life worth living

happy friday morning

2010-02-26T07:13:00.000-08:00

(i love you)

this beautiful message was written by my youngest several years ago....but on a wet, rainy, blustery friday morning, it makes my heart happy.

She is moving back home

2010-02-26T07:10:00.000-08:00

after several years of flight.........in her newly acquired home state of colorado........my friend is moving back to oregon. as i write this, she is packing her belongings and her cute new pooch Jack Bauer and getting ready to take a road trip back to us. her friends, her family, her home church. we have missed you debbie..........glad that you are coming home!

bushy

2010-02-23T19:17:00.000-08:00

so you may or may not know that i turned 40 in january........i know, save the over the hill comments. i remember when my dad turned forty, i thought it was so old! now here i am.

so some interesting things about turning the big 4-0...........the week of my birthday i had night sweats. really truly. i had to wash my sheets a couple of times that week from all the sweat. remember what it is like those first few weeks after you have had a baby and all the meds are coming out of your body and you have nights sweats. anybody, anybody???? well that is what it was like! at first i did not think anything about it, but then i started having mini hot flashes at work. i would get all red and hot and my hands would swell up! YUCK!!!!

But the ultimate grossness..........the other day i was getting ready for work, putting on my eye shadow when this thing....this huge ugly white hair was protruding from my right eyebrow!!!! what the heck???? I am way too young for that! i immediately plucked that huge ugly white hair from my eyebrow and started searching for others.......thank goodness there was only one!

40 is to young for bushy eyebrows......that is reserved for grumpy old men who have nose hair and ear hair and bushy eyebrows! and if you remember this post from last year ( on getting old) i was worried that i was going to lose my eyebrows. what a difference a year and less estrogen will do.

February In Review

2010-02-23T06:13:00.000-08:00

February is always kind of a hectic month for us, with basketball season in full swing and the winter doldrums and cold weather cabin fever at a high! We celebrate my dad's birthday at the beginning of the month and we had my niece over to stay the night. It has been a great month of enjoying our family and watching the olympics this year! we have cheered and stayed up late and watched america win gold, silver and bronze! both of the kids are totally into it this year, which is fun. they are anxious for the summer olympics to arrive!

oh.......and here a couple of pix to have fun with too!

the girls found dress up clothes. the dress sydnie is wearing was my old freshman winter formal dress. yep, my mom cannot bear to get rid of them.

noah did not want to wear a prom dress, so he opted for the work wear.
my old mcdonald's hat. yep, i worked there for a summer
and my old fred meyer smock. yep, i used the word smock!

aren't they too cute!

oh wait..........i was wrong........
introducing...............noah, the fairy godmother!

noah had to give a speech for class........what would you do if you were president!
we created a campaign poster and he delivered his speech with a thumbs up
at the end! i am fairly certain he laughed through the whole thing!

sydnie's upward team had their year end party!
we painted big J's on the girls faces to celebrate the end of a great year!

celebratory cupcakes.....provided by sydnie!

Interesting

2010-01-29T19:05:00.000-08:00

so i had seen this article posted by a friend on facebook. i bookmarked it. i finally read it.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/january/12.22.html?sms_ss=facebook&start=1

interesting concepts in there. all too true that we set our parenting to forumulas given to us by child experts. do we parent by faith? we are judged and we judge others by their parenting skills and how there children are behaving. a couple of key points that spoke to my heart.

"We must proceed, then, on our knees first, beggars before the throne, if we are to parent well."

"Parenting, like all tasks under the sun, is intended as an endeavor of love, risk, perseverance, and, above all, faith."

"It is faith rather than formula, grace rather than guarantees, steadfastness rather than success that bridges the gap between our own parenting efforts, and what, by God's grace, our children grow up to become."

enjoy it if you read it. interested to see what others think about it.

musings on a thursday morning.....

2010-01-28T06:44:00.000-08:00

i am not sure where to start with this post. the thoughts keep rattling around in my head. so as i write bear with me, it might get messy.

in our society we have parents of many different attitudes. i came from the thought of protect my children, be the best mom i can be and be my child's advocate! when i was a SAHM i never gave two thoughts to this type of attitude. it was what i did. i was a mom! (i still am by the way)

along that road i ran into some different attitudes. why do you always have to know where your kids are? why don't you give them some freedoms? why can't they walk home by themselves? etc, etc, etc. again..............never even gave it a thought. this was my way of parenting. like it or don't.

now this is a paticularly sensitive subject for me, since my mom is the queen of overprotective. i never, ever remember being left alone when i was young, not even as a teenager. if my mom had to go to the store, then i did too. when she is with me and the kids now, she constantly has to know where they are, even to the point that she wants them to hold her hand. i have worked very, very hard to not be that. in public situations with lots and lots of people they do have to be near me. i need to know where they are, because you never know what could happen. but again.....i have worked very, very hard to not be "that" mom.

then i started working. i worked in a place that sees many different parenting styles. i saw my attitude change a little. it was not a bad thing...in fact it was healthy and we have grown so much from it. but what kills me here is: my type of parenting was thought of in the same way a neglectful parents was. that has been an eye opener for me. it really shocked me at first. a caring parent is not the right thing to be??? some people don't like parents like me who protect, who advocate for my kids, who care???? how could that be???? i know i am a good mom. how could it be that a protective mom, a caring mom is looked down upon.

last week we had to take noah to an appointment that challenged me as a parent. that brought to life my worst fears for him. that broke my heart. i cried. i cried in the shower. i cried making dinner. i cried at the appt. i just cried.

but then something else happened. as noah was talking with some people.....thad and i got to talk to someone. it was cathartic. as we explained to this person different situations and how we parented, he sat and listened. he took it all in. then he turns to me...............and says "i just want to commend you, i wish every parent was like you!!!" what????? did i just hear that correctly??? there was no condemnation, there was no judgement.........he actually told me that i had done everything right for my son!!!! you mean i am not overprotective??? i am not too caring??? i am not too much of an advocate for my child??? WOW..........that was completely validating for me!!!! not only did we have a great experience at this appointment, but i got to walk out of it with a little more confidence to continue to say "I don't care what you think.....I am their mom!"

so to all of you moms that have little ones still...............hold strong. do what is right for your kids. don't let others tell you what to do! know that you have that power to say what does and does not work for your kids! God has called us to a very difficult and amazing job and it is a process, but in the end it is very satisfying to know that you were called to be there MOM!

New Year, New Look

2010-01-27T06:59:00.000-08:00

her new look.
her new "i am smart" look.
her new "i am so excited to wear glasses" look.

i have been waiting for this day. knowing it would come. knowing that our kids would probably be as blind as thad and I. what i did not expect was her excitement over getting glasses! she could not wait to call her friends and tell them! she proudly wore them! i remember when i had to get glasses for the first time..........dread! i guess that glasses are different now, they are an accessory to your outfits. she has not been called a name once at school. in fact everyone thought they were super cool.....most of the teachers wanted some just like it!

for now she does not have to wear them all the time. she mainly needs them for seeing the white board at school. but she can read just fine without them. she can watch tv just fine. my favorite qoute "mom, it's like everything is in HD now with my glasses on!"

heart exposed

2010-01-26T17:07:00.000-08:00

i have had a few good laughs over the comments regarding my construction post. Which in reality was just a simple way for me to get that stupid ritz cracker picture off my blog! i realized it had been awhile since i had posted and trust me i have lots and lots of pictures to post, but no time to do it.

i know there was speculation regarding my facebook posts as well. I can tell you all that I AM NOT PREGNANT!!!! Not that I would not like to be. I would love to be the mother to more than two children, but God has chosen for us and I accept His will.

But let me say that my heart has been heavy since Christmas. It has taken a journey of anger, denial, pain, hurt......and now it sits without burden; healing.

Many of you, my dear friends, know about my brother in law and the heartache and forgiveness that our family has experienced. It appears that his sins have come full circle and now affect someone else within our family. It has opened all of the old wounds for us. It has shaken us deeply.

We have had to draw a circle around our family. To protect. To withdraw from relationships that were tattered and now cannot be repaired. To be truth tellers to our children, who did not know. To hold my baby close.

As we have journeyed through this we have found that our family has not been entirely affected. We know that there was a situation, but we circled the wagons and were aware of it. We rest in knowledge that GOD in heaven has protected them. He has provided for us.

We grieve now. But we also know that just as before we will get through with GOD's strength and His faithfulness.

Basketball Season

2010-01-25T07:11:00.000-08:00

it feels like i just posted about Upward.........and it has been a whole year!!! i guess that is what happens when facebook takes over your life and your stories do not become as important as farmtown or cafeworld! we are three weeks into basketball and the kids are doing awesome!

noah has really taken to basketball this year. he understands it. he wants to practice. he wants to do his best. his teammates lift him up and tell him what a good job he is doing. he actually gets to touch the ball and make baskets!!!! he is so happy when he is out there.

sydnie is really starting to show that those years of fundamentals work are paying off! she has made several lay-ins! she is rebounding!! not scared to get hit in the face! it is a huge difference from last year even! she really likes playing!

both of the kids have begged thad to play with them during the week, so they can practice and get better! they are both the tallest kids on their team..........i think thad's genes are kicking in!

so thankful for an amazing year! so thankful for thad's patience as he teaches them the fundamentals that will set them up for greatness one day! or not if they choose not to play! i guess i am just thankful that my kids are in a program that believes in lifting up kids and showing them that they are believed in and supported!

2010-01-22T07:19:00.001-08:00

we are currently under construction......

Don't judge me

2009-11-30T08:18:00.000-08:00

these are the yummiest little creations ever!!! seriously!!!!

as we shopped the aisle's at Fred Meyer on our girls weekend we spied these little delicious creations. when i saw them i said "i like ritz crackers" barbie said "i like chocolate!"

so into the cart they went!
we opened them
we loved them
we hid them from the kids!

Girl's Weekend

2009-11-30T08:06:00.000-08:00

my friends from school! a girls weekend away! with kids?????

it was a chance for us to get away. to shop at the outlets. to relax. to talk girl talk. to refresh.

and the kids really took care of themselves! we did not cook. we had coffee. we stayed up late. we laughed. we all ended up sleeping with our own child! ha ha. mine ended up staying up until 1am!!! finally got him to sleep by turning on my ipod and sticking the earbuds in his ears! it was very stormy and it sounded like the building was going to come down around us!

but it was a great night to just get away!

TAG

2009-11-30T07:49:00.000-08:00

I love my daughter..............i really do! she is such a unique and creative individual. she is precious and adorable.

but as you know i have shared my "battles" with her. everything from not wearing jeans to cutting tags out of shirts so she can wear them. and of course all of this goes along with the dreaded seam in the sock not being lined up when you put your shoes on! she is slow and methodical and very, very sensitive. she does not like bright light, loud noises, chaos, she does everything in her own time.

now with all of this being said..........we have worked and worked with her to help her overcome most of these issues that she has. she has come such a long way....she wears jeans now!!!!! she does not fight me every morning over what to wear. she can manage her time fairly wisely and she is becoming a little more aware of others in regards to how her slowness affects them.

at the beginning of this year i sat down with our school counselor, again! i adore her and relish her wisdom and advice. we spoke about my daughter's stress level and how it was affecting her sleep patterns, etc. we finally got around to talking about the fact that syd is a TAG kid and have i ever looked into how that molds and shapes her? i had not. so i left her office with lots of info in regards to how TAG kids operate and think!

as i read the literature i could literally see this child i have, come to life. it was completely eye opening for me! i have come to view syd in a completely different way. she will always be this way and it is her normal! she is so verbal and can carry a conversation with an adult, but when it comes to her peers it is hard for her to make new friends. so many aspects of her personality were explained to me.

now it is still our job as parents to help her to identify what aspects can be controlled and managed to help her succeed in the long run. and this is where it is physically draining for us as parents. she requires so much attention and her needs are greater than her siblings. but that is our job and we love her with all of our lives.

so our journey continues............

where to even start

2009-11-30T07:44:00.000-08:00

so obviously i failed again with my blog..........someday i will manage to keep up with it on a daily basis! too many other things have gotten in the way......like work, kids, husband, laundry, cooking, cleaning and of course the dreaded facebook! seriously what a huge time sucker that is! i had no idea when i joined it a year ago that it would consume my life!

so i sit before you again vowing to blog more! i will attempt to catch up on the month of november...not too much occured, but i will try and find something to blog about. the problem is, i am friends with all of you on facebook anyway, so you have already seen my pictures of GWL and tree hunting!

but there are stories to go with those pix................priceless moments to cherish and remember. so here i go again!

delayed

2009-11-05T08:31:00.000-08:00

so sad today.........we have had to postpone our trip to great wolf lodge! we were suppose to head out for some family fun. this time we had reserved a big suite because we were going with my brother and his family. but alas.......the piggie flu hit their family just in time to delay our trip. but we rebooked it for thanksgiving week.........so we still get to go enjoy our time! and maybe they will have it decorated in their winter wonderland!!!

trick or treat

2009-10-31T21:01:00.000-07:00

the clone trooper and the kitty

this is her third year as a cat...at least the boots spiced it up a bit!

she was so excited to put makeup on!

this is his 4 year year as a star wars person!

another year, more candy and fun costumes! this year was a mellow year for us, since we had just been sick the rest of the gang......ryen and luke, grandma and grandpa decided to stay home and not get sick. so it was just the four of us! it was nice.

as we do every year, the candy fairy visited us again. luckily i remembered at 8pm that i had to go buy some CF gifts! so while the kids sorted their candy, i ran up to target and bought some small gifts for the fairy to exchange for candy!

it amazes me that they are getting so old and they still look forward to the fairy coming! i am pretty sure that they know by now, but they enjoy it still!

the dreaded piggie flu

2009-10-30T08:13:00.000-07:00

has arrived out our house! it has been an interesting week. one full of flu facts, doctors that contradicted each other and lots and lots of clorox wipes!

noah started showing signs last saturday and by sunday he was into a low grade temp with lots and lots of coughing. we finally ended up calling in to the peds clinic because of his asthma and of course they told us to go to an er.........needless to say, i did not want/need to do that!!! but we did take him in to be seen on monday morning, just to make sure that it had not hit his lungs. and all was well. he was started on a new inhaler and it really helped a lot.

he pretty much stayed low grade fever for 3 days and then was fine, except for the coughing. we decided to brave school for a day......we made it four hours! by that evening his coughing was worse, so we went back into the clinic and again all was well.

i will say that the most frustrating part for me was the mis-information given to me by the doctors. our normal doctor told us it was a virus, not swine flu. that there were lots of other things going around out there. the next doctor told us it was the swine flu, nothing else going around! i asked why the first doctor told me what he did and was informed that due to hysteria some doctors were trying to minimize the information being told! hmmmmmmm????? i appreciated being told the truth, no matter what. it made me more secure in knowing what we were dealing with and which symptoms to look for next.

in the end........it truly was not as bad as i expected it to be. we were lucky.
i think we have all had it and we all survived!

rememberances

2009-10-27T16:51:00.000-07:00

i was driving to woodburn on saturday, it was a beautiful day. the sun was shining, it was a great drive and the radio was blasting.

then i saw it. the roadside rememberance of a family who had lost their mom on that very road, in that very spot, several years ago. i know because i was in a car with family members on our way to my sister in laws book signing, when we drove by a white suv..........upside down on I-5. the first responders were not even there yet and there were kids hanging upside down in the back of the car, screaming. it is a horrible feeling, this helplessness. there was nothing that i could have done. there were motorists that had stopped and were helping. as we drove slowly past......i saw her. the mom. there was no way that she had survived. her image is burned into my memory. i started praying for the people in the car immediately and to this day i still do! i pray for the kids and husband who have lost their mother and their wife. i pray for their healing. i pray that God has used a horrible, tragic situation to draw more near to Him. i pray that the family can release their anger, remorse and grief.

are there people in your lives that have touched you that through the years you continue to pray for? people that you did not even know? people who you spoke with once? or loved ones and friends?

I have several people in my life that i pray for..........some i had never met, like the mom. or the budhist grandma that i sat next to on a flight home from chicago. we struck up a conversation about our faith........and in the end i promised to pray for her! i look forward to seeing her glorious face in heaven one day. i believe that God has placed people in her life that drew her to Him.

my awana friend from way back when....who died of sickle cell anemia. who's favorite song was "it only takes a spark to get a fire going!" i think of her from time to time and the way she touched my life. because of her my empathy for friends in need became what it is today. she has always touched my heart.

these people that are put in our lives for a reason............God knows why. God uses these experiences to touch us, to grow us closer to him.

i am not a great evangalist. in fact it is my true hold up. i am not comfortable speaking to others. but i belive that God has used me anyway. I just continue to pray.............for the people i don't know, the people i have only spoken too and family and friends.

mine is in the mail!

2009-10-26T19:49:00.000-07:00

cannot wait to get my cookbook tomorrow!!! i love to thumb through the pages of a new cookbook and find all recipes that i want to make! this is a cute segment from today''s bonnie hunt show with my favorite blogger...the pioneer woman. love the audience guy who comes up to taste the taters!

dear reality show contestants

2009-10-19T20:29:00.000-07:00

please stop proclaiming in your intro videos that you are christians.....talking about your purity and your faith and all of these things that you feel like you need to put out into the reality universe. because here is what breaks the deal for me.............

when you use the Lord's name in vain while you are on the show.

so does that mean that you are a sometimes christian. because i don't recall a verse that says it is okay to use His name while yelling at your teammate. i am pretty sure it says to NOT, NOT, NOT take God's name in vain.

the other thing that irks me is when the cute little "christian" brothers proclaim loudly to the universe that they are christians.........but suddenly they turn to one another and say that last year they came out to each other!!! so what you are gay? and you felt it was important and part of your agenda to put the two together???

and it also upsets me when "christians" talk about karma or saying things like i am so mad i want to rip her head off right now????

i think that while you are on game shows you
should just model the walk, not talk some talk!!!

Explosion Volleyball 2009

2009-10-14T19:56:00.000-07:00

sydnie and her friends, ready for their first game

their super fun volleyball socks!

ready to play

almost, but not quite there

ready for the ball

sydnie had her first volleyball game this past saturday. she was a little apprehensive for the first game, but she really did a great job. she had been having some problems with her serve in practice, but she got several over the net and was excited. my favorite play was a bump that ended up being an assist for her friend. the whole crowd went wild and she turned to me and game me a slight shoulder lift....."like what just happened....i was trying to get it over the net...why is everyone cheering?"

so adorable. so we talked afterwards about how somethings in life don't even go the way we expect, just like the ball........but God can do amazing things with it when we are faithful! it ended up being a great life lesson, as well as a great volleyball play!

more football

2009-10-13T19:44:00.000-07:00

celebrating

getting open for the ball

run noah run

hike!!!

right before he pulls his first flag

there it is........just hard to see!!!

let me clarify regarding my last post......there is a male code for football that i, as a woman, cannot understand. i just know that the mama bear in me has to bite her tongue a lot this year, to let go of stuff that is bothering me and just be in the moment while my little guy is playing! because that it was this is about, him learning, gaining knowledge, growing up and learning to do things on his own. so i might have sounded harsh in my last posting, but this is my blog and sometimes you just need to vent. but with all that said, he is really having a fantastic year and he truly does love it!

Saints Football

2009-10-13T19:24:00.000-07:00

since i had fallen a little behind on my blogging in september i did not have a chance to share our football experience this year! noah is playing boys and girls club flag football again this year and he is so pumped about it! at this point he really loves the social aspect of it more than the actual game, but as the season has progressed so have his skills and his willingness to learn.

it has been an interesting season. one wraught with macho men and their warped views of the game, but noah does not know about that. he just wants to get on the field and play. he is only in second grade and has many years to spend in practice and getting better.......let him enjoy it now!

this year i thought i would try a bribe in order to get his keister running out on the field and since he was only allowed to play defense, i told him for that every flag he pulled i would buy him a candy bar. first game out = two candy bars purchased. not too bad!

he is now allowed to play offense, but not allowed to "touch" the ball. he has been hiking the ball to the quaterback and then running to get open for the ball. since he will never get the ball thrown to him (partly his own fault because he is still not comfortable catching) i have nothing to really bribe him with. but he is loving it so much and this week he went out and practiced with his dad and caught every ball that was thrown at him!

"the more i practice, the luckier i get" Jerry Barber

more hours

2009-10-12T19:14:00.000-07:00

i am back to work again and really enjoyed the fact that my year only started with 2 hours a day.....although i really started getting bored after 3 weeks. but i have now increased my hours and am working 6 hours a day. so far it has been going really well. we know the routine, we survived last year as the first year that i went back to work and it was a good thing for the kids and i.

i did have to make a decision about applying for a permanent 5 hour job.....oddly enough that decision was super stressful for me. i guess that when it comes down to it, i still have the option to not work if i don't want to. if i had applied for that job and gotten it, it meant a for real, full time job. the odd thing is, is that i want to work. i enjoy my job. i enjoy being part of the work force again and contributing to our family finances. i want to work.

the issues of mommy vs employee played into the decision as well. my kids appreciate that i can come home from work with them. that we both get out of school at the same time. my kids are homebodies and they want to come home after school, have a snack, relax and finish their homework! and it mattered that both of my kids requested that i wait for a job that would allow that! i am still their mom, first and foremost.

fortunately, i received that in 4 hours of overload for the time being. i go to work with them and get off of work with them. it just works. so i am working full time. life is good. God truly does provide if we just put our trust in Him.

Jogathon 2009

2009-10-11T19:07:00.000-07:00

the music was too loud for her ;)

ha ha ha....this one make me laugh!!!

another year, another great day for our school pta fundraiser......our jogathon. our school has always been very, very successful in their fundraiser and this year i am sure will prove to be the same. each of the kids decided that they wanted to run more laps than they had ever run before. now each of our laps is 1/4 of mile and an awful long way for those little legs to run.

noah really wanted to run 12 laps, he ended up with 10 laps. sydnie ended up with 10 as well. she was really happy and proud of herself for her accomplishment, and she should be. they each ran 2.5 miles! that is a lot!!!

career week

2009-10-11T18:59:00.000-07:00

i love second grade! i love the endless possibilities of who you are and what you will become. at this age anything is possible! you are still interested in becoming a police officer, an astronaut, a vet, a teacher............the list goes on and on. that is why the teacher's at my children's school are so incredibly clever! they created a parent job share month, where a student can learn about what different jobs are out there and have fun dreaming of the different things they want to become.

this year noah has had many different "jobs" represented: police, fire, emt, doctor, sales reps and even someone who has worked at the white house for many years came to speak to them. his favorite were the doctor..........obviously from the pictures you can see that the kids each got some surgical stuff to wear home!

his other favorite..............the perfume sales rep!!! no lie. the kid came home with a bottle of tim mcgraw cologne. now i love tim mcgraw....but if he smells like that, i might have to reconsider! maybe in smaller doses, but noah enjoyed it so much that he sprayed himself and anything else that had legs about 50 times!!!

so bless you teachers for the amazing gift of stinky perfume that lingers in my house til this day!

the patch

2009-10-10T19:46:00.000-07:00

it was a beautiful day to go to the pumpkin patch! the weather was perfect, the patch was not too crowded and we were with good friends! we have gone to bauman farms for many years now and each year there is something new and exciting to do. this year they had added the pedal carts.....which were an additional expense and afterwords found out that they were suppose to go around the track twice!!! ha ha. oh well. they had a blast. of course our visit included apple cider donuts and a bunch of fun. what a great way to spend an afternoon out of school and enjoying the fall day!

off to the patch

2009-10-09T06:10:00.000-07:00

fall is one of my favorite times of year. i love the soft sunlight as it filters down on us. i love the colors of fall....most of my house is decorated in the beautiful shades of brown, green, orange and yellow. i love the crisp mornings and sunny warmer afternoons. did i say that i love fall?

one of my favorite times is going to the pumpkin patch. i love going and watching my kids frolick in the hay. roll in the dirt and jump from hay bale to hay bale.

so today we are going to the patch. a day off of school with nothing to do but play in the warm sunshine. cannot wait..........the apple spice donuts might have something to do with it as well.

i heart glee

2009-10-08T07:59:00.000-07:00

although it overtly pushes an agenda and i love this show....i eagerly look forward to watching it each week. waiting to see what songs they will pull from pop culture and use in an inventive way! i have most of the songs downloaded and listen to them on a regular basis!!!

one of my favorites was "on my own" from Les Miserables! but i cannot seem to find a good clip of it on youtube. and of course the football team dancing to single ladies!!!

so even if you have not seen this show yet....enjoy the video!!!

i am not preggers....but fun little sidetrack

2009-10-07T18:54:00.000-07:00

i am constantly amazed at how the human mind works. it tells us when to eat, when to breath, when to sleep. amazing how something that is not even used to the fullest capacity can run our entire body.

i was sitting in a classroom today, just doing my job, gluing writing books together. when suddenly my mind says...........ummmmm why have i felt like i am going to be sick for the last couple of days? am i late????

now i know, know, know that i am going to be getting my monthly visit any day. i know this. but somehow as i sit their gluing together books, with nothing else to occupy my mind, it happens. i think like every other woman on the planet who has ever been pregnant.......................could i be pregnant????

again..........i am not. but for about 30 minutes (yes i sat there that long gluing) it was nice to daydream, let my mind wander to the possibilities. i saw the kids and their reactions, the impact to our family, the moment where we welcomed a new little one into our family.

maybe it was the fact that we have always wanted a third little person in our family. maybe it was that i was bored. maybe it was that every woman secretly, deep down really wants to experience that first moment where you feel the baby kick, when they get the hiccups, the first time you hold that newborn in your arms!

so my question to you......does anyone else ever do this?
am i alone in this daydream adventure?

who is who

2009-10-06T07:32:00.000-07:00

one picture is of me and one is of sydnie. the same deer. it used to sit in my grandparents yard and now resides in my parents back yard. tucked away. a reminder. i have a great scrapbook layout of these two photos.....it is one of my favorites!

date night

2009-10-01T21:05:00.000-07:00

tonight i took syd on a little date to borders for some coffee/hot cocoa and some girl time. sydnie has recently been reading the warrior series and had been dying to get them. since i got my first paycheck this week, i decided to splurge! it was well worth it..........she was so excited. it was great to spend a little time alone and just hanging out with a ton of books!

pretty in pink

2009-10-01T20:00:00.000-07:00

this made me laugh today.....just because women like to talk, does not mean that we are all born that way...

penguin or person?

2009-09-30T07:06:00.000-07:00

my beautiful daughter has decided that this year she is in orchestra....and she was fitted for the cello. i was really hoping for the violin as it is a much smaller instrument, but alas she was fitted for the cello. so we decided to rent from a local music store that is a rent to own situation, so that if she truly falls in love with it eventually it will be ours! but let me tell you, when they brought over this case??? I just about had a heart attack. i don't think that this case could have been any bigger!!!! the amazing thing is that all the rest of her classmates that were chosen for cello have these small cases, not this huge strapped on number! but syd does not want to ruin her cello....so we are keeping the monstrosity!!! so we walked to school the first morning of orchestra and by afternoon, my shoulders hurt! because i am a loving mother, i carried it myself. wow!

we now drive on orchestra days!!!!

my post for kim

2009-09-28T20:44:00.000-07:00

love that you care enough about my blog to make me post something again. thanks for keeping me on my toes and reminding me why i loved to blog. that i could tell my story. so that when i am old and feeble and cannot remember how to type, i can look back on my blogging days! so that i can capture my kids' everyday moments........to record, to cherish, to live.

so thank you kim for the big shout out!!! i promise to post more and to add some new photos and tell our story!!!

love ya!!!

cousins

2009-08-16T19:35:00.000-07:00

after a long day playing at the beach....off to a hotel room for the night. good memories.

all time favorite as well

2009-08-16T07:39:00.000-07:00

caught in the moment

love this one too

summer

2009-08-16T07:37:00.000-07:00

this is one of my all time favorite shots of noah!

Beach Olympics

2009-08-15T21:00:00.000-07:00

God's majesty

randal's message....invitation....10 new kids for Christ

worship on the beach @ sunset

matilda - the trophy
the winning team spray paints her the winning teams color

120 kids - ona beach

these kids played hard! lots of games, lots of fun and laughter

i have attended beach olympics one other year and i missed all the games! this year we arrived right at lunch and watched the kids play their games, running back and forth. it was amazing. lots of activity. lots of fun. not too many medical issues. just lots of kids on fire for Christ!

the best part was after dinner we all headed back down to the beach for a time of worship, prayer and an invitation to know Christ! the winning team was announced........red team won. each team mate took their turn spraying matilda red! the kids took their seats again with their gold medals gleaming in the sun, the look of winning showing on their smiling faces. they had won beach olympics! as randal walked to the podium the sun slowly faded into the horizon, the worship band led us in some amazing worship, reminding us that God is the creator, the King!

10 kid accepted Christ that day.

oh well

2009-08-13T20:57:00.000-07:00

so our dear friends went up to suttle lake today to try and find a spot for all of us to camp........the camp host laughed at them and told them there was no way that they would find a site for all of us!

but secretly this works out well for me...........my brother has his annual beach olympics kids ministry this weekend and has been begging me to go! sooooooooooo now it get to!!

thank you to our dear friends for driving up to find a site, eating dinner and coming home!!!

YOU ROCK!!!!

another trip, another load of laundry

2009-08-12T08:50:00.000-07:00

this week has been continual loads of laundry and repacking getting ready for one more camping trip. that means that my family room looks like mt everest...you have to climb over the loads of bags, camp cots, sleeping bags, shoes, games and other "stuff" that we could not live without while out in the woods. my camping food box is sitting on my counter, waiting for food to be swapped out or added to! it is annoying me beyond annoying.

but it will all be worth it in the end when we join our friends up on the pass to spend another weekend around the campfire, eating smores and playing in the dirt! this time we are going with several friends from church and the kids are looking forward to playing with their friends....i am looking forward to the kids being occupied and spending time sitting on my bum and reading and chatting with friends.

team jacob

2009-08-11T12:29:00.000-07:00

bella and jacob - new moon

i have to admit to you all that i really, truly am a team jacob girl!
i love jacob's character and i am super excited for the new movie
to hit theater's in november! i love that jacob will have such a
big part in this movie and that they decided to keep
taylor lautner in the role. three more months!!!!

another year

2009-08-09T08:14:00.000-07:00

i am so blessed with amazing parents who invest time in my children. they would give anything to see my kids or do anything for them. they truly are amazing. they look forward to our annual camping trip as much as i do and every year it is worth it. they drive up early to reserve sites for us and dad does most of the cooking....not alot of parents would do that! my dad takes the kids for walks and fishing and swims with them. my mom always has lots of crafts and fun goodies to give the kids. these are memories that will last a lifetime! thanks mom and dad.

Fishing and Rafting

2009-08-08T19:55:00.000-07:00

Fishing at Twilight

he loves to fish

she is just happy she did not throw
her pole in the water this time

noah is a natural caster....he just gets it

very excited about going for a raft ride

waitin'

i love this one

this is what happens when you give
a seven year old the camera

aye, aye matey

is she just adorable

usually our outings at crescent lake involve a raft ride or two...but this time that is all noah wanted to do; that and fish! he did not even want to ride his bike this year! one morning thad and him went out fishing and sydnie, grandpa and i took a long bike ride on the main road up to the lodge! it is always nice to be out on the water in a boat, even if it never goes above 5mph! sydnie tried her hand at rowing the boat this year, she did pretty good aside from splashing me everytime she lifted the oars out of the water. thad has now decided that he needs to build a canoe with the kids and we can haul that with us! sounds like a plan...although I would prefer some type of boat with speed! there truly is nothing like being out on the water early in the morning or late in the evening....calm and serene.

Paulina Falls

2009-08-06T21:23:00.000-07:00

our last stop of the day

i have the best dad....what a goofball

climbing in his flip flops

just about ready to go into the river

ummm....that is the wrong way

grandpa saves the day

another hike, but this time to some really beautiful waterfalls. there was a great little trail that we hiked around for awhile and took in the sights. there were people fishing and some horseback riders on the other side of the river. noah got a little too adventurous and almost took a spill in the river! it would have been better if he had had shoes on! my dad is so patient and takes the time to explain to the kids different facts and just enjoys his time with them.

it was a great way to spend the afternoon and all of us really enjoyed it.
a little lunch at the waterfalls and some great hiking!

7,894 feet

2009-08-06T21:13:00.000-07:00

our second stop of the day

it was so foggy up there one minute it looked like this

and the next it looked like this

budha grandpa

taking in the view

i would like to say that this was a breathtaking view, but it was so foggy and freezing cold that you really could not see much. when i first stepped out of the car the breeze and cold air literally took my breath away. we did not stay long, but it was pretty amazing that you could drive up that high on a one lane gravel road. i did not look out the side too much, since heights really freak me out....but it was a great trip up the mtn and down.

Obsidian Flows - Paulina Lake

2009-08-06T20:25:00.000-07:00

our first stop of the day

she really wanted to keep some obsidian

his throne for the day

grandpa and sydnie

noah ran through the flows

noah's "i'm done" booty dance

this year we arrived at crescent lake and it was cold and overcast....not a lot of beach time was going to happen this year, so we decided to go and view the sites in the area. our first stop was the obsidian flows around paulina and east lake. we had never taken the kids there, wanted to make sure that they remembered them. we had a blast. it was perfect weather for a hike. noah and thad went through the flows pretty quickly. sydnie and grandpa and i took our time and looked around. we were trying to find the frogs that migrate through there during august...never found one. sydnie kept picking up obsidian and storing it in her pocket to take home. i think we made it home with 3 small pieces and a fear that the rangers were going to come and find her.

were off

2009-08-05T17:08:00.000-07:00

our annual camping trip to crescent lake is upon us.......we are trying to get out the door as i write this. it has been a effort to get out the door this time. we have had to repack several times. but we are heading out the door and we will enjoy our time together!

my honey dew list

2009-08-04T07:50:00.000-07:00

where has the summer gone? it is already the beginning of august and i still have a to do list before i go back to work? the first thing i tackled was the playroom.....i cleaned it, put everything in it's place, put stuff back in storage and within one day noah had the floor covered in playmobile figures and castles. i went through all the kids's school papers and filtered out a bunch and kept a handful and put it in their school boxes. i cleaned my art room (still have about 2 hours worth of shredding to do). got rid of the extra computer and boxes that were cluttering the art room.

but for some reason the simpliest tasks are the ones i have been putting off. going to goodwill. cleaning the baseboards and wiping down all the doors and stairs. cleaning the windows. cleaning the couch cushions. painting noah's bedroom!

why oh why do i wait on the easy stuff. i think it is because if this stuff never happens i will not pull my hair out from frustrations. i will choose to exist with this to do list in the back of my mind and tell myself that someday it will get done! ha ha.

unfortunately we are heading into our busy camping month and none of this will actually get done.......but that is okay!

Nye Beach

2009-08-03T17:44:00.000-07:00

my favorite beach

waiting for chowder

the best clam chowder!!

having fun with the art!

"here" is cuteness

memories

this beach is so much a part of who i am. in high school i went to nye beach all the time. i played on the rocks. i shopped at the shops. i stayed in a house on a girls weekend (we decided to skip the winter formal and just hang out together). the peerless puffin has been around forever....it used to be my favorite shop. the beach has changed through the years and so have i.
but i still love it here.

Upward Family Weekend

2009-08-02T17:38:00.000-07:00

after spending many, many months working on Upward Basketball it can take a lot out of a family and one generous benefactor recognized that and bought the Upward families a weekend at seakrest in Newport. It was a chance to recover, spend time together, with family, doing something fun rather than always giving of themselves. it was a great weekend. a couple of late nights for the adults and lots and lots of running, screaming, playing for the kids! Thank you generous mystery person....it truly was appreciated!!!

hot hot hot

2009-07-30T21:25:00.000-07:00

i love the sun. i love the heat. i love to be around water in the heat! but for the last several days in good ol' oregon....we have been heatin' it up! 107 degrees in our beloved city. ummmmmmmmmmm........that is hot! thank goodness we have a/c. i have been hibernating in our house, not really wanting to go out. we ventured out on monday night to go to jamba juice. tuesday, took in Harry Potter and then went to a bbq. finally on wednesday when it hit 103 we went swimming. we only stayed for an hour, but i had the worst headache and by that evening the kids and i were on the couches complaining of stomachs and headaches! thankfully we all felt better this morning and we went swimming for the better part of the day today. loved it, but it was only 96 degrees today. i am glad that we are going to down into the low 90's now. thank goodness we made it through the record temperatures and our a/c did not break!!! and tonight i have the windows open with a great breeze cooling the house down!

sunshine

2009-07-27T07:16:00.000-07:00

you are my sunshine
my only sunshine
you make me happy
when skies are gray
you never know dear
how much i love you
please don't take my
sunshine away!

Penguin Cake

2009-07-26T11:25:00.001-07:00

sydnie has been obsessively been watching "ace of cakes" this summer and she has been begging me all summer to try out fondant. she is one creative little girl as you have seen with her adorable father's day "hamburgers" and her "chickie" easter pops. i finally caved in and got some fondant for her. she was soooooo excited. as she was molding her penguins, she kept talking about how anna had made these awesome "fun' penguins and some realistic ones...but that her own would look more like club penguin, since she was into that!

since we had a girl's weekend i decided it was the perfect time for her very first cake using fondant. she baked the cakes all by herself, colored the fondant, molded the figures, she even shaped the cake all by herself! she created a hill that the penguins could slide down into the ocean, then she rolled out the fondant and covered the cake. the finished project was better than i could have imagined! it really "takes the cake".

then she told me that she wanted to become an intern at charm city cakes, but that i would have to move across the country with her. it was okay if we left noah and dad here....just her and i could move. seriously, how cute is that. she had it all planned out, she would apply now and then by next summer she would be living out on the east coast plying her trade and learning more skills in order for her to one day open her own bakery!

her bff was in baltimore this past week visiting family and syd begged and begged her to go by CCC and take some pictures of the outside for her. can you say obsess much?

all in all it was a great weekend and an experience that she will not forget! thanks for the inspiration "CCC" we love your imaginations and creations!

Guys Weekend

2009-07-24T15:47:00.000-07:00

i kicked them out!!!!

no seriously.....i did.

the boys in my life went to spend a weekend away doing guy stuff at Camp Tadmor. they will get to swim, hike, play paintball, golf, fish, sleep in tents, cook over a fire and canoe! i think noah was most excited about playing paintball, well not getting hit by paintballs, but shooting other people! i know that these two will have some serious male bonding time and i think noah will come home a little more mature!

have a fun, testosterone driven weekend!!!

Mir Space Station

2009-07-22T22:35:00.000-07:00

this evening we all ran outside to catch a short and quick glimpse of the mir space station as it orbited around our planet and we were able to actually see it! it was fast, it was bright and everyone thought it was a plane! but it was pretty cool since sydnie just finished her planet unit at school, she totally knew what it was and had fun watching it.

digging for treasures

2009-07-21T22:58:00.000-07:00

last year while we were at beverly beach a girl we knew buried treasures in the sand for our kids to find, so this year we thought it would be cute to do it again. the kids went absolutely crazy for it. they could not wait to get to the beach and try to find more gems. this year we had cousin ryen involved as well and she loved it. i was stuffing gems in noah's hole and grandma was standing over the girls hole's throwing stuff in while they were not looking. it was great.....although somehow the girl's ended up finding a lot more than noah. it was a great afternoon at the beach.

roasting his weinie!

2009-07-20T22:32:00.000-07:00

this kid totally cracks me up.........he was obsessed with roasting weinie's on this camping trip. we were walking back from the beach and he kept telling everyone we were going back to camp to roast weinie's...................but not his weinie, a hot dog, get it!!!! seriously were does he come up with this stuff. sydnie was totally embarrased and kept asking since when did he start calling it his weinie? who knows.....but he enjoyed it.

beverly beach

2009-07-19T22:20:00.000-07:00

i love this ocean. i love the beach. i love being there for an amazing sunset. the kids and i arrived at the beach around 5pm.......just in time to set up camp and head down to the beach for some sand time and to catch the sunset! it was fantastic and beautiful. everything you expect from a oregon beach sunset!

We're Off

2009-07-19T14:30:00.000-07:00

the kids and i are headed to beverly beach for
a couple of days to camp with my parents.
have fun without us!!!

picking wildflowers

2009-07-19T08:58:00.000-07:00

after we left the wedding yesterday we saw some family that had stopped
and were taking pix at this amazing poppy field.....so we stopped as well.
it was a perfect backdrop and so incredibly beautiful.

competition

2009-07-19T08:15:00.000-07:00

i think that noah fell in love a little that day.......he was so excited that sara was joining our family. he kept asking questions about her and then he turns to me and says:

"i think that sara should come over to our house and i can get to know her and she can get to know me, because once she knows me....i think she would like me!"

i think that there is a moment in every little boys life that they fall in love with the bride.
girls always dream of the wedding, the dress, the reception, the cake.
boys dream of the bride....the girl of their dreams.

beautiful flowers

2009-07-19T08:07:00.000-07:00

i will tell you that the flowers and color scheme at quy and sara's wedding was absolutely beautiful! i love green anyway.......but green and orange together for a summer wedding, could not ask for a better combination! love, love, love. i forgot that i was at canyonview while i sat and watched them join together in marriage. it was a day worth remembering.

these adorable "flowers" hung in the reception hall

bridal table

i love these sooooo much

a fun photoshopped photo of the arbor flowers

the arbor overlooked the river

the moment

2009-07-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

Quy and Sara

2009-07-18T21:05:00.000-07:00

Married today
Given to God
in front of friends and family

Congratulations

pick one

2009-07-17T08:58:00.000-07:00

this week at vbs the kids made your classic fortune papers! of course the vbs ones were full of God's wisdoms.......these from luke's party were full of chickens and animals and bad boys. i say this with the truest love and the fact that i am their mom.....but my kids are great big goofballs. one of sydnie's answers was that raising kids is like being pecked to death by a chicken! one of noah's is that you are a bad, bad boy! so silly! they went around asking everyone at the party to pick one.....what a great way to spend a summer evening!

silly

2009-07-17T08:51:00.000-07:00

it is amazing how much luke looks like my dad and my brother.....he is their little mini-me's. and he loves spending time with his grandpa! and grandpa loves giving luke tummy kisses!

luke's first bday

2009-07-16T20:21:00.000-07:00

it's my first birthday

hello blue eyes

randal and his little man

yum....cake

laughing at his sister

the suprise gift of the night!

super star!!!

today is my nephews first birthday! and he was totally rockin' the party. he was all over the place, having a great time. running after his sister and all the other little kids that were there....he does like to run. it is so funny because he is such a momma's boy, but when it comes to being held or who he gravitates towards....it is the men. he sat on thad's lap for about 30 minutes, but would not even smile at me. so funny. we arrived early for a family bbq and enjoyed the nice 95 degree weather! it was a great night!

my favorite part was jen opening luke's "new" pajamas.....which were ryen's old ones! we have this running joke between us since i saw her dressing luke at christmas into ryen's old jammies! she said that she really did not feel like buying him new ones when she had perfectly good jammies available! randal absolutely hates it, but it has made for some good jokes! so i got the brilliant idea to give luke some pajamas for his bday. I was going to buy new ones, then i called a friend to borrow some and then settled on borrowing some of ryen's to put into a gift bag! it was perfect! jen cracked up and randal got a good laugh as well.

we love you little lukester! we are glad that we got to come down and celebrate with you!

plucking 101

2009-07-14T20:03:00.000-07:00

another day of vbs, another day that mommy gets to play!!! yesterday i had a friend stop by on her way home from dropping her daughter off at tadmor! lunch together and a chance to catch up made for a very nice morning....of course throw in some shopping and what more could you ask for.

this morning, my brilliant plan worked! i called up julanne and told her that she should bring the boys to vbs so that we could spend some time at coffee and getting a pedicure together!

so we leisurely drank our coffee, went to target and headed to our pedicure. it was heavenly. i love the hot parrafin dip that they do! then it happened............

"do you want me to do your eyebrows?"

as this little vietnamese woman leans over me to stare intently at my fading into existence eyebrows i stop and just stare at her for a moment. my eyebrows? are you kidding me? i barely have left and you want to wax them? i laugh to myself and explain that if i were to wax them they would stay red all day long and i would not be able to go anywhere (sensitive skin). i admit that my eyebrows are my last thought...i don't pluck regularly because they are so fair that i can barely see them........but apparently this woman thought they were a tad overgrown and visible!!! i politely declined and then julanne and i had a good laugh. so now i apparently have fading into oblivion eyebrows with a bit of an overgrown problem!! how does one handle that? oh the trauma that we women go through to look beautiful.

vbs

2009-07-13T19:57:00.000-07:00

this morning starts our week of vbs........we are going to dayspring again because the kids absolutely loved it last year. they were very excited to get up this morning and go....there was no complaining or moaning or crying, just up and out the door. again i was impressed with how organized and the detail that this church has put into serving the youth in our area. as a parent you feel comfortable leaving your children there and when your kids come home with such huge smiles on their faces, you know they have done something right! they already have lots of people that they want to invite during the week so they can get all the extra prizes....lol. and i get 3 hours to myself everyday.

roller babies

2009-07-11T21:21:00.000-07:00

thanks to my friend erik for passing this one along..........

Cherries this time

2009-07-10T18:53:00.000-07:00

today we went cherry picking! i love fresh cherries, my kids not so much! so i made sure we only got a small container full. it is more about the experience for them. i want them to grow up experiencing different options out there. i grew up picking strawberries a summer job. i hated it. now i only buy my strawberries! ha ha. but this is different. this is mommy time. this is family time. something we experience together and they look forward to it. it only takes 30 minutes of our time and we get to eat the benefits all day long. i have two bowls of fresh fruit on my counter all day long that they can snack out of...........and me too.

cake examined

2009-07-10T06:48:00.000-07:00

well here it is...in all of it's glory, on a tupperware cake taker plate! but still here it is. it was amazingly good. super rich. too rich. but if you cut it in thinly sliced pieces and served it with milk....yummo! the sweetness might have something to do with the 2lb bag of powdered sugar that you make the frosting with. it eclipsed the cream cheese and overpowered the frosting. but overall a great party cake to make, especially if you like coconut! i think i will freeze the remains of the cake before we all gain an extra 5lbs. then pull it out later for a special treat. i wonder if it would be good with a fresh fruit drizzled over the top? maybe i should try that first!

park time

2009-07-09T18:45:00.000-07:00

decided to take a break from all of the baking and head to the park for awhile today. my kids love to swing. they always have. i am guessing they always will.

Baking, Baking, Baking

2009-07-09T11:47:00.000-07:00

i am baking this scrumptious looking creation today.....

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/07/billies-italian-cream-cake-recipe/

i love coconut and i had all the ingredients....so here we go. cannot wait to try it tonight. of course this has not been a very good week diet wise. lots of goodies being made. i do love to bake. it is a stress relief for me. i love how the ingredients work together to form a delight for the tastebuds. unfortunately for my waistline, i have already made a homemade caramel apple pie and blueberry muffins this week. not sure adding on another dessert is what i needed, but i could not resist. i will let you know how it is! i also want to get all my cookies baked for camping while the weather is not too hot and my house is cool. we'll see if i make it that far. i also have a birthday cake to make for a dear little friend who is turning 8 on saturday! I was not kidding when i said i was baking this week!

blueberry season

2009-07-08T10:56:00.000-07:00

heading out to pick blueberries today! i have such a hard time picking them when they are nice and juicy and big, because i don't know when to stop. i only need a small amount so that i can make some fresh muffins to take camping with, the rest i will freeze and eat fresh. yummo!

goodbye

2009-07-07T13:43:00.000-07:00

this moment right here. this moment defined a generation. defined music. defined choreography. made me love his talent and his singing and his presence. if i look back to what defines him...it is this. his musical and dance genius. he has come through his death pristine. the past is all but forgotten, but his legend will live on for generations to come. i am not saying i agree with his choices, but to look back and remember that moment...........to remember how he captured our generation!

Happy 4th!

2009-07-04T07:13:00.000-07:00

Proclaim liberty throughout all the land

unto all the inhabitants thereof. "

liberty: freedom; the power of choice

that's all....

2009-07-01T19:07:00.000-07:00

we really had an amazing time at the GWL, but we are all exhausted from lots and lots of water play. by the time we left at 7:30 wednesday night i never wanted to see water again. i think had it been outside enjoying the fresh air and sunshine, i might not have gotten so tired of it. but we will definately be going back! no doubt about that, the kids are already planning it.

bonus, bonus, bonus

2009-07-01T18:59:00.000-07:00

on our last day at the park we woke up finished our wand quest while thad and i enjoyed our starbucks!!! then we checked out and swam for about 4 hours, ate lunch in our car, then headed back into the arcade! i just need to state for the record that i hate arcades...what a waste of money, you usually don't earn enough coins to really "win" anything and what you do win is just a bunch of junk. but we were willing to give them the experience and have some fun while we were there. noah was down to his last 4 coins and we decided to play the bass game......he pulled the lever and it did not quite register, so i helped him out on the second pull.......jackpot baby!!!!
he got a 1,000 tickets........he immediately said he would share them with sydnie and he ran off to find her. i have never seen a little boy so excited. when it came time to pick out his prize, it was no question that he had to have the light up lightsaber! sydnie chose the GWL cup that was filled with goodies. a good time spent in the arcade!

wands at the ready

2009-06-30T23:54:00.000-07:00

2 wands $50.00
3 hours spent searching for clues
5 flights of stairs climbed over and over
slaying the dragon
priceless

amazing marketing

2009-06-30T23:30:00.000-07:00

willy the wolf

bear paw

this place really has their marketing down......solid and it is all directed at kids. first their is the ice cream/goodie shop.....full of everything your little heart could desire. then their is the slurpee machine!!!!!! holy moly, my kids wanted a $6.00 slurpee.........i told them they could mix their own flavors at target for $1.50!!! Then their was the girls spa, it was adorable inside, but at $50.00 for a mani or a pedi we decided to skip that. the list just keeps going on and on. the one thing we did decide to splurge on was a huge dessert for the four of us. while we were out on our wand quest we looked at one of the menu's for the restauraunts and saw this awesome campfire dessert. it was not really worth ten dollars, since it was basically a mountain of whip cream, but it was a memory and the kids had fun sitting in the restauraunt and shooting things with their wands.

beartrack landing

2009-06-30T23:06:00.000-07:00

ready to get soaked?

syd and noah in the middle of the big splash

noah trying to pull water onto me

relaxing for a brief moment before heading down another slide

super excited and happy

sydnie on alberta falls

noah on alberta falls

so we spent the better part of 6 hours swimming after we arrived at GWL. We headed straight to the big splash playstructure and slid down the slides there, but decided to move onto bigger and better things........alberta falls, river run and tornado!!! it is amazing how time can go so quickly when you are swimming and having fun. i will admit for me personally it took a few minutes to be comfortable going down the bigger slides, because i am not comfortable with heights and you have to climb stairs to get to them. but once i went down the first time it was easy. noah and i did alberta falls together and syd and thad went down together. each time we hit the pool at the end both of the kids would fly off the end and into the pool while we floated over the top of them on the intertube. by the time 6 hours had went by we were starving and ready to eat some pizza and figure out the rest of our evening. i was feeling a little water logged and the kids were anxious to start the magicquest adventure.

(ps - decided to just take my point and shoot into the water park in case i got wet. it was hard to not get wet and the lighting in there was horrible. but my camera survived and i got a few shots to prove we were there)

we are here!!!

2009-06-30T13:06:00.000-07:00

so the plan was to tell the children that we were going tent shopping today and that we were going to head to portland for the day and if we could not find one there, we would head to washington to this "tent" store we had heard about. the kids were told to grab their ds's, a book and a craft to do in the car so that they would not get bored. we told them that we packed our lunch so that we could have a picnic somewhere and if they were good we had somewhere special we wanted to stop. they did not even question us. they were excited to go over the bridge into washington and they were happy to get a chance to play their ds's uninterrupted for a couple of hours. sydnie wanted to know why we were going to the washington "tent" store first, but she totally bought into our story. finally we took our exit and i asked the kids if they were getting bored of being in the car? they replied yes and i told them that we were finally at our destination. they both looked up right as the great wolf lodge came into view! they both screamed and immediately starting saying thank you mom and dad for bringing us here!!!!

sneaky

2009-06-29T22:00:00.000-07:00

we are heading out to the great wolf lodge tomorrow morning......the bags are packed, the food is in the car and the kids have absolutely no idea that we are going!!! i spent the evening running around finding new swimsuits for each of them and buying some fun treats for our vacation. love road trippin' and spending time with my family. now we just need to come up with a good reason why we are heading out so early and play up the trip to washington as something else.

the bri bri man

2009-06-27T07:38:00.000-07:00

last night a group of us went to see our favorite comedian. brian regan. i have been looking forward to this for months.......it did not disappoint. i think my face still hurts today from all the laughing. unfortunately my good friend julanne and her husband are not in this picture, but they joined us for the show! years and years ago i went to see jim carey before he was jim carey......that was a great evening as well. i love that brian regan can be so extremely funny just delivering a line. it is not crass and rude and over the top. it is just funny and everyone needs a good laugh...........

a pile of memories

2009-06-24T07:42:00.000-07:00

you all know that i am a scrapbooker.....but i have not scrapped in two years! i have done the occasional picture here or there, but i had not printed any photos in years! when costco ran their 9 cent pix sale a month ago i spent hours pouring over photos and picking which ones i wanted to scrapbook. i was rewarded with a huge pile of photos sitting on my desk, torturing me with the desire to scrapbook again. everytime i walk into the art room i feel them calling to me. begging me to let my creative spirit out! but they have had to wait as life has been busy and i have been tired. but today, today starts the creative bent. the inner me. the walk down memory lane. i am going to tackle this pile of family memories and i will scrapbook again! let's see how far i get, i only have two days to really dig and tackle it. but the way i see it is once i sit down and let the juices flow, the easier it will be to just sit down any time and work.

just the two of us

2009-06-23T07:28:00.000-07:00

all of our dating and married life.............this is the face i get in pictures! it is a very rare moment that i get a smile or a serious face.........it is usually the zoolander! curse you ben stiller!!! seriously. i sit and smile so nicely and i think we are taking some good pictures and then i see these??? he wonders where noah gets his inability to smile at the camera, take a look at these honey. he he.

wait........there might be one with a smile??

yes!!!!! oh wait, my eyes are closed! oh well, we tried.

he

2009-06-22T06:31:00.000-07:00

is a complete goofbal.............but i love him.

she

2009-06-21T06:01:00.000-07:00

is so amazing. smart. funny. goofy. mature. a reader. creative. artistic. music lover. bff. disney affecianado. drawer. cursive writer. volleyball. basketball. bide rider. color blue. club penguin. webkinz. trampoline jumper. hard worker. saver. shopper. chocolate milk drinker. cook. chef. baker. pastry. helpful. she is the coolest nine year old i know! love you!

Early Father's Day Treat

2009-06-20T15:15:00.000-07:00

so here it is in all of it's glory........the first of 12 father's day fast food treats!!!

i will admit that this one was done by me. the sydster is doing all the rest as i type this out. my dad and mom decided to drop by for few minutes today and since we won't see them tomorrow...i decided to give him one today!

it was a fairly easy project, but i learned that i really need a tip in my bags to make the icing turn out looking like lettuce and piped on the right way. but it still looked adorable and i am fairly certain that my dad left our house on a complete sugar high!

and another my bad............these were suppose to be a suprise for thad tomorrow, but he saw the website pulled up and knew what we were doing. oh well................he will get to eat his tomorrow and pretend that it is the first time he has seen them. he he.

another successful mother/daughter project completed!!!

why do i get myself into these situations?

2009-06-19T07:58:00.000-07:00

this morning i was surfing blogs and decided to check out the bakerella blog....uh oh!!! my darling nine year old immediately ran over and decided that we needed to make ms b's newest creation for fathers day!!!

http://bakerella.blogspot.com/2009/06/fast-food-fun.html

so it looks like i better get baking those cupcakes and brownies today! so that we are ready to make them into fast food father's day extravaganza!! anyone else want to join in? we could have a bunch of little girls over here to make them?? seriously!!! it would be fun.

"the club"

2009-06-17T08:15:00.000-07:00

this summer we signed the whole family up to go to the courthouse gym! the kids have the opportunity to go swimming whenever i feel like taking them and thad and i can use the workout gear and take classes. but i will be honest and tell you that as i sat out at the pool last summer and this year...i suddenly was hit by a memory. when i was a kid i always wanted to be "that" kid who got to go to a private pool or have summer vacations where you went to sunriver or black butte. i never grew up doing those things and i question myself now..........do i want my kids growing up feeling that they are privileged? do i want my kids to think that they get everything they want?

i watch these young kids who go to the club and most of them don't know what it means to be privileged, they just know they get to swim whenever they want. but once you hit middle and high school........it does make a difference. i don't want to have little snobs on my hands, but we have been blessed to have this membership and i really hate to lose it. i guess it is my job to make sure they understand that we are not about this world, but we are blessed to be able to do somethings and we need to have the right heart and attitude about it.

books, books and more books

2009-06-16T20:04:00.000-07:00

on tuesday julanne and i ran up to the scholastic warehouse sale in pdx. the sale is designed to liquidate titles that they used in sales this year and won't be using next year...so typically everything is 50% off! last year we totally scored and got a whole box full of books and i only paid $40.00! but i am pretty sure that the guy took an additional 50% at the very end.....which meant that i got books for $1/$2.

this year was a little better because we knew what to expect, but there were so many books! I was excited to buy book two and three in the 39 clues series, we have been reading book one at our house and the kids love it. then i had my hands on the "land of elyon" series, but they were still going to be $5.00 a piece...i decided to check them out at the library instead.

i was super excited that syd chose some books that were different than her normal cat or dog books! i kept handing her books to check out the back of and she kept saying yes. needless to say i had to make some decisions when we got to the end. i put back several cookbooks that i had my hands on, but ended up keeping my paula dean calender (that had recipes) for $1.00!!! I also bought book 6 in the harry potter series!

noah got lots of educational books....volcanoes, 7 wonders of the world, 50 states and i ended up putting back his beloved star wars comic because it was only 25% off. he also got some geronimo stilton and stink books! he kept picking up books and handing them to julanne and telling her that her boys would like to read this!!! oh boy. he was super excited too.

it was an expensive day, but one i was looking forward too. now my kids don't need to go to summer library to check out books...........we have so may here!!! but both of my kids love to read, so it is worth it.

the state of play

2009-06-16T11:10:00.000-07:00

this morning i was talking to my son. he is seven. he is all boy, but yet sensitive. he is completely obsessed with his new lego battles ds game. i know this about him. i know that when he gets a new game, he needs a solid week of playing before it gets out of his system. noah finally returns about 8 days in. he comes out of his video game coma and rejoins the land of the living. i accept that and have learned that i am fine with him playing non-stop for a couple of days......as long as he rejoins us.

so back to this morning. noah and i were talking about the fact that i did not want him to take his ds in the car today while we drove to portland with ben and evan. he then proceeds to tell me that he would share his ds. he is very good at sharing. he would show them how to play and that he shared yesterday with his friend karston. i told him that i wanted him to have some time to talk to his friends, have conversations...not just have their nose in a ds the whole time. he looks me straight in the eye and tells me that that is for adults....boys just want to play, like legos, video games and forts. not talk!!!!!

i thought it was absolutely adorable and frankly the truth!!!

girly, girly fun

2009-06-14T07:52:00.000-07:00

blurry, but i love their smiles

peace

bff's in their little ae outfits

she is a goofball, but i love her

stormtrooper glasses

the bangles

as syd would say "yo, hippy, hippy yo!"

shutter shades

as we sat in claire's waiting for sydnie's ear piercing, we took some time to try on all the fun accessories and take some pictures. the girls had such a good time just being silly and trying stuff on. i don't normally go to claire's too much.....we have so much jewelry and lipstick and we make it a special treat to go there and pick something out. so it was extra special for syd that i let her try stuff on!!! ( i know, i am mean)

after we left claire's we headed over to american eagle and syd was super excited to see if she could fit into anything in there. the sweater she is wearing is from ae and she loves it. so we decided to have a little fashion show. we only took in one outfit, matching of course. the girls were a little hesitant to come out and take pix together, but they still had a blast. they both wanted to buy the scarves. it was just a fun afternoon of silliness and being a girl.

so grown up!

2009-06-13T19:18:00.000-07:00

claire's......excited and ready to get her ears pierced

the chair

still excited

now the anxiety is kicking in

find the placement

reassurance from the bff

the moment

after......so grown up

the day finally arrived when syd decided that she was finally old enough to get her ears pierced. she is nine and a half. i had always told her that she could not get them pierced until she was 10 years old and responsible enough to take care of cleaning them everyday. at one point there was talk of her going with all of her cousins to get them done, but they all got their's done much earlier, so we waited until the right time.

in first grade there was some talk of piercing, but that was all forgotten when she watched "parent trap" one afternoon and saw how much it hurt for the character to get her ears pierced by a needle at camp! as the years went by more and more of her friends were getting theirs pierced and she would talk about it, but was still not ready. but when her bff got hers pierced, that was it, she could not wait anymore. i told her that i would take her as soon as school was out and that could be her year end "good report card" gift.

the day of the big event we picked up the bff and went to see hannah montana the movie and laughed and giggled and sang along. then we headed to claire's to pick out the perfect pair of earrings. she was suprisingly calm and excited about getting it done. she looked at the dangly earrings, dreaming of the day when she could wear sparklies and be completely girly, girly.

then came her chance to sit in the chair. she popped right in. smiles everywhere. then a little anxiety hit, that is when the bff reached out and took her hand to reassure her that it would all be okay. i was just there to take pictures apparently. she did not even flinch, blink her eyes or well up at all. she was so brave. her ears did not even turn red! it was just like any other day in the life of syd, except now she had something sparkly in her ears. it did not even feel that weird she said and she slept on them with no problems. she cleaned them without getting queasy, like me. she made herself a calender with six weeks on it, so that she could make sure that she was cleaning them enough. i don't even need to remind her!

i guess she is all grown up now, no more baby, just a sweet girl.

last day

2009-06-12T19:58:00.000-07:00

i think he was a little excited about the ice cream!

the last day of school. always something to look forward to, obsess over and anticipate when will it be summer???? NO MORE SCHOOL!!!! well that day was today. there were lots of parties, breakfast out at a restaurant, lots of schoolwork to bring home and sort through..... and lots and lots of memories to carry you through the summer. i cannot believe that i am the mother of a second and fourth grader now!!! where did the time go.

it was a great year in so many ways. maturity, managing some stresses, learning to cope with mom working, maturity and finally maturity!!! i feel so priveleged that my kids attend an awesome school where the staff loves and values each kid individually. that they are heard and listened too and that their opinions matter. that they have learned to be amazing readers and been allowed to grow in leadership and individual talents.

thank you teachers for all you do for kids!

the power of prayer

2009-06-11T22:10:00.000-07:00

this afternoon noah came racing out of class holding something blue in his hand. he stopped just inches from my face and held up his prized possession.....blue sticky notes. he then proceeded to kiss the sticky notes and tell me that he prayed! i could not figure out what on earth he had prayed for.......sunny skies for field day, the right color of popsicle? no he had prayed that he would get to take home the sticky notes from class today! i guess he truly learned the power of prayer and how God can answer the simpliest request!

one of those moments

2009-06-10T06:50:00.000-07:00

i woke up this morning to a seven year old boy running in to check and see if i was awake. when he finally poked and prodded me enough i sat up and really wanted to go back to bed until he threw his arms around me and proclaimed........."i love you with a million hearts mommy!"