Catch up Keep up

Oh hey there,

How is it June????  And how is it that school ends next week and I'm off to Spain??  Spain.....  I'll chat more about that later, but I thought I would share a little of what I've been up to since the end of March.

Easter and these yummy rolls that were my contribution to Easter dinner at my in-laws house.

My crew of boys and me.  It was such a rare, sunny Easter day that the boys were able to have an Easter egg hunt outside and my attempt at getting a family picture.  Love my boys :)

Our spring break was the second week in April and the boys and I flew to Denver and then drove to Nana and Papa's house in Oklahoma to spend our vacation with some favorite people of ours.  My husband had to work all week, so the boys and I had an adventure.  Our trip was a lot of fun.  I got to hang out with my mom and dad and my aunt a couple of days.  My grandpa came over a few nights to have dinner with us as well.  He is the last grandparent on my side and my boys loved seeing him.

The flight to Denver was uneventful, we had a great 7 1/2 hour drive to Oklahoma, I got to have pedicures with my best friend who drove 2 1/2 hours to see me and had lunch with another friend that lives back home as well.  My cousin from Ft Worth drove up and we had a mini family reunion.  The trip home was another story......  

Great drive up to Denver, only took us 7 hours to get back.  Made it to the airport and had some wonderful people help me get luggage and car seats to the check in area.  Treated the boys with ice cream and then walked down to our gate and got on board the plane.  Well, 30 minutes after we were supposed to have departed, we got off the plane and had to wait until another plane could arrive in Denver to take us back to Seattle, because the plane had mechanical issues and Alaska decided to rather be safe than sorry and for that I do appreciate the delay.

However....instead of getting home at 8pm Seattle time, it was 1 am.  My saving grace was the fact that my wonderful husband was meeting us at the airport to take us home.  Kiddo got an extra day off from school as we all slept in on Monday.

Another great part of April is Opening Day!!!!  Since the official opening day of the Seattle Mariners was the day we flew out to OK, the Mariners held an open house the first day of the season when the M's were playing in Oakland.  (So thoughtful of them :) The Mariner organization opened the gates to anyone who wanted to come in, played the game on the massively gargantuan jumbo tron they installed during the off season and just had a fun evening showing off the new food vendors and updates to the stadium.  If you ever come to Seattle, try to make it to an M's game, we have an awesome stadium :)

May brings flowers and a month long party of birthdays.  Seriously, August was a great month for so many people as there are so many birthdays that month.  I should know, our oldest was born the day before my birthday!  I got my favorite birthday gift in the mail from Vera Bradley, went out for happy hour with some of my best girlfriends up here, went out for Mexican with my family and of course celebrated my 8 year old!

Happy hour with my girlfriends at one of my favorite restaurants, Lot No 3.

Y'all it was in the 80s on my birthday!!!!!  So we headed to the lake with some friends and I got sunburned.....  It was an awesome day.

Mother's Day is the week after my birthday and I sure am thankful for these 3 boys and blessed to be their mother.

I ran into a girlfriend of mine who lives 40 minutes away so sadly, I barely see her, but God just made sure we intersected because she has a little guy who is turning 1 in June and I blessed her socks off with an entire bin of 12-18 months summer clothes for her little guy.  It was so much fun to go through the bin of clothes and remember a 2 of my 3 boys wearing those little outfits and now another little boy gets to wear them.  I am also one less bin of stuff in my house.  Score!

I have been reading a couple of blogs and they do hair tutorials.  I have such long hair and for once in my 36 years of life am trying to be a little more girly and "do" my hair.  I also get loads of complements on those earrings from noonday collection.

Our family spent Memorial Day at the baseball game.  The Mariner's even won, too!!

So that brings you up to speed on what I've been up to and maybe I'll be better about posting, but most likely not :)  I just wanted to share some fun I've had and the blessings I've been given.

A little weekend cuteness

I thought I would share some of the cuteness that lives in my house.

My husband's grandmother is turning 85 at the end of the month and my sister-in-law came up with a cool gift idea for her.  Great Gram Gwen has made all the great grandchildren an afghan and my SIL thought it would be a nice gift for her to have a picture with each great grand and their afghan.

Here are my 3 cuties with their blankets.  We chose not to find out the sex of our kiddos so the first two are gender neutral, but grandma didn't want to make a 3rd gender neutral blanket so little dude's came after he was born, thus his is blue.

age 7

age 5

age 2

I'm thankful for these handsome little trouble makers and the family we have that love them, bless them in various ways and most importantly pray for them.

I'm also thankful for living near grandma so I can use her nice patio and

 wooden chairs to snap these pictures :)

mom's signature

After spending some time traveling to see family, it's back to reality and helping my oldest with his homework. He came home last night with a packet full of missed work he needs to do this week on top of his normal homework. Most of the work is math and he should be able to complete it in a short amount of time, but it is such a struggle to get him to focus and get his homework completed in a reasonable amount of time.

I'm trying to be better at sitting down with him and helping him instead of being distracted with my phone and social media.  I suppose mom should focus on his work with him and stop multi tasking.  The other distraction is his two younger brothers.  I try to have them play on the computer or play in the other room as to keep the noise level down, but my oldest is so distracted that I end up getting frustrated at him for getting up out of is seat and taking more time than it should, in my opinion.

How does your family complete homework with siblings in varying stages in life;
in school and too young for school? 

Preparation

Tomorrow we leave on our annual camping trip to Cama Beach on Camano Island here in Western Washington. Woot! Woot! This year our family is staying 5 nights and while I'm excited, it's a lot of work. Now don't get me wrong, I'm fully aware that ALL vacations are work to prepare but it seems when you have to pack your own food for the week, it adds to the to do list.

The other difference to this trip is there are a number of families coming, some friends, some friends of friends and a whole passel of children. We divide the dinner meal up so if you choose, you can join in on the group meals and only have to cook one meal for several families instead of dinner every night. This has been a great way to meal plan with friends and be completely lazy the rest of vacation. I'm making dinner for Wednesday evening and our meal is BBQ chicken sandwiches on biscuits, coleslaw, baked beans, chips and fruit. I cooked up 6.5 pounds of chicken breasts in my slow cooker, shredded it and added more sauce before bagging it up and putting it in the freezer. The biscuits will be frozen too and I'm hoping will taste okay a few days later.

I must inform you the cabins are equipped with a refrigerator and electricity so I don't have to pack a cooler full of ice to keep my food frozen until I need it. I just have to pack my cooler with food and then I unpack it a couple of hours later once we check in. We go on this trip with some close friends and will meal share breakfast and our kids mooch off each other so I always pack extra snacks. It's only fair.

As our kids get bigger and the number of families joining increases, it lends to more activities and fun. This year we are having our own Olympics games. We have a professional event planner who has graciously offered to put together games. One of the mom's found plastic medals that each child will receive for participating, but they aren't just the cheesy, 'hey you played so you get a medal'. Each child will get a medal for best performance or funniest act. I'm really looking forward to watching the kids play the various games and have some fun.

I also picked up my crabbing license today as we are able to go crabbing two days during our trip. Mmmmm, crab fresh from the sea. One of the best parts of living in Seattle is fresh crab.  The weather is supposed to be fantastically sunny and I just can't wait.  Now to finish packing, packing, packing......

Orcas Island and a Ferry Boat

After coming home exhausted from a weekend of camping in the sunshine, we headed the opposite direction the next weekend and caught a ferry boat up to the San Juan Islands to camp out with some friends.  I am very blessed to live in a gorgeous part of the country that is so close to water and the mountains.  If God were to ever move us from here, I would hope for another part of the country near water at least.

Our little road trip took us north and a bit west to Anacortes for the ferry boat to Orcas Island. There are only a few boats each day, so we got up, Mike loaded the car and we were off by 9 am to catch the 12:30 boat.  Now it's only about an hour and a half drive up to Anacortes, but you need to be in line early, especially on a Friday.  We made it to the ferry line and were able to get out, stretch our legs a bit, use the restroom and hang out.

The ferry ride over was so beautiful and a bit chilly as the temperatures have been a little in the lacking warmth department. I'm a bit directionally challenged so I could not have told you what direction we were headed or what islands we were going by, but I was just enjoying the boat ride. Once we made it to Orcas Island, we drove around the island to get to the state park. Orcas is shaped like a horseshoe and we came in on the southeast tip and the state park is on the southwest tip. In the middle of the island is the town of Eastsound which is also the name of the water inlet. Our friends were already at the campsite, so we drove on in, unloaded and the kids were so excited to be with their friends.

The weekend was filled with a few walks, swimming in Cascade Lake, a little kayaking for the moms and dads, some bike riding as there wasn't a great place to ride bikes with the kids and even a thunderstorm to finish out an evening.  We of course did the camp fire with s'mores all 3 nights even though the first and third night the rain decided to join us.  Not a fan of camping in the rain which you just have to be prepared for if you go camping in Western Washington.  Although July and August are usually good bets for no rain, but there is no guarantee.

Another great part of Orcas Island is Mount Constitiution. From up at the summit, you can see Vancouver, BC, Bellingham, WA and other San Juan Islands on a clear day. Our day had a few clouds, but overall, it was beautiful. There is a watch tower the state parks department has turned into a little informational exhibit about the San Juan Islands and how they were used in the past. Now, the island is home to artists, farmers and retirees I'm sure.

Our friends had to leave on Sunday morning, so we bid them goodbye and headed into Eastsound to get online and do a little bit of normal weekend business and to sight see. The town has many cute little shops, galleries, a bookstore, several restaurants, a small inn and coffee shops. As much as I would have liked to go in some of the shops, we have to get real about the fact that I travel with four males at all times and one of those males doesn't look with his eyes very well and must touch everything, so I walk by, glance in and keep walking. We did stop into the pie shop for a snack. I must say that with a child who has dairy allergies, going into a pie shop is not the best idea, but I know that if I can find a pie where the filling is dairy free, I just give him the filling and we forgo the crust. This pie shop was good, but the pie shop on Phinney in Seattle right across from the zoo is much better.

After our pie stop, the sun finally came out and we decided to head back to the camp. The boys fell asleep so we drove around to the south end of Cascade Lake to the south camp sites where we stayed the previous time. We wanted to scope out next years camping spots and get an idea of which sites we wanted to make reservations for summer 2013. Once back, it was different without our friends there and the camp site seemed a bit bigger and more spread out and it was kinda lonely.

I'm thankful for the time we were about to have with our friends and I'm thankful for the time just our family had together. It was awesome being out in God's creation even if it did rain on my parade. And as a mom of all boys and no privacy at home, it was nice to go to the bathroom by myself for 3 straight days.

Sun Lakes and a dam

This past weekend was spent together as a family camping in the heat and sunshine of Eastern Washington.  It is pretty mandatory that if you want to go camping in the summer and have a specific state park you would like to stay at, reservations must be made a few months in advance.  Unfortunately, I wasn't on the ball like I should have been, so by the time I got to getting online to reserve a spot, most of the state parks we like to visit were booked.

Bummer.

But (silver lining here) I did find a pretty decent campsite at Sun Lakes State Park where the temperatures can reach triple digits in the summer due to the desert like topography.  I didn't take too many pictures since it's kinda hard to be out in the sand, dirt, water with a nice DSLR since my point and shoot is still in need of repair.  We had no cell service and certainly no 3G service so our little family was unplugged for the weekend. 

After setting up our tent and giving the boys boundaries of where they could play, we spent some time hanging out as a family.  Luckily, there was a rather large section of grass behind our site that backed up to the golf course, so we let the dog off his lead and tossed the ball around to him so he could get some exercise.  Dinner was hot dogs and s'mores over the fire since my chicken hadn't thawed yet.  I also learned how many items I had forgotten, but how you can improvise with what was in the camping box.

Saturday was spent having a yummy breakfast, a walk around the park with the dog and then Mike took the older two boys plus the dog to the water to play.  I stayed back to try to get the little man to take a nap.  Futile effort, but I did get to read some of my book.  After the boys returned from the water, we had lunch, naps and then went back out to the water all together.

That evening was a chicken salad and more s'mores over the camp fire.  Camping and sleep is always such an anomaly and my boys were no different the first night than the second, but we survived and had a fun time together as a family.

After packing up our site and hitting the road, Mike and I took a little road trip to see the Grand Coulee Dam.  It is quite the sight.  There are three sections of the dam that generate power and the amount of concrete that was needed to build the dam was phenomenal, 12 million cubic yards.  Crazy, huge!  We did drive up to the visitors center and would have liked to have taken the tour, but the temperature was over 90 degrees and there was no where for Oreo to hang out, so we just turned around and headed for home.

We took a detour into Wentachee for Sonic Drive-Thru and honestly, the only thing going for them is their drinks.  Lunch was heh, but we ate it, and drove on to home.  Road trips are always an adventure and we saw a truck pulling a travel trailer on the side of the road on fire.  Luckily it wasn't engulfed in flames, but I felt so bad for those people who owned the truck.  Due to the location of the truck, it was 20 minutes down the highway before we saw a fire truck and on the other side of Stevens Pass.  I did send up a few prayers for that family.  What a way to end your weekend.  We got about 20 miles from our turn off on Highway 2 and traffic was dead stopped.  Apparently, we managed to come across at just the right time to get stuck in lovely 2 lane traffic. It took an hour to go 8 miles and there are no alternative roads until you get a few more miles down the road.  Yay for google maps on the ipad, because that was my saving grace.  I was driving and Mike was looking for alternative roads and we discovered on in the next town over that would take us directly to highway 203 and onto home.

It was a fun, crazy, hot weekend.  No one got sunburned, PRAISE THE LORD!  And we all still love each other :)

Happy Independence Day

Today was a fun family day just relaxing at home for a good part of the day. It was a bit random how the 4th landed on a Wednesday and of course will again, but odd to have a day off in the middle of the week. After naps, we walked the mile to grandpa and grandma's house because from there we walked up the hill to the city's festivities.

The city of Sammamish does a good job hosting a party. There were food trucks, a section of various inflatable bounce toys and lots of green grass to lay out a blanket and wait for the sun to go down. Fireworks don't start until 10 pm but it was a fun 20 minute show. Overall, it was a fun day with a lot of walking and the bonus was I made it home in time to remember to put out the cold pack for the Full Circle Farm driver to pick up when delivering my weekly box of produce.

I hope you had a great time celebrating our independence and may this nation remember what our founding fathers did to start forming this great nation. God Bless!
 

 

A little picture of my holiday bling.

Silver bracelet - gift

Blue Bangle - Beadin Path

Beaded Bracelet - tulipsandpine

Our newest member

A few weeks ago we added a new member to the family. Lucky for me, I didn't have to go through any weight gain, hips hurting and labor again. Nope, this time we went the adoption route and welcomed an almost 2 year old black lab into our family.

Oreo was adopted from another couple who had decided their 15 hour days were not kind to him being stuck at home alone and wanted a family to take care of him. My oldest son was completely ecstatic about getting a dog while the youngest was on the opposite end of the spectrum and freaked out by the dog. Fast forward a couple of weeks and the oldest doesn't like Oreo anymore while the youngest is in love. Go figure. 

 For me it's like having a 4th child. Mom is the one who wakes up in the morning and walks him, plays ball with him during the day and of course sweeps up all the black dog hair that floats around my house now. (sigh) The boys do feed him for which I am thankful. Oreo is a sweet dog but needs some training so the hubby signed up for obedience school. It's more like training the whole family, but overall, another adventure to go through together.

Saturday Family Fun

After a wonderful evening out at Purple Cafe last night with the hubby for date night, today was family day.  On the agenda is a birthday party for a friend of ours little girl who turned 4.  She's little buddies with my 4 year old and I must confess that I hadn't bought the gift yet.  Oops, so off we go to breakfast, shopping and a birthday party.

First stop was my favorite doughnut stop, Top Pot!!!!  Nothing like a latte and a chocolate bar to get you going for the morning.  If you ever make it to Seattle, you MUST stop by one of their many Seattle area locations and try out a doughnut for yourself.

After picking up the appropriate Rapunzel/Tangled doll for the birthday girl, we were off to the party.  As we were walking out of the mall, I took this picture with my iPhone.  It might not be super warm, but any clear blue sky day in February is a good day.

Happy Hour at Home

What a week!!

Snow, ice, power outage, no school for 3 days.  We had a lot of good family time playing in the snow, playing board games when the power was out and just hanging out.  But today, we escaped our house, went sledding with some friends at their house and my husband was very glad to go to work.

Kids are in bed, hubby is out with the guys and I'm making myself a margarita.

Happy Weekend Y'all!!

Road Trip 2011

So instead of spending wads of money we don't have to fly 5 people from Seattle to the middle of no where Oklahoma Panhandle, we drove 3,400 miles round trip in my big, bad, black SUV. Nope, no mini van around here. Anyhoo, here are some pictures I took with my phone along the way.

Dinner the first night in Ellensburg, WA and I happen to read the ingredient list of the apple juice.  Why is our apples coming from other countries when the state of Washington is known for their apples.  Just saying People.

My oldest wearing his In-N-Out hat.  We drove 20 miles out of the way for a double-double on the second day of driving.  Love me some In-N-Out.

My second born son showing us his sticker page courtesy of the gal who took our order and handed over the goods :)

MMMMMMM, dinner

Our third day of travel. I-80 cruising eastbound through Wyoming

Just east of Green River, WY. Crystal clear blue sky and white snow covered plateaus.

My little man listening to his big brother's ipod.  He wasn't a happy camper being strapped down in a 5 point harness for days on end, but he still loves me :)

It seemed the further south we drove....

the colder the temperature.

Western Kansas around 2 am.  Brrrrrrrr!

Now for the return drive home. This was Western Kansas, flat land and lots of snow.

Not the best picture, but as we entered I-70 westbound to Denver, the moon was just beautiful against the darkening sky.

DINNER!!!!! Oh, how I love Chick-fil-A but despise the fact they are no where near me at all :(

After 11 hours in the car, we had finally arrived to Laramie, WY where we stayed the night.

More beautiful Wyoming landscape.

And even more headed westbound on I-80.

Oh yes we did :)

Hello normal winter temperatures.

We had a great trip seeing 8 states, driving 3,400 miles round trip, loving on grandparents and cousins and Praising Jesus for a SAFE trip too.