Big, Bigger, Biggest

On the way home this afternoon, Forrest and his friends, Deaven and Payton, made a snow ball. They had to abandon it 1/2 block from our house as it got too big. Later in the day, Forrest begged me to go get the snow ball with him. So begrudgingly, I put on my boots, coat, gloves, and hat to go pick up this darn snow ball so he would stop bugging me. Low and behold, I cannot just "pick it up." You can guess what happened next...what a mother will do for her child! So Forrest and I begin rolling this thing to our house. Meanwhile, every foot or so, this ball is rapidly increasing in size. By the time we get it to the corner, we are really working hard. Out of the blue, two kind people from the neighborhood on yonder, offer to help. For 10 minutes, 3 adults and 1 child maneuver this thing out into the street, huffing and puffing, now rolling it up a slight incline to our driveway. We don't know these folks, but we do have a giant snow ball in our yard thanks to them!

Snow Day!

Today is a snow day! Not school, no plans, just a stay-in-doors-and-light-a-fire-kinda-day. We rarely get snow here so this is a real treat. It's cold, cold, cold. We Pacific Northwester's are utter weather wimps. In the summer when temperatures get into the 90's we all begin to melt. With cold temps, it's no difference. We all scramble to find our winter hats, gloves and warmest jackets. Let's not forget the mad dash to find our kid's snow pants and snow boots (worn only 1-2 times last year) only to find them 3 sizes too small! This is Forrest's and my conversation regarding snow boots: "Push" I say. "I am, I am, I'm doing the best I can. Mom these boots are way too small, they hurt." "No they're not, try harder!" I say. After investigative work, I realize the boots are a size 1 and Forrest is currently wearing size 4 shoes. Oops!

Faith Lutheran School's Christmas Service

Forrest & Cub Scouts: Learning & Serving

Service Learning project at Thurston County Food Bank. They packed 180 "weekend" bags to go to hungry children!
Forrest builds a birdhouse with Grandpa.
Completing one of his Achievements on tools.

Faith Lutheran School Celebrates Veteran's Day

Retired Lt. Colonel Dudley & Forrest

Assembly with reporter from The Olympian


Oops, Dad forgets part of his uniform, he
borrows from another Lt. Col. and friend,
Brian pins it on and gets a boo boo on his finger

Camp Invention Summer 2008

So Forrest attended Camp Invention this past summer. He was so excited as he loves to build, learn and create. He also got a chance to escape the Tacoma house...After camp our home and its contents became fair game for his "science" experiments. One of the most memorable was his Game Boy that didn't require batteries. He took two electrical leads (from a science kit) and attached them to the Game Boy. He was so proud when he showed me. I admit, it did look impressive. The goal was to get it to run without batteries or an electrical source. The result: he fried the Game Boy. Oops...the sacrifices we make in the name of science.

***scroll below on right to turn off blog music***

Traditional Irish Blessing - dedicated to Lucas who graduates this year! We love you!

Masterworks 2008-2009 Season

Masterworks kicked off its 2008-2009 season with Celtic Celebrations. It was an energizing concert. We were lucky to have Fiddlehead perform with us and Commerford School of Irish Dance. As usual, Gary (our director) arranged some amazing music. My favorites were from several tunes from Riverdance, Celtic Gloria and Autumn Reel. While researching music for this concert I came across a video of Irish Blessing. See above.

Suzuki Book 1 Graduation!

Worth noting... at the end of summer Forrest completed Book 1 of violin school and is now well into Book 2! This is the result of 3 years of a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. Forrest loves his violin now and is very proud of his hardwork and progress. An 8 year old playing J.S. Bach, Handel, and C.M. v. Weber. How cool is that?

Tacoma Youth Symphony & Pumpkin Carving Contest

Where can you attend a concert in costume, watch musicians perform bare-foot and also in costume, and see Darth Vader conduct an orchestra with a light saber? The Tacoma Youth Symphony! We all enjoyed the music. Favorites were: theme to Indiana Jones, Stars War Melody, and Lion King.

Later that same day we attended Westminster's pumpkin carving contest. Seth (Forrest's friend) took 1st place in most Creative in the youth division. Only 1 award, but they figured out how to share it!

Forrest: Cub Scout, Pumpkin Carver, Flag Carrier

Boys in his den.

Korbin, Deaven & Forrest

Forrest & Deaven opening pack meeting with flag ceremony.

Forrest receiving Bobcat badge.

One day after his 8th birthday, Forrest (and his friend, Deaven) joined Cub Scouts. On October 30th, he and other members of his den earned and received their Bobcat badge. He also received a music loop for his belt. The best part of the evening? Forrest and Deaven opened the evening with the flag ceremony and performed it perfectly. Well done boys!

The Dudley's Emerge from the Fog

Yikes! It's been since April that I posted anything...

Life is a swirling mass of hot air. Sometimes it sweeps you up and hangs onto you for quite sometime. In May, our Snohomish condominium sold after being on the market for 6 months. Yes, we got caught in this slow buyer's market. The good news: we were able to turn around and purchase in this crazy time. So, for the last few months of spring, we were consumed the with sale, rental search and purchase of property. After a long and futile search in Olympia, with the clock ticking on our 1031 Exchange, we settled on a 104 year old house in Tacoma. It is 4 blocks away from the University of Puget Sound and in the bustling and hip 6th Avenue District. A great area.

Forrest and I spent the summer painting, scraping, laying tile, painting, scraping, doing yard work, painting, and scraping. It wasn't until the second week of September until I came up for air. I've never seen a kid so happy to return to school. During the first week of school, Forrest was assigned a summer memory book. Guess what made it in there? If I remember correctly, I think his drawing was of a house and a skull and cross bones. Who says summer is all about fun?

Within 2 weeks of closing, we found a renter. Even though we were NOT going to rent to an undergraduate, guess what the Dudley's did? You got it. Meet Garrett, 24 years old, single, honors student and all around nice guy. That was until he let a nice and cozy gathering of his frat friends explode into a out-of-control party. Yup, the Dudley's hit the jackpot!

In June, Grammie, 87 years old (Lit's mom) broke her hip. She was found 6 hours after falling in her upstairs hallway. It broke our hearts. Reluctantly she succumbed to surgery and emerged healthy but very frail. She recovered just fine but did not make progress in physical therapy. Right now she is in a convalescent home, thankfully in her own private room. Anne (Lit's sister) had a decorator come in and bring some special items from her house to make it feel homey. She will not be returning to her beloved home of 20+ years. Needless to say, this is a difficult time for the Virginia, Colorado and Washington Dudley's. We have felt blessed that Lit was able to coordinate some business trips on the East Coast so that he has visited her 3+ times since her accident and will leave again mid-November and December.

So, you might see why we sequestered ourselves. To end on a high note, Forrest started his 3rd year at Faith Lutheran School. He is in the 2nd grade. His teacher is Mrs. Klumb, a loving teacher of 25+ years of teaching experience. He is thriving academically, socially and spiritually. We are thankful that we found a small family-oriented and faith-based school for him.

Things we are thankful for between April - September:

*Grammie coming through surgery healthy*Anne Wescott-Dudley being there for Grammie*Lit's multiple trips to Virginia*Forrest getting 100% on all his spelling tests (minus 1)in 1st grade*Forrest passing all his geography Passport tests*Forrest getting an Attendance Award*a healthy family*Mom's work at FLS and MCE*Lit surviving his biggest emergency management exercise in July*completing Suzuki book 1 and discovering enjoyment in playing the violin*nightly family dinners*Westminster Presbyterian Church*great marriage*singing*Forrest reading 6 books this summer*surviving the Tacoma house*

Olympia Suzuki Concert

Saturday, Forrest performed at our annual Suzuki Concert. Sadly, I wasn't able to be there as I had rehearsal for my own concert that night. Big brother Lucas came from Seattle and good friends Sara and Robby attended too. I heard that Forrest was very poised and confident performing. Yeah! Three years of lessons and recitals are paying off. Way to go Forrest!

2008 Spring Break

Spring break has come and gone. Forrest's cousins, Carlos and Lorenzo, spent break with us. They enjoyed days filled with bowling, swimming, video games, Legos and pajama runs to Dairy Queen. We had a hard time convincing Lorenzo, 4 years old, that the Dudley pajama run was not going over to the track and running in pajamas. He insisted it was and that Forrest and Carlos were too old to participate. Aah, the mind of a 4 year old. Ain't it grand?

Happy Birthday Lucas & Yaniza! Vancouver or Bust!

What do you get when you put to 2 crazy teens together for a weekend trip to bustling Vancouver B.C? Lots of crazy photos, midnight explorations, cable T.V. and 2 frazzled parents! In March we celebrate Lucas' 17th birthday and Yaniza's 18th birthday. Talk about making one feel old. I remember changing that girl's diapers and attending Lucas' 2nd grade graduation. Yikes!

Vancouver was a blast. We visited Capilano Suspension Bridge, Granville Island, Stanely Park, and Telus Science Center. Our favorite exhibit at the science center was the age machine that aged photos to 70 years. Very odd to see your kids as old men! Lit and I enjoyed some friendly competition...we strapped sensors to our heads and tried to see who could relax the most over a short time period. You all think Lit won, right? Wrong! I did. Yaniza and Lucas like the reproduction exhibit, go figure. Forrest loved the challange of building a dinosaur and butterfly without instructions.

Vancouver and culinary arts. Yum! Our first night we feasted at an Indian resturaunt in Gas Town and enjoyed lots of different types of curry. It was the first Indian food experience for Yaniza. The next evening, we went to a brew pub voted the Best Brew Pub in Canada! There we feasted on the best spicy Thai green beans in my life! A hit with the entire family.

Dudley's Dozen Dogmas: Our Guiding Principles

How this came about...a few month's ago, my girlfriend posted her family's guiding principles on her blog. I became inspired and have been waiting for Lucas to join us from Seattle so we could sit down and write ours. Here it is. We all contributed ideas and think these principles represent our family well.


Dudley's Family Guiding Principles

We appreciate the presence of God in our lives and honor and respect the faith and beliefs of others.
We honor and respect ourselves.
We practice unconditional love for one another.
We accept one another for who we are and others for who they are.
We view every day as a gift.
We value laughter, silliness and outright craziness.
We take time to be with one another.
We respect and treat our friends nicely.
We get joy from creating music and value the arts in our lifes.
We do what we can to help others.
We take loving care of our pets.
We strive to keep our bodies healthy by exercising and eating nutritious and delicious foods.

Local Newspaper Visits Forrest's Class

Charity Drive Helps Kids Flex Math Skills by Venice Buhain, The Olympian
LACEY — The first-graders at Faith Lutheran School have counted to more than 1,000 for a good cause.

That's the number of toys and books their class has collected so far for St. Peter Family Medicine, a teaching clinic at Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia.
The donors are the school's 150 students, in kindergarten through sixth grade.
The clinic's patients include low-income families, parent volunteer Rachelle Dudley said.
"You can walk out with a brand new (stuffed) animal so you're not afraid to go back again," 7-year-old Anna Grace Hartly said.
"Sometimes if you have something that you don't want, you should give it to someone instead of throwing it in the garbage," she added.
Some of the donations will be going to the hospital's sexual abuse program, Dudley said.
Not only have the first-graders used the opportunity to learn about helping others and volunteering, but teacher Peggy Broman is using the experience to help the students practice their math skills.
As they gather the toys and books from each classroom, the first-graders learn how to use tally marks.
After tallying the donations from each classroom, they go to a scoreboard in the hallway to give one sticker to each classroom for every five donations.
With the scoreboard, they practice counting by fives and 10s and estimating amounts.
"We wanted it to be educational, as well as something they give from their hearts," Broman said.
Eye on kindergartners
The class with the most donations will get a pizza and treats party.
"We're pretty sure the kindergarten will win because they already have so many," said Erica Slemmer, 6.
"We could get to the top because I still haven't brought my stuff," said classmate Seth Humble, 7.
Broman said the unexpected part was how picky the students have been in accepting donations. They have been thoughtful and thorough in accepting high-quality gifts.
"We have to do the job of, 'Would I want this book?' " Anna Grace said. "Because some people just throw it in the box without thinking about whether it's dirty or whether they would want it."
Erica added, "You don't want to get a dirty old toy."
Venice Buhain covers education for The Olympian. She can be reached at 360-754-5445 or vbuhain@theolympian.com.

Update! As of today, total donations over 2000 items!

Welcome Fatima!

Dr. Fatima is an EF Language student from Brazil. She is here to improve here English, but we think she speaks very well already. Fatima is an endocronologist. She has 2 daughters; 13 years old and 15 years old (who is Lucas's new pen-pal). Her husband is a mining engineer.

We are really enjoying her visit and are learning a lot about Brazil. For instance, Brazilians speak Porteguese, not Spanish. Similar to Australia, the Porteguese sent all their criminals to colonize the "new land." Did you know that Brazilian women usaually keep their maidens names when they get married? Do you know the name of the animal in the photo? It is called a cabivara. They inhabit the lake near her house. Did you know that they do not have such things as foreclosures in Brazil? The government or banks can never take your house? 12 oranges cost less than 50 cents. And ladies - a pedicure and manicure can be had for only $7.00 US. Check out the Brazilian recipe below.

Friday's Rock!

It's Friday night, sitt'n back with bestfriend Deaven, eating pizza, watching Avatar. Can life get any better?

Need to Borrow a Cup Sugar from your Neighbor?

Okay, this is funny...the visit from our former Indonesian student prompted me to pull out my Indonesian cookbook and start exploring recipes. As anyone who cooks Thai, Malaysian, etc. knows, getting the proper ingredients can be challenging in Olympia. Almost all Indonesian dishes call for galangal root, a ginger-like root but not quite. I've been on a quest to find it but haven't had any luck. The other day while shopping I ran into my friend and neighbor Christine, I tell her of my recent trip to the Asian market searching for galangal. She says why didn't you ask me?I have it, I'll give you some! Why limit your borrowing to eggs, sugar and flour when you have a neighbor with galangal root?

A Day of Bowling...

Nothing but technique here!

Forrest and Zachary

Bowling, family fun or humiliation? So I have a new name in our family, "Gutter Girl," yup, that's right. We played 2 games, I came in last each time. I begged Lit to put up the bumper rails for me, like we had for the kids. Don't worry about me though, I was able to leave the bowling alley with a self-esteem somewhat intact. Forrest and Zachary however, burned up the alley with their bowling. It was fierce competition. Their bowls were like missiles on a mission: straight down the middle, then a swerve to right, hits the bumper, ricochets off the side, swerves to the left, hits the other bumper, goes towards the middle again and hits the target straight on! Talk about accuracy. Seriously, why doesn't everyone play with the bumpers up?

What Are Your Real Needs?

Today we visited a church in Renton called New Beginnings with our friends Darrell and Eika. It was a very warm and welcoming congregation with lots of soulful singing, unbashful praising, and just down right fun! The pastor is Dr. Leslie Braxton. Tomorrow, MLK day, he opens up the Legislative session here in our Capitol rotunda. Today's sermon resonated a note for both Lit and I. The basic idea was: it's not how much you have, but what you do with it. Hallelujah to that! I know for me, I always have to pull the reins in from my wants and attempt to distinguish them from my needs. When you get right down to it, one requires very few needs to live. Yet it is so easy to get caught up in the race for more. Sometimes it is a challenge to live the values you believe and not get pulled under with our materialistic and narcissistic culture. What are your thoughts?

Who Says Dinners During the Week Have to Be Boring?

I asked Forrest to set the table for dinner the other night; he spent the majority of his time setting out an elaborate candle display in the center of the table. I expected the fire alarms to go off. He insisted we turn off all the lights and was so proud of his handy work. Who says family dinners can't be romantic?

Christmas is Over...But Too Cool Not to Share!

Lucas Get his Braces Off!

No more brace-face, no more little rubber bands around the house!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all! We hope every one's holiday was restful, fun and meaningful. On Christmas day it actually snow PNW. After living here for about 20 years, it was the first snow we have seen on Christmas day. What a treat! It was a wonderful day, full of presents, family, friends, and yummo food. I prepared a 4 course Southern Italian meal of: mixed seafood salad, spaghetti with anchovies, salmon with fennel, sweet potatoes fritters, cauliflower salad, broccoli, figs wrapped in prosciutto. For dessert we were treated to Eika's cranberry tart and Christine's grasshoppers. Wine: Critone, Val di Neto, a white wine with a hint of citrus.

Lucas was with us for about a week. While here, we trekked up to Mt. Rainer. After surviving the car slide from hell, we celebrated our survival with a fun day of snow shoeing. The snow was deep and fluffy. Forrest and Lucas made it their mission to see how much snow they could dump on me. Through pure luck on their part and bad timing on mine, I was the walking bull's eye for every tree they purged. Mom's always persevere. In between I caught the much need winter's silence I craved.

Highlights of 2007