The Day Before the Day Before Christmas Eve!

What a blizzard! You will not believe our weather if you don't see the photos to prove it!

Last Wednesday I wrote about our snow storm, and snow days. The entire week ended up being snow days, but as you could see in my last posting, we had the usual western Oregon dusting, where building a snowman reveals the grass and mud beneath the snow. Then there was some ice, and it was really cold, down to the low 20s and into the teens!

Then we got more snow, this Saturday. It was about 8 inches deep (powder) when the freezing rain blew in in the evening, coating everything with a thick crust of ice- 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick in some places! Blech! We thought our playing in the snow was over, because ice is so much less fun.

Sunday morning it started snowing again, and after snowing all day and all night long, we woke up to ANOTHER 10+ inches of snow on top of the ice! And it was still snowing! It didn't stop until about 3pm.

Check out the below photo album for evidence of our snow, sledding, and birdwatching from the last few days. Stay Warm!
Snow Photos. . .

Snow Days

Ok, here in the Willamette Valley, we don't often get snow in the valley floor. When we do, it's a big deal, because we're not equipped to deal with large volumes of frozen water. We get rain, and have all kinds of drainage solutions, but snowplows and gravel trucks are limited, and we do not salt our roads.

So here we are, getting ready for Christmas, and the snow storms that the weather people promised us actually arrived! It was amazing! On Monday we decorated the tree and played outside. On Tuesday I went to work, but the kids were still home. Today, Wednesday, I'm home too, and it's been snowing steadily all day. We have about 2 inches. It drifted in places because we also had some high winds along with the cold temperatures. Maybe we'll have a White Christmas! The last time that happened was in the late 1980's!

The scary thing is that it's been warming up, just enough that tonight we may have rain mixed with snow, falling on the ground that's been below 28 degrees for three days. This ends up being freezing rain, coating everything with ice and being really nasty and obnoxious.

So we are hoping that the snow continues and that it does not rain and get icy. Our street is already coated in ice, then has 3 inches of snow on top of that, so more ice would just be uncalled for, don't you think?

More Photos Here!

Holiday Music

What better way to get into the holiday spirit than listening to holiday Music?



Last week, Cassie was in her first guitar concert. After only 7 or 8 sessions, all the kids got up infront of the parents and played their Christmas music. Did they sound like pros? Of course not, they sounded like kids who are just learning their instruments and having fun! It was awesome!

The evening before that we saw The Trail Band play live at Forest Grove High School. That was a swinging concert! I highly recommend their new album too. Thank you to Jeanne for reserving the tickets for us!

Then over the weekend, we went to my Mom's choir concert. My Grandma and Grandpa Kaake came down from Seattle with my Aunt Becky and my cousin Emily. It was a great visit, although Grandpa wasn't feeling well and they had to cut the visit short.

But my Mom got to play the baritone Ukelele that my Dad made for her several years ago. It sounds great, and my Mom is very brave for playing with the choir. Mom, here is a message from your Dad- Go Beard!

Tooth Day

OK, this marks a first in our household. The girls lost 3 teeth today!

We went down to McMinnville to do some shopping and stopped for lunch at the Oregon Hotel's rooftop pub. The downstairs restaurant has more menu variety, but the rooftop is great for lunch because you can see the whole city. We started out sitting outside, but it got too windy and we came back into the warmth of the pub.

Now for the last few days, we've been telling Zoe her other front tooth would be coming out any second. It was dangling diagonally out of position, giving everyone the impression that one sharp tug would relive it of duty. So when Zoe finished eating her sandwich and tater tots, we went into the restroom to clean up.

"Mom! my tooth is even looser!" she said, jumping up and down. So she asked me to try tugging on it just once, and *pop* out it came! Hooray! We took a little extra time to clean up, and emerged back into the restaurant where Peter and Cassie examined the tooth and Zoe's gap with the appropriate awe. And now Zoe officially has the gap toothed lisp around those "S" sounds.

Cassie, not to be upstaged, has lost 3 molars in the last month, and has had an I-tooth loose for about six weeks. So we had to return to the restroom again, to try and remove that one as well. Stubbornly, it remained anchored in there. We left the hotel in high spirits, one kid happy to finally lose her second front tooth, and the other content to wiggle the I-tooth for the rest of the afternoon.

When we got home about 5-ish, Cassie was still working on those teeth. The molar next to the I-tooth was irritated (gee, I wonder why) so she went into the bathroom to investigate it, and popped that molar right out! Now the I-tooth finally had space to move freely, and about 3 minutes later, it was out too!

So after a dinner of soft foods and a movie, both girls are in bed, anxiously awaiting the tooth fairy, who, I keep assuring them, is waiting for them to fall asleep. Whew! What a day.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I realize I'm about a week late, but we had a good long weekend. For Thanksgiving day, we went to Jeanne and Norm's house. They had a great meal, with excellent company, and cousins the girls hadn't seen for a long time.

Then we went to my Mom and Dad's for the day after Thanksgiving, which was another great meal! First though, we got crazy and stopped by Fred Meyer for some things we really needed. It was payday, they had sales going on left and right, and Peter (rightly so) thought it would be a great way to save some $$. Fortunately, the Newberg Fred Meyer is really big, so although most of the town, including nearby Dundee, and environs, were there all at the same time, it really wasn't insanely crowded. Remind me to stick to the outlying regions for any future "Black Friday" shopping. Can you tell I don't usually do this??? I can't imagine doing this in downtown Portland.

My Mom and Dad had a great spread, although my sister and her boyfriend Mike weren't feeling well enough to join us. So we had lots of extra food. A good mix of work, relaxing, and spending time with each other. A great weekend to be Thankful!

On a side note, I was late in writing this because I also got a sinus infection, which is making me a total space cadet. Hopefully, I'll be more consistent about writing from here on out. As the holidays loom, I might be several days behind.

Casise's Birthday

Wow! Cassie is 10! Who knew that this little tiny cute girl would turn out to be the director of a play??? On her birthday (November 19th), her drama club acted out a play that Cas wrote and directed. It's called "Alien School" and I won't even attempt to transcribe it here, but the whole thing is in another language that sounds like "Bleep bloop bleeeep!"

The actors had to show the story by acting! Unfortunately, one of the main actors didn't really understand the plot, but that's part of the learning process! Fortunately, Cassie got a chance to explain the play to the audience, and answer their questions before performing it again.

Since Cassie's birthday was on a Wednesday this year, we had her kid party on Saturday. This time we took everyone to a children's museum called A.C. Gilbert's Discovery Village. Named after the inventor of the erector set, the entire indoor and outdoor experience is designed for hands-on play. Check out photos here!

November- A Month of Birthdays!

I want to take the opportunity to save Happy November birthday to all of you with your special day this month. My Grandpa Kaake, Grandma Beard, Aunt Nancy, Ruth, and of course Cassie! are all celebrating this month. Whoo Hoo!

Last weekend we went to my Grandpa's 89th birthday party! We converged on his new assisted living apartment building. Mom & Dad, my sister and her guy, my cousins, and aunts all brought a potluck to the activity room.

Let me tell you, this place is NICE! A huge restaurant dining area, tropical fish by the mailboxes, a movie theater, and a classy lobby all add to the excellent atmosphere. Zoe especially wanted to stay and live there, and kept running around from area to area. G'ma and G'mpa's apartment is really nice too, well laid out to maximize their space.

This weekend we met Mom & Dad for breakfast and has a pre-birthday party for Cassie, as they are going to have their Willamette Pass house delivered on Monday, and they expect to be on site for most if not all of the week. Cassie is thrilled, and can't wait for her actual Birthday, Wednesday the 19th. She will be ten (10!) years old, can you believe it? I'm still struggling with the concept. . . . ;)

Halloween

Argh! It's been a Month since I posted, but not because we fell off the Earth or anything. There's a lot going on!

Halloween was great- we had about 60 degree weather for trick or treating, and about 70 or so trick or treaters. The girls had a blast. Zoe was a bat, and Cassie was a Zombie Student, a concept she envisioned on her own.

It was a great haul, as well as a lot of fun. We run into more and more kids we know from school every year, and the kids are so eager to show off their costumes and run around the neighborhood in the dark. I wish I had brought my camera out, but we did a lot of actual running, and it was easier without worrying about dropping it.

Love to you all! Watch for more pictures soon! Love, Us

The Pumpkin Patch

Hooray for pumpkins! I just love a holiday time where you get to play with huge orange veggies! I've always associated Halloween with my birthday, after all they are close.

We got into the spirit this Saturday with selecting pumpkins, going through a corn maze, observing various farmyard animals, and playing on hay bales. The weather was awesome- clear blue sky, highs in thee 60s, and everyone in high spirits.




Check out our photos of that, if you dare! But seriously, there's nothing scary here.

Bald Peak State Park

The Sunday before the Jaguar Jog (Sept 28), we went up to Bald Peak State Park. This park is about 10 minutes away from our house, and has picnic areas and parking. We discovered too late that it had hiking trails too. As we caught the sunset we decided not to try exploring the trails.

This was a fun outing, not too long, but taking advantage of the last of the summer light. It started to get brisk up there, and we were all glad to have our jackets. Check out our photos!

The Jaguar Jog

The girl's elementary school has the Jaguar as it's mascot. So naturally, a fun-run fund raiser would be named the Jaguar Jog. In this event, each grade runs around the bus turnaround in front of the school. The kids solicit funds from family and neighbors, estimate how many laps they will do individually and as a class, and then on the day of the run they jog their hearts out to meet or exceed their goals.

This year, the jog was on Friday, October 3rd. In Newberg, this day dawned gray with the threat of rain. With alternate downpour, sprinkles, and sun breaks, the weather stayed cool, perfect for runners.

Zoe's first grade class ran in the morning. They had 30 minutes of run time; in that time Zoe did 26 laps! She started out flying, then got tired and walked a few laps. But when she got her second wind, she cruised around and around like a true runner.

I was frustrated, going over my photos because I only have 2 photos with Zoe in them, and in both she is running away from the camera! When I admitted to her that I didn't get very many of her, and they are from the back, she smiled and said "I must have been running really fast!" Still, I wish I had been a bit more diligent because I took photos of every class, and managed to miss Zoe! So I took a photo of her at home to prove that she did the run!
What was great to see was the school spirit the kids showed off. They encouraged each other, had a good attitude even when it rained on them, and genuinely expressed accomplishment when hearing how many laps they ran.

Cassie's class ran for longer, as the 4th and 5th graders are bigger. In 45 minutes she did 30 laps, waving, jumping, and occasionally walking.

The event was really fun to watch. The PTO provided T-shirts for each kid and staff member, including the principal. Many parents showed up to watch, run, or walk along with their kids. The class who earned the most money won a pizza party, and the classes who met or exceeded their goals earned a popcorn party. Every class in the school earned the popcorn party this year!

Thanks again to all of you who gave money to the school! I know we are shy about asking everyone for money. If we forgot to give you a call about this, but you'd like to give a donation to the school, send me an email. They happily accept donations any time! The money goes for field trips, library books (this school is only 4 years old- it takes a long time to fill a library!), art literature programs, music, playground equipment, and reimbursing teachers for materials they buy out of pocket. The PTO has a $12,000 budget this year, and so far we've made $9,300!

My Birthday Party @ Mom & Dad's

Yesterday, October 4th, I had an early Birthday Party! Yay! While my actual birthday isn't until October 7th, this was a great excuse to visit Mom & Dad and have cake and ice cream. I managed to blow out all 24 candles on my cake at once, although Dad threatened to light 14 of them again so I can blow out the expected 38. There were only 24 in the package.

Cassie, Zoe, and Mom helped lick the candles clean, and did a great job helping eat it too, a task Peter and Dad helped with also!

I added two photos of me here, as I am realizing I haven't added very many of me, personally! Notice my wonderful hand-knit hat, and my new blue over shirt. Thanks Mom!!! It was a great preview for Tuesday.

We also showed off Cassie's new guitar, along with the three chords she learned in her first lesson. Her class is after school at a neighboring elementary school. I took off from work early so I could come to the first one.

It was really cool. The teacher has a lot of experience teaching this class and sent them all home with a chord progression that was simple enough for quick success, but complicated enough to be challenging.

Forest Grove Sidewalk Chalk Festival 2008

Whew! What a weekend! Saturday morning, we collected our backyard neighbor Anna, and drove to Forest Grove Oregon for the Sidewalk Chalk Festival! This is a celebration of non-permanent art. People of all talents and ages come to decorate the sidewalks, enjoy other people's art, listen to live music, and have fun!


We arrived by 9:30, picked up our chalk, found our squares, and got started! Check out our creations here- Chalk Art Kids, and Chalk Art Adults. I took a lot of pictures of the castle Zoe and Anna made because it changed so much. It was a great experience.

Other activities included face paint, balloon art, live music, and puppet shows. Part of the fun of this experience is taking a break and seeing what other people are creating. Everything from portraits of Obama, to kids' fire rescue scenes, to harvest themes, and fantasy/gothic imagery.

By the end of the day, it was hard to leave our art behind and say goodbye. Anna was worried we'd be there too long and she would get bored, but at the end she didn't want to leave either.

The Tooth Fairy

Zoe has had a very loose tooth for a long time. This front tooth has been loose since the summer when we were camping at the beach. However, it's just been really reluctant to let go.

Last week it really got loose- she could push it sticking out 90 degrees from the rest of her teeth! Ow!


But finally, last night I offered to help pull it out. With a 1-2-3 and a firm tug, it finally let go. So here's to Zoe's new smile!
And our own growing tooth fairy! ;)

The First Week of School

And thus concludes the first week of school for the Matteson kids. Both of them are really glad to be back in school, see their friends, and settle into the school routine.

Fourth Grade
Cassie is so far really enjoying fourth grade. she was somewhat disappointed that the teacher just dived right in and they did actual schoolwork even on the first day, however, homework doesn't start until next week. This year each 3-5th grader has a planner, and they record notes about what they're doing in different subjects, as well as the homework they have to do each night. Then we, the parents, have to review the planner, sign it, and confirm the homework is done every evening. Cassie is a bit disappointed at the more rigid structure, because she manages her homework quite well on her own, but I think she's going to have more homework and more subjects to manage this year.

Cassie is starting to organize her life differently and be more aware of needing some space and time to her self. We have a long-term plan to move the computers out of our computer room and give each girl their own space. But as it requires a complete redesign of how our house is organized, this isn't happening very fast.

First Grade
Zoe complained on the first day of school that we told her it would be longer than kindergarten but it wasn't. We smiled and explained that it really was longer, but she must have had lots of fun for it to fly by so quickly. It took her a few days to adjust, but by Friday she was really really excited about her new teacher, class, and schedule. Eating lunch at school is the biggest adjustment- self-managing her time so that she gets to eat something during their 20 minute lunch-break.

I took the first day of school off and volunteered to help kids get to their classrooms, but they had so many 5th grade helpers that they didn't really need me. I helped the TAG/Reading teacher catalog some new books, and delivered a car-load of paper to the high and middle schools. The paper was leftover from media testing at work, and slated to be recycled or sent to schools. I choose to help out with the latter, realizing that getting a hold of nice paper for art projects is really difficult for schools.

Hartstine Island

Ok, I know you've all been waiting to hear about Hartstine Island, our last camping trip of the summer. Our girls had been waiting all summer to go. We left Newberg August 22 and returned August 25th.

Hartstine Island is in the southernmost tip of Puget Sound. To get there we traveled North on I-5 to Olympia Washington, then headed west on HWY101 to Shelton, a small forestry town (see the map linked to the photo album).

The entire area looks like a lake or river, until you get near enough to smell seaweed and saltwater. When you walk along the pebbly beach, you unexpectedly find barnacles, crabs, sand dollars, and oysters. The water level is affected by the tides, although it is still a 4 hour drive north to where this water opens up on the ocean proper.

The cabin we stayed at belongs to my friend Sonia's uncle. It's a place she and her family have been coming to for years and years, originally purchased as a Christmas tree farm by her Great-Grandparents. So while we "camped" in the bus, to allow others to use the cabin's bedrooms, we had access to the huge bathroom, modern kitchen, and spacious dining room table.

Sonia has a lot of friends. She invited 35 people, and most of them showed up at some point during the weekend, although there were about 20 of us who stayed overnight. Annick and Sean brought their new baby Eadon, and Will and Kathleen brought their daughter Gretchen. Kate and Torey brought their kids Claira and Zoe.

This meant my Zoe and Cassie had plenty of kids to play with. Zoe was especially surprised to be the second oldest kid there. She's used to being the littlest, but rose to the "be a role model" challenge just fine.

We had awesome weather for Saturday. Activities included pickleball, swinging in the large swing, relaxing, reading, talking with friends, swimming (for those brave enough to ignore the cold), canoeing/kayaking, and hanging out. Saturday evening the party really got started with great food and loud music. After S'mores, the girls joined the patio dance party and had a blast!

Check out the photo album here:
Hartstine Weekend

Sunday morning was fairly nice, but most of the guests had to leave to prep for work on Monday. By the afternoon, we were the only guests left. It started pouring really hard, and so we made use of our indoor games and activities. We took naps and worked on craft projects. Sonia was leaving the next day for the desert- going to the Burning Man art festival in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada. One of Sonia's favorite traditions about this is the many costumes that people wear. So she worked on her costumes and got them organized for later when she would be tired from travelling and unwilling to search through unsorted stuff.

The sunset that evening was spectacular, I couldn't stop taking pictures, and then they all turned out so good that I had a really hard time weeding them out. Check out the full array here:
Sunset Photos

We were sad to leave on Monday morning, but happy that we came and created yet another fond Hartstine memory.

Labor Day Weekend

Wow! School starts in just a few short days. Last Thursday, we went to the supplies night & Ice Cream Social, where we met the girl's new teachers, delivered their supplies, and met up with friends we didn't manage to run into over the summer.

Zoe will have a desk for the first time- her teacher prefers desks to mere tables, and so Zoe is really looking forward to being a big kid. Cassie will have a planner this year, a daily log of what she's working on and a different way to track her daily homework.

So today we went out on the town, "downtown" Newberg. We checked out the new Saturday market, sparsely filled with booths and shoppers. I liked their approach to this car Illegally parked in the middle of the no-car zone. These signs are in front, behind, and on all sides, forcing the driver to move the signs before getting in or pulling out.

We visited the new toy store, Hey Diddle Diddle. And as you can see, we also visited Critter Cabana, the local pet shop that takes full advantage of the 40's style wraparound display windows.

One side they have converted to a terrarium, complete with Koi pond, iguanas, and snakes, lounging in the warm glow of heat lamps. On the other side they have the kittens, all curled up. This side is open on the inside of the store for you to go in and hold the babies. What could sell better than cute kids in your store window interacting with cute kittens?


We did NOT bring one home, no matter how tempting, but we did pick up some supplies for Camilla. But when we got home Peter did ask her how well she would adjust to a new kitten after 10+ years as a solitary cat of the house. She just stared back at him in that cool cat way, a mystery in her lithe older years.

School Shopping

Ah, that new crayon smell! Don't you just love that? New crayons and blank paper- the endless possibilities! Thanks to Jeanne Mom for reminding me to post something new already!

Last weekend, the 15th-16th, we had planned to go the Ochoco National Forest to camp with my Mom's cousin Betsy & family. My Mom's brother Mike and his wife Leigh were able to make it, along with Betsy's son Neil, his wife, and father in law. Whew! Lots of people! It would have been really fun, except. . .

We realized that we've been really busy. Too busy, in fact. Camping nearly every weekend is fun, and makes for wonderful memories. But we just needed a time to relax. Zoe mentioned that she was worried about starting first grade with no crayons or pencils for school. Reluctantly, I contacted Betsy and canceled our RSVP. My Mom & Dad took pictures.

So instead of spending $200 to take Peter to my reunion, we took the kids back to school shopping! We got all the required school supplies, plus a few extras to donate. On Saturday I took the girls to McMinnville where we found good deals on clothes to accommodate growing bodies and changing tastes in clothes.

Meanwhile, Peter went to Oregon City to help friends of ours remodel their house. Tim is an electrician, and he is doing most of the work himself. Ben & Peter joined him to help destroy existing stuff in the attic, to replace it with new stuff. As Peter described coming down from the hot dusty attic in 104 degree weather and walking right into the spray from a garden hose, I was really glad we didn't join him.

Sunday we didn't go anywhere. We read books, relaxed, and sorted all the school supplies.

Tomorrow, August 22nd, we are leaving for a 4 day weekend on Hartstine island. It's in the tip of Puget Sound, near Olympia. We've done this every year for a few years now, and we all look forward to it. We're staying in a cabin with Sonia Honeydew, a good friend of mine from Jr. High and High School. we only see each other once a year, but it's always like we were just talking yesterday. So stay tuned for more amazing photos next episode!