Oregon Summer?

The delay in summer weather really took its toll on my spirits for a while, but we have finally been blessed with some sunshine. It is sporadic at best, and not what most of the country would call "hot" but we are outside every possible minute of every day. Gotta soak it in where we can!

We found the BEST new park. Every time I go, I stay for hours upon hours. It is just too perfect for all my kids.
Kristin and I have been training for a triathlon, and I recently had my first clipped in bike ride (with several near death experiences via semi-truck, white jeep, and a humiliating four way stop in which I couldn't get myself started for an unacceptably long time getting some amused smiles and chuckles from waiting cars). More details on triathlon to come (maybe with pictures of my plague of misquito bites. Park ranger said the misquitos were at "biblical levels", and not to brag, but I must have awesome blood...26 bites and still counting!).
Could it be summer without popsycles? And endless popsycle sticks in my yard and driveway? I mean ENDLESS.
My husband is a good man. I wouldn't have stepped in this pond to save a drowning child, nevermind just for kicks.
Oh how I love 2 year olds. LOVE LOVE them.

One of the best days at the beach ever. The weather was perfect, the kids had so much fun we had to drag them away and we had been there all day. One of those "I love the Oregon Coast" days that we will for a long time treasure! :)

Kristin and I at "Circle Park" another favorite afternoon pass time. And farewell to my good friend and neighbor Nancy who saved me on many a "I just need an egg" occasions and will be sorely missed.

Swim Lessons, Dance Recitals, and Summer Fun (Catch up)

Every year we travel really far daily for two weeks straight so we can swim with our beloved teacher curtis.

Red, White, and Blue

Fourth of July might be up there as one of my fave holidays. It turned out to be a beautiful day here in Oregon (yes, this is noteworthy, all things considered). Good food, friends, weather, family, fireworks, contests, and races. Practically a perfect weekend! The girls were also featured in Washington's newspaper (The Columbian). A hair mom's proudest day. Click here to see their big debut. :)

4th of July sparklers. Pretzels with white chocolate and sprinkles.

Levi signed up for the pie eating contest. I said sure (it was free!), but said to him, "Just know, there is no pride in winning a pie eating contest." Well, I ate my words. He won. I was proud and so was he. He got a huge trophy with a PIG on it. He was also in the Lewis River news (they haven't posted their link yet, I will add it when they do). With all the family we had there, we had a group chanting "LEVI!" and it might be one of the highlights of his whole 10 year old life.

Is this really my child??? Really??

He gagged at least five times, and no one else's face was covered in whip cream. He took this challenge very seriously!!

Ashley and Kiara
They were actually having a blast, but since i asked them to smile for the picture, the sun was suddenly extremely painful for them, and they all look grouchy here. Ella far left, Ashley, Kiara and Emma.
My dad's office is in the heart of the Ridgefield parade, so every year we get there like 5 hours early and sell soda (by we, I mean Levi). He made over 30 dollars this year. An all time record!


Aunt Jaymie painted everyone's face, and I painted everyone's nails. They were festive to the absolute max possible!!

Spencer REALLY loves parades, can't you tell? At least Caden was enjoying himself. :)

In Ridgefield, they have a kids parade before the actual parade where all the kids march down the street and wave to everyone. Caden and Emma were in heaven. They did get some extra big cheers and waves since they were so obviously enjoying being center of attention.


Kiara and Levi ran their first real (non kids run) race. They did a great job on their 5K finishing super strong.

Trent and I ran the 10K, and finished strong too. I got a personal best on my time, which was exciting for me (though not a brag worthy time, per se, it was still exciting for me!). Trent was kind enough to stay back with me through the whole run. It was great to run with him!

It was a wonderful weekend and I am so grateful for all the people who have sacrificed so much so that I can raise my family in this beautiful country. Happy 4th of July!

Great to be Eight!

Kiara gets baptized in 2 weeks, so we got her a dress and took some pictures. Can't believe how fast they grow up!
Caden kept dipping his finger in the open ice cream carton for the picture, we couldn't figure out why his fingers were in his mouth for every picture. Definitely takes after his dad in this regard.
We don't much like cake in our family, so it is usually popcorn cake (my personal favorite) or strawberry pie or something like that.
The spanking machine is an annual tradition passed down from Spencer's family. You crawl through a long line of people as fast as you can and they spank you as hard as they can as you pass through their legs. As long standing tradition holds, the birthday person ends up in tears due to an excessive spank from an older sibling. Or, someone in a defensive tactic knocks over a standing someone in their rush to get through without a spank. Or, someone tries to run rather than crawl through and their head ends up ramming uncomfortably into awkward areas of the body (thus the attractive photo). Ah, good times.

Another tradition. Birthday person sleeps in the playroom, and gets breakfast in bed (or on the floor, on a blanket, with a cookie sheet and a place mat since I get major anxiety about this every birthday). Love to document birthday bed head!!

Easter dresses and Spiderman

I always envied girls who got Easter dresses growing up and for whatever reasons it wasn't a family tradition of ours. But, never fear, my girls will never feel that deep set level of despair (okay, I didn't really care that much about not getting an Easter dress...but still...).

More importantly, take note of the few budding flowers and greenery that is, in fact, my yard. I did take the photos in key locations in the yard, so don't be disillusioned into thinking that anything else grows so well. I have an innate ability to kill all living foliage. Someday, however, my yard will be the envy of the neighborhood, just wait!

Finally, I couldn't resist the blackmail photo-op of Caden in his spiderman pajams (that he wears DAILY. I wash it by letting him put it in the wash machine while its running b/c he thinks that is cool, and he removes them promptly when the cycle is done), undies, and some random purple bug boots we found in an old bin in the garage, presumably Kiara's. This is Caden showing us his muscles. A little less intimidating in undies and purple boots...

Can Can

I am not sure if it is the weather (should be spring but still raining) or the its-almost-summer feeling in the air or what, but this time of year I always get a crafty bug. i usually burn myself out in a few projects and vow never to touch my sewing machine again. Then it hits me again late summer/early fall. I definitely do NOT heed the admonition of "Moderation in all things". Anyway, found this skirt pattern on Dana made it (one of my in crafty mode FAVE sites), and had to make it! It pretty much screams Emma. I finished it on Sunday night and she has worn it every single day this week. I have to bribe her to take it off at bed time. Unfortunately, that only fuels my crafty flame, so I will probably be making this in several different colors. :)

I finally downloaded over 400 pictures, and hope to rejoin the blogging world. Since I am clearly an all or nothing kind of gal, you just never know!!