My New Love

Well...not literally. Lee will ALWAYS be my True Love (and I'm kind of stuck with him for time and all eternity)...Lee does many, many things, but he doesn't do laundry. I LOVE to do laundry, don't ask why. Since my Mom taught me to do laundry when I was in the 5th grade, I have loved to do my laundry. This machine has changed my life F O R E V E R!

My washing machine broke down a few weeks ago. It threw me into a tailspin. Our family goes into Defcon 5 when laundry isn't done for more than 4-5 days. I had been looking, asking friends, and doing my research on what my next machine would be. Right when I thought I had made my decsion, the machine wasn't big enough. So, I was back to square ONE. I looked, did my research on the internet, and had it nailed down between 2 washers and then I go to Sears of all places, and the sales guy tells me about this little beauty. He changed my mind and I went with this one. A Samsung. It's the right size, it has a timer (which has changed my life), it has it's own little water heater in it, a sanitation cycle, and it had everything I had dreamed and hoped for in a washer. Now...I need the matching dryer. It's 2-3 inches taller than our dryer, and it's driving Lee nuts.

Never Say Never

The ONE child that I thought I would NEVER have to take into Childrens Hospital for a Clinic visit was this one....Mac. Something not so great showed up in a routine Physical for Boy Scout Camp in July, so we had to have it checked out. I'm not going to get into it on the Blog (I do have boundries). If anyone is really concerned, you can e-mail me or phone me. It is something that I found out is carried on through the Dawson side. My Dad and Brother have the same thing, and they are healthy and fine.

Mac, reading a Harry Potter book in the car. It was just the two of us. Mason stayed with Papa and Nana Dawson. It's nice to have Grandparents so close! So, we were in the car, and Mac wouldn't look up....FINE! It's going in the blog.

Of course....I had to take pictures of him. Go through the same routine as Mason. This is Mac in front of the Orca Sculpture. He was getting kinda annoyed. Teenager.

And get his picture taken with Mickey Mouse. The pic of Mason is cuter...but by this time-he was more than annoyed with me and becoming uncooperative. It goes in the blog anyways.

In the examination rooms, there are dry erase boards. Mac took full advantage of it. The Doctor that saw him (not any of Mason's docs) was very impressed with his art work. The doctor talked more about his art work than him. If Mac was really sick, I would have been really upset-but I wasn't. The other Doctor spoke to me and told me Mac was fine, that whatever the problem is, it's heriditary, he's healthy, his weight is good, his blood pressure is great (she was really excited about that). They usually see sickly, pale, skinny kids-so they were happy to see a kid like Mac.

Mac even wrote words on the T-shirts of the people in his art work. I'm grateful that my son is so concerned about the enviroment. It says "Home Work Kills trees".

He signed it and left it there without erasing it. I'm grateful that Mac will be fine, and that also he as able to preoccupy himself. I did run into Mason's Pulmonary doctor while we were there. She saw me and then said "we don't have an appointment today", and then she had a really concerned look on her face. I told her we were there for Mac and then she felt better. But she had a puzzled look on her face wondering what was wrong with a big, healthy kid like Mac. I'm glad we have Childrens in our "back yard" for things like double checking on things. I'm also grateful that my big healthy kid is alright.

Football Season has Started!

Since Mac was very, very young (age 5) he has wanted to play Football. This was mostly fueled by his Sunday School teacher, who played Football when he was in college, his sons played Football at the time, and felt that Mac was built to play Football. I said No for 3 years until finally, I gave in just before he turned 10. He didn't want to play Soccer, Baseball, Basketball. Just Football. This year, is his 4th Season.

The first year Mac played, I found myself helping out a bit. One thing lead to the next and I aquired all the e-mail address of the parents and found myself e-mailing directions to where the games were (we lived on South Whidbey at the time). Then the Coach was calling me asking me to e-mail the parents about this, that, and the other thing. Which, I didn't mind...the Coach needed help. The second year, was more intense. I became Team Mom to Mac's team and was finding Mom's to help out with the Pee Wee team. I sent e-mails out to parents of 3 teams of information and directions to games, and whatever the Coaches needed parents to know. There were over 100 e-mail addresses that second year.

Since we moved to Lake Stevens, there are so many Football teams in the area, it's hard to count and keep track. It's nice to just sit and watch Mac play for once, and not having to organize bake sales/concessions, paperwork, e-mails, who's bringing half-time oranges, games, etc. Although, I enjoy volunteering in activities that my kids are involved in. Mac plays several positions offense and defense. He's out on the field alot. Before every game, there are 4-5 kids who walk out to the field to greet eachother and talk to the Refs. He is one of the kids who do that.

This is Mac's "Mom, do you REALLY have to take a picture of me"? look. Last weekend, he made 5 tackles. He works hard at Football, it's a long season, and a big commitment for parents because of all the practices, and every Saturday is Game Day. But I don't mind. I love seeing him do something he loves so much.

The Farm

Over Labor Day weekend, the boys and I went to Yakima for the extended weekend. I helped my sis-in-law Andrea can peaches, and we stayed with my brother Sam and his family at the Farm. The farm that they live on used to belong to my Great-grandparents. Sam is the 4th generation to live there, which is pretty cool. My Grandma and Grandpa Bocz (pronounced bows) are my Mom's parents and lived about 30-40 minutes away from us growing up. My brother Sam spent darn near every Friday night over there and all day Saturday. And I won't mention the endless summers he spent there as a child too. All of us grandkids spent time on the farm with Grandma and Grandpa growing up, and I have some really nice memories there too. When I take the boys to Yakima, they want to spend most of thier time at the farm, it's a boys paradise truthfully, full of old things (that thier Great-great-grandparents used to use). This was the first time I went there and was "armed" with a camera.

This looks like an old barn, but inside, it's a Shop. Full of old tools & stuff. Grandpa used to fix his trucks, cars, and his tractors inside of there. He spent alot of time in there.

This is the old John Deere tractor. Sam learned to drive it when he was 9 years old I think, maybe younger. Grandpa rigged some wood blocks on the pedals so Sam could drive it, back it up, etc. I was shocked the first time I saw him drive it.

The Chicken Coop. My Great-grandpa built this, and grandpa used it too. He had it full of chickens. Sam does not like chickens to this day....I won't get into it. But he puts up a really good arguement about it.

I'm not sure what this wagon thing is. My Great-grandpa had a team of Belgian Work Horses-or now they are called Belgian Draft Horses, they are smaller than Clydesdales (are you shocked I know this?) I have pictures of my Great-grandpa with his horses, pulling some wagons. I'll have to dig them out and scan them. *****CORRECTION**** This is an old Manure Spreader. My Dad let me know via Facebook this morning. Thanks Dad!

Another old wagon. I know, that my Grandpa donated an old wagon thing to the Yakima Musuem a long time ago, and I'm not sure if it's still there. But this wagon-is just a wagon. Mac likes to go to the Farm and ask me questions about my family. He loves old stuff, he loves to learn about things people used in the past. There is an old wood cookstove in the house, that is hooked up, that my Great-grandmother used to use. She NEVER used an electric one. Mac is dying to fire it up one winter to see if we can cook on it.

It had been YEARS since I had been to Yakima right before Apple Harvest time. Mason had never seen all of the apple trees full of apples as we were driving by on the back roads. My Grandparents didn't grow apples on the Farm, these are just some apples from a random orchard. I took seeing these for granted when I was growing up.

I couldn't pass this one up...my nieces Morgan and little Gracie. They are so cute! Gracie has my brother (her dad) wrapped around her little pinky. It's funny to watch him with her.

I couldn't pass this one up either. This was taken in our back yard just before we left for Yakima. We were roasting marshmellows in the Fire Pit.

First Day of School 2009

The first day of school was last Wednesday. After all of the drama of our teachers striking or not, we started only 1 day late. I'm not going to get into the reasons why the teachers were going to strike, but I will say-I supported them 110%.

I have been taking the first day of school pictures of Mac since he was in Kindergarten. I think I missed a couple of grades here and there. Mac leaves the house to catch the bus at 6:50am. He leaves just as Lee is leaving for work. Just after I took this picture he says "Isn't he a bit old to have his picure taken for the 1st day of school"? NEVER!! Being that Mac is now a teenager, he has a small opinion about what he wants to wear now. I used to be able to choose things for him. That ended last spring. I have always had to take him into the store to fit him for jeans, since he was 2 years old. I believe that will never change, well....until he tells me not to come anymore.

It was still pretty dark outside when I took this picture. Mac starts Mid-High this year. It is a school for the 8th and 9th graders in our district. Last year, there were 1200 students. It's a brand spanking new school that Mac is going to this year. He really likes it. Also, he has "main streamed" into the regular Language Arts (English for us old schoolers) this year. He went up 2 1/2 grade levels in his reading, spelling and Language Arts area last year. So, I'm pretty darn proud of him. Mac has dyslexia, like his Mom-and was able to get out of Language Arts in the Resource Room. He is still in there for Math-like his Mom. In High School, I was in Resource Room Math and College Prep English. It doesn't make sense I know.

Mason is in the First grade this year. He is as always, a willing participant for getting his pictures taken. We went back to school shopping 1 week before school started, and he picked out what he wanted. He really likes the color orange. He loves his class, and some of the kids from his kindergarten class are in his 1st grade class this year. He takes his luch to school with him (Mr. Picky Eater). And I love that he leaves his garbage in his lunch bag, so I can evaluate what he's eaten or not eaten. This was a HUGE concern for me-because he's a picky eater, and doesn't really eat when it's "time" to eat. So far so good!

This is him at his desk. I love that he lets me take him to school, take pictures, and still gives he a hug and a kiss before I leave. I will be volunteering at his class and probably in the school this year again.

And what will I be doing now that I have my days to myself? Watch Soap Opera's and eat chocolates of course! Yeah, right! I have so many "to do" lists for myself, it's not even funny. Going through, organizing, tossing stuff without being interupted! I'm starting with Mason's room. But the first 2-3 days of school, I was canning peaches that I brought back with me from Yakima on Labor Day weekend.