Blue Eyes Linger

Beau @ 17 months
Beau @ 3 1/2 years

My, how this boy has grown! I cannot believe the difference in just 2 years. My Beautiful Boy is becoming so handsome, and those blue eyes that I never thought my son would ever keep have lingered on. Just look at that little man body! I just love it!

Sprinkler Fun

Boy, oh, Boy we have had a couple of HOT days! Right up around 90 degrees, and the valley is also sooo humid! I hate that! Luckily we have had some breezes blowing through, allowing for me to set my alarm for 6am just so I can run through the house opening all the windows that aren't in the kids' rooms to let some cool air in before the house heats up again. My husband does not believe in air conditioning, we live in Oregon, he claims, "What do we need air conditioning for when we only have 2 weeks of really hot weather?" Ummm, honey, we have many more than that! In any case, we haven't yet set up the pool, so yesterday, I set out the sprinkler for the little ones, and Drew began feeling better by the afternoon, so she joined in too. I have referred to my boy as a fish in past posts, well, yesterday, he was a fish out of water! What a crazy boy he is! Check out the pics I snapped!

The Girls Are Home

My girls finally arrived home last night at 10:30pm! They were so tired, but so full of things to talk about ofcourse. Drew brought me and Daddy a 'name' keyring from Arizona, looks like a license plate. Grace brought Dad a shot glass from the Grand Canyon, and I recieved a hematite neclace, very nice. They got Beau and new monster truck, and Leah a baby fairytopia doll...she loves 'the buttpie movie', heehee! The girls were sooo excited to get back to school, however, each of them awoke this morning with sick tummies, and started vomiting! I just cant' believe it! So, they miss one more day of school, not sure about tomorrow. In any case, sick or not, I am glad they are home again!

Why God made Little Girls

God mad the world with it's towering trees,

Majestic mountains and restless seas

Then paused and said, "It needs one more thing...

Someone to laugh and dance and sing

To walk in the woods and gather the flowers

To commune with nature in quiet hours."

So God made little girls

With laughing eyes and bouncing curls

With joyful hearts and infectious smiles

Enchanting ways, and feminine wiles

And when He'd completed the task He'd begun

He was pleased and proud of the job He'd done

For the world, when seen through a little girl's eyes

Greatly resembles paradise.

~AUTHOR UNKNOWN~

Pretend Play

Something I love...The Little Tikes Sand&Water Play Table

Leah got this for her 1st birthday from her Grandma Linda, and I just got it back out of storage for the kids to play with again. They love it! It is so much fun, we primarily put water in it they have a blast moving the little boat around, and squirting water out of the dragon at eachother. It comes with a boat,knight,dragon,princess, and castle with drawbridge. They just hadn't realized how fun it could be to play together until the other night, I sat down next to it with them, put the princess in the boat, then placed the knight near the castle, and created a whole scene for them, the princess-"Help Help, I'm floating away!", the knight-"Don't worry princess, I will save you!" I had the dragon making fire breathing noises as he squirted water from his mouth, and then I realized both of them were paying complete and utter attention to everything I did, faces looking shocked and giggling once I was done! From there, they had a whole new way to play, that they just hadn't thought of before. It is a must have for hot sunny days!

Homesick Drew

The girls are still on thier road trip with my Mom, and on thier way home, late, but should be home by tomorrow morning I am thinking. They stopped at Flintstones Bedrock City in Valle,Arizona, as well as Circus Circus in Las Vegas, and the Grand Canyon. Drew called last night, she is our home body, and was crying she is sooo home sick. It makes me feel so good that she feels so connected to us, but I wish she could let herself still enjoy time away. I guess maybe she is just to young yet to be able to handle such a long time away from home, Mom and Dad.

We miss you too Drew!

Dinosaur Country

We have been thinking of all the trips we plan to take this summer since we now have a camp trailer for all of us, and I came accross this great advertisement for THE MONTANTA DINOSAUR TRAIL It looks like it would be so much fun, and Beau would just love it! Luckily my FIL lives in Montana, so it would'nt be so far fetched for us to travel there, we could just visit him, and then see how far we can make it to all of the dinosaur sites. I really hope we can do this this summer!

She loves her 'gasses'!

Would you like to see my Garden???

Part of our redo, no more overgrown junipers hiding our yard, just peonies, lithodora, and big rocks for accent!
My husbands doing...far right to be a waterfall pond, river rock, and pavers for a patio set to party! Wine barrels with Geraniums, and white Petunias to fill in and flow over!
My backyard flower garden, still working on adding more to fill it in. Mostly has columbine scattered randomly as columbine reseeds itself with now help. One big 'red' butterfly bush to the right, my Dracaena center which happens to be native to S.Africa I found out this year, and has grown to 10 ft., it is a tree and will grow to 25 ft. OOPS! I gotta move it away from the house! Far left, baby Lilac, has some time to go to grow. Also, have a lily of the nile, and cala lily hiding, as well as mexican roses, and creeping lotus.
My Clematis, which I just got a trellis for this year, it is so beautiful, and has taken 4 years to finally grow to this size!

My 'Jack Daniels' flower barrel, a mothers day gift from my Hubby a few years back. Decided on a 'fiesta' theme this summer!
A mexican rose.

One side of the front yard, after overgrown junipers were yanked out, and replaced with peonies, lithodora, and big rocks!

Garden Talk

It's current state, above
The Original Bush

I am getting so carried away with working on the yard now that we have most maintenance work done! I went to get 3 more lithodora for the front where we pulled out the junipers, and ended up getting another geranium, 2 tray packs of petunias, 2 verbena, 3 stepables-miniature daisies, a tray pack of coleus, and a spanish lavendar!!!! All found a home, but the problem is, there was still so much more I wanted to bring home, and am craving the opportunity to go back for! I was browsing old photos of my roses I had taken the first year I planted them, and strange things have happened! One of the rose bushes have totally transformed from the original bush, a pretty pink, to a dark red tearose climber! How did this happen??? I think I'm gonna yank it out! Well, Beau is yanking my arm to let him play Wonder Pets, so I'll post more later!

My Handsome

Beau Michael most always humors his Mommy when asked to take a picture. This day, we took his photo in front of his favorite tree in our yard, the "popcorn tree" as he calls it. Isn't he precious?

Just talk...

A neighbor of mine and I were talking about my peonies today, she was asking how big they get, then she proceeded to tell me her and her mother were at at peony farm last week, and her Mom was asking the price of a Hawaaiin Coral Peony, it was $50.00. I told her I have one, and only paid $30, now, it was my most expensive ones, the others are mysteries and were only $10 a piece. A steal! I just cannot believe how the prices range on these! I am so happy to have 4 that I paid a total of $60 for. If I hadn't seen the mysteries, I would not have been able to afford 4 for our yard redo. I just might look into selling roots off mine in the future.

I love the Dave Matthews Band, and every year when it comes around that they tour in my area, I miss it! I really want to go this year, and know that the show is Aug.31-Sept.2nd. However, being a busy Mom, I know nobody that wants to go, or likes the band as much as I do. It is so depressing. I have debated going alone, I want to go soooo bad! I thought my Dad would go with me, but he doesn't like the band he says, I thought, AMPHITHEATER, once in a lifetime concert with his daughter, surely he'd go with me, but no, he's not interested. It is a long drive, roughly 3 hours I think, and I really don't want to drive it alone. Blog readers, what would you do?
F/U DAVE MATTHEWS BAND CONCERT...I'M GOING!

Drew's Birthday Surprise

Since Drew is gone on her road trip, I have been scrambling to get things together for her birthday party. She turns 7 on June 1st, but we are going camping for that weekend, and have to postpone her big party for June 10th. She never really has too much to say about her theme (I like to do a theme), but this year, she really really wants 'Hannah Montana', so without her knowing, I have gotten the party supplies she requested. I also found a cake on familyfun.com that I plan to make with a twist however to fit with the party theme, it will be similar but on top will be Hannah Montana cupcake pics vs. candles, and the edges of the cupcakes will be rolled in turquoise and hot pink sprinkles. This past weekend I went to Target to browse for her gift, and it just so happened to be that her most requested gift, the PIXEL CHIX LUV 2 SHOP MALL, was on sale for 19.99! (It will connect to the Pixel Chix house and car for added fun!) And, I also found the Crayola Rainbow Rake she had mentioned (love outdoor toy requests!), then went to the $Tree, and got her a hula hoop. No summer is complete without a hula hoop! She is gonna be so surprised! I am not gonna tell her that I found the party stuff that she wanted, I'm gonna make it a surprise! I also found some great items at the dollar tree for party bags...candy neclaces, ring pops, bubble gum balls, and soda pop shaped bubbles!

Road Trip

My Mom and an Aunt took a few of the family and my girls on a road trip through Oregon, California, Nevada, and on to Arizona. The girls have called me many times to tell me how HOT it is there! I told them ahead, it would be so different from home sweet home! I am so happy that they are on this trip, and get to have this life experience. I honestly could not say I had been anywhere other than Oregon at Drew's age of near 7. Drew can say now, she has visited Washington, California, Nevada, Arizona, and Montana! WOW! In fact, I have never even been to DisneyLand, but we do plan to do that as a family in the next couple of years, once Beau and Leah are a bit bigger, and no more diapers or bottles exist...much easier in my opinion. Anyway...I will post some pics of thier trip once they get back. I hear they have a surprise for me too, I'll reveal once it arrives!

Mommy Tag

1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? NO
2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? NO
3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? I was very happy, but my then partner was ashamed, angry, tried to talk me into abortion, became abusive...
4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU? NEVER
5. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 17
6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? Knew it deep down, very tired, but went to free clinic for teens, and had a test done.
7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? Friend
8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? Yes
9. DUE DATE? June 16th, 1995
10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? No, all day nausea for first 2 months
11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? Nestle's Strawberry Milk, Otter Pops, and Fudgescicles
12. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? Nothing
13. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? Girl
14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? No, knew I was having a girl before I even found out
15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? Roughly 60!
16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? Yes, My Mom did it for me
17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? I knew
18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? No
19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? Hospital
20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? 14
21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? My Mom
22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? My Mom, and Grandmother
23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION - Natural, No epidural
24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? Only Stadol injection, which didn't work, and by the time it got bad, it was too late for epidural!
25. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 7lb. 7oz.
26. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN ? June 23rd, 1995 @ 6:47 PM
27. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? Gracie Mae, Gracie last minute, I saw a Gracie Allen/George Burns book cover, liked the name Gracie...Mae after my deceased Gma, her middle name, we were very close, she died when I was 12.
28. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY? Very soon to be 12, ahhh, approaching the teens!

Music Matters

Changed up my playlist, added a ton more, and it's shuffling now! Songs intended for family...you'll know when you listen! Some are my fave's, remind me of someone, or just plain fun from old disney movies I loved, enjoy!

Tagged

Okay, sorry so slow getting to this TAG, Donna, but been working more and tons of yard work, and well...I HAVE 4 KIDS!!!! Anyway...here we go...

What to do...Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump the others up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom spot.

1.KRISTIN
2.ERIN
3.WENDY
4.DONNA
5.VICTORIA

Forgive me for not tagging anyone else, but I don't know many bloggers...

10 Years Ago:
I was 20! I was still in my Nursing prerequisites, my first daughter was 1 1/2, and I met my Husband. This exact time 10 years ago, I think we were all on a trip to the coast, sharing a house with 2 other couples and thier kids for the weekend.

5 Years Ago:
I was ending my 1 year of Nursing School. Drew was turning 2, and Grace was soon to be 7. WOW how time flies! We were looking into having our house re-sided and new storm windows put in.

1 Year Ago:
Pretty much the same as now. Busy with Beau and Leah, girls in school. Planning Drew's 6th Birthday Party. Time of year for lots of yard work. Just as now, I was working part time.

5 Fave Snacks:
Spicy Pork Rinds ( a guilty pleasure my Dad introduced to me as a kid)
Lay's Potato Chips
Wheat Thins
Grapefruit
Rocky Road Candybar

5 Songs I know all the words to:
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Here Comes the Chicken (Wiggles, Leah loves it!)
I hope you Dance
Rock-a-Hula (from Lilo&Stitch, Beau begs for it everyday!)
Shakira/Beyonce-Beautiful Liar, I LOVE IT!

5 Things I would do if I were a Millionaire:
Buy a Bigger House, specifically build a log home, away from town!
Pay off Debts
Pay for all of my Sisters school, and pay off her debt
College Funds for all of our children
Buy a new Van, Get Jack a Boat
(My 6th thing would be a vacation!)

5 Bad Habits:
Biting my Nails
Starting something, then moving on...Jack will attest!
Hoarding stuff I should throw out
Shopping
Yelling... :(

5 Things I will NEVER wear again:
A bikini
Thong underwear (maybe 9 years ago..)
High Heels
Banana Clips (Remember those?)
Leg Warmers

5 Things I like to do:
Play with my Kids
Garden
Go to the Beach
Sew
Shop:)

5 Fave Toys:
Computer
Digital Camera
PhotoMate
Cell Phone
Kitchen Gadgets, most recently my Pineapple corer/slicer!

Name that Peony

HERE IS A PIC I FOUND ONLINE TO TRY TO IDENTIFY MY 'MYSTERY' PEONY, THIS IS TITLED 'RED CHARM', LOOKS, IN MY OPINION, QUITE SIMILAR TO MY PHOTO BELOW, LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK...

My Mothers Day

I don't know how most of you Mom's out there celebrate Mother's Day, but 'round here, not much different goes on from everyday life. With 4 kids, and rotating work schedules there not time for making every calendar holiday a major celebration. However, I spent my Mother's Day with my parents. We, my dad, myself, my Mom, and my dtrs planted annuals for my Grandma, and barked all of her flower beds for HER.

No time to sit around and sulk that my day was just like any other, getting up and being bombarded by 3/4 children with varied breakfast demands, and wet diapers, soaked bedding...yeah, just a normal day. But, I love my days. Every morning, my Son says, 'Hi Mom' to me like he hasn't seen me in forever. And, Leah Lou, she plays peek-a-boo in the crib for about 30 minutes before she finally give in to allow me to remove her from it. Beau always asks for 'cinnamon toasties and juice' for breakfast. Drew always comes walking every so wobbly down the hall, eyes half open, hair a matted mess asking, "What time is it Mom?" Grace is usually off to school by the time the youngest 3 awake, so she is pretty independent anymore in getting up and at 'em. But, she does make sure to leave a trail of pj's from her bed to her dresser, and the towel on the bathroom floor for Mom to pick up.

I know they need me, no matter how much they grow, no matter how much they begin to on thier own. I still have that need in me for my Mom. I don't know what I would do without her. She is only 50, and is going through a tough time right now, she has a cyst on her spinal cord in her neck. She has a dissintegrating vertabrae, and is in alot of pain. She has seen a neurologist, but still doesn't know what they can do, or will do. This has made me think more and more about what life would be like without my Mom. I just can't imagine it. I don't want to. Please take time to pray for my Mom with me. Miracles happen everyday!

A Mommy's Day Gift from Daddy

I most always receive flowers of some kind or another for Mother's Day. This year, I chose my flowers since we are in the middle of redo-ing our front yard, and I chose PEONY'S. I love them! The top photo is of my 'pink hawaiin coral', only one bloom this year...the second is my mystery peony...I'll have to compare the final bloom to photos online to see what it's called. When I got it, it was not yet showing any color, and the nursery had few they were unable to identify, so they sold for a steal! They become very full with age, shrub like, love the sun, and clay soil, which we have plenty of!

A Mommy's Day Gift from Drew

THANKYOU DREW!

I LOVE YOU TOO!

Picture Fun

Drew, laughing 'cause Leah would NOT sit still!

"Leah, where's your belly button?", "It's right dar!"
Girls can play monster trucks too!

Excited, but can't remember why...Mommy brain!

Grace trying to kiss Beau, he wasn't havin' it!

Ohhh! My first girly girl, and my only handsome!

Park Pics

I purchased this truck while Beau Michael, my first and only son was still in utero. I just fell in love with it, picturing him pushin' this oversized thing around all over our house, and yard. And, well, I done good, 'cause my Handsome loves this thing! He pushes it everywhere, it goes everywhere with us (yes, even the grocery store!) Money well spent!
Leah Lou, being very careful on the stairs. She would rather go up and down those stairs than to swing and slide!
Beau, my son, is a Monster Truck maniac at this point. He loves them! He gets so stinkin' worked up just talking about them! Our park has a big huge sand volleyball pit, and so tons of kid always play in the sand. We always take our sand toys, (I have learned I cannot forget them!) and now, we always take atleast 2 monster trucks so that Beau can make a 'race track' and a 'jump' for them in the sand! Ahhh, BOYS!

Something Beautiful for my Mother

I was browsing a nearby "mom & pop" nursery for a pot to hang on my front porch. I found THIS! Sad thing was, my porch receives tons of sun, and this beauty needs full shade. It was the only one of it's kind, and I found it to be so intriguing, so BEAUTIFUL! I wracked my brain trying to think of someone that has shade! I finally remembered, my Mom has tons of shade in the front of her house, and has this big tree with many limbs that could hold this. So, I got it for HER, early Mother's Day gift. I just could not pass it up whether it was going to be mine or not. It is a moss pot, with absolutley gorgeuos begonias, orange and bright pink as you see. There is something, to which I have already forgotten the name, also planted around it that will fill in and trail down the sides. I can't wait to see it mid summer. I just love this flower pot!!!

The one I got for myself, well, it's not ready to be photographed yet. It needs alot more sun and heat, and so, I will post a photo later. I did also find some delphinium plugs, and I only paid $2 for 2 of them!

LOVE THIS BLOGGIN' MOMMA!

Found this blog through another blogging friends blog...She is so talented in her blogging, and comes through as such a wonderful loving Mother! Check her out!

Growing Closer...again

I have been getting back into church, no excuses, I know, but it was very hard to do it with the two youngest so little, and so clingy! But, now they enjoy the interaction with other children, Leah made it to the last 10 minutes this past week! She made a butterfly, and she was so proud of it, she told everyone about it that came over! Too cute!
I really enjoy church, my husband won't go, and with his rotating schedule, he often couldn't anyway, but it is important to me, and I feel so much more peace within when I do go. I will admit, I don't pray everyday, we don't bless every meal, but I am working on it. Life got so busy the past 2 years for me, and so I fell behind. I feel terrible for this, and long for a much stronger bond with God. I grew up in the church, Christian, and now attend a Non-denominational, but primarily Christian church. I adore the pastor, and have gone to him a few times in the past 2 years for prayer to help me get through some things that were very hard on me. But, one thing I do not understand, is that when I go to church, I find that I am on the verge of tears throughout the service, as well as on the drive there in the morning. I try to hold back, but it's like I just want to let go, completely! I don't get it! Is this common? Is this normal? Just wondering if any of you have any idea why I might feel this way...
I find sometimes on my way home from work at near midnight, all alone in the car, quiet, time for me to think, which I hardly ever have truly this time to myself other than this time of night, I start to just ball, just cry all the way home. I am not a depressed person, I am so happy with my life, I love my job, my family, my kids are my pride and joy. I just don't get it :(

SWEET-A-LICIOUS PINK

I finally finished painting Leah's room yesterday, took me all day practically, but DH helped me out with the kids so I could lock myself in the room and just do it! It turned out so cute! Leah surveyed the room once I was all done, and she said, "Oooohh! 'OOK! It's geen! 'OOK! Buttpies!" (her word for butterflies!) The butterflies, BTW, are simply removeable wall stickers, and WALLIES mural. Very easy to put up, and easily removable!!!