HAPPY BIRTHDAY II

We have a family tradition that for the kids' first birthday they get a carousel cake all to themselves. Since Kels seems to be our pink&white girl I did something different this year and did her cake in the color of her room - pink and chocolate with circus animal cookies. Kaeli helped me make it and we thought it fit Kels perfectly.

In the past the kids have put on quite a show with the demolition of their cakes. Ky wasnt too interested in his - and dumped it overboard - Kels seemed to follow suit. She enjoyed playing in it and eating the choc sticks, but other than that she put on a pretty boring show. She was fun to watch anyway and some of the faces she made were pretty funny.

It was a happy and sad day for me as I watched another "first" come and go and know that it was our last as well. With her growing everything seems to be bittersweet - the last first time to smile, the last first birthday, the last first steps....she is a joy and a perfect completion of our family, still it has been hard for me to really know we are done and that all these "firsts" are also our "lasts"

Little missy did give us a birthday present too - she just took off walking all by herself! She was holding onto a corner of a wall and just let go and walked across the entry to get a book she wanted. Then she did it again - just stood up and walked across the carpet in the library - all I could do was stare at her. All the other kids required coaxing with a toy or some object plus lots of "help" - Kels didnt need any of these things - when she was ready, she just up and went!

It will be fun to see how big she really is getting when we go to her check up this week - I have a feeling she is taller and heavier than Ky! Guess we'll see!

Pink & White Carousel Birthday Fun Just Because You Are ONE!

Love her blue eyes - this doesnt nearly show how gorgeous they are...hopefully we will capture them better in birthday picts

Are we done yet?

The new "do" - frosting mousse - perfect thing for that mohawk look!

FUNNY FACE

Kels enjoyed watching the kids through the screen door. She was so cute I thought I would try to get some picts - little did I know that she would put on her own little show! I was hysterical just watching her make all these faces. She really does have a personality all her own!

THE PROPHET SAID TO PLANT A GARDEN....

The last 2 Saturdays Preston & the girls have worked their tails off getting our garden and yard back in order. Last week they picked fruit trees, built grow boxes and built a fortress around them (see previous post about our monster dog)Yesterday they went and got veggie seeds and plants and more flowers and went to town. We should have a very bountiful harvest come Fall if all goes well.
You may notice that our fruit trees have some extras built in. We are going to try an ancient European method with the trees that will actually shape and grow them sideways along wires vs straight up like most trees. Supposedly this system will allow for more healthy fruit and more abundance because the tree spends its time growing fruit vs growing up. It will be several years probably before we see the fruit of our time and efforts, but we are hoping this will work well.
It feels wonderful to know that we have a garden again. It has been several years since we have been able to have a garden, and last year's attempt at planting trees and tomatoes resulted in them being literally eaten by one of the dogs before they could ever get going.....
It will be lots of work in the coming months, but hopefully well worth the effort put forth when we have beautiful, yummy food in storage for our family.

WE HAVE SUNSHINE FINALLY!

The kids have been so excited that there has finally been a few days of sunshine. After so much rain and nasty winter weatehr they have been more than ready to be outdoors again. One of the kids' favorite things to do is go outside with chalk and let the creativity flow. This was their first day out in weeks and they made the most of it!

Colton was so excited to be outside that he (& Ky) were literally jumping for joy!

Kaeli helped each of the little boys take a turn with the scooter. They were extra excited about that and Kaeli was so patient with them.

Caiden took some time to play with Kels. They had fun "dancing" in the driveway

JaNay had traced Colton multiple times. It was funny to see him lay there with all the drawings of himself

For the most part, Kels stayed inside and watched everyone through the screen door. Each of the kids took turns coming over to "check" on her and to play even though she was inside...

WE HAVE SUNSHINE - FINALLY! II

Ceana enjoys the sidewalk chalk as much as the little kids. This day she really got into it and there was as much chalk on her as there was on the sidewalk
Ceana was playing around with colors/designs when the other girls told her this looked like a colorful tornado - she continued playing and tweaking and ended up with multi-colored handprints as well. The picts just dont do justice to how pretty the handprints were

The kids love tracing each other and then filling in the details. Even Ky wanted in on the fun.

JaNay is always so good to make sure everyone is playing and having fun together - she even swept up Kels from inside to bring her out to enjoy the sun and play too

The whole driveway and most of the sidewalks were covered with the kids' artwork by the time they were done. They really enjoyed their time together and just being able to play outside again

COLTON LOST A TOOTH

A couple of weeks ago Colton surprised us by showing us that he had 2 loose teeth. He was very excited about it. Yesterday he was showing me the one that was most loose and I could tell it was barely hanging on. I asked him if he wanted to pull it out, which he did, but couldnt get a hold of it. He let me go ahead and try and I barely pulled and out it came - with no blood or stress or anything. He was ecstatic and couldnt wait to show everyone his tooth and the new, huge hole in his mouth. The tooth fairy brought him 50 cents for it being his first tooth. We are just waiting for the other one now...family picts could be interesting with both of his front teeth missing....

KAELI OUTDOOR SCHOOL

This last week Preston & Kaeli attended 6th grade outdoor school. Kaeli was nervous and excited and Preston was concerned that although he was helping, that he wouldnt see/get to spend much time with kaeli. They did see each other at every meal time, but other than that Kaeli only saw Preston at the station he was in charge of.....
They started off their 3 day adventure with very wet, chilly weather. Thankfully the weather let up and they were able to have their full day of educational "stations" in warm, dry weather.
I will have to have Preston & Kaeli add more editing to these picts and this post so you can get more details from them too.

Kaeli took this pict...will have her fill in details soon
Each year the kids get to do something like "spin art" - they put the frisbees in a machine that spins it and the kids drop paint onto it which makes creative designs

Kaeli especially liked this "station" The kids were taught about caring for pets as well as stock animals. Kaeli, and all the kids, esp fell in love with this darling Blue Healer puppy. She said he was so snuggly and fun. She said lots of interesting things happened with all the animals while she was there - apparently a reptile got stepped on and squished, a wandering lizard was rounded up by letting loose a large predator, and a rooster just up and ran off and disappeared. It sounded like lots of adventure.

Kaeli mentioned that the 1st night there they had served tiny slices of pizza. The one meal she really enjoyed. She had an eating contest with another girl, and Kaeli was proud that she blew the other girl away (and all the other kids) by how much she ate. Her description of the slices though was that the leaders had cut everything thin to make sure there was enough to go around - Kaeli's 8 slices probably amounted to 2-3 regular size pieces. Still, she thought it was pretty funny.

FLU QUARANTINE

Last Thurs we got a call from our CERT coordinator (who also works at the WOU) to tell us that the university was closing due to a suspected case of Swine Flu. We were blown away that the flu had reached our little community in such a short time.

When Friday AM came, and I got a phone call from a friend, and then discovered that I couldnt get through to any of the kids' schools I made the decision to keep the kids home from school. I loaded everyone into the car, on the chance that I might leave them at school. I went into each school office to be told there was no info and that the phones had all been possibly turned off on the district level (like ignoring everyone is going to help the concerns). In talking with secretaries and vice principals I felt strongly that it was best for me to for sure keep the kids home. It was amazing that they didnt even blink an eye when I told them, and I was surprised to see the girls' names added to a very long list of other students who would not be in attendance that day.

We came home, disappointed and near tears, and tried to discuss why the decision was made to be at home and try to stay safe. My biggest concern was for Kaeli and Colton who have already had their health compromised by flu, ruptured eardrums and severe asthma in recent weeks. Everyone got going on their few house jobs and then spent the rest of their day with free time.

Saturday while Preston & I were gone I got a phone call from Ceana telling me that there had been 1 confirmed case in the district and that all the schools in the district were being closed for this whole next week. There was also specific info telling families/children to stay away from school playgrounds. WHOA - I couldnt even think about what info had come about to close the schools, playgrounds and events for the entire week. We tried to gather what little info there was and planned for a quiet week at home.

Last night was supposed to be the school district board meeting - except that I got a last minute phone call from a friend telling me it had just been posted on the website that the meeting had been cancelled due to another 4 confirmed cases in the district.

Today we have been given the info that the 6th Grade Outdoor School that kaeli/Preston were supposed to attend next week has been postponed. There is also new info telling staff to not report to work unless otherwise notified. This postponement of the Outdoor School makes me wonder if they will be postponing/not holding classes either. Guess we will see what other info comes from the district through the rest of this week.

In the meantime the kids are doing a great job helping keep the house tidy and helping fix real meals. They are enjoying extra free time to read, watch movies and play on the Wii. For the most part everyone is getting along well, and going to bed early with no nap schedule (meltdown modex3 most afternoons) We will just do the best we can and take one day at a time. It is good time to rest and think about projects we would like to work on (think being the optimal word as I have not been well enough to follow through yet)

We will keep everyone posted on what we find out. For now, know that we are all healthy and trying to stay that way. We do feel this outbreak is a concern, but not a threat to our family at this time. All the kids seem to be doing really well, and we will do our best to keep it that way through this week and the ending weeks of our school year.

A DAY TOGETHER

Saturday Preston had another drill - all the way in Bend. He decided that it would be fun for just the 2 of us to go if we could find extra helping hands for the kiddos. We got everything arranged for the most part and decided to go.

The drive was beautiful, once we got past the rain, and both of us noticed all the unique things about the landscape. We also enjoyed listening to "Car Talk" on the radio - any of you who have ever heard that program knows what a crack up it is.

We arrived in Bend to the high school where the deployment ceremony was to be held. The 41st is deploying again to act as security units in Iraq. They are deploying something like 3500 people this time - the largest deployment since WWII.

Just as we arrived we noticed to fire rescue ladder trucks in the parking lot. They were working on positioning a VERY large flag between the 2 extended ladders. It was pretty incredible to watch the whole process and see the flag as it towered above everything. As we were watching a whole group of bikers rode up, most with flags flying from behind their bikes. It was a very unusual sight. Preston mentioned that this particular group goes all over to help with delpoyment ceremonies and to give/show their support to the soldiers and their families.

As we continued to watch we noticed the group go over to another group of military students and to start unloading large flags from the back of a truck. Each biker took a flag and then lined the sidewalk to the door to the building where the ceremony would be held. Following them were the youth participating in the Military Youth Challenge program, also bearing large flags. It was very moving to see 2 totally different group of people come together to give support and help to the days events.

Preston had to head inside to start help setting up for the ceremony and I stayed outside with my camera trying to capture what my eyes were seeing and what my heart was feeling. It blew me away to watch the youth with their flags stand so frozen in place, to hear "yes ma'am" when I asked if I could photograph them, to see their unwavering focus. It was even more breathtaking to watch those same youth march down the sidewalk, holding their flags high, between the bikers with their flags, and watch them move into the building where they re-positioned themselves to welcome the soliders and their families. It was amazing how many people were caught off guard, even the soldiers as they saw the youth presenting flags and lining the walls of the walkways of the schools. I stayed in the doorway and took picts as I listened to people say "whoa" or "cool" or just take in deep breaths of surprise at the sight. Not something that you see/hear every day.

I tried my hardest to learn and photograph all I could about this event. I tried creative shots, as well as shots straight on. I talked with soldiers and their families. I tried to capture special moments to be able to share with the soldiers and their families, but all the while felt like I was intruding on their privacy during such an emotion filled day. I have since re-considered those feelings as I have had correspondence from the 41st headquarters family program coordinator. She seems genuinely pleased that there will be real pictures to share with the families during the coming separation from their soldiers. I hope that what I was able to take will be something helpful to them.

The ceremony was very moving, and it makes you feel eternally grateful for all of the blessings that we enjoy, and take for granted every day. These soldiers and their families are making a great sacrifice to bring freedom to people who have not had it, to preserve the freedoms that we are part of every day. I know that we have a friend who is deploying for the 2nd time with this unit, it will be a very long year for him and the family he is leaving behind. I hope that we will be able to provide help, friendship and support to them during this next year and wish a safe return to all of the soldiers, including our friend.

After the ceremony we finished off our "date" day with shopping at Costco and I got treated to dinner at McGraths. Preston doesnt esp enjoy fish, but he knows how much I do. He got steak, and I reached out on a limb and tried a new fish entree instead of ordering my favorites off the menu (coconut Ahi and Macadamia Nut Mahi-oooh, those are SOOO yummy). The new dish was good, something to try, not neccessarily something I would choose again. The pasta that went with it was pretty yummy though - and the cheese topping on preston's steak was extra "wow". We both left too full to even consider dessert.

The drive home was spent looking at all the picts I had taken at the ceremony and looking at the slideshow of all my "Flora & Fauna", still trying to decide which photos I am going to enter in 2 upcoming photography contests. We chatted and I think I dozed off now and then too.

During the day we checked in with kiddos and they checked in with us. It sounded like they had a good day and enjoyed some extra yummy food and time with friends. We came home to everyone but the girls already asleep and found that we were ready to crash too. In fact, Preston was zonked out almost instantly after we arrived home - it had been a long day...

I think that our day together went well. The kids did a great job while we were away and Preston and I spent much needed time together too. Knowing the kids are getting so much bigger and really have done so well the last 2 weekends, we may think about more day outings like this in the future.

FAMILY OUTING

Last week we got the chance to take the kids to a concert at Warner Pacifc College. One of the guys in Preston's unit conducts music groups there and his wife is a professor. It was their Spring concert so we thought it would be a fun family night.

I didnt happen to take my camera with me - usually cameras are not allowed in concert settings. Little did we know how much fun it would have been to have it with us.

When we arrived we all noticed the trees heavy with pink blossoms. When the branches shook it felt like it was snowing pink snowflakes! The girls esp enjoyed picking up handfuls of fallen petals and throwing them in the air and trying to get them to land on their heads (their trajectory was a little off though due to the breeze)

We also discovered that we had arrived 30 minutes early - both of us sure we were going to be late. Preston decided a walk would help take up our wait time so off we went. We discovered a very large, rolling hill behind the concert building. The kids decided it would be fun to roll down the hill. They took turns rolling and trying to teach Ky how to roll down the hill. It was pretty funny to watch them. It turns out we werent the only ones watching the kids. Shortly after the kids started playing a group of college girls came over and started playing and rolling too. One girls got a great "tuck and roll" position - only to discover once she got going that she couldnt stop - and didnt until she hit the gravel walkway - yes, it looked as OUCH as I bet it felt. She prob had some serious road rash considering the clothing she was wearing (sleeveless top, shorts, etc). The girl quickly ended their fun and hobbled back to their dorm. We felt bad for them. The kids continued to roll and play. When they finally had one turn left Caiden rolled down and mentioned that he didnt feel so well. We could tell - his face was almost as green as the grass- even ceana mentioned she had never seen anyone literally turn green from a sick tummy. We kept our fingers crossed that if he did get sick he would do it outside vs in the concert hall...
Thankfully he didnt get sick at all and rebounded ok.

The concert was held in a round shaped building that is also used for their church chapel. We actually sat in pews - which was more comfy than hard chairs would have been. The pieces of music were very interesting and enjoyable. They played several non-traditional marches (definately not Sousa) and a medley piece of Irish songs. The Irish pieces were sung by an alumno member of the college who is now fairly famous. The kids got an extra kick out of these pieces as they often had funny words and music. It was hilarious watching Kels bounce and clap and laugh to the music - and even more hilarious watching the kids watching and laughing at her.

The kids did a really great job at the concert, and the casual atmosphere really helped me not be so uptight about them clapping and laughing and moving to the music.
Preston was extra proud of them and treated everyone to DQ Blizzards on the way home.

It has been a long time since we have had a family outing like this. The kids really enjoyed it and it was nice for everyone to just get out for something fun for the evening. It is something we will prob look forward to doing again - and remember to take the camera next time too.