Happy 10th of July!

Ok, so I'm a little bit late, but this post is really "Happy 4th of July"! I love the 4th of July! It's truly one of my favorite holidays! All the red, white and blue, fireworks and BBQs! What can be bad about that? And truly, to celebrate independence! What a great country we live in!

In Washington, fireworks are legal so between June 28th and July 5th it's pretty much a 4th of July week! Fireworks going off all the time. It makes for a fun (and noisy) week, but we love it!

We had a great time on the 4th! Bob and Susie's neighborhood had a parade which me and the kids were in, then a big BBQ at the lake, followed by "Transformers", and then of course, the BBQ with all the yummy food. We all had a great time!

Happy Birthday America!

Ready, Set, BOUNCE!!!

Ok, so who spent the majority of her day building a trampoline yesterday? You guessed it - ME! And, not an easy task I might add! It's hard work! But, I told the kids that if they helped me clean up the house a bit, we would at least try to build it. So, while I was still cleaning, I told Chad to carry all the pieces (the boxes were in the garage) to the backyard so that even if we couldn't figure it out, when Daddy got home it would all be back there, ready to go. By the time I got down there, Chad had all the pieces out and laid out in the correct formation. He was even following the directions - go figure!

Points I learned -

1. Not a wise idea to use an electric drill while sitting on the trampoline. I was trying to screw together two pieces and the drill accidentally fell out of my hands and onto the trampoline mat while still going, thereby creating a (very small) hole in the trampoline. Hope that it doesn't get bigger!



2. The mat around the edges goes on before the safety net! Once you put the safety net on, pretty hard to get the mat on over it! Left this job for D, so he ended up taking the safety net down to make it easier. That's why I keep him around!



3. Kids are VERY impatient to jump on a trampoline - whether it's finished or not!

Red cheeks

I'm sitting here with Reed, while his face is turning bright red, because he's pooping. Sorry... just wanted to share! :O)

Anyways, nothing much going on. Just wanted to tell you that I've lost almost 6 pounds (5.6 to be exact!)! YeeHaw! Know it's not a TON, but in a month, between Weight Watchers and walking 3-4 miles a day (every day except weekends) that's just not too bad! And considering I have about 15 pounds in total that I want to lose, really not too bad!

Other news, we made a deal with the kids yesterday that if they helped weed/clean up the backyard, we would go and buy a trampoline... so expect pictures of the new trampoline as soon as we get it assembled. Probably tomorrow. Have a great day!

Happy Birthday Chad!

Our first born is 11 today! Can you believe it? He's told us that soon he won't like Star Wars toys anymore - because they're not cool (try telling that to Derrick!) - but for now, it's still a Star Wars holiday at our house! We love you Chad and are very happy to have you as our son!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHAD!!!

The ortho will love us...

This is such my kid! We didn't teach him this, but he LOVES sucking his thumb! Another one for braces!

We just love him so much!!!

Field Day

Just some cute kids enjoying Field Day - kind of like school Olympics, and apparently done at all the schools in Camas. Pretty fun. I was on the second shift for hula-hoop. There was a second grader that hula-hooped for 2 hours, 32 minutes in the first shift, beating the school record! Think of that workout!

I cannot hula-hoop for anything! I tried a whole bunch of times, and that thing just refused to stay up around my waist!

Summer's here!

Macy and Mrs. Andros

Mrs. Sleight and Chad

Luke and Mrs. Mahoney

Last day of school. Kids went to school at 9:00 and got out at 10:50. That's my kind of day! And while they were there, all they did was play and have a final assembly. Can't beat it! I even showed up with Krispy Kremes. Gotta love it! Since Chad's birthday is on Monday, he wanted something special today, and I figured that since it would still be early in the morning, donuts were just what was needed!

Chad is now done with elementary school. Can you believe it!?!!! He starts middle school next year. I feel so old! :O)

Another baby boy

Congratulations to our friends, the Morrisons, for welcoming Evan Patrick yesterday! Weighing in at 8 pounds, 10 ounces - almost as big as Reed - he is welcomed home by Kelan, Kathy and big sisters Bailey, Shannon and Makenna! We can't wait to meet you little Evan!!!

Summer fun

Enjoying popsicles on a nice summer day. We just walked back from the park where we had our last den meeting - treats and playing - with the Webelos, and the girls were hot and needed some cooling off. Perfect summer treat!

Macy, her good friend, Sierra, and Haley

The State of Utah

The Utah state "cookie" is finally done! It's part of the extra-credit for Chad's state report. But of course we had to make our "cookie" out of Jell-o, because after all, Jell-o is the official state snack of Utah - did you know that? See, learn something new everyday!

We really had to talk Chad into using Jell-o and not making a cookie, which would've been easier, but once he saw how cool his was compared to everyone else's cookies, he was convinced! Not that their cookies were bad or anything, but he was the only one with a cool wiggly, jiggly state! Gotta love the Jell-o!

FYI though, icing starts to melt on Jell-o as it warms up. Just thought you should know!

A new baby in the house...

Not ours! The Kolbe's! Congratulations to Pam, Steve and Megan on their new little baby girl, Isabel Shae! Hugs and kisses to all!

Sunday afternoon in our house...

After church meetings, Boy Scouts meetings, finishing up the 5th grade state report, this is what happens next...

The (Not Pasadena) Rose Parade

Macy, Haley and our friends, Julie, Brian, Greta, Anna & Ian Brown
Luke playing his washboard drum

So, in Portland every year they have their own "Rose Parade". It is always in June, supposedly, rain or shine (go figure!) and it is in honor of the roses. Gee, I think I could make up my own parade at that rate. Anyways, today was the "Junior Rose Parade" - the "real" one is on Saturday - and it's a big deal around here. Chad and Luke were both in it with their school and really, for being on a much smaller scale, it was a lot of fun. The streets were closed off beforehand (and it's on a very main street in Portland), and people were in the middle playing ball, drawing with chalk, blowing bubbles, etc. Then the parade starts and it's all about the kids. Scout troops, Shriners Hospital, lots of schools, karate clubs. It was fun. So Luke walked the whole parade route playing a drum and singing with his school group, Musiking, which is like a choir, and Chad did round-off backhandsprings and cartwheels with the tumbling team. I don't think they enjoyed being in it as much as I enjoyed watching it, but the rain didn't come, so all in all, a good time was had by all!

Summer is upon us...

So, in honor of summer almost starting, I have joined Weight Watchers - yet again - and have started my own walking club (me and Cooper!). I just got back from walking about 3 miles with Cooper. Although I hate getting out of bed at 6:30 - even though I'm awake - I have started to realize that I like being out, walking around the somewhat quiet neighborhood so early in the morning (although the junior high and high school buses start picking up around 7:15). And, I really enjoyed feeling like I accomplished something when I get home, an hour later. So, here's to getting in shape! Totally down to my pre-pregnancy weight without trying, but now that I am done having babies, it's time to get back to my totally pre-pregnancy weight, or at least a lot closer, and looking and feeling a lot better about myself. So, first WW meeting tonight with Susie and a bunch of other people from church who have been going for a while, and just gotta keep up with the walking. We walked all over the neighborhood on Saturday - it was garage sale day after all! And it's really nice where we live 'cuz there are all these amazing trails behind our house.

Dream Dinners

Ok, for those of you that know me, you know how much I love to cook - NOT! So, today I was very excited to try this new thing called "Dream Dinners". It's not new in general, just new to me. A lot of people up here use it, so I wanted to try. The way it works is, you go to this place and pick out whatever different meals you want to make - they have a different calendar of menus every month. Then you go to all these mini-kitchens and follow their recipes and pre-make the meals. The great part is, all the ingredients, tools, measuring things, whatever you need, is already right in front of you (and you don't even have to clean up after yourself!). Then you just put it all into Ziploc bags, take them home and freeze them, and then you've got meals ready to cook, that actually have been prepared by you (for an extra $1 they will even put the meal together for you!). Crazy! This is definately my kind of cooking. I got a Sunday Roast, some Saucy Beef Tips and Honey & Orange Glaze Chicken - all on recommendations from friends who have tried them. Will report back once we've tried them. Works out to be about $20 a meal for 6 people... not too bad and super easy! I could like this!

Also discovered Schwan's. I was at a Stamp Camp this morning (go figure!) and the "Schwan's" man came by. Schwan's is like a giant refridgerator on wheels. They come to people's homes and have all sorts of good stuff - meat, veggies, ice cream, etc. Super cool! I have decided that I don't like the grocery stores up here, so at this rate I could never go grocery shopping again - other than Costco of course!

It's been a food-filled day! That could be June-y!

Happy June!

Can you believe it... it's June 1st!!! Crazy! Where has the year gone? For us, only 14 more days of school - yeehaw! Not that I love the kids being around all the time, saying they're bored and there's nothing to do, but I do so love not having EVERYTHING scheduled! I love the "relax-ness" (is that a word?) of summer! For us, the remainder of June and all of August are pretty "relaxed", but July is a bit crazed. A week of Girl Scout camp, a week of Cub Scout/11-year-old Scout Camp, and two weeks in Los Angeles right in the middle! We are excited though to see our friends from Cali and hopefully get a trip to Disneyland out of the deal - if it isn't too hot!

Have a super June 1st! Go out and do something "June-y" to celebrate!

Chad's run for the gold...

David, Chad and Justin

All the 5th graders in our district had a track meet yesterday. Chad didn't win any of his events (track isn't his thing), but he had fun anyway, and that's what it's all about. Just wanted to post some cute pics of him and his friends.

And the best part...

of our weekend was definately blessing Baby Reed! Since a lot of the women were going to be here anyway, we decided it was a good time to bless little Reed, so Grandpa Fred flew in for the weekend as well. We were joined by Uncle Bob and Uncle Dwayne, who live nearby, and our Bishop, for a great blessing done by D in our living room. It was really nice... and isn't he the cutest?

More Sista pics...

Christine being so brave!
Happy Birthday Heidi!

Sista before Mista...

While the boys were away, the women played! D and the boys left on Wednesday night and came home Saturday morning. In the meantime, 2 of the sister-in-laws, and Grandma Helen came up for Women's Weekend with me and two of my sister-in-laws, Susie and Heidi, who live nearby. We had a great time! Hit a comedy show, visited a bunch of fruit orchards, did crafts, shopped, got pedicures (Christine's first ever real pedicure - you were so brave!!!) , and just hung out, being silly. Always fun to have some girl time, but really appreciated sleeping in my own bed when they all left! Love you guys!

P.S. Happy Birthday Heidi!

More L.A. photos...

The Force is With Us...

Well, the older boys of the family at least!

Derrick, Chad and Luke flew to LA last weekend for the Star Wars Convention. They were so excited! Chad had a countdown going on. It was the 4th Star Wars Celebration and the 1st time that it's been in Los Angeles - of course, right after we move out of Los Angeles. They had a super time! Ate at In-n-Out, bought lots of Star Wars toys, swimming at Grandma & Grandpa's house and even caught a Dodger game - a clincher one - Dodgers against Chicago Cubs. Dodgers were winning like 7-1 and in the 7th inning the Cubbies got like 8 runs. Dodgers still won! Pretty impressive.

Hi Chris!

That's all! Now you're famous!

Hi Debbie!

Ok, so as previously mentioned, I used to work at The WB (now The CW), which I loved, and that is in part how I became such a fan of the Gilmore Girls. So, the other day I was surprised and delighted to find a small package delivered by UPS which had a copy of the season finale of Gilmore Girls on DVD sent by my friend, Debbie, who still works at The WB. She saw my blog, and figured that if she sent me a copy I could watch it over and over and over again. Not quite the same, the story will never change, but still love it! Can still get my Gilmore fix. Thanks for thinking of me Debbie! Love you!

The End of an Era..

So, call me crazy (you know that you already do!), but I was very sad to see the end of Gilmore Girls last night. I was even a bit teary-eyed! D laughs at me because he knows exactly when I am watching things on tv I will become emotional. Consider it the mom in me. Anyways, I saw Lauren Graham on Ellen last week and she was talking about the show ending. Saying that they just found out the night before that it was going to end, and that they had already filmed their season ending. I tell you, watching that show last night, someone knew it was going to end. The writers' probably. They did a very good job of wrapping things up, but I was still sad to see it end. Ok, Lorelei kisses Luke, but then what? And what happens to Rory? Do her and Logan get back together? And what about everyone else? Lane and Zack... Sukie and Jackson... Ms. Patty and Babette? Now what am I going to watch on Tuesday nights? I kept waiting for the "next week... on the Gilmore Girls"... but alas, it wasn't too happen. The WB (dumb CW) has really gone down hill since I left. See, it really is all about me! :O) Have a super day... Gilmore-less. Thanks for seven years Gilmore Girls!

And the rest...

Luke turned 9 in March, but due to the fact I was really pregnant (can we say REALLY pregnant!), and uncomfortable... Lukie didn't get a party until last week. He wanted another bowling party, so we had a party at Big Al's (just love the name!). He had 5 friends - mainly girls, of course - and us, which makes quite a party, and had a great time.

Then, later that night, we celebrated Haley's 3rd birthday with an outing to Build-a-Bear, with just our family, again a party in and of itself. And then Monday night found us at Outback for D's birthday - thanks Bob and Susie for D's birthday dinner! And then on to Red Robin for Haley's actual birthday on Tuesday Night. There were 5 other people there celebrating their birthdays that night as well! Crazy!

The littlest Huckvale...

turned one month old yesterday! Can you believe it??? He's getting so big... and we just love him tons! So far, he sleeps a lot, toots a lot (definately a Huckvale), and is such a joy! He's also battling acne right now! Better now than as a teenager!