Snow!

Our first snow of the season fell last night....not a lot of it, but enough to cover everything and make it pretty. The only problem is that the temerature is not supposed to go back above freezing until Thursday. This could make for some tricky driving over the next couple days...maybe we'll at least get a couple late starts out of it.

Here's a look at the forecast for all you Floridians and Guamanians! (Yes, those top numbers are the predicted "highs" for each day!)

Frosty and Santa

We had the annual "picture with Santa Claus" taken about a week ago. After three years with the same Santa, we got a new one this year. He was very good about chatting Miles up and getting him to say what he wanted for Christmas. The boy told Santa he wants a truck.....shocking, we know.

One of Vince's band parents is a wonderful seamstress and has made several things for Miles over the last 3 years. Yesterday, we received this snowman costume. Reminds us of Ralphie's pink bunny suit from "A Christmas Story," but cute as hell! (Thanks, Peggy!)

November

We've fallen a bit behind in posting pictures the last couple months....so here are a couple highlights from November.


Miles' birthday party in early November:



Miles, Braden, and Andrew



Miles makes the big climb to the top of the slide.


The whole gang!


And just hangin' around the house:


Miles can put on his own shoes now, but they sometimes end up on the wrong feet!


He loves his hand-me-down hat from his pal, Nolan!




Miles often tells us that Monkey wants to talk to him. He'll have whole conversations with Monkey.


The Hewitt genes are strong....loving olives must be in his DNA.




Watching football with Vince, Miles decided that this basket made a great helmet.

Conehead Caruso

Basie had a growth removed from his paw earlier this week. When he came home from the vet his paw was neatly wrapped in a bright yellow bandage. Today we went in to have the bandage taken off, but since he still has stitches for another 10 days or so, he got.....the cone.

Poor guy. The ultimate in pet humiliation.

Miles response: "Awww, Basie looks silly!"

Yes. Yes, he does.

Miles' three-year pictures

Miles turns 3!

November 5, 2008: Three years old today (But still a grump in the mornings, just like his mom.)


That evening, Grandma and Grandpa came down for a birthday dinner at the house and Miles opened a few gifts. Vince was just as excited to play with the new toys as Miles was!

Miles had a GREAT Halloween!

Several weeks back I picked up a warm, fuzzy racoon costume at a second-hand store. Miles loved it and wore it around the house many times in the following weeks. A few days before Halloween, some friends offered us their Lightning McQueen costume....Miles was SO excited. So, needless to say, the racoon costume stayed in the closet and he got to dress up as Lightning McQueen for festivities at daycare.

He surprised us all, however, when he asked to be the racoon when we went out trick-or-treating that night. We thought it was pretty cool that both costumes were put to good use.

We went trick-or-treating with our good friends, the Wales, again this year. Their older boys, AJ and Braden, showed Miles and Hunter what to do. And unlike last year when we had to pull the younger two boys around in a wagon, this year they were HIGHLY motivated to get candy by knocking on doors. It was a really fun evening!

Puddle Jumpin'

Every time it rains now, Miles asks to go jump in the big puddle.

Chillin' with the fellas

Miles having a blast on Saturday with his pals Braden and Hunter.

Our escape artist

Houdini has nothing on Basie.

Fall in the Northwest

A sure sign that autumn is here....Salmon swimming up the Cedar River. SOOOOO amazing to watch!

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Feeling Better!

While we're still doing the "nebby" a couple times a day, Miles is doing much, much better. In fact, last night he had a blast jumping in a puddle in the driveway. I think Vince and I had just as much fun watching him as he had playing!

PS: If you watch far enough into the video you'll get to hear an amazing Flashdance reference by Vince.

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Miles' first trip to the ER

So….last night we had to take Miles to the ER…

He’s had a cold for a couple days and yesterday was a little “wheezy” so we gave him a breathing treatment (albuterol through a nebulizer) before his nap. He seemed pretty good. When he woke up, however, it was a different story. He couldn’t catch his breath and was super crabby and clingy and it was obvious something was very wrong. We drove to the ER where they fast-tracked us to through triage and got the respiratory people in to see us. They gave him a super-charged breathing treatment which made things immediately better. Then he had an oral steroid followed by another breathing treatment. Final verdict… he was in good enough shape to take home, but is on a couple meds and needs to be watched closely for any signs of a relapse in the coming days.

Happy to report that he seemed much better today.




Here he is doing this evening's nebulizer treatment (a.k.a. "nebby").
He really is a great sport about it!

Trains!

We were invited to an open house up the street today. The entire backyard of our neighbor's house has been turned into a Garden Railroad: The Seattle & Black River Railroad. We had no idea that this hidden treasure existed just a couple yards away.

Strike update...

There is a tentative agreement between the district and the union which teachers will vote on tonight. Here's hoping that Vince will get to teach tomorrow!

Enjoying the Sunshine

We decided to take advantage of a sunny Saturday to explore Crossroads Park. (Vince discovered this park at Friday's teacher ralley.) Two playgrounds, a skate park, a sprinkler area, and lot's of big open fields...we had a great time. (Although Miles wasn't too happy when the spraying rock squirted him right in the face!)

Day 7

http://www.king5.com/video/index.html?nvid=280940

Today marks day 7 of the Bellevue strike. This clip from last night's news shows Vince. (Watch for the guy in a yellow shirt that reads "STAFF.")

We all just want positive resolutions to the issues and for Vince to be able to get back to teaching. For right now, though, it looks like we are in for a long haul. In the meantime, I know the calls, messages, and emails of support Vince has been receiving are very appreciated so keep 'em coming!

We'll keep you updated.

On a lighter note...

Marcy and Miles met up with their pals Amy and Jack this weekend for the third annual "running of the balls" in Edmonds. The event involves a truck dumping thousands of tennis balls at the top of a large hill in Edmonds. People can buy a ball for a couple bucks and the first ball down the hill is worth a cool prize. We were just there to laugh and stand in the middle of it all. Miles LOVED it!