Halloween

What a day! We were finishing costumes right up to the time we went trick or treating! Our friends, Shannon, Ryan, Payton & Kendall joined us for our trip around the neighborhood and what fun we had! The little kids were so thrilled every time candy was dropped into their bags and the big kids ran from house to house to see what the next treat would be!

Now, the candy sorting and trading has begun. It's so cute to hear them talk about all their treasures!

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!!

Finally

Not that anyone probably cares, but I'm finally posting pictures! I can't believe how busy I've been lately and honestly, blogging has been at the bottom of the priority list! We had the last day of school for both Zoe and Teagan - they are officially a 2nd grader and Kindergartner! I can't believe it! My snuggle-bug is turning 2 next month and it sort of makes me sad - a lot has happened in the past 2 years and I've so enjoyed all the extra time I've been able to spend with her - talk to me again after her and I spend a week in San Diego!!

We are officially on Summer vacation but that doesn't mean lazy days for us! The girls have a couple different VBS's they are attending, we have cousins coming to visit, a trip to Portland planned, time at Grandma's and maybe even some camping! Bring on the sunshine and warm weather!!


I think she was winking...





Mother's Day



Love her...



Sisters



Being silly



Jordan and I - love my brother.



Love him



New definition to Kissing Cousins



Makes my heart happy



I'm so embarressed!

This is the longest stretch of not blogging that has happened in a long time. I'm sorry! I really do have soooo much to blog about but life is getting in the way!

Here is just a sampling of what's been going on:

• birthdays - Teagan, Mom, Aunt Kari, Duffy, Grandma June...
• a wedding - Congrats to my cousin Mallory and new hubby Jamie! Their wedding was beautiful and a lot of fun! Your wedding gift will be on the way soon. I promise.
• a memorial service - celebrating the wonderful life of my Great Uncle Dan.
• traveling to visit family - trips to Aberdeen and PORTLAND. Wish P-Town could have been a bit longer but still fun!!
• shopping with some of my favorite gals - enough said. 
• sunshine - no enough.
• garden planting - things are starting to grow!
• rain - way too much.
• ear infections - Zoe missed an entire week of school because she had an middle and outer ear infection. She missed the wedding and a week of swimming!
• flooding washing machine - yay. Luckily, it was just the drain hose coming out of the drain. So, didn't have to get a new machine (that will be a sad day, cause I LOVE my machine. As much as one can love a home appliance.)
• flu - uhm, other people throwing up grosses me out. It was not a good 2 days and I realized I don't get paid enough to do that job. Isn't it considered hazardous bodily material in some medical professions???
• allergies
• work - yeah.
• a baby shower - too cute.
• a house-full of fun for the long weekend - we had 6 kids and 6 adults at our house over Memorial Day weekend. It was also Duffy's and June's birthdays, so fun was had by everyone. I was a totally  lame mom and didn't take a single picture - what's wrong with me?!?!
• swimming - starting back up on Monday!
• lots of cooking - lots and lots and lots of cooking. and baking.
• beer brewing - uhm yeah, got Duffy a home brewing kit for his birthday. Our first batch is brewing and will be bottled soon.
• ....and sewing - not enough if I can be totally honest! I have a pile of stuff I need/want to work on.
• Oh yeah, and all the regular stuff like laundry and dishes!

I need up upload a bunch of pictures and get some posted.. Right now, I need some coffee.

Soooooooo...

...did I mention that I went back to work? Yup, after 2 years of being home full-time, I'm working a big whopping 12-15 hours a week and it is AWESOME!

Don't get me wrong, I love being a mom and wife and being home at the end of my 3rd pregnancy and for Harper's first years, has been amazing and such a blessing. BUT, there has been some major stress associated with that, and if I can be totally honest...I think I'm a better mom when I get to do something other than playing, cleaning, laundry, and cooking.

Being a mom is a 24/7 job that you don't get to go home from. You don't get to leave work at work, you don't ever really stop thinking about things - did I switch the laundry? What's for dinner? Do we need milk? Are my kids happy? Why is she so crabby today? Am I being too hard? Not hard enough? Crap, need to switch the laundry!

So, what am I doing?? I am working in the office at our church; I prefer office assistant but old-school folks call me the secretary.  We go to a smaller, low-key church and I've been working Mon-Wen. the past 2 weeks and I think the phone has rang 7 times - and 3 of those calls were my mom! Right now, I'm still settling in, answering the phone, organizing some of the office stuff, revamping some of the documents and such. I'll be sending out weekly emails of church happenings, coordinating nursery and children's church activities, ordering supplies, etc. I'm really excited about everything and the possibilities that lie ahead. I love that my family is still my first priority and that my job is secondary to the well-being of my family; my kids are always welcome - Zoe went in with me for a bit on Friday afternoon to finish up a project. Nothing like child labor!

Family Time

Cooking with my mom and sister-in-law



Putting Zoe and Grandpa to work



The great house we stayed in - lots of space, huge commercial kitchen (I was in love!), indoor hot tub.



Zoe and dad

Harper and Bella looking out the window

 

My brother - so serious.



Yeah right!



I love her!



On the water

This past weekend, we spent the entire weekend relaxing, visiting, cooking, eating, playing cards and celebrating being a family. It was nice to get away from our day-to-day life and enjoy time with my parents, brother, sister-in-law and niece. It was a much-needed reminder of how blessed I am to have the family I have!!

Day 5

Write a blog thanking someone who has made your heart come alive.

You make me giddy when you walk in the door. My day doesn't feel right until I talk to you in the morning (he goes to work at 3am). You make me laugh EVERY day. Your creativity inspires me. Your ability to fix things amazes me. Your work ethic is to be admired. You make me feel beautiful all the time. You have this uncanny ability to say just the right thing at just the right moment - at least most of the time!! Thank you for making me feel like I am doing the most important job in the world and appreciating all that goes on around here. Thank you for helping me be a better "me".

***This is what I go through trying to get a "nice" picture of my hubby.

No wonder Zoe is a ham is EVERY picture we take!!***

Pumpkin Patch

Cute! Cute! Cute!

Love her to bits!



A very rare photo with all three actually looking at the camera!!



Zoe is into making crazy faces for the camera! This one is my favorite!

What a day for the Pumpkin Patch! It was blustery and cold but we had so much fun! We found great pumpkins and the girls were silly as usual! Harper was walking all over the place and thought the piggies were fascinating. Zoe was bummed that the haunted house wasn't open and Teagan spent the entire time looking for the perfect pumpkin!

Goof-Balls

Harper was being goofy this morning at breakfast! Her little personality is so funny - she starts laughing and giggling to get your attention and she loves when her big sisters are playing with her! She loves to push her walker around and is cruising all over the place - she'll be walking soon! We better watch out!

Showing off her new blanket from Mom! We left one of our favorites at Brady's house, so we needed a new one - this matches her bedroom better anyway!

Teagan loves to get into my closet and wear my boots. I personally like her outfit for the day - she picked it out and since we weren't going anywhere, it was good practice for me to just let her wear stuff that totally clashed! I asked her several times if she felt like changing and she kept telling me she like her outfit just fine!

Friendships

We live in a small town. Not one that either Duffy or I grew up in and one that, frankly, I'm sort of surprised we ended up here. I spent a lot of time in Sequim in middle/high school and Darah will tell you, I said I'd never live here. Things change when you grow up, get married and start a family. My parents moved up here when I was in college and coming to visit them, there was so much to do outside and we liked that it didn't rain as much (11 inches compared to 40 in Olympia). So, being the adventurous types (we were all set to move to Boise, ID the year before!) we decided to move. It has been a great place to raise a family and we love the small town feel. I love the weather, being close to the beach and the mountains.

We have met amazing people and have great friends here, but, I'm grieving my long-standing friendships right now. Those relationships with the people you've known forever. The ones you can vacation with, show up at their house anytime, and you're still welcome. Where you can totally be yourself, all the time, and they still love you. The people you have history with.

That's the problem with moving, growing-up, having a family. Things change.

Happy Birthday Baby H

What a sweet baby you are! I can't believe a year has come and gone so quickly! You are such a snuggler and love to smile and wave. You love when people are laughing and when you see your daddy playing the drums, you let everyone know, that's your "Dada!" Your big sisters love you so much, it's probably annoying! Thank you for making our family complete!!

Family Dynamics

This past weekend (Memorial Day) we went camping. Well, sort of. We camped our trailer in my grandparents yard and enjoyed the comforts of their dry, warm house! We got to spend a lot of time with brother, Bethany and Izabella - It's been awhile since we could just hang out and not have a bunch of stuff going on! I'm so thankful that we all get along, have so much fun together and the girls get to grow up together - it just makes me sad when it comes to an end because I realize how far away Portland really is!

We also got to spend some time with a lot of my extended family. It's been a really long time since we've been able to spend more than an hour or two with my aunts and uncles, cousins and their kids. I love that my girls can't wait to play with their cousins and I love watching them all grow up together.

Sunday was spent celebrating Duffy's 36th birthday! He got to sleep in (a rarity at our house), play Cabella's Big Game Hunter (how he could fight of the mountain lions and not have a heart attack, I don't know!!!) enjoy great BBQ and yummy food prepared by all the great cooks in our family. His cake request (cupcakes in ice cream cones) was a big hit with all the kids and even some of the adults! At one point, we counted 28 people, including Duffy's parents (it was also his mom's birthday!!) and brother's family. We feel sooooooo blessed that our families are close in proximity and relationship to share in birthdays and holidays - it makes things so much easier when time is limited!! And I love to see everyone together - it makes my heart happy.

Now it's back our real life. Teagan finished with school this week and Zoe has 2 weeks to go. We have a busy summer full of Vacation Bible Schools, having friends come and hang out a couple of days a week, weekend trips to Grandma and Grandpa's, vacation with Dad in August (maybe another camping trip....), and oh, yeah, Harper's First Birthday in July!!! Fun times ahead!!

End

Well, my unemployment benefits have come to an end. I have reached the end of my benefit year and will not be re-applying for benefits. I am glad to be done with the job-searches, meeting with WorkSource as to why I haven't found a full-time job (hello, I haven't worked full time in over 5 years!) and feeling like I've always got someone checking up on me.



I'm excited/nervous/scared as to how things will work out financially, but am thankful for the hours at The Good Book (you know, my boss there can be a total slave driver!! Love you mom!!) and I'm going to be watching our friends little boy one day a week and fill-in when needed, so there will be a little income coming in. I'm getting really creative with all sorts of things around the house to save money and we are relocating our garden beds to hopefully have a more fruitful garden! And I'm loving the time at home - I can never get this time back, so to be able to be at home with them is amazing! Yes, things would be easier if I was working and bringing home a bigger paycheck, but what is more important for my family, right now??

Happy Birthday Sweet Princess

Happy 6th Birthday Zoe Lynne!!
You make everyday brighter and so much more fun and interesting!!! You are a great big sister and wonderful daughter! We love you so much!