Obligatory Santa photo

Our only (thus far) "official" -- meaning I paid for it -- photo with Santa: 

Though I have to admit that I laugh at all the funny screaming-kids-in-Santa's-lap photos that show up on Huffington Post and other social media sources this time of year. 

Annual Christmas Show

Miles's after school care, Hillcrest Kids, has an annual Christmas Show (the real thing, none of this "holiday" stuff).  This year, Miles had a speaking part: Angel #2.  Here he is: 

 
"Rejoicing, we sing praises and then we went back to Heaven again." 

He's also the holder of the letter I in CHRISTMAS.  It's a fun evening, lots of organized chaos with little pre-schoolers all the way to the school agers in the show:

Miles and cousin Jordan, who came up with Gigi for a couple of hours last weekend

 It's Finals Week @ WWU, so my usual complaining!!!! 

Thanksgiving

It has been years since I've spent Thanksgiving with my actual family. Years of graduate school and living far away from my parents created a tradition where I spent the day with friends. So, for the first time in many years, four kids were home for the weekend.  Gene & his family, Gary, Greg, and Miles & I shared a lovely meal with my parents on Thursday.

Friday? CHAOS! I took Miles to see "Penguins of Madagascar" (recommended!), but the first theater we went to was 21+ only (I guess it has a bar), so we had to brave the local mall. After 45 minutes of looking for parking and many bad words uttered, I was about to give up when we found parking.

On Saturday, Miles & I spent much of the day at the Seattle Center.  Each December, they set out an enormous train set which occupies quite a bit of space. Kids are allowed to be conductor.  Then we saw "Dick Whittington and his Cat" at the Seattle Children's Theatre. 

  

  

I simply cannot believe that it's December...wishing you lots of love this month!

October

Loyal readers -- all four of you -- know that autumn is my favorite season!  Miles & I went to visit Claudia this past weekend.  We were also lucky to visit with Dorothy (my Ph.D. advisor) for a fun-filled morning. Claudia's organization, Asian Women United of Minnesota held a fundraising gala on Friday night to help raise awareness for women facing violence, and helping them find resources.

It was a glorious weekend, weather-wise. I (mostly) loved my five years in Minnesota, and walking around the various lakes in the crisp fall air, beneath the brilliant skies, and among changing leaves are some of my best memories. And I love that our kids are spending time together. 

Wishing all of you a splendid autumn, short-lived as it is.  

My new favorite picture! Not planned, just good timing.

Grace & Claudia

At the Mall of America

Miles and Abby!

Second grade!

Photos from the last day of first grade and first day of SECOND GRADE!  Miles's teacher is Mr. Allan, and it's going to be a great year!

Seven!!!!

The great thing (for a kid) about traveling if your birthday falls close, is the multiple celebrations and presents.  We have just returned from a fantastic East Coast trip! A week in Maine, four days in North Carolina, and a final day in Boston.  And Miles turned seven!!!!!!!
 

Here are a couple of photos from our trip, but I'll upload a full set to the shutterfly site in a couple of days (https://gracesadventures.shutterfly.com/ ).

Maine!

Cousins

Driving the boat under Grandpa's tutelage

Eric, Miles, and Lucy

LEGO Contest

Our local, independent bookstore -- Village Books in Fairhaven -- sponsored a LEGO contest last night.  There were about 14 entrants in two age categories (ages 4-9 and 10-15).  Miles signed himself up for the contest, and spent about 7 hours total building this "robber hideout" over the past three days.  All the entrants got a bag of LEGO-shaped candy, and the bookstore judges deemed the winners.  Miles didn't win, but said to me "I'm not too sad about not winning because I just love building."  

Miles wrote the narratives himself, and wrote his age as "6 11/12" when he registered. 

I couldn't really capture the image inside, but there is a LEGO robber mini-figure, with a couple of dogs and money in there.

I'm so proud of how hard he worked on it!  We had a busy weekend, complete with a hike to one of my favorite old-growth stands in Whatcom County: 

 

Dancing

Miles must get his dancing genes from Ethan, because I cannot dance! 

Disneyland!

Miles & I have just returned from Disneyland!  Great trip!

Miles on the first and last days of first grade!

Miles and Goofy

sMiles!

Miles and Minnie

 

Miles, Mom, and Red

Looking forward to summer!  Miles had a great year (I think). He worked really hard this year, and he's reading chapter books (no Tolstoy yet).  I love that he loves to read.  Miles's last day of school was June 17th, and we were in Disneyland the next day (the trip was planned before the school year was pushed back due to snow days).  I'll be teaching summer session, but am taking Fridays off to spend with Miles. Hope to go camping on the San Juans, or visit Portland (Oregon), and/or Vancouver!

Full set of photos at https://gracesadventures.shutterfly.com/793

First Grade Poetry Night

All the kids in Miles's class read a poem (of their own choice) tonight.  Here is Miles reciting "Spaghetti" by Shel Silverstein:

I missed the first few seconds, in which is says, "Hi, my name is Miles and the title of my poem is Spaghetti."

Here are the words:

Spaghetti, spaghetti, all over the place,
Up to my elbows -- up to my face, 
Over the carpet and under the chairs, 
Into the hammock and wound round the stairs, 
Filling the bathtub and covering the desk, 
Making the sofa a mad, mushy mess.
The party is ruined, I'm terribly worried,
The guests have all left (unless they're all buried).
I told them, "Bring presents." I said, "Throw confetti."
I guess they heard wrong
'Cause they all threw spaghetti!

Lowell Leadership Day

Today was Lowell Leadership Day at Miles's school.  The first graders presented on MLK, and here is Miles's segment:

So proud of him! 

"DON'T DIP. Dr. King stood for peaceful social change. He would not lower himself to dip into another person's bucket and once said 'don't allow anybody to pull you so low as to make you hate them.'  He knew that when you dip into someone else's bucket, you dip into your own bucket,"

For those of you clamoring for photos of Miles: 

Plowing the snow a few weeks ago -- love that smile!

 

Beautiful day at Granville Island; Miles watching the seagulls take flight.

Life remains busy.  Spring break for me is this next week; for Miles, the following week. Due to the conflicting schedules, we're not going anywhere fun for either break, but we had a lovely day trip to Granville Island today with Jim, Crispin, and Eric. 

Miles continues to do well at school and life in general, though he's had a series of minor respiratory ailments throughout the winter. I am training for a(nother) Half Marathon in June, which keeps me active.  Work remains challenging due to lots of increased administrative responsibilities. But...spring is here...the daffodils in the yard are starting to peek out, and life goes on.  Haapy Spring to my loyal (four?) readers! 

~Grace

February!

Well, let me just say that 2014 has been super crazy.  Work is as busy as I've ever been, for a variety of reasons -- several job searches in my College, a new initiative I'm working on, and a little bit of travel -- which has me slightly frazzled and yearning for some downtime.  I was in DC two weeks ago for a Climate Change conference, which was good (if not discouraging), and my parents came to Bellingham to be with Miles.  We all survived; and though I missed Miles, it was kind of a nice break to take off Mommy hat and don the Professional Grace hat.

Despite how busy I am, during the weekends, I insist that Miles & I do something "active" every day. Last Saturday we went on a quick hike near Bellingham, and on Sunday we went on a "ride-run" as Miles calls it.  I run, and he rides his bike.  It's a pretty good workout for me, and Miles gets to whizz by me.  All good, but kind of muddy. :-)

Miles continues to love school -- he is becoming a great reader and speller ("through" and "their" and "stethoscope" (I gave him that one)) and genuinely enjoys being in school.  This Wednesday will be the 100th Day of School.  Time flies

Happy New Year!!!

Miles & I have just returned from a trip to Boston, where we caught up with Chuck & Kathy, Rachel & Linda & the boys, Al & Jane Kolb, and my Uncle Charles & Aunt Lucia.  An eventful four days!

Miles & Ben at the (very crowded) Aquarium

Dim Sum at China Pearl!

Freezing our butts off (for real!) on the ice sculpture

Riding the T was a popular way to get around

I love Boston! Our days were filled with culture (the Museum of Fine Arts), science (the Aquarium and a movie titled "Walking with the Dinosaurs"), and fabulous food: a wonderful Mediterranean dinner with Chuck & Rachel at Oleana, and on New Year's Eve, take-out from its sister restaurant and Sofra, and of course dim sum at China Pearl.  

Happy New Year!