He's a Winner and a Launderer!

Dylan and a fellow scout in a close race

It was a close one! Everyone held their breath as 2 cars began their descent down the track during the final heat of the 2008 Pinewood Derby. Well.. I guess there wasn't quite that much drama but it sure was fun! And I think Dylan was feeling a bit jittery as his car was one of the overall winners of the derby this year! Yep - 2nd place! Not bad for a little guy from Okanogan. Hee hee! Actually, the participants were all residents from Omak and Okanogan and this was just the Pack 20 and Pack 60 races. But Dylan does qualify for the District competition to take place in April.

I have to tell you about the final race, though. Dylan and his buddy, Cooper, were competing for first and second place. The policy is to race 3 times for the final heat and take best 2 of 3. Well, who knew the boys would have to race 6 times before we'd finally know who had the faster car! They tied the first 2 races, Cooper won the 3rd, Dylan won the 4th, they tied again in the 5th and Cooper finally won the 6th! Whew! Dylan was a bundle of nerves by the time we were done!

Dylan was the winner of this race, too! And, no, this is not his normal smile!

The dads even got in on the races with their own cars. Steve's didn't do so well but it's all for fun....right?

LAUNDRY!!!!

Dylan learned how to do laundry today. Yippee! Actually, I have always kind of enjoyed doing the laundry. Sick, aren't I! There's something about taking something dirty, making it clean (without a lot of elbow grease - I hate hand washing!), folding it and putting it away that makes me feel like I've accomplished something. Anyway, Dylan complained one too many times this week that he didn't have any clean clothes to wear and that I was such a mean mom to not allow him to wear dirty clothes. I gave him his first lesson on sorting laundry and loading the washing machine. He grumbled a bit but I think he secretly kind of liked it! Tomorrow we'll go over folding and putting away the clean clothes. Somehow, I don't think he'll enjoy that lesson as much! Now, if we could just get Dylan to put his dirty clothes in his dirty clothes basket, he might actually have some clothes to wash!

Tomorrow we're off to the dog races. Sled dog racing that it! This is my favorite January tradition - The annual Conconully Snowdog Supermush. Unfortunately, there isn't a website (that I can find anyway) to send you to so you'll have to wait for my description and pics tomorrow! My friend Amy, who is a third grade teacher here in Okanogan, has raced for the last 3 years. She started out with an interest in the Iditerod and now owns 8 sled dogs and a sled! She's really an inspiration to anyone who has a dream. Her motto is "Dream Big". We'll be out in the sub zero temperatures in Conconully, WA to cheer her on! It'll be worth it!

Happy Birthday, Steve!

The Streeters at Outback Steakhouse

Yep, 38 candles is a lot of candles to blow out! And light! For Steve's birthday I made a peach cobbler (gluten free of course!). The kids and I couldn't keep up with the melting candles. Many of them were completely gone before Steve could blow them out! We had fun eating little bites of blue wax with our cobbler.

It's been a long time since we'd been in Spokane so we took advantage of the long weekend and made a trip over. The weekend was fun, with Chuck E Cheese and a belated dinner out for Steve's birthday. Steve was given a ticket for the Gonzaga game so as he was cheering on the team (and winning a shirt!) the kids and I hit Chuck E. Cheese to meet up with some friends. We normally have this reunion over Christmas break but as we were here this year, we postponed the visit. I didn't tell the kids where we were going so it was fun to hear their squeals as we pulld into the parking lot. Despite the chaos of Chuck's, I enjoyed being able to visit with my friends and play with the kids. I don't do that enough.

Sunday night we gathered Steve's mom and Rod, my parents, Steve's aunt Barb and cousing Kellee and, of course, us and hit Outback Steakhouse for Steve's birthday dinner (the 3rd in a series of 3!). The kids enjoyed the very large crocodiles hanging everywhere and I enjoyed the gluten free menu! I think everyone else enjoyed themselves also. After dinner, we picked up Steve's grandma and headed back to my parent's house for some cake and ice cream.

Rod with Steve's Mom and Aunt Barb

Cousin Kellee

Jill's Dad and Mom

Steve's candles at Outback...

and at Mom and Dad's

I mentioned that Steve has had 3 birthday dinners -none of them homemade! We started with dinner at the Wagon Wheel in Malott with the Cheesemans. Jeff's birthday is on the 12th so we combined the two boys' birthdays into one. The Wagon Wheel is a tiny bar in a tiny town with the best steak night ever! Yum! After dinner I realized that I really like playing the electric guitar - Wii style of course! Our friends, Tara and Jeff live in Malott so we stopped by after dinner and played that guitar game (the name is gone from me right now!). I was hooked!

So, on Steve's "real" birthday, he felt like Mexican food so we hit Rancho Chico - the best Mexican food around! Lyndsi had been home sick that day so she and I (when she hit a perky few moments) decorated the dining room with balloons and streamers. After dinner we went home to the cobbler I mentioned before. I like when we get to have 3 birthday dinners out!

Sick kids abound around here right now. Not only at school but in our own home. Lyndsi spent last weekend throwing up and sleeping and this Thursday and Friday Dylan was throwing up! I think we're all better now, though both kids are very congested and have yucky sounding coughs. Hopefully this trend has ended because I don't want to spend next weekend throwing up and sleeping!

Back to Life...

Yep, school's back in session and life is back to normal. Sort of! Steve and I took down the Christmas decorations today so the house is beginning to resemble it's old self. Still quite a mess in the basement but we're getting there!

School started on Wednesday. Good thing it was a short week - I was still fighting my post Christmas exhaustion! Don't know what's going on but I feel like sleeping an awful lot these days. No, I'm not pregnant and I don't think I'm getting into any gluten infested foods so I don't know what else to think!

I don't have any new pictures to share but if you want to see some fun sledding pictures of Steve and the kids, check out Kendal's blog http://kendaljeanphotography.blogspot.com/. She and her fiance went sledding with Steve, Jeff and all the kids. I'm glad she went because she's a fantastic photographer! She and Shawn have become good friends and I'm happy they chose to move to Okanogan! Like so many of us, Shawn got a job here and now they are planning their wedding.

The kids are being amazingly nice to each other (knock on wood!) Don't get me wrong - we still have our share of teasing and arguing but Steve and I have both look at each other in shock when Dylan gives Lyndsi a compliment (without even a prompt!) or when Lyndsi shares her gum (without being asked!). I don't know - maybe there are some New Year's Resolutions going on that I'm oblivious to!

It warmed up to 40 degrees today so our beautiful snow has begun melt away. It's pretty much a sloppy mess outside right now! However, the sun was shining and birds were chirping so I hardly even noticed the muddy slush!

Well...I guess I've entered the new age...I now own a cell phone! I activated it last night so I even have a phone number. Now, if I could just figure out where to hold it so I can hear through the earpiece! I know, I sound like an old woman. But it's true! I have such a hard time finding the sound when I talk on cell phones! I move the silly thing up and down, over and over until I can actually hear the person on the other end. Oh well, I'm sure I'll be a pro before long!

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!!!