Maycie is Six!

It has been well over a month ago, but that is how I roll these days. Maycie turned 6! She invited a few girlfriends over and they had a great time.

We made gingerbread castles, again, it is always a hit.
Six cupcakes, six candles and one six year old girl!
Maycie is a busy little thing. She is into projects and has a great need for variety, constant variety. She loves kindergarten, which I am often gratiful for. She is learning the typical kindergarten things, like simple math and how to write full sentences and how to be a good friend. She is a true leader and oldest with her brother and sister. Lately they have been playing house together alot, taking turns being the mom.

As a baby Maycie was a ham. Kevin and I called her "our excess of laughter girl" She did full on belly giggles as a one month old. It was strange to witness. She is the same even still, alway up for a good laugh.

We love her and are so happy for the variety she brings to our family. She is such a bright and fun girl!!!

Nelson is Four!

On the 21st of November Nelson turned four. He has been talking about this day for a long time. On his birthday Nelson had some of his buddies over for cupcakes and games. It was very fun for me to see these little guys play games and interact. Whenever asked what he wanted for his birthday Nelson would reply " A Yo-Yo".

It is fun for me to think back on Nelson's four years. As a baby Nelson cried alot. I don't think he was initially too happy about being here. But he mellowed out and his dimples came out. He is very much so a mama's boy. He frequently comes to me for a snuggle or a hug. This morning I asked him if he was happy. He said he was. I asked him why he was happy. He said "Cause I wuv wu Mom." Made my heart melt.

Nelson is a big story teller. I only understand about 25% of the words he is saying in his stories. But he gets so animated and into what he is saying that I love watching him tell his tales. He is into heros and bad guys. He is into jumping high and moving fast. A typical four year old! We love him and are so happy he is in our family.

"I Two"

This last week on the 17th Jane turned two, in her words "I two" (said while holding up four fingers). We did a little family birthday party for her. Two year olds like to keep it simple, more accurately they don't know the difference yet.
Below is a picture of the kids with the books that Gabrielle, our surrogate grandma, brought over for Jane's present. Jane loves books, she can't get enough of them. She often will retrieve my attention by whirling a book at me and saying oh so sweetly "Book please." It is difficult to stay upset about being hit by a book after her sweet request to read the offending book. Jane is also great at her letters she knows most if not all of her letters and likes to point them out where ever we go.
We don't own many stuffed animals, they seem a bit useless to me. However Nelson loves his teddy bear and lately Jane has been loving on his teddy bear so I figured it was time for her to have her own stuffed animal. A little stuffed kitty pillow pet. She now sleeps with this cat along with her blankie and beloved binkie. (it is time to omit the binkie from that line up)
Jane is a joy. She has these beautiful blue eyes and long eye lashes. She is often content to just cuddle. She loves being sung too. She will often stop in the middle of a full blown cry session to a song being sung. She loves animals, as long as they are not too close. She looks out the windows through out the day to find squirrels and dogs. She is typically a good eater. She loves new people and loves to climb. Oh boy does she love to climb. No seatbelt is too tight for her to wiggle out of. Keeping her in the grocery cart is near impossible.
Here is a true shot of Jane in action. She loves to dress like her older siblings like she is going to school, she is so cute and I enjoy her a great deal. It is a good thing I enjoy her so much because she is my constant shaddow, following me from room to room. Never a dull moment. Love this girl! HAPPY 2 year old JANE!!!!

Summer Installment No. 2

I made an effort this summer to get the kids out and about alot. One place we went to often was the beach. We checked out a few of the different beaches here in the Seattle area. The hard part of this is hauling the kids to and from the car with all that we need while we are there. Also Jane is Miss Friendly and had no problem wandering to other peoples areas and going through their things and taking what she wanted. It was a task all of itself to keep her out of trouble. But the reward to all this work is seen in the pics below....especially the first one!

btw- Nelson is now fully potty trained, much to my relief!


For my birthday my mother got me a campfire pit. As per my request. We had alot of fun roasting hot dogs and marshmellows.

At the beginning of the summer Nelson took swim lessons with his cousin Travis. They were so cute together.

This is doing fire crackers on the Forth of July! I vow in the future to plan ahead and order my fire crackers online in advance. Vendors make a mint on these sort of things, I was surprised at the price.

Nelson's First Day of Pre-School

How could any teacher not love to have this little boy in their class? None I am sure! I love this little guy! Nelson is now in pre-school. He loves it! No tears, no worries, he was a pro. The school bus ride he is especially happy about. He finally gets to get on the bus like his big sister.

New Family Pictures

Thanks to the skills of our Sister in law Jenny we have new family Pics!

Summer in Retrospect (Installment I)

The streak of sun and warm weather is gone here in Seattle. It has been replaced by familiar overcast skies and sixty degree weather. I can no longer even pretend it is summer. Growing up summer was filled with dirty bare feet, long sunny days of playing in the fields, forests and bike riding from one place to another- all while eating endless supplies of pop sicles. Great memories! I hope for my kids that they have equally great memories.

I make a conscious effort to do activities that will create memories for years to come. This summer was a great memory making summer. In June we went to Southern Idaho for a family reunion. Below are a few pictures of this.

Kevin's parents with almost all their grandkids.
I like how Jane is like the cherry on top in this picture.
In June we also welcome Uncle Blake home from his mission. He had a layover in Seattle so we ambushed him in the airport. We love Blake and love that he is home. The kids really enjoy Blake, he is a fun uncle. Maycie surprised me with all that she remembered about Blake before he left. She remembered how he used to chase her and tease her. He picked up right where he left off, Maycie was quite pleased!

Cousins

A year ago Kevin's brother Eric moved to Seattle with his wive Jenny and kids. They live about five minutes from us. We have enjoyed having them so close. It has especially made two little girls very happy!

Aubree and Maycie are about two weeks apart. You wouldn't guess it by looking at them. Aubree has a whole head of height on May. Maycie's goal is to 'grow big like Aubree' ironic considering May is the older of the two.




They slept all night in this bed together and woke with big smiles on their faces. Such great memories for these little girls!

The Art of Shining Shoes

Kevin flew down to the University of Florida for an interview at the end of August. He was interviewing for a residency to specialize in Endodontics after dental school. In preperation for this interview Kevin meticulously picked out what he was going to wear. Then he focused his energy on shining his shoes. One would think that this is a relatively simple process. I have recieved an education and I can now testify that that is not the case. A 'high quality' shoe shine is quite involved, as shown below.

It began very familiar to me, applying polish and then buffing with the brush. That was not the end. Kevin repeated that process three times, yes three.
It was then followed by heating the leather with a blow dryer to warm the leather and polish. After warmed he then shined with nylon. Kev meticulously surveyed his work in the sunlight. I couldn't resist taking these pictures once it escalated to this level. The kids joined in and it became a sunday afternoon family activity. After finishing his three coat process on one shoe and only one coat on the other, Kevin put both shoes in front of me to show me the 'significant' difference. I couldn't tell a difference. But in his defense I am not detail oriented, however I am very gratiful for a wonderful husband who is. He is going to be a great Endodontist.
Right after his interview Kevin recieved a call from Florida and he was offered a spot. We accepted! FLORIDA HERE WE COME! In about 9 months.

KiNdErGaRtEn

Our oldest child is in Kindergarten. This is a milestone! I didn't even cry putting her on the bus. (truth be told- I did cry on her first day of pre-school) Maycie has been excited for this day all summer long.

I think Maycie is a well prepared little kindergartener. She know her letters and sounds. She is getting the hang of sounding out words. Maycie especially likes numbers. She likes counting and adding up things. She is becoming more out going, especially this last year. Before Maycie started pre-school (age 3) she wouldn't hardly talk to anyone or let anyone but Mom and Dad touch her. She used to be a quiet little thing. Even her cry as a baby was relatively soft. Those days are long gone. At moments I miss those days. She loves to belt out original songs suddenly in the car, backyard and even in church. She is our little Maycie girl and we love her!

Maycie picked out this shirt all by herself. I was hoping for another one but she was so sold on this one I couldn't resist. She asked if she could sleep in it the night before. I told her it would get wrinkley and so she opted not to do that.
Maycie's hair has gotten especially long this summer. I have a personal policy that hair shouldn't be long enough to get in the way of business in the restroom. I am feeling that her hair is at a good stopping place for growth. But after trying to get her hair to grow long since birth I must say I now enjoy looking at the her long locks.
She looks so grown up sitting at her very own desk! Even the expression on her face is composed, especially for her! Ahhh how time flys.

30th Birthday Hike

I turned 30 this month, yep 30. That means I am an official adult. When you are in your twenties it is like you are a jr. adult but once 30 hits there is an officiality that surrounds your adulthood status. I don't feel any different, I mean once you have three kids, a husband and student loans you are an adult in my book but I am official to one and all now, at least in my head. (Not sure if any of that rambling made any since)

Anyhow hiking the entire Narrows has been on my list to do since I was 15 yrs old. The Narrows is a 16-17 mile hike in Zions park in Southern Utah. The hike is thru a narrow, steep canyon I would estimate about 3-400 feet high. Most of the hike is in the virgin river. Most parts are shallow but there are parts that are too deep to walk so you simply float leaning back on your pack. My sister Shelly and I had been conspiring together to do a hike for awhile and finally the stars aligned and we did it. My sister Tammy joined in and Shelly's daughter BreAnn came as well.

My camera got wet the second day so we only have a few shots of the first day. The second day was more fun in of that we floated parts of the river and hiked around a waterfall. It was so great to get into the hiking zone where your mind clears and you are only thinking about the next step and the beauty around you. I enjoyed it a great deal. I also enjoyed the bonding time with the girls. We had more then a few good laughs and lots of indepth conversations. What more could I ask for? not much! Except maybe a pillow on the trail at night.
Above is Bree and I wet up to our arm pits and still with smiles on our faces. It was awesome!

Above is Shelly rounding some rocks in the rapids. This hike was not the summit hike that I would typically go for it was more tedious. We spent most of the time in the river negotiating rock after rock after rock. My legs were hammered after day one and day two was no different. We were all walking funny once we were done.

Above is my sis Tammy. We are seperated by four boys between us in the birth order but we are still good buds!
At the end of the first day it begin to thunder and lightning and rain. Shelly found this spot in the sand just under a rock overhang. We were dry and the sand was a big improvement to the hard hard ground we didn't sleep on the night before.
Here we are the Fab 4. Thanks ladies I had a blast!

Happy 30th to me!