A great start to summer!

Let the summer fun begin!! This is definitely my favorite time of year. Boating, playing at the park, strawberry picking, laughing, staying up late, I love it all!



























Wow, a lot has happened in 4 weeks!

First off, I now have a 2 year old!! Bryce is so much fun. He is very independent and wants to do everything the big kids do. (except go pee on the potty, but I am not too worried about that yet!) He is not as clingy as he was, so I enjoy listening to him play by himself. He loves the marble run toy and doing puzzles. He knows all his letters and loves pointing them out wherever we go. His favorite books are letter books. His talking is still hard to discern, but he will scream and say no until you figure out what he is saying! He runs around in circles and loves to dance to music. He has great giggles and loves to chase with Jeff. He is a joy to have in our house and I am so grateful for my little "surprise." His smile reminds me of my dad, and that is a special blessing. On his actual birthday, I was in charge of Dallin's school fun run, so Sarah was kind enough to watch him for the day. She took him to library time, to the park and made his day very special! We also went to Red Robin as a family. Bryce did not like the bird! We decided to celebrate his birthday when my mom was in town. We had a little birthday party at the park.

Speaking of my mom, we got to have her here for a week!!! Woo hoo!! While she was here, we went on the boat, went to the beach, and I ran a marathon. It was a busy week, but there was also time for a little relaxing, believe it or not. I love the relationship my mom has with my kids. She is a great grandma and is especially close to Emily. They have been counting down the days until she came. I love you, Mom!

We also were joined at the beach by our good friends, the McDuffies and the Giles! We all had so much fun!

It was not my best race, but I loved having my mom there to cheer me on. I also enjoyed being with these women. It sure helps to have people to train with. (Or virtually train with!)When we got back there was one more week of school. Dallin will be in second grade, I can't believe it. He had a great year and learned a lot from his teacher, Mrs. Jin. She called him her right hand man. He helped correct spelling tests and rechecked her work before she photocopied it. :-) He is very responsible and loved having the teacher rely on him. I saw him grow so much this year.

Emily is my imaginitive, sweet little girl. She gives me kisses and hugs for no reason and is so thoughtful. She loves bugs and tries to take care of them in her bug kit. We don't have a great track record so far but we will keep working on it.

This summer, we are just going to have fun and learn! I don't have anything really scheduled outside of the house. I have a summer schedule for getting chores done and limiting computer time and that is it! I love it!! We have been strawberry picking, on the boat, and just having a great time together. I feel like I am in a good place right now and just enjoying this stage of my life. If you have any fun craft ideas for the summer, let me know. Emily wants lots of projects! (Also, if you have ideas for what to do with them after they're done, that would be great too!)

What we've been up to

It is Sunday- what is supposed to be my official blog posting day. :-) I am going to do some catchup. After all, this is my digital scrapbooking attempt! (This summer I want to try the real digiscrapping, so if you're a pro, let me know!)

For about 6 weeks, I was extra tired, low energy, and just didn't feel well. I attributed it to getting older and training for a marathon. I finally went to a doctor and discovered I had an ulcer. Well, that definitely explained it! And no, ulcers aren't caused by stress! It is caused by a bacteria, and once they put me on antibiotics, it was like night and day. My energy came back- woo hoo!! My stomach still isn't 100% so I am just taking it a day at a time. I have been focused on playing with my kids and getting my home in order. (2 things that don't always work together!)

Our weather has been hit or miss. There have been some beautiful days where we really enjoy the sun, and the yucky days I have stayed home and cleaned, cleaned cleaned! I think my spring cleaning party was a success.

Here are some pics:

Dallin's first baseball season! We are lucky enough to be on a team with many friends. Dallin is really enjoying learning a new sport. I grew up loving baseball and softball and have so many good memories with my dad and the rest of my family. I love passing this on to Dallin. I just hope he has more skill than I did.


My aunt Brenda and cousin Tasha came down for a quick visit. I love seeing Tasha as a mom. She is so cute with her baby boy. My kids love spending time with them. We went out for 31 cent ice cream night at Baskin Robbins and just had a great time together

My cute sister in law Kristyn came to visit over Mother's Day Weekend. She trained for her first half marathon and came to Portland to run the race. We had a great time together and I am so proud of her and her hard work! The night before the race, we met up with some of my good friends and running partners for dinner.

Besides me being sick, my angel daughter also had a rough couple of days. She loves to go out and collect bugs. One day when it was rainy and wet, she slipped and bruised her tailbone. She wouldn't walk for 2 days and I carried her everywhere in the house. The third day she woke up and was fine. It was just crazy! She was a good sport about it. It is so hard to watch your children and pain. I am sure I will learn this often.

Jeff and I have been able to go on some fun dates this month. First we went to a glow in the dark bowling party for a friend who was celebrating his 40th birthday. (I don't have any pics of this one. ) Then, last night we were able to go to a concert together. 2 friends of mine founded a choir and put on a performance last night. We went with good friends and enjoyed the music. (I even helped with the lights-that's a little scary!) We had some time to walk around downtown Portland and just talk and be together. What a beautiful city we live in. It was a great night. (We also had a fantastic parking spot! That is what the second picture is.)

My mother's day was a little hectic as I had Sharing Time and a talk for Emily (her first one and she did great!), but I was able to enjoy time with my kids. I am grateful for each one of them. They are so unique and I love learning the little things about each of them. I hope they know how much I love and cherish them. I am humbled at the opportunity to raise them. I am grateful for a wonderful husband and friend to be on the journey with.A few more things I am grateful for:

Beautiful weather for my kids to play outside.Tulips. (that weren't cut early this year like they were last year. )

40 Reasons Jadie is 40 and Fabulous

It is my good friend, Jadie's 40th birthday today. If you don't know her, you are missing out. I hope she is not too mad at me for doing this. Have an awesome day!
1. She is gorgeous!
2. She is intelligent.
3. She has strong opinions and is not afraid to share them.
4. She stands up for what she believes in.
5. She is crafty.
6. She is not afraid to admit when she is wrong.
7. She is kind.
8. She is loyal.
9. She has a quick wit.
10. She is a great mom.
11. She loves her kids unconditionally.
12. She doesn't judge others.
13. She doesn't gossip.
14. She is fun to play games with.
15. She is competitive.
16. She is great at word games.
17. She is a literary genius.
18. She has awesome hair.
19. She is always smiling.
20. She has a positive attitude.
21. She has great ideas.
22. She is a fantastic listener.
23. She is very active.
24. She is not afraid to try new things.
25. She doesn't make excuses.
26. She is a great friend.
27. She is not a sore loser.
28. She loves her family.
29. She is exactly who she says she is.
30. She keeps her promises.
31. She has a fantastic blog. (but it's annonymous so don't tell anyone who she really is...)
32. She is an outstanding writer.
33. She "gets" me.
34. She accepts me for who I am.
35. She appreciates fine food. (even though I don't.)
36. She supports her husband, friends, and kids in all they do.
37. She puts others first and is always serving.
39. She is extremely humble and would not say these things about herself.
39 again. She looks amazing and can stay 39! :-)

Happy Birthday, Jadie!! I have known you for 8 years and feel privileged to have you as a friend! I hope you have a wonderful day and enjoy the next decade! You make 40 look fabulous! Love you! Let me know what you need this week.

Come Party with Me

Sorry, not that kind of party! I am signing up for a Spring Cleaning Party with simplemom.net. I love challenges and knowing other people are working on the same thing. I love having a checklist and someone else telling me what to do.

Let me know if you are interested in doing this too. I will be starting tomorrow morning, along with my Monday Laundry. :-) If you don't want to join in, feel free to give me a call for encouragement or stop by and chat with me while I am cleaning.

Wish me luck!

Updates

Day 1- Good start! Laundry done, all obvious clutter decluttered! Tomorrow will be a big day.

Day 2- A little bit ADD with my cleaning and detailed decluttering. I cleaned out and dusted the TV and computer armoires and got rid of things such as floppy disks. :-) I also took all the DVDs out of cases and put them in a big CD holder that just goes in the playroom. I thought this would leave room for all our VHS, but we have too many. So, this project is not finished. I then needed to do one coat of primer for my bathroom. It took much longer than I thought it would. I am still having a hard time deciding what to get rid of.

Day 3- Almost finished painting the bathroom- thanks Jeff! Got rid of some of our VHS movies- can still get rid of more. Looking forward to a good day of cleaning on Thursday. Ready for the kitchen!

Our Week- in Numbers

My biggest disappointment of this week is that I couldn't find my camera to document it! Hopefully I will find it soon. We had a busy week, so I wanted to reflect on it and share some of the fun times we had- good and bad. We watched the 4 children of our wonderful friends, Taylor and Sarah, for 9 days. Here is what went down:

1- family night miniature golfing. Definite success! We had pizza there- so no cooking for me, also a plus. The 2 2 year olds liked the golfing a little too much, so we corralled them over to the slides. The big kids had a great time.

8- days of simultaneous naps for the 2 littlest ones. Woo hoo! Quiet time and clean up time for mom.

200- giggles I got out of Oscar.

50- times I went up and down their dirt road. (One of those times at the end of a 20 mile run that kicked my trash!)

5- number of projects their oldest daughter came up with to keep the little ones busy.

0- Number of nights I went to bed before 1 am. (I don't like being alone and Jeff and I split up for the week. It was easier for me to stay at their house.)

4- number of baseball practices in that time period.

12-loads of laundry

30- minutes it took to sweep up one full box of cereal spilled and spread all over the floor.

8- hours Jeff watched all 7 kids alone so I could go to a service activity one Saturday, and my 20 miler the next Saturday. My hero!

1- broken plate. Thrown out of the car by Alice. First casualty of the week. Sorry, Sarah, it was one of your Burgerville plates.

150- times I had to ask their next door neighbor and my good friend, Ranell, for help with something. She also provided an amazing dinner and dessert for us one night.

1- time we thought we lost Oscar. (He was hiding... apparently $5 wins this kid over...)

1- night of 3D movie watching of Monsters v. Aliens.

50- times we heard that the kids missed their parents.

25- times I hear how mean I was. (Don't worry- I didn't take it personal- Jeff said it was a sign I was doing my job!)

2000- jumps on the trampoline

500- smiles from Alice

100- toys fought over by Alice and Bryce

20- number of minutes the kids still wanted to get things ready for their parents even when they knew they were on their way.

Countless- number of friends willing to take various children for playdates to save them from me and each other! Thanks everyone!

$6- is how much the kids made at the lemonade stand.

$6- is how much the kids spent on ice cream from the ice cream man. (He bought one of their lemonades also and gave Alice her own ice cream!)

9- is how many hugs I got when I left.

2- how many parents are refreshed and ready to be with their kids.

2-how many parents are ready for their trip to Mexico in September!

Unlimited- the amount of love I have for this family! What a blessing they are in our life!


Taylor and Sarah, I am glad you were able to get some time to yourselves. You deserve it!! Sorry I have no pictures, but we had a great time. Whew!!

Happy Easter!

Easter has always been my favorite holiday because I feel it is less commercialized than Christmas. I also love that it is always around General Conference time. I have tried to teach my kids the importance of the Atonement and how that should be the focus of Easter. We still have Easter Baskets, but they are very simple (from the dollar store...shhhh...). The best part is spending time with family and friends. Today was very low key as we don't have church until 2pm. We spent the morning making cinnamon rolls and enjoying time together. I took Emily with me to listen to Sarah and W. sing in their ward and it was beautiful! Dallin gave his first talk in Primary and did it all by himself. I was very proud of him and it was nice to talk about Jesus' sacrifice for us so we can live with Heavenly Father again. After church we joined the Giles family for a fabulous dinner and an indoor egg hunt. We had a wonderful day. I hope everyone enjoyed the spirit of Easter.

Pay it Forward

I just received a fun gift in the mail from my awesome friend from college, Leah Marie. I signed up to do Pay it Forward, and she really thought long and hard and found something perfect for me.

I want to do the same thing for 3 more people.

Here are the rules: The exchange focuses on doing an act of kindness without expecting anything in return other than that the recipient will, in their turn, pass the kindness along and pay it forward in their own way. This is how it works… I am going to do some act of service, or something fun, inspiring or uplifting for the first 3 blog owners who post a comment on this entry (please leave your email address if I don’t already have it). In turn you will then post about this on your blog, link to me, then send something to the first three people who sign up to play along through your blog. If those who respond to you are local, you can do something in person for them, or you can send something you made, bought, were given or found. No biggie--just do something that will make the person smile. And remember that kindness doesn’t have to involve money; there are untold ways to help others every single day, everywhere you go - just look around!

Okay, first 3 people to comment. Ready, go!!

And, I will be updating soon, I promise!!