Haley's Head

Duck season has begun and it's a rather important time of year in the Brase family. The first game of the season was away, so our family dressed accordingly and gathered in our theater room to watch the Ducks hopefully pull off a win.
Haley was so excited she began doing a cheer dance and in doing so fell back against our entertainment center and bonked her head. She began to cry and immediately ran to us. As John and I were tending to her I realized there was something wet in her hair. It was blood and alot of it. I thought I was handling it fairly well until John asked me politely to calm down. Once I "calmed down," Haley did as well and we began making ER plans. Thanks to our neighborhood nurse, Kim, she was able to determine that Haley would need some stitches. The bleeding stopped, but there was a nice size gash there. So John and Jack stayed behind to hold down the fort and Haley and I drove to the ER where we spent 3 hours. The docs and nurses were wonderful and Haley came home with 4 staples in her noggin. She was amazing. She cried a bit when they stuck a needle in her owie to inject the numbing solution, but other than that, she was a trouper!
I've decided not to post those pics. Best to not relive the experience. She's doing well and has enough long blonde hair that it covers everything. She gets the staples out in 2 days.
By the way, the Ducks LOST..bigtime.

Back To School

Wow, the summer just flew by, but it was one of the best summers of all time. We didn't do much in the way of vacations, but we spent alot of time outdoors staying active, laughing and just having a good time.
Jack learned how to ride his bike without training wheels the very first time he tried. It was amazing. Off he went and now we can't stop him. So, it's been fun going on bike rides with the kids, exploring the neighborhood and playing follow the leader. Both Haley and Jack have met so many great friends in our neighborhood, so summer evenings were a blast. We did alot of cul-de-sac bbqs and marshmallow roasts and enjoyed watching our kids play hide-and-go-seek, play with bugs and snakes and of course get filthy dirty. Hey, that's what summer is all about.
Mac, our black lab thoroughly enjoyed summer as well. We took him on lots of walks and let him jump in the creek behind our house. He's doing very well, but is still in the process of getting leash trained.
So, now it's back to school. Haley started Kindergarten today. She did extremely well and waltzed on in, found her seat and began to socialize and play. I did well myself. I was so busy making sure she had her Bible, her lunch, her backpack and her planner that I didn't have time to cry. I'm just so proud of her. She is such a confident, happy girl. Two of her friends from Clubsport are in her class so it's nice to have some familiar faces, but she will no doubt make lots of new friends quickly.
We are so blessed that Haley and Jack are both able to attend Gaarde Christian. When I first began the whole Kindergarten registration process, I was nervous and unsure how to proceed. I wanted Haley to attend public school at Deer Creek and began the enrollment process. Turns out she didn't make the cut for full day, but half day was just over two hours. That's less than the hours she attended in preschool. I didn't want her going backwards. Not only that, but there are 26 children per class. My fears rose as I worried there would be so little time and too many kids and she wouldn't be properly prepared for first grade. So, I did some homework and realized I was right. Many elementary teachers prefer full day because it allows more time to get through the curiculum and have extra time for math, and other studies as well as child-selected activities. So, I opted to enroll her in Gaarde Christian where she has the benefit of full day kindergarten and only 15 other students. It's also been proven that children who attend full day kindergarten are better prepared for 1st grade. So, I made the right choice. Phew! Also, Jack is enrolled at Gaarde as well and starts his Pre-K program next week and will attend 5 days per week for a little over 3 hours. I'm so excited for him to start. I'm hoping his listening skills will improve and I'm thrilled for him to make more friends.
Life is grand. We are just so happy to be back in Oregon (almost a year now) and are blessed with amazing family and friends. There are some exciting events already planned for the fall, so I'm hoping I can keep this blog up to date.

It's been too long

Wow, it's been way too long since I've blogged, and so much has happened. I'm not sure where to begin.
First of all, we are absolutely over the moon with our home and neighborhood. I loved it when we first moved in, but we have met some incredible people and have built some great friendships. This summer so far has been amazing just hanging out in our cul-de-sac and enjoying our neighbors and watching our kids play.
Haley finished T-ball. She enjoyed it and wants to play again next year. Her next sport is soccer and get this...I'M THE COACH! I love being involved with my children's activities, so this is right up my alley. I can't wait to get started. Haley is also enjoying swimming (all by herself) at our Clubsport pool, riding her bike (like a crazy person, jumping curbs and trying to do wheelies) and is starting to read a little. We started her in the summer reading program through the library and she is enjoying learning new words. I also introduced a little math to her and she's actually doing well with addition and subtraction. She's gonna ROCK Kindergarten this year. We enrolled her at Gaarde Christian private school. Can't wait.
Jack is so tan right now even though I slather him with sunscreen several times a day. He is LOVIN' summer just like I did as a kid. He would much rather ride his sister's scooter than his bike and he is really good at it. My mom got him his own scooter for his birthday. Ssshhh, don't tell. Jack will be in soccer camp this month. He and Haley both did music camp last month and had a great time. He really loves music. His swimming is coming along. I'm signing him up for private swim lessons through Clubsport next week so he gets some one on one time. He does best without the distractions of the other kids.
We went to the annual Slingball Tournament a couple weeks ago at Pacific City Beach. We love it there so much and hope to renew our vows there soon. Slingball was a blast, the weather was phenomenal and the kids had the time of thier lives.
Okay, I can't say enough about our FOURTH OF JULY. Apparently, our cul-de-sac throws a major 4th of July party every year, but I had no idea.....we had the best time. The morning started out with a kids parade through our neighborhood. All our kids decorated their bikes and helmets. With the help of all the neighbors, we pulled off a HUGE parade that ended at the park behind our house. The local fire department and police came to hand out badgtes and give tours of the rescue vehicles. The evening was just as good. We decorated and set up tables and tents in our cul-de-sac. We had a giant jump house, a sno-cone machine and tons of food and drinks. The fireworks show at the end was amazing, even though one of our dud neighbors called the cops. But, we finished our show and it ended with a bang. Gotta love being buddies with the local cops.
Our lives are so blessed. I was offered a Centergy class (FINALLY) at Clubsport and so far it's going well. I've been receiving alot of compliments from the members, so I know I'm doing well. I've backed off teaching as much , but I'm still doing my own bootcamp class (Living Fit Bootcamp) and have been asked to extend it another 6 weeks. Guess that's a good thing.
Well, I'll wrap up for now. Here are some pics...Enjoy.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Girl's Nite Out

Had a great time celebrating Kelly's birthday at Portland City Grill and then Pasha's. I didn't stay out late, as usual. Getting up at 4:30 in the morning makes for very early evenings. But, I did have a blast with all my peeps from Clubsport. Such a fun group of gals.

T-Ball

This is Haley's very first T-ball season. So far it's been alot of fun and she seems to be enjoying it despite the cold weather. My husband, John volunteered to coach which has been amazing to watch. He's so wonderful with the girls and truly enjoys coaching. My friends Wendy's husband offered to help John so that's been good for us as well. Haley has wonderful spirit and can hit the ball really well. She's learning how to throw and getting better. She has a great stance and listens well to directions and tries hard to practice what she has learned. It's a hoot to watch the games. The girls still don't quite understand that they need to hustle to get the ball and throw to first base, but it's fun to watch. I just love it.

Pacific City 09

We had our first beach trip of the year over the weekend. The weather was beautiful and our good friends weren't going to use their beach house (more like mansion) so offered it to us. It's GORGEOUS with a gourmet kitchen and wall to wall luxury. We took the kids and my mom and just stayed for one night. Haley had her tball kickoff ceremonies Saturday morning and we didn't want to miss it. We played Monopoly, which was really interesting with a 3 and 5 year old, but it was alot of fun. After a yummy breakfast we headed down to the beach with Mac our dog in tow. It was his first beach trip and it was hilarious to watch him in the sand and surf. We laughed so hard. John and I threw the frisbee around which we love to do. I'm not as good as he is, but we had fun and got some exercise. Gramma built sand castles with the kids and we all flew our new kite. I wish the weather at the beach were a little warmer more often and less sporadic. I love it there, but only when it's nice. We are lucky to have friends who will lend us their cabin from time to time. We will be going back there in a couple months for the annual Slingball Tournament. BLAST!

Spring Activities

Haley is doing so well with swimming. Her instructor said she is more than ready to advance to the next level. I'm so proud of her and what's great is that she really enjoys swimming. This summer we are gonna spend a lot of time at the Clubsport pool...again. It's such an amazing place. I think Haley is ready to go down the water slide...and hopefully not give me a massive bloody nose this time. Our family really loves Clubsport. Jack especially loves shoot baskets and goof around on the courts when they are open. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed in hopes of picking up some more classes or positions as they come available. Did I mention how awesome Clubsport is? Pretty much the best fitness facility on the planet!!!