Oh the joys of old houses!

So, last night for dinner the kids and I decided to have some waffles and bacon. I know, healthy and well-balanced. Anyways, I started cooking the bacon on my griddle, and plugged in the waffle iron to preheat. The bacon started getting all translucenty and I put in the first waffle. Of course, the twins were screaming, because we had been at the park too long and they were beyond hungry, and Olivia was insisting that she stir the waffle batter, and spray the waffle iron EVERY time. So, moving right along, and I look down to see the lights OFF on both the griddle and the iron! Oh no! So, I move them both over to the ONLY other outlet (out of five) that works in our kitchen. Yea!!! The lights both came on and we were back in business. I get the kids in their highchairs, and get them their milk to tie them over, and go back to check on things, and guess what? The lights are OUT again! And, the fridge light is out, too. So, I am not an electrician, but I do know where the electrical box thingy is and I got an idea, I ran down to flip the breaker to off then back to on. Yea! Lights again, but I figured I was overloading the system, so I made Olivia my pastry chef and put her in charge of cooking the waffles in the BATHROOM!!! It was a pretty funny sight, this bathroom cooking, but we got our waffles and bacon and ate them too! And, Jon was out of town and missed the whole show!

I'm not bragging.............

And what, you may ask, did I do to deserve all of these roses? A lady never reveals her secrets!
I love you, Jonny!

Thank you Aunt Crystal.............

And, Geoffie, Jaidie and Tagey, too for making us look cute! We love our new birthday outfits!

The benefits of spacing children..............

So I woke up this morning at 8:15 and could hear the sounds of my little ones, but not coming from the baby monitor as they usually do. No, definately coming from downstairs in the toy room. Hmmmmmmmmmmm. I fell back asleep. Not too long later, my bladder called me from bed and I noticed my door was shut. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. I opened my door to see my big Olivia who was apparently going to come into my room at that precise moment. She excitedly told me, "I have a surprise for you, Mom! Come downstairs." I told her I would be right there, after the bathroom, of course. She excitedly bound down the stairs. I followed not to far behind. I hear her shushing as I walked down the stairs, and as I rounded the corner she jumped out and said, "SURPRISE! I got them up and dressed them all by myself!" Sure enough, she had done just that! Not only dressed them, but changed two wet toddlers, and put a new diaper on each of them that ALMOST covered their little bottoms! Needless to say I was so proud of her, and grateful for my extra hour of sleep. Anyone need a baby sitter?

So, Cheers to having kids five years apart!

Birthday glee...........multiplied by THREE!

So, I can assure you all, it wasn't some grand scheme I had, this three birthdays on the same day deal, but it certainly is proving to be an interesting dynamic. I cannot believe the work, chaos, and fun that results from this three in one celebration! And this was after I decided to "keep it simple." I just thought you might enjoy a few pictures of the birthday that almost never ended!

We began with birthday candles in Olivia's favorite breakfast. The twins finally learned to blow out a candle, so this was the most joyful part of their morning!
Then, we had some morning gifts, quickly, before we had to get ready for church!


Grandma Bonnie and Papa surprised Olivia with a Breyer truck and trailer combo with some fun horses to tow around. Olivia is really into horses, and is super excited for her very own horse, Sweetheart, who lives in Utah to have a baby next Spring.

My three darling children ready for church in their new birthday outfits! It is my greatest struggle to get a photo where they are all looking up and looking somewhat happy!
Drumroll............the cake, which was Olivia's special request. It's a Candyland cake, with enough candy on TOP of the frosting to make any kid sick! But, birthdays only come once a year, right?Blowing out the candles! Of course, the twins were blowing them as quickly as we could light them, so that was challenging. Olivia blew her seven and they each got to blow out two....... several times!
It was a happy day...........and the best part? I am DONE with birthdays until next year!

Be proud, gals!

Funny story............

The night before school, after Olivia got out of the bath, she was so excited to wear her new underwear. She tore into the package and deliberated long and hard about which pair to wear on the first day. She chose a light green pair with little daisies on them. She put them on, and then stood in front of her full length mirror striking a myriad of poses. After she was done modeling the undies, she turned to me and said, "Mom, I can't believe how good I look in these!"

So, while I was dying laughing, I thought how great her words really were! When I look in the mirror, naked or otherwise, I am so critical of my body! My inner monologue goes something like this, "yuck, when did I get these muffin tops...............flabby, flabby, flabby..............what can I wear today to hide these imperfections...............UGH!" I wonder what it would feel like to look in the mirror and get the boost that Olivia felt from her new panties.

So, I have a challenge to all of you who have unkind thoughts about your body, myself being number one on the list. Let's all put on our panties and say one nice thing about our bodies. Who knows, maybe one day we'll start believing our own words!

The first day of school blues..........

So, I sent my baby to first grade this week. It was more bitter than sweet, and I cried three times before I even left the school parking lot. The week did get better, but I miss my little girl! It's funny because I get so bugged with her at times and she can be such a stinker at home, and she was soooooooooo ready to go back to school, but it feels like such a finality. She is in school full time. I am no longer the person who directs her daily activities. It's a scary thought for me. I am not there to stop others who may say mean things to her, or to stop her from being unkind to others. It takes a lot of trust and faith this sending your kids off into the world of elementary education. But, I will be ok, I guess, like all of the parents before me. And she does look dang cute in her school clothes!

Here she is eating her first day of school breakfast! It's all she wanted:

"Chucky Larms" (that's really what she calls them).

A Romantic Getaway

Aside from summer family fun, Jon and I did manage to get away overnight to the beautiful city of Victoria, B.C. We took a ferry over to the island, and spent the day and night ALONE. It was incredibly fun, unbelievably romantic, and medicinal to my very soul! WHY don't we do this more often?

Here are some photos of our trip. The highlight of our sightseeing was definately The Buchart Gardens. They are these incredible gardens that the Buchart family created after they had mined limestone off of their property. The gardens include a sunken garden (our favorite), Japanese gardens, and a rose garden.

This is the Buchart family residence. It has been restored and is now home to two fabulous restaraunts and several gift shops.
A very rare photo of just my sweet husband and me!






Here I am in front of the Parliament building.

Summer flew by much too quickly.........

Summer's over, and with so much to do the past few weeks, there has been no blogging, so I thought I'd sum it up for ya'll with a "summer fun" post. Even though summer is gone, our memories will last forever!

We had a fun, final trip to the zoo! It was a beautiful day to see the animals!

Ride 'em, cowboy!

Bella and Olivia loved the butterfly exhibit! Olivia was especially excited when one landed on her!

Olivia loves to pet the animals!

We took our yearly hike up to Multnomah Falls! We had gorgeous weather for this hike, cool breezes and clear skies. Max and Molly don't mind the backpacks, and we even convinced Erin and Brooks to go with us!

We took a way past due trip up to see Aunt Lesa. Olivia got to play with her cousin, Gabby, who she loves so much. Here they are picking apples from a neighbor's tree.

And to make the trip even sweeter, we got to see Grandma Maxine!

And jump on the trampoline!

Olivia and Gabby are holding the foster twins that Lesa has in her home. They were so sweet, and such a reminder of those first days in the trenches with newborn twins!

We took a little family trip to the beach while we were at Lesa's. We played in the cold water, and bbq's some hot dogs on a little fire Jonny built! It was so fun.

And one last trip to Foothills Park with the Masseys. Molly and Brooks started holding hands, and continued to hold tight the entire way to the bridge.

We love summer!