A beautiful day for picking pumpkins at Bellewood Acres

My mom and her husband came over this month so they got to go with us to pick out some pumpkins. We watched all the steps that the apples go through before they go into boxes and head for the stores. My mom and Christine thought it was pretty cool. The apples take a bath, get directed up the rollers, come out the other side and a machine separates them by small, medium and large. After they go through the sorter the workers take them one by one and wipe them off and put stickers on them. I would dream about apples all night if this was my job. You guys were just dying to see pictures of apples I'm sure. I'm still waiting for you guys to make a blog. I want to know what's happening in your lives. Have a good day! Christine also picked out a pumpkin for her doll.

JUST MORE PICTURES

Four years old and proud of the cupcakes she made. I love that smile. Grooming the calf when she was four. Two appliance boxes for a car. She was six years old. I called Sears and asked if they could hold two boxes for me instead of breaking them down right away. They called a couple days later and I went to get them. I had to break them down anyway to get them in my car. We had to tape them back together once they were in the house. If I only had a brain. The awesome snowman she helped to build. Swimming lessons at age six. Ashley is the one about to jump in. Swimming is one thing that every kid should learn. It was so important too me with Ashley and with Christine. They have to be able to save themselves if they are in deep water. It's so easy to learn and it will benefit them for a lifetime.

WHO LET THE DOGS OUT! Mariners baseball at the Kingdome and Safeco Field

The Baha Men at Safeco Field. September 2000 When Ashley was nine she started playing baseball. She played for three years. When she was eleven we started going to the Mariners games. Her friend Natalie was also a huge baseball fan. For four years we went to soooooooo many games. I'm not saying that I didn't enjoy them (watching them on t.v. is fine with me) but there is a limit and I have a really hard time saying no (I'm much better at it now) and the girls wore me down. Ashley has been able to do so many things that a lot of kids are not able to do. She will never forget the good times she had with Natalie, and baseball is good clean fun. Natalie, Ashley and David Segui at Safeco Field Her first year playing baseball. She was nine. At the Kingdome for a pre-game practice with the Mariners. Notice that she has an Orioles shirt on. A true David Segui fan. The All Star Game was especially fun. My favorite player was Freddy Garcia. I am definitely a brown hair, brown eyes, sweet round baby face kind of girl. Oh yeah, and what about that arm! You know it's his talent that makes him my favorite :) Everyone have a good day.

FRIEND TROUBLES

I was helping Christine with her math one night. As she was writing she looked up and said, "mom I need to talk to you because I'm having friend troubles." One of her friends told her a few months ago that she was moving. Every day she would remind Christine that she would be moving soon. Christine was upset that she was leaving. Turns out that she was not telling the truth and she was not moving. So Christine continues to tell me that her friend had been telling her earlier that day that she was going to another school. She didn't know if she should believe her since she had lied to her about moving. I told Christine to talk to her friend about it. I told her to explain to her friend that because she had lied to her before, she didn't know if she should believe her. She said, "but mom, if I don't agree with her, she said that I wouldn't be her friend anymore." I told her that kids will say things that they don't really mean, and that I was sure she would still be her friend. Sure enough, Christine talked to her about it, and the little girl that cried wolf ( not exactly but you know what I mean) decided that Christine was going to be her friend for a very long time. That weekend her friend spent the night. There is so much drama when you're a kid, and it continues through high school. Ashley and I spent many hours talking about "friend troubles." I loved those talks. It makes me happy to know that they can talk to me about even the littlest things, and they know I will always be understanding. I'm so glad that my "friend trouble" days are ancient history. It is not easy being a kid, but we all got through it, and with our help our kids will too. Everyone have a super day!

AMERICAN GIRL CLUB AT BARNES AND NOBLE BOOK STORE

I did say on my blog that these posts are about the every day stuff. They are about all the little things we do that I wouldn't tell any of you about otherwise. I would never tell most of you about the little and big things ( big things happen sometimes) that happen in our lives. Now because of our blog you know about even the littlest things we do. I have three friends that have blogs and I love checking in to see what's happening with them. I wouldn't know about any of the little stuff that they do if they didn't have a blog because I go years without seeing them. American girl sells dolls, books, doll clothing and the furniture that goes with them. Every doll is from a different time period. Each doll has books about their adventures growing up in their time period. Once a month they have what they call American Girl Club at the bookstore. Young girls bring their dolls and the lady leading the program reads a few chapters from one of the books. I roam the bookstore while they have their meeting. This meeting was about Kirsten's (one of the dolls) birthday. The girls made birthday cards, ate cupcakes and put party hats on themselves and their dolls. You don't have to have an American Girl Doll to go. You can bring any doll, and if you don't have one, you just bring yourself and have some fun.

I KNOW I SAID I WOULD ONLY WRITE ABOUT THE GIRLS FROM NOW ON, BUT MY MOM GAVE ME THESE PICTURES THE OTHER DAY, AND I LOVE OLD PICTURES

The first picture is of me when I was two weeks old. I love this picture. My dad wanted a girl sooooooooo bad. He already had two boys. They were grown and had children of their own when I was born. Five months old (just a little chubby) on the couch, and camping when I was two.

SOME OF ASHLEY'S BIRTHDAYS.

Turning eleven at a pool party. Ashley is second from the right. Christine was two years old and she was loving that ice cream. Two years old with the bunny cake. Three years old with the dalmation cake. Sweet sixteen and NEVER been kissed. She has never had a boyfriend which is fine with me. She doesn't have time for one anyway. I had seven of her friends meet us at Osaka restaurant for dinner to surprise her on her birthday. She loves anything Asian. Her bedroom is an Asian theme. Red walls, black furniture, and rice paper lanterns on all of her light fixtures.

MORE PICTURES OF ASHLEY. SHE'S MY BROWN EYED GIRL.

She had, and still has the most beautiful big brown eyes. In these pictures she is three months old and two years old.

SAND SCULPTURES IN SEPTEMBER AT THE PORT OF BELLINGHAM.

SOMETIMES WE GO TO THE HARBOR JUST TO WALK AROUND. I LOVE THE SMELL OF THE SALT WATER. I JUST LIKED THE BOAT PICTURE. PRETTY I THINK.

The things kids say

In the post about Christine I had talked about some of the cute things she had said when she was younger. My mom and I were reading the post the other day and she reminded me of something that Ashley had said and one that I said when I was little. My mom and Ashley were watching t.v. and on the show this guy was shouting mayday, mayday. Ashley asked grandma what mayday meant. Grandma told her that it's something you say if you have an emergency and need help. A few days later Ashley was in the bathroom and came running out to the living room yelling mayday, mayday. Grandma asked her what was wrong. Ashley told her that she had tried to plunge the toilet and it was overflowing. Sounds like an emergency to me. I can't remember any of the cute things that Ashley said and it upsets me because all I had to do is write them down like I did with Christine. I missed out didn't I. This is one that I said when I was four. My mom and I were going somewhere in the car and I was looking out the windshield. It was covered/smeared with dead bugs and their parts. I said, "mommy look at all those bugs that didn't look both ways before they crossed the street." Make sure to write down all those silly things that kids say. It's fun to read them when your kids are older, and it's the only reason I remember all of the ones Christine said. Have a good day

THE BEGINNING OF ALL ABOUT ASHLEY AND NICOLE. DANCE THROUGH THE YEARS

I have decided that I will need to post the all about Ashley and Nicole stuff in several small posts. Otherwise it would take me a very long time to get it done. It's probably better this way because there isn't as much to read and look at all at once. Ashley took dance lessons (hip hop) for four years. I know, I couldn't find the fourth picture. Each picture is from a different year. She is wearing the costume/clothes that her dance group wore for each recital at the end of the year. It was so much fun going to her recitals. I started taking dance (tap and jazz) lessons when I was four. When I was twelve I moved on to roller skating lessons. Christine is taking dance (hip hop) for the first time this year. She loves it.

TELL THE PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE HOW MUCH YOU LOVE THEM.

Yesterday morning a man in our church (Tobias) passed away. It wasn't old age it was an accident. He was riding his motorcycle to work and it was extremely foggy out. He hit a semi truck that was turning onto another road. Why am I telling everyone this? I just want you all to know that even though I haven't seen most of you in years, I still think about all of you. For some of you it's been over 20 years and for most it's been 10 - 15 years since I've seen you. I miss not being able to see family and friends for so long. I haven't seen my two brothers for 3 or 4 years and they live in Lewiston Idaho. Before that I hadn't seen them since my dad's funeral in 1995. That's 8 years!!! I feel so bad about letting that much time go by without seeing them. They are my brothers and I really do miss them. None of you live too far away, and I have no excuse for not seeing all of you more often. One of my nephews and his family live in Alaska, and they are the farthest away. A few of you live right here in Washington. Things have to change. I don't ever remember having a family reunion, do any of you think it's time? I feel the same way about the friends I haven't seen for so many years. Life is too short and I miss you all very much! Love Josie

MELHNI JEAN SACASAN IS THE GIRL WE SPONSER IN THE PHILIPPINES. CLICK ON EACH LETTER TO READ

Melhni Jean is an amazing young lady. We got this picture when we first started sponsoring her. She was seven years old and she is now fourteen and in her second year of high school. Since we became her sponsor her family has grown. Her mother has had three more children in the last seven years. Melhni hopes to become a teacher someday, and I want her dream to come true. She is a child that would make any parent proud. I'm proud of her for doing her best in school. Because she is being sponsored she is in a program called Immaculate conception children's program. If one child is sponsored in a family the whole family has access to medical care. I think it's awesome! Whatever she decides to do in life she will definitely make a difference in this world. When we get a letter from her it makes me smile. She knows how much I love her and how proud she has made me. The second letter we received just the other day. Everyone have a good day. We received another letter two days later and she told us about her new baby brother. That makes six kids! It's a little difficult for me to understand why her parents are having more children when they don't have enough money to send any of their kids to school and sometimes they don't have enough food. Her father is a carpenter and he works off and on. Now there are four more children and they couldn't provide for the ones they already had. I'm not saying that their children should not be sponsored, because I hope that they will. What I am saying is that her parents do not seem to be very responsible.

Pacific Science Center

Christine entered a drawing at the Pacific Science Center and she won. This is the article they put on their website. She is planning to sell it so she can buy something she will use. Someone is going to get a killer deal. Because she won it she is selling it for the nice price. She didn't want me to send the picture of her sitting on the larvae at the Science Center, but I liked it so she said it was ok. http://www.pacsci.org/articles/gameon_091106.html

MY CRAZY GIRL. JUST A PICTURE I CAME ACROSS.

CHRISTMAS GIFTS :)

I know it's a bit early to be thinking about Christmas, but this way if you think that family and friends would be interested in doing this or something like it, it gives everyone time to pass it on. I think it's super cool. Ashley added her rabbitry link (she told me to tell all of you to check it out sometime) to the blog along with some others that I had asked her to put on for me. For all of the adults this Christmas we are buying an animal in their name. The animal/animals you buy go to families that depend on them for their survival. Heifer International. It's one of the links she put on. If you're like me and don't know what to get the adults in your family for Christmas, this is perfect. We don't need more stuff and most of the time we don't know what everyone wants anyway. It's not any fun to give a gift and wonder if the person will like it or use it. The girls will pick out what animal/animals they want to buy and then send a card to each adult that tells them what animal they chose for each of them. No trying to guess what to get everyone, no wrapping paper and no waiting in line at the post office involved. Everyone gets the perfect gift. You guys have a great day. Heifer.org is an organization that supplies animals and training to families in need. You purchase the animal / animals of your choice and the families receive the necessary training to raise them on their own. Your gift recipients will love hearing about how the gift you have made in their honor is helping families around the world. You can print a card from their site to send to each person or you can e-mail a card to them.

WE CAN ALL MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

October 9th and 10th phone your senators and join in the Uganda Lobby day. Check out the links below to watch a few minutes of what is happening in our country, to forever change what is happening in Uganda. Everyone have a good day! http://www.invisiblechildren.com/mailers/lobbyday/video/ Info about the Northern Uganda lobby day. http://www.invisiblechildren.com/theMovement/lobbyDay/