Winter Solstice

Sunday we had our now annual Winter Solstice Party. We ate pizza on the living room floor, drank rootbeer out of fancy wine glasses (the kids love that), and opened presents. We read a story that tells how the winter solstice came about and talked about how we share our light with the world. We made sunshine cupcakes, but no one ate them.
Erik got new Geo trax for his trains, and was really excited about that. He was mad because Taryn got a webkinz until he found his own gecko webkins in a different package.
I was concerned because we had gotten Taryn this beautiful doll at costco, but it was not an american girl like she wanted. But when she opened her she fell in love with Alice and has not left her side (except when Alice is in school, which she was late for today).
Overall, it was a fun evening. The kids were so happy with their gifts, which always makes me satisfied.

Christmas tree

We went to this awesome tree farm (tree factree according to Erik) on Saturday. It's in Maple Valley, called Wilson farms or something like that. The people there were so nice, we met this too cute 10 year old girl who gave us the tour. After we cut our tree down, they brought out a tractor to load it up in and gave the kids a ride around the farm. They had free cider and hot chocolate. I just can't say enough nice things about this place, it was so great.

We decided that this year we would have a home-made tree. The kids are going to make all the ornaments (ordiments). They have been stapling paper together and stuffing it with tissues, and today we put beads on string. It has been a lot of fun and given them something to do.

New Job

It's official! I got a job working for H & R Block. I will be working in their Auburn Franchise. I will be doing a little bit of training in December and then start work Jan 3rd!

I have been thinking of getting a job for the last couple of years, but was hoping to find something I could be excited about. I'm so glad I took this class, because it was fun and I think I will enjoy doing this work.

Halloween

Being the professional party pooper that I am, I have never let my kids go trick or treating. I hate Halloween, and I think it's ridiculous to let your kids go door to door begging for candy.
HOWEVER...being that we are in a safe neighborhood where we know a lot of the people around here, I told the kids they could try it out this year. I figured it was a childhood tradition they could get under their belts. I limited it to only those houses where we know who lives there.
We had a little neighborhood get together at the beginning of the evening where they passed out safety bracelets for the kids. Then we went to our designated houses with our friends Dorothy and Delaney.
I have to say, this was the most fun I've had trick or treating ever. The kids were so thrilled with the whole experience. They would run from house to house with their bags, and after every house Erik would say, "Mom! I got brown M&M's! Mom! I got a snickers!".
One of our neighbors set up a tent in front of their house with some games. I got to meet some new people, and see neighbors that I don't see that often. I realized that these kind of things are about community. The kids know so many people from being at the park.
It was so awesome. Then afterwards, we came home and watched Monsters Inc and the kids answered the door.
I had wanted to be different and bought spider rings instead of candy. This little boy came up to our door and looked at Erik with his rings and said, "you don't have any candy to give out?" Erik says, "no, you can pick a ring". The kid turns around and yells into the street, "This house doesn't have any candy!". I guess it wasn't so popular.
I thought the kids costumes adequately fit their personalities.

We have a save the day (control the world) superman:
And our delicate-I'm shy and beautiful-butterfly:

That's Delaney hidden by the fabric hanging down.

Anyway, for the first time in my life, Halloween was a big success and didn't end in tears....

at least not my tears. Taryn came in our room at about 10:30 because she couldn't sleep and was crying. She says, "I don't even know why I'm crying". That's Halloween.

Andersons

While I was in Utah I noticed something...there was a lot of jokes about the downside of being an Anderson. And then I noticed it again when Amy and I had a conversation about Erik's Anderson blood. Becuase he's stubborn and defiant, and difficult to motivate.

So I wanted to share the upside.

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Being an Anderson means I'm smart. It means I can grasp concepts easily and learn quickly.

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Being an Anderson means I'm creative. I have visual intuition and can create beautiful things.

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Being an Anderson means I'm thoughtful. I process and disect information until I understand it.

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Being an Anderson means I'm not a sucker. I'm skeptical and require more information to accept something.

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Being an Anderson means I care deeply about family. It means I love being with my parents and siblings and am concerned about their lives.

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Being an Anderson means I'm funny. I have a quick wit and can surprise people with my comments.

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Being an Anderson means I'm loved. I always know that people have my back and will support me in my life's path.

More funny stories

First I want to say if anyone hasn't seen Wipeout on ABC, you should check it out. We've started watching it as a whole family since Erik fell in love with it. It's on Tuesdays.

We were riding in the car the other day talking about Wipeout. The kids were telling me how they told Grandma about the show. Erik says, we told her about the fat girl we saw on there. Then Taryn says something else about the fat girl. So I say, I wish you guys wouldn't use that term, sometimes people who are fat are embarrassed about it and don't want you to call them that. So Taryn says, can I use the word puffy?

The other day Erik and I had a big knock down fight. After we were in his room saying apologies and talking about what had happened. He says, Mom, I love you. If I didn't have you, I wouldn't even be here. So I tell him that I would be sad without him. He says, what would you even do if you had a piece of paper and needed a hole right through it? I said, I don't know, what would I do? He says, because I can do that you know. I'm also good at scratching (which I had the sores on my arm to prove from a different knock down fight we had in the middle of the street).

Colby Stead

This is my cousin Amy Robinson's band. My sister Kelli told me that they were coming to Seattle, so Vic and I dropped the kids off at Grandma's and went to see them. Kelli said they were good, but what else is she going to say? It seems everyone has a band these days, so I didn't know what to expect. I always prepare myself to say nice things, even thought they might suck, cause...what do you do? I was also nervous that she would not recognize me, because it's been quite a few years and I would be out of context and all.

We got there, and couldn't find the place. I was starting to panic, when we saw this little tiny sign that said we had to go back through the alley to get there. We found the place, but no music. We were about to give up again, when we saw another little tiny sign that said go back into the alley, a little to the left, and up the stairs. They sure didn't make it easy.

Anyway...there were about 4 people there watching. I thought oh no, this is going to be so awkward...but it was perfectly quaint. And they were soooo good! I could have stayed there and listened for hours. It seemed so quick that they were finished. Colby's voice was so soothing, and I thought the writing was beautiful. Amy's accordian was also great, and she has a beautiful voice. I just loved the whole thing! We bought their cd's and listened to them the whole way home.

Amy did recognize me and it was so nice to sit and talk with her after the show. We used to be good friends in our childhood, but it has been more than ten years since we've had a serious conversation. I loved catching up with her and getting a glimpse of what her life is like now.

If anyone wants to check them out, you can find them at www.colbystead.com