What do ya do??

Last Friday I met Megan as she got off the bus. I noticed something tied around her waist. It was a rope looped through her pants. I did not send her to school with a rope belt. Hmmmm. I asked her why she had a rope for a belt and she looked at my very sheepishly and said that today was PE day and she was running around and her pants fell down. Poor little thing! Apparently the adjustable waist was pulled so tight it broke. I swear I feed my kids, but you might not believe me after this next story................

I picked Katelyn up from Awana's last Wednesday and she immediately showed me her owie on her knee. I picked her up and she buried her head in my shoulder seemingly embarrassed about something. The kind lady that worked in her classroom told me that during game time, they were running around the gym and and her skirt fell down and she tripped.

Seriously, both kids....same situation, same week! So, I'm still trying to fatten them up! Here Kate....lick that spoon!

Unplanned remodel

So there was this drip we saw out the kitchen window. It was coming from the patio ceiling. A drip is not that big a deal considering the great NW we live in. But we saw this drip on a 90 degree day with no rain in sight. That's a problem....

My husband is a task man and before I knew it, the patio ceiling was ripped apart to find the source of this leak. We narrowed it down to our shower, but where in the shower was it coming from? By process of elimination we figured it out and good thing because it has probably had a slow leak since we built the house four years ago. Say no more, let's get this party started. My husband, being the task man he is, looks at me with the "let's get er done" look and starts ripping out the shower and floor. .....this is what my shower looks like right now

even the floor got ripped out....in fact you could see outside from my bathroom floor. The girls thought this was cool. They ran downstairs to look at us through the hole in the floor. I'm happy to say that the hole in the floor got patched up right away, but my shower is still just visible pipes. I'm hoping this changes very soon.

Sometimes procrastination isn't such a bad thing....I kept putting off a bleach treatment to get some mold buildup cleaned up (I always have something better to do than that!) and what do you know....I get a new clean shower instead :) Cascade Flooring, here we come! btw...this is me trying to have a good attitude about this large unexpected expense. I was just about to go pick out my new family room furniture....guess that will have to wait a while!

Summer Snippets

Ok, I'm no longer in denial....summer is over! We were so busy this summer having fun that I didn't do as well as I had hoped with posting all of our adventures! So, with little fanfare, I will post a few (ok a lot) of pictures of our fun summer!Checking out a GIANT slug! Cool!Our first attempt at rasberry freezer jam-Success!

The girls participated in a VBS and got to share the songs they learned at a Sunday service (complete with hand motions!). What joy it brings to watch your kids sing worship songs!

For Megan's birthday, she got to have her first manicure! She loved it of course!

Good ole Clark County Fair! Poor dad could barely get his legs inside this ride!We loved seeing all the animals!

I do have girly girls, but they love their "monster trucks!!" Can I get a "yee haw?"

Believe it or not, this was our first family vacation to the beach. It was high time we enjoyed the coast up close!

They dipped their toes in until they turned red from cold!

Sausage Fest fun!

We spent a LOT of our summer at Lake shore, so I thought it would be appropriate to wrap it up with some pool pics from LS! We decided LS was always more fun with friends!Megan conquered the slide on our last day there this summer...she's hooked! Can't wait until next summer already!

So there you have it...summer of 2008 in the books and as I scan over these pictures, I'm realizing I left a lot out....picnics at the park, learning to ride bikes, roller skating at Oaks Park, family reunions, picking berries, ice cream runs, fun in the mustang....

ok, moving on to fall...but here's to wishful thinking for a warm spring :)

Where were you?

I know I'm a day late with this question, but with the anniversary of 9/11 I've been thinking back to that day. I remember that day vividly. It was when we were a DINK household (double income no kids). Hubby was already at work and I was doing my normal morning routine....get up groggy (I was not a morning person then and I still am not now), head to the kitchen for breakfast and watch the Today show while I ate my daily bowl of cereal. So I turn on the Today show and get my breakfast going and that's when I realized something BIG was happening. I shook off my morning grogginess immediately when I saw the TV. Katie Couric, Tom Brokaw and Matt Lauer were live in the studio, not replaying the original east coast morning show. I walked over to the couch and was glued to the tv. I couldn't stop watching. I knew I should be getting ready for work, but I couldn't tear myself away from it all. I called my sister to see if she was watching. I watched the towers fall, I watched the news anchors try to stay composed.

I was late to work and didn't care (I really do a have a good work ethic, I promise). I worked for Vancouver School district at the time and there were meetings to discuss what should be discussed in class for each particular age group, etc. I remember feeling relieved that I did not have kids at the time because I can't imagine how hard it would have been to know what to say or how much to expose kids to what happened.

Needless to say, not much work got done and we were all very sensitive to the fact that our boss previously worked at the Pentagon and was waiting for word regarding former colleagues. He lost two friends that day.

I'm a news junkie and for days and days I remember watching and reading story after story. I was touched by them all. I remember by that evening there were already taped interviews of survivors that were still dusty from escaping the collapse. I also remember thinking that the journalists must realize this was the story of their lifetime and they were under pressure to document it thoroughly. But I also remember feeling so far away from all that was going on, even though it was in my own country. I felt sadness, but I knew it couldn't compare with what so many people on (mainly) the east coast were feeling.

So....that leads me to my original question.....where were you that day? How did it impact you? It's one of those days that I'll never forget.

It's Tradition!

The whole Corrigan clan!

No, I'm not talking about the Sausage fest, I'm talking about the annual Labor Day weekend trip to Sunriver! For the last 13+ years, my family has traveled to central Oregon to just "be together" for the weekend. I don't think I've missed one year! Even when Megan was just 6 weeks old! We have one family from Seattle, one from Hillsboro, three from Vancouver and one from Dallas Texas!

family pose

My dear parents (esp. my mom) spends hours and hours preparing for this weekend with games, food, planning activities! You have to have quite a plan when 20 people are involved (we've expanded to two houses). This year my mom even wrote out a schedule (kind of like supernanny does after the big talk with the parents)on a big poster board-I meant to take a picture of it, but forgot! She even posted it on the wall in the house we stayed at. We had a ping pong tourny, foosball tourny, texas hold em, phase ten (I know there's more, I just can't think of the rest). We all bring a gift card and put it in a basket and when you "win" something, you get to go choose a prize!


The little kids don't miss out on the fun either....my dad started a tradition of "pirate island" years and years ago (way before the pirate craze of late). A few years ago, he even drew up a map. (Each year it gets a little more elaborate with costumes, etc. ) The kids go on a scavenger hunt and find "buried" treasure. They love doing it and even the big cousins who have outgrown the hunt, get to help Poppy plan it.

The kids are getting ready for their scavenger hunt to pirate island!

Megan just learned to ride her bike without training wheels a couple weeks before our trip

Kate has "mastered" the trike!

There's a story behind these cookies......so it's late and it's our last night in Sunriver and we've tried to eat leftovers so there isn't much food to munch on and my sis in law and I decide cookies sound really good, but the stores are closed and Bend is too far away....so let's make some! Easier said than done since we are in a rental house and who knows what baking supplies we could...we soon found ourselves on our own scavenger hunt! We found sugar, flour, butter baking soda or powder, I can't remember....we found a half a dark chocolate bar (it was mine) that we promptly started crushing....hmm not enough for a whole batch....then we spotted a Costco size trail mix bag....sweet, m&ms.....so I started sifting through the bag to get to all the m&ms....we're in business.....until we discover we have no eggs...deal breaker, but alas other sis in law pulls out a secret tupperware container in the fridge (anyone from a large family knows you have to hide stuff to save it), anyway, she had brought the eggs for her one year old's meals....back in business. So we started throwing in ingredients and low and behold, they turn out....sort of....come to find out, baking soda and baking powder are not interchangeable, but that's ok, it did the trick and we had a yummy treat (they were pretty hard by morning!!!!) So anyway, that's the story behind the cookies!

Yes, that is my little girl climbing that wall with NO fear whatsoever (I think the wall was about 20ft high)!!!! I couldn't believe it....she did it three times and rang the bell each time....she's a monkey!

There's a really fun indoor pool that the girls had a blast playing in!

Since Labor Day weekend also coincides with the kick off to college football season, we always get to watch the Huskies (my three brothers and two sis in laws are alums). You may not be a Husky fan, but how cute is she???? She even made up a cute cheer (too bad the Huskies got spanked!!!!)


Anyway, we had a great time and especially loved the family prayer time when we share what's going on in our families and share praise and prayer requests. Thanks Mom and dad for all the efforts to make it a fun weekend year after year!

Poppy and Nana with all the grandchildren (and Lisa)

Me and my siblings (from left Me, Kyle, John, Paulette and Brian)

One Brave Lady!

Damon's Aunt Pat lost her husband to cancer not quite two years ago. She and her husband lived in Peoria, IL (Pat still does) and in the winters, they'd take off in their truck pulling a large trailer and would be gone most of the winter heading south and avoiding the cold midwest winters. They have done this for years and years. When Al passed away, Pat wasn't sure what she was going to do in the winters. Well, this brave lady sold the big truck and big trailer and bought a smaller RV and a little Chevy cobalt and decided she'd keep on going.

So, Aunt Pat came for a visit a few weeks ago. We had such a wonderful visit. She drove her RV and pulled her little car all the way from Illinois to Washington. She did this alone (except for Hugamee, the cutest, most babied little dog you'll ever meet).

Did I mention she'll be 73 in October?

This trip out west was not without some bumps and bruises (a major car repair that her car dealer better reimburse her for!!!) but the important thing is that she is continuing to live. Yes, she still misses her husband of 52+ years every day and wishes with all her heart he was still with her, but she isn't sitting home wallowing in her sorrow, she's living her life.

Here's to you Aunt Pat. I admire you and I can only hope I'm as brave as you one day! We love you!

The Big Day!

Today was the first day of kindergarten for Megan and what a day it was! I'm telling you, PM kindergarten is the best! We can still be in denial that summer is basically over! We took our time getting ready this morning, played, picked out what to wear (not an easy task!), had lunch and off to the bus stop we went! Before we left, we did the annual picture pose in front of the door. My little girl is growing up!




Next, we killed time waiting for the bus by taking pictures of each other. My girls are actually pretty good picture takers!


What a super dad! He drove all the way from downtown Portland to see his baby girl on her first day of school! (yes, he went back to work!)


The bus is here!!!!!!!



This is when we were politely shooed out of the room, so school could REALLY start! Megan said she had fun, but apparently a couple boys were teasing her and she did not like that....I told her the boys always tease the cute girls....she responded that she did not want to be cute then. We'll see how day #2 goes! She REALLY REALLY REALLY wants to ride the bus home tomorrow (I wanted to pick her up from school for a while)...guess I better let my little girl fly out of the nest!