the Becky Blog

Basketball

2012-01-12T21:12:00.000-08:00

We finally were "good parents" this year and signed the bigger kids up for basketball (we usually forget until after sign ups are done because we are cool like that)
Both of them are SO, SO, SO excited. They both got a pair of basketball shoes and water bottles for Christmas, and they both have their own ball now.
We are done with the second week and I do have to say that trying to figure out how to get kids to basketball twice a week (not always on the same nights, never at the same time, and sometimes not at the same school) and getting Kyle to scouts in there and me on the "no drive" list for part of a week has been..... fun. lol
The first game for the both of them is next week. We are excited that they get to have this experience and we hope that we can be on the ball enough to make sign ups next year too. ;)

Pictures

2012-01-12T15:24:00.000-08:00

Pictures are up through the new year! HERE

Family Pictures

2012-01-07T17:20:00.000-08:00

For those who missed it on Facebook, my amazing sister Lori at Elby Photography took some amazing Family pictures for us over thanksgiving. I am ever so very happy about how they turned out.
These are a few of my favorites.
The rest of them are >>>HERE<<<

For family members who are interested in having specific ones, you can order them straight from that site for a reasonable price.

Texas!

2012-01-03T19:29:00.000-08:00

My sister Jen needed me to come watch her kids so she could go on a retreat for her work with her husband (because every couple needs some alone time) She offered to fly out Tyler and I in exchange of keeping her kids and dogs alive four four days. As seems to be my current trend, I didn't take enough pictures, but we had a good time. Tyler was a super star on the plane. I didn't get as much napping as I wanted, but he didn't bug anyone else on the plane so we call it a win.
Mostly we just hung out and I play lots and lots of skyrim after the kids went down for the night. I got to see Daniels christmas presentation for preschool, we had pizza night with my brother and his family, then the bouncy house one night, and back to the Ball's house for lunch after church with my other brother Chris and his family (so Kevin's family and Chris' family. It was a mini reunion) I had a great time, it was a nice little mini vacation for me. I really enjoyed seeing my siblings who I don't get to see very often.

Houston LDS Temple

You can really see the similarities in their faces in this one. Little twiner cousins.

November

2011-12-05T15:44:00.000-08:00

Whew! What a month that was. I tried in the beginning to keep life normal, but eventually life overwhelmed me. Hence the ending of my every day posts. I didn't stop being thankful, because I think I had more to be thankful for this year than most others, but I just couldn't keep any more balls juggling in the air. This post may be a little more information than you wanted, but it has been my life and noteworthy.
*Consider yourself warned*
We were/are DONE having kids. We have ended the "new baby" chapter of the Bake book and have gotten rid of all our baby stuff. We are enjoying that we fit perfectly at our table, in our car, and in our house and we know that we're the family we were meant to be. In addition to the fact that we're very happy with our family size, my own personal struggles with Rheumatoid Arthritis pretty much sealed the deal that more kids would not be in my family's future. Because of my Rheumatoid Arthritis, I take a medicine called methotrexate. If you are not familiar with the medicine, it is VERY non compatible with pregnancy (in that it usually ends them). Because of all of those things, I have been using an IUD since May. There have been some issues with the IUD, but I was assured that it was doing its job just fine. Come to the last week of October and the day after my big super saturday at church I found out I was pregnant. (this is where the sound of my jaw hitting the floor echoed throughout the North American Continent.)
During the course of November I was told...

My IUD had completely disappeared (they still have no idea where it is) but that the pregnancy was looking normal.
I had an ectopic pregnancy and we would have to cause a miscarriage (ironically with the same methotrexate that I take for my RA)
They were kidding, it wasn't ectopic and that it was probably ok, but the US just looked "funny"
I was normal pregnant and things were just developing a little slower
It was a molar pregnancy
It was just a Blighted Ovum but that I possibly had gotten pregnant again.

To add to the fun I also had

7 blood draws
4 Ultra Sounds
2 sets of doctors
I was just getting off of being in charge of super saturday (huge craft day at church)
Halloween with 4 kids
I assisted in a book drive and book referb for the local children's bank
I got volunteered to be in charge of a booth at the kids Harvest carnival at school (which ended up with 7 hours at the school since they needed more help)
I was in charge of all of the kid games at our church's harvest carnival
I was in charge of a semi formal christmas dinner to feed almost 100 ladies at church
Family pictures to find outfits for and everything else that goes with making a family of 6 presentable

At first, I was really thrown off guard that I could have possibly gotten pregnant. I was NOT ready for a #5. But within a week, when it set in that I indeed was pregnant, I couldnt help but fall in love with #5. The following month of "yes you are, no you aren't" was really very difficult to wrap my head around. It was really hard to keep hopes up against all odds. Emotionally draining does not even begin to describe what those 5 weeks were like. When I actually miscarried during the week of Thanksgiving I was almost thankful because it finally meant a concrete answer after a five week roller coaster of emotions. So by the time the pregnancy ended I had mourned the loss of the baby twice by then and was emotionally empty- so mostly I only had the physical aspect of it to deal with at the time. (which Im trying to think of as a blessing. Silver linings right?)

So there we go. Im trying to take a deep breath and get prepared for the crazy that is the Christmas season. Thankfully I have nothing big on my plate for the next month (other than buying presents since I haven't gotten a single one yet)

I want to give a massively huge THANK YOU to everyone that dealt with my crazy, gave me a shoulder to vent/cry on, brought dinners, watched my kids, and in general gave me support. I also want to apologize to anyone who felt left out for not knowing. I never had a solid answer to give people so we didn't really share, and once we had a solid answer I just want to wash my hair of it and put it behind me.

So we don't end on a totally depressing note
Here is a random picture from November- Kate Marching in the Macy' Thanksgiving Day parade in Downtown Portland with the local high school's Color Guard.

Thankful Day 13

2011-11-13T23:44:00.000-08:00

I am thankful for my church (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) I can't imagine my life without it. The guidance I have received, the friends and relationships I have built, and my own personal relationship with God is all hugely based on what I have learned at church or through other church members.

photo credits to http://ivonyoung.blogspot.com

Thankful Day 12

2011-11-12T23:29:00.000-08:00

I know I should have done it yesterday, but I had gaming on the brain.
I am hugely thankful for my country's Armed Forces. Those who have fought and died to keep us free and to aid others. Their sacrifice is huge almost beyond measure. I really truly appreciate those women and men with my whole heart.

Thankful Day 11

2011-11-11T22:11:00.000-08:00

SKYRIM Need I say more?

Thankful Day 10

2011-11-10T22:00:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful for modern medicine. It can still be pretty clueless, but so much better than the bleeding and such that they did in the middle ages. I casually like to think how I would have been fine back in the middle ages, and then I think about it more and I realize that Andrew probably wouldn't be around (tried to come at 31 weeks) Even then he would have been fairly badly scrambled with the billiruben that he and ALL his siblings would have had. Dylan wouldn't have done well, his first APGAR was 4 and had sky high billi levels and that is just a surface scratch.

So I am very grateful for modern medicine and even something as simple as a blood draw.

Because blogs aren't fun without pictures, here is Day Glow Dylan

Thankful Day 9

2011-11-09T22:48:00.000-08:00

I am thankful for BOOKS! What good friends they have been to me over the years. Im currently trying to convince myself to wait a few months to get this bad boy because I don't want to pay that much.

Thankful Day Eight

2011-11-08T23:00:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful for Shari's delicious Marionberry Pie.

Thankful Day Seven

2011-11-07T22:24:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful for Kyle. I love him lots and lots. I consider myself very blessed to be married to him and that he is my best friend.

Thankful Day 6

2011-11-06T21:38:00.000-08:00

Im am SO thankful for my sisters! Sadly we aren't all together very often. Last time was Summer of 2009 and before that was summer of 2006. I was a horrible sister as a kid, but as Ive grown older Ive gotten smart enough to realize my luck. We live hours and hours apart yet Im able to chat with them everyday. I count them both as my BFFs.

Thankful Day 5

2011-11-05T20:39:00.000-07:00

Today I am thankful for the internet and all the information, movies, and friendships it provides.

And because posts aren't fun with out pictures, here is a random one. Andrew Getting his Bear Badge at Scouts

Thankful Day Four

2011-11-04T21:28:00.001-07:00

Today I am thankful for the PTO at my kids school. What a great group of people that give so much of their time and energy with no reward other than seeing our school thrive.

Thankful Day Three

2011-11-03T22:57:00.000-07:00

Today I am thankful for Target, and the fact that I live with in 15 minutes of FOUR of them. Im pretty sure I could be happy if the only store with in an hour was target. Im doubly glad that I have four targets and no Walmarts instead of 4 Walmarts and no Targets.

Thankful Day Two

2011-11-02T19:08:00.000-07:00

Today I am thankful for rose bushes that were slightly rotten. Sounds like a weird thing to be thankful for right?
My house had seven rose bushes in the front yard when I moved in. I ~~destroyed~~ removed two of them last year. Axes and a sledgehammer were involved- It was hard work! Kyle brought me home a bunch of tulips from Amsterdam this summer and I want to plant them, but they are going where the rose bushes are. So I had to remove all but one of the remaining six bushes. I went to town on the first one- the one next to the driveway, but after digging and hacking with one of Kyles outdoor knives I couldn't get it to budge. I couldn't find the ax so I put it on the back burner and moved on to the next three bushes. The Soil in front of our front window has always been very loamy and soft. I started digging and the bush started wiggling! YAY! So I rocked it and dug some more and just PULLLLLLED! The entire freaking bush came out!! (happy dance!!!) In less than ten minutes of work! the roots were a little rotten so they broke easily. The front of our house is now nice and ready for tulips. So I am very thankful for slightly rotten rose bushes that made an afternoons worth of work SO MUCH EASIER.

If you are really curious, you can see what was there before in THIS PICTURE

Thankful Day One

2011-11-01T15:14:00.000-07:00

I am thankful for the beautiful neighborhood that I live in. I love that my kids have a safe place to play, good friends to play with, and I love that our house is close to everything (especially Target)

Halloween!

2011-10-31T10:39:00.000-07:00

We did double duty for trunk or treating on Saturday. We headed up to my parents church for their trunk or treat. My mom always helps us out with costumes, so I thought I would let her see them in person. We followed with Trunk or treating at our own church so the kids could see their friends. Kate was super girl, Andrew Mario (my mom made his overalls and I made the hat-which Im quite proud of lol)Tyler was dead set on being batman even though our batman outfit is two sizes too big and Dylan is wearing his army "BDUs" that we got for him (battle dress uniform) Im pretty sure we are going to have to cut the BDUs off him once he grows out of them. He is SO excited about them.

Add caption

Wowsers

2011-10-31T10:20:00.000-07:00

Its been a crazy month.
Kyle is one of the adobe guys for Nike, and with that comes the fun opportunity to go to AdobeMAX in LA. Its Adobe's big conference of the year where it has classes and shows off all the products new tricks. Kyle went last year and got to go this year too. With Kyle's trip to Amsterdam this summer, he had a mess of frequent flier points waiting to be used, and the hotel he stays at is double occupancy whether there are two people there or one. So my darling husband got the grand idea of taking me with him. My sister Lori has won the "ALL TIME BEST SISTER OF THE YEAR AWARD." She brought her two kids down and watched my kids so that I could go spend four days in LA. We flew out Sunday morning and landed at lunch time in LA. The conference didn't start till sunday night so we had some time to just hang out and enjoy the hotel. We got to stay at the Westin Bonaventure in the heart of downtown LA. Sunday night we had planned to meet up with a friend from our Gaming site. They were coming up to DT and we were going to walk to get them. (We had a rental car, but they have Valet only parking and I was intimidated lol) We start walking down the street and I see a SWAT truck. I kind of giggled to myself about getting to see the "real LA" and then I took a closer look. It was a GOTHAM CITY swat truck! SQUEEEEEEEEEE! Walk down the street a bit further and we see Gotham City police, a gotham city bus, and when we walked back to our hotel there was some Gotham city something something on the side of our hotel. So that was a bit of fun. We did end up meeting our friend, but we had to walk down to Nokia live because our entire little section of downtown LA was shut down for filming.

Monday I drove out to the valley and met my friend Sheri for lunch. We have known each other on the internet for 6 years and I count her a good friend. However this was the first time we met face to face lol. I was quite proud of myself for driving all the way out there on my own and not getting lost or crying when trying to park on Ventura blvd.
I would also like to give mad props to the internet at this point. I have never stayed somewhere with mandatory valet parking, so I really had no clue how that whole thing worked with the tipping and such. Thankfully the internet informed me so I didn't have to feel like an idiot.
Monday night was the big social at AdobeMAX where all the vendors have their booths showing off their products that work with/for/along side of Adobe products. It was fun to see what the industry was cranking out.

Tuesday I was a slob and did NOTHING. It was glorious. I found a convenience mart and bought some donuts, a soda, and a cheesy book and read ALL.DAY.LONG. Perfect day for Becky.
Tuesday night was the MaxBash. Kyle got me a social pass so I could go. Can I just say that Adobe really knows how to throw a party! Best of all the party ended with the band Weezer playing. We were probably 15 feet from the stage.

Wednesday was really tame. I slept in, read some more and then checked out of the hotel at Noon and hung out at the convention center for a couple of hours until Kyle got done with his final class and then we headed off to the airport to fly home.

It was such a nice vacation for me. I really needed some recouping time and it did wonderful things for Kyle and my relationship. Nothing was bad before hand, but there is something about spending time together sans kids that really helps things be happy.

Another huge thanks to my parents for helping with the kids on sunday, Lori for watching the kids all week, and my friend Jeni for watching the kids wednesday night so lori could go to bed in her own bed wednesday night.

Crazy hair day

2011-10-07T12:59:00.000-07:00

feel free to laugh, but Im actually way bummed. I have taken a picture of my kids on crazy hair day every year for five years. This year was a rush and I only got this one picture. Andrew looking kind of creepy with out even a good shot of his hair. *sadness*

Instead, here are some pictures from years past.

Going to the Dentist...

2011-09-27T10:11:00.000-07:00

6 months ago Tyler had his first Dentist appointment. He was a super star and did great, however the polishing stuff upset his tummy and he ended up puking in the waiting room (thank goodness for my super powers of observation, because I saw what was going to happen soon enough to get a garbage in front of his face in time) The puking however ruined the dentist for Tyler. He was quite scared this time and it took some cajoling to get him to sit in the chair. We did get him to finally cooperate and his little teeth looked great.

Our Dentist office is awesome and got all four kids in at once. It was a good visit with no one having any cavities. (Kate has only ever had one tiny one, Dylan has never had any and Andrew has only had cavities on one visit) I have HORRIBLE teeth. (thanks for those genes Mom) so Im giddy excited every time we manage another kids dentist visit without anyone having any. I need to get Andrew in to see an orthodontist (no surprise there) But on a whole, we left the office smiling. Well, except for Dylan, he was sad because he still doesn't have any loose teeth.

Ape Cave and Lava Canyon

2011-09-21T16:52:00.000-07:00

Last saturday was supposed to be in the mid to high 90s here in portland. My siblings in Texas are probably mocking me, but that is just TOO HOT for my little Oregon frog children. So I trying to think of something to do that would take us from the heat. I've been wanting to take Kyle up to the Ape Cave since we moved back up here. What better place to hide from the heat than underground!? So we packed up the kids and headed north. The Ape Cave is a lava flow tunnel almost directly south of Mount St Helens just outside of Cougar WA. about 2 hours north of Beaverton. There are two branches of it, one which is easy, and the other which is harder. We obviously took the lower and easier cave. (Poor Kyle was champing at the bit to try the upper cave, but the kids weren't game and I didn't want to wait with the kids for the 2.5 hours it takes to hike it. So alas, he will have to come back)
Kate and Tyler were pretty apprehensive about going down into the cave. While I think the entrance is really pretty, I can also see how someone could see it as menacing. It didn't help that we forgot the flashlights in the car so Kyle had to run back and get them leaving us at the mouth of the cave for ten minutes. Ten minutes is just long enough to stew over how scary the cave looks. I think the kids (Kate especially) would have done better if we had just gone straight into the cave. We gave Kate and Ty a nice little pep talk and headed down. We had individual flash lights, but if we do it again I think we will make sure to have a lantern. Especially with really little kids like Tyler around. The cave is pitch black (obviously) and there is no way that you could do the cave without a light source. The cave floor is really bumpy and uneven in some places; Tyler is a pretty athletic and able kid, and he had a bit of a hard time with it.
Poor Tyler was still a little scared once we got in the cave, but I offered to hold his hand, and we set him up with a glow stick on his back pack and a flashlight for him to hold (the backpack glow stick was so that in the off chance he wandered off in the cave he would be easier to find.) Considering he had a death grip on Kyle or my hand the entire time I don't think we needed to worry lol. I would guess that the standard dimensions in the cave were 15-20 high and 10-15 feet wide. So not too squishy or claustrophobic. The bigger boys were in heaven. We had to keep calling them back because they would charge ahead in their eagerness to explore. No fear there.
After the caves we decided to head up the road a bit more to Lava Canyon which the nice Parks lady was telling us about. Its a lava flow field that has a large creek (or a river by utah standards lol) that runs through it. Can we say GORGEOUS!!! Kyle wanted to do the lower loop of the trail, but it was a bit too steep/scary for the kids, so we hung out at a bridge and threw rocks in the creek while Kyle checked out the trail. The trail on the far side of the stream was easier so we headed down that side to the suspension bridge. The bridge was built back in the '90s, but they just refurbished it. I would guess it was at least fifty feet above the creek. Each of the kids walked across it one by one (it was really bouncy/swaying) and then we turned around and went back over it again. All the kids were super stars and crossed the bridge on their own without freaking out. Which is really quite a feat since I know quite a few grown ups who wouldn't do it lol.
All and all it was a great day. I think everyone fell down at least once, but they shook it off and went about the day. There were no freak outs, and on a whole everyone got along well (which sadly is a rarity at our house lately lol.) It was probably one of my favorite Saturdays from the entire summer.

Back to School!

2011-09-09T10:43:00.000-07:00

YAY! The 2011-2012 school year started this Tuesday.
Dylan is in first grade. He was the most excited out of the kids for school to start. Giddy, giddy excited. I was more excited than he was that he was going into first grade. I have had a kid in half day school for 3 of the last 4 years. So I was stoked to not have my day broken into little two hour segments anymore.

Kate is in third grade and ever so grown up (and ever so tan! you can tell she spent her summer in the pool). She was worried about the extra work load with being in TAG this year and wasn't too excited for summer to end. After the first day she was over that because she has an AMAZING teacher for the year. Its his first year at our school so he was an unknown, but even in the week school has been going Ive already been impressed.

Andrew is in fourth grade. FOURTH GRADE!!! I remember fourth grade; as in all of it. Third grade I remember bits and pieces, but fourth is a solid memory. So its crazy weird to think that I have a kid in fourth grade. Andrew has gotten so big. He wears size five shoes (which is a larger shoe than some of MY friends) and he is officially tall enough to fit in a grown up seat belt in the car (4'9") Im amazed at what a quiet and introspective kid he is becoming. He has more of Kyle's personality than mine.

Tyler got to have first day of school pictures too. It will be interesting to see how this year works out. He no longer naps, and no longer has a friend at home to play with him. This is also my own first time as a parent to only have one kid. This means I actually have to play with him! ;) Im excited for the adventures we are going to get up to.

Door Signs

2011-09-01T16:20:00.000-07:00

I mentioned ages ago how Kate was hand drawing "keep out" signs and taping them to her door. So I cut her this with my silhouette

That was still adhered by tape (which I didn't want long term on her door) So I let each of the kids pick out some vinyl, and I cut out some more permanent signs for their doors. Its worked like a charm and we haven't had any more thumb tacks or tape stuck on the doors. Looking back I should have gone with something more high contrast for the little boys doors, but they are happy with it and that is what counts right?

Mumford & Sons

2011-08-31T13:17:00.000-07:00

My family has a new favorite band. Which says something since the boys favorite singer currently is Michael Jackson and Queen, Kate likes Dixie Chicks, Kyle likes Wilco, Tyler is of the yo gabba gabba persuasion and Im on a huge Les Mis/Wicked kick right now. Not exactly the most harmonious group of music tastes.

I heard "the Cave" on the radio a while back while channel surfing and fell in love. My sister Lori had their entire album and let us have a listen when it was done the entire family was in love. "little lion king" is off the play list because of language, but the rest is family friendly and the rest of the songs are on constant repeat at our house.

I love my Dad

2011-08-27T22:10:00.000-07:00

Last week I wrote THIS BLOG over on my gaming site.
Nine days later my sister wrote THIS BLOG without ever seeing my blog or me telling her about it. Apparently we are on the same wavelength or something.

Happy Birthday Dad. I love you lots and lots.

Tea for Two

2011-08-24T15:23:00.000-07:00

Im watching a neighbor kid this week while her sister is at color guard camp. Kate has been in heaven because the friend is a girl that is her age. FINALLY someone that is the right age and gender! They decided to have a tea party. Kate had a barbie tea set ages ago, but most of the pieces are gone, so I was nice and brought out my fancy Crystal stuff. lol

Cutie Cousins

2011-08-22T21:19:00.000-07:00

Kate adores her Cousin Addie. They are Best Friends. (BEST FRIENDS!) When Lori was down at the beginning of this month Addie and Kate had some good bonding time while the boys were inside doing boy things. Addie has some mad swimming skillz so she and Kate kicked it in the pool while being their little fishy selves.

Utah Trip 10 & 11

2011-08-22T20:43:00.000-07:00

Someone was too tired for Nursery

The last two days of our trip.
By then we were all pretty worn out.
Sunday was mellow mellow. Church in the morning and the afternoon was filled with goodbyes and packing.
Monday was the long drive home. We did the drive in one day opposed to the two days we took to get out there. We normally do it in 1, but I will admit that it sucks. We managed to be out of Springville by 7 and we were making really good time until we got to the western side of Idaho. I was tired, the kids were tired, dad was tired and EVERYONE was cranky. The boys in the back of the van were doing everything they could to push each others buttons. Bedlemites is a great definition. I finally had to shut myself down and go all introverted into my own little happy place because if I paid any more attention to what the kids were doing I was going to go all praying mantis on them. There were threats issued and threats that were blatantly ignored.
Needless to say that we stopped making great time and we ended up wandering around Walmart for an hour and a half until we liked each other again enough to get in the car without duct tape being used. We made it home just in time for bedtime for the kids. (You know, since they didn't sleep a single minute during the 14 hours we were on the road Grrrrrr)

Overlooking the Columbia River near

So there we go. Our trip to Utah. Now that Im not putting off blogging about it I hope to be blogging more again. lol

Utah Trip Day 8&9

2011-08-08T20:39:00.001-07:00

On Friday I took the kids to the Provo Museums. BYU has some great free ones around campus. One has dinosaur fossils and the other has a bunch of taxidermy animals. (its cooler than it sounds lol)

(Tyler kept a healthy distance from the fossils)

Grandma and Erin were sweet and watched the kids so I could go to lunch with some old friends who I worked with at Staples back in the day. It was REALLY good to catch up. I was lucky and had a great crew there and made some good friendships. Its been 8 years but it was just like old times.

Friday afternoon Annie’s Family had to go back to Vernal. So we said goodbye to our first set of cousins.

Kate and Paige really hit it off, so she was very bummed that they were leaving.

Saturday the big boys came back. (YAY!) Andrew had an infected finger from a hangnail that was by that point, really nasty. Andrew was also sunburned and covered in bug bites. Needless to say Kyle got a half hearted lecture on the care and keeping of children. (It was his very first burn!) Before the four wheelers were put away we did some rides up and down the street for those of us that weren't cool enough to go on the camping trip.

(I puffy heart love this picture)

After lunch we headed up to Salt Lake to go hit Temple Square. This is the part of the day I wish we would have just stayed home lol. I LOVE temple square. There is something magical about it. However the kids had a long week. Tyler was going on minus four hours of sleep every night and we were all pretty done.

We started with a tour of the Beehive House. The kids were being a little pushy and a little loud, but not horrible. Tyler however was already begging to be carried, begging for candy, begging for his life… Oh well maybe not the last one. So I was already worn out from keeping him happy by the time we left. We stopped at the lion house pantry to get some root beer barrels, lemon drops, and horehound candy. (I figured full mouths are usually less whiney)

Next stop, the Joseph Smith Building. I LOVE the stained glass ceiling in there. The kids were placated by the antique cars that were being displayed.

The South Visitors Center has a REALLY cool thing right now. Its the SLC temple minus walls. So you can see exactly what is inside. Including a touch screen monitor that explains each of the rooms. The kids thought it was the coolest thing ever. We looked at it for probably a good twenty minutes.

Tyler must have thought it was the most brilliant thing ever. Because when we went to leave the SVC…. He had a complete and utter melt down. I think each of my kids have had one melt down like this in public in their lives. Tyler chose temple square. *sigh* This was the kind where they do the noodle legs with the windmill arms, and the weeping and whaling and gnashing of teeth. Nothing like adding to the spirituality of Temple Square with a kid that sounds like he has bamboo shoots being pushed under his nails.

We got him calmed down enough to take into the north visitor center (he was happy as long as he had candy in his mouth and I was carrying him)
We lost Andrew in the bottom of the NVC. Which is also the first time I’ve lost a kid (the day keeps getting better) We were able to find him after a few minutes without having to call in the national guard, but It didnt help my day get any better.
We walked across the street to the Conference Center to do a tour. (now looking back I have no idea why, we had one melty kid and had already had a lost kid. We werent exactly having good luck.) It was a really pretty day as you can tell by the picture in front of the fountain. But by the time we finished with the 45 minute tour and got to the roof it was practically hurricane worthy weather outside. Driving rain, gale force winds which were stripping the plywood off of nearby construction. We could see stuff flying off roofs. Needless to say the roof was closed to Tours. (for those that don't know, the roof has a garden with a stream and you can see most of SLC from it)

The day ended with us hitting Taco Bell on the way home. Taco Bell is usually pretty cheap for my family. The kids and I all get $2 meals and Kyle gets a stuffed burrito. We didnt even look at the prices because we have gotten this combination so many times. We were more than a little shocked when the total ended up almost $10 more than usual. GRRRRR Apparently the SLC taco Bell charges $3 for the meals and added another $2.50 to Kyle’s thing.

Im pretty sure the bigger kids had a good day, but oh my gosh I was drained by the end! I tried to remember why I bother taking my kids anywhere the entire way home. (that and some less than kind thoughts. Im pretty sure I had steam coming out of my ears)

Utah Trip Day 6&7

2011-08-08T16:54:00.001-07:00

Day six was a lot of mellow after our big day at Lagoon. We met up with one of Kyle’s old friends, Luke, and his little family for lunch. Mostly it was just a lot of hanging out.

Kyle’s other sister, Annie, drove down from Vernal with her three kids on Wednesday, so the kids got some more cousins to hang out with. Wednesday night was family pictures. Kara was working up on the mountain and Uncle Scott was still in vernal, but we figured it was either now or never. Our last extended Bake Family picture was when Deebs was 5 months old. So we were really due for one. I will post it once I get my copy.

Thursday Kyle and Andrew joined Grandpa and cousin Spencer on a four wheeling trip. So I got to fly solo for three days on vacation. (Um.. Wee?) The first of those days we went to the Spanish Fork pool. Annie and her kids, Sonia and her kids, Erin, and Grandma joined us. True to its fickle form that week, the weather didnt cooperate. We had some lightning and had to get out of the pool, and when the sun was behind the clouds it got a bit chilly. This is also the day from a few blogs back that Dylan decided to jump in the deep end of the pool.

Thursday night the moms all went to Tucanos to celebrate Annie’s Birthday. I had never been there before and was a little worried because Im not a big beef fan, but it ended up delicious. DELICIOUS! Next time we are in Utah I am SO taking Kyle there.

We also had a rip snarl of a lightning storm that night. My kids don't ever see lightning storms. When we get them its one strike every ten minutes, and its off in the hills. So the non stop KABOOOMS echoing up and down the Valley were a little nervous making for the kids. We sat on Grandma’s covered porch and watched. Dyl and Ty went a little white and had eyes the size of saucers. I LOVED it. It was probably the most impressive storm Ive ever seen. (we only get wussie weather in Portland, so it was nice for something new)

Utah Day 5 aka LAGOON DAY!!!

2011-08-08T16:31:00.001-07:00

One of the stipulations I had about going to Utah this summer was that we went to Lagoon. Im so glad I insisted because it was a BLAST. Grandma and Aunt Erin came with us, and Grandma was a sweetie and hung out with Tyler and Kate most of the day. (Kate was afraid of the big rides and was quite happy in kiddie land) Dylan was a serious Rock Star. That kid went on every single ride he could. Which meant pretty much everything in the park but two that I know of. He was tall enough to even go on WICKED. Not only did he go on wicked, but he went on it three times. He also joined me on Spider, Wild Mouse, and went with Daddy and Andrew on Colossus. Tyler did non stop kiddie rides. As soon as he was off he was running back in line to do another. There wasnt heavy traffic in the kiddie land so he never had to wait more than a few minutes for his next ride. Andrew hung with Daddy and Erin the whole day and went on everything they went on (I cant belive how “grown up” he has seemed lately).

Grandma even worked up the nerve to go on the dragon roller coaster with Kate and Ty.

This is Dylan right before his first big Roller Coaster ride. This is on The Bat. He kept telling me he was terrified, but when I asked him if he still wanted to ride I got an enthusiastic “YES!”

We finally convinced Kate to go on BomBora and she went on Wicked once. (Grandma had to calm her down afterwards, she was on the verge of hyperventilating.)

You cant have a trip to Lagoon without hitting Lagoon-a Beach. It was a bit on the cold side for the water park (we only lasted an hour and a half) but the kids had a good time. I however, spent the entire time stressing about my kids who aren't super good swimmers. Its nerve wracking keeping track of three kids under ten solo! I think it would have been easier with toddlers, they at least don't want to go on the huge water slides solo.

The whole family in line for Bom Bora

Tyler LOVED the bumper cars. They were little kid ones, so Tyler got to drive. I think the final count was NINE times on the bumper cars.

It was a FUN, FUN day. Tyler woke up asking if we were going to “A Goon again tomorrio?” every day for a fortnight and he still talks about it constantly. The bigger kids constantly have “Remember X from Lagoon? That was awesome” conversations. I remember going to Disneyland when I was Kate’s age and talking about it for months. So Im glad that we were able to swing a big amusement park this year for the kids (and for me too lol)

Utah Trip Day 3 & 4

2011-08-04T10:04:00.001-07:00

Day 3 was a Sunday so we did the normal Sunday thing and then just had a nice relaxing day. Grandpa started playing his guitar and the kids had to get in on it too. So it ended up being quite the musical afternoon. ♫

The last six years we have lived in the NW we haven't had a single rained out 4th of July. Our first 4th back in Utah and we got DUMPED on. The 4th also happens to be Kyle’s Birthday. So the day started with Kyle and I making a little trip up to REI to get his present. He got a new day pack for his scouting and hiking adventures. Lunch was a big family barbeque with Kyle’s Sister, Sonia, and her family.

The weather was actually cooperating for the BBQ, but once we pulled out the fireworks it quickly went downhill. But true to Oregonian form we did fireworks in the rain anyway. We lucked out because Utah lifted the ban on aerial fireworks and the Bake’s neighbors paid for some good ones, so we got to enjoy the big boomers with-out selling one of our children to pay for it.

Utah Trip Day 1& 2

2011-07-23T20:42:00.001-07:00

Kyle got off his plane from Amsterdam at 11:00. We were on the road to Utah at 2. It was a busy day for him. Two countries (not including the ones he flew over) and two states. Traveling with kids is such a pain. I used to do the drive from Provo to Portland in 11.5 hours. It usually takes us close to 14. I had a thing in Salt Lake I wanted to get to by five on the 2nd, so Kyle consented on hopping in the car right after taking a trans-Atlantic flight.

Day One was pretty boring. We hit a traffic jam outside of portland that held us up for an hour or so, but other than that the drive was pretty typical .

I want to take a second to give mad props to our car. Ive done this drive probably 20 times in my life. There are points all along the journey were my family's car had broken down as a kid, or where a car had over-heated trying to go over the Blue Mountains when I was older. Our old van does it without the thermometer even moving. This may seem silly to those who have never had chronic car problems, but to someone that spent a portion of what it seemed like every vacation sitting on the side of the road waiting for help, this is HUGE.

We stayed the night at Kyle's Aunt MaryAnne's house in Ontario, and ment to get on the road fairly early the next day. Well, I had a sleepless night, and Kyle had jet lag, and the kids were having fun with relatives (Kyle's Aunt Deanne was also staying at MaryAnne's house) So we ended up not getting on the road till later than we wished. Then we had to stop eighty times for kids to go potty, and I finally caved and realized we werent going to make it to my thing in Salt Lake. So instead we stopped at some of the sights between here and there (this is the middle of Idaho, so really there arent all that many sights. lol)

A detour to Malad Gorge and another to Shoshone Falls broke the day up nicely.

We made it to Springville just in time for dinner.

RIP Finney, Sunny, and Shiny…

2011-07-12T10:22:00.001-07:00

We came home from vacation to find that our 3 fishies have passed from this life. They were good little fishies. They were the first pets my kids ever knew. Their lifespan of three years was mind blowing considering they were 10¢ feeder fish some young women had picked out to be a center piece on some tables for a “manners dinner.” I would like to thank the fish for giving me something for the kids to practice their handwriting (they are all writing stories about what they liked the best about the fish) and for giving my exhausted brain an idea for a family night (off to Petco to pick out two new fish for our family)
May you rest well Finney, Sunny, and Shiny. And may you swim always in that giant fishbowl in the sky (that must be close to filled to capacity by now)

ETA- We did have someone coming to the house to feed the fish and the Cat. So I didnt leave them to starve to death for 12 days lol

Can we say "Adrenalin Rush"?

2011-07-08T20:46:00.000-07:00

Dylan decided to jump in the deeper end of the pool yesterday. I was about forty feet away when I saw him jump. Dylan doesnt swim. The man right next to Dylan just watched me run across the the cement yelling "somebody help him!" The man then informed me that "He was fine, he could touch" IMHO "Touching" doesnt count if your mouth, nose, and eyes are underwater while "touching". Also I dont think a kid that was "touching" would thank me for saving him. I know its my job to keep an eye on him (which I'm so glad I was since the lifeguard ten feet away and the man two feet away didnt seem to care), but one would think that if a kid next to you was drowning, that you would help them out even if they weren't your child.
Interestingly enough, Dyl is my only kid that has been close to drowning, and this would be the fourth time Ive had to yank him out of the water (I still have heart palpitations thinking about him getting hit by a sneaker wave at the oregon coast.) I think its time to invest in swimming lessons or actually go to a pool once in a while so he has the opportunity to learn.

Why Kyle is in Amsterdam….

2011-06-27T11:41:00.001-07:00

Ive had a few people ask, so I figured I would explain. Kyle started at Nike as a Production artist. And Im sure that there will be some *facepalms* from actual designers and PAs for this explanation, but from what I understand there are designers, who draw the pretty pictures of what the item is supposed to look like, and production artitst take that drawing and turn it into a technical drawing for the factory with all the different color ways and logos. Kyle has gone from being a PA to being someone who creates and modifies the processes that the PAs use to do their job. So an artist that speaks technical geek. He helps streamline processes and helps PAs and designers know how to use their software efficiently. He is kind of sad that he is moving away from actual design, but its nice to be changing things and making things work better.

Nike European Headquarters are located outside of Amsterdam. So he is there this week teaching the Europe crew how to use new software and processes. He got to fly out business class to Amsterdam and is staying at the fancy pants Grand Hotel Amrath Amsterdam. He is gone until next Friday.

He has been to Amsterdam once before but since we both have Iphones now, this trip has been a little less painful since we can do Skype and facetime. Thank goodness for technology. I cant imagine having to wait for written letters in the mail.

Last Day Of School

2011-06-14T19:40:00.001-07:00

It doesnt seem like that long ago when I sent the kids off to their first day at their new elementary school. But alas the year is done and the summer festivities have started. Weeeee!
Each of the kids had fantastic teachers this year. Each one was exactly what that kid needed. Im super sad to see them go. Andrew’s original teacher had a baby back in March, so that’s the sub teacher that finished the year. And excuse me while I do a happy dance *no more kindergartener at our house!* (having the day broken into two hour chunks is so painful.) So yay for first graders! lol Kate is now a third grader and Andrew is a FOURTH grader. Wow that makes me feel old! I remember fourth grade really well.

Let the countdown begin! 83 days till school starts again

Pictures!

2011-06-14T19:25:00.000-07:00

New Pictures are up on Smug Mug

Happier

2011-06-10T23:40:00.001-07:00

I can't post that tantrum post following up with something positive about Ty. He really is a happy kid when he isn't hungry or tired lol. He is really into music right now, but I tend to only have ear buds, and while his head is huge, his ears aren't. So he has to hold buds in so he cam listen on my phone.

Meltdown

2011-06-09T19:00:00.001-07:00

Tyler was telling me how he was NOT tired this evening in the car.

Where's my baby?

2011-06-09T12:26:00.001-07:00

(yes, this is what most people call denial)

Because he sure isn't the kid with the long legs in front of me. My baby would never walk around the house rocking out to music.
My baby is a fat cherub who only babbles and crawls right?

Ninja Cat

2011-06-03T23:20:00.001-07:00

Our cat thinks he is a dog (which I love) and he walks us to the bus stop everyday where he waits for the bus with us and then walks home with me.
He can't just walk home. He has to stalk his way home. Today was probably the most blatant he has been. (maybe he was afraid of the new big glowy bright thing in the sky).
As soon as the bus left he sprinted down the street and came to a screeching halt and dove into some "cover."

I giggled at him for a moment and then went on my way. Next thing I know I see another white blur, and then a rustle in the bushes.

Finally I get to the door of the house and I called him to come in with me. Another white blur and he shows up under the car. He had to 'suss things out for a few min before he would run the four feet to the house.

I'm SO not a cat person, but our little cat is totally growing on me. I even let him sit on my lap last night.

Melty heart

2011-06-01T20:15:00.001-07:00

Tyler wasn't tall enough today to see the new Cars 2 display at target. Andrew (with no nudging) got down on his knees and told Tyler to get on his back. It totally makes my heart all melty to see what a good brother Andrew is. Of all my kids he has the best excuse for being bitter or angry at the world (heaven knows I was angry at the world for being the only non-"gifted" kid in my family.) But he has the biggest heart and is the first to help a sibling or a friend.

Tyler and Alizah

2011-05-30T23:30:00.001-07:00

I just love these two kids together. She belongs to one of my friends at church, and she is about six months older than him. I joke that they could be identical twins if identical twins could be different sexes. Every time they are together I just giggle to myself because they are so cute. Just think how pale and gingery their kids would be if the got married and had babies! Squeeeee!

Tyler rides a big boy bike

2011-05-30T19:52:00.001-07:00

We slapped the training wheels on dylan's bike today and let tyler have a go at it. Not too shabby for a kid who isn't even 3.5 yet.

Activity Days Temple Trip

2011-05-27T19:05:00.001-07:00

The 8-11 year old girls at church meet bi-monthly to have little activities. (You know, to make them not sad they dont get cub scouts) This month one of the activities was to go to the Portland Temple with their moms. While we were there, each of the moms presented their daughter with a letter that we had written especially for them. It was a beautiful evening and Im thankful for the opportunity to bond a bit more with Kate (we are in the butting heads stage of life)

These doors might seem a little familiar

I am loved

2011-05-27T00:16:00.001-07:00

Kyle's mothers day present to me. Forget chocolate and roses, I'd take a good book series any day.

Wasting time...

2011-05-24T09:00:00.001-07:00

Oh Powell's, why can't you open at nine instead of ten?

Funny Story….

2011-05-14T20:57:00.001-07:00

We got a garage door opener with our tax returns, and Kyle spent most of today and yesterday installing it. Since he needed the garage space he moved the plethora of kids bikes we own out into the front driveway. When the job was finished and Kyle was putting everything away he noticed Tyler’s scooter wasn't there, also that his ride on car wasn't there. His trike, and his big dump truck were missing too. I asked Tyler if he could remember where he left them and he just said that he left them when he was playing in the forest. (there are no forests nearby, and definitely none he has been playing in) We checked out our back-yard and shed, then in the boys room thinking MAYBE they had taken them upstairs. When they weren't there I walked across the street to my neighbor’s house. All our kids have been back and forth between the two houses today, so I figured they might have been transferred over there. We looked in the garage and in their backyard with no luck. By this point I was devastated. All I could picture in my head was poor Tyler having nothing to play with while all his friends rode around him in circles. I knocked on the doors of all our neighbors on the cul-de-sac, and did a little walk around the block to see if they had been stashed somewhere. A call to the sheriffs department and some tears later and we found out who had stole them.
Apparently the new bike gang in town had taken a shine to them and had hidden them in one of their garages. Who are these nefarious gangsters who would steal a toddlers bike?

(that would be my nefarious gangster on the right) The funny thing is, the garage they were stashed in is also the neighbor’s garage I had looked in an hour or two before. They had just been crammed in between the wall and the van and not in the obvious open space, or the space in front of the van. I wasn't the only adult who missed seeing them in there either.
So now the bikes are happily home, and the mama bear has gone back into her cave to hibernate.

House Stuff

2011-05-11T15:08:00.000-07:00

I never did post final “finished” pictures after all the painting. The downstairs is pretty much finished. The only thing left to paint are the two walls you see in the first two pictures. Oh, and get matching bookcases for the front room lol.
We moved the TV from the boy’s room downstairs, hooked the wii up to it, and moved the loveseat from the family room. I love this set up because it lets the kids watch kid shows while we can watch boring adult stuff in the family room.

The family room is mostly old news. Painted, and minor furniture shuffling.

We moved the room break between the family room and the kitchen nook from the awkward position it was at, to where the ceiling level changes. We also got rid of the horrible vertical blinds and I painted (and painted, and painted) the sliding door frame that was formerly just primed. Its amazing how much paint that thing sucked up.

Since the back wall was painted Orange, I’ve painted the side wall chocolate brown. I love it! The brown actually wraps around to the breakfast nook.

The kitchen was a beast to paint because of the soffit and the space under the counters. The color change wasnt huge. Before it was a really soft warm gray. I HATED it lol. It just looked dingy. The new color is a light cream. It just warms up the room and brightens it. My blessed husband changed out the old electrical sockets for new ones. The old ones were so loose they were worthless. You would plug something in and it would immediately fall out again.

Obviously we still need to replace the flooring and eventually paint the cabinets, but that will have to wait until this summer.
There are more finished pictures up at our smugmug account HERE

Wordless Wednesday

2011-05-04T11:33:00.001-07:00

It makes me smile

2011-05-02T20:46:00.001-07:00

Someone apparently got ahold of my phone. I think this might be one of my favorite kid self portraits ever.

Pinewood Derby

2011-04-29T12:38:00.001-07:00

Last year I wasn’t able to go to the pinewood derby because Tyler had pneumonia. So I was excited to go to this year’s derby. Andrew and Kyle have been working on the car for a week or two now. Kyle was great and helped him cut, sand and paint it. My only contribution was cutting out some stars on the silhouette. (Oh how I love that thing!) Out of the Ten boys, Andrew’s car came in 3rd. Way to go Drew! He was SO PROUD! Tyler was quite upset that he didnt get to race a “dirty car” and Kate was quite upset that she didnt get a trophy too (Life is so hard!) I really like how this ward did it. They set things up so they just called out the number of the scout whos turn it was and they ran up, raced then the winner was recorded into the computer. Nobody had to wait long for their turn and there was hardly any downtime.
Kyle brought a car that he and drew made last year, and One of the guys from church brought his fancy cars in too (he works at Nike too and has access to a fancy pants carving machine thingy.) I seriously think that there needs to be a derby for all the “big boys” at church too since they seem to get as big of a kick out of it as the boys do.

Easter 2011

2011-04-26T10:54:00.001-07:00

Let's go fly a kite

2011-04-25T18:43:00.001-07:00

It was a blustery day today, so I unpacked the kite and flew it in our cul de sac. The wind wasn't super even, so we had lots of ups and downs. By the time that we had go get daddy we had almost every kid on the street cheering the kite.

Someone got a new toy

2011-04-20T12:56:00.000-07:00

He thinks it's his, but it really belongs to me. My old phone died a few months ago, so I started using Kyles old phone and it limped its way until the end of our contract with T-mobile. We are lucky and have a nice discount with AT&T through Nike. So when it was time to get a new phone, my dream of getting a fancy smartphone finally was able to become a reality. Even with a data package our bill is still lower than it was with my old crappy phone. Plus now I have bars of service while at home (which is kind of important when we only have cell phones and no land line.) I do have to say that going grocery shopping this week with Tyler was a dream. He played his fav app (I hear Ewe) the entire time and didnt make a peep. I had two ladies stop me to ask what he was playing because he was playing so nice and quietly. Im sure my sisters are pretty happy that I got a new phone too. I no longer have to call them and ask them to look stuff up or to hack into my email address. YAY!

Easter FHE

2011-04-14T22:03:00.001-07:00

Since Easter is coming I thought it would be good to talk about it during Family Home Evening. We focused on the true reason for Easter. We watched the lamb of God video and then talked about it a little (Kate was VERY upset) and then we moved on to a little project. I found this on another blog so I cant take credit, I just had to share because the kids loved it.

We used a heavy duty paper plate (ours were chinete) and cut them in half, then glued/stapled them together to make the tomb. Then cut out a door size hole and squashed up some paper lunch bags to make the bolder. I had printed out some little Jesus pictures and the kids cut them out and glued them inside. I added a Mary and Angel picture to the front of mine.

This is Andrews

Daddy’s

Dylans

Kate’s are the end two, and Tyler did the right hand side one. Kate also made two more, but we ran out of room on the mantle. lol

Next week we are talking about the symbols of easter and why we have Easter eggs etc.

Kate’s Baptism

2011-04-13T11:04:00.001-07:00

Im a bit behind, but that seems to be the theme lately. Kate got baptized at the end of last month. Both my parents and Kyle’s parents along with Aunt Erin, Aunt Kara, and My sister and her family were all in attendance. Luckily there were only two other kids getting baptized, so the program was able to be a little more personalized. (can I mention how much I dislike how my stake handles baptisms for kids?) Her Dad baptized her and both grandpas stood as witnesses. We all ended up back at our house (all 16 of us) for a dinner. I LOVE that my house allows us to feed that many people and have everyone at tables and not cramped! We finished celebrating her birthday with presents and cake. The day was really ALLLLLL about Kate. (and she ate it up with a spoon)Im pretty sure Kate got her fill of attention for the day. lol She did really well at her baptism interview and Impressed me with her knowledge of the gospel. She is such a smart little cookie.
The Grandparents got together and bought her a Green Mini Quad Scripture set and Grandma Bake sewed her a scripture case. Kyle and I chipped in and got her a Pink CTR ring (that she hasnt managed to lose yet!) Aunt Erin got her a sweet little necklace, and Aunt Lori bought her the fabulous dress she wore.

Katie’s Birthday

2011-04-02T14:20:00.001-07:00

Katie turned 8 on March 14th. We had a small birthday celebration on her actual birthday, but she wanted to wait for her big party for when all our family was in town for her baptism, so the actual big celebration wasnt until almost two weeks after her birthday.

I made her a pink Strawberry checkerboard cake. Since I had to use two boxes of mix to make the checkerboard I made some cupcakes too.

Grandma Bake wanted to make a cake with Kate so we had a second cake that was chocolate with peeps.

Kate is a smart, smart kid. She is the type of kid that school was designed for. She eats it up with a spoon and asks for more. She loves being a little mommy and has more of a “first child” personality than a “second child” personality. She desperately wishes for little sister, and frequently mourns being the only girl amidst a gaggle of boys. Thank goodness for my sister’s daughter Addie, because she allows Kate to treat her like a little sister.

The Backyard Project

2011-03-27T22:29:00.001-07:00

This is from last July when we moved into the house. The Backyard was CRAZY. CRAZY!!!

Fast Forward to October and it was starting to get under control, but then the rain came, the cold came, and in general I had no desire to spend any time out there. I got a good chunk of the west yard done, but the northern strip was ignored because of the scary, scary blackberry bushes.

Fast forward again to last weekend and I got that Northern strip finished. It took me probably 3 hours just for that 3 foot wide strip. I thought that rose bushes were hard to get out, but no- Blackberrys kick their stubborn heinies.
(so beastly! That vine alone was probably a good inch in diameter)
I decided to power wash the concrete to get all the dirt off once I got that pile into the greenwaste garbage can. Its a patch of concrete that hasnt been cleaned in who knows how long. On the northern side of the house. In Oregon. Need I say more? (cough*moss*cough) I wish I would have taken better before pictures, but here are some half way through pictures. SO NASTY. I have to admit I find power washing oddly relaxing.

Here is what it looks like now. We still have many, many hours ahead of us still, but at least now when I look out the kitchen window while doing dishes I don't cringe.

Hopefully next weekend I can get back out there and finish power washing the siding (can you tell how high I could reach without a ladder?) and get the rest of the pulled weeds into the greenwaste garbage can.
As much as I LOATH gardening, I do have to say I am quite pleased with the end result.
One Last Before and After for ultimate dramatic effect lol

Now we just have to wait until we can afford some fill dirt so we can plant grass and have a normal backyard….

Such a Studmuffin

2011-03-27T20:16:00.001-07:00

Im waiting for Lori to send me the rest of the pictures from the baptism, so I cant do a baptism post yet; but she showed me this picture and I just had to share.

Katie is getting baptized

2011-03-25T23:08:00.001-07:00

For our local friends who are interested, I thought I would let you know that Kate is getting baptized tomorrow, Saturday the 26th, at 3pm at the Hillsboro Stake Center. We would love to see you all there.

Eleven Years

2011-03-20T09:24:00.001-07:00

A week ago last friday was Kyle and My 11th anniversary. We had plans to go down to the temple, but between picking up the babysitter (first one we have paid for in 5+ years lol- Kyles sister or my parents usually watch the kids, but they were borth busy) Having to pick up Kyle at work, and the usual traffic on 217 we ended up not having enough time to get down to the temple before the session started. So we did the next best thing, we went to redrobin and wandered around target and homedepot. It seemed somehow appropriate of a date for an eleventh anniversary. (ten was all fun and fancy, but this year was just comfortable companionship)
Im not feeling verbose for once, so instead I will show some then and now photos. Oh my goodness we were just babies.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-03-16T22:12:00.000-07:00

(I dont take/post nearly enough pictures of this kid)

Cake!

2011-03-13T21:42:00.001-07:00

I tried something new with Dylan’s Cake this year, so I thought I would show off the new skillz.
Dylan wanted a camo cake again this year, but this time he wanted it rectangle and he wanted a tank.
This is the one I made for his actual birthday.

The tank is a Frozen buttercream Transfer. My friend Amber gives great directions HERE.
I tried again with his second cake. I did smaller batter blobs for the camo and I was happier with how it turned out, then I also did the writing in the FBCT because my six looked a little “special” in the first one.

I didnt wait long for the frosting to freeze so the N on Dylan got a little flubbed. Note to self next time. “Give yourself more time!”

I definitely need more practice, and I have a LONG way to go until I deem myself "good" but Im having fun learning. I hope to take some classes soon to see what Im doing wrong with the frosting consistency....

Dylan’s birthday

2011-03-13T21:33:00.001-07:00

Dude is SIX!!!
It doesnt surprise me though. He has been six in my head for a while now. I dont know what it is about him, but I am never surprised when he turns a year older. Kate turns 8 tomorrow and that blows my mind, but Dylan being six was more of a “well DUH! Of course he is six”

His birthday was spread out over a course of three weeks. His actual birthday Day ended up being a snow day from school. So he got a school vacation on his birthday, and got to spend the morning playing in the snow and the rest of the day playing video games. (he was in heaven)

We had my family over on the 26th to celebrate. We are going to miss having Aunt Erin here to celebrate with us (she moves back to utah in a couple of weeks) We did the obligatory cake and presents. He thought it was great because he got TWO birthdays!!! lol

Fast forward to this weekend and we finally had his birthday party. 4 boys from church came over and we made marshmallow and sugar cube constructions, and then used marshmallow shooters to shoot through targets, and then of course- shoot each other.

Dylan is totally out of “little boy” stage. He is just a boy. He would rather watch future weapons than pixar movies and he is obsessed with ANYTHING soldier. He is still our little video game junky, and would eat sleep and breath video games if I let him. Dyl still has HUGE meltdowns, and the drama cracks me up. Three seconds after the “end of the world” and he is back to just being Dylan. He is doing great at school. Im actually kind of worried about that. He is a smart dude, but not driven like Kate is. I really hope he doesnt end up how I was in High school. I skated through school doing a minimum of homework with minimum effort just because I could. (still graduated with a B average, but I could have done better if I had tried at all) The kid is all around a likable person. Im excited to see his personality grow as he gets bigger.

Just a few more pictures of Dylan to wrap this up, just to remind everyone how far he has come from our little Nien Nunb.

I love you target

2011-03-11T22:55:00.000-08:00

And your sweet, sweet 75% off clearance.

My kids now all have hiking boots for the summer

Wordless wednesday

2011-03-10T15:48:00.000-08:00

Pretty Scrappy

2011-03-09T21:28:00.001-08:00

I was cleaning up my scrapbooking gallery and I was inspired to do some scrapping. Three pages! (I think that is more then I did in all of 2010) I even organized my SCRAPBOOKING GALLERY so that its in chronological order!

Hello?

2011-03-08T20:45:00.000-08:00

Yeah, its been a while. Facebook has really been killing the blog. Facebook has such instant gratification. I post, then I immediately get four or five comments back.you love me! you really love me! (It does wonders for the self esteem) I know people are following me there so I remember to post there. However the blog has started to get forgotten. I never know if anyone reads it because I get two comments for each post (you know, the comment from Lori, and the one from Jen lol) I know Lori and Jen know whats happening in my life; I talk to them everyday, they dont need a blog to keep up.
So here is your chance. If you read this/enjoy this, could you comment just this once so I know if anyone is actually out there? I know, it means you will have to click over from your reader or from the facebook posting- Im sorry lol. plus it will do nice things for my ego bwahahahaha
And because posts are boring with out pictures here is a random one of fat baby tyler. That way you can comment on his fattness/cuteness and not just say "here"

Chop Chop

2011-02-08T15:49:00.001-08:00

Dylan Decided to give himself a haircut. He is actually the first of my children to do this. My facebook friends will have already seen these, but for those who missed it here are the damage pictures. The top two are the cut. The second two are attempted damage control (which works, but takes lots of time and hairspray). The final is what we are going to have to live with for a couple of weeks until his bangs grow out.

Baby Grass!

2011-02-04T15:44:00.001-08:00

My kids might have something to play on this summer.

Tyler is three!

2011-02-03T17:15:00.001-08:00

and he has been for about three weeks. *sadface* lol
Ive been meaning to edit his birthday pictures and make a fantanbulous blog, but apparently that isnt going to happen this year. So instead I am posting SOOTC pictures.

We had two “parties” for him. On his actual birthday (Jan 15th) we went to Papa’s Pizza and opened the presents from mom and dad and Grandma and Grandpa Bake. Then the following week we had My parents, My sister Lori and her family, and Aunt Erin come over for cake and presents.
For being a kid who is nearly identical to his brother (we have strangers comment on it lol) He is definitely his own little person. First of all, he is LOUD. I think he makes more noise than my other kids put together. Everything is full volume for him. He is probably my naughtiest kid right now too. I think I let him get away with too much because he was my baby, and now its biting me in the *ahem*.
But we are working on not talking back and not screaming “No!” at mom. So warning if you are ever in a car with him, You will want ear plugs because no matter how you ask him to quiet down, it probably wont happen. Defiant is definitely a word that describes him right now (I dont know where he got that from *whistles innocently*)

He is a social creature who wants to be in the midst of everything. He is sure that he is just as big as Dylan and doesnt understand why he doesnt get to go to school, or play outside with out mommy, or have to take naps. He loves playing with the big kids, his friend across the street, and his friends at church. But he is also perfectly content to go play cars in his room alone if there isnt anyone around to play with.

He has a great little active imagination. Often I find him playing with his cars and talking as if he is his toy cars.
“yous wants to drive over there?”
“Yes, we can drive over there”
”Yous wants to go on the couch?”
”Ok, we go drive on the couch”……

He is a talking champ. Other than stuttering at the beginning of sentences while he thinks of what he is going to say, and adding S’s to the ends of words, he talks as well as the other kids. No mommy translator needed.

I desperately miss my baby Tyler. He was a wonderful baby. But big Tyler is a blast as well.

He is a little weird…

2011-01-10T20:04:00.001-08:00

I love my new toys!

2011-01-08T21:25:00.001-08:00

Ive been playing with my new silhouette and I LOVE IT! I still havnt gotten any vinyl for it though. That will have to wait for our next payday.

However I have cut out some fun things for around the house.
Kate has been making her own “No boys allowed” signs for her room since we moved in. They were….um……. special looking. So I volunteered to make her one. However I was silly and let her pick out the paper. So while its not as “special” as her old ones, I’m still hoping that her brother accidentally “loves” it so that I need to make a new one lol.

Then I made CTR Badges for my class at church (Oh Joy of Joys, Im still Dylan’s teacher)

My other new fun toy is my Roomba. He takes a little more supervision than I thought he would, but now that I have all the cords mostly out of his way its getting easier. I set him to work in the middle of the day when most of the kids are gone at school. He does about an 80% clean up job, but he goes places I dont sweep that often (under the couch for instance) and he does a much better job on dust bunnies and cat hair than sweeping does (since sweeping just seems to make them dance around the room)
The cat is just facinated by the roomba. When ever it is on he comes and watches it for the full hour that it runs around. Here is Tyler and MeowMeow watching him this last thursday (See how intent MeowMeow is?)
And here is a little video of it in work. Not the most scientific and methodical way to go about it. But after an hour he has gone over most of the floor at least once and most of the floor two or three times.

Christmas, Christmas time was here….

2010-12-29T11:53:00.001-08:00

T’was a time for joy and t’was a time for cheer….

Our first Christmas at our house has come and gone. It was a good one. The kids got their coveted pillow pets (thanks grandma!) and another years pass to the Zoo (thanks other grandma!) I got my silhouette, and Daddy got a new pad for his chair (much cooler than it sounds)
The flu being at our house the first half of the month kept the Christmas cheer level a little lower than was hoped, but in the end everybody had a great holiday.
It was a homebody Christmas. Grandma, Grandpa, great uncle Roger, and aunt Erin all came to our house to celebrate. As fun as it is to go visit family, there is something to be said about sleeping in your own bed with kids able to keep their normal bedtimes. The only negative this holiday was that the kids BFFs are out of town, so they have had a most boring school break, and I found out Im allergic to the most yummy peach mango salsa. (Im seriously weeping over here)

I hope that this Christmas found you all safe and happy, and that you have a wonderful New Years!

Decoration gingerbread houses and sugar cookies

The food spread that is mandatory for a proper Bake family Christmas

Ty Chillin’ in the new recliners my mom got the kids.

Christmas Jammies

Zoo Lights!

2010-12-28T20:48:00.001-08:00

Last week Kyles sister, Annie, was in town with her family. We decided to save our trip to go see zoo lights for when they were here. We have traditionally waited until after Christmas to go see the lights. Going on the 21st was a totally different experience. Can we say crowds? Dispite the excess of people everywhere we still had good times, even if we did have to stand in line for a full hour to ride on the train. Apparently I didnt take as many pictures as I should have. That might be because this is the fifth year we have gone to zoo lights lol.

Look how much Kate has changed since last year lol

6 Months!

2010-12-24T11:23:00.001-08:00

exactly 6 months ago we moved the very first things into our new house. In that time I have realized how truly blessed we were to end up in the house. As cheesy as it sounds there isnt a day that goes by that I dont do a little happy dance in my head as I look around my house, and then do a mental nod of thanks to heavenly father for helping us get here. Because I know that with how everything played out, God had to have had a big hand in it.

In the six months we have….

completely painted four rooms, and did half of the walls in two more rooms.
We have remodeled a bathroom
We have put up a back Gate
we have completely gutted the front landscaping and attempted to plant grass
We have filled at least 6 huge garden debris trash cans with just weeds from the back yard.
Hosted Two Major Holiday Dinners
Had two families come visit and stay with us (with out tripping over each other)

Im so happy we have found a place to plant roots. The kids have good friends, our ward is great, and I love the kids teachers.

Here is an ever growing gallery of pictures of the house. The first fifty some pictures are from our walk through before we moved in. After that is all what we have slowly done to make the house ours

HOUSE PICTURES

Zoo, zoo, zooooooooo

2010-12-19T20:02:00.001-08:00

Last week we decided to make a trip to the Zoo, its been over a month since we have gone and I was missing my zoo animal friends (<most pathetic sentence ever)

Actually we had the day off school and I was worried that I would eat my young if we were trapped at home all day together. So off we went.

Now there is a secret to a successful trip to the zoo. You need to go on a brisk and wet day. Not the most fun for people, but it pretty much guarantees that the animals will be out and about. We even saw the bears walking around. I totally thought they would be tucked in for a long winters nap, but there they were doing their bear thing.

I wont bore you by giving you a detailed run down, so we will just skip to…

PICTURES! (yeah, sorry about the enthusiasm, thats the mt dew typing)

Christmas Concert

2010-12-18T18:54:00.001-08:00

Warning, this has a lot of videos of My kids singing holiday songs at their school concert. Great grandparent fodder, but also can be painful/boring if you don't have a tight attachment to my kids lol. I apologize in advance for some of the really bad filming. I was zoomed from across the room with my arm way up in the air. I apologize for any motion sickness.

Here is Dylan singing their hanukkah song. He REALLY liked the pretend violin part. He is fourth from the left with an orange plaid shirt.

The Third/Fourth Split classes went next. Andrew was no really visible from where I was at. You can see the top of his reddish head a little right of the center of the screen.

Kate’s second grade is next. She is in the back row and you can see her little face center of the screen.

And then we had the whole school perform. Again, apologies for the bad filming lol.

Piano Recital

2010-12-18T15:45:00.001-08:00

Here is Kate at her First piano recital. She has been taking lessons for about two months now.

keeping warm

2010-12-15T09:25:00.001-08:00

I think Dylan has found his new favorite place in the house.

The Great Snow Storm of November 2010

2010-12-07T20:19:00.001-08:00

This is old news, but I just downloaded the pictures. So old news you get. The Tuesday before Thanksgiving we had a bit of a storm front move in. My sister, Lori, in Seattle got NAILED, But it petered out by the time it got down here. School got canceled on Tuesday, but that is just because under the dusting of snow there was a nice layer of ice (see middle picture of Tyler on the ground…. again.) I’m crossing my fingers that we get some more later this winter. If this is all we get I will be very disappointed. To be honest, I would love a repeat of 2008

Craft Group

2010-12-01T19:38:00.001-08:00

This week the craft group that Kate goes to everyweek was being hosted at our house (meaning I was in charge) I found these fun little fairies on a website and decided that they would be our craft project.

This is my Fairy. I could have done better on her face, but I was being distracted by four little girls and a toddler.

Here are all of the fairies that got to stay at our house and didnt go home with the other girls

And Dylan didnt want a Fairy, so I made him a man. With in minutes he had a “helmet” (aka a plastic silk flower petal support) and a dagger and a gun holster made from pipe cleaner. *sigh*
Being the good and efficient mom I am, the pipe cleaners are still all out on the table. This is what I was greeted with when I went to Help Dylan with his homework tonight. weirdo.

Tyler and Simon

2010-11-29T20:20:00.001-08:00

Tyler got some good snuggle time in with Cousin Simon while he was down for Thanksgiving. I'm pretty sure that Tyler doesn't want a puppy for Christmas anymore and instead wants a baby to play with.

Fin!

2010-11-26T18:29:00.001-08:00

We finally finished the painting in the Family room. It took a week+ but we eventually got there. No more paint disasters either. Kyle ended up doing the cutting at the top. Eventually we will have to paint the ceiling in there, but that is near the bottom of the list right now.

We did a lighter green on the TV and the window wall to help reflect the flood light and the outside light. Having the ceiling be white at the wall break helps a lot too.

Yay! Priming is finished.

Bottom wall is green

Back wall is green

And here we are at the finished product!

Here is a peek at the before again. SO MUCH BETTER!!! Yay!

Now that the Family room is done we are going to start work on the front room, and then the kitchen *sigh*
Here is Kyle cutting in the orange this last Wednesday.

And here is the almost finished product. I cant wait to get the pictures back up. The orange is really going to make them pop. Im so giddy!

Gobble Gobble

2010-11-26T17:49:00.001-08:00

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year. My sister, her husband and two kids came down from Seattle, and our Neighbors, the Bui Family, came over too. 15 people if you count the baby. I think we had enough food to feed 25 lol.

The Burkman’s brought down their Xbox Kinect and we had both boxes going keeping people entertained while the food was made.

The Toddlers were kept occupied with hotwheels

I LOVE my new kitchen. The cupboards are ugly and the floor is hideous (yes, those are roses in the middle of each square) but I have miles and miles of counter space. We used every inch.

Everyone ate in the front room. The kids ate at our kitchen table we had moved out. The babies, I mean toddlers, :( were at their own table, and The 6 Adults plus Alyssa, the oldest of the kids, were at the dining room table.

There is our new Orange Wall. I LOVE it. It was still curing so the pictures and light plate arent up yet, but I still smile when I see it. I need to paint all the other walls in the room still though.

Dinner! Broccoli Salad, Another Salad (both provided by the Bui family) Mashed potatoes, Mashed sweet potato, sauté mushrooms, Turkey, Rolls, Cranberry sauce, Sweet potato yummy casserole, and stuffing.

And my favorite part of Thanksgiving. The Pie! I made a banana Cream, a lemon Meringue, Two Apple pies, pumpkin cake rolls, and Mello Jello. The crusts were all from scratch, and so was the apple filling. I cheated and bought some costco pumpkin pie, and used Jello helpers for the other pies though.

Oh Dear….

2010-11-11T20:14:00.001-08:00

The kids had today off from school. So since I wasn't running back and forth to drop off/pick up I decided to get the painting done. I am very happy to say that I got all the walls painted that I had hoped for. Well, except for the one foot near the ceiling that I cant reach. lol I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to do that one.

The room is way brighter already and even though its just primer, it got me all excited to see the end product.

Now to the bad part of the day. I had JUST finished the last pass of the roller for the day. I was gloating that I had got it all done while not killing my kids and with minimal mess when all of a sudden the paint tray fell from its place on the ladder. Ten feet down to the floor and it landed with a glorious SPLAT! Luckily most of the paint was on the wall and not in the tray so the mess was annoying but not obnoxious. I got it cleaned up and then Kyle came home and we fed the kids and went to admire my painting. Kyle however didn't seem too impressed and I turned to chastise him for not glowing over my paint when I saw why he wasn't glowing. One of the other cans of paint that we weren't even using had been knocked over, and apparently the lid wasn't on all the way (stupid plastic paint cans) because a good portion of the gallon was spilled all over the floor. *tears* Yet again I am thankful that the main living area of our house has wood floors and not carpet, because I might have ran away and never came back had it been on carpet.

Painty paint

2010-11-09T21:06:00.001-08:00

Paint is one of those words that if you look at long enough, it looks really funny.

This is our Family room

In some light the walls look brown. However, in some light it looks purple. As much as I have been embracing my inner girly girl lately, I don’t appreciate a purple cave for a family room.

Yesterday I started to prep the room to paint it. We have REALLY high ceilings. Really, really high. I’ve been working my way up the wall with the primer, and eventually the wall is going to be Green, Green, and tan. The problem is that for someone that is NOT afraid of heights. I get all squirmy in my stomach when I’m on that ladder near the highest part of the wall. (we have a ladder that is supposed to work V style or flip straight, but Im not exactly dainty, and the ladder isnt super solid while flat and tall) So now Im stuck. I dont know how to get the top done, but I’ve already started painting. So my progress has been limited while I think out my problem. (currently I'm thinking to get my nice solid table that is in the garage, and set the ladder up on top of the table so that it is in V shape. shhhhhhh its totally going to work. I dont know what you are talking about) Until I figure my conundrum out, I need to figure out how to keep this monkey out of trouble.

Silly little monkey

Updates!

2010-11-08T10:42:00.001-08:00

I figure it has been a while since I have done a general family update. So get ready for a novella, because I simply dont know how not to be verbose when I do these.

Kyle has a new job at work. He is no longer doing any production art, but has moved into the tech/tech support area. So he is still working really closely with production artists and his old group, he just isnt coloring socks himself anymore. He got to attend Adobe MAX last week in LA for three and a half days. He came home with a free Droid phone and a google TV. (SAH-WEET!) He also received a new iphone last week through his new job, and I think he just might love it more than he loves me. He was asked to be scout master again just a few weeks ago so he is in his happy place.

Me! Ive been on some new drugs for my RA since June, and I am feeling better than I have since I was diagnosed. Currently nothing is swollen/hurting/achy. *happy dance!* My days are filled with fixing meals, cleaning up from meals, running kids places, and trying to stay on top of laundry and cleaning. Sadly my life is pretty tame. Having an afternoon kinder and a kid that naps in the afternoon is killing my ability to do stuff. Dyl has to be on the bus at 11:10 which means I need to make lunch at 10:45ish. So by the time I drop Kyle off at work at nine I only have a little more than an hour and a half to get stuff done. Then I need to be home during nap time, and then at two I pick up the big kids. I need to figure something out, because being stuck at home is driving me a little crazy. I have been asked to be a Dylan’s teacher at church. (no, Im not crying- I just have something in my eye) So I am back in the lonely depths of primary. *sigh*

Andrew is doing fabulous.There isn't really much to say about him that is new. He is just busy playing with Payton, going to scouts, growing taller, and building new vehicles with his legos.

Kate has started piano lessons in October and is loving it (and doing very, very well at it too.) She is also in a craft group that was headed up by one of the moms at church. It is totally her cup of tea. She LOVES Tuesdays now because it is craft day. I cant believe how much her face has started to mature and how skinny she has gotten in the last six months. Sometimes I look at her and Im totally in shock because she has really looked exactly the same for the last five years, and now she doesnt lol. She has announced that she is no longer interested in princesses and has taken to devouring the “justice” magazine when it comes in the mail.

Dylan is totally into the pretend stage. Where the imagination center in his brain has gone into hyper-drive. All day long he tells me these stories of how “A plane crashed into school today and a dinosaur came and ate the people who escaped from the plane!” (all said in the most serious of voices) His stories crack me up, but we have had to have some talks about making sure people know what he is saying is a story and not just telling lies.

Tyler. Tyler, Tyler, Tyler... Im pretty sure this kid is louder than all my other kids put together. He is also definitely in the “"asserting my independence”" stage, And the “I will get what I want at any cost” stage. When Im not wanting to throw him in the river with concrete shoes, Im laughing until my sides hurt. Oh the joys of two year olds! ( I will let you decide if Im being sarcastic or not) He also loves Daddy’s new iphone more than he loves me. Its amazing how quickly he has picked up on it. Im pretty sure he is going to be the world’s champion at Angry Birds someday.

We have lived in our house for four and a half months now. We finally got a rototiller (thanks craigslist) and the other things we need to seed the yard. I am having a painting spree this week and finally getting rid of the purple/brown in the family room. We are hosting thankgsiving at our house this year, so that is giving us a good reason to go into high gear to get the house how we want it.

We have a new family member. His name is Mogwai (Chinese for Ghost) and he is a pure white cat that adopted us. Thankfully he isnt too hard on my allergies (I have had some doosie attacks, but they have all been when I touched him and then touched my face. As long as I dont do that I am fine with him around)

New Pictures are up on SMUG MUG so check them out!

Halloween

2010-11-04T21:11:00.001-07:00

Why is it when I know I should blog something I just keep putting it off?
Here is my halloween post. My kids are growing up. No longer did we have the princesses and heros from years gone past. Kate was a witch, Andrew was a modified Swat guy (he just called himself nerf man) Dylan was a soldier and Ty was a dragon.
For old times sake, take a look at our past dragons… HERE and HERE !

Here is our friend Payton. We have practically adopted him since we moved in. He is perfectly between my kids ages so he ends up playing with all three of the big ones. lol

Ty trick or treating at church.

And Here are the kids on Actual halloween night. (yes, I am a heathen and let them go ToTing)

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-27T09:02:00.001-07:00

This is the Fifth time I have had a kid go to a pumpkin patch with school, but the first time I have been able to be the chaperone. Dylans cute little kindergarten class went last monday to the lakeview farms pumpkin patch. Besides just getting pumpkins there were quite a few other activities while we were there.

They rode on a boat

Saw a Shark and two Dragons in the lake

Ran around a hay maze

Rode on the train

Looked at farm Animals
|
Got their pictures taken

And ended up on Channel Eight News.

http://www.kgw.com/video?id=105228468&sec=547977

Of course if you ask Dylan, he will tell you about a kid puking on the bus, how the pig pooped and the other pig sniffed it, and The rotting pumpkin that was growing mold. Silly Boys!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-10-20T16:54:00.001-07:00

My “Me” Weekend

2010-10-19T23:38:00.001-07:00

*warning, this is both Verbose and Picture heavy*

A while back Kyle and I were talking, and I mentioned how just worn-out I was feeling. Between adjusting to the new house and the new school schedule and dealing with kids going through growth spurts and my own medical issues…. I was just feeling D.O.N.E

He suggested in the kindest way possible that I get a life. Meaning –find something that makes me Becky and differentiates from just being “mom”

I thought about that quite a bit. What makes me ME. Those who know me well know that Im a total gamer. There is nothing better than sitting down after a long day and “hanging out” with people who I have played with for five years and blowing some stuff up, looting a dungeon, or chasing reapers. About a year and a half ago I was playing with some of my female clan mates and I mentioned that Kyle was at Scouts. One of the girls I game with, gamertag Hilskie, said something to the effect of “Man, I would have such a hard time if my bishop called me to Scouts” I dont know how I didnt know it, but Hilskie is LDS. Not only is she LDS, but she is the exact same age as me. We hit it off and have been friends both on and off of Xbox live ever since. She drove down from Oak Harbor last year to visit me and I decided what better way to “get a life” than to take a weekend for myself and to go visit her.

Originally I was going to ride the train up. However, train schedules were not very accommodating. Grayhound is scary enough that Kyle forbade me from riding it. So I was feeling discouraged. I went to one of the discount travel sites to see if they had anything and I noticed an ad for car rentals. I went to good old Hertz.com and I found out that the cost of renting a car and the gas to drive up there was only ten dollars more than riding the train, plus I didnt get home at midnight (unless I wanted to lol)

I wont bore you with all the details, just that there was lots of laughing, gaming, and great scenery. I am VERY partial to Portland Oregon, but I will have to admit that Oak Harbor just took my breath away. I HAVE to take Kyle back up there!

Me and Hilskie at the apple orchard

One of the pretty places we went.

Me, Hilskie and her sister Laurie

I think this was above Anacortes.

Deception Pass is the bridge you take to get to Whidbey Island. I am so jealous that Hilskie gets to drive over it multiple times a week.

Underside of the bridge

Bald Eagle Sighting

This is half of the bridge. It rests on a small island and then has a second half that is just as impressive.

I am so glad that I got to have my little weekend. I got to see part of my homestate I have never been to, I got to just think about me for three whole days, and I got to laugh until my cheeks hurt. Really what more could I ask for?

Family weekend

2010-10-18T20:47:00.001-07:00

This last weekend my brother Chris (denver) and his family, and my sister Lori (seattle) and her family came to town to visit. We ended up not going out to the beach with Chris and the crew on Friday, but we met up on Saturday and spent a GORGEOUS day in the Columbia river gorge. We hit crown point

We hiked Multnomah falls for the first time
since my kids looked like this

We had the obligatory stop at the Fish hatchery And then we went to not look at fish at the bonneville dam (Im starting to think the fish there are a myth)

And we finished with some cake to celebrate Chris turning 35.

As much as I enjoy that we dont all live on top of each other, it always makes me super giddy happy when I get to hang out with my siblings. Im so glad that the Five of us all can get along and that we even sort of enjoy each-others company. Now if I can figure out how to get Jenni up here sometime in the next six months since I have seen Chris, Lori, and Kevin in the last six.

Mommy’s Little “Helper”

2010-10-04T15:17:00.001-07:00

bless Tyler’s little heart.
He went #2 today, and either did it in his pants or got some on his pants in the process. Dyl comes running downstairs
"Mom, ty is washing his pants in the toilet!"
I run up and Ty had totally rinsed his undies out in the toilet and was trying to get his pants to all fit in so he could wash them too. (I swish his undies in the toilet before they go in the washer when he has an oops)
Needless to say the bathroom got washed for the second time that day and I have a load of laundry going.
It reminded me of when Andrew was 2.5 and Kate was 1 and they tried to help me do laundry by sticking an entire basket worth of clothes into the toilet.

Since I didnt take pictures today, I will give you pictures from long, long ago (That is Andrew at 2.5, not Tyler currently)

Tyler couldn't be left out….

2010-10-04T13:40:00.001-07:00

Chore Charts

2010-10-03T14:43:00.001-07:00

I Finally got them done. (phew, that took forever)

These will be modified as they get older, but this should do until the end of the school year. Tyler doesnt have one yet. When he turns three I will make him a really simple one.