Doing their part...for nature

Yesterday we decided to head west to the coast. We had to find some relief from the terrible heat wave! (you'd have thought we were back in PHX!)

While in nature...boys will be boys!

One of these boys said, "Look! I'm watering the flowers! Have fun growing, flowers!"
Another said, "I can pee the furthest!"

3+3=3

3 pillow cases
+
3 hours of making it up as I go along
=
3 very happy superheros

Sisters

June is such a sweet little girl. She's happy most of the time. Just quiet about it. She'll give us little laughs every now and then but Nora is the only one who can make her really, truly laugh! And Nora doesn't even have to be doing much at all! June just really loves her sister. I hope it stays that way : ) Although I have to closely supervise the love...as Nora is always trying to feed, dress and drag June around. Still, June is happy to just be with her.

Wall-E for Dad

I had the kids color while I was getting dinner ready. Lane says, "Look at my Wall-E!" I thought Melissa had helped him. But when I asked he said, "Nope! I did it all on my own only by myself!"


We pinned it up by your map but he wanted you to see it now! He's your son when it comes to drawing. I don't know if its possible to draw a stick figured Wall-E!

We love you and miss you soooooo much!

* Hurry up Friday!*

Mixed Up

I want to murmur

But then one might think I'm not grateful

Can't I murmur and be grateful
Feel without and blessed

At the same time

Bravery

We're 2 weeks down and one more week to go!

We've talked A LOT about teamwork. I've explained to the kids that while dad is gone its really important for us to be brave and work as a team. To pull together and get along as best we can. In fact, after our morning meetings (or when we've started having melt downs) I pull the kids together and have then all put their hands together and on the count of 3, yell..."teamwork!" Its pretty funny. And it works most of the time.
Yesterday, I realized that we hadn't done anything special to reward ourselves for our bravery of being on our own. So I sucked it up and decided to have some bravery of a different sort.
I take my kids shopping with me all the time. No big deal cause I can confine them to a cart. But little stores and especially 7-11's and the like - I stay far away! Well, yesterday something came over me and I decided that it was time to test it out. One the way there we talked about how there were going to be lots of things that we'll want to touch. And that there will be lots places to run around. But that it was super important to stay right by mom and not touch anything so that we could have a special cold drink! And if we couldn't handle it we would have to leave without anything!

Cheers! Clapping! Promises of good behavior! *Me with my fingers crossed*

Oh, how I really wished I had documentation of the event! How cute it must have looked to see the three older ones holding hands across the parking lot. Lane holding the door for all of us. When we got inside there were "oohs and aahs" and delighted faces. Then they all stood along the wall and waited. Of course they were loud and excitedly talking about all the things they saw. And what color of straw they wanted. Could they hold their own cup, etc. But so well behaved! Amazing! (they aren't always perfect! I have had to leave the grocery store before I even got them all in the cart because they were being ridiculous!) But the stars were aligned in our favor that morning. And the reward?

Slurpees! Awesome!

Of course I got "looks" and my favorite..."are they ALL yours?" My new response to that has been, "Yes. Aren't I so lucky?" I was so proud of them (and myself) for pulling it off. We'll have to do it again. Especially in this 90* weather. (I know what you PHX folks are saying, "boo hoo, Jessica." But 90*+ weather and no A/C is really gross!)
Anyway, it was a good time for them and it helped us get through the hot day a little easier! Now if they could always be that well behaved! But then that would be too boring, right?

Here's to one more week!

Rockaway

I can't believe that we've lived in the Northwest for a year now and I never realized how close we lived to a perfect day! Thanks to my brother and sister-in-law. If it weren't for them, we would be the most boring family. Charla called and invited us to go on a little excursion to Tillamook Cheese Factory and then to the beach. All of this is only a 1 and 1/2 hour drive. Unbelievable! We tasted to cheese curds and had the obligatory ice cream cone. All squeaky and yummy! But the beach! Oh my, the beach! What an amazing day! We were there for 7 hours! How did we do it? This is going to sound terrible at first but hang in there and you'll understand. The day of this trip June started getting sick. And I was glad. Really, I was. A 10 month old at the beach is NOT FUN! Of course when we got there all she wanted to do was eat as much sand as possible. But since she wasn't feeling well, she slept the majority of the time. Thanks June. For letting me have a relaxing day at the beach. Although, poor little girl is still sick...a week later. So sad! The Husband got the camera prepped and ready for the day. And in the chaos of organizing 8 people to get up and packed and out...we left it at home! Drat! But thanks to our photog Charla, we were still able to capture the day. Are you ready? Here's a "little" sampling. (One of these days I'll learn how to do a collage so I can post more pics w/o overload guilt!)

Awesome day! We may have been dehydrated, malnourished and sunburned. But I can't wait to go back. There's just something about the water, waves and sand in the toes to calm the soul and pause the crazy!