A Labor (Day) Of Love

The past two days have been...hectic...to say the least.

 I, being delusional about early morning wake ups, decided that we should totally do the NFL Play 60 Kid's run. It was the Seahawks 1/2 mile race around CenturyLink field that ended inside the stadium at the 50 yard line. Boom- you had me at Seahawks.

I signed the boys up (H was too young) back in June and it seemed like an awesome idea. The race was at 11 AM so if we left here at 9-ish we'd get there just fine. And then, they moved the start time to 10 AM. And then Jonathan freaked out about the "holiday" traffic. And then we were up at 5:30 AM leaving by 6:30 AM. My plans were foiled.

But alas, I was up at 5:30 (even though I went to bed at 1AM) and even though my blow-dryer stopped working (turns out I was so tired that I was changing the heat setting, not the on/off setting) we were out of the door by 6:45. Jonathan was a hot mess because we were leaving "so late". Anyhoo, turns out people don't actually have to go to work on Labor Day so there was NO traffic. Absolutely none. We probably saw maybe 50 cars total, obviously savvy shoppers on their way to sales. So we rolled up to CenturyLink at 8:15. Oh, did I mention he didn't want to stop for coffee because we might hit traffic? He wasn't the only hot mess in the car.

Harper just looked like a hot mess. I actually was one though.

Once we were there though, the Seahawk adrenaline kicked in. I LOVE CenturyLink field, it's like my own version of blue meth. It's addicting and I'm willing to spend all of our money to get there. Jonathan gets it too. We're junkies.

Seriously cute little SeaGal. 

Yeah, we were THIS early that we took pictures with no one around. 

Speaking of Blue Meth, we found our own Walt. Walter Jones...NFL Hall of Famer WALTER JONES. Jonathan practically peed his pants. Thatcher, not so much. Coopie was terrified of the giant. Harper though, she lost her shoe she was so excited to meet him.

And then I managed to get a picture with all of the kids! I ran the race with H on my back, just like this. 

And Jonathan, still high from his Jones encounter, even allowed for a picture.

Someone was starting to get impatient and grumpy though. 

This guy was too, but his was from excitement. Thatch went up to the 8 year old section while Coop, Harps and I hung back in the 4 year old section. Coop was pissed about that. 

And here's us post race. I literally ran the 1/2 mile with H on my back. Stupid. Not doing that again.

Cooper showing off his medal.

And some post race refreshments. 

After the race we all went and had lunch with our favorite server at Redhook, Auntie B! But I forgot to take a picture. Jonathan had one too many with lunch and I had to drive home. while he napped in the passenger seat. I don't know how I made it, there was a brief nap at a rest stop but when we pulled into the driveway I got out of the car, opened the front door and went up to bed. Rip Van Winkle managed the kids while I recouped from "Labor" Day.

The next morning was the 1st day of school!! Thank God, after Monday I needed a break.

H needed in on the action too.

2nd Grade. How is that possible?

Coopie is calling this year Pre-Garten. 

Running to get Thatch to school.

And then thwarted by Mom's attempt to take pictures outside of the school.

Thatcher's school mascot is the Gnomes. And this is the new Principal. He's a keeper. Enough said.

I caught this when he thought I wasn't looking. Hello, old friends :)

Thatcher and his new teacher, Mrs. Young.

 And then it was Coopie's turn! It was a short, get to know you, kind of day for pre-school. He's the upper- class man this year so he showed everyone how to roll.

Making our hand print for the Kissing Hand lesson. 

Teacher Charlene and all the Kid/Mom combos.

Rug time :)

 Right, like I'd get a day off. I woke up at 6 AM, painted these chalkboard numbers/letters, made breakfast, made lunches, drove everyone around, did the photo shoot and made it home in time to do the dishes, eat lunch for myself and then pick T up. I need to get a job, this Homemaker gig is rough.

I'm sending the computer away this afternoon so there won't be any blogs for a while until we get it back or possibly get a new one. Either way, you guys are used to it since I often forget to do posts! See, I was just preparing you.

See ya later alligators,
S

Best. Birthday. Ever.

My loves are back from Grammy and Grandpa's summer camp so we had to kick off their return with a bang. They arrived home on Tuesday and after major hugs and unpacking (ie Grammy emptying boxes in the living room) we went to work on getting the party started!

We had it on Thursday, which is a hard time for people to come after work, so it ended up only being Thatch's friend Porter and his little brother Alister. We didn't let that stop us though :)  It was shark theme, because if you know Thatch at all you'd know he's a freak about sharks. His first choice was Sharknado but Pinterest can only provide so many ideas before it says "you're being weird, pick another party theme". 

We started out in the pool for an hour, finished up with a water balloon fight, giant bubbles (which I got in Alister's eyes...yikes) and then cake and presents. Here's is the photographic evidence.

Since coming home from summer camp Cooper has become a fish. He LOVES swimming now! Also, he thinks splashing the camera is funny. It's not.

Harps is hard to photograph in a pool, especially with her constantly trying to drown herself. My feel look great though.

Alister about to nail Porter. I adore action shots :D

Action shots again. Loves it.

Look at that butt tan line. Ha.

My pinterest part decorations.  Awesome.

Before shot.

Action shot.

After shot. Cupcakes are a big deal in Yarsleyville.

Looks like they are in Porterville too.

 And then we showered and loaded up the gang to go to Seattle for the night...because we took them to Seahawks Training Camp for Thatch's birthday!!!

All clean and ready to head to the hotel. 

 We rented a suite (with JY's BP discount) and stayed in Renton so we wouldn't have to wake up at 5 am and drive down there the morning of. It seemed like a great idea until it was time to wake H up and then try to put her back to sleep. I was this close to calling the front desk and asking them to deal with that child.

Us on the school bus to camp. Literally a school bus. Cooper was thrilled. As we pulled onto the 405 I was terrified.

H in the backpack. She was ready for some football. (You know you just sang that in your head. Well, now you did.)

Our first celebrity spotting. Blitz the Seahawk.

Watching some practice. We're all about that action, Boss.

We dragged Auntie B with us because Russell Wilson is single now, and we love her. She's not such a fan of football though, especially when someone is throwing one at her, Thatcher.

Russell Wilson. My zoom sucks. He doesn't.

After this we went and perused the gift shop and bought a bunch of stuff we didn't "really" need. What ever, we needed football cards, who am I kidding? While we were down there J got a hot tip from a security guard to tell us where to stand when practice is over. Well, it was a REALLY hot tip because this happened...

Thatch and future hall of famer Russell Okung. He signed his ball next. By the way, these two pictures are from the Seahawks webpage because we're kind of a big deal, which even they knew.

Yeah, I made a sign. I'm shameless. Do you see Coops and JY in the picture? I think this is the first photo we've been in together since our wedding. 

And the absolutely Grandest Finale that ever could have happened...He got Russell Wilson's autograph as his last signature on his ball. Thatch was the very last signature he gave out that day before running back into the VMAC to quarterback practice. We ALL practically peed ourselves, but T only jumped up and down like a giddy schoolboy. 

We had SO much fun at Seahawks camp that I believe we're planning on doing it for ever and ever and ever for every birthday from now on. Thatcher still gazes at his ball and Jonathan is planning on putting it into a glass case (overkill much?). I think there is one particular little Yarsley fellow that will be remembering his 8th birthday forever.

And with that, I bid ado. Also, I'm taking the computer in to the shop because someone (Harper) pushed it off the couch and the screen is hanging on by a thin piece of plastic. Sheesh.  

Love you all long time,

S

February, The Good And The Bad

February started out pretty good. Thatch celebrated his Halfie Birthday on the 1st. He's officially 7 1/2 which is practically 8, according to Thatch.

Sorry about the undie shot. These people never keep their pants on.

And then the Seahawks won the Super Bowl, which was kind of a big deal in Yarsleyville. We had our friends over and between the 6 adults and the 7 kids we ha a great time! 

Harper definitely knows what a touchdown is now.

This gives a pretty clear idea on what Jonathan did the entire night.

The next weekend Papa and Grandma Jonesie came for a quick trip to see us again! The kiddos were sick so we had a chill visit and mostly drive around so they could get familiar with the town. We did head to the peace arch and the gang spread their germs across the border. 

And then Tahoe got sick. She was throwing up and not eating. For a dog that literally ate her own poop, we knew something major was going on. After a few stressful days and a couple of hopeful days we found out she most likely had hepatitis. We don't know how she got it but that's what happened. After a rough, but quiet Valentine's Day we knew what had to be done. She was in a lot of pain and it would have been selfish of us to keep her fighting a fight that couldn't be won. Brooklyn drove up from Seattle that morning to be with us and Meemaw came over that morning too which was thoughtful and helpful. We all said our goodbyes at the house, each kid hugged her and gave her some love. I'll write a post about her on it's own, she's worth it.

Coopster giving his Tahoe some comfort.

After Tahoe we were pretty down. That is an understatement. And to make matters worse, Coop had his first cavity filled. I'm a mean Mom. I am okay with that.

Coopster is not a fan of the dentist. 

And then, the weekend after Tahoe...it snowed. Not like a little sprinkling of snow, like a legit foot of wet, heavy snow! We were ecstatic! I dug out our snow gear and we headed out to play.

Action sequence of Coop rolling down the neighbors driveway :)

This was Harpie's first time really playing in the snow since we moved from Alaska when she was a baby. 

Even Chevy got in on the action. He was pretty happy :)

A steeper hill for Coop to try to roll down. Once I realized what he was going to do after taking this picture I grabbed his little butt before we ended up in the ER.

Hats are hard.

Differences in Alaska snow and Washington snow:

  It is WET. We all came in soaked to the bone!

  It is makes snowballs. Epic, nail your kids in the back of the head snowballs.

  It disappears quickly. Two days later, when I was kind of getting over it...it was gone. Nice.

We don't have wood blocks around so Harper improvised. 

And with that, we called it quits on February 2014. March would definitely be better...

XOXO,

S

P.S. I'm seriously going to try to catch up, sorry for the delay guys :)