The Nelson Narrative

We usually get snow a few times a year but hardly ever on Christmas.  And if it does snow on Christmas or Christmas Eve it doesn't stick.  This year it snowed Christmas Eve and stuck around through a few days after!  I couldn't believe it.  And not just at our house but at the in-laws, too. We went there Christmas Eve and spent the night, came home after a nice turkey dinner and then it was back to work for me on Tuesday, but only for three days and now I have another 4-day weekend!  Woo-hoo! Olivia got a ukulele... And a new bike Kayley got a hoverboard and LOVES it, I might add. Kona got a toucan My mantle  Kayley delivering gifts via hoverboard

So I missed a few days of my 25 days of blogging.  Oh well, it was inevitable. I had been looking forward to this weekend even more than I normally look forward to weekends (which is obvioulsy A LOT) because after a few pretty busy ones we have absolutely nothing going on and I have a new project I started last weekend and couldn’t wait to continue.  I am pretty good about purging my closet a few times a year and donating clothes I don’t wear anymore and what-not, but there are several household items in all parts of the house that I’ve been holding onto thinking that I will get around to using them or selling them but I never do, so my new project that I started last weekend and am going to continue over the next several weekends is going through every. Single. Room. In the entire house and getting rid of absolutely EVERYTHING that we don’t want or use.  Last weekend I did the master closet, Friday evening I did the linen closet and yesterday I did the master bathr...

On Monday the 4th and 5th grade choir had a field trip to the Seattle Center to perform for Winterfest.  Paul had the day off because he had to take his friend Joel to the airport and the timing worked out so that he could go watch Olivia.  I was really impressed with how they sounded at the first performance so I can only image how they sounded here.

We live in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, and we have lots of wildlife (bears, coyotes, bobcats, deer, etc.) that was here before all of our homes took over their habitat.  People are always posting animal sightings on FB, because it’s just cool to see a big ‘ol black bear ambling down the side of the road, and also to warn people that might be about to head out on an evening walk that there is a bear/coyote/bobcat in the area. Lately there has been a huge increase in coyote sightings in particular.  Last Thursday a friend/neighbor texted a group of us to say that a coyote had been in her driveway while her son (6) was out playing (we both have homes that have the driveway/garage in the back with alley access).  She shooed it away, and a short time later it was back and all the way up to her patio this time (she has a pretty long driveway).  We were all like “Whoa” but then we got on with our evening. Meanwhile, the next door neighbor girl was over ...

I had another post in mind for today but it's after 9:00 and I still need to finish making lunches before I can finally relax with a TV show or a book for a bit before going to bed, and I'm really tired because I've been awake since 5ish.  So here's a picture of Cleo sleeping on the fence instead, taken through the kitchen window.

12 years ago today Paul proposed.  You can read about it here .  I can't believe it's been 12 years.  It really has just flown by.  And unfortunately, I never got the typical ring shot or any other photos.  I'm so bad about that stuff, plus back then we weren't in the habit of taking pictures with our phones.

Paul has a friend in from out of town.  He's a big Eagles fan (not sure why, he's lived in Washington or California all his life, I think) so he came up for the Eagles/Seahawks game tomorrow.  Tonight we all went to Snowflake Lane in Bellevue (a Christmas Parade with fake snow they do every year, every night between right after Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve).  It was a great way to kick off the holiday season.  Afterwards, we had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.  Yum. Olivia doesn't like cheesecake so she got strawberry shortcake instead.  It was huge, and true to form, she barely touched it. Salted caramel.  Yum.

So, it's December 1st and I've decided once again to try and blog everyday between now and Christmas.  I've tried the last 2 years and failed miserably, and I probably will again but not a big deal, just fun to try.  I'm thinking of trying to make it all Christmas related, but we'll see. I was just realizing the other day that I never posted about Halloween, or lots of other things since school started, but oh well.  I don't have a whole lot to say about any of it though, and not many pictures because the girls never let me take any.  Just to catch up, here's what's happened in the last few months: the girls got a second ear piercing their soccer team was undefeated until the last game of a double header in which they played a team that was fresh, and then they played in a tournament and went 1-1.  So pretty awesome season for them. they were both doing 4th/5th grade choir, but Kayley quit and Olivia and the rest had their first performance last we...

So, I found out a few months ago that my work group is moving to a new location, in MY neighborhood,  5 minutes from my house!  That was the 4 th happiest day of my life!  (The first two being my wedding day and the girls’ birthday, in no particular order, and the 3 rd being the day the girls could bathe themselves independently :))  This is going to improve my quality of life exponentially.  Instead of getting home at 6:30 or later and never getting to eat dinner as a family except on weekends and never being “done” for the day until at least 9:00, often much later, and never being home when the girls get home from school and never being available to drive them to their activities (although I do get to pick them up sometimes) or volunteer in their class (although I have taken days off to chaperone the occasional field trip), I will now get home at a reasonable time between 5:30 and 6:00.  We can eat dinner together as a family.  I can come home on...

We've been wanting to get a dog for awhile now but wanted to wait until after the cruise.  Since then I've been looking off and on on Craigslist and Petfinder and haven't found much until Saturday.  I found the cutest dog and she was being offered for adoption through some rescue organization where I had to fill out an application and because we work and the dog would be alone for about 6.5 hours per day (I should have just lied) they turned us down.  I wrote back and explained that my job is moving in a few months and I will be able to come home as needed during the day to let the dog out and also we have a friend who could dog sit during the day until I move.  So lame.  I mean, how many people have dogs who work for a living?  TONS! Anyway, while waiting to hear back from them (and figuring I never would, which I haven't) I got back on Craigslist on Sunday and found two groups of the most adorable puppies ever and they were in the same general vicini...

What's Up Wednesday, normally hosted the last Wednesday of the month by Shay , Mel and Sheaffer was postponed until today due to Hurricane Harvey.  Continued prayers to the victims. What we’re eating this week Homemade pizza, crock-pot chicken tacos, and tri tip roast from Costco.  Tonight we are going out to a restaurant that donates 20% of your bill to the girls' school on the first Wednesday of every month. What I’m reminiscing about Now that school has started, I've been reminiscing about being a stay-at-home mom.  Every morning on our drive to school I see moms walking with their kiddos and wish I could be one of them, not to mention my constant daydreaming about all the stuff I could be doing while they are at school.  And I wish I could be home at a reasonable time so we could eat dinner together as a family and just be there when they get home.  Sigh. What I’m loving This concealer. My neighbor became a Younique consu...

I had off the last 3 days of summer break (Friday of last week, and then Monday and Tuesday) and we had such a good time.  I already posted about our Nelson Family Day of Fun.  Then on Saturday, my oldest and dearest friend, Kristen, came down to spend the weekend of her birthday with us.  She actually ended up staying at or friend Jen’s (who she just met on the cruise last month and who actually has a guest room) house, but we still spent a lot of time together.  We went to a wine release party at a local winery on Saturday afternoon with Jen and Laura, then we all (including husbands and children) went to Jen’s for a cruise reunion get-together. Women who wine On Sunday Kristen, Jen and I all went out to brunch and then did a little shopping at the outlet mall.  Later, we just hung out in Jen’s backyard while Paul took Olivia (Kayley didn’t want to go) to the back-to-school barbeque. On Monday, Paul’s mom and I took the girls school shoppin...

By some miracle I have a few extra minutes this morning to whip out a quick post.  Yesterday was the first day of school.  It went really well.  We made lunches the night before and the girls picked out their outfits and laid them out.  Olivia wanted her hair French braided and I don't really know how (I think I could remember if I had plenty of time) so I asked one of their friend's mom who is 3 doors down from us and she was happy to do it and they got up early enough to have plenty of time and all that. I dropped them off about as early as I could (8:45) because I had a 9:30 meeting to get to, and that went super easy and I made it to work with about 10 minutes to spare. Kayley has been straightening her hair a lot lately and I love it (but I love her curls, too) Olivia had a mint in her mouth, thus the weird expression