Ryan's Birthday is Coming!

Ryan turns 8 in 2 days...happy birthday, Ryan! I ordered him a birthday present online (these are personalized M&Ms, not balloons) and it came in the mail today. Check it out! That is Ryan as a baby on there. He was such a cute baby! Looking thru different pictures to find the 'right one' made me miss the days he was a little munchkin. We love you, Ryguy!

Murder on the Argosy

For Christmas, Matt got me (us) tickets to a dinner mystery murder cruise on the Argosy. We went last Saturday and had a lot of fun. We knew one of us may be involved in the story somehow but we wouldn't find out until we left the pier. Lucky Matt was picked as one of the suspects. If I had known then what I know now, I probably would have chosen a different date. He was interogated by the 'detective' and we were all made aware that apparently Matt had been fooling around with the 'cruise director'. We also found out that he has an anger issue and has been taking the drug damnitall but hasn't taken it for awhile. He was eventually cleared because they found out he had also been messing around with Jennifer Aniston, Angelia Jolie and Cloris Leachman and he must have been way to busy to murder someone. Now if they would have made up a story with him pedaling off on his bike, I might have believed some of it. Anyway, it was a fun time and good food!

Ryan's New Suit

Ryan has wanted a suit for I don't know how long. I don't know why. I think he knows it will only add to his good looks. He is getting baptized on the 31st and we figured what better reason than that!

What did your parents listen to when you were born?

A friend sent over a fun link today. www.joshhosler.biz. You click on the month you were born and the date and it will give you the song that was the number 1 hit the day you were born. Matt's was 'Joy to the World' by Three Dog Night. My song was 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face' by Roberta Flack. Maddy's hit song was 'The First Night' by Monica. Ryan's was 'It Wasn't Me' by Shaggy featuring Ricardo 'Rikrok' Ducent. Cade's was '21 Questions' by 50 Cent featuring Nate Dogg. We couldn't listen to Ryan and Cade's due to the language used or what they were describing. I don't remember or didn't listen to any of the kid's songs and I hope they don't either!

Just a Little Water Problem

Yesterday right after the kids walked out the front door, I got an email saying that school had been changed to a half day because of the flooding occuring in the valley. When we have flooding here, there are two ways people react. If it is minor flooding, people know that a couple roads might get shut down and it is no big deal. If it is major flooding, people can kind of get into panic mode. Safeway is crazy with everyone stocking up on groceries, getting gas, preparing for island desertion. You see, we have 4 roads that lead into/out of Duvall. One from Monroe, one from Carnation, the 124th bridge and the Woodinville/Duvall bridge. The roads from Carnation and the 124th bridge closing are really no biggy. Those can close with minor flooding. It just means you are going to have to wait your turn to cross the bridge into town. Yesterday some friends had to wait an hour to cross. If the Woodinville/Duvall bridge closes, Duvall becomes an island. People cant come and people cant go. It also means no deliveries to the 2 stores we have here. Last time we had major flooding, Matt didn't make it home. Lucky for us, the bridge closed during the night so he gets to enjoy this one with us. Once the bridge does get closed though, it is like things calm down a lot. At that point there is not a whole lot you can do so you better just live with it. We took the kids to the bridges to see the water. I think we would have stayed longer or checked out the trail but it was windy and cold (Okay it was 47 degress but the wind made it feel a lot colder.) Here are some pictures.

When did I have this kid?!

Christmas was good this year. The kids went to bed so well Christmas Eve. Matt and I finally got to bed a little before midnight. I was almost out when Ryan came in.

"Hi, Mom. Whats going on? Did Santa come yet?"

Umm. "Nope, it is still Christmas Eve Ryan. You better hurry back to sleep."

"Okay."

Half and hour later...

"Did Santa make it yet?"

"Nope. Back to bed."

I don't recall how many times he made it back in to our room to check on Santa but finally at about 7:00am we all rolled out of bed. The boys each got a new bike and Maddy got a clock/Ipod player for her room. This year Matt decided to go 'waste free' and got each kid a date night with Dad. Matt and Maddy are going to go to a play together at the Childrens Theatre. Ryan and Cade get to go with Dad to a Harlem Globetrotters game.

A few of my gifts from Matt didn't make it in time for Christmas due to weather. Matt, not able to keep things secret for too long, told me he had gotten me an heirloom quilt. It has 9 pictures of our family or the kids on it. He pulled up the pictures so I could see which he had put on the quilt. As we are going thru each one, he comments on how cute each one of the kids are. We get to one picture and he says, "Remember when Ryan wouldn't even touch Cade let alone hold him?" I said, "Sure I do but this isn't a picture of Ryan and Cade." Now I have a beautiful quilt to put on my wall with my beautiful family...plus one. I am thinking that it is Rebecca and Jeremy's youngest, Jayden. I'm attaching the picture and if this kiddo belongs to you, let me know! He does look mighty cute in the picture!

(Picture is on bottom row, center)