watch out for the woestmans

Random

noreply@blogger.com (Doranda) — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 23:43:00 +0000

Here are a few random pictures I never got around to posting. Enjoy.

Spring Planting

noreply@blogger.com (Doranda) — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 23:04:00 +0000

We had a beautiful spring break this year. With Bob's help and manual labor I decided to plant in the front yard. It is so nice to have our own house. This first picture is the before. You can see my lovely cherry blossom tree in bloom. I've had that in a pot for almost two years and it is still small. I was hoping that it would grow more once it was in the ground.

Next is the after picture. I tried hard to plant things that don't need a lot of light and that the deer will leave along. We also added a walkway from the drive4way and a path around to the side of the house. I'm pretty happy wit how it turned out and I can't wait to see how everything grows over the next few years.

Two princesses helping us buy stones. We underestimated the amount we needed twice and ended up having to go three times.

Remember the cherry blossom tree from the first picture? The deer destroyed it! I tried to tape the branches back on but I do not think it will work. I'm so mad at the deer. I got this disgusting deer spray but it smells so badly I don't know how often I can spray it.

Cinder and Stormy

noreply@blogger.com (Doranda) — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 22:41:00 +0000

Meet Cinder and Stormy, our new kittens!

We promised the kids we would get cats after we moved into our new house. We wanted low maitenence pets and having a cat in Japan worked well for us. It has taken a few months because the humane society is only open during the week and we have been busy. But we had a no school day and I told the kids we would go check.

We knew we wanted a bonded pair of kittens and sure enough they had one friendly set of kittens ready for us to bring home.

At first I thought we should come back another day and see if they have others. These two look almost exactly the same and they are solid grey. But the kids really wanted these kittens.

They have grown on me.

But not the litter box. So I'm ready for them to move to the garage. So far they have been inside. But ideally they will also go outside and spend time in the garage hunting mice. Hopefully we can have a smooth transition.

Cinder has the red collar and is a bit more adventurous. Stormy has the blue collar and is more shy. They play fight with each other all the time and are a little skiddish. But they do like petting and never skratch or bite us so everyone is pretty happy with them.

Hanami

noreply@blogger.com (Doranda) — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 22:21:00 +0000

We met friends at a local park to have a picnic under the cherry blossom trees, aka hanami.

We had a good time and I used it as an opportunity to take a couple nice pictures of the kids.

Tucker Graduation/Mission

noreply@blogger.com (Doranda) — Sat, 11 Apr 2026 21:55:00 +0000

Back in June my oldest child graduated high school! Bob and I are super proud of him and can't believe that he is 18!

We had a graduation party with our close friends whose oldest also graduated.

After a way to quick summer Tucker moved to South Korea to serve a two year church mission.

We miss him so much. But we are also so proud of him and know he is doing good work.

End of the School Year

noreply@blogger.com (Doranda) — Wed, 09 Jul 2025 13:00:00 +0000

The end of the school year was insane for our family. There were exactly 5 million concerts and events to go to it was very hard to keep up. I only have a few pictures but to share though. First up is a picture from Beatix's folk dancing night.

Scarlett graduated from middle school and will go to high school next year. Way to go!

She had a few field trips including two to SEattle one being to a Mariner's game.

Beatrix even had a kindergartener graduation. She is the only one of my kids to do one. It was super cute.

She received the wonderful worker award.

Calista didn't have a graduation but she did finish 2nd grade and get the leadership award.

This next picture is from a choir concert. All year long Scarlett complained to me about the boys next to her in choir class manspreading. So I laughed when I saw this at her concert. She wasn't lying.

Penleope also had orchestra concerts and finished 9th grade. And leon had a band concert and finished 6th grade.

Tucker had so many graduation things I'll need a separate post.

I'm so happy the school year is over!! It is nice working and then having the summer off!

Dance Recital

noreply@blogger.com (Doranda) — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 13:00:00 +0000

Calista and Beatrix have been taking ballet classes all year at the YMCA. It is really cute and they have been having fun. They just had their first and last recital and did an amazing job.

They also got tired of dance and so we are stopping. They wanted to be done about a month before the recital but I made them stick it out. The class always seemed to be at the same time as a million other things I needed to do so I'm ready to be done with it as well. I'm happy they got to have this experience though.

Scarlett's 14th Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Doranda) — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 13:00:00 +0000

Between all Tucker's graduation stuff and Calista's baptism stuff Scarlett didn't get the birthday attention she deserved. She had a great attitude about it though and is always very thoughtful.

She requested a lemon cake.

I usually tell everyone I'm leaving and everyone usually responds with an half hearted, "OK." It is funny and I'm not sure when she started doing it but whenever I leave the house she makes a point to run down the stairs to me and give me a hug and say bye. She is the only one of my kids who does that and she does it completely on her own. I've noticed her giving her friends goodbye hugs as well.

Scarlett also cares a lot about her friends and their feelings. She always wants to include everyone and doesn't want to hurt anyones feelings.

She loves reading and prefers to be in her room alone than hanging out with the family most of the time. We love her and try to get her to at least read on the couch near us. Happy Birthday Scarlett.

Calista's Baptism

noreply@blogger.com (Doranda) — Sun, 06 Jul 2025 21:25:00 +0000

Calista was very excited to turn eight and get baptized.

She had two sets of grandparents come watch as well as a couple Aunts. Everything went pretty smoothly and afterward she said she felt really good.

For her birthday she requested a cactus cake. I think it turned out pretty cute.

Calista has such a fun personality. She is full of energy and very kind. She doesn't feel like she needs permission to do anything and will be a great leader one day because of it. We love her!

Lacrosse Season

noreply@blogger.com (Doranda) — Sun, 06 Jul 2025 13:00:00 +0000

Penelope's friend asked her to join the lacrosse team with her and because she did not like her first day of track she decided to give it a try.

She ended up loving it so much. She said it might be even better than soccer.

As a parent it was more difficult because the practices were not at her school and she needed rides to and from practice everyday. The school did not provide busses for games either. But thankfully she had two friends who's parents we willing to carpool. There is no way I could have done it on my own.

Her team was a high school varsity team but it was made up of girls from all three high schools in our district. The girls they played against usually had much more experience. Penelope's team had several girls who were just learning.

The best part about it was how nice and supportive all the girls were. That and the epic goal Penelope made on the very last game. It was her first goal and all the girls ran and hugged her. She said her friend even started crying because it was so exciting.

Spring Update

noreply@blogger.com (Doranda) — Sat, 05 Jul 2025 19:08:00 +0000

We had a great spring this year. Check out a few of our highlights.

Great Wolf Lodge

noreply@blogger.com (Doranda) — Sat, 05 Jul 2025 18:50:00 +0000

We went to Great Wolf Lodge earlier in the year. The kids had a blast! It was a little stressful for Bob and I.

Leon's 12th Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Doranda) — Tue, 08 Apr 2025 18:17:00 +0000

Now that Leon is 12 it feels like I have four teenagers in the house. He isn't technically a teen, but he is in middle school and he is as tall as two of my teens.

Sometimes I think Leon has a split personality because everyone at school says he is very quiet, but at home he is the loudest out of my six kids. I think at home he is loud because he is always trying to get our attention by being louder than his siblings. I honestly don't know why he is so quiet when around others. I don't see it often, but it could from him being unsure of himself. I have noticed that he is a very technical person and any small discrepancy can trip him up. He takes everything I saw very literally which makes it hard for him to follow directions. If my directions are not specific enough or if they contradict a past direction in some way he gets stuck and doesn't know what to do. He is a very sweet guy, but sometimes it is like we are speaking two different languages. As he gets older I hope he grows in confidence outside of the home.

Leon is also doing swimming lessons and he learned a ton. I would say this was his first time really taking lessons and with him being a little older the growth was huge.

Leon likes to play games, sports, and spy things. Leon is also now a deacon at church which is pretty cool and means he is old enough to join in the weekly youth activities among other things.

In case you are wondering the big cut is from diving into the pool during his swimming lessons. He hit the bottom of the pool hard and had a huge bump on his forehead along with the scrape.

We really love Leon and are so happy we get to celebrate birthdays with him. Happy Birthday Leon!!

Beatrix's 6th Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Doranda) — Tue, 08 Apr 2025 01:23:00 +0000

Beatrix was so excited for her sixth birthday. She asked us everyday after Christmas how many more days until her birthday.

I think she was mostly excited for presents, cake, and ice cream. She said her favorite present was candy. We also got her a blood pressure cuff, a stethoscope, and a yoga ball.

Beatrix is doing great in school. She has mastered what feels like 800 kindergarten sight words and has only had two calls home from the nurse for head injuries at recess.

Beatrix was also excited to take her birthday pictures. I think she really likes the ritual of having a birthday and everything being about her.

Beatrix just started swim lessons and she has learned to float and not be be scared of the water. She still has a long way to go to learn how to swim.

Happy Birthday Beatrix!

House Update

noreply@blogger.com (Doranda) — Sun, 06 Apr 2025 23:19:00 +0000

The house build is coming along...slowly. Bob spends pretty much every waking minute he isn't at work at the property and even with that it is understandably taking a while. I went over to help and get updated pictures for you all.

Check out the video.

The floors are poured, sanded, and polished. They look nice and I'm excited to have heated floors this winter.

Mostly what we do to help is clean.

Calista and Beatrix were gathering all the scrap wood in the garage.

This is the upstairs. We have plywood floors and the walls marked out. You can see part of the bathtub walls there.

Penelope is standing in what will be the open couch/ping pong table area.

This will be my favorite area, the reading nook and window seat.

Another picture of the garage with the mudroom and laundry room.

This is the inside of the downstairs. The kitchen will be along the right wall of this and the left half is the family room area.

Bob hooked up this electric box. Now we have to wait for the electric company to put in the wire. Their list is about five weeks long.

Now that the walls are upish and Bob has put in the plumbing he is working on HVAC and next will be the Pex piping (water that flows in). After that the interior electrical and the spray foam. Then the drywall and finishings after that. Oh and septic whenever it is dry enough.

It is nice that I can see the basic steps left for the house to be finished. It still feels like a long list, but now it is a list I can at least remember. As far as a timeline goes we have no idea. Bob is still trying for the summer, but honestly it will be done when it is done.

Snow Week

noreply@blogger.com (Doranda) — Fri, 07 Feb 2025 03:00:00 +0000

We have been getting just barely enough snow to cancel school all week! It is Thursday and we haven't gone yet. They already announced that Friday will at least be a two hour delay. I hope the whole day doesn't get canceled because we used up our built in make up days and are now adding onto the end of the year. The problem is really the ice. It has been below freezing and snowing just enough for it to turn to ice.

Feeling a bit stuck in the house and having flash backs from covid is not stopping us from having fun.

This next picture is of us sledding at a friends house.

Today we played Mario cart together. I can't remember the last time I played video games with the kids.

Bob even had work canceled for two days and has been struggling to trench a power line to our property. He had to wait at Home Depot for two hours because they wouldn't give it to him until it got warmer outside. Then once he got it back he realized they didn't give him the keys. The whole thing has been a struggle because he is trying not to block the road for our neighbors who own an airbnb. He wasn't able to get started until about 3pm and is supposed to have it done today. I'll be excited when we have power!

Trampoline Park

noreply@blogger.com (Doranda) — Mon, 03 Feb 2025 01:12:00 +0000

For Christmas this year the kids got a month long membership to the local trampoline park. We went pretty much everyday for two weeks before school started and then most days after that. We for sure got our moneys worth. We had a blast.

Troll Hunting

noreply@blogger.com (Doranda) — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 14:00:00 +0000

We visited two more trolls and only have one left. The first one is Brunn Iddun in Lincoln park. We had to walk a good fifteen minutes to get to this guy. He is down by the beach and we were not expecting that. It would have been a very nice walk but we were tired and not prepared.

We also visited the Issaquah troll Jakob Two Trees. I like his birdhouse necklace.

Seattle Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Doranda) — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 14:00:00 +0000

We took the ferry over to Seattle and spent the day sight seeing with the kids. I especially wanted Tucker to be familiar with the big sights in case people ask him about them after he moves out.

We were trying to see the property from the ferry. It wasn't possible, but we tried.

We saw the miniature train village.

The space needle.

Posed in front of the EMP and played at the playground there.

We put gum on the gum wall. The kids were probably the most excited about this, but when we got there they didn't even want to do it.

We visited pikes place.

And checked out the gingerbread village.

It was fun, but a very long day. When we were about fifteen minutes away from our house our car stopped working. I wasn't able to get the van to go over 20 mph and it was very very slow to gain speed. I was so happy we were able to make it home. It was actually Christmas Eve so we didn't even look at it until after Christmas. Turns out you need to put oil in a car for it to work. It was completely empty and when Bob filled it up it started working perfectly again.

Winter Time

noreply@blogger.com (Doranda) — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 14:00:00 +0000

We had so much fun during winter break. I love having two weeks off at home with the kids. Just before the break we had dress up days. I'm always a big fan of these for my kids but they are not always interested. Most of my kids actually will not participate, but Calista is the exception. Here she is for 80's day.

And me on pajama day.

Now I have a bunch of random pictures to share.

The elfs came to our house again. This year we let the older kids hide them. It was great because I'm tired of doing it.

We celebrated Bob's birthday.

Went to several kids concerts.

Tucker learned a backflip. It is pretty much all he does and talks about. I don't really like him doing them but I do understand why he is excited. He has wanted to be able to one for years and came a long way.

Hiking Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Doranda) — Mon, 20 Jan 2025 22:09:00 +0000

It is getting cold outside but I try to spend time outside when we can. I always have to drag the kids with me on the hike but by the time we are about halfway done they are usually enjoying themselves.

We made it to the waterfall!

It was actually very short. Maybe a mile each way. We tried to find a different way back (I wanted to make it longer) and ended up having to forge our own path for a while before we made it back to where we started. I thought it was fun but Tucker had to carry Beatrix through a marsh and the kids weren't very happy with me. Calista thought we were actually lost and were in trouble. I knew where the path was the entire time it was just a matter of making it through the woods back to the path.

Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Doranda) — Wed, 01 Jan 2025 22:55:00 +0000

2024 for us was busy. I felt like we were really immersed in living in America again and everything that comes with. We didn't have major changes but many small moments that mark the passage of our year. I tried to spend as much time as possible with the kids as I know this was our last full year before Tucker turns 18 and starts moving on. I have high hopes for 2025 and I know it is going to bring big changes for our family that I am both dreading and excited about.

Over the past year Bob was very busy with both his full time job and building a house. That left me with being very busy taking care of six children and starting a new job. I started working at the local elementary school so I could have hours that match the kids. It was a big change for me but it has been going well and I would say is overall positive.

Tucker enjoyed playing on the high school soccer team, started a job lifeguarding at the YMCA and has been applying for college and planning his next stage of life.

Penelope started high school, took driver's ed, and also enjoyed playing soccer for the high school team.

Scarlett is interested in the plants she is growing at school, she joined choir and she also started a book club with friends.

Leon made the big shift from elementary to middle school and is taking on much more schoolwork. He started playing the clarinet and enjoys playing basketball in his room on his over the door hoop.

Calista started second grade has started reading on her own and likes drawing.

Beatrix started kindergarten this year, she loves going to school with Calista and loves being the youngest in the family.

We took a similar picture of our kids ten years ago and so we tried to recreate it.

Halloween 2024

noreply@blogger.com (Doranda) — Wed, 18 Dec 2024 16:56:00 +0000

I thought I already posted about Halloween. I guess I'm more behind than I realized. Anyway, several weeks before Halloween we scored some more decorations from my parent's neighbor. They were giving away a few of those blow ups, so we snagged them. Their neighbors really go all out.

One of the decorations even had a projector that played scary, and not so scary, videos and music. We felt the scary ones were too scary to display in our front yard. I love Halloween but I am not about anything gruesome.

We went with a Toy Story theme this year. It is always hard coming up with a group costume that pleases everyone but I think everyone was actually happy about it this year. The key was that they all got to choose any character that worked for them.

We had Little Bow Peep, with her sheep.

A Jessie that Penelope and I worked together while making. We were lucky to find the hat at the thrift store, but the rest of it we made. I was disappointed that she didn't want to wear it to school. She was really happy with it, but at the last minute didn't want to wear it to school.

Calista was thrilled to wear the blow up dinosaur costume. She also didn't wear it to school but stuck with the theme and wore an etch a sketch costume.

Scarlett's was a little out there. She wanted to be a My Little Pony with her friends at school. So we are just going with it as it is a toy. Her friends came up with the costumes and they were all different ponies.

The boys were the toy soldiers. I once again regretted making this costume. It was an insane amount of work and way too much money. I'm sure I spent over $50 on cans of green paint. I also had to buy all the clothes and accessories to paint, which was $20 (from the thrift store). They did like them though and getting Tucker to want to participate in our group costume is huge. In the end the paint kept flaking off and neither of them could or wanted to wear them to school.

Bob and I were Mr. and Mrs. Potato head. I made these out of felt. It was pretty easy and probably only cost about $10 combined. I think they turned out so cute I'm going to save them. So they might make a reappearance one day.

As per typical Washington fashion it rained on both Halloween and the day we went trunk-or-treating. The former we got soaked and the latter ended up being held indoors. All the M&Ms were pretty much garbage because their packaging did not hold up to rain.

Tucker ended up having a bad fever and slept through trick-or-treating. Peneleope and Scarlett opted to go with their friends. So we had the younger three with us in our neighborhood. The houses are nice and close together and the it was the perfect size to fill up their buckets and be done. They even got about seven full size candy bars, which is pretty much gold around here.

After which we drove to one scary haunted house and then home for Spookley and candy sorting.

Penelope's Soccer Season

noreply@blogger.com (Doranda) — Fri, 13 Dec 2024 03:02:00 +0000

My mom reminded me I haven't posted in a while so I'm going to try to post a few before I have Christmas things to post about.

Penelope played on the high school JV soccer team this year. She had less experience than most of the girls but she worked hard and did a great job. She got to play the forward position which she was excited about. She went about half the season without scoring a goal, but after she did score one she was able to score quite a few. It was really exciting for her.

When the season ended the coach gave her the most improved player award. She got so much better during the season I'm glad her coach noticed. She made friends on the soccer team and had a great experience.

Tucker made a highlights video for her.

Portland Troll

noreply@blogger.com (Doranda) — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 13:00:00 +0000

I convinced my parents to go to Portland on a day I wasn't working and we went and saw Ole Bolle. This will be my third of the six giant trolls and probably my favorite so far.

I brought a few kids along for the ride. It was another long day and a very long car drive but we managed ok. We actually had fun and even got donuts and Costco pizza!

After the troll we headed to a nearby park. It was a pretty cool park. I would recommend it to anyone with kids in Portland.

Only three more to go!