Football...Football...Football

In honor of the Civil War game coming up, I thought I'd share with you this picture I just came across from a few years ago. Tim and I both love football, and over the years we got the chance to go to a few Oregon games...and of course, loved every minute of it. My brother graduated from OSU, but somehow we haven't been to one of their games yet. Maybe one of these days.

Oh...and did I mention that for the first time ever I'm also in a fantasy football league? Yes, with my very own team. And don't tell Tim I told you, but....shhh....I'm beating him. Cross your fingers for me that I'm able to finish up the season in my first place spot and prove to all the other guys in the league that girls know a thing or two about football as well. :)

The Business of a Bumble Bee

For Sophie's second Halloween, we dressed her up as a bumble bee. Pretty traditional, I know....in fact, we got lots of comments like "Hey, I was a bumble bee when I was a kid!". This was the reason we chose a bumble bee costume for her. I (Melissa) was a bumble bee when I was little too, so we wanted to pass along the tradition. She had a blast doing a little trick or treating on our street, and of course making us crack up laughing as we watched her crawl across the floor with her little stinger sticking straight up in the air. Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

Pumpkin Patch

Today we headed out to a pumpkin patch in Canby, just down the road from Sophie's grandparents' house. It's the same one that I grew up going to, and we even got to ride the train around the patch just like I did 20 some years ago. It was a little chilly in the rain but it was fun to get out and create some more memories.

Celebrating 60 Years

Have I mentioned what a great dad I have? He's a pretty amazing guy. And this weekend we got to celebrate his 60th birthday. Saturday was a surprise party over at his house with 45 guests, lots of wine, a slide show of his life, and some great stories. Sunday we went down the road here in Newberg to the new spa resort (The Allison) for a fancy 5 course dinner with just the family. It was a fantastic weekend, and we're so happy we got to celebrate Dad and all that he means to us.

At dinner, Dad spent time going around the table and giving some items to each of us that he felt fit us for the time of life we're in right now. Then he gave us his "what I've learned in my 60 years" speech. It was great! Sophie's item was a stuffed bear, and she was beyond thrilled.

The family! So happy Kylie, Josh's girlfriend, could join us too.

Life, Lately

I haven't posted much over the last few weeks. We've been up to a lot of stuff, but it just hasn't made its way to the computer. Here's a synopsis of life, lately. Sans pictures. My apologies to those of you visual people out there.

• Had our first garage sale ever. You'd think, this being our first, that we'd have a ton of stuff to sell, but we frequent the Goodwill drop off site regularly, so in fact we did not. But it was fun to do and we made out with a whopping $100 profit. Well worth the time!
• Sophie's made up for lost time and now has 4 teeth! We count our lucky stars that she's a great teether...not night wakings at all! Better go find some wood to knock on.
• We (Sophie and Melissa) have been going to story time at the library and learning lots of fun songs. We also went to the Newberg Indoor Park and had a great time.
• Sophie took her first steps!!! Three in a row. Since then, she hasn't seemed super enthused about trying again (although she has a few times). She's pretty much a very happy crawler. Oh well. No rush on our parts.
• Did I mention car trouble? Yes, car trouble, car trouble, and more car trouble. From both cars. I try to remind myself to be grateful we even have two cars. Just wish they would work as they should.
• Tim and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary! We forgot to take pictures, but it was a great day spent together. Went on a walk in the sun and then cooked a steak dinner at home. Still can't believe it's been 5 years...

That's about it for now. More to come I'm sure!

Dinner Time Shenanigans

It was just Sophie and I for dinner tonight, so we livened things up a bit. Between bites of broccoli and chicken, we played a great game of "get your head as dirty as possible with those sticky hands of yours". Also known as dinner-time peekaboo.

If Life Was Like a Movie...

Have you seen Almost Famous? Do you remember that scene were the band is in the airplane and they all think they're going to crash and die? In the last few moments, they all start shouting out things that had previously gone unsaid. They felt free to clear the air, be completely honest with each other, and own up to secrets they'd been living with. I sometimes wish life was like this. Why must we put on faces for each other? Why can't we always just speak what's truly in our head, not having to wonder what that person will think or how they'll judge us?

On the same note...sometimes (okay, all the time) I wish life was like a musical. We could just break out in song and dance - completely unrehearsed yet incredibly sycronized - whenever the mood hit us. Tense moment? Why not sing about it. Love sick and want everyone to know? Put on your dancing shoes and belt out a tune. Hey...it worked in Grease.