beartrack landing

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!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

she

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

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?

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"

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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!"

a good laugh today

i seriously could not stop laughing at this video!! i love all the whitey-whiterson ball players that really could not dance!!! :) thanks boys for making us all laugh and having a great time through your 5 hour rain delay!

my heart is laughing

noah brought this home today from school, a story written for his final report card. he could write about something he knew about or a family member, his choice will tell you his priorities and who adores and worships!!!

sydnie, sydnie is my sister. she is shy.i love her but sometimes she hurts me. i played nerf with her and i had fun. and she is 9 years old. she is pretty. she and me a.k.a. we love penguins. she had to make a dinosaur out of clay last year a.k.a. 2008


my heart seriously exploded in laughter while i read this and my eyes welled a little with tears of joy, knowing that he looks up to her and cherishes her. this is definetely a piece of writing that will stay in our school memory box!

one more week

i can truly say that i have been blessed this year to have an amazing job that i love. i love going into work everyday. i love the kiddos. i love the people i work with.

but i am sooooooooooooooooooo ready for summer break!!!! i cannot wait to not have a schedule to work around. to be able to make spur of the moment decisions and just have fun with my kids.

one more week of school....one more week.

so sad

why oh why do people feel that celebrity is the only way to have an amazing life? do they not see the treasure that is stored up for us in His life, His word, His Grace?

this last week i have watched the jon&kate+8 premiere episode several times, because they just kept rerunning it! as i sat to watch it monday night, i had tears in my eyes for this family who i feel part of. i feel like i have watched their kids grow up and let's face it, they invited us into their lives. i had tears rolling down my face as i watched their anger and resentment towards one another. as they try to keep this from affecting their children, but nothing can shield them from the breakup of a marriage. i kept looking for some shred of hope, some glimmer of peace, but i found none. it broke my heart in so many ways.

i would say that marriage is one of the toughest things in the world to navigate. we all have resentments and negative reactions to events that happen, but it is also wrapped up in how much you respect your spouse...will you persevere or cave into the worldy view of divorce.

i won't get into the details of who is the worst spouse or this or that........but i will say that these two people opened their lives in a sincere way at the beginning of this journey. to share the viewpoint of parents with multiples. but now it seems to be more about the celebrity.......how can we make more money in order to support our family, instead of relying on God to support and finding the courage to stop the show in order to rely on Him more.

my heart grieves for them.....i pray that God will intervene in their hearts and that their eyes will be opened to the truth.

sinking of the titanic

we were able to take the kids to the titanic traveling exhibit that was in our town this last week and thank goodness we had VIP passes so our wait was short and sweet. It was interesting to see how some of the artifacts were completely intact, pieces of paper that still had handwriting on them. there were socks and a jacket that looked brand new, it really was amazing. thad was fascinated with the bolts and pieces of the ship that were found. the kids were fascinated with finding with exhibit had climate control in it.


the kids had read the magic tree house book about titanic so they knew the premise behind the story and they knew that not very many people made it out of the atlantic ocean alive. so at the beginning of the tour, they gave each person a boarding pass with a real passengers name on it and at the very end you were able to read whether you lived or died. sydnie and i survived, both of the boys died on the ship that fateful night. the great thing about going was seeing the interest of my children piqued. they wanted to check out books about the titanic and read more interesting facts about it. then of course they knew that there is a movie, so they wanted to watch that. i told them that we would try and get our hands on the discovery titanic expedition video so that they could see what really happened.