Cirque Du Soleil

Matt and I went to see Cirque Du Soleil's "Corteo" in Portland today! The show was FABULOUS and held under the big top! Cameras weren't allowed inside, so I was only able to take photos of the tents from the parking lot!

You can check out information on the show by clicking on this link; http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/CirqueDuSoleil/en/default.htm

After the show we went out to dinner at Jake's Grill. I've seen great reviews on the restaurant (which is owned by McCormick and Schmicks -- so how can you go wrong?) and it was even featured on TLC's "Little People Big World" which is filmed in Hillsboro, Oregon. We had top sirloin with dungeonous crab as our entree and it was delicious. The restaurant is known as Portland's best Steak House! You can check out their website at http://www.mccormickandschmicks.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=content.display&pageid=96&id=21
The restaurant is located in the Governor Hotel, in Downtown Portland. It is a luxury hotel that gets rave reviews for their service! Tori and I are planning to attend a fundraiser there in late April for Doerenbecher Children's Hospital!
The Governor Hotel in Portland, OR

Spring Soccer has started!!!

On Friday the kids voted for a "lazy day". They love just being home with no schedule and not having to be any specific place at any specific time. It was a really good choice since the weather went from sun, to rain, to hail, to intermittent snow (YES, SNOW). Not that any stuck to the ground here in Canby. Matt emailed from work at 8am to say it was snowing in Vancouver, Washington and continued to snow for 2 hours!!! Now, I must say, I AM looking forward to snow once we move north -- if that ever happens. With the housing economy we may be here another year.

Saturday was the start of Ryan's soccer season. We bundled up and headed to the field at 10am. At the time it was overcast, 41 degrees, with a slight breeze. By the time we had our chairs set up along the field the wind kicked in, along with the rain and the storm continued until 11:20 (about 10 minutes before the game ended). People were using umbrellas to shield themselves from the wind that was biting cold and holding down any belongings so the wind wouldn't blow them away. The game was really good, the team did really well with the ending score 29 - 0!!!

Bowling on Thursday!

Today we decided to go bowling in Wilsonville, Oregon and Wilsonville Lanes! The kids all did great! Sarah was hilarious! Every time she rolled the ball down the lane she'd stay to make sure a pin would be knocked over and then jump up and down with her hands in the air yelling "I won! I won!"

What happens when a 2 year old is very QUIET

This morning all of the kids were busy doing something. The boys were on the computers, Tori was painting pictures and Sarah was playing with her baby dolls and watching Dora the Explorer. A friend called and as I was chatting with her I realized that Sarah was being VERY QUIET. Every parent knows, that when toddlers are quiet, something is up. As I walked into the hallway, Sarah just looked up and smiled! I took her by the hand and was walking around the house and she had a blank look on her face...not sure whether she was in trouble or not. When I finally found my camera the HUGE smile was back on her face.

Doesn't she look lovely????

North Clackamas Aquatic Park on Wednesday!

We spent the day at North Clackamas Aquatic Park today in Milwaukie, Oregon! It is a large indoor water park (what pool isn't indoors in Oregon???) with a wave pool, water slides, kids pool etc. You can check out the pool at http://www.co.clackamas.or.us/ncprd/aquatic/.

The kids had a great time and little Miss Sarah kept me going for 3 hours straight swimming from pool to pool. She has absolutely NO FEAR of water at all and wanted to be in the deep end of the pool when the waves were going, and loved going through the waterfalls, etc. My idea of renting a house boat on a lake for vacation is going to have to wait, I can just see her in the water every opportunity that presented itself.

Horton Hears A Who on Tuesday!

We went to see the movie today and we all really enjoyed it! It was Sarah's first time in a movie theater and she loved the big screen!

Oaks Amusement Park on Monday!

Spring Break is here! On Monday I took the kids to Oaks Amusement Park in Portland! http://www.oakspark.com/

Sarah was a dare devil and wanted to go on every fast ride they would allow her on! The kids had a great time riding the rides and roller skating at the rink! We were having so much fun I forgot to take photos!

Brandon and Ryley on the Spider
Sarah on an aircraft ride
My favorite ride -- The Screaming Eagle!

Easter Morning!

Preparing for the Easter Bunny's arrival!

Tori in Peggy the Pint Size Pirate

Tori performed in a short skit on Saturday called "Peggy the Pint Sized Pirate". Tori played "Captain Soggy" and "Mommy Sea Monster". Tori is in the brown pirate costume in the first few videos and the green sequin cloth at the end. The videos are a little hard to hear, but I promised her I'd blog them!

Spring is around the corner!

One of the best parts of being a parent is watching your children mature and enjoy the same things you do! Today the kids didn't have any school, so the girls decided to get crafty and do a little planting!

Tori with the items we purchased today!
Tori and Sarah with their first project
A close up of the bunnies Tori chose to put with her flowers for an easter arrangement for her room!
Sarah and Tori with their choices for project #2
The finished project. The bunny is ceramic and was meant to be used as an easter bag. We chose to use it as a planter and Tori picked plants that will overflow the container to give the bunny some wild hair with pink flowers!

Results of the kids' conferences!

Ryan -- Doing great in all subjects. Has really taken a liking to science and is really getting into the different projects. Is definitely a leader, respectful and courteous! No concerns!

Ryley -- Performing well in all subjects and in June he will be given a leadership position in Biz Town (an extracurricular town set up in Portland with multiple businesses. The kids literally run the town for the day. Last year Brandon was Mayor, unfortunately Mayor isn't an option for kids this year, but CEO, CFO, etc will). I brought up Ryley's handwriting as a concern because to me it is like chicken scratch. His teacher feels strongly that Ryley's mind works much too fast for his hands and that because Ryley is highly intelligent (he told us to pursue TAG in Middle School for him) it is something we won't be able to fix. He sees great things for Ryley and considers him brilliant! (WOW!!!!)

Tyler -- Tyler is doing great! He is above grade level in english and at the top of his class in Spanish. He is nearing above grade level in Spanish as well. His teacher said he is very respectful and when it comes to writing (which they do in Spanish) he goes above and beyond. They are only required 1 sentence and he always fills the page..never tries to do only what is required of him. It was interesting during the conference because his teacher spoke to him in Spanish the whole time and he comprehended everything and responded to the majority of their conversations in Spanish! At the end of the conference the teacher played a video of a presentation Tyler did in Spanish on Abraham Lincoln (which of course was all in Spanish) and I was amazed at how much I actually understood -- having gone into this program with no knowledge of Spanish at all. I can't wait for a Mexico vacation with our little interpreter!

Tori -- She is excelling in everything and her teacher is giving her additional work. For the upcoming research project, most students are required to do a small poster and do a speech on their topic. Tori will be required to do a large project tri-fold board as well as a computer PowerPoint presentation to the class. She is doing top notch work and her teacher is very proud of her accomplishments. He has challenged her to try and master her multiplication facts -- a sheet of 100 problems in 2 minutes.

Brandon --- Didn't have a conference this time around, but did receive straight A's again!

Ryley received his FIRST love letter today!

Well, Ryley is quite the ladies man....he recieved his first love letter today!

Just so everyone knows, I asked his permission to post it on the blog!!!! The letter reads;

Dear Ryley,

I secretly have a major crush on you. Don't mention this note to ANYONE. I have been wanting to tell you for about a year. There, I said it.

Love,

Your Secret Admirer

(Hint: I'm Tori's best friend)

Tori has her tooth pulled

On Thursday Tori bit into a cracker and one of her molars broke. On Monday, we went to the dentist, and because the adult molar should be coming in within the year the dentist decided to pull her tooth. It took over an hour to get her tooth out and the dentist said, "It was the hardest baby tooth he has removed in over 10 years because she had so many roots going every which way and he couldn't disturb the adult tooth."

It was quite the task keeping little miss Sarah occupied for the 2 hours we were at the office so I let her play with my iphone and she took 2 of the pictures below!

Birthday celebration for the twins at Ultrazone!

We celebrated the twins' birthday today with a party at Ultrazone! They had a great time playing lazer tag, eating pizza and having cake with their family and friends!

How we spent our Saturday!

Ryan playing basketball on Saturday

How we spent Sunday Morning!

Oregon State Scrabble Tournament

This weekend Brandon competed with his teammate Katie at the Oregon State Scrabble Tournament that was held in Tualatin, Oregon. Brandon said, "Even though our team came in 11th place, I still had lots of fun".

Ryan's basketball game on Saturday

Ryan's basketball game on Saturday

Ryan had a basketball game this afternoon. He is #9!