The Great Snow Day

I almost put quotation marks around "Great" in the title, since the amount of snow wasn't enough to last more than a day, but school was canceled and we had our first snow adventure in our new home.

There were dozens of families gathered at this hill by the middle school track, and it was a fun free-for-all of sleds, sharing, snowman-making, new-friend-bonding, and mommy socializing. I rode down a few times with the kids. Jared made a cute friend who was more than happy to share her sled with him any time he asked.

I only caught 2 photos before my battery died (it was the backup camera...) but here they are! Our 2 Lauras and a happy little Jared.


Our favorite thing about Washington winters so far: our snow lasts just the right length of time. The novelty remains, and it was a huge deal to the older kids in town to FINALLY have a snow day.

Tough Momma

Big news! Mom is now a 2nd Degree Blackbelt! She tested this week and passed, with a backward side kick, breaking boards, fending off 6 "attacks", and being awesome.

We still can't beat her in push-ups. She is the one to beat at her dojo. Dad said, "That's pretty sad if all the other blackbelts have the goal to beat a grandma in pushups..."

Way to go, Mom! Congratulations!

Back on track!

Tragedy: my nice Canon EOS broke inexplicably (placed on the counter, then never turned on again) back in November. Not having an easy camera to work with has put a damper on our picture taking, and picture uploading. But good news! I just spent a few hours uploading what we DID take on my clunky old camera, so we can now share some of our latest adventures with you.

And I'll cross my fingers that our camera can be fixed...This is the reason we are not "early adopters" of technology. To spend so much on something special, only to have it break a month after its 1-year warranty is expired is cruel and quite heartbreaking (can you tell I am frustrated that my special saved-for gift turned out to be a waste?). All we want is to have more quality family pictures to sort and make into Shutterfly books! Is that too much to ask of a pricey camera?! I should have gone with the Nikon...after all that compare and contrast decision-making. Sigh.

Anyway, here is Jared practicing his cello this evening. He loved that I took pictures of his good bowhold (look at that awesome pinky!) and happy smile. He is proud of himself and makes new discoveries every time he plays. He needed something special that belongs only to him - not his sister, his friends, his cousins, or any other kid he knows nearby. So far, so good. Here is the Skeleton Horse he earned for the first 2 weeks of consecutive practice on his new 2011 chart. His sights are locked on the next piece of the Lego set he's earning with longer chunks of practice - a Skeleton Soldier. This is what he'd talk about if you were to come over to our house today.

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day tomorrow, everyone!

P.S. I love that you can see his favorite blanket tucked under his chair. Fuzzy on one side, silky on the other = green blanket perfection.

A White Christmas

...and with the Price family, it's as white as you can get...

100 Days!

100 days of cello practice! More of a triumph for me structuring things so we would actually teach/practice for 100 days. That is a LOT of work, a lot of coercing, a lot of patience, and a lot of sticker bribery. Best of all, he is proud of himself for doing something that is pretty hard, every day. I'm proud of him and think we're very lucky to have a Grandma who supported the idea, encouraged him over the phone, encouraged ME over the phone, and even ordered the special trophy to mark the special day. Thanks for showing us it can be done, Mom!































As a side note, this practice stuff is pretty hard, so I needed backup to keep this kid occupied. He is on an indoor soccer team. He loves it, he gets a lot of exercise, and that kind of "practice" is a LOT less work for me! It's like a one hour vacation on the sidelines. Seriously. Music stuff goes more smoothly after he's worn out. Wait, EVERYTHING goes more smoothly after he's worn out! Ha ha!

~Kathryn

Washington Halloween!

We revisited an oldie-but-goodie family costume, the 3 Musketeers. Jared is 5 now, so he had is own idea, to be a "Skeleton Soldier". He looked good and loved carrying a sword and shield. He didn't believe me that Whoppers were the most disgusting candy, and loved my expression of horror as he ate his first one. So he now is very proud of the fact that he "likes the disgusting ones".

I think he just likes to gross me out.

Here we are at the Trunk-or-Treat night. What were you guys for Halloween (well, besides Krystle's family who had a cross-country move this weekend)?

Fishing!

Kirk and two friends took Tom fishing to this awesome spot on the Cowlitz last weekend. They left very early in the morning and did some good bank fishing. Thought Dad and Grandpa Price would be proud of the NW boys. Looks like we're on the market for some hip waders. Any tips?

Hope baby Elise is doing well! She is very cute by all accounts. We're thinking of you, Krystle & Nathan! :)











~Kathryn

Introducing Elise Kaitlyn Thiel!

As promised here are some photos of the new baby.

Claire and Daryn love their new baby sister. They get so excited just to hold her, and are always concerned when she cries. Auntie Kendra has been a big help this week (especially with taking pictures) she made it just in time on Saturday night to come and visit in the hospital.

Ok, some baby stats:

Born 5:40 pm on Saturday Oct. 9, 2010.

20 3/4 inches long

7.0 lbs

10 fingers, 10 toes

dark brown hair

she has Nathan's nose and Krystle's squinty eye

Oh, and a very round head since labor didn't take long.

She looks a lot like Claire as a baby, except her feet/toes aren't quite as long... she can still intertwine her toes.

And now for some gratuitous pictures of our little family of FIVE!!! How crazy is that? I still call her baby Daryn sometimes. But I've also been calling Claire Kendra and Kendra Claire and Daryn Claire. Poor Nathan, there are just a lot of girls around here right now.

Haha, Kenneth Update

I was checking out Kenneth's pictures online and figured I'd take it upon myself to give the family who only checks this blog an update on what he's doing in Spain. Kenneth -- fill us in on the details. :)

~Kathryn
PS Also awaiting pictures of precious baby Elise...(Kendra help?)

With a group of classmates at la Plaza del Cid.
Where was this taken?Mustaches are not allowed, lil' bro.

Washington October

Let the Octoberfest begin! Here are the latest from the Price/Pearson clan up in the Northwest.

Friday, we went to the Pumpkin Patch and had a great time launching pumpkins, taking a hayride, petting farm animals and choosing our honorary pumpkins for the year. Sunday night we had FHE with Kirk's family and took some cute pictures of the kids together. Fun!