Just A Beautiful Summer Day

This summer is so drastically different than last summer. It is so nice being able to have such calm days with little obligation and lots of relaxation. We have been coming and going as we please and I have purposely not signed the boys up for any summer sports or classes, because I'm loving the freedom of our days and there is no better place to spend beautiful mornings (while its cooler) than this park about 5 minutes from our house. These are pictures from Farewell Park right along the Deschutes River. As you drive down to the park you can see the river getting closer and the setting is canyon-like and there is everything for a handful of boys to do there. You can see Dillon on one of the climbing rocks in the picture above. It is probably my favorite place to take that certain handful.

This outstreched dock is perfectly enclosed so the boys can run around freely over the water. They can't get out......Love it.

This is a popular trail we took along the river, you get to climb over rocks and along little bridges, through catails taller than you can see (if you're 6 or under) and perfect little resting and snack time areas all along the way. We even got to see a hawk dive into the river from high above and catch a fish, we could see the fish squirming in the hawk's grip and the bird almost lost him, but then flew away with lunch. Brayden's little legs went for a full 2 miles with very few requests for Mommy to "Hold Him, Mommy...hold Him." We could come here everyday.......

Naps Are Not Safe Here

This is what happens when Daddy falls asleep on the couch:
It quickly turned out to look like this:

I now know why its a good thing that I don't take naps during the day.

Carter is 4 Today!

Carter is the sweetest little boy you will ever meet. I'm not kidding you, he is a hearthrobbing sweetheart. You will do anything for him, I promise. So today was fun! He wanted to go to Pappy's Pizza to play in the indoor play set, he picked his own cake, and nobody (we won't name names) got to pick on him :) He had a great day! I still think its strange that the Papa's Pizzas turned into Pappy's Pizza over here. Over Father's Day weekend Jim and I - ok, mostly Jim, I just held things, built this treefort in the backyard and we had so much fun doing it too! Here are the boys in it tonight: It was somewhere over 95 degrees today. Doesn't this picture look like it was taken on the coast and not in hot & dry 95 degree Bend? Good thing we love thunder storms :)

Spiders: Family, You'll Appreciate This

When we lived in Albany, the spiders in our neighbrohood, and in our house, were HUGE. Jim won't kill them either because its mean. He studied these HUGE spiders and got quite comfortable with them, catching them and setting up little habitats for them in many various, tightly sealed containers with air holes, and him and the boys would go down to the pet store and purchase poor little crickets and feed them to the spiders too see how big they could "grow" them. Then if the spiders weren't doing well, he would take them to the 'field' down the road a ways and humanely let them go, if they hadn't died in thier carefully made habitats already. And all the while the spider's habitats (spiders in clear highly visable containers) were perched upon my desk at home and everytime I had to work I had to share my space with them. I had to move the dang things everytime I had guests over so it wouldn't freak anyone out. I guess I got pretty comfortable around spiders, I had no choice really. So, since we moved and are missing (yeah right) our pet spiders from Albany, it seemed pretty fitting for Carter to get a remote control trantula for his birthday.....doesn't it? By the way, Nana just LOVES spiders! Hahahaha just kidding.

Opening the spider:

It MOVES:

And yes, the littlest brother made sure he got his share of attention today too....or maybe he was acting on that candy-dinner he had tonight...


Sierra has been staying with us and Nana for the last week or so and Brayden won't leave her alone telling her in a sing-song voice, "Siiiii-errrra, come 'er-re...."

If I Had My Life To Live Over

I had been thumbing through a couple boxes of books to list on Bookins for trading (I have received several great books already!) and I found Chicken Soup For The Soul. I love this series of books, there is also a series called A Cup Of Comfort, of which I just got one for Mothers and Sons from Bookins. Go figure. As I was looking through the Chicken Soup book I came across this little story that I wanted to share because I just love things that make you think in many directions:

"Interviews with the elderly or terminally ill do not report that people have regret for the things they have done but rather people talk about the things they regret not having done."

I'd dare to make more mistakes next time.
I'd relax. I would limber up.
I would be sillier than I have been this trip.
I would take fewer things seriously.
I would take more chances.
I would take more trips.
I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers.

(no, thats not our own photo, I just thought it was perfect for this story :)
I would eat more ice cream and less beans.
I would perhaps have more actual troubles, but I'd have fewer imaginary ones.
You see, I'm one of those people who live sensibly and sanely hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I've had my moments and if I had to do it all over again, I'd have more of them. In fact, I'd try to have nothing else. Just moments. one after another, instead of living so many years ahead of each day.

I've been one of those people who never go anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat and a parachute.If I had to do it again, I would travel lighter next time.

If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring
and stay that way later in the fall.
I would go to more dances.
I would ride more merry-go-rounds.
I would pick more daisies.

- Nadine Stair, age 85

Experience is not what happens to you, it is what you do with what happens to you. Life is a test. It is only a test. Had it been an actual life you would have received further instructions on where to go and what to do :)

The Magic Of Believing:

I'm not old enough to play baseball or football. I'm not eight yet. My Mom told me when you start baseball, you aren't going to be able to run that fast because you had an operation. I told Mom I wouldn't need to run that fast. When I play baseball, I'll just hit them out of the park. Then I'll be able to walk.

- Edward J. McGrath, JR.

"An Exceptional View Of Life"

Kindergarten Celebration

Dillon graduates from Kindergarten this year and we went to school for a celebration today. They wore hand made graduation caps and each had a 2007-2008 Memory Book complete with a dedication to his Dad in the front and a page in the back for signatures. It was such a nice surprise and so cute watching all the kids sign each other's year books! I love getting these scrapbooks and memory books because I have been too busy to do any of my own and the ones he works on himself are the best ones to keep!

Suprise, Its Grandma!

Yesterday, just before 7:30am, there was a knock at the door and it was Grandma coming to visit for the day! She just happened to be up at 3:00 that morning and felt like coming to visit bright and early....which is perfect timing since it takes about 2 1/2 hours or so to get here from Albany and she had to drive around town for a while waiting for a decent time to come knocking! What a kick! So off we went to Mirror Pond to walk along the water and see the ducks, geese and swans :)

Beating The Record

I love mornings when all we want to do is stay home, in our pajamas, and watch the boys break their own personal records. Jim set up an obstacle course and Dillon, who is Mr. Competitive, ran this course over...and over...and over again...and again. I think this video was his best documented time - yes, it has to be official like that.

Here are the rules, read them as fast as you can so you're tired at the end:

Start at the end of the hall and crawl through the first tunnel. When out of the tunnel, grab the three balls, shoot them and try to make them into the red bin. (each ball was numbered 1, 2, & 3 and whichever ball you make in the red bin that amount of seconds was taken off your final time) Then run behind the chair, through the treadmill, jump over the ottoman, then head through the second tunnel which leads into the big box. Then you have to punch open a tiny little mouse-hole-sized door from inside the box and crawl out of the little mouse hole and then finally grab the Pokemon ball. Whew - I don't know wheather I should go for a run on that treadmill or lay down for a nap.

School Carnival

15 days of school left, and surprisingly I'm really looking forward to school being out just as much as all the kids. Normally I'm all for schedules, learning, growing, and daily time with friends for the boys but its been quite an extensive past 12 months that has thoroughly exhausted me from all points of view (up, down, around, inside & out)....so I beg of you, Universe: Let summer begin and make it a long lazy one with no more major happenings!... Please & Thank You.
That is Carter up there doing back flips down the bounce house slide.

Mother's Day Weekend

We went to visit Grandma in Albany for Mother's Day - of course Brayden was throwing up and each of them had dripping snotty noses, but we still had a great time and got to go to our favorite park in Albany, Takena Park. The trees there are so unique and pretty...I wish I could have figured out how to force the flash on my camera to come on. The boy's cousin, Sierra (mommy #2), also stayed with us over the weekend to avoid going to her brother's baseball tournament in Tigard and we loved having her...

This park is the best because there are so many things for them to climb on. Here is sweet Sierra, so pretty with pink blooms all around her -

It can be quite a challenge taking three little boys to a park and try to keep an eye on all of them at the same time. I turned around to check on Brayden going down a slide and Carter vanished. I called him and he answered but it took me a minute to find him. He was way up in this tree and it reminded me of a trip Jim and I took to Marys Peak before we had the boys and at the top of the mountain Jim found this huge fir tree and climbed most of the way up and hung off the side of it while I took a picture, hoping he wouldn't fall. Carter has no idea how much he takes after his Daddy! Here he is -

Learning To Crochet

I don't have much to share on the blog right now so I thought I'd share what made me smile today :) It left me wondering if this is why my Lovely Grandma was so good at crocheting and if I should pick up the skill myself! Sure we all get mad, but still love each other all the same.....

A man and woman had been married for more than 60 years. They had shared everything. They had talked about everything. They had kept no secrets from each other except that the little old woman had a shoebox in the top of her closet that she had cautioned her husband never to open or ask her about.

For all of these years, he had never thought about the box, but one day the little old woman got very sick and the doctor said she would not recover. In trying to sort out their affairs, the little old man took down the shoe box and took it to his wife's bedside. She agreed that it was time that he should know what was in the box. When he opened it, he found two crocheted dolls and a stack of moneytotaling $95,000. He asked her about the contents. 'When we were to be married,' she said, ' my grandmother told me the secret of a happy marriage was to never argue. She told me that if I ever got angry with you, I should just keep quiet and crochet a doll.' The little old man was so moved; he had to fight back tears. Only two precious dolls were in the box. She had only been angry with him two times in all those years of living and loving. He almost burst with happiness.

'Honey,' he said, 'that explains the doll, but what about all of this money? Where did it come from?''Oh,' she said, 'that's the money I made from selling the dolls.' A Prayer.......Dear Lord, I pray for Wisdom to understand my man; Love to forgive him; And Patience for his moods; Because Lord, if I pray for Strength, I'll beat him to death, because I don't know how to crochet.

Brayden is a 2-Year-Old Today!

Today we have our third two year old together, so hopefully we're ready for it this time :) Brady is so much fun to be around that you just can't seem to take your eyes off of him...so long as you can keep up with him! Here are a few pictures to reflect how the last year has gone for him.

He got to walk on the beach...
He got to ponder a moment atop of Marys Peak...

He got hungry and doesn't like to hold sticky things...
He learned about computers...hmm...He had his own E.T. moments, credit going to his older brothers...He kicked the bottle. Looks like it was a good one, doesn't it?...
Sometimes he got bored when Mommy had to work at the computer. "uh-oh!"...
Alot goes on in a year. There were mad times, there were sad times, there were times when being the youngest just wasn't fair. But overall times were good, times were fun, and he found his own special way of fitting in........right in the center of each of our hearts! Happy Birthday Braybie! ahem, I mean, Brayden. You're just growing up too fast, kid!

Handmade Flowers

You have to do what you have to do to get a bouquet of flowers...The boys made me some 'handmade' flowers (ok, I helped but its all because I'm teaching them early how to treat a lady properly, Ha!) and I thought it would be nice to share this idea as a cute gift for Grandmas on Mother's Day, since nobody can ever remember exactly what day Grandparent's Day really is anyway, plus its easy to mail if you don't live close enough to see each other....then keep some for yourself so you always have flowers in the house :)

Surgery Day & The Bounce-Back-Kid...

Dillon had his tonsils and adenoid glands removed yesterday. It was a long time coming and we are really excited for him to breathe better, sleep better and hear better now! The poor guy has forever been stuffed up day and night, diagnosed with a bit of sleep apnea, and has had his more than fair share of ear infections in the past and I have to say that if I thought I had my hands full before, I'm reconsidering the thought because we're above and beyond that now!

After recovering for less than an hour, (which means his morphine wore off) he was sitting up and playing in the recovery room watching the clock because he knew we could leave at 12:00. Jim left to get some lunch and Dillon wanted to give him a call, then called Grandma, then called Nana, Carter & Brayden to tell everybody how great he was! He got to ride in a wagon on the way to the car and made sure that Daddy recorded the waterfall on the way out for Carter to see - this was his day for ultimate attention and there he was thinking of what would make his brother happy.

We were totally not prepared for how great he felt right after having surgery. We were ready to gently nurse him back to health and snuggle and watch movies all day for a couple of days but instead we couldn't keep him down to rest at all, not even after his dose of prescription Hydrocodone. Really, he is literally the bounce back kid, he was running and jumping around even teasing Carter, nothing phases him! I told Jim that if we weren't the ones who had actually taken him to the surgery center ourselves, I don't think we would have believed that he had the surgery done that day.

Boy, it sure is a hard day when your brother has surgery...here is Carter resting on the couch last night, while Dillon keeps himself busy coloring a fantastic picture of all of his favorite Pokemon characters. All I'm left thinking is that this must have been so much needed, that having the surgery made him feel instantly better than he did before. I've also read several articles about children like Dillon who have a really hard time gaining weight and then have the surgery done seem to 'catch up' and gain a little more weight soon after...so we are pretty interested to see what happens next.

To top it off, yesterday afternoon Dillon said to us, "This is the best day ever! I got to see a firetruck & tractors, I got to ride in a wagon, and I got my very own flowers!"

What? The best day ever? Well, Mr. Amazing, why wouldn't it be?!!

Rockin' Out To Led Zeppelin!

What can I say? I love that our boys love bands like The Beatles & Led Zeppelin...ok, even a few songs by Bread...but thats because they hang out with their Dad in the garage too much...which is great :)

FreeKibble.com

I was recently telling Jim that this summer we should take the boys over to the Humane Society and volunteer to walk some dogs once a week and then he brought home this sticker. An 11 year old girl from Bend started this....you go to the wesite: http://www.freekibble.com/default.asp answer a little triva question, it doesn't matter if you're right or wrong, then they will donate 10 pieces of dog food to the Central Oregon Humane Society every day that you answer a triva question. It doesn't sound like much, but they have collaborated over 100,000 pieces of dog food since April 1st, so every little bit counts! There may be something like this in your area too :)

Nature Books

I'm trying to do a little project with the boys like this everyday. This was so fun to make and I had to share it. I'm excited to finally be outside in the spring air!

Supplies:
~Lunch size brown paper bags
~Rubberband for each book (not too strong though)
~A pencil, strong stick, a few popcicle sticks stuck together - anything for the "binding"
~Hole puncher

Gather 3-6 brown paper bags (don't open them) Punch two holes in the bottom and make sure the holes in each bag line up together.

Stick one end of a rubberband through the back of one set of holes in the bags and loop around the top end of your binding (pencil/stick/popcicle sticks, I used colored pencils) So the binding is on the front of the book.

Then stick the other end of the rubber band through the other set of holes in the back of the book and loop around the bottom end of your binding.

Now you have a little book and all the nature things the kids find outside can be tucked neatly away inside each of the paper bag "book pages"! And you can label what is inside each page/bag. You can even add pipe cleaner handles at the end of the book to make it easier to carry so everything doesn't fall out :)