True Colors

Don't you love color. seriously.

*Blue - looking into my daughters beautiful eyes

*Red little cheeks that show how tired my children are

*Green, green grass

*Purple flowers growing in our neighborhood

*Pink little baby blanket of the newborn next door

*Yellow pinneaple - freshly cut waiting to be eaten

All the colors in the world right before our eyes...do we stop and see them for what they are? Do we know that our Creator delights in the little everyday things. That He made all of this just for us to enjoy, to worship Him. To show His depth of love for us. So as you go about your day today and you see the colors....stop and think about the trueness of God's love for us and His creation.

This little guy came to visit

us last night and how cute is he??? He is 8 weeks old and full of puppy energy. Maddie was not to happy that there was another dog in the house and she made sure that Bandit knew she was in charge and not welcome. I loved that he ran around the house, sliding on the hardwood floors when he came around corners. After about an hour he tore into the living room and plopped on the floor and fell asleep, almost instantly! Could not get comfortable though and abby had to pick him up and he nestled into her arm....so adorable. Everyone in our house fell in love with him and cannot wait for him to come back.

Formal Attire

so in preparation for a gag for a formal bridal shower.......my SIL raided my old prom dresses (yes, my mom still has them all). I cannot believe that dresses from that generation are still around, but you gotta love the puffy sleeves and plunging neckline. You know what is even better........I used to actually fit in to that! and I thought I was fat in high school. Sydnie saw Jenn all dressed up and said "mom, she looks just like cinderella!" So to all the 80's prom dresses, big hair and lace gloves................we love ya. And to my SIL I hope you have the guts to walk into the "Formal" shower tonight and rock their worlds!!!!!!!!!! You have the best sense of humor and I love ya girl. I wish I could be there to support you with a gallon of hair spray and a crimper. Maybe you should bring a little Journey "open arms" along.....bring those 25 year olds back to the days of yesteryear. Were they even born then? Seriously have fun tonight...cannot wait to hear about the reactions.

Happy Easter

What a great day, even though there was a little rain, it was so much fun. The kids loved finding their eggs this year, because we hid them super hard. They also had fun watching their cousin Ryen hunt and made sure they did not take any of hers. They were completely sugared out by the time we left my parents house and super tired. You can see that we all had a great time.

Oregon Arbor Week

What a great day...lots of sun, very very hot, lots of learning.......good times. Riding a big yellow school bus, eating a sack lunch and learning all about trees and flowers. They had some beautiful magnolia trees that were in bloom. Love the top picture with the gazebo on the right. Loved just being with sydnie today, the two of us. It was a great field trip and I thought most of the kids had a good time as well. They seemed to really like the trip. I had never been there before, so it was kind of fun to walk around and see all the different areas. I had a group of boys at one point who were having fun searching for a garden snake and they found a couple....i just hung back and let them go for it. well off to t-ball practice and a weekend full of t-ball, family and fun.

Wild Hogs?

Okay so we were not on hogs....but we toured the neighborhood last night on 3 bikes and a scooter. This was huge for noah who had not been on his bike since his "accident" last summer. He did great....fell off a couple of times like when he was trying to stop and get off. {He had this look, it was so funny, almost like I wanna break out into a huge smile but I don't want you to know that I am enjoying this.} Wish I had the camera. Sydnie rode her scooter the whole way, gotta work on her to ride her bike, she is too afraid of falling off. She was a little bored with stopping and going, waiting for noah, but she had a great time and wants to do it tonight. We have the best neighborhood, because there are so many places to ride with the kids in the middle of the street and feel safe. I am so glad that we have some nice weather right now and can be outside enjoying it and being a family. Have a great day..we are off to a field trip at the Oregon Gardens.

Born Free

The tree swing. A rite of passage. The chance to prove that you are a big kid now. For the last year Noah has wanted to ride on this, but has not been able to hang on long enough...I think he was a bit scared to do it. But this visit to my parents house he did it. Now being the boy that he is, it was also fun to get on swing for 2 seconds and fall off on the ground, pretending to be hurt. Gotta love that. He loved it so much that we spent most of the day outside swinging from the tree and falling off and swinging and falling...well you see where I am going. The best part of the day was when I got on it and rode...he laughed so hard he "fell" on the ground rolling around. Like I have never ridden it before...maybe he has just never seen me ride it. To see the rest of the photos click here {http://www.flickr.com/photos/83743172@N00/sets/72157600038508515/}

Do you want a Dyson?

Have you ever heard of a Dyson...if you have not then you need to get out of the house more or at least visit some mom blogs. This site {http://www.5minutesformom.com/1343/dyson} is giving away a new Dyson Slim. SERIOUSLY! thanks bree {http://buhtafly.blogs.com/} for the idea....you always find the coolest stuff. Go today, you only have until April 4th.

Screaming Bloody Murder

okay you know that all of us moms have used that expression before.....either it is us doing the screaming or the kids! Yesterday I was down at my parents house and I don't remember what I was talking about, but my seven year old heard me use the expression and looked me dead on and says who is screaming blood (such a literal child). I explained that it was just an expression and it is used when you want to get the point across that someone was really upset or screaming really loud. She looks at me again...but where is the blood. At this point my parents and myself start cracking up and my mom starts in on the explanation....to no avail. finally i give up and later on the car ride home...sydnie uses the expression in the right way....something must have gotten thru. Gotta love that...those little day things that might life so enjoyable.

transitions

i love watching my son become a boy. he is maturing and growing and losing his little boy look so quickly. everytime i see that new smile, i cannot believe that he looks so big now. when i look at him a year ago or even 6 months ago...the change is visible. he loves school, he is excited about tball, cannot wait to start reading, he is leaving behind his little boy whining. he is all boy...never looks where he is going, spills every drink we give him, wipes his hands all over his clothes to clean them, plays swords and lightsabers all day long and loves the computer and video games. but he still loves the color orange. so much so that when we were at tillamook cheese factory he "had" to have the orange sherbert ice cream....just because it was orange. i love the left overs all over his face. I am so thankful that God gave this little boy to me, to teach, to love and to watch him transition from boy to man. i love you little man.

a few more from seaside

Love This

Party Time

Went to my friends house last night to play games.......THANK YOU J. It was so much fun. This is a part of me that I have been missing since moving here from Portland. The ability to just have so much fun. {we had some good times DDR, T, D, K and W} I love nights like that where you laugh so hard that your mouth hurts the rest of the night. Loved the game - Apples to Apples. Now it was a bunch of youth pastors in the room, so you know it is gonna get crazy...but that is my type of crazy. My brother is totally like that. So after the kids and I left we ran to target and bought a couple of new games to take with us to the beach this week. So bring on the side splitting laughter, well that might be hard to do with my husbands family this week...but we are sure gonna try.

Her Favorite Things - at 7

*High Heeled shoes

*Pink

*Skirts

*Layering shirts

*Crocs with Jibbitz

*Jumping on the trampoline

*Flicka

*Reading the disney fairy books

*High School Musical

*Singing Faith Hill songs

*Going to Disneyland

Make a Difference

go here http://aliedwards.typepad.com/ and donate to Autism research by donating to Ali's badge at 6 Degrees.org. Super cool idea from Kevin Bacon to generate and give back to the world. Make a difference today in a child' s life.

Your New {Toothless} Smile

so we were at our first t-ball practice today and noah was super excited and distracted because earlier in the day he had taken a bite of his pizza lunchable and his tooth was practically falling out. He sat and wiggled it for a couple of hours with no luck. So at t-ball he was on the field wiggling his tooth instead of catching grounders or practicing his throwing/catching skills. It was hilarious. So he was right in the middle of showing his coach and suddenly it just popped out. SO COOL. So we ran out to Joanne's tonight to buy some star wars fabric to make a tooth fairy pillow...I wonder how much sleep he will actually get tonight waiting for his money to arrive. I just love his new smile. He seems so young, only just 5. sydnie was a year older than him when her first fell out, but he did get teeth earlier than her. I guess my baby is just getting older.

One Loooooong 24 hours

let me set the stage: 1 husband out of town, 2 sick children (fever, cough, cold) and one tired mom (who was super sad that she did not get to go to the scrapbook convention on friday). After I put the kids to bed friday night I sat down to watch "One Night with the King", which was an amazing movie. I finally rolled into bed about midnight after checking on the kids, which were doing fine. I had been asleep about 1/2 an hour when I hear the crying and wake up to see Sydnie standing at my bed shaking with a fever of about 103.5. So several hours later her coughing has slowed down and her fever is down to 101 and she drifts off to sleep. I know in my heart that something is wrong, because that day she had been fine. The kids were playing together and there had been no fever for her all day, so the fact that it came back with a vengance was not good. Saturday morning I groggily roll out of bed, call the peds clinic to get her in. Finally at 10:45 we see a doctor, she listens for quite awhile to syd's lungs and finally decides to send us off to Salem Hospital for some x-rays of her chest. Now Thad is out of town and the hospital is under construction, no where to park, so we grab my MIL and she drops us off and takes noah home to pick up thad who has come in from the airport to an empty house. 1 chest x-ray, 1 wheelchair and one long wait later, we were told she had pnuemonia and were sent upstairs to receive an injection of antibiotic and some monitoring. The minute sydnie's head hit the pillow she was out! The nurses freaked out when they took her temperature and it was 104.4. I had to explain to them that she is a hottie and that is not uncommon for her to spike that high. Finally they administered the shot and then we had to sit and wait for the call to stay or go. Poor little thing was just wiped out and her little lips were blue from lack of oxygen, seriously scary. But she perked up after the shot and we were sent home to recover. Last night I jumped up everytime I heard her cough, just to make sure she was okay and not relapsing. This morning is a remarked improvement....she is eating, she has no fever, she looks more like herself and she slept most of the night. But me...I could use a serious nap and some pampering.

The Lunch

this is from last month, but we have so busy that I have not had a chance to post it yet. I knew that my dear friend Krista was in town with her husband on a spur of the moment

trip from their current home in Belgium. I also heard that she could meet for one day during the lunch hour and of course I had a chiropracter appt that I could not cancel. I was super bummed, but was just excited that they were home visiting family and friends. The morning of "the Lunch" I took noah and sydnie to school and stopped home for an hour...i checked my phone and there had been a call from my chiropracters office, they needed to cancel my appt that day!!!! I immediately called my friend Dawn Denice and told her I thought I could make it. She told me that i had no option but to come. So I called a friend to see if she would be willing to pick Noah up from school and have a play date so that I could drive to Portland. I was super excited and when I showed up at Chevy's for lunch...the best part was that Krista had no idea that I was coming. The look on her face was so worth it. It was so fun to reconnect and catch up. I was so moved by her story that she told close to the end of our meal. On the drive from Clackamas she had said a prayer that whoever was suppose to show up, that God would allow them to and that it would happen according to His plan. It was such an insight into how God works, because the Holy Spirit worked in her to pray and then God's actions were already set in motion. AMAZING.

Inspirational Story

Like my mom before me, I am a abc news watcher. I like to watch Good Morning America and when I can catch the news I watch the ABC evening news. So last year when the news surfaced that news anchor Bob Woodruff had suffered a critical injury while reporting in Iraq...I held my breath and waited for news on his condition. Every once in a while you see an update, but tonight we get to see a documentary about his road to recovery from a serious brain injury. http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/WoodruffReports/?CMP=google&partner=google&gclid=CMj_qrHyzooCFQEBYQodoVpbdg

if you watch one thing this year it should be about his road to recovery and his efforts to help bring awareness to this type of injury suffered by so many of our soldiers.

The end of Upward

so this is it, we are done...it has been a great year. Sydnie has learned so much and had such a blast. It has been fun watching her go from playing tag on the court to defending her person, doing a bounce pass and stealing the ball. She has grown in confidence. It has been really good for her to complete a task and see that she can improve with practice and determination. Two weeks ago Thad gave the girls these super cute pink wristbands for them to wear during the game. They literally screamed, very loudly. They had a bit of a hard time concentrating on what they were suppose to do that night, but they looked so cute out there. A perfect photo opp.

The truth about Smartmouth

Finally back to reality. It has been a month of choas and basketball...seriously how do people run kids around to three different sports and still manage life. Actually it has been kind of nice not running to my computer and thinking of stuff to say. Bu there I am again to impart another great family story.

So the other night thad and I sat down to play a new game with the kids...Smartmouth. We divided up into teams syd/dad...noah/me to play this spelling game. You are given two letters that signify the beginning and ending of the word that needs to be spelled and you think of as many as you can. I realized about half way through noah did not have a chance to win....it was hard to think under pressure and have a really cool word. Sydnie did great, she slammed about a bunch of words and of course thad came up with some really creative ones as well. It was late in the game and the next two letters to come up are P,P. Sydnie immediately yells out POP. I being the swanky mom that I am, turn to noah and whisper in his ear to yell POOP and noah being the boy that he is yells with all his might "POOOOOPPPPP!!!!! Needless to say we won that round...good stuff.

a little me time in a sea of sickness

so we are all sick here, so life has come to screaching halt. The kids were not feeling well thursday/friday but were doing okay yesterday, but by last night they were back into the ooogies again and now i am right there with them.

the good news is that i have actually taken the time to read the last two days. I had started another fabulous novel by Jane Kirkpatrick....i seriously love her. Now it has taken me awhile to get into, but by the end of today i will have finished it basically in two days. It is a fictional account of the Big Muddy Ranch in Antelope, Oregon. It's story of generations (sheepherders, rajneeshpuram and Young Life) that have worked and lived in this high desert area of our fair state. The land itself is a beautiful character....seriously have to go there and see it for myself now. I love that this book is about the final destination of the land as a camp for kids in the northwest

Wildhorse Canyon, Young Life

http://sites.younglife.org/camps/Wildhorse/default.aspx-

a place of rest, rejuvanation and growth for so many young kids. The threads that tie us all together and the land giving back to us. If you have not read one of her books you should most definately pick one up. http://www.jkbooks.com/.

Gentlemen Start Your Engines....

today was Awana Grand Prix, a day full of hot cars, speed and lots of yelling. This year both of the kids entered cars again....

Noah's - The Force

Sydnie's - Purrrrrfect

The kids each told thad how they wanted to design their cars..sydnie even drew a picture to show him. This is such a blast for them...they love thinking of different ideas and ways to make their cars cool. It is not about the speed for them, yet. They just want to make cars that are things that they like. This morning was full of excitement as we headed down to the church, they were wishing each other luck and full of hope that their cars would win something. Last year Noah's Larrymobile won first place for design in the open class, so for a full year his sister has been plotting her moves, waiting of her chance to shine. The cars raced okay, they did not make it in the final heats. Sydnie's class was the last to compete so finally at 2:30 she found out that she had one first place for design.....ahhhhh can you hear the thunderous applause. She was so thrilled. That is all she wanted. Good things come to those who wait and plot and plan for twelve months. Seriously though, it is the coolest thing. Noah's friend won first place for design in the open class and Noah was excited for him and super excited for Sydnie. I loved that the kids were cheering each other on and a group of them were chanting names when their friends cars raced....good clean adrenaline.

Create = Thrive

I love this....i love that my 7 year old has such imagination and ingenuity. I love that she is creative, that she gets that art feeds your soul. She has always been in love with creating, getting into a project and feeling the joy that comes with finishing. She is truly amazing to watch as she creates. She has grown from color crayons to playdoh to clay to glitter and now her fascination...the cats cradle. She thrives on the artistic expression. Of course that means in our lifetime we will probably have killed about 1,000 trees. One mother alone could not keep all of her creations....but at least i take pictures of them and journal about her love (wink wink). She came home from Grandma's this last week with this box...simple and pure. Who wouldn't want to buy a bunch of balloon dogs from a seven year old? Maybe I should set up a stand and let her peddle her wares.....or maybe I should secretly take the box about a week from now and throw them all away and let her start all over again (did I just write that...oh well, now you see the true me). We all have this desire to create within us and I am glad that Sydnie lets out her inner creativity and just has fun with it.

Upward Basketball Mania

About 3 years ago our church started a program called Upward Basketball...http://www.upward.org/about.aspx....this is an amazing program designed to teach children the skills of basketball and the good news of Jesus Christ. Now since it's inception my husband has been very involved (meaning we don't see him for about 3 months out of the year) but last year he was able to coach Sydnie's kindergarten team and this year he moved up with Sydnie to 1-2 grade girls. We have had 3 games so far and about 7 practices.....and the results are getting better. At the beginning I am not sure any of them could shoot very well, run an offense or do anything more on defense than the electric slide. But last night we actually had a basketball game, i mean real shots were taken, the offense Thad taught them started to come together and well defense, needs some work. I love to see the girls faces when they know that they have done what they are suppose to....the look of satisfaction when they pass to a teammate that is open, they stop a shot from being taken or that they stole the ball from the opposing team. I love this opportunity for kids from our area to play on a league that promotes teamwork, upholding sportsmanship and encouragement. So girls....GAME ON

stop the presses.....

it is now lunch time and i just realized i have not had coffee today....what, i mean what? how did that happen, i always have a coffee. you know what is worse....i had a cup of tea instead. did someone take the real me last night and leave a teatotaler instead? i am not really sure how i feel about this. i guess that means i still will have some creamer left for tomorrow morning. but on the other hand, i will probably be getting the all to real caffeine deprived headache very soon.

this addiction all started about 13 years ago when i worked for the infamous fred meyer corporate office and they built a starbucks cart inside. i started off with just the regular vanilla latte...but quickly graduated to a caramel latte and not just one, but two a day (so I could stay awake during out afternoon meetings). when i went to work for nike we used to go on a starbucks run about 9am every morning, that is when i could afford starbucks everyday(monetarily and physically). but now i am down to maybe once a week starbucks run and every other day is just good old fashion drip with some creamer from my own little coffee shop at home. but i have gotten off the subject..........caffeine withdrawals.

good thing a friend "who shall remain nameless" just dropped off a pepermint mocha to cure the headache that was just setting in.

Wild Weather

Okay so I live in oregon and not much really happens here but rain. But this winter has been so crazy: rain, snow, sleet, wind and freezing rain. This morning I woke up to a winter wonderland, but not the snowy, beautiful kind...the icy, traffic stopping kind. I informed my husband of what was happening and he called to find out if the bus was still running up to Wilsonville...sure enough it was, so off he drove.

Thad: I made it on the bus.

Me: so how was driving?

Thad: fine, well I slid a little bit

Me: where?

Thad: when I pulled into the bus stop, because the bus was already there and I was in a hurry.

Me: so you know if the buses stop running today, you are stuck in wilsonville for the night! cuz I am not driving up to get you. (such compassion)

Thad: yeah, I know. alright see ya later. (do you sense the "they are so not going to stop running, stop worrying" attitude)

And they finally canceled my daughters school. we were one of the only hold outs in the valley. Thank goodness I just got a movie in the mail for the kids to watch...that should carry us through a good portion of the morning with no whining or crying. Good luck to me today.

I just opened my window to SNOW!!!! I LOVE IT!!! I was wishing for this all morning....just to pound us with some beautiful white stuff. Maybe it will be a beautiful day after all.

Here it is...

So in my Jack Bauer post I told you that I had made my SIL a t-shirt to celebrate her obsession with 24....here are the photos. You can see her expression when she opens the box and sees it...seriously so funny. She wore that shirt for about 2 years every tuesday when the show aired. We would call each other and talk about the show. I also bought my brother a shirt that said "jack will be right back". They had a commercial that aired with the ticker counting down and a voice that said "jack will be right back".....super cool at the time.

Watched last night....had the lights off, Thad right by my side, no kids so we could turn the volume up and just enjoy. I do have to say I was a little grossed out by the biting of the arteries....that is the first time I have ever really flinched in this show. Loved last night...cannot wait to see tonight. I do have to say that the whole cleaned up jack, with the shirt buttoned to the top...did they forget the tie or is that standard off to my death attire?

I loved the moral dilemma of detainment camps and the tension that came from those discussions. Is that something that this country would ever do again? I thought it brought a true reality, in that if we were to have attacks on a daily basis, would you look at someone from a different nationality differently? Would you not get on the bus with them or help them because they were your neighbor?

Till tonight..................

To be fair

the photograhy has been done by the first born as well...in fact for her birthday she got a digital of her own. Wanted to share some her photos from when she was five and discovered the camera....okay first time I let her take it on her own.

Budding Photographer

I took my camera out today to snap some pictures of stuff to sell on Craig's List and next thing I know Noah comes running over to say that he needs to take some photos as well. This is a first in our house, the picture takers are myself and sydnie. He was so excited, he must have snapped 50 shots off, I literally had to pry the camera from his hands. Can you tell what his favorite things are....Playmobil & Star Wars.It looks like he even dragged all of his lightsabers and arranged them to take a shot. I know it is hard to tell on these small pictures, but he has Luke doing battle with Darth, Luke knocked over, then Darth knocked over, watch out annie liebovitz. He did stop to take a photo of mom and the dog, but most of the shots were of toys. Good times here at our house today.

New Year = Keyword = balance

I opened my inbox this morning to find a new edition of AEzine (newsletter from the fabulous Ali Edwards) and it has been pulling at my mind today. Her challenge was for each of us to pick a keyword for the year and apply it to our lives...different than a resolution, more about defining your life or defining a characteristic that needs work. I think last year was a year of freedom for me....free to laugh, love, live and play with abandon. To not be so stressed, to enjoy life in all its beauty, to create memories, to just be. As I look back over the last year it sure was a chaotic one, filled with some not great stuff, but because of my faith in God I was able to see His hand at work and survive. I became stronger because of it and about half way through I realized that I needed to loosen up a lot and just have a good time with life. It has changed so much for me...so this year my keyword is Balance....

bal·ance noun, verb

a state of equilibrium or equipoise; equal distribution of weight, amount, etc; mental steadiness or emotional stability; habit of calm behavior, judgment, etc

I want to balance out my life...make the time to do the things I enjoy and be with the people I love. I want to play games with my kids, read a good book, watch a few movies, be involved in ministry, actually do my bible study and spend good quality time with my husband. I want to take walks, ride bikes, go camping, do housework (well not really), work in my kids' school, and still be able to say at the end of the day that I was productive and made a difference in my kids life. I want to be able to say no, a lot more than I do and say yes to some things i have never done before. I want to be impulsive and enjoy life everyday. Yep...balance is a good thing....so here is to a new year and a new motto.

new love in my life

So yesterday I was at Fred Meyer and browsing through there clearance stuff and noticed that they had a dyson on clearance and on top of it I got to take an additional 40% off. So I am now the proud owner of an amazing vacuum cleaner and I could not be happier. I took it out of the box today and OMG I just about flipped my lid. I could not believe how much dirt it picked up, I was mortified. Owning a pet is such a joy, but you know how much dirt you don't see, but is there...now I feel like I am attacking it. I seriously love this machine.....

Jack Bauer Will Have to Die

HOLY CRAP........I cannot wait for season 6. Can I really wait 12 more days....I think not. Who cares about a clean house, groceries, dinner for the children, Upward Basketball or Lost. Seriously all about Jack. Love this show. I love that they play all 24 episodes back to back, no waiting for weeks to see what happens...just pure instant gratification. I still remember the day my friend debbie called me to tell me to watch this show on fox that was going to repeat the premiere episode...I thought I can do that, I had a newborn to feed at that time...might as well. I have not looked back once. I even got my brother and sis in law addicted...which I think they might still hate me for it. That second season Christmas, my SIL told me she wanted an "I Heart Jack Bauer" shirt to wear on air night....so what did I do, but went out and had one made for her....seriously great video of that present being opened. When others say how can they possibly do one more season, I say bring it on. Although I was a little upset by Tony and President Palmer's deaths last year....I mean Tony would have made a great president. I just need to figure out how to put the ticker on my blog...countdown the minutes until we see Jack kicking in action again. I may have to go on a 24 binge the next two weeks....just to prepare.

Heartbreaker