Lost Tooth at Hockey Game

Kellen lost his tooth yesterday afternoon at the Winterhawks hocke

y game. This is the first of the two top front teeth. He was super proud. Later he even got to say hi to the mascot Tommy Hawk.

Zoo Lights Photos

Kristin under the waterfall or jellyfish... we couldn't decide.

Kristin and her favorite lights at the zoo - Swan Lake

Kristin and Ellie

Kellen and Danelle on the Zoo Train!  Finally!

Ellie Visits

Ellie has come to visit!  She came in to town on Friday night.  The kids where so excited all week.  On Friday we had dinner and early bath/shower time and headed to the airport.  We met Aaron there, since he has a deadline he is working on at work.  Ellie was surprised to see us all.

Yesterday we went to the NW 23rd neighborhood in Portland... a trendy shopping area.  We had lunch at McMenamins and walked up and down 23rd stopping at the toy store and doggy store.  After resting at home for awhile we headed to the zoo for zoolights. It was rainy and busy, but we still got to see the lights.  Kellen was determined to ride the train, so Aaron and Kellen waited in line while Ellie, Kristin and I walked around the zoo looking at lights.  We rejoined the boys in line and all rode the train.

Today, Kristin had a futsal game.  We met Uncle John there and had fun watching the game.  Kristin ended up getting a goal at the end of the game and almost had another prior to that goal, but it bounced off the post.

Indoor Soccer Practice

Yesterday was a normal day with school and soccer practice for Kristin.  I am thankful practice has moved indoors for the season.  The weather has not been so nice. At this practice they had a running coach come in.  They ran a bunch of drills and even ran lines... made me think of basketball practice.  :) 

Kellen stayed home with Aaron.  Kellen came home from school happy and very excited to say that he got an A+!  He got a sticker on his homework from the previous week that had A+ on it.  He was very proud.

This afternoon, Kristin's friend came home with us for a playdate.  They had fun playing in Kristin's room.  Kellen got to tell me about his day with a substitute teacher and how he got to Eagle Eyes and a pencil.  The pencil is a Christmas pencil, so he was excited.  Good job Kellen on the Eagle Eyes!  These are little pieces of paper that teachers can give to the students for being responsible, respectful, safe or other.  Not sure exactly what he got them for... he didn't share and they didn't come home today.  Today was pretty nice and sunny for most of the day.  Bella and I got a walk in and I even opened up the house for a bit.

No School Day

Today was a no school day for the kids... grading day for the teachers.  The kids and I ran some errands and worked on cleaning up the house.  We are getting ready for Aunt Ellie to visit.  We are excited to see her! 

There was enough breaks in the rain today, so we also got Bella out for a walk.  Kellen rode his bike and Kristin rode on her scooter.  Bella could use a bath about every day right now as our backyard is a big wet and muddy mess.  One running lap and she is covered in mud.  I gave her a bath yesterday for this and now she is a mess again.  Baby wet wipes seem to do an okay job.

Christmas Preparations

We have gotten the house decorated for Christmas inside and outside.  The kid did a great job decorating the tree.  I just had to put a few ornaments at the top where they can't reach yet. 

On Friday night we took the kids to see Santa at the mall.  They both put in their requests and ended up with a magazine (National Geographic Kids) and a small candy cane.  Wow!  They already got things from Santa.

Visit with Santa.

Saturday was a day to watch football and play inside.  Kellen also delcared this day as pajama day for him. In the afternoon, Kristin and I went to Canfield Place (assisted living) with our Girl Scout troop to decorate the Christmas tree in their dining hall.  The girls made some ornaments at an earlier troop meeting to place on the tree.  They also got to help put on one of the resident's collection of ornaments from the White House!  These ornaments are supper cool and very detailed.  The girls got to go around and share them with the residents and then put them on the tree.  The girls also served the residents cookies and punch.  The residents always look forward to seeing us and we always have fun.  Oh, the girls actually decided to sing a couple songs too!  They sang Jingle Bells and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. 

Kristin with ornament from the White House collection.

On Sunday, Kristin had 2 soccer games.  The first game was to help out a team that was short handed.  The second game was the game she was originally scheduled for.  In the second game Kristin had some great plays and passed for some goals (assists).  Good job Kristin!

Halloween Photos

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Spidey

Spidey and Laura Together

Kiddos Update

Kellen has taken a real interest in helping me with projects lately.  A couple weekends ago I was mowing the lawn (for what I hoped was the last time this fall, but we'll see) and Kellen wanted to push it.  I let him 'push' it in front of me for a quick straight flat stretch while I had one hand on the handle and the other around his waist.  He thought that was pretty great.  Little does he know what's in store for him when he's 12.  :-)

This evening he helped me with another project.  We're in the process of replacing the oven since ours died.  It is a drop in so last night I had a friend come by and we lifted the old one out and took it to the garage.  This particular friend is pretty handy with projects and made a good suggestion that I take the wiring from the back of the old oven in case I need it for the connection on the new oven.  So this evening Kellen helped me unscrew the paneling.  He was pretty excited about that.  Before I offered that he could help, he was wanting to play with his train set.  After I said he could help, he had his shoes and coat on in no time flat (we worked in the garage).

Kristin had a busy weeked.  She played 4 outdoor soccer games in a 'premier level' tournament for her age bracket.  She played well and had fun, Then on Monday she had a futsol game.  She scored the game-icer with just a few seconds remaining to secure a 3-1 win.  Ear-to-ear smiles after that.  And to top of the day, she then went to a birthday part at a glass-blowing shop.  We're all excited to see what she made.  She wasn't able to take it home right away.

Futsol

Kristin started futsol (indoor soccer) season again today.  Kristin played well and scored two goals.  Her team won 3-0.  Futsol is so fun to watch as it is such a fast paced game.

Tonight I took the kids to Aaron's hockey game.  They had fun and it had been awhile since we had been able to make it to one of his games. 

Kellen Soccer Season Ends

Kellen's first soccer season came to an end last weekend.  The team had fun and all the kids learned some skills.  Aaron coached along with another dad and they did a great job.  Yesterday we had a team party at Godfather's Pizza.  The coaches gave the players each a medal, which the boys all loved.  Kellen wore his medal all day.  We found out today that a couple of the other boys wore their medals all day too.  ;) 

Later in the day we went oven shopping... looking.  Yep, the oven decided to die.  The part that is bad (electronic board) is not made anymore as the oven is 15 years old.  Time for a new one.

Halloween

Halloween was fun for the kids this year.  Kellen was Spiderman again this year.  Kristin dressed up as Laura Ingalls Wilder.  I will have to post a picture of them soon.  Kellen got to go trick-or-treating in the morning at Canfield Place (an assisted living community in the neighborhood).  The daycare that he has private kindergarten at was invited to visit in the morning to trick-or-treat.  Both kids had fun at their school Harvet Parties.  Trick-or-treat time actually stayed dry for us, which was nice after a rainy day.  The kids went around the neighborhood with a group of friends and neighbors.  I think we had 13 kids.  They had a lot of fun and of course got way too much candy.

Frog in My Boot

Three weekends ago we were getting ready to go to Kristin's soccer game and Kellen yells "there is a frog in my boot!"  Sure enough in one of his rain boots there was a little tree frog.  The frog hopped out into the garage and Aaron had to keep an eye on the frog while I backed the car out...so not to squish the frog.  Success!  The frog survived and Kellen talked about the frog in the boot incident for days.

Catch Up

Well, we have been busy, as always.  This weekend Kellen's soccer game got cancelled due to "too much mud."  We were in route by the time they called it (game was at 8am).  So we showed up to help tell parents to go back home.  Aaron checked the field and it looked playable... oh well.  Instead we went home and got to watch football.

Kristin had her soccer game and they did well and won their first game of this season!  Kristin almost had a goal and played really well.  It was a fun game to watch.  Her coach entered this team into an end of the season tournament... in November.

We had conferences this last week.  Kristin is doing well in math and reading/writing.  She was tested for reading at 4th grade level and rocked the test.  Her teacher will likely test her at a 5th grade level later in the year.  Kristin is really doing well in 4th grade and we are enjoying watching her grow.  Kellen is doing well in Kindergarten and is well behaved.  Good to hear in Kindergarten!  Kellen is working on his letter sounds and beginning reading.  Two nights ago he read his first whole sentence in a book and pretty much read the whole story to me.  The book was Go Up and Down, a Berenstein Bears reader book.  Great job Kellen!

The leaves are falling and it is raining.  We have picked up leaves twice and have more to go.  But at least the kids got to jump in some leaf piles before it started raining.  :)

Pumpkin Patch

Today was a great day for a visit to the pumpkin patch.  The kids picked pumpkins.  The farm we go to we get to take a hay ride to the pumpkins and then a hayride back to the main barn.  The kids then played some on the hay bales, hay maze, tractor, etc.  This year we got brave and did the corn maze.  The corn maze was a design of Obama and Romney with the word VOTE.  The corn was really tall for Oregon corn!  The kids had fun and so did Aaron and I.  Nice weather but a bit windy.  We got our walking in since we couldn't be with Aaron's family for hike day.

Found their pumpkins
 



Anyone know which way?!

Jog-A-Thon

Thursday was the Jog-A-Thon at the kids school.  Kristin ran in the morning and ran 11 laps or 2.75 miles.  Kellen ran in the afternoon and ran 4 laps or 1 mile.  Way to go Kristin and Kellen!  The both exceeded their goals by one lap!



Kristin running one of her first laps at the Jog-A-Thon
 

And he's off!
 

Last lap with his friend Camden

Beautiful Fall

We have been having a beautiful, sunny fall this year.  Kellen has soccer games on Saturday mornings and Kristin on Sunday afternoons and we've had beautiful weather for all of them so far.  Looks like the weather will hold up that way for at least another week.

Danelle has a friend that lives out in the country on a farm.  Yesterday she went to visit and came home with over 100 apples.   Also 8 ears of sweet corn and some lemon peppers.  Kellen has already been enjoying the apples. 

Next weekend we'll try to get out to a pumpkin patch.  The kids are probably both old enough for a corn maze too this year.  That should be fun.

Happy 62nd Anniversary today to Grandma and Grandpa Jungblut!  And Happy Birthday tomorrow to Grandpa Jungblut!  We're looking forward to seeing more photos of the Honor Flight.

School Pictures

Both kids had school pictures yesterday... in the afternoon.  Oh boy!  I am waiting to see how these turn out after they both had lunch and recess.  :) 

Kristin has been busy with school work in the afternoons.  She is working on her first book report, but is doing this during class time.  I am interested in see how it turns out.  I guess it is due next Friday, so I won't see it for awhile yet.  Kristin had her first Passport Club test today.  Passport Club is new to Sexton Mountain, but is used in many schools to help kids get geography in, were it has most commonly been dropped from the curriculum.  She did well and passed the first 3 levels.  She learned the 7 continents, main oceans, equator, prime meridian and few other oceans.  Now she gets to learn 10 bays and seas, plus some more locations that we have not gotten yet.  She seems to enjoy it.  The program includes all 3-5 graders.  They each get a passport book and get to collect stamps from around the world... almost like they are traveling. 

Kellen's Friend Joshua Joins the Soccer Team

Kellen's friend Joshua, from the old daycare, joined the Blue Fireworks this last weekend.  Kellen was super excited.  Turns out Joshua seems to have a knack for playing soccer and really got into it!  :)  Kellen's team also had team pictures in the afternoon on Saturday.  Kristin even got to see a friend from school and they got some time to hang out and watch soccer and played on the playground.

Kicking a goal in practice with Coach Dan.

Joshua has the ball and Kellen is running with the play.

Go Kellen!

Bella Keeps Growing

Surprise, surprise... our dog is still getting bigger.  Bella is doing well and has not had any more incidents with bees.  Know that I say that I better watch her carefully. 

Kids with Bella.  Kristin is sporting her new shirt from Aunt Ellie too.

What?

Summer is still here!

Well, since summer started a bit late here this year it has been sticking around.  We have been in the upper 80s, but it cools off nicely at night.  With the nice weather we have been enjoying time outside playing, walking the dog, and playing soccer.  School is off to a great start for both kids and they are both really enjoying their teachers.  Yay!

Kellen had his second game yesterday and did well.  He is getting better and better at being engaged and learning something new each time he plays.  Kellen also is really enjoying playing soccer with so many friends.

Kristin played her first official game of the fall season today.  They lost, but it was a close, very good game.  The goalie on the other team was Kristin's friend Kylie.  The girls used to go to daycare together.  It was fun to see them play, even if it was against each other.  :)  Kristin played well and had a couple of shots on Kylie, but Kylie stopped them.

This afternoon Kellen had his friend Alejandro over to make zucchini bread.  The back story here is Alejandro gave us some zucchini bread about a month ago and Kellen has been begging for this particular bread ever since.  So, Alejandro and his mom came over to help us make the bread... since it is a family recipe she can't give it to me.  But, through watching I think I pretty much have it.  It is very, very similar to my banana bread.   The boys did all the dumping and even cracked the eggs.  They did a great job as the zucchini bread tastes great and the house smells wonderful.

Kellen Plays Soccer on Daddy's Team

Kellen started fall soccer on Saturday morning.  Aaron is coaching the team and Kellen has 5 other friends from daycare on the team.  What fun!  Kellen said "Coach Daddy is much more fun than Coach Michael!"  This made Aaron's day.  :)  I will have to get some game photos next weekend, as I had to leave early with Kristin to get her to the first of 2 birthday parties that day.  The first party was rock climbing and the second party was a spa trip where she got her nails painted and hair done.  In between the parties we watched the Oregon State game and kept an eye on the ISU game via my phone since we couldn't see the game.  Way to go Cyclones and Beavers!  It was a good football day.



Kellen passing to a friend in warm-ups.

Dribbling through the cones.

Kicking a goal in practice.

Daddy, This is a GREAT Pear!

Kindergarten! 4th Grade! Oh My!

We have two kids in elementary school.  Can you believe it!? 

Kellen was excited for school, but not so much for pictures.

Kristin started 4th grade.  She has always loved going to school and is happy to be back in class.  The only big change this year is that she has homework due everyday instead of weekly.  She seems to be falling into a good habit of doing her homework as soon as she gets home from school.

Kristin at her 4th grade desk.

 

Kellen started afternoon kindergarten at the elementary school.  He is also enrolled in morning kindergarten at the daycare a few days a week.  He seems to be happy with both kindys so far.  At the elementary school he sits right next to his friend Camden from daycare.  I haven't heard that they've been split up yet, but I doubt it will last long. :-)  He also sits next to a boy named Pirate.  No kidding.

Sure, now he wants his picture taken.

Summer is wrapping up

Wow, summer has been flying by!  The kids have been busy with swim lessons again.  They are both doing really well too.  Kristin has been learning the butterfly and breast strokes.  Amazing!  Tomorrow is Kristin's last day at daycare... hard to believe.  Kellen will still attend 3 mornings a week, but in the private kindergarten room. 

The kids got their letters from their teachers on Friday.  Kristin has Mr. Shotola this year and has found out 2 friends are in her class... so far.  Kellen has Ms. Stoeker, who is new to Sexton Mountain this year, but has taught kindergarten before.  We get to go meet the teachers and drop off our school supplies at the Ice Cream Social on Thursday night.

Happy 9th Birthday Kristin!

Happy birthday Kristin!  It is so hard to believe it has been 9 years!  How did we get to the half way point to 18 so fast?!

Running through the sprinkler.

Blowing out candles on the ice cream cake.

Kellen is giving Kristin the present from him... couldn't wrap that!

Kristin had a luau themed birthday party at home with friends, Nana and Papa, mom, dad and Kellen a week before her birthday.  The kids had fun with a water fight, slip and slide, and sprinkler in the back yard.  Then they had a good time making fruit kabobs and eatting ice cream cake.  Such a nice day for a party.

Chinook Cup Champions!

Kristin's soccer team did it again!  They won their tournament this weekend.  Two tournaments and two gold medals.  Way to go team!  Kristin had a goal and an assist.  She really had 2 goals, but one of her teamates was offsides, so it didn't count... but it looked great!  Kristin was also co-captain for the championship game on Sunday.


Kristin with her medal and the team trophy.

Champions!

I has warmed up here and is in the 90s lately.  Forecast says 100 for Thursday... I sure hope not.

It is hard to believe there is only 3 weeks left until school starts.  We are starting to get ready for school.  The kids and I picked up most of their school supplies yesterday.  Kellen picked out a Spiderman/super hero backpack too.  The kids also started swim lessons again today.

Day 11, Saturday Market

On Saturday, we went downtown to the Portland Saturday Market.  It is a big market with arts, crafts, photography, food and live music.  Not too far away is the famous VooDoo Donuts.  We headed that way, but decided to pass when we saw that the line was over a block long!  Nonetheless, we had a great time at the market.  It is held right down by the Willamette River, and the weather was beautiful.
The girls ran some errands in the afternoon, and somehow Kristin made out with a new doll. The rest of the day was spent hanging around the house and playing in the yard.

It was a great vacation, and we were lucky to spend it with Oma and Poppa!

Day 10, Friday

Friday was the last day of swim lessons for the kids.  Kristin passed her class!  She was so excited.  Kellen is new to his class, but is right on track with where he should be.  He is awesome at the backfloat!  The last day of class is called 'fun day' and the kids got to use life jackets, paddle boards and noodles etc.  Kristin's group had some 'noodle' races.  Ever the competitor, she won the races of course!

That was in the morning, in the afternoon, we got went to the Nike Employee Store in Beaverton.  One of my coworkers' wife works there and shared passes with us.  That was a pretty fun experience.  The kids made out great as usual.  Kellen found some soccer shin guards early on and wore them all around the store after that.  He's been very excited for his own soccer to start.  He's been to so many of Kristin's games that he's ready to play.

In the evening, we all went to dinner at Red Robin. Somewhere in there, Kellen got some 'Oma time'.

Day 9 - Thursday at OMSI

Kristin decided that she wanted to take Oma and Poppa to OMSI, which is the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.  It is a cool museum in Portland that is really geared towards kids and families.  The kids' favorite part was going on a tour of a WWII submarine nicknamed a 'pig boat'.

They also have lots of interactive exhibits.  The kids like the one with the air pumps, tubes, and nurf balls.  Later on, Kellen had T-Ball.  It was team picture night.

Day 8 Wednesday

On Wednesday, the kids had swim lessons.  They both enjoyed showing off for Oma and Poppa.  Kristin wanted totake some batting practice, so we went up to the school.  Kellen found a new friend on the playground while Kristin swung the bat.  Later on, Kellen helped Omo make some blue jello, and Oma and Poppa tagged along to watch Kristin's soccer practice.

Day 7, Tuesday, McKenzie Pass

On Tuesday of Oma and Poppa's visit, we strolled through Sisters in the morning.  Bella was a very popular puppy.  She couldn't go into the shops, but she got plenty of attention on the sidewalks.  Everyone loves a boxer puppy it seems.  What's not to love, afterall?
Poppa had read about a place called Proxy Falls, so we decided to visit there on the way back to Portland.  The road to Proxy Falls is an older mountain pass called Old McKenzie Pass that is only open in the summer.  It's full of twists and turns and beautiful vistas.  On the way to Proxy Falls, we were surprised by the Observatory at the summit of the pass.  The pass cuts through an old lava flow and we saw huge fields of lava rocks.  The Observatory itself is made from these lava rocks.  It has window holes cut into the Observatory.  Each window hole provides a view of a nearby mountain.  It was quite the experience.

We ate our lunches and loitered at the Observatory while we enjoyed the fanastic scenery.  We probably could have spent a whole day exploring the area if we'd had time.  We headed next to Proxy Falls.

Proxy Falls was another great adventure.  There are two waterfalls on the hike.  The hike is a great oval loop.  At the top of the loop, two trails branch off like horns, taking us to each of the falls.  Before we could get that far, however, we had to pass through a lava field.  It was quite the hike, especially for the kids and the puppy.  When we reached the first of the falls, we ran into a reporter from the Salem Register Guard.  She interviewed Poppa for a story in the paper!  

The trail leads to a vista of the first falls, which appeared to be the bigger of the two.  But the trail to the second falls lead us to base of those falls.  The water cascaded down the hill into a pool.  There did not seem to be an outlet for the pool either, so we guessed that it must go directly into the ground.  So in two days time, we saw a river emerge from the ground, and a large waterfall disapear into the ground.  What a trip!