Snow Envy - Can it be?

This post is in honor of my friends on the West Side of the state!  This has been an interesting winter for us here in Spokane.  For most of this winter season so far, we have not had very much snow.  We are talking a dusting here and there, and no White Christmas.  Hard to believe that as it seems we have had a white Christmas every year that we have been in Spokane.

Earlier this week, the weather man was predicting snow, but each morning we would wake up with nothing.  Oddly enough my friends on the west side were getting pummeled with the white stuff.  Friends and family were posting their snow pictures, commenting that they were stuck at work, all school districts had cancelled, Alaska Airlines was even cancelling flights... And then it happened - Blizzard in Spokane! 

I am strangely happy that it has finally blanketed our town with snow.  I have even helped with the shovelling a little, even though I am not as efficient as Justin, I felt that the effort was what matters.  We have about 8 inches of snow here and school is cancelled, therefore creating a work at home day for me.  Great to get some of my bigger projects for work complete when I can concentrate without the hubub and distraction of my office. 

I think the reason that I like the snow this year is it didn't arrive at Thanksgiving!  I guess I like to ease into the winter white.  Well we have eased this year!  Caden was out playing in the snow in the backyard today.  When he came in, he had a pitcher of snow.  I asked him what he would be doing with that and he let me know he would like to take it to his room.  I explained that it would melt and he couldn't do that.  It took some convincing, but he finally left it outside.  How fun to see the imagination of an almost five year old and the snow!

So as I write this, the snow plow has just created a huge berm at the end of our driveway, and I need to get it relocated.  Not complaining, because winter has arrived!

Caden meets Ryan Leaf

When I was in college, Ryan Leaf was the quarterback for the Cougars.  He was a great asset to a great team that broke records and played well.  After graduating, he made some bad choices and was not the stellar role model you would hope he could be. 

Well, we ran into him at the Cougar game on Saturday.  He is doing a book tour.  He is actually turning his life around and trying to right some wrongs.  Based on that, I wish him well. 

Since we saw him, we thought "why not let Caden have a picture?"  So here is Caden's 15 minutes of fame today.  After we took the picture, his publicist asked if they could post the picture on thier facebook page too.  I said sure.  Then my Dad recognized her as Margo Myers - past tv personality from the west side of the state.  After that, they realized that none of them took a picture and asked me to e-mail it to them. 

On a side note, we went to Northern Quest the next day and ... Ryan Leaf was there selling and signing books.  We purchased a book and it is signed for us, so stay tuned for the book review...

Cougar Football Saturday!

What is not to love about Butch Cougar?  What a great mascot!  Caden loves Butch Cougar and was glad to see him again!

Caden, my dad & I headed to Pullman on Saturday to see the Cougars take on Stanford.  We were hoping for a miracle and the cougs would win.  That didn't happen, but we sure had fun walking around campus, having ice cream at ferdinand's and having lunch at the fieldhouse before the game!  Go Cougs!

Ready for halloween!

We are ready for Halloween! 

I am pretty proud of my skills! I made the vest and chaps for Caden's costume! Awesome skills, I know.  He is going to be a cowboy and we took some inspiration from Woody.  Thanks to Aunt Jeannette for letting him borrow the boots, holster and gun.  He is ready!  Now the hard part is every morning he asks how many days until Halloween.  Pretty sure we won't be talking about Christmas until December 1.

Ladies man at 4

Yes, we have our hands full with our little ladies man.  This is Caden with one of his numerous girlfriends.  This was the day he told us that he would be going on a date with Claire.  The date consisted of follow the leader around various areas of our neighbor's yard (her uncle).  We all had a good laugh. 

I have to say, Caden is quite the social butterfly.  My mom can vouch for this because every day that he heads to the playground, he is actually going there to make friends.  He also makes sure that  he looks good because people won't want to be his friend if he doesn't have a cool shirt on... his words, not mine. 

Haircut time

It's time for the back to school haircut - a little delayed on my post...

My dad got the joy of giving Caden a haircut in August.  Not bad! 

Cowboy Caden

Last weekend we went to the Benton Franklin County Fair in the Tri-Cities.  Below is a video of Caden's first real cowboy experience.  Enjoy!

Rockin b Ranch

What a fun night we had at the Rockin B Ranch.  This is their last year of performing, and it was very reminiscent of Rawhide in Phoenix but on a smaller scale.  We had a great dinner, they put on a fantastic and entertaining show and keep everyone interested.  The musicians were very talented and we had a blast.


One thing we weren't expecting was the audience participation.  We had the opportunity to interact with the performers.  Caden didn't miss a beat and was able to be a volunteer during the shoot em up show.  He also made his way on stage during the actual dinner performance and basically walked across the stage and smiled for everyone as they were all laughing that he had the guts to walk across the stage.  As super mom, I wasn't sure how to corral him back to where he was supposed to sit.  Luckily the woman in charge let him know that he needed to be sitting.  :) 

Tough being 4 but really fun too!

Dress up at North Wall

I am not always sure what Caden is learning at school, and when you ask him what they do, he gets quiet.  Today he told me they learned about Kings and Queens and I asked if they might see those at the museum today.  He thought they might.... So imagine my surprise to find this picture in my e-mail.  The kids are learning about Kings and Queens and this is them all dressed up!  Notice Caden has a pink wand, it makes him happy!

I hope to post some pictures and stories from our Rockin B Ranch Adventure soon.

Fun at the bowling alley

We are starting early to encourage fun activities that we can do as a family.  Bowling is the name of the game.  As some of you may know, my first job was working in a bowling alley, and we all got the honor of being on a bowling team with our friends.  My mom signed us up for bowling since she felt that we needed a saturday activity that didn't involve tv.  Good idea mom!

Caden was so excited to get his bowling shoes on and that they gave him a ball.  He wanted it to be blue like my ball (still have the falcon from 1995) and I also still have my bowling shoes circa 1995.  Let's just say they are still awesome!

Notice the socks... That is all Caden's doing.  We try to get him to push them down, but he likes them pulled all the way up.  He also picked black socks for the bowling alley... Lets just say he has his own sense of style.  :)

We found a deal that gives kids free bowling every day of the summer.  So what that means is we are going bowling a lot in august.  Caden had so much fun and I was really impressed with the automated bumpers they have.  It's not completely free, you have to rent shoes, but it was worth it!

Justin & I went bowling for date night on Sunday and saw this deal, so we have embraced it.  Happy bowling in August!  I am sure we will be back about 5 more times this month. 

Why sleep in a bed?

Why sleep in a bed when you can sleep on your diego couch?

You may not see my kid in the mess there, but he is sleeping on his little pull out couch.  I am not sure all that goes on after I put him to bed, but each night I discover something funny when I check in on him before I go to bed.  He is a character.

Last night he let me know he wanted to sleep on the top bunk, then the bottom bunk, then the diego couch.  I told him the couch wasn't an option and we had just moved everything off the top bunk, so he could just sleep there.  When I checked on him, he was asleep on the diego couch. 

Can't be mad at my independant kiddo!  Just have to laugh!

Awesome snack at school!

In case you were wondering, this is what an awesome snack looks like to a 4 year old - smores!

Happy Friday!

Caden's teachers send us weekly pictures of what his class is up to.  I couldn't resist this one.  Each friday, a kid in the class gets to pick the snack, and supply it for the whole class.  Whomever picked the snack this day... well the kids loved it!

Like my outfit?

Just found this in the draft blogs - Caden has quite the idea of what is cool to be wearing.  I like to call this the tacky tourist.

Having fun at school

     

So Caden has a contagious personality.  He loves to dance, sing and move around.  this is him showing his moves off in his class at school.  

I love that his teacher, Nicole, e-mails us pictures every week of what they are up to.  Caden's picture is always a little bit wild, but I am not surprised at all.

Caden's buddy, Annie

This about sums up the birthday party yesterday.  Caden & Annie are little buddies.  Annie turned 3 yesterday and had her birthday party at Mobius!  Caden and her decided to wear goggles around because they like them.  These cousins are two peas in a pod.

They definitely keep me and my sister on our toes.  Just look how grown up Caden looks now!  This is what it's like being 4!

Caden is 4!

Caden turned 4 this week!  He got to have cupcakes at school on his birthday.  His "house party" as he is calling it will be this sunday!  We are keeping it small... just under 40... Yikes!  Stay tuned for more pictures!

Caden can use the computer

we were playing around at my parents house last week and caden showed me that he can use the computer.  There is an interactive website that shows them how to click and move the mouse around.  It also talks to you.  I know my computer use didn't start until elementary school and it was dos based.

Caden continues to amaze us.  You may also notice the tape measure by his right hand.  That was a birthday present from my dad.  Caden really likes to measure things, but my dad doesn't want his tape measure to get lost, so Caden has his own.  Cool things when you are 4!