Kids

Just some pictures of the kids.

I like how dirty my floor is in this one - will I ever be able to keep up with the house?

I asked Samuel to pick a zucchini for some bread yesterday morning - this is what he came up with. Pretty impressive!

And here's what Jude was doing while Samuel was in the garden - he has never met a blueberry he didn't like. Even the green ones.

Shoes. Pretty, Pretty, Shoes.

Sometimes my boys get bored. Real bored. Especially when I'm nursing the baby. That's when they start swimming around in my shoes and then parade them around Juliet's room. I'm so sad about these beautiful magenta flats (they actually sparkle) - they are so uncomfortable that I can't wear them. At least someone gets use out of them, right?

I love these digital frames - aren't they fun? It's the first time I have actually paid for something digital (I don't get digital scrapbooking - am I the only one?). Find them here.

Bittersweet Goodbye

So, Karli and I have been friends for a long time - pretty much since I have attended Athey Creek, which is like, 7 years or something. As of next week, she and her family are packing up and moving to Springfield - so far away!! We took the kiddos to the park today for one last hurrah and asked eldest kids to take a picture of us. Here it is - I haven't taught Samuel much about composition yet. Sniff.

More Randomness

Funny request of the day from Jude:

"I want to see that guy bammed on to that table" (speaking of seeing Jesus nailed to the cross in his children's Bible this morning)

My wish:

That they would rename "Forever 21" (the store) "Forever 29" so I wouldn't feel so awkward shopping there. In my defense, I saw a lady at least twice my age perusing the racks.

Question:

Is it worth the $300 upgrade to Photoshop CS4 from Elements? Adobe has a special deal right now that Elements users can upgrade for this deeply discounted price - I have a birthday coming up and could probably talk my hubby into it, but it is worth the expense? What are the major differences?

I'll post photos soon when the kids don't need breakfast and I don't have a budget to put together...

Because Some Days You Just Need a Hat...

8:30 a.m 9 a.m.. Much better.

Juliet

Because I love taking pictures of her...

Our Garage and Kid Time

So our garage has been painted - it was a long process deciding which color because I am very picky about color and it will eventually be the color of our house as well. We both fell in love with this charcoal color with bright white trim. We also discovered how important it is to buy good quality paint - it went on like butter. It's so amazing to think this portion of our yard last year was, well, just yard. Now the boys and Colin have a wonderful place to hang out in. I am alone with the kiddos for 48 hours and apparently needed some more kid time, so I picked up Samuel's cousin, Wes, for the morning and early afternoon. They had such a great time together and it really wasn't hard until Jude woke up from his nap. Suddenly there was tattling, fits, hitting, the usual. Later, the kids and I headed to Sherwood to help with a babysitting co-op and had a great time. Chaotic, but fun.

Juliet is extremely high maintenance right now - I think she's a 2 year old trapped in a 6 month old body. She really wants to be moving, so I am her main mode of transportation. She doesn't really want to nap and when she's awake, she'd rather I be walking her around the house. I did catch her having a few playful moments by herself yesterday - with the boys' dinosaur.

I love getting down on the floor to take pictures - such a great angle to take pics of kids. I've been playing with my photos lately - I purchased some actions from the Maggie Holmes website (I love her scrapbooking and her photography - they are both always drenched in color). Currently, my favorite action is the Urban Cross - so fun!

Do you ever feel like...

you aren't as smart as you were in college? I mean, in some ways, we have all grown wiser, but in others, not so much. Try picking up one of your old college textbooks (preferably one that was part of your major) and read it. Any page. I tried that last night. I was a Writing/Lit major and I picked up "The Madwoman in the Attic", a feminist literary criticism book and turned to the portion about Emily Bronte's writings. I remember the part about the angel/monster thing (many female characters in books are either angels or monsters - think: Snow White and the Queen) but then the book just completely lost me. The big words, the really convoluted concepts. What happened to me?! Will my brain ever recover from being a mom?

A Beach Wedding and Other Ramblings

Colin and I headed to Astoria for a friend's wedding on Saturday. Since Juliet was in attendance also, it made for an interesting evening. Luckily, we sat next to a couple who left their four kids at home and love babies, so they held her a lot. As we entered Astoria, I realized how long it had been since I had visited that town - it has changed so much! It had numerous book/coffee shops (does it get any better than a book and a coffee shop?) and people strolling casually along its streets. I wish we could have stayed the night, but Colin worked the next morning, so we settled for a late night on the town. The ceremony was short, the food was fabulous and it was a great time to actually talk to my husband in the 4 hour car ride.

Here's Colin and Juliet in Astoria.
Here we are before departing - I am making an effort to be in more pictures. I really don't want to be the invisible wife/mom in all of our photo albums.

I love b&w pictures!

Oh my 4 year old: While taking pictures of Juliet yesterday, Samuel asked me the same question over and over about a picture in his scrapbook. After saying "Just a second, Samuel" for the third time, he sighed and said, "I guess Mama doesn't love me." Manipulation comes early, people.

On spiritual stuff: I've been trying to wake up early and do my devotions before the chaos/questions/diapers start and today, it was 5 a.m. While reading a book on hospitality and service, I paused at a question the author posed. What stops me from serving others? Well, beyond the obvious fact that I serve my family like, 24 hours a day, I'd say the fear of rejection holds me back. I don't like people having to say "no" to me. But, I think if I could get over this, I could be serving others so much more.

Observation of the day: If you always have a bag available to put Goodwill stuff if, you'll be a lot more organized overall. At least, that's what is working in our house right now. Simplify and you don't have so much stuff to clean all the time!

On health issues: I have been on about 6 rounds of antibiotics due to breast infections since Juliet was born. Needless to say, my body has no natural defenses left in it and I am currently battling a sinus infection resulting from a common cold. I have decided to give my body a break, so to speak, and spend a few days eating very healthy. No sugar (very hard for me since I eat baked goods every day) and whole foods - whole wheat, lots of veggies, lots of water. However, I will not give up caffeine, it just won't happen. I have been eating like this for about three days - I feel much better, but really do miss eating the comfort foods - muffins, scones, cookies, etc. I have more time because I'm not baking so much. I won't commit to this "diet" forever, but at least give it a try for a few more days and see how my body responds.

On Jude: While reading a Clifford story the other night, Jude, as usual, was asking a million questions about the pictures. After asking, "Where's Clifford? What's he doing?" He stated, "Clifford has a wiener like me." Kids are so nonlinear sometimes.

She Likes It! She Really Likes It!!

I try to feed our family out of our garden whenever possible and I thought, why not offer some to Juliet? I had a huge zucchini to use up for dinner and after I sauteed it in olive oil, added salt and pepper and watched my boys refuse it due to "spiciness", I ran it through the mini food processor, and fed it to her. I love that babies come with a fairly blank palate, so I can do things like feed her zucchini in a vain attempt to avoid the sweet tooth that she will inevitably inherit from me.
This was after one of the first few bites - it really takes her a couple of spoonfuls to get used to a new texture/temperature.
And the picture below is just to sweet.

Eating Cheese

Last week we headed to the Oregon Coast and made a pit stop to the Tillamook Cheese Factory - the kids and I had never been. What a treat!! It was quick (as everything has to be with a 6 month old), but the boys made out with some ice cream and I drooled a bit on the glass watching the workers make the medium cheddar cheese (my favorite cheese ever). Ok. Colin and I have been off our mullet spotting game for a while (and really, it's all downhill after spotting a prize winning mullet in Vegas a few years ago), but we had to snap this pic in the parking lot of the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Is is a Tourist Skullet? A Tillamook Skullet? I couldn't decide, but here he was in all his glory. It was a drive by shot, so sorry for the picture quality.

Here are the boys eating their ice cream in silence.

Family photo.

The Cow's Rear and Weirded-Out Husband picture. Doesn't everyone have one of these?

Juliet.

Picture taking has become fun time for Samuel.

Cute.

This is the glass I drooled on.

I love the beach. And the 80's.

To escape the Portland heat, we went to Rockaway on Thursday. I had to giggle at this picture. I've had a lot of comments on these glasses. Here are a couple: "Nice glasses. I think I actually wore those exact pair in 5th grade." And after telling my husband I spent $10 on them, he replied "That was generous."