What a Weekend!

Friday afternoon found Bree and I relaxing at home in the quiet without Paul or the kids. He packed up the kids and the trailer and headed to Fisherman's Bend campground to camp with his family before the family reunion/picnic at Silver Falls on Saturday. Bree and I stayed home because I had a doctor's appointment for my out of control thyroid and also for some help with the horrible itchy rash that has come back. I had it last year and thought it was pregnancy related but that is not the case this time. This dr said the same thing the dermatologist said, "you are allergic to something you weren't before so go home and change everything you use and eat." Uh huh, yah right. And that worked so well from last summer now didn't it? They gave me the same steroid cream so I just get to mask the symptoms without discovering the true cause yet again. Sometimes I just love paying doctors the big bucks for all their helpful advice. But anyway, Bree and I hung out, she was in bed by 6:30, by 7 I was completely bored and missing the noise of my other kids, so I started a few different movies, wasn't interested in any, read my book, and was in bed by 10. I guess I don't do alone time as well as I thought I would anymore!

Saturday we met up with my bro-in-law Dan, who chauffered us to Silver Falls for the party. On the way there we got stopped in Woodburn for a lowrider parade. I saw my very first car using hydraulics as it bumped down the street! Well, I had seen them in Snoop videos but never in real life before. What a treat!

Silver Falls was beautiful. I had never been there so it was a nice place to discover. At least that's what I thought driving in. When we got to the parking lot I was attacked by my kids, which was a good thing, and a husband in "survival mode." Happy to see me and the feeling was mutual! I was also introduced to a completely flat tire on our Acadia but figured it was OK, we have a spare. We continued on with the picnic, the kids swam, Darcy was saved from drowing twice by alert and quick moving aunts, and Mason clocked me in the temple with a frisbee thrown full force about a foot away from my head. It totally dropped me and luckily there was a foam pad right behind me that I landed on. I have a nice goose egg on the side of my head to show for it.

Later on we hiked to the falls, where we were crazy enough to take the stroller all the way down to walk behind the waterfall. Paul and my brother-in-law's wife's dad pushed that baby filled with babies back up the very steep slope. Thanks guys! It was a beautiful place but we were only willing to push the stroller to the first waterfall, not the entire loop.

Darcy loves the water and just kept walking farther and farther out until her feet dropped out from under her. I think she went after a ball once too. Thankfully Aunt Star and Aunt Carmen were nearby to pull her out! The little blonde, besides Drew, is Paul's brother Roland's daughter, Maple. My kids had lots of fun playing with her and her brother Koa. We wish they lived closer so we could have fun like this all the time!

All of these pictures are taken by Paul's niece Wendi, and she was kind enough to let me use them, even though I never asked her, because my camera was in the car and I was too lazy to go get it I guess.






When we got back from our hike Uncle Paul taught Changing Tires 101 to the teenage nieces and nephews. They did a great job but the spare was a tiny donut that obviously wouldn't allow us to pull our 23 foot trailer home on it. In hind sight maybe Paul should have left his family reunion for hours to drive into Salem to get tires but that didn't happen so we were stuck trying to figure out where we were going to find tires on Sunday, and also get ourselves out of our campsite by 1pm. But first we had to make it through the night! Easier said than done. Bree ate probably 4 or 5 times during the night because everytime she made a peep I would feed her to keep her quiet in hopes that the others wouldn't wake up. Yah right. Once Drew slid from the upper bed onto Darcy on the lower bed and was sitting up in a daze looking around for the noise of Darcy's screams as she sat on top of her. Another time Mason was down on the lower tier snuggling with Paul and kicking Darcy in the face and Drew had somehow managed to get back up in her original position. At this point the 3 youngest kids were either crying or wimpering and Paul and I were trying to get it under control. They were finally all quiet and I was crawling back into my bed when Drew shouts in her sleep: "Turn it off!" My sentiments exactly Drew. The sun finally came up and ended the horrid ordeal of nighttime and Paul was off to Salem to hopefully get either the tire patched or new tires, because we relly needed new ones, and back to the camp site in time to vacate the premises. But of course it wasn't that easy. GM, it turns out, wants you to buy a very specific tire for the Acadia, pretty much available only at their dealerships for exorbitant prices, or Les Schwabs might have it but Schawbies isn't open on Sundays. Well, neither is a GM service depertment it turns out. I was/am so flipping mad at GM for their ridiculous system and even though I love my Acadia, I will never buy another vehicle from them again. If you are the only ones who have this tire then you sure as heck better have them available when people need them! At this point I was getting a bit upset since we were supposed to be at my niece's baptism in Salem later that afternoon and I had no idea what was going to happen with all the scenarios floating around. I decide to try to bathe my filthy children in our trailer but for some reason (I didn't have the gas turned on) the water wasn't getting warm so I took a cold shower and Mason suffered through a cold shower before we we said froget it. My poor kids. Mommy was not happy. After a million different phone calls to everyone on the planet Paul found 4 tires that would work for us at Costco in Portland. The one with the hole couldn't be patched so we needed to replace it and had to do all 4 as the ones we were replacing it with were a bit bigger than the originals. So to make a VERY long story shorter than what I have already written, we pulled Paul's brother-in-law out of church in Corvallis and had him drive Paul's mom's truck to our campsite to get us out of there. Paul's mom was still camping there too with her Excursion so in the end we hooked her Excursion up to our trailer, Scott drove the kids and I home and high-tailed it back to his house for an obligation later that evening, Paul's mom took her trailer home with the truck, and Paul took the Acadia to Portland for a brand new set of tires. All's well that ends well but when you are suffering from uncontrolable itchies, an out-of-whack thyroid, a sleepless night, and trying to please 4 little bodies, it is pretty much hell while you are going through it. Its nice to be home and this trip just confirms our decision to skip the road trip this summer. We do have another camping trip planned in 2 weeks for 3 nights at the Kite Festival in Long Beach but hopefully all the bad luck is behind us, knock on wood. Thank you to all of our many helpers this weekend, we couldn't have done it without your willingness to help us! Oh, and unfortunately we missed the baptism from all this mess. My niece was baptized 29 years to the day after I was. Pretty cool.

Our camp site at Fisherman's Bend, which looked like a cool campground if I had the time or energy to explore it.

I wasn't even sure this little guy would get the Acadia home in one piece.

Non-Stop Party!

Early July is party time in our family! With the 4th of July and Darcy's and my birthdays all falling within 5 days of each other we have cause to celebrate! This year we did some major partying. Darcy turned 2 on the 8th. I can't believe she is that old! She is still my baby, even though I have another baby after her. Maybe its her delayed speech but I am having a hard time believing she is such a big girl. Her words are slow in coming but that is about the only thing she does slow. She is an active little girl, quite noisy, very loving, sucks her thumb and plays with the tassles on her purple blanket, loves to give kisses, and LOVES Finding Nemo. Or "Mummo" as she calls it. Drew called it that too, I wonder why. Darcy also likes the Princess and the Frog so I made her a frog cake using cupcakes frosted together in sort of a frog shape. Not the best looking thing ever but she knew it was a "froggie!" cake and you can see she enjoyed it!

My birthday was on the 6th. I won't mention how old I am but I will admit that my body is feeling the added years. I would love to have the maturity and knowledge I have now in my 27 year old body. My birthday was no great affair. We got home from our mini-vacation on the 5th so I spent the 6th doing laundry. Paul forced me out of the house to see Eclipse by myself that night and I was so tired I almost turned the car around before I got to the theater but I stuck it out. Not my most memorable birthday but when you are the mom and turning old like me I guess they aren't huge events anymore. Mason told me to "move it old lady!" Yes, birthdays are something I wouldn't mind skipping from now on.

We spent the 3rd, 4th, and 5th of July camping in our trailer on my parent's driveway. We decided not to take a road-trip this year so this and the Kite Festival in August are our 2 chances to camp this summer. We had a big picnic on the 3rd with my side of the family. We had a bar-b-que and the kids were able to swim with their many cousins. On the 4th we went to church with Paul's sister's family, where I hoped to get to sing the Star Spangled Banner. They sang it allright, but I was out in the foyer with Miss Darcy. It still gave me chills to hear it sung though.

We had another bar-b-que at Alloa's that afternoon where the kids got to play with even more cousins. Then we all went back to my parent's house where Paul put on a fireworks display for us. I was surprised Darcy stayed awake to watch, and even more surprised that she enjoyed it as much as she did. Drew did not appreciate it and she retired to the trailer before the fun was over.

My Bree is a completely different baby than she was a month ago. She has adjusted to life on earth, finally, and she is lots more easy going than she was for the first 4 months of her life. She is content to play on the floor or in her activity seat, and she is full of smiles and giggles. She is drooling and chewing like crazy but I don't expect teeth any time soon. Her siblings were at least 8 months old before any popped through. Bree is a joy to have around and it amazes me that she is over 5 months old now! I can't believe I survived those first few months but she is totally worth it now. What a sweetheart she is.

Milestones (and strawberries)

Well, I wasn't going to start out with strawberries but that's how the pictures came up so here goes: Mason, Drew and I went out to the Island on Saturday and picked 23lbs of juicy, sweet berries. That may be stretching the truth a bit. Mason actually was more interested in moving the marker flags along the rows than in picking berries. It was fun having him out there with us as a "big kid" anyway. I guess I should be impressed with my kids' honesty but neither one of them would eat a berry out in the field because we hadn't paid for them yet. I thought maybe that was a rule you could bend in a berry patch but they weren't having it. I must have beat that idea into them when we are shopping the bulk foods in Winco.

We were proud of our hard work and harvest and had a great time hanging out together.

Drew is my great helper when it comes to mashing the berries. That freed me up to do the cleaning and hulling on one end and the sugar and pectin on the other. We ended up with 15 pints of jam, 3 gallon freezer bags full for smoothies, chocolate covered strawberries which oddly enough my kids aren't fans of, strawberry shortcake, and countless numbers of fresh berries in Darcy's tummy. It was a great harvest.

So our first milestone was Bree starting to eat solid food. She had her first taste of rice cereal on Sunday. She had about 3 bites and it looked like she actually swallowed a little bit. I held off a few weeks feeding her the solid food, unlike my other kids who had it the minute they turned 4 months. I don't know if its because I felt she wasn't ready yet or maybe I wasn't ready to admit that my last baby was turning into a big girl. Whatever, I'm over it now. Let the peas and carrots begin!

Our second major milestone happened yesterday and today as Drew graduated from kindergarten! She had a very nice program yesterday at school where her class and another sang to us, we watched a slide show, and listened as the teacher gave a brief synopsis on each child and handed them their diploma. Drew's teacher commented on her responsibilty and how she must be a great big sister. Yep! That's my Drew. Today was the last day of school and I was a total boob and cried as I picked her up for the last time! As much as I am always wishing my kids were older, I sure don't appreciate it when it is apparent they actually are getting older and not quite as dependent on me as they used to be. I am so proud of Drew and how much she has grown through her school year. She learned how to tie her shoes, snap her fingers, count forever and by 2's, 5's, and 10's, improve her reading quite a bit to where she can read random kids books now, she ran the most laps in her class for the PTA fund raiser, and she showed that she truly is a very responsible young lady who is driven to succeed in all she does, without having to be asked twice. At least that's what they tell me she does at school. Its a different story when it comes to picking up toys at home. I will be glad for the break from loading all the kids in the car twice a day for the next 2.5 months, but in September we increase to 3 times a day with Mason attending preschool. But I am soooo looking forward to those 2.5 hours when it will just be me and the 2 little girls at home napping. Hopefully the weather will start to cooperate and our summer fun can now begin.

Rolly Pollies

Mason's new obsession: Rolly Pollies. Mason has discovered that rolly pollies love to live in wood chips. And wouldn't you know it, we have a great big pile of wood chips in our side yard which is a haven for our rolly pollies! How lucky can one 4 year old boy get? He comes away from that pile with his hands full of the things. As part of his birthday science kit he got a bug collecting system and observatory. That green thing in the picture is the bottom of it. I don't know how many poor little rolly pollies, both alive and dead, I have set free from that thing after Mason goes to bed at night. He makes swimming pools for them, though I have discovered they can't swim. I told him they drown but he swears they are just sleeping, probably after having such a good swim. This carboard concoction is his rolly polly castle, made from the cardboard that came with my new vacuum. And can I just digress for a minute to admit that my new vacuum with a see-through dirt canister both thrills and disgusts me. I love to see all the dirt and dust we vacuum up each time, but it is so gross that there is that much dirt and dust to vacuum up each time! The kids love to see it too, which brings on fights over who gets to use the new vacuum, which makes my life a little easier so I won't complain. But it is gross just how much junk is in my carpets. Anyway, at the time this picture was taken there were 11 bugs crawling around. I try not to get "bugged" by it all but their little flailing legs when they are stranded on their backs kind of freak me out. Thank goodness I was never a 4 year old boy or I would have failed the bug test.

Mason is 4!

My only son turned 4 a few days ago. Time flies. Mason was born during a very rough time for both sides of our family. He was about the only good thing to happen in the span of about a year. He was a much needed light in our lives. I try to remember that feeling I had then, when he is pushing my buttons now. He is such a sweetheart but he really knows how to get me worked up too. I wouldn't trade him for the world though, we will figure each other out eventually. This year Mason was all about volcanoes, dinosaurs, hurricanes, and just about anything scientific you can think of. He desperately wanted a volcano cake so I did my best to make that happen. It turned out pretty well I think. I was proud of myself I will admit. It took two cake mixes and tons of frosting to get this thing looking remotely like a volcano but Mason loved it and that's what counts.

For his birthday I found a science-lab-in-a-box. He has completed all the tasks except for painting the globe. He has crystals growing, he built a volcano, and had daddy set up his weather station and rain gauge. Here he is digging for dinosaur bones while his jealous sister looks on. He takes these safety glasses to bed with him now. What a cutie.

Grandma and Grandpa gave him a noisy dinosaur that has bitten all of us and growled in all of our faces. What fun boy presents are!

Mason will be starting preshool in the fall and can't wait. He is ready to go. Drew has been his own private teacher lately and he will have no problem keeping up with class. He is a smart little guy when he will slow down long enough to talk to you. He is still a lover of Fire Chips (Doritos) and also loves broccoli. He adores Bree and loves to hold and kiss her. It will be fun to watch their relationship as they get older. I am so thankful that I have been blessed with this sweet, and sometimes sour, little boy in my life. I love you Mason, even though you rarely want to hear it!

Bree's Blessing

Bree is 3 months old! I seriously cannot believe she has been around that long. Time flies when you live in a foggy haze of sleep deprivation. Actually, the past 3 nights she has slept through the entire night from 7pm till about 6:30am. Perfect! I find myself holding on to her a little longer than usual, trying to get every little bit of snuggling I can before my sweetheart decides she is too busy to lay quietly in my arms. I am soooo going to miss snuggling babies but I am soooo looking forward to having 4 big kids too. She is already working on her tummy muscles and is a pro at holding her head up. Oh my sweet Breezy. She still cries when she feels neglected, but she has longer and longer spells of contentment. Hopefully as she gets bigger and can amuse herself the cries will stop. She has found her fist to suck on and I think that helps a bit too. If only she could have found it 2.5 months ago!

Here is our family on Bree's blessing day. I figure we have about 5 years before I will pay to have a picture done professionaly, especially with the attitudes some of my kids have. I love Mason's look.

This is Bree before her blessing. The dress she is wearing was worn by me and my sisters, and all 10 of our daughters. Its kind of short on Bree but she was 3 months old when she was finally blessed. The bib was made by my grandma and the tatting around the edge was made by Bree's great-great-great grandma. Pretty cool. Hopefully my girls will have some girls that can also be a part of this tradition.

As Paul was walking to the front of the chapel with Bree she started to cry. Imagine that. I figured she would scream through the whole thing but she miraculously stopped crying just as Paul started the blessing. I was so surprised and so proud of her. Makes me think she knows exactly what she is doing and can shut it off if she wants to. It was a beautiful blessing and I am so thankful that all our family could be there. We ended up with 35 people at our house after church having a taco party. We had a great time with everyone there and we were so thankful that the 2 hour drive didn't deter them from coming. We are blessed with an awesome family on both sides. My kids are surrounded by family who would do anything for them and love them so much. What a blessing family is. I can never express how much my family, and my in-law family mean to me. They are the best!

# 6!

No, I am not pregnant with twins, yesterday was Drew's 6th birthday! Wow, she is getting old. Pretty soon she will start losing teeth and going to school full days, and then she will stop thinking I'm the coolest person in her life, and then she will need to wear deodorant and get all secretive, and then she will get her license and avoid me as much as possible, and then she will graduate and my Drewsy will be gone! But I am getting a little ahead of myself. I will admit that she is growing up and no longer has the babyface I am used to. She is still beautiful but I don't know what to do with a six year old. Hopefully we can figure it all out together.

So anyway, here is the cake I made for Drew the morning of her birthday. I worked that afternoon upstairs on the computer. Darcy woke up from her nap so I turned on Finding Nemo and set her up on the couch downstairs where she was sitting nicely, sucking her thumb, watching the show. I thought nothing of how quiet she was being till she came upstairs with chocolate all over her face. Drew and I figured she found some cookies. It wasn't till work was done and we went downstairs that we found this. . .


Darcy got into the cake! Drew was quite miffed at her little sister. I tried to fix it but she took chunks of cake so there was no way to repair it. It wasn't that big of a deal, except that Darcy, sweet sweet Darcy, pulled a fast one on us when we thought she was quietly watching Nemo. Instead she was quietly ruining her sister's cake.

Drew asked for, and received, a Zhu Zhu Pet something or other. I didn't think it was that cool when I bought it but let me tell you that thing is the hit of the family. Well, for the kids anyway. I find the noises it makes highly annoying but I find the noises my kids sometimes make highly annoying too. I believe Drew had a good birthday. At least she didn't call it her "Worst day Eeeeeeever!!!!" as she had done the 2 previous days when I told her to clean up her messes and put her socks in the laundry basket. See why I dread her getting older? She can be a bit of a drama queen at times.

Speaking of annoying noises, Bree is still screaming her lungs out whenever she is not being held. Well, maybe that's being unfair. She does tolerate tummy time or back time on the floor for about 10 minutes a day, but other than that she is still my screecher creature. Have you heard that song by Beyonce that goes something like, "You can be a sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare?" Well the version I sing to Bree is "You can be my sweet Bree, or a beautiful nightmare." Fits her perfectly. When she is being held she is absolutley the sweetest, most kissable little thing. Put her down and she becomes a nightmare. She has actually slept through the night twice recently though, so I have to give her props for that. Hopefully my zombie days are nearing an end. That is, if Darcy would quit falling out of bed. Today we moved the beds around in the kids room to pen her in a bit. She is now wedged between the wall and the end of the bunkbed so unless she crawls to the end of her bed while she's sleeping, she should hopefully stay put. I'm not betting on it though. She is a crazy sleeper.

Drew is playing T-Ball again this year. I didn't want her to miss out on opportunities just cuz her mom is crazy enough to have 4 kids under 6 so we signed her up to play. What a logistical nightmare it has been. Especially since I am working just about every afternoon and Saturdays for the month of April, which coincidentally is when her games are. It makes it tough for all of us to get to her games with smiles on our faces. Unless of course it is a forced smile on my part to keep from freaking out over it all! Actually, it has been fun to watch Drew play this year. She is hitting the ball well, probably due to the fact that I told her I would buy her ice cream if she hit the ball to the trees. This has been a major incentive for her, even though our freezer is usually stocked up with ice cream on any given day of the week. Of course I will buy her the ice cream at the end of the season just for her great effort. She has also lost the skip she threw in last season as she ran the bases. She looks much more professional now ;)

I better mention something about Mason . . . He is getting so big! I think he skipped right over size 4T and is now wearing 5T clothes. He isn't even 4 yet! I have also signed him up for preschool starting in the fall. My baby boy is definitely a messy, potty-talk loving kid. But I love him just the same!