Blue Eyed Blessings

goodbye Christmas clutter...hello clean slate!

2012-01-02T22:00:00.000-08:00

I love Christmas. I really do! But I also love when everything is all put away from the Christmas craziness and my house looks brand new again! It's amazing how much the Christmas decor also adds to the clutter of the house. Don't get me wrong, I love the festivity of it all, but I also like a clean slate. Which brings me to...Day 1 is here (well, technically it was here...I'm just a little behind on blogging about it). Ask Anna asked US to take care of that ready to be put away Christmas decor and say goodbye until next year. And that I did! I will confess the tree is still up, but there aren't any ornaments on it. Does that count? We're just waiting for a good time to actually get it out of the house - dead pine needles and all. Our last couple of nights have been a little busy.

I am big into bins, totes, containers, you name it...if it organizes, I'm into it. And I store all of my Christmas stuff into bins and bins and bins. I haven't crossed over to the "other side" in going all green and red for my Christmas decor (but oh how tempting that is!!). I just can't justify forking over the money when we have bins that work just fine (even if they are blue and purple).

Here are my lovely bins in all their massive glory. I think I might have acquired maybe one (dare I say two?) more bins since I last blogged about my Christmas storage 2 years ago.

But back to THIS YEAR...

The best thing for me to do when putting away my Christmas decor is to gather it all up in one location. I just walk around the house and grab this, that, and the other and bring it all to one big pile. This way the kids can help (with the unbreakables) and I can survey the amount of Christmas stuff I own.

One of the tasks the kids had this year was to take their own ornaments off the tree and place them each in a pile (oops...no picture - just visualize what that would look like!) Since they were born, each of the kids have had their own ornament box, so that when it comes time for another year of decorating the tree, they get to pull their own ornaments out and oooh and aaah over them (like this year!!)

Our misc. family and snowflake ornaments get stored away in this nifty little container that locks together, but there are individual trays. How cool is this?! Can't remember when I got it, but I love it!

A couple of years ago I found this ornament box in the AFTER CHRISTMAS CLEARANCE!! How there was one left and I got it...I still don't know. But I couldn't store my ornament bulbs without it (well, I suppose I could because pretty organizers aren't everything, but they sure are lovely to look at!)

While sorting out all of the Christmas items, I set aside anything that I haven't used in years and am willing to let go. I try to do this little by little every year because I always end up adding at least one or two things to my Christmas decor each year. My pile seemed a bit on the wimpy side this time around, but at least there are a few things headed to my garage sale bin!

And a bonus tip is to set aside a box with any little goodies that you plan to give for next Christmas. I always seem to find a few cute things when I'm browsing the after-Christmas clearance to add to stockings or whatever it may be and it's nice to have a special place for them.

I usually take pictures of my Christmas decor, but this year I didn't - drats! But look at my lonely looking mantle with no stockings hung with care. On my list of projects (which, by the way thanks to Pinterest is getting extremely long!) is a mantle makeover.

Now before I move onto Valentine's Day decorations, Ask Anna encouraged us to do a major cleaning of our clean slate and although I haven't vacuumed up the pine needles yet (remember? I'm still waiting to remove that tree!) I did take the time to dust!

purge, declutter & simplify

2012-01-01T00:00:00.000-08:00

I have been in a major mood to ORGANIZE these last few days (without much action, however)! I'm pretty sure it has everything to do with the fact that it's almost the New Year which always seems to bring a different level of motivation. And probably partly because I still have my Christmas decorations half up, half down which makes my house feel cluttered and I'm stuck in that in-between phase. I know how I want it to look...it's just a matter of the route I need to take to get there! I probably haven't done much about that urge to organize because I've been spending more time eye-ing all of the amazing inspiration on Pinterest than actually doing anything. Seriously, it's killing me! I am finding so many ideas and I'm just in L-O-V-E...simply in love with the possibilities of the organizing projects in my future.

However when I start this urge to organize that's really all I want to do, but I have to remember I have other responsibilities, too, and I can't let the organizing bug take over my daily routine. I have to fit it in my life when I can. So that's why I was excited to run across Ask Anna and her 14 Days to Get Clean & Organized challenge. It's just a little at a time and step by step I will conquer some organizing I want to get done without it taking over my life. Wanna join me?

One of my goals for the year 2012 is...

Purge, Declutter & Simplify!

I feel like I am an organized person and I don't have a ton of clutter, but it's a matter of making everything simpler and easier for me and my family to continue to stay organized after the re-arranging is done. That's why I was also excited to find The Simpler Life just in time for this New Year and new commitment. I downloaded Beth's 2012 Declutter Calendar and I look forward to taking many more baby steps on my way to simplify my home and get it in the shape I want it to be...and stay that way!

Happy New Year to each of you!!

gingerbread houses and gingerbread men!

2011-12-27T13:21:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago before school got out the kids both had parties in their classroom on the same day! Austin's class was making gingerbread houses and Mikayla was having her Kindergarten holiday party. I really wanted to do both and thank goodness Ms. Michelle planned to do the gingerbread houses right away which meant I could buzz over to Mikayla's school in time for her party! I have the pleasure of being the Room Coordinator for Mikayla's classroom so I knew it was important for me to be there to help direct the moms in where and what they needed to help out with.

Austin & his Gingerbread House!

It was so sweet to watch him have so much concentration and careful planning of where he wanted the candies to go. Maybe that's why he was one of the last ones to be finished!

For Mikayla's class party, we had decided on a Gingerbread Man theme...

The next day, Mikayla's class got to have a PJ day and watch a movie. I just so happened to be volunteering that morning and had grabbed my camera on the way out the door!

Mikayla and her "twin" Hannah...
they both got a kick out of showing up in matching PJs!

Mrs. Derry & Mikayla

{sweet faces}

{silly faces}

I am really enjoying not having to do drop off or pick up during this 2-week vacation from school. Oh, and did I mention the sleeping in part? Such bliss!!

Christmas Countdown 2011 - Day 15

2011-12-26T23:20:00.000-08:00

Christmas is over, but there is still so much to share! I guess you could say I got a little behind in posting my 25 Days to Christmas activities...let's make Christmas last a little longer!! ;)

Day 14 - Plans got changed! In their place, a fun visit with out of town friends! No pictures...what was I thinking?! :(

Day 15 - Reindeer Fun with Friends

My good friend Sarah and I decided to get together for a fun afternoon with the kids and make our time together reindeer themed!! Little did we know just how "fun" it would be...with me forgetting half of the supplies for the craft, Austin being afraid of their cat, Jilian using her outside voice inside, and Mikayla wanting to just play with the bunny all afternoon. It truly was a comedy of errors, but a great memory was made! Next time we really should take a picture of each other to show off the frazzled mess we were! ;)

Let's make clothespin reindeer ornaments!

As we soon discovered, a craft suited best for older children...

Mikayla & Jilian
Austin giving me the "just one more picture, Mom" look!
Isn't he cute?!
And, aren't they even cuter?!

Let's whip up some reindeer food for Christmas Eve night!

A little oatmeal and sprinkles...

Stir it up...

Reindeer food!!

And, finally...

Let's make reindeer brownies!
(inspired by Pinterest, of course!)

Such a crazy, but FUN afternoon!!

Christmas Countdown 2011 - Day 13

2011-12-20T23:38:00.000-08:00

Day 13 - Hanging out with Papa & Grammy

My husband and I celebrated our 8th anniversary on December 13th, so later in the afternoon I took the kids to my parents' house so we could go on a date that night! I wasn't quite ready for the activity for Day 13, so I asked my mom to take a couple of pictures of things that they did at their house. The kids didn't really know any different that this really wasn't the intended activity! ;)

They decorated gingerbread men...

Dressed up in Papa's boots...

...and went to cousin Hunter's Christmas program.

They love spending time at Papa & Grammy's house...
no matter what they do!

Christmas Countdown 2011 - Day 12

2011-12-20T23:09:00.000-08:00

Day 12 - Christmas Books by the Fire

Day 12 found the kids relaxing by the fire in their pajamas and snuggled in their sleeping bags ready to read some Christmas books. Each year we have decided to buy each of the kids a Christmas book, so this night was the big reveal! We have a box of Christmas books we pull out each Christmas and leave by the fire and the kids are welcome to read them as much as they want...as long as they put them back in the box! ;)

My Christmas Cuties!

Book #1 - "Santa's Favorite Story"

The next book we had them close their eyes for and then open!

Book #2 - "It's Christmas, David!"

They were both so excited for their books!

And we had a great time reading them...

Christmas Countdown 2011 - Day 11

2011-12-20T22:00:00.000-08:00

Day 11 - Family Dinner & Pretzel Kisses

Ever since my parents came "home", the family tries to get together once a week for a family dinner...usually on Sundays. On Day 11 we headed out to my parents' house to eat some yummy taco soup with my sister and brother and their families, as well as my parents. We always enjoy being able to be together and the kids LOVE being with their cousins! For dessert, we enjoyed some pretzel kisses and as part of our Day 11 activity the cousins helped make them!

{The Girl Cousins}
(you can't see her very well, but cousin Hannah is in the background on the right)

{The Boy Cousins}
(minus cousin Jacob who must have been distracted by his book..hee! hee!)

* Pretzel Kisses *

Lay pretzels on baking sheet.
(I've also seen these using star pretzels or round pretzels...too cute!)
Place your choice of Hershey's Kisses (I used "Hugs") on top of each pretzel.

{the little helpers}
Place in the oven at 225 degrees for 3-5 minutes until soft.
(FYI: the "Hugs" melt faster than the milk chocolate Kisses)

Place an M & M on top of each Hershey Kisses and push down.

Each of the cousins enjoyed a treat!

Mikayla - 5 1/2 years

Austin - 4 years
Hunter - 4 years
I tried to snap a picture of cousin Hannah (20 months),
but she wouldn't let me!

Jacob - 11 years
Noah - 6 years
Hailey - 3 1/2 years
Then the treats were passed out to all the adults. Noah was so funny...he would make sure that everyone knew that they could only have TWO.

Fun times with family!

Christmas Countdown 2011 - Day 10

2011-12-16T19:58:00.000-08:00

Day 10 - Game Night with Daddy

We had a super busy day last Saturday for Day 10 and I happened to be gone for the evening, so the kids got to hang out with daddy. He was so good about doing something fun with them...setting up a game and each of them got a cookie (that we had made earlier in the week) and some milk for dessert! He even snapped a couple of pictures for me!

Christmas Countdown 2011 - Day 9

2011-12-16T19:00:00.000-08:00

Day 9 - Watch America's Funniest Videos

"Christmas Spectacular"

One of our favorite shows to watch together as a family is America's Funniest Videos. This is something I grew up on and Mikayla has fallen in love with the laughter that comes from watching this show! It brings back so many memories of my childhood! For Day 9, we all cuddled up with a tasty treat ("Monkey Munch") and watched the Christmas Spectacular version of the show. It was such a blast and I haven't laughed that hard in so long!! There were a couple of times that Austin would look at me (after I was hysterically laughing) and said, "Mom, it's not that funny." I suppose he doesn't have his momma's sense of humor!

All cuddled up and ready to watch the show!

Best "family photo" we could get!

Let the show begin!

Monkey Munch for a snack!
(with some red & green M & M's to make it more festive)

Christmas Countdown 2011 - Day 8

2011-12-16T18:05:00.000-08:00

Day 8 - Pajama Story Time at Mud Puddles

A friend of mine shared with me a great new tradition that we decided to start this year and it became our Day 8 activity of our 25 Days to Christmas. We have a local toy store that is one of those cute little shops that sells quality toys where the kids get to explore, discover, and read. When the kids were younger, we would be sure to make it a habit to visit their weekly story time, but now that both kids are in school we don't make it there as often. For the Christmas season, they were holding a special night time event where the kids could dress up in their pajamas and listen to Christmas books!

I let each of them bring a "friend"...

Austin really was happy to be there...
even though this picture doesn't show it!

It was such a treat to be able to enjoy this time with Mikayla's good friend Ellie because now that they are attending different schools they don't get to see each that much anymore! Ellie's mom (and my good friend) is the one who told me about pajama story time!

Ellie's little sister, Claire, wanted her picture taken, too!

Story time!

Waiting in line for hot cocoa...

It was a fun night and the bedtime process was so much easier that night. We got home, brushed teeth, and then they hopped into bed!

Christmas Countdown 2011 - Day 7

2011-12-16T17:00:00.001-08:00

Day 7 - Blessing Others

This year we really wanted to instill in the kids that Christmas is not always about GETTING presents, but most importantly that it's about GIVING! We have always talked about this, but as each year goes by we make it more of an emphasis as the kids get older and understand it more. I look forward to the many opportunities we have to show the kids how much of a blessing it is for us to be able to give with a cheerful heart. Mikayla, especially, has really been able to understand this concept more and more and I can see her heart to give growing, which makes me such a proud mommy!

This year, we picked an angel off the "Angel Tree" at church.

{let's go shopping!}

On our way into the store, Grammy gave the kids money to put in the Salvation Army bucket. Now each time we pass by one, Mikayla asks to put money in. What a sweetheart!

Mikayla picked an art activity case for the Angel Tree gift.

We also purchased art supplies for one of the children in the family that her Kindergarten class "adopted" at school through the Helping Hands program.

I must admit that Austin still needs a little more work in the concept of "giving to others" since pretty much the whole time he was pouting because he wanted to buy something for himself. Oh, the joys of learning it's not all about "me"!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

In mid-November, we also had the opportunity to fill two shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. This is something we have tried to do each year and this year we bought enough to fill two shoe boxes for two girls. It filled my heart with joy watching her be so excited about giving to others who have so little...or nothing at all!

My next mission is to create a system where the kids will start saving their money and have jars for giving, saving, and living. It's never too early to teach them ways to spend the little money they earn.

Christmas Countdown 2011 - Day 6

2011-12-15T22:00:00.000-08:00

Day 6 - Milk & Cookies...and letters to Santa

It seems like I'm falling further and further behind in posting our 25 Days to Christmas, but here goes in trying to catch up...

Day 6 we baked up some cookies with ingredients I had prepared ahead of time and then enjoyed them while the kids wrote their letters to Santa.

{cookies in a jar}

{just dump the ingredients into the bowl}

{mix them all together}

{stir in the "wet" ingredients}

{roll them into balls}

{fresh from the oven}

{cookies and milk!}

Time for letters to Santa...

Austin told me to write that he wants a remote control monster truck, but he didn't really tell me anything else he wants for Christmas. However, a couple of days ago while riding in the car, he asked me..."Mommy, guess what I want from Santa." I replied, "A remote control monster truck." He said, "No, that's on my list, but I want a Touchpad like Daddy."

Dreaming big I would say!!

(How cute does he look writing his name?)

Mikayla wrote her own letter this year with a little help from me for spelling. I can't believe she's getting so grown up!

"Dear Santa,
I want a pink and white soccer ball and Barbie Christmas movie. I want a Pocahontas doll. Thank you."

Guess I have some shopping to do! ;)

Christmas Countdown 2011 - Day 5

2011-12-12T21:17:00.000-08:00

Day 5 - Candy Cane Milkshakes & The Candymaker's Gift

For Day 5 of our 25 Days of Christmas activities, we made candy cane milkshakes and read the beautiful book called The Candymaker's Gift. It puts spiritual truths into a charming story of the origin of the candy cane. It focuses on the importance of Jesus, the one whose birth we celebrate at Christmas. I met the Haidles (a husband and wife author/illustrator duo) at the first MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) Bazaar I participated in where they both signed our copy. This tradition is something we started two years ago and we will continue to do this!

I bought these cute little snowflake glass mugs one year on an after-Christmas clearance. This is the first year I have pulled them out for the kids to use during special times.

{ready to make candy cane milkshakes!}

{break up the candy canes}

{scoop in the ice cream}

{pause for a picture}

{ready to blend}

{ready, set, puree!}

{ready to enjoy...yum!}

{story time by the Christmas tree}

{sipping on milkshakes while listening to the story}

Christmas Countdown 2011 - Day 4

2011-12-09T22:55:00.000-08:00

Day 4 - The Playmobil Nativity Set

This year Ryan and I wanted to get the kids their own nativity set they could play with one of their own throughout the month of December. We have the Demdaco fragile set and I'd rather them not play with it (although they do love it!)! We've had it ever since they were babies and it's lasted this long without any accidents and I even keep it down low.

Daddy and the kids reading the day's activity after church...

They found the present under the tree and started ripping off the paper immediately! Don't you just love Austin's face here? So exciting!

Time to take out all of the pieces...

Mikayla's favorite piece is the angel...
Austin's favorite is the camel...

Setting it all up...

The kids have had a great time playing with this almost every day. Mikayla loves to reenact the story of Jesus's birth. I will read it aloud and she will move all of the pieces. It's a great way to be sure the kids are understanding the true meaning of Christmas.

Christmas Countdown 2011 - Day 3

2011-12-09T22:30:00.000-08:00

Day 3 - Festival of Trees

Wow! How does a whole week go by in a blink of an eye?! Although I haven't been up to date with blogging every day, our family is still doing our 25 Days of Christmas. Some days I'm a little more prepared than others, but no matter what...the kids are having a blast (and we are, too!).

Last Saturday (day 3) the kids and Daddy got to have a little day with just the three of them and they met up with his parents at the Festival of Trees in downtown Portland. I decided to stay home to prepare for my Holiday Bazaar the following day. It's not often that Daddy gets a day with just the kids (and his parents), so I knew it would be a fun day for them! We originally were going to go see Santa come in on a helicopter in our hometown, but last minute Grandma Ruth & Grandpa Charlie called and we decided to change the plans! Good thing we did because it was too foggy for Santa to fly in. It would have been such a big disappointment!

I lovingly encouraged (hee hee!) Ryan to be sure to take LOTS of pictures for me and he did amazing! I was able to see the fun the kids got to have through pictures!

This event was sponsored by Providence, so one of the treats of the event was that they each got to take home a stuffed bear. But, before they took it home, they had to fix each of their bears up from all of its boo-boos.

{Austin named his bear Arthur...I'm pretty sure he named him after the boy in the movie we watched the night before}

All fixed up!

And, of course it wouldn't be the Festival of Trees without pretty decorated trees! Each of the trees were being auctioned off to the highest bidder and the money would go towards a charity. They were each decorated with a theme and under each tree were supplies or toys that went along with the tree's theme. Those who bought the tree could then keep the items or donate those as well. Such a neat concept!

There were people making gingerbread houses, as well as some on display...

The kids also got to decorate sugar cookies...

These look yummy and I'm sure they ate every crumb!!

There was even face painting...

And best of all?

SANTA!!

Thanks to Grandpa & Grandma for a fun day!

And what a special day for Daddy and his kids!

Christmas Countdown 2011 - Day 2

2011-12-03T00:00:00.000-08:00

Day 2 - Family Movie Night

Friday night was the perfect opportunity to head to our local movie theater and watch the newly released "Arthur Christmas". What a super cute movie!! We had such a great time enjoying some family time together and getting in the Christmas spirit. It's a fun family movie! There were plenty of parts to giggle at...and I love hearing my kids giggle!

They were super excited to read the activity for today!
{notice the "thumbs up"}

But before heading to the movies, we needed to pack a little snack. (Shhhh...don't tell anyone at the theater we brought in outside food!)

I went through the pantry and found some snackies that sounded yummy together. I poured each of them into bowls and let the kids make their own snack mix!

*Honey Nut Chex, pretzels, chocolate chips, M & M's, peppermint flavored yogurt covered star pretzels (these are amazing, by the way!), Chocolate Chex*
Yum! The perfect blend of salty and sweet!
What made the night even better was the FREE movie tickets we have been holding onto. We were just waiting for the perfect opportunity to use them!

What a fun night!! The movie didn't start until close to 7:00, so the kids stayed up a little past their bedtime (just like last night) and Austin fell asleep on the short 20 minute drive home, but it was all worth it! Hopefully the kids will sleep in...I know I will!

Day 1 Christmas fun!

2011-12-02T11:55:00.000-08:00

December 1st marked the day of our FIRST DAY of the 25 Days of Christmas! Each day the kids will pick an activity out of our countdown calendar (a tradition we started back in 2008) and we will celebrate the season doing something fun together as a family, whether it be big or small!

Day 1 - Decorate the Christmas Tree!

First things first...let's get festive with Santa hats!

Check the lights to see if they work...

You seriously want me to untangle that mess?

Time to open the first gift of the season from Grandma Ruth & Grandpa Charlie. Each year (starting when the kids were babies), they have been given an ornament to hang on the tree. It's a fun tradition that the kids look forward to each year (and me, too!)

An ornament for Austin's 5th Christmas...

And Mikayla got Minnie Mouse this year!
Then it was time to go through the ornament boxes and look at all of the ornaments from Christmases past while Daddy hung the lights on the tree.

Ready to light up the tree...

THREE
TWO
ONE!

Now it's time to hang the ornaments...

Hanging ornaments takes concentration, you know.

Daddy helping Austin reach up on the high branches...

Our newest family ornament from our Disneyland trip in October.

{our tree}

And the cutest little Santa helpers I've ever seen!

on the hunt for the perfect Christmas tree!

2011-12-02T11:17:00.000-08:00

Well, I didn't quite make it through my October and November pictures to post here on the blog. I'm missing our Disneyland trip, making caramel apples, Halloween, and Thanksgiving Day! I'm kind of past the "catching up" phase, so I'll have to relive those memories later because now it's time for all things...

CHRISTMAS!!

Normally we wait until December actually comes around before getting our tree, but this year we decided to jump a little ahead of schedule due to busy weekends ahead in the early part of December. We didn't want to just cram it into our schedule, but yet enjoy going on the hunt for the perfect tree because we had time to! We got our tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving (it was a beautiful, crisp, clear day!), but didn't put it up in the house until Monday night. It sat bare for a few more days before we decorated it last night as our first activity of the 25 Days to Christmas!

First up...one sweet sibling picture!

And they're off to find the perfect tree!!

My baby girl is growing up way too fast!!

Grammy came with us and it didn't take us long to help her find the perfect "skinny tree".

Finding our tree on the other hand? It took us much longer! After awhile all of the trees started to look the same, but there would always be one minor imperfection we couldn't live with.

Nope...definitely not this one!

We finally found the one we wanted!

Helping Daddy cut it down...

Pics with mom...

Yep! I'm the one behind the camera lens...I was there, too!

Hot cocoa before heading home!

Thank you to Jorgensen Tree Farm in Newberg for our awesome tree!

pumpkin carving fun

2011-11-26T10:06:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of the month we picked up a couple of pumpkins at Austin's pre-school field trip. We decided not to carve them so early (we knew it would be a moldy mess after coming home from our trip to California). However, they did need a little "something". I found some "face" stickers I had tucked away in our Halloween decor the year before, so right before bed one evening the kids stuck faces on the pumpkins and we put them in the front of the house on display.

After returning from our trip to California, we knew we wanted to carve the pumpkins before Halloween night, but the only day available was the day before!

After the "de-gutting", Mikayla and Austin designed their pumpkin faces by drawing what they wanted them to look like. I told them (as the one with the carving knife) that there was no guarantee that it would turn out that way! But it sure was cute watching them draw the faces!

Mikayla loved "popping" out the parts of the face!

Not sure this is what Mikayla drew as her pumpkin face,
but it would do...

After a quick change for Mikayla to get ready for the musical Pinkalicious, Austin & Mikayla showed off their HAPPY pumpkins!

two little jack-o-lanterns sitting on a porch...

kindergarten halloween party

2011-11-25T22:00:00.000-08:00

This year I am Room Coordinator for Mikayla's Kindergarten classroom, so I get the fun job of helping coordinate and plan the class parties...right up my alley! Even though I only have one party under my "belt" so far, I am pretty impressed with the volunteers who have stepped up to help. I hear this isn't as much the case as the kids get into the older grades, so I'm grateful that I chose to be Room Coordinator this year.

Our first idea for Mikayla dressing up was that she was going to be a kitty (and her brother would be a doggy), but with being gone for 10 days during October, we came home without much motivation to go through with the kitty idea. Luckily, my friend Kim had a Minnie Mouse dress she had let us borrow for Disneyland, but Mikayla didn't end up wearing it. It was the PERFECT costume for Mikayla this year on Halloween!!

My sweet Minnie Mouse...and her twin.

There were four stations at the party...

{Craft}

{Story time with an activity}

{Snack...decorating cookies}

...and of course eating them, too!
The 4th station was pumpkin bowling.

Fun times in Kindergarten!

Mikayla & her classmates all dressed up!
October 31, 2011

pinkalicious!

2011-11-25T21:30:00.000-08:00

October was such a busy month!! Disneyland & San Diego, Toy Story on Ice, Halloween class parties, pumpkin patch field trip, soccer, Fall festivities...like pumpkin carving and caramel apples, and of course trick or treating! And, because it wasn't busy enough (ha!)...we decided to throw a little afternoon musical in there, too, before the month was over!

When I heard Pinkalicious was in town I really wanted to take Mikayla. She LOVES the Pinkalicious books. After a "tip" from a friend, I found a site that has great deals on events, but only for certain dates and times. The only time that was available was on Sunday, Oct. 30th...but for half off the tickets we squeezed it in! I asked my mom if she wanted to come with and we had a girls' night out!

When Grammy showed up, we were joking around about her not wearing any pink and Austin ran up to his sister's room and got her a pink flower and pink lei. What a sweet boy he is!

The girls ready for a night out!

My spunky Pinkalicious girl!

It was quite the trip into downtown Portland. We're really not "city folk", so finding a parking spot was quite comical...finding the car afterwords? Even more comical! Poor sweet Mikayla was so worried that we were never going to find our car!

Grammy bought Mikayla a fun PINK feather boa before the show!

Pinkalicious
October 30, 2011
The show was SUPER CUTE and Mikayla was mesmerized the whole time. She had lots of questions after the show, so it was fun to talk through it afterwords. The most asked question was "why was it fake food and not real?" I love her inquisitive mind!

Little Miss Cutie and the big PINK cupcake!

Giving a thumbs up to the show!
We were out of the theater quick enough that we were able to join in the front of the line to get each of the characters' signatures on the front of Mikayla's program.

What a fun girls' night out!

Memories were made...

soccer season...it's a wrap!

2011-11-25T16:03:00.000-08:00

Mikayla's soccer season ended on the last Saturday in October. She had such a BLAST this year with soccer...I can see her continuing with this sport for awhile. She was so upset when she had to miss either a practice or game. She was such a fun player to watch and I was so proud of her! Her greatest strength was being a defender...maybe the "go get 'em" aggressive attitude will come later!

On her last game of the season all of the girls dressed up in tutus over their soccer gear. It was pretty cute to watch them all running around in "girly-wear", but they still acted tough and got in there to win the game. Mikayla scored her second goal of the season during her last game and her smile was PRICELESS!!

{Last Game of the Season - October 29, 2011}

I just love this smiley girl!

One last cheer!
After the game, the team and parents celebrated the season with some breakfast treats and juice under the covered area near the field. The coach talked briefly about each of the girls, gave them a medal, and a little treat bag.

Go Dolphins!

{just being a little silly}

Mikayla & Coach Erica

Mikayla & Coach Bridget

Aren't these medals so cute?!

It was such a great season...
I'm pretty sure she'll be back again next year!

toy story...on ice!

2011-11-25T15:50:00.000-08:00

Not sure how we were able to pack so much into our October, but what a month of memories we made!! We purchased tickets for Toy Story on Ice at the beginning of October and even though we were exhausted from all we had happening after our trip to California, we were excited for an evening of fun when October 27th came around!

We started out with a quick family pic before heading out the door...literally (do you see the beautiful door lock in the background!) I knew we probably wouldn't catch a picture of all four of us at the event, so I thought to take one before we left. I took three and this is the best of the worst (not sure either kids had a "real" smile to give!)

Daddy & Sis waiting for the show to begin!

Mommy & the little man (what's with his smile?!)
A little (forced?) sibling love.

And then the show began!!

Austin was mesmerized...

...when Zurg came out!
His favorite part of the show by far!

During intermission Mikayla let me take her picture with "Jessie". We stuck with our original rule that we weren't getting the kids any souvenirs. We tried to explain that just going to a fun event like this was all that we needed to remember this night. Austin was the only one who kind of put up a bit of a fight on it, but after telling him to "put it on his Christmas list" (and buying some popcorn), he quickly forgot about a souvenir! So proud of the kids for not whining or complaining...too much!

It was a super fun show!!
{Thank goodness for opening night cheap seats!}

pre-school party fun!

2011-11-25T15:43:00.000-08:00

My cutie pie fireman celebrated Halloween with his pre-school classmates on the Thursday before Halloween. We started out talking about dressing up as a doggy...then a fireman...then a construction worker...and then he woke up the morning of the party saying he wanted to be superman. Thankfully he was OK to walk out the door in his fireman costume and what a cute little fireman he turned out to be...

{listening quietly to a "spooky" story}
{ready to play a game}
{he was such a good sport...and followed the rules - no hands!}

{so close!}

Austin and his classmates all dressed up
October 27, 2011
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

A month later...

My sweet boy at his Friendship Feast
November 22, 2011

{singing songs with his classmates}

{all the kids sharing what they are thankful for...Austin said bees?!?!?!?!}

The Friendship Feast!
...and one happy boy with a plate full of food!

It has been fun to be a part of Austin's pre-school activities. Ms. Michelle is such a super sweet teacher and perfect for Austin! I am loving watching him grow and become more and more independent...even though he is my baby!!

field trip to the pumpkin patch!

2011-11-25T14:30:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of October, Austin and his pre-school class went on a field trip to Lee Farms and headed out to the pumpkin patch. I was so glad that it was earlier in the month than later, so we wouldn't have to miss it with our 10-day trip to California in mid-October (shhhh...don't tell Mikayla she missed her class pumpkin patch field trip while we were gone! I still don't think she knows!)

Field Trip to Lee Farms
October 4, 2011

{climbing the hay bales with his friend Sofie}
{mmmm...apple cider!}

{it's so heavy, Mom!}
{two pumpkins ready to take home}
{hay ride}
I love being able to accompany Austin on these little outings! It gives me joy to be a part of these special moments with him.

2011-11-24T22:03:00.000-08:00

Hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving!

capturing the moments

2011-11-22T16:26:00.000-08:00

About a month ago, I took the kids to a local park to try and catch some sweet moments of them together. It was gorgeous outside and there were so many beautiful colors of leaves! I like to try to get some "outside" pics of each of the kids when they've turned another year and then hang them in our entryway year after year...

{someday I need to get more frames as they get older,
so I don't have to swap the pictures out year after year}

Normally I have a friend take them or I pay for them to be taken, but this year I decided to try and get a couple of them using my own novice photography skills. As many of my friends say...all you need is one! I got a couple of good ones of Austin as his official "4 year" picture and some of the kids together, so I was pleased!

And then we headed to the playground...

And called it a night...

There's always one (or two) in the bunch...

birthday celebration with family

2011-11-03T22:00:00.000-07:00

You're not tired of Austin's birthday yet, are you?? ;) I took a little break from party posts, but I have so many fun Halloween things to share that I figured I should probably finish up and move on...especially since his family birthday party was a month ago! The Sunday after his birthday, we had family over to finish off Austin's birthday week. We kept with the Disney Cars theme (as with the party with friends) and since it was after lunch and before dinner, we opted to keep it simple with some snacks and dessert!

Even though I only needed to make invitations for 5 families, I still wanted to put some effort and energy into coming up with a cute invite (that's half the fun, right?). The image of Lightning McQueen I found online and the gingham checked paper I found at a local scrapbooking store. Everything else is Stampin' Up! (cardstock, punches, and brads). I even found a Disney font on my computer!

If you pull up where the star is, the invitation part is revealed...

I can't say enough how much I love my kitchen island...
it's so perfect for parties!

Snacks included apples and homemade caramel dip (with toffee bits), carrots and dip, kettlecorn, M & M's...
...Cars Cheez-Its,
and Cars-shaped graham bites!
I picked up these two snacks pretty close to when Cars 2 had hit the theaters. I found Cars themed things everywhere...even juice boxes!

Mikayla made little checkered flags for everyone...that's my girl!

We had Austin's Cars GeoTrax set out for everyone to play with (a Christmas gift from the grandparents last year).

And Cars coloring sheets to keep little hands busy!

I didn't organize many activities, but we did do a couple of fun things as a group. One of them involved each of the kids racing against the clock on a jumping Cars ball. It was so fun to watch each of them take a turn...many, many giggles were had! Look at these smiles!

Then we did some dancing to the "Life is a Highway" song from the Cars soundtrack. Austin broke out his break dancing moves apparently!
PRESENTS!!
{I just love Austin's expressions!}
Thanks cousin Hailey, Noah & Jacob!
Thanks cousin Hunter (& Hannah...not pictured)
Thanks cousin Parker & Riley!
The Cousin Line-Up
...with their silly faces on!
Time for a cake!

This is my first year of actually making a cake...I usually decorate cupcakes! When I saw this idea online I knew I just had to make it! It is made out of two round cakes (one white, one chocolate). I then frosted it and painstakingly covered every inch as best I could (because I'm a perfectionist!!) with finely crushed Oreo cookies. To make the green grass, I cut out a piece of tinfoil and laid it on top before covering with the Oreo cookies. I carefully peeled it off and then doused it with green sprinkles. I used white frosting to make the lines in the road and added some miniature Cars I had found at the store.

Just one more candle to get...
It's delicious, Mom!
Treat Bags for all of the cousins!
Birthday Celebration #4 complete!!

And, only one more year until he turns FIVE. If it's anything like this last year, it will go way too fast!!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

And because of the theme of this blog post, I just thought it would be fun to share one of the pictures that we took while on our vacation to Disneyland...

Doesn't Austin look like he knows exactly what he's doing?
I love it!!

birthday party with friends...Disney Cars style

2011-10-25T15:00:00.000-07:00

To celebrate Austin's 4th birthday on his "actual day", I invited a handful of friends over to help with that celebration. Last year for Austin's Toy Story party, I invited both friends and family over for one big party and although we all had a blast, it was a full house!!! This year I decided to do two parties
...one for friends and one for family.

Still sticking with the Disney Cars theme, of course...

Some treats to enjoy!

I provided the dessert...
...and the drinks!
{Dipsticks}
{Traffic Lights}
Yep, this meant I didn't have to clean the upstairs! *wink*

The Birthday Boy!

Each of the party guests brought their own sack lunch to enjoy!

There were Cars coloring sheets to enjoy...

...and cars to play with.

We played a dance freeze game with "Life is a Highway" music from the Cars movie...
...and Lightning, Lightning, Ka-Chow!

We attempted Red Light - Green Light...
...and everyone got a Cars tattoo.
{The Pit Crew}

Present Time!
(Austin's favorite part, of course!)

{look how excited Brady is...so sweet!}

Austin & Jilian
Time to pass out the birthday treats!!

And become a chocolate mess, apparently!

Goody bags for our friends to take home!

Birthday Celebration #3 complete!

celebrating 4 years!

2011-10-24T22:00:00.000-07:00

My little guy turned four years old on September 28th! I can't believe "my baby" is past the toddler phase and now an official pre-schooler! We had a great day celebrating the big 0-4!

This year's birthday theme was "Disney Cars" (it started with his pre-school celebration), so for his birthday breakfast he got "spare tires" (aka chocolate donut rings).

{more pictures of his birthday breakfast HERE}

To start off his special day, we gave him a couple of presents to enjoy! I just love his enthusiasm in these pictures!

{Can you tell we kept with the Cars theme even with the presents?}

A little birthday hug from Big Sis before she heads off to school!

It didn't take him long to start playing with his new toys and he had a blast lining up his cars and trucks...and he's already wearing his new shirt!

During the day we had some friends over for more birthday fun...more pictures to come soon!!

At the end of the day, we called up my parents to see if they wanted to meet up for an impromptu trip for some pizza and to celebrate the rest of Austin's special day!

Of course, that meant more presents...

...and more entertaining faces!

{yep, I re-used the bag from this morning!}

Didn't take him long to want to start playing his new Cars Dominoes game!
I'm FOUR!

On our way home, we grabbed a Dilly Bar for a birthday treat!

Birthday Celebration #2 complete!

4th birthday celebration...at pre-school

2011-10-21T21:30:00.000-07:00

The day before Austin's actual birthday, he was able to celebrate his special day with his pre-school friends at school! I was so glad to hear that I was able to bring in homemade treats for him and his classmates for a fun birthday treat! After picking up Mikayla from Kindergarten, we rushed over to spend the last 15 minutes with him and his classmates.

Chocolate pudding cups with "dirt" on top...
finished off with a CARS cookie.

When Ms. Michelle started singing Happy Birthday,
he got a little shy.

And then warmed up a little...
Austin got four "high-fives" from his teacher...

...and his classmates,

...and of course his big sis!

He also got a hug from Sissy!
After pre-school we headed off to visit Grammy & Papa and I wanted to take just a couple more pictures, especially without the chocolate mess all over his face, but this is what I got...

Get the hint, Mom...I'm done with pictures.
Birthday Celebration #1 complete!

fun run 2011

2011-10-19T20:24:00.000-07:00

At the end of September, Mikayla ran in her first Fun Run of her elementary school career! She raised money by asking family and one sweet neighbor across the street whom Mikayla loves. Her Daddy gave her $2 per lap and we calculated that if she ran six laps she would raise enough money to earn a key chain and shoelaces, so on the day of the race her goal was to run at least six laps...all the way around a regular sized track!

Waiting in line with some of her classmates.

Ready...set...go!

The Kindergarteners raced off,
but they didn't keep that pace for long!

She has her runnin' shoes on...go Mikayla go!

Mikayla with her 5th grade buddy, Abby.
She helped motivate Mikayla by running with her...so sweet!

Some extra high-fives from the fifth graders...and the principal!
Yep...six laps complete!!
She met her goal!

A little juice pick me up before heading back to class...

...and a quick hug from little brother.
He wasn't so thrilled about "hanging out" all morning.

it's teddy bear day

2011-10-17T21:30:00.000-07:00

September 22nd was Teddy Bear Day at both of the kids' schools. They both thought it was the coolest thing to be able to take their teddy bears with them to school!

{I am pretty sure Austin is growling like a bear.}

happy 90th birthday Grandma Grace!

2011-10-17T21:06:00.000-07:00

About a month ago Ryan's grandma came to town (up from California) to spend a week with his parents and for a chance to see other family...like us! Grandma Grace had just had hip surgery not too long before coming for a visit and it was amazing to see how great she looked and how well she was walking around! During her visit, we celebrated her 90th birthday!! It was very special for all of us to be together...including Ryan's brother and family, as well as Grandma Grace's two sons also from out of town.

Grandma Grace & her great grandkids!

{the cousins}

{big sis & little brother}

The great grandkids singing a special Happy Birthday song!
The birthday girl...

...blowing out her candles (with a little help from Parker).
Present time!

A special "Generations" Willow Tree figurine...
...and a photo album of pictures of the great grandkids.
Mikayla made Great Grandma Grace a special birthday card.

Ryan and his Grandma

having a ball!

2011-10-16T23:00:00.000-07:00

Mikayla has really enjoyed soccer this Fall. It is her first year playing and the start to the season felt a bit slow as she was learning the basics, but she has really grown leaps and bounds since then!! She still has a tendency to be more of a defender than the aggressive one out on the field, but no matter what...she is a go-getter and team player. And I couldn't be more proud of her!

A few weeks ago, she had a pretty big cheering squad!

Grammy & Papa

Grandpa Charlie, Grandma Ruth,
& Great Grandma Grace
Yesterday (while at Disneyland), she realized that she was missing her soccer game back home and actually started crying. This shows me her love for the game that she would be so upset to miss a game...even when she was at the Happiest Place on Earth!

my 4-year old boy!

2011-09-28T16:55:00.000-07:00

Guess who turned 4 years old today?!

Yep, my big {little} boy!

Austin first day of 3's Pre-School!

2011-09-22T00:00:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the summer we had the perfect plan of where Austin was going to go for 3's pre-school for two days a week. It was this great in-home pre-school and I was super excited because of what I saw at her open house! However, in mid-July the teacher stopped by for a visit and to return Austin's registration because unexpectedly her and her family were going to possibly be moving out of state and she didn't want to start pre-school knowing that they might move. (wow...how's that for a run-on sentence?!) After this happened we decided that he would just stay home for another year because with his birthday being at the end of September, he'll technically do two years of pre-school.

But...when his big sister started school I could just tell that he wanted something of his own and he was itching to learn! So, when a friend of mine mentioned that there was an opening in her daughter's 3's pre-school class, I jumped at the chance to sign him up! We visited for a 15-minute observation and I knew this was the place for him. The teacher is so sweet and as I watched him participate in class, I just knew that he was ready!

First Day of School Breakfast
{homemade waffles!}

On his way to school...

So happy to have his own place to learn...just like his Big Sis!

"Building" the letter "A"

It was perfect that he got to work with the first letter of his name on his first day of school. His teacher was so proud of how he could write the letter A all by himself. She said to him, "that's the best A I've ever seen!" She's going to be perfect for him...so sweet!

Austin & his teacher, Ms. Michelle

So excited to see Mom after his first day of school...

...and to be with Sissy again!
I am so thankful it worked out for Austin to be at pre-school this year. I look forward to watching him grow, discover, and have a place of his own!

Mikayla's first day of Kindergarten!!

2011-09-20T20:00:00.000-07:00

It's a little hard to believe, but my baby girl started Kindergarten on September 8th...almost 2 weeks ago! Surprisingly I didn't tear up at all. I was too proud beaming from ear to ear at how excited and READY she was! She has such a love for learning and I am so excited for this year...for her and me! She comes home each day telling me bits and pieces of her day. I love it!

First Day of School Breakfast
{scrambled eggs, English muffin with PB & bananas, and applesauce}

First Day of School Outfit
{a little bit out of the normal...she looks so grown up!}

Quick picture with little brother
{cereal to go for the little guy!}

Driving to her first day of school!

She's so ready!!

Heading into school...

...and down the big hallway!
{doesn't she look so small in that huge hallway?}

First day picture in front of her classroom

"First Day" pictures with Dad...

...and Mom.
Putting her backpack away

Getting ready to start her first day activity

A quick picture with her teacher, Mrs. Derry
{whom she loves so much!}
One last picture before Mom is on her way...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

After School

{waiting in line}

So happy to see mom!
{and a little sun in her eyes}

Mikayla has such a bright future and I just can't wait to see what that future holds for her!

fishing trip with dad!

2011-09-18T18:43:00.000-07:00

Late on Sunday night (the day before an extra day off because of Labor Day), Ryan remembered that he wanted to take the kids fishing before summer was officially over and school started. We packed a bag of extra clothes, snacks, and water, loaded up the fishing poles and tackle box, and everything was ready to wake up early to head out for a fun day together with just the three of them. (You know this means I had a day all to myself, right? Guess what I did for FOUR hours straight? Nope, no crafting. Nope, no shopping. Nope, no sitting around and watching TV. Yep, I cleaned the kids' rooms inside and out going through clothes, closets, and drawers! Fun times...or not. But it felt great to get it done without the helping hands of my little ones.)

Guess who was the first one to catch a fish?!

Great job, buddy!!

He let Sis share in his glory...how sweet!

At their first stop along the river, there wasn't much luck for Mikayla. Ryan said she had a good time casting her line and then reeling it right in. Might not be the best strategy for catching a fish, but I'm sure it was a lot more entertaining than just sitting there and waiting (at least for me it would be!) He said she only "snagged" him once. Success!

They packed up after staying there much longer than expected (and I still don't know how he entertained the kids for that long!!) and headed to a trout farm down the road for another try. Ryan said it was a matter of seconds before catching the first fish. I guess they should have gone there first!

Great job, Sis!

And Austin caught another...

Each of the kids came home with two fish. Austin was super excited about making fish for dinner (which he's never had!)...so we'll see how long they stay in the freezer before we cook them up. Maybe Grammy can put her special Alaskan touches on a good "fish fry".

So glad that Daddy had this special day with his best two buddies!

a special birthday outing for a friend

2011-09-17T22:00:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago I shared about Mikayla having a friend over to help celebrate her birthday. Well, the kids had the pleasure and joy of celebrating yet another birthday of another special friend of theirs! The birthday boy Kenneth turned 5 years old in June and he finally was able to cash in his birthday gift with Mikayla & Austin on September 1st.

Our first stop was the park!

Then we headed to McDonalds
for some more free entertainment and a quick lunch!

{how cute are these two?}

The kids were so excited to head to our last stop...

...The Polar Bear Yogurt!

I love watching the kids have such a great time together!
These are the special memories that will be remembered for a long time...much longer than a toy!

the Boos Beauty Shop

2011-09-15T19:00:00.000-07:00

The kids are blessed to have some wonderful friends! And, I'm lucky, too...because those wonderful friends mothers are GREAT friends of mine!

Mikayla's sweet friend Allie celebrated a birthday in July and because they will soon be moving to Africa to be missionaries for 2 years (ack!) her mom mentioned that if we were going to give her a gift (and of course we were!) that we would do a special outing of sorts instead of a gift. That way there would be less they would need to take with them overseas. I, of course, thought this was a great idea and had already thought about doing something like this, so I set to work thinking of what I could do.

Finally before the summer officially ended, we had Allie come over to the Boos Beauty Shop to get a manicure and pedicure. I had thought about taking her to a nail salon, but then I thought I could try to make it special at home just as much (and save just a little bit of money, so I could take the kids out to lunch!)

{all set up...ready for the two beauties}

{enjoying a little foot soak}
and treat...graham crackers and frosting with sprinkles!

Mikayla's feet could barely fit inside the tub!
What color do you choose?

{by the way...they're only 2 1/2 months apart!}
After the pampering it was time for some lunch!

We all decided on McDonalds...
it's cheap and there was free entertainment!

Next up was our trip to Polar Bear Yogurt,
a local "build your own frozen yogurt sundae" shop.

Grab a cup and start filling it up...

Add the toppings...

I tried to limit them to only 5 toppings,
but there was so much to choose from!

Good to the last drop!
Such sweet friends making fun memories!

getting ready for Kindergarten

2011-09-13T21:06:00.000-07:00

My baby girl started Kindergarten last week!!

In preparation for her big day,

...she got her hair cut (3 inches)!

{BEFORE}

{AFTER}
(different angle and clothes, but use her elbows as a guide)

...back to school shopping with mom!

...and Kindergarten Orientation

First day pics right around the corner!

let the soccer season begin!

2011-09-07T00:00:00.000-07:00

For the month of August Mikayla has had soccer practice two nights a week. Her first soccer game of the season (and of her life!) was on August 28th...a SUPER hot day! She is part of our town's soccer league...Sherwood Youth Soccer Club. We jumped all in without really knowing what we were getting ourselves into, but we were pretty confident she was excited and wanted to play because of the positive experience she had last Fall when we signed her up for indoor soccer classes.

It has definitely been a learning experience so far not only for her in learning the rules and skills of the game, but for me as well as I watch her on the sidelines. It's no secret that I am a competitive person and I better start learning early on how to deal with that kind of personality as a spectator. I had to ask my mom how she did it all those years watching me play my various sports and supporting me (win or lose) in the most awesome way! I would LOVE to take after her with that ability as I watch my own children play sports. I'm going to do the best that I can! Already I'm soooooo proud of Mikayla and I don't ever want my competitiveness to put a damper on her love for just playing, doing her best, and having fun!

We are really blessed to have an awesome coach for her first year in soccer! Mikayla LOVES Coach Erica and I can see how much she also respects and listens to her, too. It's a joy to watch your child being one of the ones who is listening to what the coach has to teach her without the distraction of goofiness and being silly with the other kids.

Go get 'em, Sis!

One thing I came to realize as I watched her play is that she is a natural defender versus a go-getter and aggressive player. She was often hesitant to get in there and just kick the ball. She liked to hang back and defend the goal a lot and she actually had quite a few "saves" that day. I think her coach began to encourage her to do that as she saw that natural ability in her. I talked to her coach later after the game and she mentioned that Mikayla is a "Quiet Strength" and I think I really like that. It sums up a lot of who she is naturally in a lot of things. She may not be the one who scores the most goals this season, but she just might be the one who saves the other team from scoring!

Exhausted at the end of the game...it was SO HOT!

This was how Austin stayed cool. Some shade under the arms of our chairs and a Root Beer sno-cone. He was doing just fine! *wink*

Of course our first game we played was against a first grade team, so even though "we don't keep score" it was not really a great match up. Oh well! She had a great time and I honestly don't know what the score was at the end of the game...I promise!

So proud of my girl!

GO DOLPHINS!!

beat the heat - pool party style!

2011-09-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

The last Friday in August found us with an open day of nothing to do...that is until my good friend Natasha invited us up to her parents' house in Washington for one last summer "hurrah" with friends! We jumped at the chance to join the Edingers and Smiths (friends from college 10+ years ago) to just hang out and be lazy around the outdoor pool. When do we EVER get the chance to do that?! Ummm...never!

We packed some snacks and headed north about an hour and a half drive to spend most of the mid-morning/early afternoon playing in the sun. We drove into clouds and I got a little worried, but by the time we got there the sun was out in full force and the kids (especially Mikayla) were ready to...

...jump in!

Mikayla learned early on that the "deep end" really meant the DEEP END. She jumped in (without floaties on her arms) to find herself in a bit of a panic that she couldn't touch the bottom. However, her swim lessons quickly kicked in and she paddled back to the wall. She was a bit concerned and a little overwhelmed at the experience, so she ended up wearing arm floaties for part of the time. However, the more confident she got in the water without them, the better swimmer she became. It was great for me to see how well she has mastered swimming and how her swimming lessons from summer and earlier on were beginning to pay off!

Let's slide!

Austin was quite content chilling in the "hot tub" part of the pool. I think he likes the feeling of having a smaller space as the bigger pool overwhelmed him a little.

And, at one point he was a doggy?
Oh the imagination!

One of Mikayla's best buds is my friend Natasha's little girl, Allie. They are two peas in a pod. They are only 2 1/2 months apart, but their size difference is amazing! One is on the bigger end of the spectrum and the other on the smaller. In the picture below Mikayla is HOLDING Allie. It just cracks me up!

And they're going in...One awesome thing about the picture above is that Natasha and I (and a handful of other friends from college) have a similar picture of us jumping in her parent's pool over 10 years ago! It just warms my heart knowing that our friendship has spanned over that many years and now our children are enjoying the benefits of that friendship! I'm totally going to have to dig around for that picture...for sentimental reasons.

Nothing like finding the best way to beat the heat than with a pool party!

Group Shot!
Austin, Allie, Mikayla, Xander, Sam, Caden, Brady, Hailey, Levi

It was a real treat for us to spend the day by the pool and we enjoyed every minute. Even when some stray cows came for a "visit" in the front lawn and Natasha had to run and chase them away. Now that is a picture I should have taken! I really can't get enough of those girls!

3rd annual ice cream party

2011-09-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we were invited to my friend Kim's Annual End of Summer Ice Cream Party! This is the third year she has hosted and I love seeing how big the kids keep getting each year when I look at the pictures. We had a great time last year and this year was no exception. It started out cloudy, but then it got super HOT! It was so hot that I didn't take that many great pictures because I just wanted to sit in the cool of the shade. The kids had a blast running around with friends (and getting sweaty!) and piling on their ice cream toppings for a cool summer treat! Thanks, Kim, for hosting this tradition!

Waiting in line for some ice cream.
Look how sweaty Austin is!

Mikayla enjoying her yummy treat!

Austin playing...
with leftover evidence of chocolate on his face!
That's my boy!

MOPS (end of summer) Play Date!

2011-09-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

Near the end of August (the day after we got home from a long weekend of camping), we met up with our MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group for a play date at Discovery Park...about 30 minutes south of us. I have been a part of this MOPS group since Mikayla was 6 months old and I was excited to be back for yet another year and to spend more time with these wonderful ladies and their kids! To kick off the new MOPS season, we headed to a fun park that I actually hadn't taken the kids to yet. I figured they would have a blast, so I put aside the running list in my head of "things to do" and we headed that way for some fun in the...sun? Not so much the sun! It actually turned out to be a cloudy, overcast morning (the day before was HOT!!) That's Oregon for you, but it didn't stop us, so I dressed the kiddos in bathing suits anyway to prepare for the chance of being able to play in the water.

They have this really cool sand hill that the kids loved running up and down on. It was the first thing that attracted them...like a magnet! (I am not a fan of sand. However, they are!!) It took them forever to actually first get the hang of getting up the hill...

{almost there}

{reaching}

{and they both came tumbling down}

...but after they figured it out, it was a beautiful view!

Another fun attraction to this park was the water feature with fun fountains coming out of the ground. Even though it was a bit cool and cloudy, the kids still had to try it out. Austin loved it!

Mikayla enjoyed it for the first couple of times running through the water...

...but it didn't take long for her to get all bundled up and sit on the sidelines with her BFF Ellie.

And, in case you didn't know:
When you mix a wet body with sand...it's a mess!

I'm a little biased, but how cute are these two?!

And, there really were other kids (and moms) having fun with us!!

Another priceless memory with friends!

When I'm taking pictures, I kind of feel like the paparazzi,
but I'm always so glad to have them after it's all over!

detroit lake 2011

2011-08-29T20:49:00.000-07:00

A little over a week ago our family went on our annual camping trip to Detroit Lake, southeast of Salem, Oregon. We had such a wonderful time together as a family of four for 4 days, 3 nights. It was just nice to relax, rest (we went to bed early every night!), and not have anything we had to do! We spent our mornings warming up around the campfire, our afternoons at the lake, and our evenings enjoying the campground, S'mores, and games!

{Click on any of the pictures below to see them larger.}

LIFE AT CAMP!

FUN AT THE LAKE!

S'MORES!

ZINGO!

Sister & Brother...love these two!

Our family...I'm so lucky!

there and back

2011-08-27T12:00:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that at this time last week we were camping in a tent at Detroit Lake! It's amazing to me how quickly a week can go by! We had such a great time and there are a TON of pictures to sift through, but I wanted to start with our traditional pictures that I take each summer...on the way to camping and on the way home.

On the way to camping...

And on the way home...

In years past usually the second picture shows the kids sacked out from exhaustion, but we had promised them a movie for on the way home, so they were wide awake in hopes not to miss it!

And, here are the kids being a little bit goofy as we were pulling out of the driveway. I think they were ready to get on the road!

Lots more to come!

more summer fun!

2011-08-26T19:18:00.000-07:00

Last week my friend Natasha invited me and the kids over for an afternoon of fun in the sun (and water) in her backyard. They have a blow up larger-sized pool that I knew the kids would have a blast playing in and we had been wanting to do this all summer. Before we realized it, the summer was coming to an end, so we really wanted to make it work and last week was finally our chance! It was the perfect afternoon to relax and just let the kiddos splash in the pool and for me and Natasha to chat and catch each other up on the busy-ness of our summers. Natasha and her family will be leaving soon (in January) to be missionaries in Africa for 2 years, so every chance we can get to be together, I will take it!!

And what fun they had!!

Mikayla and Austin had just finished a couple of weeks of swimming lessons, so they wanted to role play swim teacher and student. It was pretty cute to watch!

Mikayla & Allie - great friends!

slip n sliding with friends!

2011-08-23T12:00:00.000-07:00

A little over a week ago I helped out my good friend Kim by watching two out of three of her kids while she worked on a long list of things to do. Austin & Mikayla enjoyed the afternoon with two of their most favorite little buddies! Kenneth & Elizabeth are great friends and I love watching how much fun they have together! It was a beautiful sunny day so it was the perfect opportunity to have some backyard fun in the sun...with the slip n slide!

A great way to end the day...
with POPSICLES!

We love our time with friends!!

daddy's work picnic

2011-08-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

A little over a week ago Ryan had his company picnic and families were invited along for a yummy barbecue and some fun in the sun! The kids had a BLAST enjoying all of the activities...

Three-Legged Race!

Tug of War!
Water Balloon Fight!
Yummy Food!
Pinata!

And finished the day with goody bags!

Music on the Green

2011-08-21T21:00:00.000-07:00

The first Wednesday in August we invited some good friends of ours (the Newtons) to join us for a picnic and some country tunes at Music on the Green, our town's weekly summer concert series. Surprisingly, we actually hadn't been in FIVE YEARS! And, the last time we went...it was also with the Newtons!

Ellie & Mikayla in July 2006!!

And 5 years later...still the best of friends!

It makes me want to cry!
How have our babies grown up so much?!

And since 5 years ago, we have added two other little ones into the mix!

All four of them had such a fun time dancing to the music!

Nothing like a little silliness to add to the evening!

Austin (almost 4), Mikayla (5 1/2 yrs), Claire (2 yrs), Ellie (5 1/2 yrs)
Can you tell it's close to bedtime...grumpiness, silliness, oh my!

It was a beautiful summer evening with friends!
I hope that we don't wait five more years to go again!

just down the road

2011-08-13T00:00:00.000-07:00

A little over a week ago, the kids and I had the pleasure of visiting some friends of ours who have recently moved an hour and a half away. We were so saddened to see them leave at the beginning of July because Mikayla & Ava have been good friends for the last 5 years and went to pre-school together this past year. And I am so blessed to have a friend in Kareena, (Ava's mom). She is the kind of friend that will always listen, love, and support! It crushed me to know she was going to not be as close (in distance) anymore, but I have confidence that the miles between us will not get in the way of our friendship! I see many more times together in the future...we just have to make more of an effort for it to happen!!

The Beasley girls graciously hosted us for an afternoon of playing together and chatting. Their new house is BEAUTIFUL and the setting is even more beautiful as they are nestled back in the woods. We arrived to lunch ready to enjoy...but first I had to have a quick tour! After lunch, we headed to the back deck where Kareena had planned an activity for the kids to paint some rocks. Who would have thought that painting rocks would be such an enjoyable activity, but the kids loved it!

{Ava & Mikayla after collecting their rocks}

{washing them up to get ready to paint}
Capturing the concentration of a child...

HAPPY FACES!!

{after rock painting, the kids enjoyed a frozen treat!}

{One last picture before saying goodbye!}
Of course, Austin had to show off why being a boy is so much fun!Ava (almost 6), Mikayla (5 1/2 yrs.), Austin (almost 4), Alina (3 1/2 yrs.)
Little Miss Anna (1 yr.) was taking a nap during all the picture taking!

We already can't wait to go back to visit our friends!

the Newport Aquarium

2011-08-12T21:30:00.000-07:00

On our trip home from the southern Oregon Coast a couple of weekends ago we stopped by the Newport Aquarium. Our original plan was to stop by on the way down to visit our friends the Moore's, but we ended up wanting to get to North Bend sooner on Friday night so we could go to the county fair. Not sure if stopping by on the way home was the best move or not because we were all exhausted from a weekend full of fun (and a little cranky from being in the car for 2 1/2 hours already!) The first 30 minutes were a little tough with some whiny-ness (not from me...promise!), but {the kids} were able to turn it around and we enjoyed the last part of our visit. We decided that we really didn't need to stay long and were thankful that we had gotten tickets to the aquarium for really cheap! All in all, it was a nice way to break up our long drive home.

Austin loved the octopus!

Jellyfish!
The Touch Pool
Yes, they look all lovey-dovey in this picture, but it took me at least 5 shots to get smiling faces instead of grumpy ones. This was right before our little pep talk to change the attitudes.
We took a break for some play time and snacks.
I just love this picture of them skipping down the pathway...
so happy!
Sea lions
We finished our journey in the deep sea area where we were encased in a "tube" with water all around us...
...including sharks!
I love these silly kids!

What a great way to end a fun weekend!

a mickey mouse birthday

2011-08-11T00:00:00.000-07:00

A couple of weekends ago, we visited our good friends the Moore's who live in North Bend (about a 4-hour drive). When we first arrived, we headed straight to the fair and spent the evening having fun with our friends! The next day we enjoyed a morning of chatting, watching the kids play together, and worked on some last minute preparations for Jayce's 1st birthday. We were so happy to be able to celebrate a milestone birthday for the youngest of the Moore family! The party theme was Mickey Mouse and everything was so super cute!!

So many fun little touches...

The birthday boy and his momma
(and one of my greatest friends!)

They look like they're ready for Disneyland, right?

The birthday boy with his very own Harley given to him by his grandpa.
(It's actually a remote control motorcycle!)

Almost walking time...
CAKE!

Is everyone singing for me?

Hmmm...let me try this out a little!
Yep, that was good!

We had such a memorable weekend with our friends!
Austin (almost 4), Ally (4 yrs), Mikayla (5 1/2 yrs), Jayce (1 yr), Chloe (5 1/2 yrs)

fun at the fair with friends!

2011-08-08T00:00:00.000-07:00

Last Friday (a week ago) we headed down to North Bend to visit our wonderful friends, the Moore family! It had been awhile since we made the 4-hour trip south and when I saw this open weekend for us that just so happened to be the same weekend they were celebrating their sweet boy's first birthday, I just KNEW we had to make this visit happen! They graciously hosted us for two nights and the kids were super excited to have a sleepover at their friends' house!

Friday night they had invited us to come with them to the Coos County Fair & Rodeo. We were given free tickets to get into the fair and rodeo and the kids got treated to unlimited rides...for FREE! If they only knew just how lucky they really were!! (all thanks to Kara's dad!)

The evening started out with a visit to the animal exhibits...

check out that rabbit...
looks just like a giant cotton ball!
Mikayla really wanted to take this guinea pig home...
sorry, sweetheart, never gonna happen!
Next up was the rodeo...

I wish I could say the kids sat there in awe of all that was going on, but that was definitely not the case! The sun was in the kids' eyes most of the time and they couldn't really see anything going on in the arena. Austin would not sit in one place for longer than 10 seconds and before the kids got too antsy, we decided to cut it short and head out to the rides!

Just a taste of Disneyland...

Mikayla & her buddy Chloe went on the giant swings and we (the parents) were so nervous for them! We kept freaking out that we were making the wrong choice by letting them go, would they be safe, could they slip out of the seat, was it too high?
When Mikayla got off the ride I asked if she was feeling all right (thinking that maybe her tummy was a bit queasy), but all she said to me was..."THAT WAS AWESOME!"

Ally (4 yrs.), Mikayla (5 yrs.), Austin (almost 4), Chloe (5 1/2 yrs.)
{we were missing Jayce...home with his grandma and grandpa}

ending the night with chocolate dipped ice cream bars!
me & one of my greatest friends...love you Kara!

july birthday #6

2011-08-03T21:00:00.000-07:00

Sorry if you're feeling a little birthday burn out on this blog, but within our circle of family and friends that's what July is all about!!

My nephew Hunter turned four years old on July 27th and we celebrated with a Scooby Doo party the weekend before. There were 11 kids there, so lots of fun was definitely on the horizon!

It was a beautiful day...and hot! So, with such a beautiful day comes...

SPRINKLER TIME!!

They also had the pool out...

After eating some yummy grub, it was time for the birthday boy to open his presents...

Grammy & Papa "phoned in" while Hunter opened presents. It was pretty cute to watch how excited Hunter's sister Hannah was to see Papa!

Yum...cake time!

{green frosting!}
COUSINS!!
Happy 4th Birthday Hunter!

yes...another birthday!

2011-07-31T21:33:00.000-07:00

As you have read lately on my blog, July is FULL of birthdays. I wasn't kidding...as you'll see even more birthdays coming up on my blog!

Ryan turned 31 on July 22nd (he's such a young buck!). The day was a fun one (I hope for him!), but not one with many pictures.

The day started out with me making a smoothie for him to enjoy on his way to work! We have the yummiest frozen strawberries (picked by none other than Daddy!), so this summer we have been enjoying lots and lot of smoothies. It's one of Ryan's favorite treats and has become the kids' favorite, too!

Later in the afternoon, the kids and I took some ice cream treats to his work so he could share with his co-workers. It was pretty cute watching Mikayla pass out the Klondike bars to everyone and telling them it was her daddy's birthday. The kids also made a sign and card for him and LOVED being at his work!

For dinner it was Ryan's choice and Olive Garden was his pick! Thank goodness for gift cards...the dinner was technically free. Afterwords we headed home and just hung out outside while the kids played on their bikes.

Ryan already bought his own big gift "from me", but I wanted to be able to give him something he could "open" from the kids, so we got him a bucket full of goodies...socks, a Starbucks gift card, Sour Patch kids, and beef jerky. Such a manly gift!!

Happy Birthday to an amazing daddy and husband!
How were we lucky enough to hit the jackpot?!

biking buddies

2011-07-22T21:09:00.000-07:00

Austin: "Hey, you don't have any training wheels like I do."

Mikayla: "Yea. That's so last week."

her very own craft sale

2011-07-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

I had my 1st Annual Craft Sale last Friday. It was A LOT of work and took A LOT of energy, but it was a great success and I already can't wait until next year!

I have slowly been putting things away this past week after a full weekend didn't leave me much time (never mind the lack of motivation!). Much of the stuff I had to decide if I was going to keep for next year's sale, donate, or put back in my craft room (*wink*). Some things I had permission to throw away (recognize the paint, Kim?) but somehow Mikayla found them...plus some tags I had tossed, as well. (Do I dare admit this, but she likes to dig things out of the garbage that I have thrown away...she seems to find a use for them!)

Before I knew it she had spread a tablecloth on one of the tables I had left up in the house and she was setting up her very own craft sale. I thought it was so cute that I let her use anything should could find of mine that I was planning on keeping to add to her table.

All set up for her very own craft sale!

She even brought down her toy cash register...

Mikayla's best customer!
(He even had play money to pay with...love it!)

Hmmm. I'd like a couple of these...

She was quite the saleswoman...
I just love the imagination of a child!

happy birthday alice...or should I say jilian?

2011-07-20T00:00:00.000-07:00

Not sure if you have noticed or not lately, but July is FULL OF BIRTHDAYS for our family and friends!!

Last Sunday, Austin and Mikayla were invited to our little friend Jilian's 4th birthday party. It was technically a "girl's" party, but Austin & Jilian are such great little buddies, and so an exception was made by the party planner (aka my good friend Sarah).

This year's theme was Alice in Wonderland!

{musical chairs}

{pin the smile on the Cheshire Cat}
Isn't this table setting beautiful?

Love Sarah's special little touches...

Happy Birthday Jilian!

Tea time with friends!

While Jilian opened her present from the kids,
they got to sit next to her and watch.

The kids got some fun little goody bags. The girls received a special bow (matching to Jilian's she was wearing) and Austin got a couple of bouncy balls...perfect for the only boy!
The birthday crew!