Fun with family

This last weekend was a blast!

Shawn's parents came up to visit us from California. The kids spent the entire day outside in the front yard watching for them to drive up, they just wouldn't come inside. Boy were they excited to see Grandma and Grandpa. The second they arrived, Jefferson started talking to them, and he never stopped the entire weekend.

We went to the beach on Friday. It was scalding hot here in Hillsboro so we all dressed for it. But it was windy and freezing at Seaside, bummer. Of course the kids didn't seem to mind. Jefferson went straight for the water. He and Grandma spent most of the time running in and out of the waves.

Peggy tried taking Grant out into the water to fill his bucket when an itty-bitty wave came...

and this was the result...

Note to self... keep Grant away from the water

The smart ones stayed under the umbrella

The smarter ones sat like this...

Don't get me wrong, it was really fun, I'm just a baby! We stayed for a few hours while the kids played in the sand and the grown ups 'people-watched'.

The next day was the Fourth of July. This has got to be one of my favorite holidays. I love celebrating this wonderful country. I love American History, heck, we named our kids after Presidents! There is no better way to celebrate the birth of our country than with a PARADE! Yeah. We weren't actually planning to go to the parade, we just wanted to get some berries at the Farmer's Market. But since we were there, why not.... The kids loved it. More than me? I don't know.

Loud music, marching bands, horses, big trucks, flags flags flags, dancers and....

CANDYJefferson was an awesome big brother and got candy for himself and Grant. My favorite thing about the parade was yelling the boys names. Sounds weird. I usually feel uncomfortable shouting out my kids names in public. But it was almost patriotic. I don't think there's any other place more appropriate to yell "Jefferson, Grant, Reagan!"

That night we set off fireworks. The boys had a hard time waiting until dark "Can we do 'boom boom' (fireworks) now? Now? Can we do them now? It's getting darker, can we do them now? Please? Please?" They rode bikes and played outside to pass the time until the fireworks. Here they are practicing for the American Bobsled Team.

Coming from an area in California where they're illegal, we had a ton of fun setting off our own. Reagan even got to set off sparklers this year, she loved 'em. Here's a video of her with her first firework. Silly me, I filmed it sideways, but you can still hear her excitement!

My mom gave me this idea of drilling a hole in a cup and placing the sparkler through, so the kids could safely hold it. Genius... thanks Mom it worked like a charm!

Jefferson and Grant enjoyed ALL of them. We didn't spend too much on fireworks though, we don't have to when we have neighbors who spend tons of money on illegal fireworks. We have our own personal show in our front yard. These suckers are Fireworks Show quality. The cops drove through the neighborhood, but that didn't seem to stop anyone.

Watching the show

Monday we took a drive up through the Columbia Gorge and visited Multnomah Falls.... which never ceases to amaze me. The beauty is breathtaking!

Here we are at a lookout along the road. SOOOO beautiful, and peaceful!

Reagan taking a peek

Taking a walk with Grandma and Grandpa

We stopped at Latourell Falls and hiked in for a closer look. Check out those rock formations, (and Shawn's head). I wish I knew more about geology to know what happened to cause that, but I do know it's amazing.

The crazy's actually walked to the bottom of the falls to get an up-close-and-personal look.

We got wet.... very very wet

Then it was off to Multnomah! Here's Monty and Peggy enjoying the sight.

The other two were lost at this point

Jefferson, waiting for the family to catch up along the trail

The kids favorite things about Grandma and Grandpa's visit....

Going to the parks,
Riding in Grandpa's car

Riding pet horses with Grandma (named Moon, Star, and Blood... can you guess which one was Grant's?),

Making homemade ice cream "but I didn't like it" (Jefferson) We had sooo much fun. Thank you Monty and Peggy for spoiling us :-) You guys drove all the way up here which was kind enough! The kids loved having you around and we enjoyed visiting. We love love love you guys and can't wait until Christmas when we see you again

XOXO

Vacuum animals

Growing up, whenever the vacuum was turned on, our dog Cubby would go wild! He would bark at the vacuum, run around the room, and just go plain NUTS. Lately the boys have been reminding me of Cubby. The second I pull the vacuum out of the closet they drop whateverthey're doing and yell "We have a rescue to do" (whatever that means). "TO THE RESCUE" they'll holler and start attacking the vacuum. Kicking, hitting, pushing, pulling. It's really annoying when you're actually trying to get some cleaning done. But when you're watching your husband deal with it, you can't help but think it's funny.

Shawn is a lot calmer than I am

Happy Birthday Mommy

I think everyone feels like their mom is the very best. Okay, fair enough. So when I say my mom is the greatest I understand she's not as great as yours :-)

Today is my mom's birthday. Happy Birthday!

I owe everything to my mom. As I have gotten older it amazes me how much I have become her. It makes me laugh, the fact that I do and say the same things that irritated me so much as a child. She is one of the strongest people I know. She's a magnet, people just love her, she's so fun to be around. And she has a way of making lemonade in every sour situation. She gives more of herself than anyone I know. I never hear her complain (well, there are exceptions).

Did I mention what a great Nana she is?

She's one of my best friends. I remember my mom and I going to Girl's Camp during my teenage years. I would frustrate my girlfriends because I wanted to hang out with my mom. How dorky is that? Okay, pretty dorky. But looking back, it's precious. I loved hanging out with her then, and I still love it today.She plays the accordion, how cool is that?

I always know when my mom has been in my house. She leaves little hints of her presents. After babysiting the kids I'll find things out of place. A stuffed animal will be wearing a hat. Or a trinket will be put in a potted plant.

She loves to cook and has given me a great appreciation for cooking too. No one comes to her house and leaves hungry! She always has music playing at her house, and chances are she'll be dancing along. She uses Italian words like Baloochi, chi-chi, coolie, Nany (I don't even know if they're REAL words).

She's just overall wonderful!

Don't hate me for putting this picture up.... it's just so something you would do

Mom, I love you. You're the best! I wish I were closer and we could go out. But I send my love.

P.S. I don't have many pictures of you and I together.... we'll need to fix that!

Here she is dancing with Reagan

From the boys: I love my Nana because...

Her reads my books. Her heart is good. Her lets me watch movies. Her makes me panpaps (pancakes) and that is my favorite breakfast. Her eats with me. Her gives me pancakes that don't have eggs. She lets me sleep over at her house. Her gives me bread. Her always makes my favorite breakfast. Her pulls my pants up high over my shirt when she's getting me dressed (laughing). Her lets me feed Cubby. Her plays games with me. I just love her!

My First Paycheck

I told Shawn I got an online job

He didn't believe me
I said, you'll see, I'll get a paycheck soon
It came
I showed it to him
See the amount?

"Wow Kristina, good job" he said

I feel so proud of my earnings

I've already spent it (on ice cream) - that was quick

But really... I've already earned $21, maybe it's not so silly
$3 for a 15 minute survey, that's $12/hour

I make more than he does

I won't tell him though

A child was here...

I found this in my fridge this morning...

I found this taped to the living room wall...

When I find treats like this throughout my house I leave them untouched for a while. It makes me smile whenever I see them to think of their little fingers and hands. I wonder what they were thinking when they placed the beads in a jar and filling it with water. Were they cooking something? Or maybe 'bead water' quenches thirst more than plain water? Where they saving some for me? Why did they choose to place their picture there? Did they use the whole roll of tape? Did the tape stick to their fingers? .... I'm left wondering.

Oh the joy!

One Loved Father!

We have one special father in our home who we are honoring today. Shawn is an amazing dad. My greatest joy comes from watching him play with his children. I realize they are looking to him as a role-model and I couldn't be happier. Shawn has a lot of responsibilities, deadlines, and stresses. But he doesn't hesitate to put everything down and give all he has to the kids. From the moment he walks through the door he is devoted to what's inside.

This past week, the boys have been asking "is it Father's Day today?" They couldn't wait to spoil their Dad. There was no breakfast in bed because we have church at 8:30am. But Shawn did get a long nap :-)

While he was napping we sat and I asked the kids about their dad

What is a Father?

J: a daddy

G: a daddy

What does a Father do?

J: he plays with his kids

G: he works and goes at school and helps people

I love my dad because

J: he wrestles with me

G: Him give me hugs and kisses

My dad’s favorite thing to do is
J: he likes to watch me play outside
G: I don’t know

My dad’s favorite food is
J: Chinese
G: frenchfraunt (restaurant) food

My favorite thing to do with my dad is
J: wrestle
G: play with him

When I grow up I want to be just like my dad because
J: he is a good daddy
G: because I want to be big!

When my daddy leaves the house in the morning his is going
J: to work or school

G: I don't know where he is going

When my daddy is at work he
J: fixes things. He can fix a lot of things. He can fix a TV or a chair or my bike
G: he works on cars

My daddy is going to school to

J: to learn things about being an eye doctor
G: I don’t know. Oh ya, an eye doctor

What do eye doctors do?
J: I know all about them, let me tell you. He checks people’s eyes who can’t see, and people who can but not very good. He says “can you see this?” and they say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and he fixes their eyes. That is all I know.

G: check eyes because they have to

My dad’s favorite movie
J: good movies
G: bad movies

If my daddy were an animal he would be a ___ because
J: Cheetah because I don’t want him to die. He could run faster than any other animal and would never die.
G: an elephant because he could smash an alligator with his feet.

My dad always tells me
J: secrets
G: he loves me

I wish my daddy and I could go on a trip together to
J: the jungle to see the animals from “the jungle book”
G: go bowling

Happy Fathers Day, Shawn and the other Father's who have touched our lives

We love you

You've had a birthday, shout HORRAH!

My little Jefferson is 5 years old today. Wow, slap me. I can't believe it. I can still remember holding him as a baby and it doesn't seem that long ago. He relishes in the fact that he was "my first baby." Age 5 just seems so monumental to me, maybe it's because he's starting Kindergarten. Or maybe it's the age when you're no longer a little kid.

5 things we love about Jefferson:

• He is extremely active. Not physically in the way of sports, but he must be busy doing something at every minute of every day (he got this from his mother). He wakes up asking "what are we doing today?" then continually through the day asks "what are we doing next?... then after that?.... then what?" Sounds exhausting, and it is. But as much as he wares me out, it is something that I just LOVE about him. Our family is always kept busy here and there because we have Jefferson pushing us out the door.

• He has a great sense of humor. He always telling jokes or doing pranks. They tend to not make any sense, but we can't help but laugh. At the dinner table he'll say "Daddy, will you pour me more milk?" Shawn will grab the cup to start to pour and realize that it's already full. "I did a trick on you, Daddy," he'll say and laugh hysterically!

• He loves animals, any animal... you name it, he loves it! We have jars and plastic containers of ladybugs, spiders, rolly-pollys, ants, and slugs all around our yard. They're all his pets, they all have names, they all get fed regularly, and even have toys to play with. I have no doubt that he would be able to take care of a real pet, too bad Grant is allergic to most. Jefferson is okay with it though, he just says "when I am a Daddy I will have as many pets as I want."

• He is 5 years old and 50 years wise. We have some really good, and deep conversations with him daily. Sometimes they're so deep I am at a loss for words. Just the other day he was talking about the Resurrection (something he's been consumed with since Easter) and asked me "When Jesus comes and everyone rises from the ground, are animals going to rise too?" I don't know Jefferson, I'll have to find out. "Well, I think so. Are the Dinosaurs?" I don't know. "I hope not because then they'll eat me." No, no animal will eat you because every animal will eat only plants. "Well, does that mean that we can only eat plants too?" I don't know, good question. He's curious and asks some good questions. Hopefully he doesn't mind that I can't always answer them.

• He has a great imagination. Sometimes he's flying to the moon, other times he's a pirate digging holes in our backyard in search of treasure. He's very entertaining.

His birthday is today, but we celebrated it in California a couple weeks ago. We visited Jefferson's grandpa in the bay area. We had a BBQ, ate cake, visited, opened gifts, flew kites, and froze our tushes off!!!! It was a really cold day, but bundled well.

Flying kites with uncle Ian

I want to sit by Papa. No I do. No I do. I do. I do. I do (screaming)

Yeah, cotton candy.... our mom's the greatest!!! (I know that's what they were thinking)

We headed back to my dad's boat (that he lives on).Doesn't this picture just warm your heart. (it would if you knew just how much they fight.... maybe they really do love each other)

My dad actually lives on his boat and works for Bay Marine Boat Works. They work on boats, simple as that. But not just any boat, they work on boats like this one.

Ian is taking the picture. The girl next to me is Clarissa, his girlfriend

So, he took Jefferson on a personal tour of the U.S. Coast Guard boat, a birthday tour! We all just followed. The boys love love loved it! Grant is 6 inches away from that edge!

I was pretty nervous (okay, extremely nervous) because there were no railings and it was a far drop. I kept my cool though, until Shawn decided to take Reagan to the very top. Help me Mommy!

We had a ton of fun, but the kids will agree that the highlight was when their Papa took them for rides on his moped. Heaven for a 3 and 5 year old!

Just look at that smile!

Shawn even took it for a ride. He's a natural! Love the bright green helmet.

To sum up the day (before passing out in the car) Jefferson said "That was my funnest birthday ever!"

Happy Birthday, my little guy

A New Grant

What if I told you not to eat any milk, soy, wheat, egg, or peanut products?
What would you eat?

Grant has suffered with allergies his whole life. We've always done what we felt was best to help him, but it has never seemed to be enough! This is the Grant I have known for the past 3 years...

Blindfolded I could identify him by his rough, rashy skin with scabs on his wrists, arms, ankles, and legs. I've had neighbors ask "is Grant okay?" because they can hear him screaming and tantruming 75% of the day and waking them up at night. He takes 4 different medications every night before bed. He complains about being in pain daily and rarely smiles. The only time his skin has been clear and his mood happier has been 4 times in his life, lasting 10 days each... this has been when he's been prescribed steroids. Sounds dramatic, but this is a 3 year old we're talking about.

Like I said, I have done everything I could, or I thought. 3 allergy prick tests done by 3 different doctors have yielded 3 different results. Each time, I eliminated what I was told was the new allergy from his diet. There was no difference in his appearance or demeanor.
Then we realized, the only thing we haven't tried.... eliminating ALL of the allergies at the same time, even if another test falsified it. I am ashamed to think it took us 3 years to come to this idea. So, as of June 1st we have been eating only organic and nothing containing MILK, SOY, WHEAT, EGG, PEANUT, FOOD DYE, NITRITES, or HIGH-FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP. But, that's everything! Come to find out, it's not.

And come to find out, it is making a difference! It took only 4 days to notice a significant difference. I thought maybe I was fooling myself until I asked him how he felt... He looked at me, smiled, and said "Good, no itchys!"
So where do we go from here? I'm not going to continue on with his diet if he's really NOT allergic to milk or something else. The only way to figure out what is is and isn't allergic to is to introduce them one by one (like an infant with baby food). In a few days we are starting with MILK. We will start serving him milk, yogurt, ice cream, and anything that contains JUST milk and none of the other allergens for a couple days. If he tolerates it we know he's not allergic to milk. If not, NO MORE MILK. We'll wait another week for his skin to clear, then introduce another food item, doing the same thing for all of them.

This is exhausting, trust me. My hope is that he can tolerate a couple of these because eliminating everything takes a lot of time/planning. No more quick trips to the grocery store. No more eating out, ANYWHERE! But we're willing to adapt if that's what it comes to.
The best part of the whole thing is that he understands and can be reasoned with. My visiting teachers just came over last week with muffins. He runs over to me and says, "Do those have wheat and eggs?" I told him yes, thinking he would be totally crushed. He wasn't, "Okay, can I have one of my cookies than?"

I'm optimistic!

More cute kid stuff

I have this piece of paper on my fridge where I write things my kids say, because otherwise I would forget. Reading it makes me smile and if I don't look at it often I sometimes forget how cute they really are... you know how life gets.

Well, the paper is full, so I thought I would share it, then put up a blank piece to fill again....

Grant: It's Sunday

Mom: No, it's Wednesday

Grant: No, it's Sunday

Mom: We go to church on Sunday. We're not going to church today, it's Wednesday

Grant: (pointing) But look outside, it's not raining today... it's SUNday

I couldn't argue with him anymore, he was right

We were transferring family videos onto DVD and watching them. We were recording Reagan as a baby when I asked Jefferson, "Do you remember when Reagan was born?

Jefferson: No, I just remember when I was born

Jefferson was really upset about something and we didn't know what it was.

Shawn: Do you want to talk about it?

Jefferson: (stops crying) Yes, when I'm done crying (starts crying again)

We were doing yard work outside. I kept finding slugs and bugs in the ground. Jefferson runs over to me and says, "Mom, tell me when you find an earthworm because I want to put it in my box." Grant runs over to me and says, "Mommy, tell me when you find a Spaceworm."

The boys with their Earth and Space worms

I was preparing breakfast for the kids, but couldn't seem to please Grant. He started screaming, "No, I don't want food for breakfast, I want a bagel!!!"

After dinner

Shawn: Jefferson, come clear your plate

Jefferson: Okay, first I need to get some water, then I need to go peepee... wow, I sure have a lot of things I need to do!

If only I had his to-do list...

I was talking to Jefferson about what it means to be a good neighbor. All of a sudden Grant starts throwing a fit and screaming "NOOOO"

Mom: What is your problem?

Grant: We are SKINNERS, not NEIGHBORS!!

Jefferson: I know which one goes on the right foot because I know my numbers

We've been trying to potty train Grant. I guess we've been getting a little too tough on him because he asked me seriously and kind of scared.... "If I don't go poop on the potty are you going to put me in jail?"

It was a really hot and sunny day last week and I forgot to put sunscreen on the kids, so they put on their own.... mudscreen. They thought it was really cool, until it started to dry, then they got freaked out of the scaling and flaking. I kept reminding them it wasn't their own skin, but they insisted on cleaning it off immediately!

I caught Reagan with a crayon in her room. She seems delighted that she got into trouble!

This morning while I was taking a shower, Reagan dumped out an entire bag of flour onto the carpet. Then she decided to bathe in it and cover the furniture and toys as well. I couldn't find my camera, darn!

I was out of the house by myself when Shawn called me asking if I had any rope or yarn. I told him where it was and came home to find this... I agree, they are a challenge to get to sleep sometimes, but only Shawn would think to deal with it this way.

We took a walk this afternoon at the park near the library. The kids love to feed the ducks. I am cautious of all the duck poop on the grass, especially after the rain... ewwy gooey smoochy duck poop is really disgusting. Well, it rained today. The chances of stepping in some were likely.... Falling and tripping into some, less likely.... Falling and tripping and landing face-first into poop, unlikely.... But of course, like any poor unfortunate odds, we're bound to be victim. This time it was Reagan. She landed head first (mouth open, mind you) into a pile of poop. She looked like she was going to vomit, heck, it made me want to throw up!

I know, this post was supposed to be, cute kid stuff......sorry!

Food storage shelves

We've been working on our food storage (3 month supply, anything else would overwhelm us even more!)... it's a work in progress. Our problem is that we're constantly eating our food storage and I forget to restock it, so then we're completely out again. I said we're working on it.... So, has anyone seen the rotating shelves that Shelf Reliance sells? They're a dream. They're also very expensive (for my budget at least). A shelf like this would run about $35. Tall ones like this are hundreds. Sure, it would be nice to have these, I could have the most organized food storage ever! I could have an immaculate pantry. I would love it! Trust me, I would never put mine in my kitchen like this though... what an eye sore! I sure hope she has a door that covers that monster! What if I told you that you could have a rotating shelf system in your pantry without spending hundreds of dollars... and that you could smile like the woman above because you'd be so well organized? You can! Look at this picture...I came across this picture on The Pantry Panel. I can't stop looking at it... it's perfect. They actually designed their own plans for these cardboard rotating cans. Seriously, I want to meet these people. Here's the plans. Okay, so now what?!? I was totally confused by the plans, I don't have an engineers brain. Luckily there are step-by-step instructions on Food Storage Made Easy (by the way, a great resource for food storage newbies). I am going to tell you, seriously, these are a cinch to make. This is how we made them...

We decided to make the size shelf for a soup can.
Cut out the pieces. Shawn did this part with his exacto knife, didn't he do a great job?.... such crisp straight edges (thanks honey, I couldn't have done it without you) I know, that stain on the cardboard is gross... I don't know what it is, sorry.Instead of cutting two sides and a back, we cut one long piece. We added an extra 1/8" to each shelf width because it is too tight for the can to roll otherwise. We also added an additional 1" to the height of each front piece to make it more sturdy, just like Food Storage Made Easy did.
Here's the dimensions:
Sides/back combined - 28 3/8″ long x 10 1/2″ high
Upper and middle shelves (2) - 9 1/8″ x 4 1/8″
Bottom shelf - 12 1/8″ x 4 1/8″
Top front piece - 3 1/4″ x 6 1/2″
Bottom front piece - 1 1/4″ x 6 1/2″

Then we measured 12" from each side of the BIG piece and folded it to form the sides and back. We put the can in to make sure it would fit... perfect!
Then the instructions said to measure 2 3/4" (depending on which size shelf you're making) in from each edge of one side and draw a vertical line so you would know how far in the shelves need to be glued so the can can roll through smoothly. We did this, as you can tell...But to be honest, it seemed pointless to me. Maybe it will work well for you. But it was easier for us to just eyeball it and use the actual can as a guide. So, we glued one edge of each shelf and placed them on one of the sides like this... Making sure always that the can could fit through. We used Liquid Nails for the gluing, it worked wonderfully! It dried quickly and was really strong. Then we put glue on the other edge of the shelves and folded over the opposite side to glue them in place and form the box. This is a really blurry picture, but you get the idea... the shelf edges have glue on them. We had to pile some heavy books on top of the whole thing to keep it sturdy while it dried. After just 30 minutes it was firm! Then we glued on the front pieces. We bent each piece about 1" (I'm guessing) on each side to form tabs that would be glued to the sides of the box... does that make sense? After it was dry, we cut small notches on the sides at the bottom so that the can could be easily grabbed and pulled out. (not pictured here) Finished! That was it... I told you, easy! We made 2. I'm sure we'll make more, but Shawn had better things to do, like watch a movie, bah! The shelf on the right has the notches I was talking about. I still have to cut them out of the other shelf.

So, we're on our way to an organized food storage, yeah! It's still not as beautiful as the people's pictured above. I guess we could paint ours white and label them. We'll save that for another day. Who's going to see these anyways? Well, I guess I just showed them to you, huh? oh well!