Sunday, September 30, 2012

Skydiving!!




Cory jumped out of a plane at 13,000 feet!! Guess he sure knows how to celebrate a birthday. He's not a man of many words, but he did say that it was the most amazing thing he's ever done. I guess that means I finally gave him a gift he likes. Success is sweet.
We waited a looooong time for Cory's turn to jump. He was in the last group of the day (even though out appointment was HOURS earlier, they were running behind), and I think the tension was slowly easing up. It was actually really peaceful and exciting at the same time watching all the parachuters. Crazy they only give you like a 10 minute prep and you are up and going in the little cargo plane. Callie loved the fact that Daddy's parachute was rainbow colored. What are the odds of that?
So Happy 30th birthday to my adventurous husband. Here's to checking lots of stuff off our bucket list together for all our birthday to come. Love you babe.

Friday, September 28, 2012

Cory is Going Skydiving!

CORY IS GOING SKYDIVING TOMORROW!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Parker is Fully Trained!

And by that I mean he doesn't need training wheels on his bike anymore!

Parker got inspiration from his cousin to take those extra helpers off. I was at work when big boy took his first official ride, which I'm bummed about, but happy for him that he achieved a goal he's been working the nerve up to try for some time now.





Way to go, Parker!

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Biggest Losers. Gambling wise. Not in Life. Just at the Casino.

Here's what we looked like going in.
Note: Cory is not angry or depressed. That's just his face. Also, having dark 4 inch roots is awesome and yes, I can show you how to do that to yourself someday.



Here's what we looked like coming out.
Okay, maybe I'm the only one who looks like they are about to beat my head against that metal pole.
Damn casinos!!! I rue the day I went into your smoke filled facilities!!! I really like getting free pop though so I forgive you.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Flag Football Fun with 4-5 Year Olds!

Our little man started flag football. Somehow he talked the other kids into naming themselves "The Blue Raiders". I think I love him more now.
Callie loves cheering Parker on. OR sitting on Caw's lap looking like a rockstar.
Our first game got cancelled last week due to the poor air quality in our area. We are surrounded by an inferno here. I think Satan loves Washington state and is deciding to make this place his hellish new home. I guess the plus side is that it's still 80 degrees and it's almost October! Yay! See, I'm a glass half full kinda girl. So if you want to come watch the blue raiders bring a lawn chair, water, and your inhaler and/or oxygen mask. I'd recommend both.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

We've been swabbed.

Thank you for reading all about Ronan from my previous post. That kid sure touched a special place in my heart. Well Cory and I did sign up on the bone marrow registry and our little packets arrived!
Me, the nurse, was a little confused by the packet. Huh? Q-tips? In my mouth? That can't be right! But after I put on my smart-girl glasses, I figured out that yep- it's that easy!
MMMMM!!! Cotton tastes good!!!!
I think you get extra points for not brushing your teeth before swabbing. At least I hope so! For Cory's sake anyway. But really, from what I understand (from my extensive wikipedia search) it takes about 2 months from when you send in the swabs to actually being put on the registry. So who knows, maybe one of us could give someone out there an amazing Christmas present!

Monday, September 10, 2012

Be a Rockstar Like Ronan!

Did anyone watch the Stand Up 2 Cancer telethon on TV the other night? Well Ms. Swift sang a song that nearly broke my heart. Take a listen HERE. At the end of the song, this adorable little boy's picture came on the screen.
I ended up googling the song to find out more about this beautiful little boy named Ronan. He reminded me of Parker with his sweet eyes and smile. Surely everything turned out okay and the lyrics were wrong. No way this handsome little man died. I came across rockstarronan.com where Ronan's amazing mom, Maya, blogs about finding out her son has neuroblastoma, going through treatment, and ultimately Ronan's death. She still blogs today and is on a mission to kill cancer and keep her son's memory alive. I read Maya's blog from start to current over the next 2 nights. I bawled. I am still crying, thinking about Ronan and how unfair it is his mom doesn't get to hold him, touch him, watch him grow. Cancer sucks!! On their blog, there is a section called How to Live Like a Rockstar that is inspiring and touching. I don't know how you could read this blog and not want to do something. Anything. One of the ways to "live like a rockstar" is to register to become a bone marrow donor, which is something I've always wanted to do. So guess what? I did it. I registered today. I think Cory's gonna do it too and that's awesome because Cory HATES anything medical-related (except his hot nurse wife).
So check out Rockstar Ronan and visit marrow.org to register to become a donor. It's SUPER easy and you could save a life of a little child like Ronan. If you are ages 18-60, they want you to join the fight! Do it now!

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

First Day of Preschool

School started. Summer is over. Tears.
Parker and Callie both started a new preschool this year. It's closer to our house and the kids can go on same days since I wanted Parker to go 3 days a week and Callie 2. I'll have one whole morning all to myself with no kids. Whoa. Callie will be going to class on Mondays and Wednesdays. Gotta ease my girl into this!! She did great though her first day. I think it helped that it was her birthday. She got to be the "class leader" and her class even sang her "Happy Birthday". She felt very special. Parents get to volunteer in the class monthly,and the teachers advocate coming in for your child's birthday, so I got to stay! How special to get to watch your child's first day of preschool ever.
Parker on the other hand said "BYE!" and didn't look back. He wasn't nervous about starting a new school at all.
Waiting to talk to his new teacher
Sitting at his new desk! I can't believe next year is Kindergarten for Parker Pants!! These kids are getting big!!

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Callie's 4th Birthday

I know people say all the time, "time flies!" or "where does the time go?!" But man, I really cannot believe my daughter is 4. I guess I still picture her somewhere around 2. Yep, that sounds about right. 2 years old forever. She sure loves to "play baby" and have me wrap her up, feed her, snuggle, and all that other "baby stuff" that is so much fun. I just enjoy it for now. I know those special moments will become fewer and fewer of her wanting me to hold her, sing to her, play "Taylor Swift" and dance in the living room together. I keep promising myself to never forget all the silly things we do together, or the hilarious things she says out of the blue. We pinkie promise each other we'll always be weird together. I love that. This was the first year we had Callie's birthday at home. She wanted a "Unicorns and Rainbows Birthday" so that's what we did. Daddy even made her cake just special for her. For her present we got her a purple guitar because she is super into Taylor Swift right now. We watch her documentary about her "Speak Now" tour weekly. We watch her on Youtube. We listen to her on my iPod in the car. We are official Swifty's. Grammie and Ca got her a little princess boombox with a microphone. Let's just say my ears are bleeding, but I don't mind. It's awesome. Please enjoy some pictures from our super fun party. Thank you to everyone who came.

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Another Incidental Absence

Where did I go again? Well, summer wrapped me up and gave me a warm snuggle. It took me away and we had fun! We've already done so much cool stuff this summer, so I don't know where to start to fill you in on all the MORE fun us Stemp's have been having, but I will try. We took an adventure to Silverwood Theme Park, we did some camping, lots and lots of home projects, swimming, baseball games, went to the local fair, and upcoming, had Callie's 4th birthday party. I know it might sound corny, but man, I love my little family so much. I had so much fun with the kids this summer, I really hate to see it end. And we all know how much I love the fall, so that is saying a lot! It's back to school time. Time for Callie to start 2 day preschool and Parker to move up to 3 day in a PreK program. School time means homework, routine, schedules, blah blah blah. I really am going to make an effort not to get into a boring rut that this time of year means to me. What that looks like, I don't really know. Here are some fun pictures from our summer.