Look What I Can Do!

I made a chicken pot pie!!
And best of all? It actually tasted good! We ate it two days in a row even!!

International Fountain

After looking around for free things to do in and around Seattle I re-found the International Fountain at the Seattle Center. We've walked by it in the past but we've never spent much time there. I invited our wonderful backyard neighbors and we all loaded into their 3rd row vehicle (man I can't wait to get one!) and headed down town for the afternoon.
Between the two families the kids had a great time. We packed snacks and let them graze as they saw fit while Monica and I sat and talked in the sun.
One of the many benefits of doing things with Monica is that she's a photographer. We're not talking a mom with a camera kind of photographer, we're talking a woman who can take great pictures. Check out her website if you're looking for some really nice photos. She snapped some shots of our little outing today as well:
After spending the afternoon together, the girls went to our other neighbor's house to check on their most recent project. Today the guy was making a salad bowl. Yup. They needed a salad bowl so he went out in the backyard and made one. No joke. These are the same neighbors who have chickens. They are selling 2 of their chickens along with a really nice chicken coop if you're in the market...just a thought.
I believe this is one of the chickens they are selling.
After all the running around August and Emma went with our youth group to hang out in Lake Washington till 10:00. They came home super tired.
And now? I'm sitting on the couch with a cool breeze blowing through our screen door while I watch Top Chef and write this blog. All is quiet in the Many house.
Tomorrow? We are going to see Shakespeare in the park in Lynnwood. But that's not till the evening. Think we'll take it easy during the day.
I've got to say- I really love living where we do right now. Having the freedom for the kids to be able to run from one house the other has been so wonderful. It reminds me of when we were young and would spend the whole day outside riding bikes and rollerskating with all the kids in our neighborhood.

Dog Days Of Summer

The kids and I are enjoying our long awaited summer. We haven't really done much, just kinda been hanging out at home. We've has many fun days with our backyard neighbors playing in the yards and playing wii and watching movies. It's been great.
Recently we watched Scout for a few days which added some excitement to our backyard. Cute little Scout wanted desperately to get back home and would occasionally disappear under the fence only to realize that no matter how much barking she did at her back door, no one would open it for her. So she reluctantly would allow herself to be picked up by Hazel or August and brought back over the fence to our backyard. She's a funny little thing.
You can't really blame us for having to make a quick stop on our way to the dog park to grab some doughnuts. I made everyone chuckle by not ordering a doughnut for myself. Instead, I took bites of everybody's choices. What? I was able to nibble on a variety of tasty treats and was left feeling better about myself for not eating an entire doughnut.

Ain't Ain't a Word

In My Head

I've been living in my head a lot these last few months. Thoughts about the kids future are always on my mind.
Today was the last day of school. This has been an exciting day for us in the past but today was a sad day for us all. August was not happy when I picked him up on the playground...just another bad day to end a bad year. Friends were not friendly. Things ended on a sour note for him.
Hazel was melancholy as well. Hugging her teacher tightly and hoping to see her again. I took the kids to a park where we were told folks were getting together to celebrate...but it was just us and two other families. The kids had hoped to see more of their classmates.
As we drove home, Hazel started slumping in the back seat while August buried his nose in my iPhone.
August put his book bag away for the last time this school year and Hazel put on some comfy clothes before collapsing on the couch in the living room.
The TV is on right now and they have both turned off their brains. I just read an email from August's teacher that informed me that they will not be able to put him in the classroom that we need him to be in...It's a struggle for me to see the good in this situation.
I keep reminding myself that I had similar feelings of anxiety when I left the JCC. I worked there for 3 years and just couldn't do it any longer. It was a huge change, I went from working full time to...not working full time. And things worked out perfectly.
Change is so scary for me. I like to know what's going to happen at every turn. The way things are right now, we'll have the kids registered at 2 schools. We don't want to pull the kids from their current school until we know 100% that August won't be in the right room but we have to go ahead and enroll them at the new school so that we know they'll have a place to go...
It's going to be a difficult summer full of waiting and worrying for me while I pretend to be excited for the change so that the kids have a positive outlook on the whole event.

End of the Year

Well folks,
It's finally the end of this school year. It's been a tough one for August and a fun one for Hazel. We have no idea what the next school year holds as we're still thinking about changing schools. These decisions are not fun for us to make. Every change has a huge effect in all of our lives. If we keep the kids at their current school we may have to go through another difficult year for August because of the limited classroom choices available. Hazel, on the other hand, will have another fine year as the 2nd grade team is wonderful.
But moving them to a new school in a different town would have it's good and bad. The school is supposed to be good according to other parents who've sent their kids. It could be the school that the kids continue through high school...which could be pretty cool. But I'd have to drive them everyday, which is a huge change from being able to walk down the street everyday. We'd miss the community of living so close to school, that's for sure.
Ack! I could go on and on....
But I won't. Instead I'll focus on the fun facts of summer:
We get to go see the LA Reynolds for almost a week in July.
The kids are going to do a week long camp with their PE teacher.
August is going to do a 4 day workout camp at our gym.
Hazel is going to go to New York with Trey for a few days.
August is going to do a School of Rock summer camp that will end in a big concert.
Most of the LA Reynolds are coming to Seattle for a week at the end of the summer.

I've been spending this last week of school doing quiet things. Things just for myself as I know that once school is out I'll be busy taking care of the kids and dogs all day. It's been pretty nice. I've started to attempt to run a bit here and there...doing that walk 5 minutes, jog 2 minutes for a half hour with hopes that eventually I'll be able to jog for the full 30 minutes. This would be a big deal for me as running has never been something I could do.
I also netflixed the first season on True Blood and began watching season 2 currently on HBO. I'm really surprised that more people aren't upset at how similar it is to Twilight. The book series that True Blood is based on is called the Southern Vampire Mysteries and it came out a good 5 years before the Twilight series and I understand that when it comes to vampires there is really little more that can be invented but really, it seems like the Twilight gal pulled way too much from the Southern Vampire Mysteries written by Charlaine Harris. But, let's face it, they are both very addictive and I wouldn't be at all surprised if you'll find me at the Edmonds Beach reading SVM this summer! But first I've got to finish the latest Fablehaven book that August and I are reading together.

Summer Trips

Well, with the warm weather these last few days, who can blame me for thinking about all that we'll be doing over the summer?
I'm poking around the internet lately to find some fun outdoor activities for when Amy, Zane and Audrey come to town...found this NW Trek thing...anybody know anything about it? It looks like it could be a pretty cool day trip, right?
Anybody have other ideas? We'll probably head out to the Edmonds beach, you know, the one by the ferry dock...that way we'll be able to see the new Bazan baby AND play in the sand and water all in one trip!
We've lived in Seattle for almost 10 years now and I feel like we haven't done much exploring! Help a girl out!!

More Summer Pictures

I've put more pictures up on my MobileMe Gallery:

http://gallery.me.com/jennifermany

Many are from my cell phone so the quality isn't that great, but it'll give you a few peeks into our last days of summer.

Last Week of Summer

We had Mike and Rebecca in town for the last week of summer break. Our time was spent "back to school" shopping and exploring the Locks in Ballard and playing Wii.
The kids were super sad to see them go and Tank...well, Tank spent the day sulking on the couch in protest of their leaving.

Many Wedding

We also attended the wedding of Trey's brother in North Carolina this summer. You can find the pictures (which include a few from Hazel's point of view) at my MobileMe Gallery:
http://gallery.me.com/jennifermany

Here's a quick sampling if you don't have the time to look through them all:

It was the summer of 2008

I feel like I owe you all so much after being away from the computer for so long. We've done so much this summer, here are some sneak peeks into all our comings and goings:
We did a bit of shopping.
Celebrated our 10 year anniversary.
Took the kids out to eat.
Finally saw the flamingo's.
Went to the dog park a bunch.
Got henna tattoo's at a street fair.
Saw some movies.
Had a picnic or two.
Recorded a song.
Celebrated Jonah's birthday.
Ate some Top Pot.
Had friends over.
Went swimming with Jonah again.
And Again!
Visited family.
Saw Uncle Justin in a whole new light.
Went to Sasquatch!
Got our nails done!!
Went on trips.
Slept on planes.
Cheered for Aunt Kathleen.
Celebrated Rosie.
Had Royal over.
Spent some alone time.
Went to Mexico.

Read a ton of books.Celebrated Sub Pop.
Celebrated the Shoop wedding.Watched Nicole sing.
Ate some GOOOOOD food.

And that's just part of what we've done. I still have to get the pictures from our trip to North Carolina and Michigan. But this is all I can get through now. I'm looking forward to the kids coming home so we can get everything ready for the school year. Hazel in 1st and August in 4th! We have school clothes to buy and lists of school supplies to tick off.
I'll post more memories as they flood my computer.
I have some pictures from the Shoop wedding up at this website:
http://gallery.me.com/jennifermany
Feel free to poke around.