast at the ferry terminal and re-bought the map that I had bought and forgotten at home in the gift shop. When we got to Friday Harbor, we found that the town doesn’t open until 10, so we walked around a bit, found the public restrooms, and went back to the whale museum at 10. The weather was ok… a little cold and sprinkly off and on all day long, but we had times of beautiful sunshine too. Gotta love WA weather!

The whale museum was fun. The kids got to play with sound recordings, which was their favorite part. They got to hear what different types of sea life sounded like as well as recording their own voices. They had various skeletons on display and Christian thought the preserved baby harbor seal was cool. We also watched a bit of a movie about a whale researcher. Admittedly, most of the time we spent at the whale museum was spent in the gift shop :) I picked up a couple of books for Christian and he and Joy each got a package of squeaky sea life toys (whales, squid, etc).

So from there, we played with the navigation in Crystal’s new van and had it direct us to Lime Kiln State Park. The scenery was beautiful. We even saw a fox on the way! When we got there, we had a snack and followed a trail to a whale watching spot and on to the lighthouse. It was a nice short hike, and it was Christian’s favorite part of the trip. I learned that Madrona is a kind of tree (silly me, I thought it was a community).

Then we headed on to Roche Harbor. On the way, we saw a beautiful bald eagle. I tried desperately to get his picture, but he was too far away to get a really good picture. When we first saw him, he was really close, though, so it was disappointing to not get a better picture. We also saw horses, cows, sheep, and alpaca on the way, and we passed the Lavender farm.

Roche Harbor is a tiny little place. You park at the top of a hill and walk down into the town. Kinda strange. Anyway, we walked down and stood in line forever to have fish and chips and chowder. The fish was fabulous. The chowder wasn’t really anything special. Before we knew it, it was time to check in for our kayaking trip. The kids had been really nervous about kayaking. They both insisted they don’t know how to swim and who knows what other arguments they had to not go LOL. We were a little worried at first, because the guy who checked us in warned us we’d be expected to keep up with the other couple that was booked on our tour, but thankfully it all turned out to be fine.

We got the full rundown of what to do, got suited up with life jackets and ’skirts’, got settled into our kayaks and off we went! They did warn us that with the light kids up front, it could be more difficult to control the boats and I experienced that first hand. We had some time to get used to kayaking and then we crossed a channel and when we got to the other side, Crystal and I managed to run into each other and I got turned the other way and there was no possible way I could get turned back toward the group. I fought with it for several minutes, but then the guide Becky called out that they were going to come to me and we’d go the way I was facing instead. She said I’d been doing the right things but with light little Christian up front it just wasn’t going to happen.

So we continued on (looking now at a map we must have been going around Henry Island) and the next bit of adventure was the HAIL! It started outright hailing and we had to go back a bit and hold on under a dock for shelter until it passed! The hail hitting the water looked pretty cool, but those little chunks of ice hurt! It wasn’t long before it passed and we were on our way again. We stopped on Posey Island for a break and to look for sealife. We saw crabs, barnacles, limpets, lots of tiny snails, some fish, and oysters! For some reason, I had no idea we had oysters here.

The kayaking was fabulous. We all really enjoyed it! Christian and Joy paddled the whole way, which was amazing according to Becky. She said any 6-7 year olds she’s ever seen on the tours have given up paddling after the first 2 minutes. Those two sure were troopers and I could sure feel it when Christian was not paddling. It was a bit difficult to try to match his strokes and he did get me soaked :) but it was great. I loved every minute of it. Christian and Joy had quite the competitive thing going on (I’m going to beat you! No, I’m going to beat you!) LOL. We also saw Harlequin ducks, Cormorants, and a mink! So very cool.

Anyway, we returned to the harbor, and I was really proud of us for bringing the kayak perfectly back into the slip. Then it was time to leave Roche Harbor and go back to Friday Harbor in search of dinner. In Friday Harbor, we found Fridays Crab House and wow was it wonderful! Joy and Christian shared a whole crab, Crystal had a crab, and I had salmon (ok, I shared everyone’s crab too!). It was a perfect dinner! We ate outside on the top deck (which we had to ourselves). It sprinkled on us again a little bit, but not too bad. The kids were still as goofy as ever. Christian has decided that crab is his favorite food :)

We got the van into the ferry line at 7 (which was laughable because even when the ferry arrived there were only 5 or so cars in line) and then we walked over to the ‘Doctors Office’ which was a little shop that served coffee, ice cream, treats, and some food. Crystal and I were still stuffed from dinner but bought some treats for the road (peanut butter bar, a brownie, that sort of thing) and the kids both had ice cream. We thought they were crazy – we were cold!

On the ferry home, we saw the most beautiful sunset! Crystal got some wonderful pictures. We saw the mountains in the distance and the snow was reflecting pink… beautiful. We weren’t sure which mountain it was… seems like it must have been Baker? And on the drive home we saw the biggest moon! I’m sad my pictures of it didn’t turn out (but there’s only so much you can do from a moving vehicle).

Anyway, it was an amazing day all around and we’re definitely planning on going again!

Posted in Christian, Jesica | No Comments »

It’s a crazy life…

Tuesday, May 2nd, 2006

I’ve been promising Angie I’d write about just how crazy life is around here… I keep wondering where April went and then I remember it went to taxes and baseball… and gymnastics and chess and kindermusik!

Here’s how last Tuesday afternoon went (or at least my recollection of it LOL)…

am – pack lunchables in lunch box, take to work, remember to grab from work fridge

2:30 – left work early (driving the van)

3:15 – pick Christian up from Chess class, drive Christian to Maplewood Elementary for chess tournament

3:40 – Bill swapped cars with us at Maplewood, Christian played two games of chess – first one he hung on until time ran out (his lonely king being chased all over the board) – second game he lost in 4 moves – needs to learn to defend against that strategy!

4:30 – leave Maplewood (now driving the Saturn), open lunchables for Christian to eat while we drive

5:15 – drop Christian off at Kindermusik for his class

6:15 – Bill arrives with van, Brandon, and Alyson for Brandon’s class

6:20 – Alyson joins parent time for Christian’s class

6:30 – Christian, Alyson and I take van home (Brandon’s class is 6:45 – 7:30)

7:15 – Alyson’s in bed!

8:00 – Christian’s in bed, Brandon’s home and to bed and mommy sleeps really soundly LOL

Thankfully, the chess tournament part was a one-time thing. Christian does have chess class every Tuesday until 3:30, so I have to leave work around 2:30, but then at least we have time to get home and go out to eat before heading out to Kindermusik.

Wednesdays, Christian goes to Kid’s Club at church and stays there while Bill has choir practice.

Thursdays, Brandon has Gymnastics class from 5:30 to 6:00, which has been FABULOUS for him. It’s SO much fun to watch his lesson.

Christian has also been busy with baseball and homework… it’s been absolutely crazy, but I know June is coming. Then we just have to figure out what to do to help Christian with his reading.

We’re really looking forward to May 12… Christian and Crystal and Joy and I are going to San Juan Island. Christian wants to be a dolphin trainer when he grows up, so we’re going up to the whale museum and we’re also going to go kayaking! I’m excited. The kids are a little nervous about the kayaking part, but I think it will be fun.

Alyson is talking a ton and getting into everything. She goes up and down the stairs no problem. She loves to say ‘no no no’! And ’shoes’. And she tries to say everything else. She’s thrilled when she says ‘milk’ at the dinner table and we know what she means. She’s really good when she’s tired… she just has to go go go until you put her to bed… then she goes right to sleep. She loves her brothers SO much. Her most-used word right now is ‘Brandon’ which she says very clearly (and VERY often). She seems to think everything is Brandon’s.

Christian’s a good kid – he’s trying really hard to keep up with his 2nd grader teammates at baseball. It’s been a bit hard for him to be one of the younger kids, but it’s been good for him. He’s still struggling with reading, but he LOVES joke books. He has days that he’s perfectly happy to get his homework done and out of the way and other days he throws absolute fits and I end up at wit’s end. But one day at a time. He’s really frustrated with Brandon – the typical sibling stuff. He needs his own space and a safe place to keep his treasures. I’m thinking about finding him a locker-type thing where he can lock up his favorite things. He’s looking forward to his pirate birthday party this year – should be fun. We’re going to hide the goody boxes for his friends and give them treasure maps to find them :-) Now I just have to pray that a baseball tournament game won’t be at the same time as his party.

Brandon is looking forward to preschool in the fall. He’s going to go to Trinity Lutheran preschool just up the street. He really jumped right in the day we visited. He keeps saying he wants to play tball, but I think he just feels left out at Christian’s games. He’s really really enjoying his gymnastics lessons with Ben and coach Erin. They’ve gotten to do tumbling and jumping and balance beams and rings and bars… he’s always got such a big smile on his face. I’m hoping to get some pictures this week. Thankfully, his asthma seems to be under control as long as we use his inhaler before class. He’s still pretty wild and out of control sometimes at home and at Kindermusik, but we think he’s outgrowing some of it. We will probaby give him a year off from Kindermusik next year… he’s just not enjoying it. I’d rather put him in another night a week of gymnastics at this rate (the cost would be about the same!).

Well, that was WAY more than I think you were expecting, Angie :-) But maybe now that it’s all typed, I can copy/paste into the kid’s scrapbooks (which I finally started working on again last weekend!). Hugs to all!

Posted in Alyson, Bill, Brandon, Christian, Jesica | No Comments »

Way behind

Tuesday, March 21st, 2006

Ok, so I obviously didn’t get the job… if I had, I would have posted that day :-) Oh, well. Keeping busy, and I’m being moved to a different position which should help a bit of the frustration.

Alyson has learned a new word… Yes!! I swear, she’s the only toddler in history that has learned the word Yes before learning the word No LOL.

Christian is doing better in school, thankfully. He started baseball last week and is enjoying it. He’s playing on the Reds team this year. We don’t have his game schedule yet, but it will be posted sometime:

http://www.pacificlittleleague.com/content/view/27/49/

Brandon’s having a little bit of trouble being the middle child, I think… he’s throwing tantrums right and left and WHINING like you wouldn’t believe. I think I’m going to try to take a day or two off during Spring Break to spend with the boys. Crystal’s talking about the zoo… Mom, wanna come?

I got my hair cut – short and layered this time – I’ll have to send a picture, Angie, you won’t believe it :-)

I think that’s about it for now – no crisis to deal with this month that I recall :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

Posted in Alyson, Brandon, Christian, Jesica | No Comments »

Silliness

Tuesday, March 21st, 2006

***Your Five Factor Personality Profile***

Extroversion: You have low extroversion. You are quiet and reserved in most social situations. A low key, laid back lifestyle is important to you. You tend to bond slowly, over time, with one or two people.

Conscientiousness: You have high conscientiousness. Intelligent and reliable, you tend to succeed in life. Most things in your life are organized and planned well. But you borderline on being a total perfectionist.

Agreeableness: You have high agreeableness. You are easy to get along with, and you value harmony highly. Helpful and generous, you are willing to compromise with almost anyone. You give people the benefit of the doubt and don’t mind giving someone a second chance.

Neuroticism: You have high neuroticism. It’s easy for you to feel shaken, worried, or depressed. You often worry, and your worries prevent you from living life fully. You tend to be emotionally reactive and moody. Your either flying very high or feeling very low.

Openness to experience: Your openness to new experiences is medium. You are generally broad minded when it come to new things. But if something crosses a moral line, there’s no way you’ll approve of it. You are suspicious of anything too wacky, though you do still consider creativity a virtue.

The Five Factor Personality Test http://www.blogthings.com/thefivefactorpersonalitytest/

Posted in Jesica | 1 Comment »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »