We picked up Grandpa to have him over for Christmas dinner. I am not sure he understood all that was going on. I am not sure he knew was I am really. But it was nice chatting with him, and good to see him excited about being out and about. We had a nice Christmas dinner and then every headed home.
Monday, December 25, 2017
Opening Presents
Tommy was the shredder when opening presents this year. He was so excited and just tearing through that paper.
White Christmas
We were lucky enough to have a white Christmas this year. It was just a heavy dusting and it didn't last long. But the boys got to go out and sled while they waited for uncle Tony to wake up and make it over to the house.
Santa Presents & Opening Stockings
They boys woke up and were ready to rush out to see what Santa brought them. Tommy got exactly what he wanted and more. Jake saw his work book and lost it. Apparently it was not what he wanted. Santa fail. After some crying we got him to look at it. He wasn't super impressed. But we opened the stockings and the wind up toys cheered him up. Jake's creative mind is going to be a tough one to interpret.
Sunday, December 24, 2017
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas everyone. Turn up your audio to hear a little Christmas message from the boys. Thank goodness they are passed out now because they are totally hopped up on Christmas.
Christmas Eve Dance Party
We spent Christmas Eve night at my parent's house. There was a late night dance party to wear some boys out so they would sleep for Santa.
Frosting Christmas Cookies
We made Christmas cookies at grandma's house but ran out of time to frost all of them. So today we finished frosting all our cookies. The boys love it. Especially doing the sprinkles. We certainly ended up with some multi-colored Picasso style masterpieces. But it gave them something to do rather than get super excited about Santa again.
Kitty Presents
I took the boys shopping at Grannies Attic a few times this year so they could buy some presents for people. They really wanted to buy presents for their cats. So we got a couple and the boys wrapped them up. And on Christmas Eve we let the boys give them to the cats. I think the boys were more excited about it than the boys, but it was cute.
Saturday, December 23, 2017
Santa's Sleigh
Tommy just can't wait for Christmas. He drew a picture of Santa's sleigh on his chalk board.
Silly Goofs
My boys are such goofs. What to do to keep yourself busy in a trailer in the winter. Take goofy pictures for mommy.
Little Monsters
The boys and I decided to work on some crafts while we had time off from work and school. We had some fabric left over from grandma's house. It was a fabric of a shirt that she made and wore all the time. I didn't want to throw it out so the boys and I made some little monster stuffies. They decided they wanted to give them to cousin Ruby and cousin Jett for Christmas.
Tuesday, December 19, 2017
Company Christmas Bowling Party
We had our company Christmas bowling party at West Seattle Bowl again this year. I was going to take both boys but Jake was tired and had the sniffles. So Tom and I went. We parked and walked onto the boat and then caught the bus. He thought the bus was pretty cool. Especially that he got to sit in the back of the bus for once. And then we walked to the bowling alley. Tom ended up being the only kid there since there were a couple no shows. So we had the kids lane all to our selves. Kept us pretty busy and worked up a sweat with just the two of us. Tom used the bumpers and the ramp and he did pretty well. He even got a couple strikes or high scores as he called them. And he got a high of 95. Then we walked and bused and ferried back home. Tom was exhausted and so was I :)
Tuesday, December 12, 2017
Decorating for Christmas
Tommy is obsessed with Christmas this year. When we were cleaning out the last of Grandma Clarice's house he asked if he could take a bunch of the Christmas stuff because it was so pretty and shinny and cute. So I let him take some. He has been rearranging them all the time. I brought out a couple of our things as well but not even close to all of it as we still don't really have anywhere to put it. I did go out into the yard and cut down a baby tree and put it in the tree stand for them. Tom has been decorating it over and over again. He totally loves it. And then we brought out the Christmas train and he wanted to do basically nothing else but the train.
Monday, December 11, 2017
Saturday, December 09, 2017
Letter to Santa
The boys wrote their first letter to Santa this year. Tommy was super concerned that he didn't get a chance to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas when he got his picture take with him. I reassured him that Santa knows, but if he would like he could write Santa a letter. So Tommy kept reminding me till we had a chance to do it. Tommy wrote the whole thing himself. I just had to help him figure out which letters to use. And he drew a picture of a loop de loop track on the back. Jake on the other had was a little particular about it. I did some dot to dots for him to trace some letters. He lost patience with that so I ended up having to do most of it for him. But he was super particular about the picture as Jake wants a work book from Santa. I tried drawing a book for him per his request. But whatever I was doing he didn't like it. So we ended up with just a very large rectangle on the page. Hopefully whatever Jake has in his mind about this work book is what shows up Christmas morning from Santa.
Sunday, December 03, 2017
Creative Creations
Tom keeps making fun shapes out of the magnets and keeps asking me to take pictures of them so he can capture his work.
Saturday, December 02, 2017
Birthday, Santa & Hockey, Oh My
Happy birthday Eric. It was a pretty exciting morning for the boys. They got to see Santa. We went to the Santa breakfast again at Pam's office at Russel. The breakfast was wonderful. The kids got Santa pictures. They also did some crafts and made some paper airplanes. They really loved playing with Nancy's son Dakota. They we went to Pam's desk to take a look out the window. There has been construction going on outside her window for quite a while and they were working today. The boys watched the crane swing around and all the hustle and bustle below.
Eric didn't really want to do anything for his birthday. But his company Holiday party was tonight at the thunderbirds. So we got a sitter and went out and watched some hockey. There was some serious brawling going on. I think 2 guys ended up getting ejected. And I think Eric had a good time hanging out with his coworkers.
Thursday, November 23, 2017
Why Not Whipped Cream
We had Thanksgiving over at my parents house. It was a pretty small Thanksgiving. But we did bring Grandpa Ted over, which he seemed to enjoy. We had a nice dinner and at the end some pumpkin pie. There was a little bit of whipped cream left so I let Tommy have the rest. Not quite as cute as little Dustin, but still cute.
Wednesday, November 22, 2017
Pajama Day
Tommy was super excited about pajama day at school today. They occasionally have what they call stuffie days, where they can bring a stuffed animal to hang out with their class pet a stuffed lynx named Lana. Today was a stuffie and pajama day and Tommy wanted to bring a little bear to match his bear pajamas.
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Space to Play
I have been working hard on organizing, getting rid of stuff, stacking things higher and such so we can create more space in the double wide. I was able to empty out much of what is the living room. So I moved all the toys that were in the play tent into the double wide. The play tent worked great until the weather started to change. Then the rats though it would be a good place to hide out. The boys seem to like their new play space even though it comes with it's own challenges. It is amazing how many times I have moved and changed things in 18 months just to make things work around here. I change something, it doesn't work great, I change it again. And on and on it goes. But for now the boys seem to like it. Especially that they get to hang out with their cats.
Wednesday, November 15, 2017
End of an Era
On Monday the keys of Grandma and Grandpa's house were handed over to the new owner. I hope they make as many great memories there as our family has. As a kid I loved going there so much to see the family that one year my parents told us we were going to go to Disneyland over Christmas and wouldn't be at Grandma and Grandpa's and I was pretty upset :) So many memories there playing with my cousins or helping grandma in the kitchen or setting up the tables for dinner. It's an and end of an era.
Sunday, November 12, 2017
No More Diapers!
It is a super exciting day at the Bingham house. No more diapers! Jake has made it the whole week without going in a diaper. Only one accident at night time. So today he got underwear. After Tom being so difficult and taking so long I hope it sticks.
Saturday, November 11, 2017
Veteran's Day
Thank you to all our Veterans who are whiling to sacrifice everything in the service of our country. I thought I should share some of the photos and information I have found while going through all the family history and pictures with Grandma Clarice over the years. Her family were early settlers to the U.S. and have had many service members. Click on the pictures to see more information on the people.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/F1OPfmRbUs5PdDCi2
https://photos.app.goo.gl/F1OPfmRbUs5PdDCi2
(Grandfather) John Alf Hjorten FC2 US Navy
23 Dec 1943 - 3 Jan 1946 - during WWII
Served on the ships USS Floyds Bay & USS Kwajaljie. Fire controlmen (FC's) maintain the control mechanism used in weapons systems on combat ships.
He helped to build the VFW hall on Vashon.
(Grandmother) Clarice Hjorten Walgren
She did not serve in the military but did her duty at home to support the Veterans. She was the last remaining member of the Ladies Auxiliary to the VFW which she was a part of for 50 years until she recently passed.
(Great Uncle – Brother of Clarice) John Pershing Curfman AS2 US Navy
14 Dec 1939 – April 1 1941 - during WWII
He died at the age of 22 of lead poisoning while working as a gunner on the USS Nashville. He also served on the USS Wyoming.
(Great Uncle – Brother of Clarice) Leslie Raymond Curfman SSGT US Marine Corp
11 Feb 1942 – 4 Apr 1947 - during WWII near the marshall islands
Wounded in Action 4 Mar 1945. Shot 3 times in the left leg.
11 Feb 1942 – 4 Apr 1947 - during WWII near the marshall islands
Wounded in Action 4 Mar 1945. Shot 3 times in the left leg.
I think the last picture is William Kilbury but it is not labeled. Here are the many other service members from grandma's family that I could find records of.
(3rd Great Grandfather) William Emery Kilbury Pte. Co. B 112 th Reg't NYS Vols
3 July 1862 – 1865 - during Civil War
(4th Great Grandfather) Jonathan Dowd Pte. Co. Kelsey & Buel
1813 - 1814 - during War of 1812
(5th Great Grandfather) Jacob Curfman Pte. Co. COCKE
During the War of 1812
(5th Great Grandfather) Solomon Dowd Pte. Reg. Swift
1777-1784 during the Revolutionary War
(6th Great Grandfather) Zachariah Dowd Pte. Reg. Butler
1775-1781 during the Revolutionary War
Wednesday, November 08, 2017
Lena's 10th Birthday
We went over to my parents house tonight to have a little birthday party for Lena. Can't believe she is already 10. The kids decided to have a dance party with Grandpa. Then we had the cake that Lena made. And then presents of course. This year all of our presents to Lena were actually from Grandma Clarice's house. She got a cool basket full of fabrics and yarn that she could play around with. And she also got Grandma Doris' old bible from the same church that Lena goes to. And she also got a couple little trinkets and a pair of earrings from grandma. But by far her favorite thing she got was the watch that she got from Grandma Doris. It was a watch with lots of rhinestones that Lena saw in a box of costume jewelry from Grandma Clarice's house. Lena really liked it so Grandma Doris put it in her birthday card. Lena was so excited.
Tuesday, November 07, 2017
Brown Bear Brown Bear
Jake has started to read some of the popular board books to himself because he has memorized the words. Brown Bear Brown Bear is one of his favorites. And of course Tommy helped Jake out too because he is a Brown Bear Brown Bear pro.
Do Your Civic Duty and Vote
When I was a kid a I can remember my Grandma Clarice and Grandpa Ted working at the polling booths. I always thought as a kid how important and special that was. When the polling booth was at our school I went visited them and it felt like they were on a secret mission delivering peoples confidential votes that they couldn't talk about. They also worked to register people to vote and at 18 they gave me their talk about how important this civic duty is and gave me the forms to fill out. I am sure the had been instructed to not tell me democrat or republican so I did not know which way they voted. They just told me that it was a very important job I needed to do. So I have never missed an election. I have always done my civic duty and taken it seriously. When I was going through Grandma's papers I found a lot of things she meant to send and never did I am sure because her memory was really going. And in her papers I found her 2008 presidential ballet filled out and ready to go but never sent. I finally got to find out that secret. Don't worry Grandma. I will keep it confidential.
Sunday, November 05, 2017
Snow!
Snow! Our snowman was melting as soon as we finished it so I let the boys crash it after the head fell off. And Tommy just came up with a new definition for winter ball.
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Halloween
We had a pretty busy Halloween this year. We got Tommy dressed in the morning in his snow leopard outfit and ready to go to school. He was excited to be a snow leopard again this year because his class pet is a stuffed animal named Lana the Lynx. And Tommy the snow leopard and Lana the Lynx are cousins. Got to the bus stop and all the kids were dressed up and super excited to go to school. So we took a bus stop picture and off he went on the bus. I ran up to the school on my lunch break to see the kids line up for the parade. I don't envy the teachers on Halloween. A lot of energy running through the school. They were so cute though. And then after school we got Jake dressed in his dragon costume and we headed uptown for another fun year of trick or treating around all the businesses. And on the way home we stopped off at a couple of houses at Gold Beach. Lots of fun and everyone was exhausted at the end.
Sunday, October 29, 2017
Carving Pumpkins
We didn't do a whole lot of Halloween stuff this year with all that was going on with Grandma's memorial and the house and everything. I feel kind of bad for the boys, and I always enjoyed it too. But sometimes there are more important things that need to be done. We did take the boys to the little pumpkin patch on the island and got a couple of the little pumpkins that were left to carve. We also had one fairly good sized one in our garden that we grew. And the boys were happy to finally get to carve pumpkins. Next year we ill do more Halloween stuff.
Saturday, October 28, 2017
Grandma Clarice's Memorial
It was a wonderful fall day. The family met early at grandma's house to pick out mementos to of grandmas to keep. It was so great to see family pick out cherished items to keep with them. One of the entertaining things we found was Barb's old dresses from the 60's & 70's that grandma sewed.
We then went to cemetery to say one last good bye. She is buried next to the rest of the family and we placed some special items in the grave with her.
Then we went to the Sportsman's Club and we had a sweet, comical and memorable time remembering grandma. My favorite is the we brought Grandma & Grandpa's pantry door to the club to have all the cousins mark their kids on there.
Thank you so much to all the family and friends who made it to Grandma Clarice's memorial today. It was a beautiful day of remembering her. This last month I have submerged myself in all of her photos and papers, sorting them and scanning them. I feel like I know so much more about her after all this. There are so many things I wish I could have asked, but I am so thankful she left so much behind for our family story to be passed on through the generations. I am up to about 8,000 items of hers on my computer right now and I am still not totally finished. For those of you who couldn't make it or wanted to watch it again here is the slide show from her memorial. I apologize for the length, but there was just so much to choose from and it was hard to leave anything out.
Friday, October 27, 2017
Sound Check for Grandma's Memorial
We went to the Sportsman's Club to set up for Grandma's memorial. Of course the boys wanted to help set up all the table and chairs. But the real entertainment started when the boys decided to do the sound check on the mics.
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Saturday, October 21, 2017
Tommy's Soccer
Tommy was super excited to play soccer again this year. He was so confident compared to last year. No dragging mom and dad out onto the field with him. No awkward wondering what he was supposed to be doing. He just got out there and started running around with the ball. He has actually gotten quite good and dribbling the ball compared to last year. And of course he just loves the freedom of getting out there and running. He also had his first rainy soccer day. At first he didn't want to get out of the car when it was raining. But he got out there and seemed to have a blast. Next year he gets to move up to the next level. Thanks to his coach who for the last two years has been so patient and amazing with the kids.
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