Wednesday, June 25, 2008

More Fun at Grandma's



We are continuing to have a great time here at my parent's house. My sister Rachel is in Asia for business until Thursday, so her boys are here as well. Gabe really wanted to take some pictures of the baby birds around here for her to look at. There is a nest on a gutter where the eggs have hatched and there are a couple of fuzzy little birds peeking out. Also, at the bottom of the road up to my parent's house a Killdeer bird has made a nest in the ground. Her eggs kind of look like rocks. Everytime we stop to check it out she gets really vocal and puffs up her feathers to make herself look bigger. The daddy bird will fly in and try to distract you by laying on the ground and faking an injury. It is pretty neat to watch.

We took all the boys to my Aunt Dinah's to go swimming in her pool. They all enjoyed themselves. Elijah got brave and was jumping off of the diving board, but as soon as I wanted to take a picture of him doing it he decided he would just rather lower himself into the water. The lifejacket got in the way a little bit as you can see in the picture.

Last night Jonah and Grandpa checked out the skating rink in Prosser before they came home. They found out that if you ate dinner there between 5-8 you could skate for free. So we took all the boys down there and burned up some energy. Jonah is doing great on the roller blades and Isaiah and Gabe worked hard to make it around on their skates. Elijah got out there in the mix as well but was not quite as determined as the bigger boys were. We had the place all to ourself, which made it really fun.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

...To Grandma's House We Go!



The boys and I packed up and headed over the mountains for some time at Grandma and Grandpa's house. After packing up a bunch of shorts and flip flops in preparation for some sun, that we have not seen much of yet this year, we packed in to our car and took off. I stopped off at the Tacoma Mall to have some fun with the boys at Build-a-Bear (they were having a special). Elijah chose to build a dinosaur that is now named Jayko and Isaiah chose to build a Turtle which he named Karzon. Both have become very attached to their new friends. After using some coupons to get free pretzels at Auntie Anne's, we were back on the road.

We passed the time in the car with snacks, naps, and Adventures in Odyssey. After what, I am sure, seemed like days for the boys we made it to my parent's house in Prosser. My nephews Jonah and Gabe are here for the week as well, so the boys get to have some cousin time in addition to their Grandma and Grandpa time.

My parents recently paved their driveway and parking area so there is lots of room for the boys to ride scooters, which they have been doing a lot of. On Saturday afternoon/evening we sat outside while they played around out there. While they were playing a storm rolled in with thunder and lightning, wind, and huge raindrops. You can see the dark clouds and the wind in the pictures. Elijah is not in any of those pictures because he was taking a much needed afternoon nap.

I will post more pictures as our week progresses. The boys are looking forward to spending time with Adia (another cousin), going swimming at Aunt Dinah's, going for a hike, and just the usual of watching movies and playing video games.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Father's Day 2008


We spent Father's Day telling Justin what an awesome Daddy he is. I made an extra effort to be prepared for church the night before by having the boys lay out clothes for the next day, that way Justin would not have to help get them all ready to go. I had put together a breakfast dish that you let sit in the fridge overnight so I was able to pop that in the oven on Sunday morning and we enjoyed a hot breakfast together before we headed out for church.

The Lord blessed with one of the best days we have had all spring, so of course we took advantage of it and barbequed lunch and played outside all afternoon. Isaiah had picked out a yummy dessert from http://www.pillsbury.com/ to make for Justin. It was so good and so easy. You just mix up a brownie mix and spoon it into muffin cups and then top each brownie muffin with a miniature reeses peanut butter cup and bake it in the oven. They are sooooo good. Reeses are Justin's favorite candy, so it was a great choice of dessert.

Happy Father's Day, Justin! We love you!!!

America's Favorite Pastime--Tee Ball

Isaiah completed his first season of Tee Ball on Saturday. What fun to watch thirteen 5 & 6 year olds play baseball. And by "play baseball" I mean spin in circles while waiting for the batter to hit, dig holes in the dirt in the infield, lay on the ground and make dirt angels, race your fellow teammates to be first to the ball at which time you all throw down on the ground and try to be the first to come up with the ball, wear a batting helmet that is so big you have to push it up in order to see where you are running. Isaiah enjoyed playing, but he especially enjoyed the snack that always came after the game. He would even get disappointed when we would say we were just going to practice because there was no snack after practice. It was a great learning experience for him and he improved a lot from game 1 to game 19. Yes, they did have 19 games on their schedule. Justin and I thought that was a little crazy, but we did have fun and really enjoyed the games when the sun peeked through our ever present clouds. Last night was the end of the year party where every player received a trophy with their name on it. Isaiah is very proud of his. I just don't know what I am going to do with all the trophies that we will end up with when every kid gets one for every season of every sport played. I don't know if I like the trend, but I know my kids do. Good Times!



Monday, June 16, 2008

Prince Carlos and Princess Henna





We finally broke down and decided that our family needed to have a pet again. Our original plan was to get one kitten from a friend whose cat was with child. When we went to pick ONE out, we ended up with two. It has been fun, though, to see the two of them play together. Isaiah and Elijah picked out their names: Prince Carlos (the orange one) and Princess Henna (the gray one).

Friday, June 13, 2008

Here I Go...

I have been enjoying keeping tabs on some friends and family via their great blogs. I decided to give it a whirl myself as a great way to show what we are doing as a family. Even with the best of intentions, I just can't find the time I would like to make phone calls and send photos the way I should. Our family is growning so fast and we are having so much fun. Here is a little info about each of the boys:


Isaiah: He is 5 1/2 and will be Kindergarten age next year. We will be homeschooling him and are really looking forward to it. He finished his last year at Sycamore Tree Preschool at the end of May. That was really the end of an era for him since I first brought him there when he was about 18 months and I was pregnant with Elijah. Isaiah is full of energy and always has a song/noise/air guitar in him that just begs to get out. His mind is always working and questions never escape him. He seems to have an endless capacity for information, which is both exciting and exhausting at the same time! He is almost done with his first season of T-ball and he learned how to ride a two-wheeler over Memorial Day Weekend.

Elijah: He is 3 1/2 and is full of laughter. Right now as I look at him he has a leather biker vest on and a pirate patch over one eye. Elijah definitely has his own style that we just smile at. His smile is so infectious and I love to make him laugh just to hear his giggle. He definitely is a second child and enjoys following after his older brother and taking part in his activities. He is strong both in physical terms and in his ability to dig his heels in. Although generally easy going, when he believes strongly about something, it requires Divine Intervention to get him to budge.

Micah: 14 months and our miracle baby. Everytime we look at him and see him smile we are reminded about how close we came to losing him, twice. The doctors really thought that I would deliver at around 25 weeks when we had complications. With the Lord's help he went to 36 weeks. A miracle. Then the next challenge came two months later when he went into Septic Shock. After two weeks at Mary Bridge Children's Hospital in Tacoma, he came home. We spent the summer recovering and seeing doctors, but by the fall it was smooth sailing. Another miracle. He is such a happy baby who loves to give kisses and hugs. He follows his brothers around and tries to "play" with them, and by "play" I mean destroy anything they are working on!



I suppose I should give some info about Justin and I as well. We both turned 30 this year and decided that we must now be officially adults, although it does not feel like it at times. Justin is now in his 9th year working at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton. He no longer works on the nuclear submarines, instead he is working in the crane department. Although it may not sound as prestigious, it is much more satisfying of a job. I am continuing to enjoy staying home with the boys. Everyday is a blessing with them. Next fall we will start a new chapter in our lives with homeschooling. I am looking forward to the challenge and opportunity to be a teacher again, although any mom is a teacher everyday!