bowling for kids

the kids participated in a fundraiser last week for the local big brothers big sisters program. they've actually bowled the past couple years but this year they hit the streets, and called family/friend to collect  pledges.   i gotta say i'm pretty proud of them.  together they went door to door after-school for several days.  knocking on doors is almost a rite of passage for a kid, and part of figuring out who lives where, who is grumpy and who is nice.  i'm super proud of them as they raised $366 dollar to contribute to their team....which ended up being the highest fund raising team (comprised of kids and adults from our street).  thanks to all who supported our fund-raisers.

here are our bowlers at the event!

forty

so i turned forty a couple weeks ago. i could say that i spent time being introspective about my life and where i was and what i might want to do with myself in the next forty years, but the truth is that really i just partied my ass off....and it was fabulous!  

ultimately my celebration lasted about a week.  the first party was a family party thrown by my mom and her husband george (thanks mojo!).  they had a cake made out of one of my baby pictures, and had blown up pictures of me from various awkward stages of childhood. it was super fun!

then 2 days later on my actual birthday i had breakfast with my husband (once the kids got off to school), followed by a massage, followed by a nap, followed by a couple hours of reading (a luxury i rarely get). once the kids were home from school they gave me their homemade sweet sweet cards, and my present which was a video they made of "40 reasons we love mommy" (directed by todd).  best gift ever!

we went out to dinner at our favorite pizza place 'soltice'...this is us with our friend aaron the owner. then todd took the kids home (school night) and then i met some girlfriends for drinks...

the weekend following my birthday we went up to timberline lodge (my dad and his wife deb took the kids for the weekend, thanks guys!)  oh what a gem that place is and what a treat to stay there! i'd visited but never stayed before. the history and the craftsmanship, so so beautiful. there were two other couples with us and a full on blizzard outside which made the whole night even more cozy and wonderful.

the next morning we skied in a foot of fresh snow, it was awesome...

....then back in town we met up with a bunch of local buddies and had some beers and danced to this great 70's band. super fun!

last but not least, when we picked up the kids we had lunch with dad and deb at the spaghetti factory in portland, where i've managed to have a birthday meal most birthdays since high school.

it was an epic celebration...and i enjoyed every minute.  so far forty has been an enjoyable year (introspection aside) and i at least did my best to pretend it's the new 20!!

thanks to all for all the wonderful birthday wishes and cards and gifts...i felt truly celebrated!