Post Christmas....aaaahs....

Our pile of gifts under the tree!

Snow blankets the whole county right now - I love the whiteness and the huge snow drifts! This is our house from the "desert" behind us.

Well, Christmas cards aren't done yet but I'm getting there! Only about 50 to go -hee hee! I've really been taking advantage of having a few days off and playing hard! We' ve been skiing and sledding and shopping and spa-ing and movie-ing and... hmm - just playing! All the decorations are still up and the tree still looks pretty and the gifts are all still under the tree - opened of course!

The celebrating started on the 23rd and just didn't seem to stop! Linda and Margaret arrived on Sunday as did my parents and Erin. They all came over for dinner to celebrate Dylan and my dad's birthdays. I made enchiladas from scratch -not bad! I even had to make my enchilada sauce for the beef enchiladas and my Cream of Chicken soup for the chicken enchiladas as I can't eat the convenient canned variety. Not too difficult, though! I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it all was.

Our Desert Snowman - sage brush body and snowball eyes!

We had the same group for dinner on Christmas Eve, but added Robyn and Rod who both arrived that day, and Barb, Dale, Kim and Kellee. What fun! It wasn't our typical Laycock Christmas and we missed the rest of the clan but it was still very exciting.

Then the big day finally arrived! Santa arrived, ate the cookies and left a mess and lots of presents. Every kid's dream! We spent the day opening gifts, eating, sledding and playing games. We had another nice dinner again that evening. All in all a very relaxing and pleasant few days with all our loved ones here in Okanogan with us.

Look! Dylan is cuddling with me! A rare occurance these days! Christmas morning pictures of me are never very good but I think this is a cute one.

Mom and dad on the sledding hill. Great picture!

Robyn took this fabulous picture of Dylan coming down the hill.

Cocoa!

Everyone had gone home by the 27th and we found ourselves not wanting to get back to our daily routine quite so soon so we hit the South Summit and took in an afternoon of cross country skiing. I have to tell you that I haven't been on skis in over 20 years! I think I did pretty well! I did, however, avoid the hills as much as I could. I'm just not quite ready to face that fear! Lyndsi was also a trooper! It was her first experience on the skis. She did spend some time on her back but managed to get right back up again. The South summit is a beautiful location for skiing and for summer hiking. I can't wait to get back up there!

Kids on skis! Look at the pink cheeks :)

The kids have been bugging me to bake some cookies so they could try out their new baking sets that they received for Christmas - I, on the other hand, couldn't think of anything I wanted to do less! I broke down today, though, and baked 2 batches of cookies. Dylan took his job very seriously and created a beautiful bunch of thumbprint cookies! Lyndsi is still chilling her sugar cookie dough but she sure enjoyed eating her dough!

Taster Lyndsi and...

Chef Dylan!

I'm not sure what's up for the new year as our good friend, Dennis, broke his shoulder on the ski hill Thursday. He and his wife are usually our New Year's Eve hosts and fabulous chefs. Though Dennis is convinced that he can still create a nice meal for us all, we think he should take it easy for a few more days. We'll see who wins this battle!

Happy New Year to you all!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas cards - what Christmas cards! Do you think December 26th is too late to get my Christmas cards out??? Actually, I have sent several cards but without a letter. Oh, I'm bad! My goal is to get a letter written and all my cards out before New Year's Day. We'll see - wish me luck!

Other than the card dilemma and a few presents to wrap, I think we're ready for Santa to come! Yippeee! This is the first year since Dylan was a week old that we are staying here for the holidays. I miss going to Spokane but it's the perfect year to be here. Our district didn't let out for our break until Friday at 3 and we go back on the 2nd. I know, I know..... many of you have to work this week and don't get any time off - but I always considered this kind of my Christmas bonus (we don't get one) and I want the time off during the holidays. Heck, we don't get paid for the days off anyway so why not give us a few extra days!

The kids are thrilled to have Christmas in their own home this year. Nana and Papa and Robyn and Erin and Grandma and Rod and Grandma Margaret and Barb and Kim and Kellee and mybe Kim will all be here. What more could a kid want! We're expecting everyone to arrive some time today.

Dylan turned 8 last week! I don't know about you but I have a little trouble believing that I am the mother of an 8 year old. Mothers of 8 year olds are experienced and always know what to do in any situation....hmmm...not me! I think I must do all right because Dylan is a pretty good kid!

Eight year old antics! Great picture, Steve!

Dylan decided that he really wanted to have his birthday party at the bowling alley this year. Thank heavens because we decided to invite the whole class! Yep, all 23 of them! Only 20 kids showed up, though, so it was OK hee, hee! As I am Dylan's teacher I just didn't see how I could only invite a few kids from the class without any hurt feelings. The afternoon was a success and the kids had a blast! It was fun to interact with my students on a more relaxed level and Dylan was treated royally.

Dylan and the coveted bowling pin! All the party guests sign the pin. I think every kid in town has one (or 10) of these by the time they are 10!

Because I am a glutton for stress and no sleep we also held our 3rd annual cookie and beer exchange on the same day. So, at 7:00 that evening, hundred of dozens of cookies (well, maybe only 50 dozen :)) came through our door, along with about 40 people. Yes, I was working right up to the last minute, along with the help of a couple of early arriving guests (they thought it started at 6 - thank the lord!) but I enjoyed my evening more than I have the last couple of years. I created a new coffee nudge drink that I drank all night and I just packed up the goody buckets of cookies as people left so I was able to be in the midst of the celebrating rather than tucked away in the back room.

Those of you who have been following the blog might be thinking - "HM, why would Jill have a cookie and beer exchange when she can't eat either one?". As you may or may not know, beer contains lots of gluten due to the barley malt it's made with. And cookies - forget it! Well, my good friend Amy did some research and adapted her cookie recipe so that it was gluten free! Not an easy feat I might add! So now I have about 24 cookies that are all mine! Yippee! I stuck them in the refrigerator downstairs so that no one would eat them and I am bringing them out a couple at a time when I need a little sweet!

On Friday night, The Littlest Christmas Tree was performed by all the little tykes from The Children's House Montessori Preschool. Oh - they are so sweet! Marla, the music teacher, is fabulous and loves the kids and her job. What a great way to begin our break.

I was hoping to update my slideshow and maybe add a Christmas tune to it but

Isn't Lyndsi so sweet as part of Julie's Family! She really did look pretty, though this is not the best picture!

didn't get that far. That will be my goal this week - after the cards are done of course! So be checking in occasionally. I also want to add Kendal's blog and The Gluten Free Girl blog to my favorite bloggers.

May you all be merry and bright and enjoy your families during this festive week!

Sun Mountain Lodge

All the kids

Robyn and Lyndsi

Steve and Dylan

Amy and Julia in the hot tub

Siobhan and Lyndsi in front of the tree.

Aaah - Sun Mountain Lodge! The most relaxing place on earth and one of my most favorite places to be! Well, maybe not the most relaxing but certainly one of my favorites! We spent the weekend up the mountain outside of Winthrop with our friends the Cheesemans and the O'Connors and with Robyn and Kim. The lodge is a beautiful building set up on a mountain in the Methow Valley. We ate great food, hot tubbed, played pool, skiied, and snowshoed for 2 days straight. We also stayed up way too late and slept in really comfy beds! These pictures don't do our weekend justice but they give you a taste of what we experienced. I'm sure Amy will have some great pictures on her blog also - check out my favorites off to the side.



I was hoping to come home and get our house all prettied up for Christmas. I want it done!!! I figure that we work so hard to get everything up that we should leave it up for a while. However, time is running out! We'll get everything out and have to put it all back again. Steve got some lights up but I spent my afternoon grocery shopping ( which takes forever these days!), unpacking and making dinner. Needless to say, there are still 3 very large boxes sitting in the middle of our floor!

With 2 meetings, a birthday party and 2 holiday parties this week I'm sure we'll all be partied out by Sunday! Steve's staff party is Friday night. Dylan is having a bowling party on Saturday and we have our annual cookie and beer exchange on Saturday night.

Speaking of Dylan's party. I was having trouble deciding how many kids Dylan should invite to his birthday party this year and struggling with leaving anyone out. I feel a little bound to invite all the kids in the class as I am also their teacher this year - so I did! Potentially we have 27 kids coming to Dylan's birthday party! Ack! Thank heavens for the bowling alley!

My parents are off on another adventure - hi mom and dad! They flew to AZ today (I think) where they will have a reunion with some friends and then my dad will lecture at the college. Wow! It's been a long time since he's done that! They will then go to ABQ for a whild before heading home.

We saw these eagles and turkeys on our way home today. Can you see the golden eagle?

The snow, the snow, the beautiful snow! I think it snowed for 24 hours straight! And more snow is on the way! It's wonderful! Dylan and I got out our snowshoes and trekked through the "desert" out back. That was after he had spent the previous 8 hours outside! Needless to say, he is now in bed sleeping very soundly :)

I received the best book today. It's called Gluten-Free Grocery Shopping Guide by Mara and Dainis Matson. It's a guide to all the products at the grocery store that are gluten free. Everything is listed by item and then by brand. Woo-hoo! My grocery shopping trips will be so much easier. And the best news of all...Dr. Pepper is in the book!!!

Oh..... the weather outside is frightful....Yep! It's snowing again! This time it's a good one! We already have a couple of inches and it's not stopping. The flakes are fluffy and perfect and I'm sitting here by our nice warm fire - ah, the life! I hope the weather keeps me in the mood for staying indoors tomorrow so that I can decorate for the holidays.

Steve played poker last night so I had a couple of ladies over for snacks. I always feel refreshed after being with my good friends, even if only for a couple of hours. These impromptu ladies nights are one of the perks of the guys poker nights!

Dylan rode on the Cub Scout float in the Omak Christmas parade tonight. It was cold! He wore his snowpants, coat, hat, gloves, boots and he still had frozen cheeks. Those of us watching weren't any warmer! We all had a great time, though, watching for Santa Claus and grabbing up those candy canes.

Next weekend is our long-awaited Sun Mountain trip. We have two nights reserved on the beautiful mountain in Winthrop. The lodge is heavenly! I can't wait to see it in all its holiday decor.

My camera is not working!! Ugh! I have to send it off to be fixed and I don't want to be without it. Robyn lent us her camera for our trip to Alaska so I'll dig that out. All is not lost but I'll sure miss my little Canon Powershot!

Look At Those Beauties!

Check out these cuties! We took some time this last weekend - well, actually, we took a lot of time! - to have the kids' pictures taken at Sears Photo Studio in Spokane. I bought the CD so I can publish and print the photos as I want. So here I am sharing them with you! These were a few of the best shots, though the kids are both very photogenic so there wasn't really a bad one. You'll probably be seeing one of these photos in your Christmas cards this year!

This Thanksgiving I am thankful for... gluten-free holidays! Yep, I was able to enjoy turkey and all the fixings (minus the bread stuffing) along with everyone else this Thanksgiving. My wonderful mother and fabulous sisters did some research and came up with recipes for gluten-free food and I gorged myself! I felt sick from overeating rather than from poisoning myself. Kind of a nice change - hee, hee!

The dinner was yummy but our weekend was even better. We really didn't do much other than eat and shop and play but it was nice to be in Spokane with our moms, my dad, Rod, Robyn and Erin. The kids came away feeling extra special!

As I write this, we are experiencing the first snowfall of the year. What excitement there was tonight! With all of about a quarter inch of snow on the ground, the kids prepped their snow clothes for tomorrow. In each of our backpacks we now have 2 pairs of gloves, 1 scarf, 2 hats, slippers for school and snowpants. Oh my! It sounds like a holiday song! Hopefully we'll get at least another inch or so. I might even have some pictures tomorrow! We'll see!

A Week of Birthdays!

Wow! What a week! It started out with a relaxing weekend of scrapbooking! Woo hoo! I know some of you are saying, "Ugh! I can't believe she'd spend a whole weekend scrapbooking!" I sometimes wonder how I do it also but I'm not going to question it too much. I got to spend 2 nights and 2 days at Sun Mountain Lodge scrapping away the days and nights! I did take a break to sit in the hot tub and to take a nice long walk. Otherwise - I was sitting at a table surrounded by other crazy (most of them crazier than I!) ladies! This was my birthday present from my parents. Couldn't have asked for anything more!

Sunday evening I arrived home to a wonderful dinner and a birthday cake (gluten-free!) created by my mother. She and my dad had come over to take care of the kids while I was gone. It was a fabulous weekend!

Dylan insisted I wear the sombrero like at Rancho Chico!

My yummy gluten free dessert! Chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and fudge sauce...mmmm!

Though there was no school Monday, I spent the day at work getting ready for parent conferences which were Tuesday and Wednesday. Long days! Very productive however.

I am now the proud parent of a 5 year old! I can't believe Lyndsi is 5 already! I no longer have any babies in the house. She's even old enough to go to kindergarten and next month she gets her kindergarten shots - ugh! Yes, Lyndsi had a birthday on Friday and a party on Saturday. We spent Friday at a cub scout pack meeting but made it out to dinner at a local Koala themed restaurant. They even have alligator toes and kangaroo ears! Lyndsi opted for old-fashioned grilled cheese :) The highlight of this birthday was the party on Saturday. We, and 16 other kids, went to the ice cream shop in town. This is a cute 50's style soda fountain place. The kids all made their own sundaes and Lyndsi opened more presents! Fun for all! I loved it because there was no cleanup at my home!

I made these little ice cream treat bags for the guests to take home with them. I got the bowls and spoons (all looking like ice cream cones!) from Oriental Trading Company and created a topping with M&Ms, mint candies and sprinkles. I was pretty proud of the final product!

Lyndsi with her birthday sundae. Look at those pink cheeks!

Halloween

Dylan - as the Great Pumpkin

Lyndsi - as a Fairy Princess Cheerleader (she thought of it all by herself!)

Another Halloween come and gone. Truth be told, despite my grumblings of busy nights and not enough time just being at home, I really do like Halloween. You really couldn't ask for a simpler holiday! Dress silly and go door to door collecting candy. Who am I to complain???

Anyway, both kids partied at school. Lyndsi's class went to two different nursing homes to sing Halloween carols. Dylan's (and mine!) class had an afternoon party complete with games, sugar and more sugar! The school day was hit with everyone. After a very quick dinner, all 4 of us went out trick-or-treating. We managed to hook up with a couple other kids - Reily, Max and Karina - and we went down to 4th street (our old neighborhood). Normally the street looks like a movie set on Halloween. Hundreds of kids mob the couple of blocks! This year seemed pretty slow. I think Wednesday night Halloween kept a lot of kids at home. We now have two buckets of candy .. mmmm...

Steve's soccer team is still going strong! They finished another game this evening though I don't know the results as Steve hasn't made it home yet. They play again on Wednesday and then possibly (if they win) on Saturday. These games are considered the pre-games for the State tournament.

Lyndsi will be 5 in two weeks - ack! - I can't believe it! She'll be getting her kindergarten shots next month. It doesn't seem right! This time of year always gets us talking about the kids as babies. They both love to hear stories about "me as a baby" in their words!

I am off to my 4th annual scrapbook retreat next weekend! Our former scrapbook store owner puts on this annual event at Sun Mountain Lodge each November. My parents gave me the weekend away as my birthday present this year. They are even coming over to take care of the kids while Steve is away at his soccer game. The scrapbook weekend is completely and totally relaxing and I look forward to it every year. Sun Mountain is a beautiful part of the Methow Valley and the lodge is pampering and comforting! Thanks mom and dad!

I got a call Thursday night that I have been waiting for for several months. I had been dealing with some stomach issues and finally went to the doctor in September. After blood work and an upper endoscopy, I now have a diagnosis! I have celiac disease which means my body doesn't tolerate gluten. In fact gluten wreaks havoc on me! The disease can affect your joints, skin, digestive system, hair, neurological functioning, you name it! Long term it can cause lymphoma of the intestines and other fun things! However, the good news is, it is completely curable!! If...I stay completely away from gluten. Did you know that gluten is found in - well - everything! So, if anyone reading this has any helpful hints I'd love to hear them! Right now I am feeling a sense of relief that I have an answer to all of my problems, problems that I have always blamed on arthritis, hormones, motherhood, whatever. However, when I feel the pangs of hunger and realize I don't have anything snacky that is gluten-free, I do feel twinges of panic.

Steve just arrive home and his girls lost in overtime. Sad for them - No more soccer, yippee!

October Days

Yep, it's late and I should be in bed... Oh, well. I'll be starting out the week tired! So what else is new????

Only one more day of soccer! Lyndsi has her last practice tomorrow night. Dylan's last game was Friday night. Whew! I made it through another soccer season! Steve still has several games to go but I think he'll survive also. His girls didn't do so well yesterday. With a 4-0 loss they won't be taking state but they still have a chance to particiapate in the tournament. Pretty sad for all of them.

I took this picture of the Okanogan River the other morning. I couldn't resist! This is what I drive by every morning when I take Lyndsi to preschool. No one can say that I don't live in a beautiful part of the country. I love our river!

Steve continued work on the deck. He now has pegs up for the pickets. It's looking so good! I can't wait until next summer when we can bar-b-que and sit out there. We also borrowed our neighbors' riding mower today to mow and mulch all our leaves. Wow! What a trip! What normally takes all day took Steve about 30 minutes. The lawn looks better now than it has for a year! Of course Steve thinks we need riding mower now. Can't say I disagree!

We finally took some time this evening to carve our Halloween jack-o-lanterns. They were monsters! Our beloved Mrs. Baker gave each of the kids their pick of her pumpkins this summer. Little did we know how big they'd grow! It took over an hour to clean and carve them! What fun! Yep, the kids hit the showers when they were through. Dylan did all of his own carving and Lyndsi even cut out one of her own eyes (on her pumpkin that is!). You can tell which one - it's the little bitty eye!

I'm not sure what Dylan was doing here but it was too good to pass up the photo opp. At one point he stuck his head all the way into his pumpkin and was almost stuck for good!

With Halloween on Wednesday, the kids are hyped! They can't wait to get out trick-or-treating! We usually go to our good friends' The Cheesemans' for a party but we're all taking a break this year. Amy is busy with her online classes and everyone is busy with other things so we'll party again next year.

No New Pictures But an Updated Slide Show!

I don't have any pictures to add today but I did update the slide show to the right. Take a look at some of the pictures!

We spent the day with Nana and Papa today. They came over last night. It's always fun for all of us when Nana and Papa come over. We went to Dylan's soccer game and then spent some time shopping.

Tonight was the homecoming dance. We won't mention the football game last night (last I heard, the score was 77-0. Ouch!)! Anyway... back to the dance. Steve chaperoned and the kids and I went along for a while. Both kids wanted to wear their best clothes - Dylan in a tie and jacket and Lyndsi in a sparkly red dress! Steve and I were very underdressed in our jeans!

Still working on the deck!

HarvestFest 2007

Ahh, the lazy days of fall....WHATEVER! I don't think we have all been home together before 7:00 pm since August! Soccer is fun to watch - it's work that gets in the way! Steve's soccer girls have had a fantastic season so will continue on into playoffs. Their last league game is Thursday but they begin District playoffs next week. Dylan has 3 more games and 2 practices left. Lyndsi has 4 practices. What will we do with ourselves in November?

Last weekend was our town's annual Harvestfest celebration. It was combined with the Centennial and our 3rd annual Autumn Leaf Run. The kids and I have participated in the run for 2 years now. Last year we completed the 5K with the help of a stroller. This year, not feeling up to pushing that bulky thing, we walked the 1 mile route. I'm proud to say that not only did we finish but we all ran about a half of the mile! You may be thinking that I'm proud of the kids for doing that - wrong! I'm proud of myself - hee hee! Running is not my thing!

Dylan and Ruth also took part in the Kiddie Pet Parade. Ruth was a little less than eager to be with all the dogs (yes, she's a strange one!) so gave Dylan a little trouble. That just gave me the chance to walk alongside Dylan and Ruth in the KIDDIE pet parade. Yippee! I'm pretty sure I was the tallest kiddie there!

We stayed around town buying apples from the Farmer's Market and pumpkin bowling for pumpkins before meeting friends for lunch. The weather was bright and sunny and perfect for a harvest festival. All in all it was a great day!

The beauty of living in a small town is getting caught up in the hype of homecoming. This coming weekend will be the Homecoming football game and dance. We will be attending both, as fans and as chaperones. We've been here long enough to look forward to seeing the kids who make it back to town for the events.

I hope the weather holds for one more weekend as I have great plans for working in the yard. I don't like the icky mess of stinky leaves after the snow flies!

Soccer Princess and a Photo Shoot

Soccer has started with a vengence! Monday - Lyndsi, Tuesday - Dylan, Wednesday - Lyndsi, Thursday - Dylan, Saturday - Dylan. I'm pooped! Though I do love sitting in the brisk evening air, cheering on the devoted players. Lyndsi was so excited to finally start soccer! She's been waiting for "Monday" for about 2 weeks!

Today was picture day at school and I couldn't resist snapping a couple of pictures of Max and Dylan in their 7 year old finest! They looked so cute sitting on their desks next to each other! They both have the long "soccer hair" going on. Not sure I'll ever get Dylan to willingly get a haircut again!

When Will I Learn.....

to use spell check??? Sorry about all the typos!

The Simple Joys of the Rope Swing

Dylan on the swing.

Lyndsi taking her turn.


This is my favorite time of year! The kids start wanting to be outside again after the long, hot, dry days of summer and the breezes ar cool eonough to warrant the wearing of cozy sweatshirts. I heard the sandhill cranes flying overhead and saw the flocks of geese in the soccer fileds today. Soon the leaves will be changing and the first freeze will hit. Yep, these are the reasons I love fall! There's just something soothing about the cooler weather and the bold colors.
To kick off the season Steve and the kids put up a rope swing in the Sycamore out back. The kids can't get enough of the thing! They stick one foot in the loop and go back and forth, over and over again! They've even gotten me hooked on it!
Fall and fair go hand in hand around here. We spent last Saturday roaming around the fairgrounds checking out the animals and the exhibits. Had some fair food, too!

Who could resist this cutie???


Soccer started this week for Dylan and will start next week for Lyndsi. Dylan had a fun first game this morning, playing against his best friend's team. Both teams played well and enjoyed themselves, tying the game. The season is about 6 weeks long - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday - which is long enough! I love watching the games and practices but am already feeling the time crunch!

Preschool Begins

Isn't she so old???

Lyndsi started her second year of preschool at The Children's House Montessori Preschool and Kindergarten. She walked in like an old pro and even helped the younger first year kids. WHOA! So different from last year! She said she played all day and ate snack and that was the best part of the day.

We had to give the kids some bad news tonight. One of their gerbils, Midnight, died sometime Monday. Steve was cleaning the gerbil cage and found our little friend. Dylan took it pretty hard. He sobbed himself to sleep. It was awful!

The fair is this weekend. The kids decided not to enter the pictures they took so maybe we'll do something next year. We'll be spending most of Saturday at the fairgrounds with the Cub Scouts. Otherwise, I'm looking forward to being home for the weekend.

Here are the pictures of Dylan's first day yesterday and one of Dylan's beloved "Midnight" - Sniff, sniff!

Yep - that's my boy!

In Memory of Midnight