Christmas card edition- 2009

Another year has come and gone... the saying is true: Time flies! This year has been crazy and calm all in the same breath.

Ryan is doing well with his independent financial consulting firm, keeping busy enough for his wants. He had the opportunity recently to restructure his responsibilities and now only works Monday thru Thursday. Needless to say he is LOVING having a 3 day weekend every single week. I really enjoy having him around more as well, and the kids are already used to it like it's always been that way.

I decided to go back to Beaches this last month. What a blessing that I could call and get my job back. I'm happy to have an outlet and some adult conversation again. I was starved for some different demands for sure. And hey, the extra money isn't bad either :).

Cooper started preschool this year and while it was a rough start, he is in full swing of things. He has learned almost all the alphabet, he counts up to 20 and knows all his colors and shapes. He loves his teacher Mrs. Laura so much. I got very lucky to get into such a great preschool here in town. He also does a once weekly 'athletic' class that he calls 'football'. Really, it's just dodgeball and red rover and other physical activities he can do with his peers to get the wiggles out. It also helps develop his gross motor skills and social interaction with others. It's weird how 2 1/2 hours seems way too short, but if it were just an extra 1/2 hour, it would make all the difference in the world... hmmm...what do you do though eh?

Chase is doing wonderfully. He is growing right on target; and while he seems sawed off at the middle, I just think he's growing more in the torso for now... hopefully his legs will catch up. Until then, it does make for some humorous scampering across the kitchen floor with his squatty little stride.

Christmas is sure to be a hit with Cooper this season. So far he has really been able to learn about Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus and it's been so cute to watch him grown and learn in the things that really are the most important! Chase may not quite catch on to it all just yet, oh but he will! We plan to leave cookies and milk for Santa and oats and grass for his reindeer... maybe that'll make Cooper be extra quiet and go to bed right away for fear that Santa will have to pass him up ... doubtful!

All in all, we have nothing but happiness and good tidings to pass on. We're blessed and are thankful for the friends and family we get to count in our lives. Hopefully, you have a wonderful holiday season and may it bleed into the new year and make for a wonderful year to come for you and yours. All our love!

THE BEARDMORES-

The Naked Cowboy-

Ever heard of "The Naked Cowboy"... the one who roams around New York in his tightie whities, boots and cowboy hat? Well, I've never been there... but who needs New York? I've got my own Naked Cowboy right here in Vancouver... and mines better lookin'! :)

Halloween 2009

This year, Cooper was "Patch" from 101 Dalmatians... atleast that's what I was going for. Chase was a mischievious lil' monkey; cuz that's what he is. And yes, there is makeup on Chases face, everyone thinks I gave him a big ol' smooch and it was just transfered shmeg... but no, he's got his own muddied mug!

I dressed up as a logger- for all you Belfair folk, this was a true tribute eh?

Anyway, wanted to post the festivities... hope this finds you doing well.

-ENJOY-

-AMBER

Carving out a lil' Kitty-

While I can't hold a candle to Erika and Andrew (although I suspect the use of stencils...CHEATING :)~ Here is the pumpkin I carved tonight with the boys. I tried taking a picture without the flash so that you could see it lit up, as it looks the best that way, but I couldn't figure out how to turn the flash off on my camera. Probably better that way, cuz then I'd never figure out how to turn it back on ;)

Chase liked watching me gut it, but then the carving was far too mundane and he was off playing with much more exciting things like sharp carving knives...true story. Cooper gutted his own lil' version, but alas was only allowed to use markers. It's a bit soon to give him free reign with a sharp utensil.

I asked Cooper if he wanted me to make him a cat and he said yes, so that's what we've got here. Our very own Halloween cat! Happy haunting everyone!

A visit to the 'soggy' pumpkin patch-2009 edition

Not that anyone could be surprised... but we were rained out! We still got in the good stuff, but it started to pour buckets after about 10 minutes of our visit to Joe's Farms to pick out pumpkins. We were able to make our selections and get them into the wheel barrow... but once we weighed them and went in to pay... the downpour ensued! Regardless, the hay ride was still on tap for the day, and there was no way we were getting outta there without a hay ride. Luckily they were covered wagons which made the ride perfectly enjoyable. We got fresh juicy apples from the orachard to crunch on while we took our ride around the corn fields. Cooper loved his apple and Chase really 'soaked' up the scenery ;) I do love the holidays, and this is just the beginning!

Hope this finds you doing well. Enjoy the pics-

-AMBER

Today was open house night... or 'open door' as Cooper kept calling it. We got to see a bit into what his day is like when he is at Preschool. Mrs. Laura went through a fast forward version of a day in the life... and Cooper was... animated to say the least. I'm pretty sure most of it was showing off for his Nana and Bapa who came to support us tonight.

We did get to see Cooper hold the american flag upright while they recited what they had learned so far of the pledge of allegiance. Although, Mrs. Laura had to keep tilting it up and away from the ground as Cooper threatened to use it as a weapon on the nearest innocent by stander. It's funny now, but at the time, pretty embarrassing.

Cooper's pictures came back... and I do have to say he just looks so mature... and HANDSOME! I mean really.... can one kid be any more good looking? Oh wait, I have a son Chase who is equally has Handsome ;) LUCKY ME! Anyhoo... I tried to take a snap of it so I could post it on here for all of you to see.

I recently had a nice surprise... for my 30th, my parents drove down from Belfair. If that wasn't enough, moments after I caught my breath from their arrival, my lil' sis Erika and my nephew Keegan come walking around the corner! NO SMALL FEAT! They live in Kentucky... so the fact that they were here for me was so emotional for me I can't even put it into words. I was sad to see them all go and miss them terribly. If that weren't enough, Ryan threw me a surprise b-day party on Saturday night. My friends showed up, and Rex drove down with his boys and Brandie came to join the party with Lauren and Marshall; so for me, my WHOLE family was here and that was truly the best gift anyone could ever ever get me. I LOVED IT and felt so loved. Thank you so much family, really... thank you!

Til' next time- Hope this finds you doing well.

-AMBER

Bathroom: Before & After

The unveiling has arrived! Finally I can share the completed project with my fans ;)... no seriously though... this took longer than I anticipated... for a few reasons. 1. The countertop had to be ordered and took twice as long as predicted; 2. I decided to wait for Tim to be in town to help with the tiling since I was a tile virgin. Good call on my part... I learned so much watching him and helping where I could... those rooms are so small, it's almost a one man job... I'm pretty lucky to have a friend who is willing to come over and tile my bathroom and laundry in exchange for dinner. For those of you who are unfamiliar or unsure, the before is the red coca-cola theme and the after is the monochromatic tiled finish.

Anyway, it's done now and I can say VOILA! I did this, with a bit of help here and there, but I did this! The toughest part was that damned drain! Seriously with the plumbing... I think they purposefully make directions greek! All in all, what a great experience. It was not only satisfying to do it and do it without professional help, but really empowering to see what I'm capable if I put my mind to it... ... ... ... ... ... ... now on to the kitchen! Heh-heh!

Let me know watcha think!

AMBER

Back in July we had some pictures taken at the Water Resource Center here in Vancouver... I really love the setting of outdoors and woods. I think they turned out great. Cooper was so fussy and completely disinterested in getting his picture taken. We'll try again another dayI'm sure.

Just wanted to post some of the snaps we had taken to share them with everyone.

As an update on the fam... well Chase is walking around like a drunkard... he either holds his hands up by his shoulders or palms to his bellly, just so satisfied with himself that he is walking now... and man does he walk everywhere! Just yesterday I caught him with a small trail of TP on his ankle... only to discover he had unrolled the entire roll and stuffed it into the toilet and proceeded to flush... I suppose it could be worse, it could've been a dirty toilet right? SO luckily it was all clean TP and fresh water... but funny nonetheless to see him scamper around the house with the evidence attached to his leg ;)

Cooper is doing MUCH better at preschool. He does still have a small amount of ambivalence to get revved up to go, but once he's there, he really likes his teacher Mrs. Laura. She is so great and calm and just perfect for him. He's had the opportunity to meet new friends and try new craft projects out. I just know it is the perfect place for him and he's going to do splendidly. A perfect example was yesterdays experience of tears and whooping up the crying of how he can't go and he HAD to stay with Chase and Mommy. But then when I picked him up... he literally skipped to the car and blew kisses to Mrs. Laura, telling her he'd see her on Monday. What a drama queen!

Anyway, that's all for us these days, same stuff, different day. Hope this finds you doing well.

CHEERS-
AMBER

Cooper's First day of PRESCHOOL!

Here is the report... we made it! We were excited on the drive over; talking about his new teacher Mrs. Laura, wearing our new man bag-which he indeed selected (my mother is witness to how much he loved his new 'purse' as he calls it). He hopped through the parking lot and sauntered over to the yellow classroom of fellow Gumdrops. That's his age groups class name, the gumdrops. We found the hook for his bag and he was happy to hang it next to his classmates' bags. Then came the look of 'mommy... you're not actually leaving are you?' -See attached photo at the top of this post.

I stayed on site for the whole 'shortened' first day. I got all kinds of updates from the incredible staff. Letting me know he was calming in and out of his episodes, checking in with me to see if I was okay (they know what's up). While I wasn't a wreck outwardly... I was certainly willing my tears to not fall down my cheek. Note: I was successful, thank you very much!

Cooper cried nearly the whole 1 1/2 hour class time. :(

He was relieved to see me in the line of cars picking up kiddos. He outstretched his arms and started to wail 'don't leave me'... how sad right? Only to then hop in his carseat exhausted and say... "I need to go back". And I asked him, "Cooper did you like preschool today?" And he answered "Yes, I did!" emphatically. So... tomorrow is another day of full time (that'd be 2 1/2 hours) preschool, he goes Mon & Tues afternoons. It's just going to take some time of adjustment. It's a new place, a new routine and challenges his comfort level. He's going to do great though. I'm confident that we picked just the right preschool and am ever thankful that George had some 'pull' to wriggle him into a slot there at Circle of Friends.

I'll keep you posted as to tomorrows 'mood' after the fact. Til' next time!

Ciao for now-

AMBER

Grandpa's company picnic

This last weekend we made a trip up to Mimi and Grandpa's house. (That'd be my parents in Belfair-) It was my Dad's company picinic on Friday so amongst all the other plans we made, we made it a point to hit the park for the festivities, food and fun. Cooper got his face painted and Chase did what he could to wriggle free from his stroller. We had some cotton candy and played at the park. It was a great visit and always nice to see my family!

Before that was a lil' concert I got to go to with some of my girlfriends... we had a good time. This upcoming weekend is Ryan's FANTASY FOOTBALL DRAFT... that's right folks, I will become a football widow. As I do every year around this time until February... who am I kidding, then it's spring training and I lose him to Fantasy Baseball too... we all know I'll take March Madness... I think that's one sports arena I trump him at... probably the only one though.

Hope this finds you well. Posted are some random pics of the fam- and yes, that is Ryan's ceremonial picture representing his 'diaper changing headdress' ;).

Lazy Saturday morning-

Daddy is out golfin' with Bapa this morning... so the boys and I are just hanging around the house. It's going to beautiful day today (and week for that matter) so we decided to fill up the pool and get it warmed up for some swim time.

Cooper is getting so independent! And with that comes willful disobedience :( We're working with him constantly (and when I say we, I mean me!) It seems like the only way to get him to listen is bribes or solitary confinement... which the latter is not specifically a favorite of mine.

Chase is a gigantic baby... he is so so needy. He's become this lil' puppy dog that follows me EVERYWHERE around the house. Once he's discoverd I'm in another room and not 'holding' him, he jacks up onto his knees and holds his hands out squeezing his fists and whining for 'ma-ma'... it's kinda cute... for two seconds :)

Anyway, hope this finds you doing well. Til' next time!

CHEERS-

-AMBER