June Already

June is here already. It's been an interesting year for us so far. Max has 2 days left of first grade! He turned 7 in May and is 51 inches tall, and 89lbs. 90th percentile for height at his last check up last week! He's enjoying reading kids graphic novels on his own, and enjoying me reading "Harriet the Spy" to him at bedtime. He's really interested in making his own Lego creations, and he's working up the courage to get out on his new bicycle more. Alice is almost five! She is very excited about her birthday in early Septemeber. She's reading a bit, and writing very well. We were recently offered a spot in a pre-k program run by Portland Public Schools in our neighborhood for her, it's full day spanish immersion! I was reluctant to sign her up, as we dearly love her preschool, but she has expressed interest in kindergarten for quite some time. With her birthday being just 6 days after the PPS cutoff of September 1, she was denied entry into kindergarten this fall. We even pressed on, meeting with PPS administrators, but they would not budge on this cut off date. I think it's a blessing, that this spot opened up for her. We've had trouble affording her preschool, and this seems like a wonderful opportunity for her to be with 4 and 5 year olds! She'll be going into a spanish immersion school for Kindergarten anyway, so this way she will have a leg up and be familiar with the routine of kindergarten. Shawn has been unemployed since late November. He did have a 2 1/2 month contract gig out in Beaverton which ended in late April. If you know of any technical writing or instructional design positions, please let us know! A work from home opportunity would be perfect :) This year I decided to pursue bookkeeping as I have worked in a bookkeeping role for about 8 years. I left a very low paying job at a medical clinic in March. I've been working part time with a CPA in Beaverton and I recently started a part time position with the farmers market in our neighborhood staffing a booth on Saturday mornings and doing record keeping. I love it! Our little garden is booming, with sunflowers, corn, snap peas, beets, carrots, pumpkins, and blueberries all coming up. Alice especially delights in helping me work in the yard. We are planning to visit some state parks this summer, mainly Multnomah Falls, Silver Falls State Park, and of course a trip to the Oregon Coast. Alice is very interested in volcanoes and we want to make it up to Mt. St. Helens for a day of exploring. It's hard to believe that we've been in Portland 2 years as of this month. What a 2 years it has been! We miss our Seattle friends and family and are tentatively planning a trip up in July. A little fun tidbit. I made Max a sock monkey when he was one. He's recently rediscovered it and has asked me to make a hat, gloves, and boots for it. The past few days I've had a great time reusing one of Shawn's old black socks and turning them into monkey accessories on my train commute :) And a cute Max and Alice conversation to end the post: Max, pretending to be a monster or something to Alice: "I'm going to steal your heart!" Alice: "Don't steal my heart! I still love!" ...That's the news for now :)

February Update

So much snow! This month started off with a whopping 5 day, 6+ inches of snow! It started mildly enough, a few dry flakes swirling above the streets in a ghostly fashion as Shawn and Alice drove me to work mid day on Thursday. I'd taken the morning off so Shawn could go to a job interview. And he nailed it! He's starting a 8 week (and maybe longer, we hope!) contract job out in Beaverton. It's been almost 3 months since he's been laid off from his longtime job. In some ways it's been so good to have him home, when the kids got sick, or were out of school over Christmas break, or on various holidays and inservice days, he's been home to care for them. We've been fortunate that he's been able to draw unemployment to keep us afloat. But, it is time for him to get to do something outside of the house and for us to catch up financially. This seems like a very good opportunity for him to get his foot in the door with a good company and do some local networking. It's going to be quite a shift for the kids, especially Max. He's gotten very used to Dad picking him up from school in the mid afternoon and coming home for cozy afternoons of snacks, homework, and video game time with Dad. As Max is nearing 7, though, he's becoming much more flexible and easy going and for that we are grateful! I am hoping to not have to rely too much on after school care but we'll see what shakes out. I've been full time at my medical office job since November, and I'll be taking 1 day a week off now that Shawn is working to take care of Alice on her off day from school. We're bracing for Portland Public Teachers to begin a strike next Thursday (Shawn's second day on the job). It's needed, though, PPS Administration has not been fair to the teachers and I am glad the teachers are standing up for their rights and compensation.

On to more positive other fun things, here are the kids enjoying a snow day with Shawn! A few fun other things of late: In November Shawn took a solo trip to Tennessee for his Grandmother's 90th birthday and family reunion. We missed him over thanksgiving but he had a fabulous time! A few weeks ago I threw a surprise 37th birthday party for Shawn and it went off without a hitch! Lots of fun with 20+ friends gathered to celebrate with Shawn when he arrived home. Over the Christmas break Shawn and his Dad took the kids to visit family in Santa Cruz, they had a great time! Shawn was amazing on the way home, pulling off Santa Cruz to Portland (15 hours of driving) in ONE day! I'm in awe. Five days before our major snowstorm I took the day and went up to Mt. Hood with the kids as I was convinced Portland was not seeing any snow this winter :P Alice is enamored with fairy tails and is really wanting to join a live theatre class, troupe so we're looking into options for her. She enjoys reading, drawing, and writing very much. She is also having great fun in her weekly swim lesson at the local pool. Max is reading and writing in spanish and english, go Max! He's also doing amazing art work. Think graphic novels! He draws amazing surreal characters and has been selling his artwork to friends and family. He told me this summer he wants to set up an art gallery in the garage. He recently tested up to the yellow belt in karate and when his new term starts tomorrow I'll be buying him the ghee (sp?) promised, he has worked hard! Shawn wrote a roleplaying game and enjoyed an afternoon of running the game while I set up his surprise party ;) I don't have much to report for myself, I'm working a lot, and trying to squeeze in some time to workout when I can. I've been enjoying baking a lot this winter and I'm dreaming up fun little family day trips for us to take in the spring and summer (Oregon Coast, Enchanted Forest, Mt. St. Helens, etc.) That's the news for now :)