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March Madness

As usual things are crazy. I made a new slide show to compile the most recent happenings. First and formost we had the annual beard shave. Yeah. Now I know what my husband looks like. We also decided to take a road trip to a fishing spot the barber told us about. We had zero luck but we did score some great family time. Don and Kathie drove out to meet us which was really nice. My little Irish boys had a fun St. Patricks day eating Bangers and Mash, drinking some rootbear and ending the day with a Wii tournament. FUN FUN FUN. Finally, baseball season has kicked into full gear and we are having a lot of fun with that. Busy busy busy but we asked for it. We spend every evening at the baseball park with boys. Between all the baseball, fishing and guy trips I am starting to feel the pangs of no girl time. Oh well, I can wait for my granddaughters.......

Guys trip

Here are a few crazy pics of the boys. Chris took the kids down to the coast for the weekend. They did some clamming and crabbing with their uncle Don. They had such a great time and I spent the weekend by myself. With the boys out of town it was a bit strange but I never get any girl time so it was fun. Baseball season is off and running. I feel like the last few days have gone by quicker than imaginable. We got a lot of our kids back on our teams and things look good for the year. Christian is excited to be back playing ball again. Jonah has lost a total of four teeth now this month. Max has a bottom tooth that is ready to fall out and I am thinking the tooth fairy will be broke before the summer. Well, I hope life finds everyone well.

The Tooth Fairy

Well, the tooth fairy has been very busy lately. Jonah lost a tooth everyday for three days and now has a giant gaping whole where his teeth used to live. He was so excited to get some money that he could not wait to spend it. We took him to target and he bought an I pup. It was a ton of fun. Things have been busy over break. Chris has been home so we have spent plenty of time at the park and skiing. We are going to take the boys to a hockey game tonight which should be a lot of fun. I will post a couple of pics of Jonah's gap toothed smile soon.

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The Duvall Brothers

I remember when I was young, I would dress up and dance about the house singing my favorite songs. I loved it. I remember singing Neil Diamond's America, Billy Ocean, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Cindi Lauper. You named it and I sang it. I came home to three boys dressed up and crazy, dancing about to their favorite c.d. Jonas Brothers. Here are a few pictures of the concert they put on for us.

FAT TUESDAY

Last night was Fat Tuesday and we celebrated by ordering pizza (which we never do). We talked to the kids about lent and the 40 days Jesus spent in the dessert and how we can honor that through sacraficial giving of our own. We also talked about different ways to observe lent by participation instead of abstaining in events. Jonah wants to give up t.v. Max says he'll give up the speed channel and Christian didn't commit. We talked about various ways they can help in the community in addition to their sacrifice. We talked about spending more time in prayer. So with all that in mind I thought it might be nice to make a list of the things I would like to do this lent well, and forever...
1. Pray more, do my devotionals regularly instead of sparatically.
2. Swear less, even when I am mad at Chris
3. Honor my body by eating better and healthy exercise.
4. No alcohol for 40 days at least
5. turn off the t.v and computer and spend quiet time with the kids
6. worry less about finances
7. I would really like to take the kids to a soup kitchen

I am still trying to think of ways to volunteer and help out in the community more but it is hard to come up with new and interesting ways. Also, I volunteer a lot and am not sure that it is mentally safe to add more.... Hmmm.....any good ideas, I would love to hear how other people honor this time. I know my list is long and goofy but it is a goal so I hope I do good.

NUTS

Max performed in his first grade concert entitled "The Circle of Life" With hit songs like, "We're Nuts and Big Bad Squirrel." It was absolutely adorable and of course, my child was the cutest. It was hard to take pics of the performance but I got a few after with some of his good friends. Jack, Annie, Connor, Blake and many more. Aren't they adorable.....

OOPS, sorry about the blurry pic. It is 7:52 a.m. and two of my kids are still asleep. This happens so rarely that I had to take a pic to document the event. I guess they were tired. Christian is of course dressed and ready for school. He has eaten his breakfast and has all the lunches ready for the day. Clearly he is a morning person. I am just going to let Max sleep and will drive him to school. This happens so rarely that the little guy must just be exhausted. Last night while playing webkinz, his webkin got sick. He freaked out! Webkinz are stuffed animals you buy with a code to make them a virtual pet too. You can buy them rooms, clothes, you exercise them and Max is careful to only feed his healthy food. It cracks me up. Anyway, I have to work today and Chris is going to take the kids to piano. YEAH. I hope with the extra sleep the boys are extra good pianists.....

Ok, so Max is super cute. We are in our third week of basketball and it is a ton of fun. Max is just learning the game and having a great time. He is a crazy little guy out there on the court.

Jonah is turning up the heat on defense and chasing the ball down. He and Christian are on the same team this year and several of the players are at least a head taller than Jonah. That doesn't stop him. His coach had him guarding the tallest guy on the other team b/c he is so aggressive. He is doing great.

Christian is having a ton of fun and just thrilled to be back in sports. He is taking his time and mentally trying to figure out the game. In true Christian form he checked out a book from the library on Basketball's offense. That kid cracks me up.

In other news the boys stayed the night at Tanya's this weekend. It was the first time Max had ever slept anywhere without me. Tanya and Travis took the boys to get a movie and fed them pizza and chocolate sundaes......they loved it. Chris and I went to his work party and had a really nice time. It was so weird to wake up without kids in the house. Tanya and Trav brought them home and I made a huge breakfast. They didn't miss me at all. Travis went sno-boarding with Chris while Tanya and I had some girl time. They stayed for dinner and chocolate chip cookies. It was a fun day and makes me sooooo thankful to have family around. We went through a bunch of old pics and spent some time making fun of our bad hair/outfit choices.....not GOOD.
However, it was a great weekend. thanks T-for taking the boys.

Busy Weekend

Well, I am not sure what happened but two days just flew by and it feels like a week. It started off with a pretty mellow and relaxing Friday night. We all snuggled up and watched a movie.
Saturday we woke up and were out the door for an 8:30 am basketball game for Max. He is hilarious when he plays ball. I love it. He moves from perfect defense to standing half court fooling with his nails in no time flat. He is one of the smallest out there and it is adorable. Max is on steroids following some respiratory issues so the jittery effect is an added bonus to the game. After the game we ran home to meet a home nurse for Chris and I. We are changing our life insurance policies and we needed a medical exam. After stepping on the scale, Chris and I were humiliated and are now on diets. The boys had a game at 1pm and we had friends coming over at 1:30. We went over to the school early only to find that the game didn't start until 1:30. I ran home to meet our friends and get a video tape going for the Seahawks game. I watched half of the first quarter by myself and then everyone showed up. As it turns out, I am the only one who got to see the good stuff. So, to avoid Chris and Doug going into huge depressions we loaded everyone up as fast as we could and went up to the mountain for some night skiing. FUN. We didn't get home until 10pm but we had a blast.
Sunday morning- I can't believe there is still more to tell. Christian had to serve at church and Max had class. Chris had to work at the pass, Jonah skipped church and went with him for some one on one time. They left at 8am and didn't get home until 4pm.... long day but it sounds like they had a great time. Christian, Max and I went to church and the came home for some R and R. After naps we headed out for a bike ride to the park. There is a track there so I walked a couple miles with a friend while the boys went crazy on their bikes. We made it home just after Chris and Jonah.....We all cuddled up and watched movies, Chris and I are practically dead from all the physical activities. In the end it was a fun weekend with lots of adventures. I hope to recover some today before I have to go to work......We'll see.

Keeping up with life.

What a week. It feels like Christian's birhday was just two days ago and I am not that far behind. Unfortunately, life with three boys moves much faster than that. My mom came up to stay the night with us to celebrate Christians birthday. She headed up to Belligham the next day to see my neice. I really wanted to jump in the car and go with but I had to be back for the boys. Saturday all the boys had basketball games and I had baseball sign ups for the little league. A couple of our friends came over to watch the Seahawks game and when I got home from sign-ups everyone (including my house) was bonkers. Sunday Chris worked on the pass. Christian went with him and they had a great day of male bonding. They skiied the crossover from central to west and Christian loved it. I have been making new friends at the copiers here in North Bend. I have been makig copies for the little league and distributing them all over the place in the community. The girls at the copy place are sweet and the get my projects ready when they see me pull up to the curb.
Last night I took a shift at the library, trying to finish my LA training so I can get more hours and become a contributing member of this family. After work I headed to NorthBend for some more baseball sign ups. I kind of have to shamelessly brag about something but it makes me feel so good that I have to share. Going through the signup sheets there were a few coaches requests. One set of names came up pretty frequently and I was so proud. Chris gets hands down by far the most requests in the little league. Some people remember to add my name as I coach with him at the younger levels, but it is Chris. I was noticing not only returning kids but other kids we don't know put Chris down for various reasons. Most of the requests aren't our friends either. Our friends know it is a draft and have stopped trying long ago. The requests are awesome regardless because we put so much time and energy into baseball and the community. You hope that people appreciate your effort and think you did a good job. This is the only sure way to know that they do. I came home last night and told Mister Humble Pie about the requests and he says a non-chalant "thats great." I on the other hand was bursting with pride that we have the opportunity to have such a positive influence in these kids lives. Maybe in the end when all the registrations come through, we won't have the most. No one really counts those things anyway, but the fact that we even have a few is the best reward. It makes you realize its not just worth it for our kids that we are there everyday, it is worth it to some others too.

Happy Birthday Christian

My son is 10- I still remember the night he was born. The car broke down on the way to the hospital. I had wanted a boy sooo badly, that God answered my prayer three times. Christian was a beautiful baby. The most common comment was that he was incredibly alert. He has turned into such a great kid. He is smart and talented. His piano playing is beautiful and he is such a good little athlete. He has taught me so much about myself. I love how he is a leader in the class room and a great big brother to the boys. He worked his butt off this year to recover from two broken legs. Physical therapy was hard but he did it. It is weird to have him stand next to me and know that in such a short time I will be looking up to him.

I am proud that he is such a well rounded little boy who is liked by all. He aspires to be a football player or baseball if football falls through. He know the importance of school and is always volunteering at church, whether it is alter serving, helping out a pageants and most recently delving into the music ministry. I know this is gushing and rattling on but it is hard to put into words what you feel for your child. Happy Birthday Christian, you have exceeded every expectation and I am so blessed you are my son.

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12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS VACATION

Chris has had twelve days off. They have been fun filled, packed days. It started with the trip to the coast, and a Family day with the Paulson's. Then we had a fun Christmas with friends. We spent four days up at the pass skiing with the family. While we were up there we decided to call some of our friends and we spent three of those days skiing with the Burns family. The invited us to stay with them at their cabin. Max finally got a sleep over with Annie and we had a late night sledding/snoball fight. Then we headed out to Yakima to spend a night with the Kallevigs. We played Wii and just had fun hanging out. Yesterday the whole clan gathered for some sledding on White Pass. The Mercado's, Cambells and two Kallevig families were in attendance. We headed home last night to ring in the new year watching movies and eating chinese food with the kids. Chris and I fell asleep and Christian had to wake us up to ring in the New Year. We have had such a wonderful, fun filled vacation. We hadn't seen the Mercado's in along time and that was nice. This Christmas couldn't have been more different from last year. Today is Christian's 10th Birthday. I can't believe it. Chris goes back to work tomorrow and all will go back to normal again. I am so blessed for this vacation. We needed it.

Here are a few shots from the clam dig

Clam digging.

Chris took the boys clam digging with Uncle Don and from the looks of things they had a blast. The kids took to clam digging really well and loved every minute of it. The went to work with Chris yesterday which went well despite a little brotherly feud. They made it just in time for the clam dig. Chris took some Elk steaks down to Don and they had an elk feast. Yum. This morning after eating Don's famous sour dough pancakes they headed out for some crabbing. While the boys were gone Max had an all day playdate with his friend Jack. He was in heaven. The boys made it back just in time for Trevor to pick them up and take them to the movies and out to the cold stone for ice cream. They had a fantastic time and are very exhausted.

A Camera, A Camera, I finally got a camera!!!!

The big news of the day is Trevor sent me my Christmas present in the form of a camera. I am sooooo excited. Unfortunately, Chris and the boys woke up and were out the door by 6:30 a.m. and they took my new toy with them. First they are going to work with Daddy and then they are going for a clam dig with Uncle Don. They should have a blast.

Max and I are chillin' at home. He hasn't been feeling well and with his history and Christmas, I don't want to take any chances. That and clam digging sounds cold and wet. No fireplace.

I have been really excited about Christmas this year and surprisingly finding myself caught up in the spirit. I think changing my expectations, and no disasters has really helped. Plus, I have Jonah to teach us all about the meaning of Christmas.

Jonah recently asked Santa for a hamster. Santa promptly sent him a letter, gold envelope and all, telling him of terrible bad weather and the possibility of some children not getting hamsters this year. Jonah sat down and promptly composed this letter with barely a glimpse of disappointment......

Dear Santa,

Thank you for telling me about the Hamster. Christmas is not about hamsters. It is about God's birthday so I am not sad.

Just Harry Potter Five and two sketch pads. Happy Christmas, Love Jonah

Shortly after writing this he met Santa again at Chris's work. He quickly accosted Santa to explain guiltily why he asked for two sketch pads, it wasn't that he was selfish......."I just draw A LOT Santa!" he exclaimed very passionately. I love that kid.

So God Bless and I hope everyone has happy holidays. I hope to post less sporadically in the New Year. My friend had the idea of people commenting on the favorite holiday traditions. I would love to hear yours......

The Adventures of Tanya and Danielle.....

It has been awhile since I posted. Things have been steady around here. The weekend went by in a blur. Saturday, Chris took the boys out shopping and we went to mass and had a fun quiet evening at home. Sunday my Mom and Chuck brought over lunch and came to watch the Seahawks game. Tanya and Tavis came over with Tori so it was a nice afternoon.
Yesterday Tanya and I decided to kamakazi up to Oak Harbor to have lunch with my cousin Melissa (Tanya's sister). We should have known the trip was doomed when we realized Tanya left her purse at my house with her car keys in it. Ooops. We dropped off my car in Lynnwood and then headed to Oak Harbor. We went out to lunch and then back to Mel's house for some chill time. We hit the road just after two so that I could be back to pick up the boys. Tori was not to happy about another long car ride. All of the sudden Tanya's check gauges light went on and the car began to smoke. We were able to make it to a gas station and then we sat and waited. We got the Durango towed. The tow truck driver wouldn't wait for Travis to come pick us up. Melissa is spending Christmas with Tanya so her car was full of Melissa Christmas gifts. We unloaded everything onto the curb of the gas station and sat and waited for Travis to come pick us up. I felt like Santa Clause stranded on the corner. By that time Lynnwood was in the height of its 5 o'clock traffic time. We forgoed sitting in Traffic any longer and opted for dinner at the Red Robin, Yummy! I made it home just before 8pm (slightly late).
Today has been a little less hectic, I went to work in Max's classroom but no Max. He was in the office laying down because he didn't feel good. Not good. By the time I was done helping he had spiked a fever so I brought him home. He fell asleep instantly. I hope he doesn't get too sick.
Well that is it for now. Merry Christmas.....stay tuned for the next big adventure.