The Beach...

It's Wednesday, which means Date Night with Morgan! I could not resist heading down to the beach to eat dinner, play in the sand, watch the ferries and the sunset. Morgan was great and had so much fun. We saw ferries, trains, sea-planes, seals and lots of birds.

I love the beach...especially this beach. It is so peaceful and during the fall it is quiet. We had the beach all to ourselves until the scuba divers began to rise from the water! That was kind of freaky! Below is one of my favorite pictures taken this evening, along with a beautiful photo of my 3 year old date. This beach has a way of calming me and helping me realize what is important and what I need to shrug off my shoulders.

Love you all!
Cass

Quote of the DAY...

Morgan says, "Mommy...Daddy...You and you (takes two fingers and points at his eyes)...Eyes on me!"

Ughhh. What have we created?

Enjoy the beautiful day.
Cass

Soccer Balls and Pumpkins - They are different...

What a full and beautiful day! Today we packed a soccer game AND a trip to Skagit Valley into our schedule. Below is a great picture of Cade in action on the field, followed by a photo of Morgan pondering why he is not taking his nap! Sometimes large sacrifices have to be made...and no nap is a 'Whammie' of a sacrifice for the entire family.

The weather was sooooooooooo beautiful that we decide to make the trek up to Skagit Valley for our traditional pumpkin picking trip. this is our 7th year doing this and every year it is a little bit different...a little bit better...and a lot easier.

There is cider, and apples, and gingerbread cookies, and lots and lots of pumpkins and other strange gourds. Below are the pictures from our trip. I hope you all enjoy and maybe next year it can be a tradition for your family as well!

BOO!
Cass

Innocent until proven guilty...really?

This is the face of a very guilty boy... He is responsible for watching 'Ice Age' more times than is acceptable, ingesting too many 'Hot Wheels' fruit chews, laying on the floor in public (grocery stores, department store, Starbucks...you name it), Saying 'I'm hungry' just to remind me that he needs my attention, running up slides instead of sliding down them, screaming like a little girl every time he sees Daisy (my parent's dog), and lastly...He is guilt of being the cutest 3 year old I know.

I love you Mojo!

Mommy

Old Friends, New Memories...

Last Night I had the pleasure of spending time with two of my high school friends (you know who you are :P ). It has been 17 years and besides the fact that we couldn't remenber ANYONE'S name it was a hilarious evening.

I have now been convinced to join Facebook which is just one more thing to suck away my free time, but it is too fun reconnecting with the past and the good friends that are still there!

Here is my wish to you all... find those old friends and make some new memories. We are not getting younger- but we are living better, fuller lives which makes for some funny stories.

Now to my dear friend...if I find the remains of an evergreen tree stump in my front yard around Christmas- I know who is responsible! (You know who you are!)

Night to you all...
Cass

Cade & I...

Today was my time to spend with Cade before Morgan & I take off to Arkansas for a week. A few years ago we started spending afternoons at Starbucks, drinking something warm and sketching on note paper. Well, today we started that tradition again with a few changes. We had a lovely time at a local coffee house called Caffe Ladro...I absolutely LOVE locally owned shops, whether they are food or product related, because they have such character. Cade enjoyed himself as well (though that was probably because the cookie he had was the size of his head!).

After our coffee break we were off to the Edmonds Marina Beach. We love this beach no matter what time of the year it is. We diligently searched for beach jewels. This is the 'term' used in our family for glass that washes up on the beach that has been smoothed on the edges by the sand and causes the glass to resemble 'jewels'. We have a beautiful vase that holds all of our jewels that we have collected over the past 5 years. It is going to take another 10 years just to fill it! More trips to the beach are in our future.

I will leave you this evening with two photos. First one, Bob & the boys playing around (aka. Riding Daddy bearbacked).

Second Photo is Morgan 'pondering' the M&M's in the spider candy dish. He promises he only wanted to smell them! Yeah, judge the look on his face for yourself. The sunflowerers are Bob's from this year. They final bloomed (almost 2 months late because of our crazy weather this year!)

Night to you all...
Cass

Boys relate everything to Superheros (or Villians)...

Morgan is my latest 'Quote of the Day'. On my day off yesterday I was able to purchase my first pair of Cole Haan shoes... Mind you it was with ALOT of help - 50% discount plus a $35 gift certificate- so now I can actually wear my client's product. Now to the quote, I am showing off my shoes to Bob, beautiful black patten, high heels with peek-a-boo toes and WHAT DOES MORGAN SAY?!

Quote of the Day...
Morgan: '"Mommy, your shoes look like Venom."
Cassandra: "heeheehee, they do!"

Morgan & I reading 'The Wildest Brother'

Smiles to you all...

Cass

Quote of the DAY...

So today I took a half day (more like 3/4 day) off work for some pampering and retail therapy. I took the boys in today to daycare, which is something I rarely get to do. As we are on our way in Cade and I are having a discussion that gets him frustrated...So what does he say to me?

Quote of the Day:
Cade: "Mommy, you are one stubborn woman."

Never underestimate the vocabulary of a 6 year old.

Stubborn woman signing off,
Cass

Touchdown, Cade...

Our big 'pretend' football player

Two nights ago Cade decided to be a Football Player. He striped down to his underwear and built his own costume...gloves,check...undershirt, check...Ohio State Jersey, Check (Uncle Matt will be so proud), athletic pants, check...Ohio State Football, check (again, very proud) He proceeds to kick, throw, catch, touchdown, and Mommy intercepts! And he smiled the whole time!

.

He is our crazy boy!

Cass

Morgan sings bedtime songs...

They say that a picture says a thousand words, but this is even better. Now you get to all enjoy his beautiful voice. It is only Audio as the video was shot at bedtime.



He is our angel!
Cass

Seattle Night Out...

Tonight was a celebration evening for my team. We went to this wonderful restaurant up on Capitol Hill...it was like being in the Soho District of NYC. SMALL space with BIG atmosphere. The food was pre-fix. Now as most of you know I am a picky, picky eater- But with wine my palette becomes less discernible and I ate EVERYTHING... liver pate' crostini, ricotta cheese & anchovy crostini, beet salad (sorry but this tasted like dirt) ,prosciutto with pickled peppers & crusty bread, rabbit & radicchio salad, rabbit flanks sauteed with baked peppers, and finally every type of 80% cacao possible...The meal and the wine were wonderful, but the company was the best.

Work is tolerable most of the time, but when I get to work with such wonderful people and friends it becomes truly enjoyable. Plus it doesn't hurt that we are all motivated by food. Cole Haan has appreciative enough of the team to send along a beautiful key chain to us all along with a 50% coupon for their store. FINALLY- I can afford a pair of their shows.

Off to sleep to enjoy my food coma.

Cass

Life in Washington...

YES, Rain! I now smile to myself when I hear people complaining about the weather. I have truly become a Washingtonian after 11 years here, and that is evident with my love for the rain, the clouds, the grey, I LOVE IT! Now don't get me wrong though...the sun is wonderful too.

Our soccer game today started out sunny, turned to windy, then to spit (that is my word for misting rain), then finally the rain. Cade had a great game. He was strong in his play and had a few unsuccessful shots on the goal. Soccer games are now my time to read to Morgan...It is the only way I can keep him from running into the middle of the field. (You ought to see the look on Bob's face when this happens...)

We ended our evening with our favorite Dinner, "Breakfast for Dinner". Bacon, Pancakes, Bacon, Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, Strawberries, Bacon, Pears and finally, BACON. OHHHH- Grandpa will be so proud the next time he sees Morgan. Morgan is my bacon sneaker. Before I can stop it he has eaten 6 six pieces out from under my nose...this is all happening as it is cooking!

Now in the words of Morgan..."See you later Chicken Head".

Cass

Ahhhhh, October...

Well The sprint is about to begin. This is my favorite time of year- From October to December. It starts with the weather and ends with a wonderful week with my family in Arkansas at Chrsitmas.

October started with my first trip to Cade's soccer practice. I have the monitor the practice now because noone is going to tell me again that my 6 year old is a bully...now if they said it about Mojo I might believe it. He is our little thug- but that is another blog, another time.

Cade did great at soccer and I saw no sign of agressive behavior. He even came over during the water break and gave me a hug & kiss. My sweetie! I say it was just boys being boys.

Quote of the Evening:

Cade said while playing Monster Creation on his leapster, "I taught my creature how to dance cool!"

Happy October 1st!

Cass