Random Christmas Break Happenings!

That wonderful time between Christmas and New Years where you have no idea what day it is and you have nowhere you need to go. It's the best time of the year if you ask me! 

Right after Christmas the kids spent 4 nights at Ga-Ga & Pa's while Michael and I stayed home lounging on the couch in our jammies doing whatever we wanted to. We did finally get dressed and go out on Saturday morning to see Gladiator II. In all honestly it was better than I thought it would be. It still didn't come close to the first though. After the movie we went over to The Cheesecake Factory for lunch and used a gift card Michael had gotten from a co-worker. 

On Sunday the kids left Ga-Ga & Pa's and drove right to church. 

After church Justine came over so he and Ella could open up their Christmas gifts from each other. Of course they had to change into jammies to open gifts! 

The pictures I took were mostly posed, but I did take a couple videos so I ended up taking a still shot from the video. I love to see them laughing! Justine got Ella a tumbler that says 'Best Girlfriend Ever' and a necklaces with a heart and an infinity symbol together. Ella got Justine a hoodie....of course she bought herself the same one so they can match. 

I got them 3 matches t-shirts since they love to match each other! 

After watching some TV we took the kids out on another double date. I want to take them out to a restaurant once a month. For one it's fun to try new things and Ella and Justine are great eaters so it's actually worth it, two it gives us one on one time to spend with just them and it's also nice for Michael and I have a date night out as well. 

This time around we went Trapper's Sushi since Ella had never had it. Trapper's is my favorite!

 

Justine got the Vader roll and it was fried so it was warm. 

I got the Skywalker which is the one I always get. 

I think Michael got the Sounder. 

Ella got the Volcano.

The best part was she liked it! 

My goal for New Year's Eve was to play games and watch movies. We played Racoon Tycoon and Michael won. We're all still trying to figure out the best way to win since there are so many options. 

We also lounged around and watched movies...we were having a Mission Impossible movie marathon. 

When the booms started Charlie got into his hunker down position which is on the floor right in front of where Michael and I sit on the couch. He never sits there unless there are booms going off! 

Over Christmas break we drank lots of hot chocolate. Christmas time is the only time I ever buy spray whipped cream from Costco so it's a treat for us! We all made it till midnight except this cutie....she fell asleep on the couch about 10 minutes before midnight! There might be a picture of her sitting on the couch smooshing her face with her hand, but I wouldn't dare post that! ;) 

I had a bit of time to read. I've read so many of Karen Kingsbury's books this year. They are great Christian fiction and some of them are actually historical fiction. I loved reading all about the Baxter Family...there is a show on Netflix and it's good, but they had to change a few things around since the books are set in the early 2000's and the show takes place in the present. The above book is loosely connected to the Baxter series. It was so good! In all I read 89 books in 2024 that was down from 165 books in 2023, but I honestly felt like I was pretty absent from my family during 2023 because of all my reading. This year I feel like it was a good healthy balance....89 books is still a lot of books! 

Zeke and Jack had fun playing the Switch Sports game.

 

Owen spent some of his time painting his D&D miniatures! He bought himself the paints and small brushes and he's able to do such a good job at all the details. 

Michael had to go back to work on January 2nd and we had to get back to reality on the 3rd by going grocery shopping. Our first stop was for immediate sustenance! You can't beat Costco pizza! We just happened to sit next to the comment box so I did go ahead and leave my opinion about the new Costco muffins...they are awful! 

On the way home from Costco, Jack was thirsty, but he forgot to bring anything to drink so Ella shared with him. Ahhh...he's the Best Girlfriend Ever! Hahahaha! 

A Few Random Things That Didn't Need A Whole Post!

Here are a few pictures that didn't justify a whole blog post by themselves, but they are still pretty cool so I wanted to post about them! 

Back in October, our Women's Ministry put on a skit at our Women's Retreat...the theme was all about the Armor of God. Gail the Women's Ministry Leader tasked Zeke with creating swords, shields and wrist guards for the skit. Well this was right up Michael's alley so he jumped in to work on it too. He made them look so amazing! 

Here's the ladies in the skit with their swords and shields. 

Here's all the actors on stage after the skit. Jack & Andrew played the bad guys that fought against the Christians wearing their armor. Zeke, Caitlynn and Josiah were off on the side holding up signs during the fight scenes that said things like "Thwack" or "Smash" like the old Batman TV show. It was hilarious! 

Zeke really wanted to be Seahawks player for Halloween he was so excited when his costume came that he wore his helmet almost the whole night. 

I finally broke down and took Jack and Zeke to Great Clips to get their hair cut. They look so good!!! 

Last year I started going to a Cooking Club with Kim and a few other ladies. We've met monthly with the exception of summer. It's been so fun trying new foods and pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone. On Monday, October 13th, we had a tea party so I had to bring my Royal Albert Old Country Rose china and use that. It was so fun!

Back in July during a camping trip we hit a deer and the truck had a bunch of damage on the front and driver side. At first our scheduled date to get it fixed wasn't until November 16th, but thankfully they were able to get us in early. I took the truck down on Sept 28th and it was finally finished on Oct 31st! She looks pretty good!!! 

Just a fun picture of these cuties of mine prior to them going to youth group & play rehearsal! 

I bought Michael and I one of those dating books where you scratch off the date and go on an adventure. The first date we went on we had to go somewhere that was at least 15 miles from home and we hadn't really ever spent time there. We chose to go to North Bend. We've driven through there, but we haven't really done anything other than get MCD's or gas. Our first stop of course had to be Snoqualmie Falls. You can't drive up here and not visit. This was on Saturday, November 11th. The falls was roaring, but thankfully not too misty! It was beautiful! 

Michael and I had also been attending a Marriage class at church so we took our book with us and discussed the questions on the drive up. It's always so nice to be intentional with our marriage. We ended up eating at a the Pour House Bar & Grill. It was really yummy! After that we walked through the older part of town...not the outlet stores. We bought some chocolate and then I had a cookie and Michael got a coffee. It was a really fun date day! 

Our kids have been attending a Christian Taekwondo class every Tuesday night since January 2022. Here they are getting their new belts!  

They started out at white belts, moved to low yellow, then high yellow and at this class they moved into low green. The best part about low green is they now attend the later class. Rather than class starting at 5pm it now starts at 6pm. It's been nice getting to have dinner at home prior to class. 

Zeke was part of the Kids Musical at church on December 17th. He had never expressed an interest in being in a play, but he was bored one Wednesday nights when his older siblings were leaving to go to youth group so I told him he should go to the rehearsal and see if it might interest him. He fought me on it, but I told him he could go once and then be done if he didn't like it. Well, he came home singing the songs and he was so excited he LOVED it. He did a great job! I also had a minor roll in the play. At one point Zeke talks about how he hopes his mom isn't too mad because he already opened all his Christmas presents. At that point in the play I got to jump up and loudly say...ZEKE RUSSELL MARTIN!!!! Everyone laughed it was super cute! 

On Valentine's Day, Ella came home from youth group with a card and candy from a certain boy! She had the biggest smile on her face!!! 

On March 5th, Owen had an appt with his dermatologist to start on Accutane. He has bad acne just like I did...thankfully it seems like Jack and Ella are taking after Michael which I'm so thankful for. I know it doesn't look like it in this picture, but Owen does struggle with his skin. I knew I wanted to get it taken care of before he gets any scarring. He's been on it now for over a month and his skin is looking better. Right now he's in the drying out period so his skin is really flaky, but it should take less than 6 months and he'll be finished. 

On Monday, March 11th, Jack went in to get his braces removed! 

Nice straight white teeth. It's so crazy that we don't have anyone in braces anymore!!! 

For Cooking Club in March we were making Scandinavian food and I was tasked with making dessert. I requested a cookbook from the library called Modern Scandinavian Baking and decided to make this recipe for Mama's Maple Pecan Ring and oh my goodness the house smelled divine!!! They were so yummy and the best part was the recipe made 2 rings so I took one and Michael and the kids got to enjoy one at home.

Random Summer Happenings!

I have been so bad about taking pictures lately. I used to take hundreds and hundreds of pictures every month, but now some months I barely take close to hundred. I think it has something to do with the kids getting older. They aren't constantly changing as much nor are they learned new skills at the rate they used. 

I had a bunch of pictures of different things that we did this summer, but they weren't enough for an entire blog post by themselves so I thought I would put them all into a random summer post. 

Even though we didn't official end school until June 16th, we weren't slaving away until late in the afternoon either. On Wednesday, June 7th, we meet up with Kim and her kids at Seahurst beach for a fun kick off to the summer weather. It was a gorgeous day to be at the beach. 

Zeke is always on the look out for drift wood that is in the shape of weapons. He's found quite a few and we have a collection of them on our mantle at home! 

While Daddy and the older boys were off on the rafting trip I took these cuties out to dinner at Red Robin! 

I like to live on the wild side! 

For Christmas Ga-Ga got the boys all these miniature games. Owen hadn't ever opened his up yet. So one morning he wanted me to play the world's small game of Monopoly with him. It was so hilarious! 

Look at those little cards and the figurines were so small, but they still took up the whole space on the board. 

The week before the 4th of July the kids and I needed to be in Burien for Jack's orthodontist appt. We had to pick him up from his Fire & Safety training at PSSC and then we had about an hour before his appt. We went to the Dollar Tree to buy the Bingo prizes for the 4th of July BBQ and then I remembered it was Thursday and the Farmers Market was going on. I had no idea where Michael's Water District booth was, but I figured we could have a quick look. Thankfully we found it right away. The booth was so nice! That's when I got to see the water fan in action and I was sure he needed to borrow it for the BBQ!

Our cat likes nachos! And no Michael isn't still eating them right along with Charlie. These are the chips that he broke up so Charlie could eat them. This cat will eat just about anything...except shrimp, imitation crab and chicken apple sausage. He doesn't like those. 

Since Ella and I were headed to Eastern Washington in the middle of July that meant we were going to be gone for Michael's birthday on July 14th. Michael and I went out to celebrate at Daniel's Broiler on Wednesday the 12th. We also had him open his presents that night. Owen found a funny birthday card that said something like being the greatest person to ever walk the earth and then you open it and it says "Not you that was Jesus!" I know I'm not quite remembering it right, but it was funny! We got Michael a few new t-shirts and then a bag full of his favorite caramels from the Winco bulk section. 

With us being gone on all these camping trips we did not want our yard to die so I finally broke down and bought a couple of these timer things for the hoses. They are about $50 a piece, but it was so nice to not have to rely on the neighbors or friends to come water our garden/yard. 

Zeke had a fun time building a fort upstairs in the hallway. 

Charlie thought it was a fun to hang out too! 

One day while I was cooking dinner with my Mom I reached into the bag of carrots and pulled out this one. I had to take a picture of it and sent it to Michael. It's a boy! 

This whole year we have been keeping track of the different animals Charlie brings in and kills. It's his kill list and yes I know that sounds creepy. On this particular day I was not happy with him. He got a hummingbird! Even though I wasn't happy with our beast I was impressed...those things are fast! 

Our VBS theme this year was a space theme called Steller. My Dad had been tasked with the job of building a lunar lander. He spent weeks and weeks creating this. It was huge! You can see it's about double his height. It came apart in two pieces and barely fit through the church doors. It was up on the stage for a couple weeks prior to VBS...it was good advertisement. He did such a great job! 

One day Zeke asked if he could make a smorgasbord for lunch. I told him he could. I love that he took the time to make it all pretty! 

The 2nd week of August was when the kids went to Summer Camp. The older boys left on Sunday. Michel was the one to drop them off and he didn't even stay until they drove away let alone take pictures. He's such a dad! Ella and Zeke headed out for kids camp on Wednesday afternoon. We had a lot more kids going this year which was nice. Especially for Zeke...last year he was the only boy from our church. This year there were 3 boys that went. 

The youth camp is from Sunday - Friday, while the kids camp is from Wednesday - Saturday. It's honestly the perfect amount of time for that age! 

Loaded up and ready to go! 

Mr Ernie and Miss Katie taking good care of our kiddos. We appreciate them so much! 

I got about 48 hours with no kiddos which is so nice. My plan was to do nothing except read! One thing I did really well with this summer was not sleeping in. Most days I was up at 7:30 and it really helped with taking advantage of the day and not having to break the habit once school was back in session. One of the mornings I came down to fill up my water before sitting on the couch to read my book. I opened my tumbler, got out my electrolytes and was getting ready to open the packet when I looked over and saw this....

Oh my word!!! He was huge. That's the back of my stove and with his legs he's about 3 - 4 inches. I about stopped breathing! I'm not joking! I walked right out of there, got the vacuum hose and sucked him right up. We actually ended up find 3 of these big bad boys over the course of the summer. Ewwwww!!! No thank you! 

I've talked about Richie before and how he loved my long hair. He passed away on October 28th, 2021, from Covid. It was such a huge loss for his family and friends and our church community. The family had a small gathering last year, but they were waiting to have the celebration of life that everyone could attend later. 

His service was on August 19th at our church. Richie built the cross that is on the wall in the sanctuary. He also built that gate for one of our pastor's sermon series' he did. Mary his wife asked my Dad if he could build these platforms for Richie's boots. She wanted the platforms to get taller going up and up to the foot of the cross. Richie loved his boots and he loved Jesus. He also love Coke & Skittles so the edge of the stage was lined with cans of Coke and the tables outside had bags of Skittles on them. It was a fabulous service honoring a wonderful man. I can't wait to get to heaven and see Richie again. I can just hear him giving me a hard time and saying something like, "Well...what took you so long?" 

On a last minute whim we decided to spend the Saturday prior to school starting at the beach. The same beach we went to at the beginning of summer. I thought how cool would that be if the Storer family could come with us. Even though it was last minute they didn't have plans so they joined us. We went back to Seahurst...it's Ella favorite because she loves to look for sea glass. She has hundreds of pieces now...it's a fun hobby! 

The weather was a little bit on the cooler side when we first got there. 

Once the sun was fully on us it was so nice! Of course this guy was ready to go at exactly the time I said we might leave. We ended up staying until 2:30 though and then it was actually getting really warm and I was ready to go. All the Storer kids wanted to come over to play, but we couldn't fit them all in our van. We ended up taking Andrew and Caitlynn with us and then Micah and Kim brought Josiah over after they ran a couple errands. They also brought over some food to share for dinner so we ended up making it a whole day of fun with friends. It was a nice bookend to all our summer fun!