Sunday, July 25, 2010

Troopers

We have been busy moving down our to-do-before-the-baby list. Yesterday was a big work in the yard day. Our big 24th of July celebration. I’m sure when the baby is born she will be so pleased to see the transplanted bushes, new plants and bark mulch. lol! At least Travis and I will be able to relax and stop thinking of everything we have been wanted to improve in the yard.

The boys were troopers all day and were good helpers for Dad. When it was time for a break, Justin had a fun time building a dam and stream with our cute neighbors. Hopefully their mom doesn't mind them coming home all muddy (but happy).



Tyler is our fearless boy...he loves to get dirty and doesn't care if bugs are crawling on him. I woke up from a nap and looked out my bedroom window to see him doing this:



We had a nice little picnic out front on the grass for dinner. Travis and the boys did a great job with the yard and I like to think I did a great job cheering them on. Ha ha! Everyone slept like rocks last night.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Bits and Pieces...June Bugs and July Sun

I think of this past June, I think I will always remember the dragonflies. I don't remember seeing any other years. Now, it seems like every day we seen 10 or more of different colors in our yard. The boys love it and have been trying to catch them with their nets.

Here are some pictures of the boys' entries in our ward's primary talent show held one Saturday in June:




My cute neighbor, Upi, planned a baby shower for me on June 19th at a little restaurant called The Stratford House. There are four other young moms on our street and we all went out to lunch to celebrate our baby on the way. It was so kind of them to think of our little family. It is such a blessing to live near such neat women. I have really enjoyed our friendships and all our our bus stop chats during the school year. It is a bonus that we all have kids close to the same ages and that my boys have such a fun time playing with all the neighbor kids. We have just enjoyed living here in this neighborhood these past 8 years.



Danielle (from Texas), Me at 30 weeks, Eden (from Africa), Korin (from New Jersey) and Upi (from Canada/England)

The 1st counselor and secretary of our RS presidency were released at the end of June and so we went out for milkshakes at Moonstruck Chocolates for our last big hurrah. I just love these ladies and am so happy we will always be good friends.



Shalyce, Carrie, Sherry, and Me (at 31 weeks)

I even snuck in a matinee movie outing with Sherry and Kelly one Friday afternoon to see Eclipse.

We are loving this WARM July...along with my little portable fan that follows me around the house some days. Travis laughs at me sleeping with no covers and the fan blowing right at me while he is freezing and covered in the blankets. In the backyard, our tomato and pea plants are blooming and we check every couple of days to see if something is ready to be picked. The boys are loving the slip n' slide, bubbles, sidewalk chalk and moving our slide into the little kiddie pool.

Justin LOVED Cub Scout day camp every day last week. Travis even joined the pack for one day as a parent leader. Justin's top five favorite activities during the week were tropical geysers (bottle rockets), obstacle course, nature trail, bb gold (target shooting)and clay sculpting. It was fun to listen to him sing the camp songs they learned and to watch him teach Tyler the silly skits that were performed.

I have more pictures to post from our adventures to the zoo, beach, etc. I am trying to catch up with my blog posts before the baby arrives. I'm trying to organize our family pictures and update the boys' pictures books. We have been saving up our Christmas, birthday, mother's day and father's day presents so we could buy a new digital SLR camera. We picked it up last week and are excited to learn how to use it and start taking lots of great pictures. One of these days, I want to take a photography class to really learn how to use the new camera.

Time is flying by so quickly. I'll be 35 weeks along in a couple of days. I am feeling great and we are just so excited for our baby girl to arrive. Right now we are trying out different baby names each day in the hopes of finding one that fits just right for our little girl. Tyler and Justin sing "Baby Face" to the baby every day and talk to her a lot. Tyler says he is going to be really busy taking care of the baby when she is born and that Justin will really have to help out around the house. I asked him what that means and he said, "You know...chores. Justin will have to do all the chores." I asked Tyler what he'll be doing to help the baby and he said he would "throw away every single diaper and I'll pick out the bows for her head." I wonder if he realizes that all those diapers won't smell like roses. But, I'll take his enthusiastic help while I can get it! Justin says he can take care of the baby "all day long...except for changing diapers." I love that! I hope our baby girl knows how much we love her already and how excited we are to have her in our family. We're counting down!

Monday, July 19, 2010

Happy Birthday Justin!

We celebrated Justin's birthday for three days this year. Starting with a happy birthday treat for his class at school during their lunch time.



Then he came home from school and we decorated his Yoshi cake for his Mario Birthday Party the next day.



Justin helped me plan his friend party for weeks before his birthday arrived. He loves our Super Mario Brothers Wii game and wanted a party centered on that theme. We planned 9 different stations/worlds the boys would move through at the party. Justin wrote out a Mario story connecting each world and explaining what activity the kids would need to master at each station. As the boys completed each game, they earned gold stars and coins to buy their party prizes at the end.

Here's a quick summary of the nine worlds:

World 1: Stick the egg on Yoshi



World 2:

World 3:

World 4:

World 5:

World 6: Yoshi egg on a spoon race



World 7:

World 8:

World 9:












Saturday, July 17, 2010

Just a day at the beach...

On July 17th, we spent the afternoon on the Oregon Coast at our favorite spot...Cannon Beach.



Here I am at 34 weeks along:




And when it is cold on the beach...all this boy needs is a neat sheet:



I flew this big kite for at least an hour while sitting down the whole time. It was a perfect kite day at the beach. Effortless!









We finished our day at the beach with a new tradition...dinner at Camp 18. We finally tried it and LOVED it!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Baby Shower

On July 15th, my good friends Liberty, Jen and Shalyce threw me a baby shower. They were so kind to plan such a fun night for me and my baby girl on the way. It was so much fun to chat with lots of friends as they dropped in throughout the night to wish us well.

Here I am at 34 weeks with my friend, Monica. She and her son, Ethan, were in Tyler's preschool co-op for the past two years.



It is so much fun to imagine our baby girl wearing all these cute outfits and BOWS!




Ruth, Kelly and Angie



Megan, Liberty, Lisa, Me and Beth





Cami



Liberty and Lisa



Megan and Me (She just had her baby girl a week after this baby shower. 4 weeks early)



Arianne, Melanie and Leslie



DeAnne, her daughter, Samantha, and Shalyce

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Jump in!

The weather is finally warming up around here and we have been hitting the pool and the slip n'slide in our backyard! The boys have had a good time this week in swimming lessons at a pool just down the street from our house.



Justin has a smile on his face every time his head comes out of the water and Tyler is becoming more daring each day. Tonight before bed, they both were jumping off the ladder to their bunk bed "practicing" for tomorrow. They have been having so much fun, I signed them both up for another session of swimming lessons in a few weeks.

Here are my two fish:

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Happy 4th of July!

We had a great 4th of July weekend here in Oregon. We enjoyed the Hillsboro 4th of July parade near a fun park. The boys played on the playground before and after the parade. Here is a picture of my boys all decked out in their New York Yankees outfits (Travis was so proud!) along with some other pictures of the parade:






After the parade, we had a fun BBQ afternoon with our good friends, the Mattesons. Then fireworks out front with our neighbors both nights. I taught our Relief Society presidency's message on Sunday. We discussed God's hand in our nation's history. I just love the 4th of July holiday when we can focus on what is important and good about America and all the great blessings we enjoy because of the sacrifices of those who came before us. I think one of my favorite parts of this holiday is all the patriotic music and colors everywhere. It just makes my heart sing!