Raised Beds

Yesterday Colin was determined to get the garden in (which is good, because our grocery budget is killing us!). All the kids jumped in the truck and went to get a load of new soil and upon returning, shoveled it into the wheelbarrow.After turned compost and new soil into some of the beds, they began planting peppers, zucchini, watermelon, lettuce, etc. I love that Sissy chose to wear a white outfit while gardening.

Hopefully in a couple of weeks (weather permitting), we will see some sprouts! Currently we are able to eat chard out of our garden - something that grows plentifully with very little attention.

Portland Fire Awards Ceremony

On Monday night we attended the Portland Fire awards ceremony for Colin's promotion to Harbor Pilot. We were brave enough to bring the kids and luckily it only lasted about an hour. Here they are posing on Colin's fire truck:Ok - terrible shot (I was pretty far back with Juliet on my lap) but here Colin is shaking Commissioner Randy Leonard's hand:
Grandma Mary joined us and thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with the kids:
And Samuel took this picture:

March Gardening

With the rising cost of groceries hitting our budget hard (I find myself saying "Babe, this food budget isn't working anymore..." every couple of weeks or so), we have decided to get a bit more serious about growing our own food. Since it was unseasonably nice yesterday (which is code word in Oregon for "not raining"), Colin spent the day with the kids working in the garden. He planted spinach, lettuce, beets, carrots, onions and leeks. Later, we will be planting our usual warm weather crops.

I snapped some pictures of the kids - for some reason the boys thought it was appropriate to be doing karate for the camera:I love this picture - Samuel eating old spinach - look at his face!

This was Juliet's contribution - causing mayhem, of course.
Jude: "Here! Try some, Mama!" I politely declined.


And my muscularly husband working hard. My contribution was taking pictures - that counts for something, right?

It's Potty Time!

This is one of those photos where my husband says "Really, babe?" (incredulously). Yes, really. I love capturing little moments like these to use as blackmail later. Colin is trying in vain (and quite sporadically, might I add) to potty train Juliet. Here he is sitting next to her reading a potty book. No dice. She has absolutely zero interest in potty training. But sitting next to Papa getting a book read is a pretty sweet deal....

Pinkalicious.

Do you parents of small children ever want to throw a book away because you have read it over and over? The "Pinkalicious" books are like that with me. Juliet discovered them a few weeks ago and I thought she was just pulling the same book over and over out because it was on top of the pile. Wrong. This was the beginning of a very repetitive trend. Juliet brings us this book once a day. Which doesn't sound so bad, right? Well, she insists we read it to her about five times in a row. And the most astonishing part is that she sits through the whole thing. As soon as the book makes its appearance, Colin or I say "Bring it to Mama!". Or "Bring it to Papa! He wants to read it!" Don't judge us until you've endured the Pinkalicious curse.
I have to say that I do love that she is so into books. More so than her brothers, even. So today I will discreetly put "Goldilicious" and "Purplicious" to the front and center of the bookshelf.

Fourth of July

I've been meaning to get these pictures up since, well, the fourth of July. Anyhoo, here they are. My brother and his family came over to celebrate with us.

Ella did NOT like the fireworks. Samuel did.


Juliet loved watching the fireworks and even tried to run toward them on numerous occasions.
This was the water can that the fireworks were extinguished into. And Juliet loved mucking around in it.

I love this picture.



Joel and Eden.



Colin teaching his boys about fire =).

Mustache.

I think my husband lost a bet. I'm not sure who encouraged him to grow this 'stache, but can you please convince him otherwise?

I can't stop thinking about Reno 911. And denim cutoffs.

Suburban Hiking

On Wednesday we went for a family hike at Mt. Talbert very close to where we lived. It wasn't planned, but turned out to be a great bonding experience for our family. We've been stuck in our "responsibility rut" as I like to call it. We hiked a couple of miles and the boys loved it. Samuel has decided he wants to live in the forest.
The boys before the hike. Samuel crammed his backpack full of snacks and water.

Colin toted Juliet in the backpack for the first half of the trip.

The photo begged to be converted to b&w.

Snack time. We had two rest times in the span of 1/2 hour.

I took Juliet for the second half of the hike and she took her morning nap.

Jude rested on Colin's shoulders.

Samuel ran down the trails "slaying dragons" with this stick.

Just cute.

Jude after the hike.

Barn Clothes

Juliet was left with Colin and his dad while they were working on Colin's garage (or barn or shop, whatever you want to call it - because let's be honest - we will never park a car in there) while I ran to Costco. I came back and had to giggle at what she was wearing. I think they covered all the colors of the rainbow in her outfit. Did I mention that she was out there playing in a cardboard box and loving it? Ugh! I need a pocket camera for times like that...

Apple picking

Here are some pics of our family outing to Mollola (actually Marquim, if there is a difference). It was last minute and Jude did NOT love the car ride. Oh well, we will be enjoying apple crisp, apple sauce, muffins, etc....