Our Little Superstar

So the big T-ball season has ended and the jury is still out on whether or not it is the sport for Abby. She pretty much summed it up after her first game when she said, "It was fine, but I want more soccer in T-ball." I will admit that those hours spent watching pitch after pitch after pitch got a little bit long. (because apparently t-ball isn't really t-ball after the first game because they start pitching to the kids and since they are 5 year-olds they don't ever ever get out and get as many pitches as it takes). But it was fun to see Abby learn to throw and hit and she really did do a great job when she wasn't making mud pies in the outfield.

Happy Father's Day!

For some reason this picture of Justin and the girls is very descriptive of his life as a father. He is very involved in the day-to-day tasks of fatherhood; reading, teeth-brushing, dress-up, bug-catching, etc. But he also works a lot and has to make the most of the little time he does have at home with us. Thus the double toothbrushing picture below. The girls adore their daddy and we wish you the best Father's Day ever Justin. Sorry you had to spend it at the hospital but we're glad we got to celebrate with you yesterday. And to our wonderful dads, thank you for the wonderful examples you are to us and your grandkids. We all look up to you so much and appreciate the huge part of our lives that you are.

Silver Falls

I just came across some pictures of a little trip we took down to Silver Falls a few weeks ago. It was such a great day. We had driven to the Tulip festival only to find miles and miles of cars backed up to get in so we decided to keep going and find a new place to discover. This park was beautiful and had the most gorgeous waterfalls. This one you could hike behind and the girls thought it was pretty amazing to be able to stand behind the waterfall. I just love having all of these new places to discover.

Not complaining, Just sharing . . .

So I just got online to check the weather for the next week since the girls have been begging to go to the neighborhood pool that just opened. Now, I'm not trying to be a complainer, I just wanted to share our 10 day forecast. I am now repeating in my head the words "I love the trees, I love the greenery, I love the flowers" over and over again. Please note the words in orange.

TonightJun 1
Partly Cloudy
N/A46°
10%

MonJun 2
Partly Cloudy
67°52°
10%

67°F
TueJun 3
Showers
59°50°
60%

59°F
WedJun 4
Showers
60°49°
40%

60°F
ThuJun 5
Mostly Cloudy
63°53°
20%

63°F
FriJun 6
Few Showers
58°53°
30%

58°F
SatJun 7
Showers
60°49°
50%

60°F
SunJun 8
Few Showers
65°50°
30%

65°F
MonJun 9
Showers
63°49°
60%


TueJun 10
Showers
69°51°
60%

Goings On!

Okay, so I know I have not been a great blogger lately. Justin's been working nights this past month and I've been spending quite a bit of time curled up with some great books. So I thought I would post a few pics of what's been going on these past few weeks.

I got to spend a weekend at the coast with some girlfriends. We rented a beach house and just relaxed, walked on the beach, ate way too many swedish fish and enjoyed the beautiful Oregon coast.

We also had Abby's birthday - 6 years old. She requested an "artist birthday party". It was so much fun. I took way too few pictures due to the intensity of 10 girls and tables of art supplies. We made pet rocks, decorated goody bags, painted little ceramic fairies, made mugs, etc. They were messy and so happy. Abby even decorated her own cake this year to look like a paintbrush. It was so fabulous but you'll have to take my word for it because I totally forgot to take a picture in all the excitement. I can't believe it.

The last picture is just Emma being so Emma.

Early morning walk on the beach (okay, not SO early but early enough for me)

Our rental house - it's for sale if anyone's looking. It was SO cute!

The birthday girl!

Abby and a few of the partyers being crafty.

Oh Emma, we love you!

It's a BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, I had big plans to learn how to scan the ultrasound picture and post it, but I am just not up to the challenge I guess. I'll have to have Justin help me with that (pathetic, I know). We are so excited! The baby is looking healthy and wiggly and "smudgy" according to Abby who didn't think the ultrasound picture quite lived up to her visions of "seeing the baby". After the tech told us it was a boy the girls both said "Yeah, we really wanted a boy!". It was fun to see them so excited to see the baby's hands and feet and point out things they could see. They will be great big sisters! And although Justin insisted he would be thrilled with either a boy or a girl, I know that deep down he is thrilled to have a boy and not be so outnumbered with the drama that seems to come with the girls in this family! Anyway, had to share the news. Life has taken over lately and blogging has been neglected but I will try to do better. I will post pictures soon of Abby's wonderful birthday party . . .

Woodburn Tulip Festival

We had so much fun at the Tulip Festival! Okay, so it was hailing when we showed up. But we still couldn't get over how beautiful the tulips were. The girls LOVED it and think that we should grow this many in our backyard next year . . . hmmm,

Words to Live By . . .

So I was flipping channels tonight and came across one of my all-time favorites. Karate Kid I. It just happened to be the part where Mr. Miyagi says one of my all-time favorite movie lines; "Man who catch fly with chopsticks, accomplish anything". I mean, seriously, how cool is Miyagi.

To Learn About Oneself . . .

It's amazing how much I can learn about myself from my girls. Apparently I must have had a hard week because this was our conversation tonight.

Me: Okay girls, what should our goals be for this week? (we set goals on Sunday night)
Abby: Doing what you ask without saying "no". (All said with a bored, annoyed look on her face.)
Emma: Going potty when you ask and not being grumpy. (Same goal for the last 8 weeks)
Me: Okay, what should Mommy's goals be this week?
Abby: Don't be grouchy anymore! (Rolled right off her tongue like she didn't even need to think about it).
Emma: Do yowa (your) haya (hair) a little pwettier!
Abby: Don't be sick anymore!
Emma: Don't be grouchy anymowa (anymore)! (wait, didn't we already say that)
Me: Okay, okay, that's enough goals for me this week. What should Daddy's be?
(long silence) . . .
Abby: Work really hard at work.

Looks like Justin already has it made. Apparently, I am a sick grouch with bad hair.

If you need to learn anything about yourself, just ask your kids. But be prepared for a way too honest answer.

Just thinking about you!

Okay, I know I say it all the time but I really feel so lucky to have Justin in my life. I don't know how he does all he does and still does it all so well. I think I can count on one hand the amount of times in the past 5 years that he has woken up past 6:00 a.m. He never complains and still finds a way to be the love of all of our lives. This picture was on Valentine's Day. My mom was in town and he brought all 4 of us flowers (my mom was taking the picture). The girls are always so excited to get their Valentine's flowers from their daddy. Thanks Justin for lighting up our lives.

HAPPY SPRING!

Sunriver Getaway!

Thanks to our fabulous brother and sister-in-law (thanks again guys!), Justin and I had a little getaway without the girls a few weeks ago. We drove out to Sunriver and stopped by Smith Rock on the way. It is this huge climbing mecca and is SO beautiful! We didn't have any of our gear so we settled for hiking around a bit and watching the climbers. It was pretty cold but there still were still quite a few climbers braving the weather.

Do you see the little people on the rock?Relaxing at our hotel in Sunriver. Justin enjoyed a great day of skiing at Mt. Bachelor while I opted for sleeping in, reading by the fire and taking a nap. It was fabulous!

Happy Belated Easter!

So I realize that I have a lot of catching up to do from this past month. I will slowly but surely get to it all . . . maybe not so surely, but I will try. We had a really nice Easter this year. Abby wrote a letter to the Easter Bunny asking him to please come on Saturday this year since Daddy had to work all day on Sunday. And you know what? That Easter Bunny listened and he came on Saturday. We were blessed with a beautiful sunny day full of egg hunts, picnics and dying Easter eggs. It was fabulous. It also left us with an Easter Sunday to spend time contemplating the true meaning of Easter instead of poring over baskets all day. Not to say that plenty of candy-eating didn't happen though. The girls really got it this year and were so excited to talk about the Resurrection and be thankful for all that Jesus Christ has truly done for us. We might ask the Easter Bunny to come on Saturday every year! We hope you all had a great Easter too!

Our Baby is 4!!!!!!!

Little Emma Lou Who celebrated her birthday this month. 4 is looking great on her. She has a whole list of things she can do on her own now that she is 4 (and will soon be a big sister). This new-found sense of responsibility is fabulous. We had a great "Princess" party with her friends - dress up required! Here is her cake from this year. Cakes have become a pretty big deal for the girls. They start thinking about the kind of cake they want months in advance which is nice for me so I have some time to figure out how I (not a cake decorator at all) am going to pull it off. Emma was pretty happy with how the castle turned out. Luckily they are not huge critics. As long as it resembles their vision, they are thrilled.
Pizza/dress up party = 8 squealing giggly girls, game of pin the lips on the frog prince, princess and the pea game (identify the pillow sitting on top of the rubber bouncy ball), cake, ice cream, more squealing and giggling, one happy birthday girl!
Cakes of Years Past - Lightning McQueen - 3 Years Old

Cinderella - 2 Years Old
I didn't include a 1 year old cake picture since I guess I didn't deem it necessary to take a picture of the store-bought pink double cupcake pkg. we bought for her 1st birthday. Must have been a rough week. Anyway, Happy Birthday Emma! We love you so much and thanks for filling our lives with so much joy! You are a gift!

Excuses, excuses!

Okay, so some of you may have noticed that I have been seriously slacking in my blogging lately. Well, I guess it's time to come clean about why! BABY ON THE WAY! Yes, we are expecting #3 and #3 is making me very tired and very sick. I guess it's time for me to pay my dues since I wasn't too sick with either of my other pregnancies, or it's been long enough now for me to forget if I was. All I have to say is, thank goodness for grapefruit and english muffins.

The girls couldn't be happier about the baby, they ask me every day if it's time for the baby to come. I'm 11 weeks, it's going to be a long 7 months!

The Great Outdoors!

Just a few reasons we LOVE Oregon . . .

the beach - (doesn't it look warm?) but beautiful all the same

waterfalls and moss

Multomah Falls and the Columbia River Gorge

Hiking with the girls

Exploring

Soccer Moms!

So I had to put a shout out to our soccer team, the "Leftovers". This was taken after our first big win. Yes, we went 3 games without scoring a goal. Most of us have never played soccer before so it's been pretty fun(ny). Way to go girls!

Sleepy?

Sometimes you just need a nap and can't be bothered to stop playing to do it. This is how I found Emma the other day. The funny thing is that about 10 minutes before this I asked her if she wanted to go down for a nap. "No mommy, I'm not tired at all!" She slept like this for over 2 hours.