Gracie's Thanksgiving Feast

I have to post the pictures of Gracie's Thanksgiving Feast at Kindergarten. The AM and PM Kindergarten classes hosted a feast for their Grandparents and Seniors of the church.

As the Grandparents arrived they dressed up liked Pilgrims and seated in front of Squanto's garden (decorated with food the children had "made"). The children arrived dressed as Native Americans bearing popcorn (instead of corn). They each had special names. Gracie's was Little Mountain.

Before joining their guests at the feast they "traded" gifts with the AM classmate that sat in their seat when they weren't there. They had made special beaded necklaces for each other. It was their way of showing friendship. So cute.

Upon arriving, they sat in Squanto's garden and sang to the Pilgrims. They started with an adorable song that says, "Hello everybody, how do you do? How do you do?" They each are introduced in the song and stand up. They sang several songs and many of us Moms were wiping tears away. It was so precious. I was also a little teary because this is my last time doing Kindergarten. It's such a fun, sweet experience.

The latest news...

I have so many fun events to post about and cute pictures. But, unfortunately, I'm just going to update everyone on the latest news...

Our building permit has finally been APPROVED!!!!

Yeah!!! Almost 2 years after finding property we have finally received notice from the most difficult county in Washington State that we can officially build our home. Thanks to my amazing husband for his perseverance and hard work!

We hope to break ground the beginning of January!

I'll try to get those cute pictures I have stored away up someday. Thanks to all you others out there that continue to post cute pictures for all of us to enjoy!

Leavenworth

Hudson salsa dancing with Jessica
Malacai enjoying a good book
Ethan, Malacai, and Hudson hanging in the hot tub
Letting off a little steam

Gracie and BrooklynJulia, Brooklyn, and Gracie getting their "girl time" in the hot tub.

This weekend we went over to Leavenworth and spent the weekend with my dear friend Jessica Side (Herrmann), her husband Matt, their children Ethan and Brooklyn, 3 of Jess' siblings Julia, Curtis (and girlfriend), and Lincoln. She and I have been friends since Jr. High and were both bridesmaids in each others weddings. Our time together over the past few years has been limited to "quick" get-togethers, since we live in different cities. It was so much fun to really catch up!

It was a very relaxing weekend. We talked, played card games, read, put together a 1000 piece puzzle, ate, Salsa danced (which John confirmed would NEVER happen on a Potts get-a-way), and enjoyed specialty cheeses with bread and wine.

Malacai's asthma was acting up. We actually had to visit the Leavenworth ER to get his oxygen level checked. So, he was a little more sedated than usual. He read an entire book! He's still recovering today and now on a strong steroid to open his airways. Poor guy!

Hudson and Ethan were 2 peas in a pod. It was fun to see them play so well together.

Gracie enjoyed having a little girl to play with. Brooklyn is 2. They both had enough of each other a couple of times though and had to take "breaks".

I love seeing my friends from my past. Living in a different city than the one I grew up in, I never seem to run into people from my younger days. John runs into people that he went to school with all the time.

It was fun to reminisce about old times with someone who was actually there with me. Jessica and I have experienced a lot together. We went to high school together, travelled across the US, lived together for 1 month on a school campus in Bratislava, Slovakia, did street drama, went on a mission trips to the Bahamas & Mexico, and many more memories. We had a few conversations that started with, "Do you remember the time.......?"

It was another weekend to be grateful for friends and family.

Recent Pictures of the Fam

The newest Potts member, Blake Andrew, getting some quality cousin and Uncle time. He's adorable and very loved!
Little Berk getting a squeeze from her big cousin. These 2 are becoming buds. Berk likes to show Gracie how things are done, though. Too cute!
This picture make Gracie look like a giant Tinkerbell!! This is one of her best buds, Brendan, from Kindergarten. She thinks he is he-wear-ee-us (hilarious).
Here's Tinkerbell, Ichiro, and Tom Brady.
I just love this picture from Halloween. Gracie with her dear friends!

My Dear Friend Jenette

My dear friend Jenette took me to dinner with Matt Hasselbeck the other night...oh, and his wife, and they were a table away (hee, hee)!! Then, she sends me a picture of her with her new "friend", Josh Brown! (No she's not dating him, but wishful thinking :). I think they look kinda cute together. He's probably not good enough for her, though.) Jenette is such a precious, thoughtful, beautiful friend. She always tries to get John and I out of our little town to the big city! Doesn't she know parents don't get much rest?! Thanks Jenette for the great night out and yummy dinner!!! I'm blessed to have you as a friend.

Birthday Girl!

Happy Birthday sweet Gracie!

Gracie's 5!

Her days have been filled with family, friends, cake, and a lot of fun!

Thursday:

We had a family birthday with a princess cake;

Friday:

A friend birthday party with pizza and root beer floats;

Saturday:

A day in the park watching the Blue Angels, followed by ice cream;

Ratatouille that night;

Sunday:

A day at the Science Center celebrating her friends birthday;

topped off with playing in the fountain at Seattle Center!

Whew!

I was flying solo for the weekend because John left Friday morning for a weekend away with his friends from high school! I'm just thankful my kids aren't toddlers. It's amazing how much easier life is when they are older. We had so much fun and I didn't feel completely exhausted at the end of it.

Idaho

The day after the 4th, Malacai, Hudson, Gracie, Noah, Ivy and I took a road trip to Idaho. On Friday, we went to Silverwood and Boulder Beach. We had a blast! Gracie was sooo brave. She went on every ride that she was tall enough to go on. Malacai and Noah went on the Corkscrew (roller coaster that goes upside down 2x's in a row) 4 times. Then, Ivy, Noah and Malacai went on the Panic Plunge - ugh! We were there when the doors opened and left when they were turning out the lights! Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera in with me. I figured I wouldn't have extra hands.

The next day my Mom and Frank (step dad) took us to Hayden Lake. The lake is absolutely gorgeous. We went tubing and swimming. Again, Gracie who loves the water, but has yet to put her face under wanted to go tubing! She is my adventurer. I love it, most of the time. :)

Hudson and Noah
Gracie and I Malacai and Noah
Ivy

On the way home we stopped at a friends house, swam for a while and then made the long journey home. Needless to say, I'm tired today. But, life goes on...we had swimming lessons this morning at 8! No, that was not my 1st choice!

4th of July!!!

Fun, fun, fun!! My kids love fireworks. This year we spent the day at Grandma & Grandpa's with friends and family.

Our patriotic baby, sweet little Hunter.
"I am Tarzan!!"
My sweet niece, Ivy, playing with the kids.
The slip-n-slide was a hit with the little ones.
Candy, candy, candy!!!!

Baby Daden and Adam hanging out.

Summertime, and the living is easy...

We have been making the most of summer!

We had my half-siblings with us for a few days. Yes, they do exist. I have a 13 year old half-brother, Myles; and 2 half-sisters, Hannah (11) and Sarah (8). We went hiking one day and swimming at the lake the next. It was a whirlwind having 6 children, plus my nephew, Noah. I have a new respect for large families. I felt like I lived most of the day in the kitchen preparing or cleaning up meals!

Property!

We are the official owners of 2.5 acres! Yeah!!!!

We also got our house plans back from the architect on Friday. It all seems a bit surreal. On Saturday, we sat at our kitchen table going over our house plans!!! I adopted the song I am so Blessed by Martina McBride as my life's theme song. It's been an amazing journey watching God's hand move on our behalf. We are hoping to submit our building plans this week. I'll keep you 'posted'!

Trip to the Ocean...

Hanging out together...

Playing in the sand...
Swimming in the pool...

Having a great little get-a-way!

Our life through pictures...

Malacai started baseball! I actually think this may be his sport. Football is his favorite sport, but when he gets a hold of that ball, he can really hit! It's fun to watch him play so well.
We bought a go-cart for the kids. Gracie is making her "signature" face. Malacai has been giving the cousins and neighbor kids driver's ed. He so likes to be in charge. No one is allowed to drive until he takes them through driver's ed...and ok's it with his dad! He much prefers the driver's seat though.
A trip to the Science Center for Malacai's birthday. I can't believe he is 9!!! It seemed like I would always have toddlers, and now, my kids are getting big!

It's buildable!

We found out today that our property is officially BUILDABLE!!! No wetlands, no critical areas, it perked, and the Health Department approved our septic design - Yeah!!!! Now, we submit our building plans for permits to build! Woohoo!!!!

Eeeeewwww!

Gracie has been fighting a cold for about a month now. It's been one vicious cycle of cough, fever, sore throat, earache. Yesterday, when she woke up after a night of persistent coughing, she was complaining that her neck hurt. I thought it was probably because she had been coughing so much. I felt the side and it felt really swollen. So to the doctor we went!

The doctor said, "Wow, her lymph node is really swollen and her ear is infected." She prescribed a strong antibiotic and said to give her Ibuprofen 3x's a day at a higher dose. Apparently, swollen lymph nodes are really painful. Then she examined her once more, pulling her hair back, and found she has a BIG SPIDER BITE!!!! Eeeeewwww! She said that the coughing, ear infection, and swollen lymph nodes could all be related to it. So on top of the other meds she also has to take Benadryl 3x's a day.

I felt like a terrible mom that I didn't even see it! Plus, I thought "Eeeeewww! When did a spider crawl on my daughter's head and munch on her neck!" She had played outside most of the day before. So, I'm hoping that's were it occurred. I did a thorough search in and around her bed, though!

Beginning the process...

House plans, house plans, house plans!!! We have spent endless hours looking at house plans. In the past month, we've picked our top 10 or 20 (all with minor changes); designed our own dream house; met with architects; came to our senses after we found out it would cost $10-12,000 for custom plans; re-examined our budget; bemoaned the fact that there are so many fees to build in our area, ie: school impact fee - $5,000. Now, we are leaning towards one of the plans that we have available to us through John's employer. I wish I could get those hours of sleep back!
While walking through unfinished houses, trying to get ideas, our kids constantly reminded us that they are the most important thing in our world right now. "Mom, forget the cabinets, take a picture of me!"
Kitchen cabinets - dark wood or white? That is the question that I fall asleep with. Then, I'm not sure I want the back splash so dark??? Isn't this area too dark for dark interior too???? So many decisions.
"Me too, Mom! Take a picture of me!"Upstairs bathroom

Clarification

I thought I should clarify myself on my last post. I wasn't intending it to be a "To Drink or Not to Drink" post. I appreciate the comments and insight though.

I, personally, feel that drinking is an area of personal conviction. I know several people who's main testimony of Jesus touching their life was setting them free from alcoholism. So, I don't want people to misconstrue my last post into thinking I was saying, "All of you, go out and have a drink on Jesus!" I wasn't.

My intent was to convey what I've been learning on my journey out of legalism into relationship.

Jesus says in Matthew: "I desire compassion, and not ( literal meaning -more than)sacrifice".

The first time, Matt. 9:13 he starts with learn what this means, I desire compassion, and not sacrifice." At that time he was breaking the laws of the religious by dining with sinners and tax-gatherers.

The next time, Matt. 12:7 he starts with had you known what this means, I desire compassion, and not sacrifice." This time, the disciples were breaking another law of the religious, by picking grain on the Sabbath.

Compassion in these verses means - mercy; special and immediate regard to the misery which is the consequence of sins.

Jesus said, "Blessed are the merciful (definition: not merely those who express acts of mercifulness, but who have this attribute as a result of the indwelling of God within them), for they shall receive mercy."

I think Jesus wants us to learn that it's not all about a sacrificial life. It's especially not about making sure others are living according to your standards and/or convictions. It's about having a heart that is so changed, by relationship with Jesus, that it is moved with compassion when it sees others bogged down by the weight of sin. It's not standing back and judging based on our perception of do's and don'ts.

Hopefully that's enough said.

Food for thought...

Any of us who have been in the church for any amount of time, or have gone through MC have probably struggled, like me, with Relationship vs. Religion; Law vs. Grace.

Well, I came upon an interesting scripture the other day:

"For John (the Baptist) came neither eating nor drinking (law abiding citizen), and they say, He has a demon!

The Son of Man (Jesus) came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Behold, a gluttonous man an a drunkard, a friend of tax-gatherers and sinners!"

- Matthew 11:18-19

I thought to myself, where would I stand? I don't want to be like the Pharisees that held so strong to the law and traditions that I wouldn't sit down and have a glass of wine with "the drunkard".

Pottsfamily news...

We've had the flu! Not just the high fever, sniffles flu...but the full-blown (chunks that is), down for the count flu!!! For your reading enjoyment I won't post pictures of this momentous occasion. God's mercies are new every morning and I'm hoping that His mercies will extend to every tummy in the Pott's household today. I would really like to see the outside world again!

Other news...we've spent every spare moment going over house plans. Yes, we are moving forward. We expect to hear from the health department about our septic design in the next week or two. God has directed every step, but we seem to be stuck on house plans. Not really an issue to be complaining about because we're thrilled that we are moving forward!

Well, the kids are in desperate need of my attention, so not much of a post, but at least there's something new!

Birthday Boy!

This year Hudson had a dinosaur birthday party!! Here's his volcano cake.The birthday boy!!!
Here goes the volcano!

Goal Accomplished!

Here's one picture of my mom and I before the race. I don't have any after the race...just picture really red faces and soaking wet!
All the kids for their Kid's Marathon. They had much better weather and did a GREAT job! We are soooo proud of you guys!

The Half Marathon...

My time was about 2 hrs. 7 mins.

Yes, it was miserable weather - MISERABLE!!!

We came down from our hotel room at 6:30AM to find the streets covered with snow! The air was filled with a mixture of freezing rain, snow and gusts of wind. So, as you can imagine, it was bitterly cold! I was starting to get a little nervous. We took a taxi to the Seattle Center and warmed up a little while the clock was ticking down to start time. Kim Cunningham and Olivia Dykes (along with her new fiance Shane :)) were there too.

7:30AM the gun went off! Once we were running, in spite of the rain and gust of wind, I internally warmed up. My feet were sopping wet right away. I could feel my toes squishing around.

The run went great. I really didn't feel like I was going to die. There were a TON of huge hills though. At mile 10 my mom told me to go ahead and run faster if I wanted because she was starting to feel yucky. So, I picked up my pace and finished strong. I'm happy to have it over!

Upon finishing the race, we were ushered into the Recovery Area. That's when it hit again how cold it actually was. At this point, we are soaked to the bone and it was so cold. Thankfully, they gave us space blankets. An item that I haven't been so razzed about since I was a kid and they were the "cool" thing. It really did help! My mom and I purchased some "vintage" t-shirts & sweatshirts for $2/piece so we could put dry clothes on (we were waiting for her friend, Jeannie, to finish). It was nice to get back to the hotel room to get dry, clean, and warm! I was chilled for the rest of the day though.

Today...I'm really sore and walking a bit slow, but my goal is accomplished!!! Yeah!!

Will I run a half marathon again? Maybe.