Gotcha!

At Drew's birthday party, my Mom taught Beau how to put his finger just right in the middle of the water stream in the water fountain to make it spray out Then she told my Dad to come see what Beau had done, and as he walked around the corner, Beau did this, and he just lost it, cracking up laughing so hard! And, ofcourse, he had to try and do it to 'Weah' as well...his face just cracks me up!

The many things we plan to do this summer...

Go camping (atleast 2 more times)~ Go to the Washington Zoo~Go to Omsi~Go to the Oregon Coast Aquarium~Make a stepping stone together~Pick blackberries~Go fishin'~ Go for a walk~Spend time with Grandparents~Build a Pond~Go the the A.C. Gilbert Discovery Village~Go to the Enchanted Forest...again
~Watch the sun set~Finish filling in my huge collage picture frame~Start potty training Leah~Go garage saling~Sit on the porch and eat icecream cones together~Spend a day on the beach (or 2 or 3...)~Go to a Dave Matthews Band concert (MOM)~Lose 20-25 more lbs. (MOM)~ Get new haircuts~Read books together~Go to the movies~Dance around to music in our living room~Make chocolate bananas~Swing~Water balloon fights~Bake Zucchini bread ~Bake blackberry cobbler~Make fresh salsa, with home grown tomatoes/onions/cilantro/jalapeno's~Clean the ceiling fans...YUCK~Renovate our bathroom~Bird watching~Go to the Art&Air Festival to see the airplanes~HUG~Color with sidewalk chalk~Blow bubbles

Ooohhh! Bubbles!

Here is Leah going crazy over one of Drew's birthday presents, the TRILLION BUBBLES BUBBLE MAKER...

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A change for Drew...

Drew on her birthday, so pretty wearing a piece of the broken pinata on her head...before she asked me to cute her hair...

Drew, after her haircut...Dad's pretty mad, but she is thrilled with it!

Drew's 7th Birthday Party

We finally had Drew's birthday party, she had really wanted to have a pool party like last year, but the weather was set to rain, so we changed the location to a local park, very nice, with a great covered are perfect for parties...and great in case of showers...which did occur once, but very light showers. Overall, the kids had a blast, and Drew was very pleased with her Hannah Montana cake I made, as well as the Hannah Montana pinata I had made for her at a great new party store called SWEET FLOWERS floresteria...pinatas originate from Mexico, and this store makes the original star formation, it was so cute!

The Cake...by Mom

Beau, taking his first swing at a Pinata!

Drew so surprised at her present from Mom and Dad
The Crayola Rainbow Rake

Awww...what a nice card!

Pink Eye X2

I took Beau to the doctor earlier this week concerned about his eyes being so gunky, and stuck together in the morning for about 4 days, thinking maybe he just had minor irritation that would resolve itself, but the doctor said he has conjuctivitis, and so she prescribed some sulfacetamide eye gtts. The first time I administered them to Beau, he was okay with it, he was calling them 'rain drops' for his 'broken eye'. But, each time following he was fought me, and screamed so loud in anticipation. It is NO FUN trying to hold down a 3 1/2 yr old boy to give him eye drops all on your own. And, what do you know, the next morning after we started Beau on the eye gtts, Leah woke up with a nasty, gunky eye full of green crusts! So, now, 4xday, I am pinning down not 1, but 2 feisty children and attempting with all my might to make sure I get a drop in each affected eye, which I tell you, is darn near impossible! And, we still have 4 days @ 4times/day left for Beau, 5 days for Leah...AUUGGHH!

Friday Favorites

We read ALOT of books in my house! Bedtime cuddling with a book is the best! One of Drew's favorites is THE MAGICAL, MYSTICAL, MARVELOUS COAT. It is a darling story with very unique illustrations. One we love!

A great idea: I often take all those book club advertisers, and keep the catalogues just to be able to take along to the library so we can look for some of the books that seem interesting to us.

Ahoy thar Matey!

Pirates Treasure Stepping Stone

I have always been one to sew, do crafts with my kids, and bake cookies for every holiday there might be! But, it's really taken a back seat the past few years, since I had Beau, and Leah, just too busy! But, I saw this great stepping stone idea in my Joann's ad, and I am determined to make this with the kids! I just think it's so stinkin' cute! I will post our finished product once we get it made!

Playin' with Picasa

I generally HATE my smile, HATE my teeth showing at all! I most always try to smile close mouthed, but this one, after playing around with Picasa2 (thanks Margo:)) I find this is actually a great shot of me and the kids, the best one actually. Forgive me for posting so many, I just think I LOVE this shot with all the effect of sepia, and a little glow! What do you think?

My Mom

Mom...
I love you very very much!

Makin' Dust!

Okay, so I am just figuring this out, how to post video's, slideshows...so I had to post his! Beau loves taking his big 'monster trucks' and makin' dust in the driveway. He is so enthusiastic about it, it's kinda crazy, but hey, he's a boy right? I should be happy he's so rugged...well, so BOY! Try to listen for his noises and giggles, it's too cute! Enjoy!
(BTW, you can just scroll down and pause the playlist at the bottom of the page to silence the music while you watch/listen)

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Mommy's Here...I'm just always stuck BEHIND the camera!

Worrysome Wednesday

Things are strange right now, I am sad, worried for my Mother. She had another MRI to get a better view of the 'cyst' in her neck, which is right at the base of the skull at the top of spinal cord they found. It is affecting the nerves in her face, and causing her alot of head pain, headaches, or migraines as they may call it. She now finds out that 10 yrs. ago, which is how long they assume this to have been growing in her neck, when she first went to a DR. about migraines, it could have been detected had they done an MRI then! This is sad, infuriating, and very very upsetting to me. As a nurse, I deal with doctors, and they can be so uncaring, and don't always know what they are doing. They often look to us as Nurses to tell them what we think, or ask us what medication WE want or feel necessary for a patient, then just go ahead and sign away orders. They are supposed to be ahead of the game, and granted, they are important people, but they do misdiagnose many patients, and this being my Mother, I am, plain and simply stated, MAD!
The doctors here are not able to handle this, or operate on her, so she is waiting to see yet another doctor, neurosurgeon at OHSU to find out IF they can even operate to remove the 'cyst'.
I lost my Gma at the age of 12. She had lung cancer. I loved her dearly, she was a very important person to me. My oldest is turning 12 this month, and she is aware of my Mothers condition, and what is going on, and she cries about it. She will be devastated if nothing can me done for my Mother. As will all the rest of us. It is a very upsetting time, and I am asking all those that may read this as they are passing through daily blogs, and or friends that read my blog, please take the time to pray. Prayer can work wonders, initiate miracles...I have seen some!

Goin' Campin'

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We took the kids camping this past weekend with my parents, we finally used our 31ft. trailer we bought this year. We went to the coast, it was such amazing weather! The kids had a blast! When we first stepped out of our truck, Leah would not let go of me, she clung to me, acting very scared, but soon relaxed enough to explore! Beau took off with such excitement, and enthusiasm of the new sights around him! The giant trees, and trails! He loved it! Right beside our camp was this huge tree, and revealed beneath was a tangled web of roots which made the perfect place to climb, hide, and play in. Beau tried many times to climb it, as did Drew. Leah just kinda played inside of it!

Whiney Weah Woo

Leah, my sweet Leah, she does not last outside very long EVER! So excited about the sprinkler, she barely got wet before she was following me around saying, "Mommy...Mommy, I wan go to da house...Mommy, I wan watch puppies...Mommy, peeeaaaase?"

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!