A good type of snow

Woke up this morning and we were getting a light (and let me repeat LIGHT) dusting of snow. Just how I like it. I made a pot of coffee, cuddled up with a good book, and enjoyed the good type of snow. Enough to enjoy, but not enough to keep me home bound. Good snow.

Our little tree was happy it was a good type of snow. What a nice way to start the day. :)

Mama mia!

Hooper decided it was time to make some pizza. He looked online, found a recipe, and went to work. Here he is working on the dough. Amazing. I never would have thought he'd come up with something like this.

Working the dough. Not sure how the scissors come into play here. Not sure I want to ask.

Pineapple and ham. Oh man, let me just say this: it was GOOD. Hooper, it was darn good.

Okay, almost time for the Super Bowl. This little guy is so mad that the Steelers are back at it again! He's going around saying "Go Cardinals!"

We're preparing for having folks over for the Super Bowl (Go Cardinals!). I moved furniture, and Mark went out and rented himself a carpet cleaner.

Hard at work, cleaning. He did a great job. Fun? No. But a guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do, fun or not. Thanks Honey.

Go Cardinals!

Deacon found himself having to hang around outside while Mark cleaned the house preparing for folks to come over to watch the Super Bowl. Oh well, it's only once a year buddy.

Happy B day dad!!!

Why are these folks so excited? Stunned? Amazed?

Because January is my Dad's birthday month! Ha! Look how excited (stunned, amazed) he looks at this fact! Wow. I think he's looking excited (stunned, amazed). I think. Maybe.

My dad is a sports kind of guy. I remember as a kid going to the park and playing while dad played, or umpired, baseball. I remember going to the bowling alley and hanging out while he bowled in a league. I remember going to a high school football game dad refereed (I think it was at Live Oak High School) when I was in the 6th grade, and our baby sitter was there, and she was one of the baton twirlers, AND she even used batons that were on fire! Wow, do I remember that. I remember listening to baseball games on the radio during road trips, and at picnics. I still like listening to games on the radio today: reminds me of lots of good times we had.

I don't have many memories of dad and golf, except I know he's a fiend for it. But there is a funny story out there about a very young Steven and a golf cart gone a stray. I wasn't there, but I hear it was funny.

AND this last year my dad was golfing with a friend, and at the same hole they both got a hole in one! Can you believe it? How amazing is that? You go dad!

Hey dad, remember when you were umpiring a baseball game, Linda broke her arm, and when she came to tell you, you told her to wait until the inning was over? I remember she was pretty low keyed about it all (pretty good for a little kid, eh?), and I'm pretty sure you were pretty amazed when you found out she wanted your attention because her darn ole arm was broken! What the heck! That's our Linda girl.

Come to think about it, I cut my eye at that same park (not at the same time as the infamous Linda broken arm thingy), and I had to have stitches. Maybe we should have rethought that whole park thing dad. Maybe.

Back to you dad.

My dad is funny, sporty, smart, loving, and I ADORE HIM WITH ALL MY HEART. I love how he ADORES MY MOTHER WITH ALL HIS HEART. I am so lucky that my parents showed me what loving each other is all about. Mark is lucky that way too. We both have wonderful parents and don't think we don't know it.


Birthday story of my dad. A few years ago we went to Kennedy School in Portland for dinner, and as we're waiting to be seated we wandered around, looking at the art hanging on the walls. Wonderful pictures and art work to be seen. Check it out if you haven't done so. Go.

Dad found a tile, with a child's note framed in it. A cute little note, probably written during class. A cute little note, probably written during class, definitely written on the very day my dad was born! How cool is that? What are the odds?

I must be the luckiest girl in the world to have you and Mom as my parents. Okay, Linda is a lucky girl too, and John and Tom didn't do too bad either.

By the way, come to think about it, what's with the names Mary, Linda, John, and Tom? Come on folks: could you have chosen any simpler names? Would have served John right if you'd named him Percival, or something along that line............hee, hee. I'm liking it. Percival.

Let sleepng boys and cats lye.

Lire is doing much better. No more fighting and cat swear words. No more tearing out of staples (I think only one was lost in that epic battle). She's moving around pretty darn good, and has a bit of a problem jumping up on beds and such, but just try to stop her. Good luck folks.

She's so much happier now that she can nap with the rest of the family. She's quite a social kitty, and I believe she's missed the simple pleasures of life.

I think she has something there.

Crazy Cat

My cat is driving me CRAZY! We took her to the vet yesterday to remove her cast. Everything looks great, the vet was impressed with how she's doing, and he decided that he wouldn't put another cast on so she could start using her leg. He gave us some spray to use on her leg so she wouldn't go for the staples.

Nice try. We got home, she started going for her leg, I sprayed some of the stinky stuff on her leg (and let me say the stuff is NASTY. I tasted some just from spraying it and it's NASTY), and the darn cat still went for the staples! She got one out. Darn cat.

Mark called the vet and he suggested we cut up a child's t-shirt to cover her up. Right. This is the cat that shredded the cone they put on her. We tried a t-shirt and it lasted all of 30 seconds. Darn cat.

Michael, one of the boy's friend (and we like him too), wrapped her leg in an ace bandage: he did an excellent job and that helped out big time. Okay, so she managed to get the cast off by morning, but as with the cast she's not bother her leg after the first day. So far so good.

Darn cat.

Tonight I went to Doug's basketball game. Doug relaxes for the game, listening to soothing sounds in his Ipod.

The boys warm up for the big game.

Doug played really well tonight. You know, the more I look at this picture the more it looks like he's thinking more about making a touchdown rather than making a basket.

It was a tough game, our team was down pretty darn far the first half, and really made a comeback the second half, coming within 7 points of winning. Doug had 20 points. Excellent!

Here Doug poses with Curt, his first basketball coach, and one of our favorite people.

When I think about all the wonderful folks we've met through sports in Tigard, I think about how very lucky we are to be a part of this life. It's good folks, it's good.

Cat stuff

Lire is starting to adapt to her cast. She wanders around the house, and even managed to crawl into my lap while I was sitting on the floor.


She wasn't drinking all that much water while in our room, but once she could get back to drinking from her regular source she has once again been drinking like a fiend. She's not eating so well, but since the vet said she needs to lose a couple of pounds, and she's in good spirits, not going to worry about it for now. We'll see what the vet has to say tomorrow. Oh boy, that visit should be FUN! I'll bet they really looking forward to seeing her. NOT.

Memories...like the corner of my mind......

I love messing with pictures. Just love it. Hee, hee.

While looking for another picture I came across these of a time long, long ago (okay, just about three years ago) when I babysat Luke. Luke was SO GOOD, and sweet that afternoon and I remember how he reminded me how much I adore babies. He tended to cry a lot (ask mommy Jenn about that!) and for some reason the afternoon with me he was plain ole simple adorable.

Oh man, from looking at this picture it looks like I like babies so much it looks like I cover them with blankets for no good reason. What a good babysitter I am. NOT.

Just makes you want to leave your kids with me, right? Bring em on!

Man, now that he's such a big boy (and a real kick at that!), this seems so long ago.

Update on cat: she's doing much better. She made her way into the closet and settled down. Seemed to like it. We then let her out of the bedroom and she's now able to settle down in her favorite spots. A much happier kitty.

Just don't ask Mark about giving her pain pills. He's going nuts trying to figure out how to get those things down her. He's plotting against her and I think she knows it. And I have to tell you, at this point kitty is winning.

Penguin love

I don't know how she does it: Mary Jo always seems to know what folks like. Heck, she even always seems to know what dogs and kitties would like.

She gave Deacon a penguin toy and let me just say he LOVES it. He has it with him most of the time, and he LOVES it when you throw it, and he LOVES it when you try to take it away from him.

See what I mean? He's LOVING it folks.

"Ah, my little penguin of love. Let me take you away from all this..............."

As for me, I still love baking. Yes, I too love penguin toys, but baking can be fun as well. One of the blogs I follow showed how she had created some small two layer cakes, so I gave it a try.

I didn't really like the frosting I made (experimenting around at this time to find some good frosting recipes), but the cakes themselves were good and looked cute. I used the cake mix recipe for cupcakes so the cakes were a bit more sturdy than when made the regular way for a cake mix, so I think that's what made them work.

And the boys don't really like cake with frosting, so since the process involves cutting out the mini cakes from bigger cakes they liked eating the scraps. A win/win. Now I want to make some more and try different ways of decorating them. Fun!!!

How cute is this?

What a copy cat!

Man, I think Lire saw Mary Jo's blog about Fat Girl, and decided she also needed one of them fancy blue casts! Bummer dude. What a copy cat!

Tuesday Mark was getting some stuff out of the fridge, Lire jumped into the fridge, Mark tried to shoo her out, and when she fell her leg caught in the handle for the bottom freezer and lets just say it WASN'T PRETTY. Lots of yelling by a cat, lots of yelling by Mark and Steven, and just plain ole freaking out. Come to find out she'd torn the ligaments in her left hind leg. WASN'T PRETTY.

Surgery needed to be done, and Friday morning it was done. The vet tech let us know she did NOT do well afterwards, shredding to pieces the cone they put on her so she wouldn't shred her cast, and fighting the cast. She said Lire was a very sweet cat, letting them pet her and purring at times, but then she'd spent most of the rest of the day sleeping and fighting the cast.


We got her home, and we discovered first hand what they meant about fighting the cast. Have you ever heard cats fighting, all the yelling and screaming?? Oh man, that was NOTHING compared to the sounds and fury and energy Lire would make when attacking the cast, biting and clawing, and you could see it hurt her as well to do so! Let's just say this was one mad cat.

I tried staying in the room with her, but at 2:05 am I realized she wasn't going to settle down, so I finally went out and slept in the living room. I got up at 5:30 to give her a pain pill, she was looking and acting much better, she took the pill with just a bit of fuss (even in a Greenies pill pocket she spit it out the first time), and I had to clear her mouth of Cotton (that will teach her to attack a cast: they do have a strange way of fighting back). Now THAT was fun.

Heck, paying the bill will be fun. Right.

So this morning has gone pretty darn well. She's only attacked the cast a couple of times (the cotton revenge must have made an impression), and while I was out of the room, getting some breakfast to fortify myself for dealing with one mad cat, she managed to crawl under the bed and she seems happy there. She growls when you come near, so for now I'm leaving her alone.

Maybe I should use myself some cotton as a shield in future encounters.

And a Happy New Years was had by all.

Every new year should start with a Llama involved. I'm right on with that. Here's the proof.

And parties with your friends and family. Hanging out. Talking trash.

Or talking 'bunny to mouse'. Cari is talking on a bunny, and Trevor is talking on a mouse. Yes folks, you may have a cell phone, but according to Trevor 'bunny to mouse' is the way to go when you want to talk to your friends.

Cari appears to be a firm believer in this craze as well.

And hiding: hiding should always be a part of the New Years Day celebration. Here Randy is hiding from Trevor since he is not a firm believer in the 'bunny to mouse' cell phone conversation craze that is currently sweeping the Vander Yacht household.

In between the new cell phone craze antics, that were very entertaining, I was able to get a picture of Trevor and Carrie. But when I tried to take a second shot he closed his eyes. I mentioned that, tried to take another, and he closed his eyes for the third shot as well!

When I confronted the young offender, asking why he had closed his eyes on purpose (maybe I should have called him on the mouse phone), he told me he WANTED to see what he looked like with his eyes closed.

Silly me, if you think about it, he's right. You don't get to see what you look like with your eyes closed except in pictures. His logic was sound.

So here goes Trevor: here's what you look like with your eyes closed.

I took the big ole honking chocolate penguin Linda sent me. It is SO COOL!!! Leah loved it!

And I had I had to show Doug opening his IPod. He liked it a lot!!!!!! Happy New Year Doug!

You'll shoot your eye out kid!

For New Years Day we woke up 'kinda early' (everyone was partying and such the night before for gosh sakes!), threw some stuff in a rented van, and took off for Washington.

We arrived at Grandma Jo and Bampa's house and there was a party going on. Lots of great folks, lots of good food, and lots of fun to be had. We jumped right in.

Richard found the bar. Nuff said.

Caroline: you HAVE to like this picture! Look how cute you are!!!! You have to or I'll disown you. You are so cute: deal with it. I love this picture.

In fact, look how cute you and Carol are here. I adore you both, and I LOVE the pictures.

Look how cute Cari, Grandma Jo, and Carol all are. Just one big ole group of cute people.

CUTE, CUTE, CUTE!!! I am so darn lucky to have such a wonderful family.

Wow, my cute family is hanging out, discussing world events and such, and it looks like Steven is drinking. Heck, he's 21 now. You go Steven!

Hmmm...looks like Grandma Jo is explaining the facts of life of alcohol to Steven, now that he's 21 and can now FINALLY drink (yeah, right). You go Grandma Jo, you go girl!

Steven does not look convinced about the facts of life about alcohol explained by his Grandma, even though he's now 21 and now FINALLY able to drink (yeah, right).

Oh. Looking at this picture I think he'll follow the example of his shirt and 'Just Do It'. What a brave guy to be 21 and finally get to drink alcohol (yeah, right). You go guy!

My cute family continues to hang out and I notice that Jessica seems to be having a 'tude'. Brian is talking young lady: you need to pay attention and give him the proper respect. What is your problem? Dillion and Megan are behaving themselves. What's with you young lady?

Oh I see. Doug is your problem! That explains it. You go girl!

Go Jessica, go!

Man, when that girl gets a tude, she doesn't waste any time or effort, eh?

Hmmm... I think I see what's going on here.

The bar tender appears to be a bit young to be dispensing alcohol. Perhaps he has provided a bit too much to Steven and Jessica and that accounts for their attitudes. I have the feeling this is the case.

Oh my gosh, look at this! He is way too young, and appears to be serving alcohol to anyone who will ask (NO Trevor, no alcohol for Randy!!!! You KNOW how he gets! No, for the love of God!).

Someone stop the madness!


I wish people would realize that while young bartenders are popular at this time, and some people seem to like it (like Randy), that it is not a good idea.

"Ha! All I gotta do is get these folks wasted, put out my tip jar, and the tips will get me through college!!! Grandpa Keith was right!! I'm going to be a doctor yet!"

I have to go to something else. I can't deal with the bartender issue at this time. It's too much to bear.

A new event. Every Holiday we take a picture of the kids. Look at how our group of six has grown to a group of many. Amazing.


Here they are. Our originals. Like I said, I have a cute family.

Man, now Doug appears to have a tude. That bartender needs to be stopped! Put a cartoon on or something! Give him a puppy or something!!

Oh yeah, back to the kids. We always take a funny picture. The bartender is innocent of this crime. No puppy needed at this time.

Doug seems to have gotten over his tude. Thank goodness.

I'll post more pictures tomorrow: the boys want the computer so I gotta go.

And the title of this post about shooting out your eye? Heck, just messing with your mind. That bartender got to me too. Guess I'd better get me a puppy for protection.