Samuel's 7th Birthday

Samuel's birthday is on New Year's Eve and I think this one was his favorite yet. I asked him what he wanted to eat, start to finish, for the whole day. He requested pancakes for breakfast (and no, not the spelt blueberry ones, the white trashy ones :)), Vietnamese restaurant for lunch and homemade pizzas that we "decorate" ourselves for dinner. He didn't even want fun Sunshine pizza for an outing. So, he got all his food wishes granted. He also wanted to go bowling and ask a few friends to come along. Luckily these friends obliged even though it was completely last minute. Here are some pictures, totally out of order (sorry - I can blame my lack of organization on chemo brain, right??).

Juliet eating at the Vietnamese restaurant:And excited about it! My children LOVE the vegetarian rice noodle soup bowls - weird children, they are.
Samuel even attempted chopsticks.
This is what Abe did most of the time. Easy peasy!
And firs thing that morning, Colin bestowed Samuel with a bb gun. He was extremely excited! He also received a vat of Legos and some other specialty sets as well.
Such a cute picture of Wes, Samuel, Steve and Jude at the bowling alley.
Jude loves sugar more than life itself so he was pretty excited about this chocolate cake!
Here is the whole crew partaking in the birthday cake.
Samuel and I - do you mamas ever notice how little you are actually in family photos?
Yes, Jude chooses his own clothes.
Here's the whole crew! Ruby, Steve, Sissy, Wes, Samuel, Steve, Jude, Eli and Wyatt.

Eli bowling.

Ruby enjoying her cake.
Samuel enjoying thoroughly one of his presents.
Sissy is SUPER excited about bowling!

And she picked out her own very pink ball with Grandpa's help.
Samuel's about to blow out his candles.
Sissy really enjoyed helping me make frosting that morning - and of course she had to test it to make sure it wasn't poison.
John sweetly took Sissy to wash her hands.
Action photo.
And Tiffany was the baby whisperer for me. Bless her heart.

Kid Pics (Happy Post!)

Here are some recent pics of the kiddos:


Colin had the kids help him make pumpkin chocolate chip bars:
Sissy is always good at taste-testing batters. And look at those ringlets!!
Samuel loves to hold Abe!
Oh, my. I could eat up those cheeks! He looks so much like Samuel and Jude as babies.
We are working on his neck muscles - it's hard when he hates being on his tummy!
More cheeks. He's been getting a lot of Papa time now that I have started chemo. It's a good bonding time!
Jude - crazy, as always!

End of Kindergarten Celebration!

When I asked Samuel how he would like to celebrate being done with kindergarten, he exclaimed "Go to a see Kung Fu Panda 2!" So that's what we did on Monday night. Joy and I took the boys out to a 6 p.m. showing of the movie and we all had so much fun! Here's the pre-movie picture of Joy and I grabbing a much needed Starbucks:And here's the after picture, which you can tell the boys had indulged in the sugary treats we brought (breakfast bars, gum and lollipops - for some reason I think it's ok to give them those if they were purchased at Trader Joe's =)):
I look forward to taking them to more movie outings this summer since they did so well and let's face it - going to movies is one of my favorite activities of all time.

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.

Memorial Day and Other Things

On Memorial Day, the boys went with Colin on one of his many trips to Home Depot and they came back with their faces painted. Samuel, of course, wanted to be Batman:
Sissy dressed as herself - in a diaper, helmet (have I mentioned that she walks around stores with this helmet on?), necklace and watch:
Jude got his face painted as Spiderman:
And Colin spent the remainder of the day in the nursery (it has just been completely remodeled) sanding/staining the floors:
I have implemented Bible time every morning as part of school. Samuel reads a Bible story of Jude's choosing - it really kills two birds with one stone - they get in the habit of devotion time and Samuel gets his reading practice in. He's reading from "The Beginner's Bible". It's the perfect reading level for Samuel and has enough pictures to keep Jude interested.

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:

My Kids This Week

I love when my kids enjoy cleaning. I didn't even ask them to help, but Samuel offered to clean the toilets again (something is wrong with that kid) and they all took sanitizing wipes and occupied themselves for about 30 minutes. Unfortunately, Sissy fell off the counter, but that was bound to happen, right? Joel and Sarah and Mom came over one night for dinner and I caught all the cousins watching a movie (ok - the smaller girls didn't really do a lot of watching):
Samuel drug out the Pack N Play and the kids spent some time making a fort and playing in there.
Sissy takes her baby doll pillow and goes "nigh night" on it. I couldn't resist getting down on her level and taking a picture.
And Samuel ask that I take a picture of him doing his schoolwork.

Sarah's Wedding

Jude and Samuel and I were a part of Sarah's wedding party yesterday and Colin caught a few pictures amongst all the business.

Aren't the boys handsome in their suits?!Sissy spent much time swinging from poles saying "Watch me!"


I never get pictures with my kids - I love this one. I technically am with my four kids in this picture - weird!
Jude playing with the paper cranes.
Our kids dancing was one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time.
Sissy and Grandpa Jeff.
Jude dancing with Grandma Jan.
Ella, the flower girl (who danced with Samuel a lot) and the boys.