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.