Sista

Another candle on your cake? Well, that's no cause to pout.
Be glad that you have strength enough to blow the darn thing out!



My beautiful sister has just turned another youthful year. I'm grateful to have her in my family and in my life. I love you, Leslie babe! Thanks for being such an amazing auntie and sister... here's to more to come.

Capiche?

Living proof that I am Porter's bff!... Language only a mother and lion could understand.

Snow Much Fun

Washington has experienced some unusually cold and snowy weather this past week. The Holmes children are estatic for the adventure. Damon thinks its great other then he's forced to get up close and personal with the stuff at work. And me... I'm grateful for a warm home to return to after we've had fun playing in it.

Thankfulness

I'm home recovering from a little surgery while my boys have spent the last week at their grandparents house. It's been a week since I've seen them and I'm missing them terribly. I'm grateful for parents and wonderful in-laws that have made this time of resting and recouping an easy one for me. And I'm thankful for grandparents that make their grandchildren's schedule seem seamless so that I don't have to worry about a thing. In fact they are a little too good.... because my kiddies haven't asked much for me.

High School Tag

A special thanks to my sister for forcing me to air out my dirty laundry! :P

1. Did you date someone from your school?
Yes.

2. What kind of car did you drive?
1983 white ford escort. "She was a beaut!"- Per Leslie. I think I'll steal her comment and you can only imagine how much more beautiful the escort was handed down a decade later.

3. Did you pass your drivers test on your first try?
Written test- I failed twice. Twice! I was a nervous wreck. Driving test- I failed parallel parking big time. However, now? I'm as conservative as they get. Did I mention I've never gotten a speeding ticket before?

4. Were you a party animal?
I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of being social. And yet, I didn't enjoy being in the lime light or being the one doing all of the talking. Party- Yes. Animal- No.

5. Were you considered a flirt?
Flirt- No. Had lots of guy friends?- Yes.

6. Were you in band, orchestra or choir?
No. But I secretly wanted to be in choir. I've always wanted a good singing voice to which I was never blessed with.

7. Were you a nerd?
No. I was your full on Ms. Cool, flip your high hair over your shoulder, roll your eyes kind of girl.

8. Were you on any varsity teams?
Uh, what's Varsity mean? Does watching sports count?

9. Can you still sing the fight song?
Not at all. My memory is mush.

10. Who were your favorite teachers?
Mrs. Frink. Pottery. Fun & free spirited.

11. Where did you sit for lunch?
Ate lunch with friends off school grounds or in cafeteria.

12. What is you schools full name?
Federal Way High School

13. What is your schools mascot and colors?
Eagles...blue and white

14. Did you go to homecoming and with who?
Yes. Steve Oono- my best friend.

15. If you could go back and do it again would you?
No. I'm enjoying life as it is.

16. What did you remember most about graduation?
Friends, freedom, and a new adventure awaiting.

17. Where did you go for senior skip day?
Bowling Alley with a bunch of friends.

18. Were you in any clubs?
No. But if there were a social club I would have been.

19. Have you gained some weight since then?
Oh yeah.

20. Who was your prom date?
Steve Oono- best friend.

21. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion?
Haha. I'm such an old foggy. A few years away from my 20th. I'm looking forward to attending that one.

22. Did you have a job in high school?
Yes. Rightfully so since I wasn't involved in clubs or sports, I had the time. My life in high school was friends, work, and homework.. in that order.

I tag Jen, Nikki, Corrine, and Mandy! Dig deep girls, dig deep.

The Best of Two Loves

I'm a huge fan of David Archuleta. And Be Still My Soul is one of my favorite hymns. What an extraordinary voice singing such a beautiful song. Thanks for passing this one along, Mom.

Purse Purge

So, many of you know that I'm not a purse gal. I know weird, but it's true. I don't have to have a new purse for every season, outfit, or year for that matter. A friend of mine sells the cutest purses... and it doesn't do anything for me. Sometimes, I think I should have been a guy (okay, not really), but as for purses (and shopping in general for that matter), I have more testosterone in me.

Because I lack a purse fetish, I also don't take care of mine. It's a total dumping ground. My sister can attest... she's cleaned mine out several times... only to find it utterly unorganized the next time she peaks in. I dread it. I openly admit that I have a problem. I'm a purse stuff it, organize it later junkie.... But I've hit rock bottom. My moment happened a few days ago as I was checking out at the grocery store. I reached in and pulled out my wallet...and gobs of receipts came tumbling out with it and landed onto the store floor. I was a bit embarrassed. Way overdue for a purge. (and don't ask how long its been... it's been awhile.)



Here's just a handful of things that I found while purging:

Several hundred receipts- some of which were dated 2007... early 2007.
$3.54 cents in loose change.
$12.00 in bills- I'm rich!
A bottle of Tylenol infant drops.
A rock- I'm pretty sure that I didn't put that in there.
Double AA batteries.
Several old grocery shopping lists.
A zip lock baggy of old fishy crackers.
4 containers of chap stick.
An old Tim McGraw concert ticket- thanks again, Jen!
2 Library cards- one of which I don't know who the heck it belongs to... Dan Rythmath anyone?-I've got to return that back to the PCLS.
2 bottles of Purell hand sanitizer.
9 tampons- I guess you can never have too many.
A matchbox car- I'm pretty sure I didn't put that in there either.
A Tide-to-Go Stain pen.
22 pens- which is ironic because I could never seem to find one when I needed it.
A Customs Declaration Form from Jan. of this year.
and two blank thank you cards- because I guess you never know when you'll need an emergency thank you???????


If it's been awhile, purge your purses ladies. We carry enough stress and burden as it is... in fact, my purse feels 5 lbs lighter.
Kris & Jen- I'd tag you, but I know both of your purses would be ideally organized and not at all interesting!!!!!!!

So, I tag:

Rebecca, Mandy, Sommer (who has the cutest purses!), and Anna! Whatcha got in yours?

A Do It Yourself Haircut....

... at its finest.

A Natural High

There's just something about being outside. The fresh air, the scenery, the cool breeze against my cheeks that invigorates and always seems to rejuvenate me. I enjoy the long hours of light during the summer- this getting dark at 4:45 crud drives me up the wall. So we took an opportunity to get out of the house and indulge in some cool crisp fall weather and had a lovely time...

My Two B's

Big Head:



& Book Worm:

Party Like It's 197*.....

Friends, Food (and lots of it), and Fun describe the wonderful time that Damon and I had on Saturday night. The McCombs annual Halloween party never disappoints and this year was no exception. There were so many fabulous costumes. There were so many I didn't get a chance to capture- I wish I would have taken more pictures. My personal favorite? The Peter Pan team of four... which btw- Mim sewed everyone of them all by herself!

I feel awfully blessed to have so many wonderful friends.

Straight From The Horse's Mouth

From our cowpokes to yours, we want to wish you a Happy Halloween!



Trick or Treat'n:

Caleb Happenings- Two things to note about Caleb.

Caleb was a chit chatter. He couldn't just say trick or treat or Happy Halloween, get his candy and then turn around. Mr. Social bug relished on striking up full on conservations with all of our neighbors. Cute the first couple of houses... then after a bit it became apparent that at this rate we'd be lucky to hit 20 houses the whole night.

Funny story- The 4th house we went to belongs to an elderly couple- I'm pretty sure they are pushing 80 or so. Grandpa opens the door and comes out with the ugliest, scariest mask I've ever seen. Caleb's eyes get as big as saucers, he starts to back peddle and freak out. Once the old man notices that he's scared the crap out of my son, he takes his mask off and shows Caleb the "good stuff". I tell the grandpa, thanks for the scare, love it! And for the next 79 houses, I have to reassure Caleb that there wouldn't be any other scary grandpas before he'd walk up and start knocking.







Take Care!

Movie Recommendation

Damon asked me to rent Iron Man this past weekend. As soon as I saw the front cover, I admit, I wasn't the least bit interested. In fact, by the looks of it I was thinking- total man movie.

Ladies, I want you to know that I was pleasantly surprised. And with all of its action packed scenes, I've fallen love. In fact, this may just be in my top 10. If you see it, tell me what you think-

Arte ala Pumpkin

We broke up our pumpkin carving into two days. The size and magnitude of scooping and carving allowed only one pumpkin at a time so that our other little pumpkins could go to bed at a decent hour. Our completed project:








Take Care!

An Afternoon of Mistakes

Why is my baby nakee in the middle of a cold, Fall day? I'll share:

While Caleb attends preschool, Porter squeezes in a two hour nap. And on this particular day Porter got a late start. Not wanting a cranky child, I pushed it to the limit. I waited until the very last second to wake Porter up and put him in the car to pick up Caleb from school. That was my first mistake. The second mistake was realized upon entering Porter's bedroom. You're kiddin' me right? You've got to be joking. Guess who pooped their pants and then played in it before crashing? Yeah, tell me about it. This kid had fun finger painting. Totally everywhere- his hair, all over his crib, the wall, his blanket, and yes on the floor- like how the heck does that happen?. It was disgusting!

And now, I had 3.5 minutes to clean him up- No!, 3.5 minutes to disinfect him before I had to leave to get Caleb. Worlds fastest bath....ever! With seconds to spare, he was dressed with a diaper and thrown in the car (okay, not literally).
I successfully pick up Caleb and am minimally late to which his teacher took one look into my car and I'm sure was thinking- baby, freezing, diaper only- what is she thinking? I don't even try to explain. I know that upon arriving home I have an hours worth of muck to clean up and sanitize before anybody could enter it. I'd just rather look dumb and hurry home. I needed a few minutes to gather my cleaning supplies and attack the floor before anybody was allowed to run underfoot... so I left Porter strapped in his car seat in the car in the garage. I return five minutes later to find this.... a nakee baby who wasn't finished with his nap.




Note to self- Five syllables, Carrie.... overalls, baby.

Every Thing He Does Is Magic

We picked the most beautiful day to do our annual family pumpkin patch'n. It was warm, sunny, and our kids were in terrific spirits! If you are familiar with Spooner Farms then you know that they have more activities then the usual run of the mill pumpkin patch, which is why it's one of our favorite spots to go. For a second straight year, Damon has managed to win us the mother load... the kind of pumpkin we would never pay for ourselves... the kind of pumpkin that takes ginormous muscles to heft into the car... the kind of pumpkin that will take a zillion seconds to scoop all the inner'd goobies out of. But, this year he didn't just win us one enormous pumpkin, he won two. Nice, job hunny.... well done.









Here are a few other favorite moments from our day at Spooner Farms:










Take Care!