Topher's Happy Feet

This kid dances to the beat of his own drummer! I just wanted to show you what I mean by Happy Feet, this boy will climb on anything and do a little tap dance, anytime he is excited or happy about something his feet just start going. Very much like the little penguin in the movie. I caught him doing this last night, I just caught the end of a very long happy feet session-this kid cracks us up!

Ha Ha

I love this big picture of Topher and the little ones too. This is just a layout I made about the funny things Topher does that make us laugh all the time. I like it, minimal supplies and it's stuff I always want to remember. Click on the photo to see it better-the red journaling box is hard to read in this photo-but it says-'you crack us up kid'-Christopher 2007

From Cute to Disaster in 30 Seconds

A little background first. I have this shelf, basically in my entry way (I don't have anywhere else to put it). I love it-(thanks Tab-for the fantastic find, I still have yours too by the way!) it is full to the brim with scrapbooking supplies all organized and pretty and ready to use. There was a big problem with that though and that problem is called Christopher. If I didn't have a way to cover the shelf up-my stuff would be destroyed pretty darn quick! My step dad cut me a piece of wood (bless him!) to cover it up with and Chad put heavy duty velcro on the shelf to hold the piece of wood on. Now all of my supplies are covered up and still easy enough to get into for me, but Topher can't pull the velcro (yet). So everything is dandy-In the back of my head I kept thinking I would do something creative and cute with this piece of wood so that it doesn't look so blah-but hadn't had that extra push to do something until tonight. Christopher got out the colored pencils and started coloring all over it. I almost lost it, until Chad said to let the little kids paint on it and put their handprints etc.. on it, until I figure out what to do with it. Fine. It started out fine anyway, the babies were being so cute, painting little swatches of color, Bekah wrote mom on it, & Topher put his handprint on it (with my help). Then after I went to put the camera away, I came out and saw Zachary putting his handiwork all over it, by the time I stopped him it was too late. He smeared big red and orange all over it with one of my big sponge brushes and started to write his name in big red letters. Lets just say I will be making a trip to the Home Depot tomorrow for some spray paint and pray that it will cover up this mess!

Better Than Flowers

My husband is the sweetest, sorry girls it's the truth! I had a girls night I was going to go to tonight but had to bail because of this yuckiness I've been feeling. Chad called to see what time it was at so that he could be sure to be home in time. When I told him I wasn't feeling up to going and just wanted some rest he really came through. Without me asking him for anything, he came home Coke in hand and took ALL of the kids to the zoo so I could just relax. That is a sweet (brave) man! He took some pics of his adventure and shock shock, Zach is pulling faces in all of them... I posted a few of the better ones here. I had some good me time though. I lounged a bit and even had time for some scrapbooking-check out my new page and let me know what you think!

....Some Big Hugs sent out to some very important people in my life

I have to mention this, though it is so sad. 2 guys that grew up in my ward with me when I lived in Utah were in a terrible accident last night. (You can click there for a video of the candlelight vigil held tonight and to see pics of them). They were on their way to Seattle and the car rolled. One of the boys Travis Landeen didn't survive. We send our love to Steve and Arlynn and want them to know our prayers are with them and their family. The other guy Jonathan Kieth is still in the hospital. He is not doing well, but is still expected to recover. He was the pianist at my wedding and I'm sure is one of the best musicians alive. From what I hear all of the fingers in his right hand are broken and have lots of damage-I know he will be okay, but I ask that you will pray for him to make a full recovery and be able to play again. It is horrible when something like this happens, I have known these boys their whole lives. I remember them being my own kids' age and I watched them grow up. I was over at Jonathans house with his big sister Gretchen almost every day my junior year in high school. He used to play piano for us and make up songs off the top of his head for us. He is so talented. Travis was the student body president last year at my old high school. Such good boys with so much talent and potential. Their families have been such a big part of my life, I feel like they are my extended family. I know I don't see them anymore living out here and now that I have my own family and have moved out of the ward, but almost every time I'm in Utah I run into at least some of them and know that they would be there for me if I ever needed anything. Landeen family-I love you guys so much and am so sorry for your loss, I can't imagine how you are feeling. I am glad that you know that you will all be together forever and that you will see Travis again. Keith family-I love all of you and we will continue to pray for Jon. Big hugs from me to everyone who knows and loves these boys. xxxxx

Just another day in paradise...

Kids clinging (on both legs, if not around my neck-it all comes with the mom territory), phone ringing (with maintenance requests for everything from a light switch to a dryer), landscapers mowing and even more loudly blowing outside my window while I try to write an article for my new side job as a writer for WAHM outsource-, door bell ringing and the even more dreaded sound of kids knocking at my door for everything from more maintenance requests to kids asking if their 13 year old brother is old enough to watch them, (we have a new policy at our complex that kids under 18 are not allowed out on the commons areas without their parent, because we have a few trouble makers in our midst). Had to snap a pic today, (I was just going to take a pic of me, but like I said before-kids clinging..)because I got dressed today and actually did my hair-something I have been denying myself of lately. So I had to document that it actually happens once in awhile-for posterity you know! Sweats and a rubber band have been my BF's lately. My eyes keep going to the clock at the bottom of the screen, hoping that the minutes tick away faster and that 5:00 is here so that Chad will come home and restore that peaceful feeling that I have when he is home, and so that I can go grocery shopping-because as my mom can testify to-the only thing I have in my fridge is condiments and a quarter of a gallon of milk, (yes mom I picked up a gallon of milk at least!) Life is fantastic! I really am glad to have all of this and keep so busy, my life is full of blessings that I can fully appreciate. Now if I can just learn to appreciate this sinus headache that won't go away-life would truly be perfect!

12:51 A moment to pull my hair out

I am tired. I want to go to bed. It's been a long night. We decided to go to a movie instead of going swimming. We went and saw 'Surf's Up'-the penguin movie. It was funny, taking Topher to the movie was not. He was loud, restless and running all over the place. Chad got to chase him, since he wanted to do the whole movie thing. Still, we got to see the whole thing without taking him out, because it wasn't that crowded, so Chad just ended up letting him run and just sit in the aisle Topher was running down at the moment-don't you just love parents like us at the movies?!? HaHaHa. Then we stopped by my moms house to pick up some stuff of Tylers because he is spending the night again, but of course, 'So you think you can dance' was on, so we stayed for that. Our going to bed early thing is not working out so hot! So you ask why don't I go to bed and stop blogging. The answer is; we still have not moved Tophers crib back into his room, so I can't go in my room until he is asleep, or he won't stay in his bed! So I am sitting here listening to him scream at me. Hopefully he will stop soon, he's really on one tonight-just being a terror you know? Bekah was being one too, super whiney and stuff while she was getting ready for bed-but as soon as her head was forced onto her pillow (she said she didn't want to go to bed), she was out. Well, it looks like my cute sucker of a husband thinks it's just too sad to hear the little (adorable) beast cry-and went in to rescue him-so bet you money that makes 3 of us in our bed tonight. Amazing how much room a 1 year old can take up (and always on my side) on a king size bed! Whatever, I'm tired-too tired.

A Hair Raising Experience

We went to OMSI last night which was kind of a disappointment for the first time ever. We were going to go to the Body World Exhibit that they have going on there, and we thought it might cost extra to get in, but we have a membership and thought it couldn't be that much-so we didn't check into it. Chad, Ty and I wanted to go and when we got there we found out that even with the membership it was $15 bucks a person. It would have been $45 to go for us, we sat there and went back and forth if it was worth it and decided to bag it. My mom came with us to watch the kids while we went, she said you couldn't pay her $15 bucks to see it. So my mom and I decided to take the little kids up stairs to the science playground and it was closed. Most of the stuff in Turbine Hall was still open for awhile, but they started closing down that stuff too. So we ended up leaving feeling a little let down by the whole experience. Maybe we should have just forked over the money for the exhibit. Anyone been? Worth it? Topher checking himself out in the funhouse mirrors in the Physics Lab

Uncle Ty and Goodnight Moon

My little bro spent the night last night much to the delight of all the kids. Here he is reading to Topher, Topher's all time favorite book-Goodnight Moon. Topher wants this read to him ALL the time. He likes all books lately, but LOVES this book. He took a break from reading when I came in with the camera to show me his Happy Feet. I keep meaning to do a post on this-his new nick name, but I haven't taken a good picture of him dancing yet! This kid is forever shaking his booty. ~LOVe It!~

What does 400 Water Balloons look like?

Here is your answer.
It took about an hour and a half to fill all these balloons and about 20 minutes to make our backyard a very colorful swamp!
Another successful day! It's hot-I want to go swimming, I know the kids are all prunes, but they are all still up for it, so there may be pics of that up tonight or tomorrow.

Children's Museum

These pics are at the childrens musuem and are some of my favorites.
The journaling reads; family outing, husband, wife, kids, happy family...one of our favorite things to do in Portland is go to the childrens musuem. The kids can climb on everything and even us adults can do the things the kids are doing and no one looks at you strange, well...

Pink Wings and All Boy

Christopher loves playing dress up with Bekah and lately he has grown quite fond of one piece of the dress up box that is a little less than manly. He wants to wear these all the time. Last night(still wearing a onesie and a swimsuit-not his normal attire-ok?) he was running all over in the wings and I was calling him my little butterfly and making him fly around-much to the delight of his father, (can you taste the sarcasm?). Today he was wearing them and running around and making a buzzing noise while chasing after and screaming at Bekah. I guess he's not thinking delicate butterfly when he wears them-he's probably thinking killer bee or ferocious dragon-no need to worry Chad-this kid is 100% boy even with the pink wings!

Another Warm Day=More Backyard Fun

Today was another great day for playing in the backyard turned water park. I had to snap some pics of Toph in his swim gear today because it was just so stinkin cute! The other 2 are of the girls running through the new crazy sprayin sprinkler Grandma brought home from her Vegas trip for Bekah. Today was the first day we got to really use it due to the weather and all the kids had so much fun! Just to give you an idea of what kind of water park we have going on here-here is the list of activities that have gone on thus far today. First the crazy sprayin sprinkler, then the dora sprinkler, followed by the dora slip n slide, then of course the kiddie pool, water fights (some wanted, some not), trying to make the slide a water slide-(not the best idea in the bark dust) and of course just flipping the hose around the back yard. The kids have not come in for very long today-in fact they are out there trying to see how many otter pops they can get down right now. Any of you mom friends who live around here and you are wondering what you can do for the day with your kids? If it is warm outside-bring them on over! You can bet we'll be out enjoyin the water and the sun!
A nice and peaceful day for me...I even had a little bit of time to get some scrapbooking done! Lovin the summer!
This pic was taken after Rye had run through and gotten soaked for the first time-she exclaimed loudly, "I feel like a New Woman!" it just made me giggle.

Happy Fathers Day

Ours was great, complete with the yummiest of BBQ's and delish cheesecake. How was yours?

Graduation+Birthday Party=Fun

We have been crazy busy the past few days, running all over the place! Last night we went to a great little party with a bunch of friends from our ward. It was my friend Heather's surprise birthday party and a graduation party for 3 of our favorite people we have met since we have been here-Jason Young, Jason Lee and Joel Salter. Jason Lee and Joel were are fantastic home teachers and are just the nicest guys, and Jason Young is one of the funniest people we know, plus he has helped us out a lot with MyoMed. There was delish ice cream cake, lots of fun conversation and about 20 kids under the age of 3 running around! It was a ton of fun. Plus it was a good opportunity for Chad to meet with a couple other chiropractor graduating seniors about MyoMed. The product is getting out there and people are loving it! It is really exciting! PS Thanks Kristie for being the super duper photographer!

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

We asked for a new mattress. We focused on getting a new mattress. Not just any mattress. A good mattress-a Tempurpedic mattress. We thought about it every night, we thought about it every morning. We started focusing on it around January. It's now June-but sometimes the Universe has it's own timetable. That's ok! If you look at the picture you will see Bekah sitting on our brand new Tempurpedic Deluxe King size bed! Right out of the plastic and box! We have never had a brand new bed right out of the box since we've been married! Best of all, we didn't pay for it, it just came to us! You can't tell me the law of attraction doesn't work! How you ask did we get a brand new $2500 bed without paying a dime? By asking the Universe for one! It came about in a way that I never would have schemed up. It's kind of a long story so get comfortable. It all started when one of my mom's closest friends, Denise-her mom died. Denise inherited a jeep. She did not want the jeep-she tried to get rid of the jeep-no one would take the jeep. One day she casually mentioned the jeep to my mother, and my mother said Chad loves junk-he would like the jeep. So we drove out past Bend one weekend to pick up this very beat up jeep. WooHoo I thought, lucky us-we now have this jeep in our parking lot. So there it sat, nothing happened for a couple months. Then Chad says-"let's simplify". I say, "Great! Let's start by selling the jeep!" To my surprise he was thinking the same thing. So we put the jeep on Craigs List (a great little place!). We don't get any calls on it. We decide to try one more time, and if we don't get any calls on it this time, we will keep the jeep. The next day we get a call from a guy interested in the jeep, but here's the catch-he doesn't have any money to buy it-would we be willing to trade for a mattress? Chad asks him what he is talking about while thinking, this guy is looney if he thinks he's getting my fishing jeep for his used mattress. The man then proceeds to tell Chad that he works for Tempurpedic and will give us whatever size we want brand new, not only the mattress, but the frame and box springs too. What?!?!?! Chad is shocked and amazed at this point and tells the man that he needs to come look at the jeep before he makes that kind of offer, thinking this guy must be kidding. The guy comes, is tickled pink about the jeep and tells Chad that the bed will be here Friday, and that he will come back and pick up the jeep at the end of the month. We were still a little skeptical, especially after we sold our bed last night and slept on Bekah's floor-hoping against hope that this wasn't some very mean practical joke-but the bed came right on time, and let me tell you, it is like lying in butter!(My mom hates that I said that, she thinks that is gross, but it is the yummiest butter soft bed ever!) Woohoo for the Universe and the Law of Attraction baby! I just want to say 3 things Universe! Thank you, Thank you and oh yeah, Thank YOU!

PS. If it can happen for us, it can happen for you! What do you REALLY want? (Besides a Red Bull, Jason!)

Lake Oswego Drive

Chad had his last appointment of the day on Friday in Lake Oswego, so he swung by and picked us up and took us along so that we could go see a few places he has scoped out while driving all over the last couple of weeks. We went to this state park and went down a trail afterwards and had so much fun. It was absolutely gorgeous! One of those places, you would propose at or even get married at. The kids had a lot of fun running and getting some energy out. Then we went on a drive to look at some houses and property around there. I would love to live out there-sooo pretty, a little more pricey-but maybe it's worth it-the beauty and of course the downtown shopping doesn't hurt!

One Spot Goodness and Roslyn Lake

For all of you Target fans out there like me-you know what I'm talkin about-The One Spot Rocks! I always find some of the coolest things there. Anyway I took the kids there on Friday and let them each pick something out. Zach got some Simpson thing and Topher picked out a ball-but the good stuff is what the girls picked out. Ryeleigh picked out a little scrapbook that she has almost filled up-this has given her hours of busy work that I am very grateful for, and Bekah got this big bubble blower that kept her and Topher busy for a very long time. Love those kind of finds!

This other picture is Roslyn Lake-the part of Oregon we went exploring this weekend. It was raining when we got there but still so beautiful. Especially the drive. I caught myself in yet another-"Oh my gosh, I am my mother" moment when I started yelling at the kids to look out their windows and enjoy all this beauty. I remember going on road trips as a little girl and getting highly annoyed at my mom for this. We would be driving through some part of beautiful scenery and I would be trying to read a book, (yes I was quite the bookworm as a kid) and my mom would get so mad that I wasn't looking out the window in complete awe like she was. I now know why she would do this-God has made this earth stunning, and I want my kids to appreciate it the way I do now.

Imagination Station and OREO goatees

Thursday was a little more gray than usual but still a nice day-so I took the kids to Imagination Station and let them play on the awesome playground there. I went at a totally not busy time and it was peaceful and wonderful until a big yellow school bus came along and about 50 kids came rushing toward us mock 90. Some group of preschools field trip or something. Let me tell you-the park did not seem all that inviting anymore-not even to the kids who were very quickly ready to go home. It's been one of those weekends though-because of our little nightmare trip we took to Chuck E Cheese on Saturday-I do believe that I will NEVER want to go there again! There were SO many people there-we couldn't get rid of our tokens fast enough. You honestly had to wait in line to play any games, and you could only play once because you had a line behind you! The worst time at Chucky's EVER! Would not wish that on my worst enemy! (Do I have one of those? I can't think of anyone-but I wouldn't want to send them there if I did!) This next pic is of Topher after ONE Oreo-if nothing else, this kid knows how to make a mess, I thought it looked kind of like a goatee...

Ahh Friday!

Have a good weekend! Just a little cutesy pic of Bek, Tab photoshopped it. Loves it!

I'll have S'more of that

This was just a funny pic of Topher tonight after eating a s'more-he has marshmallow stuck to his face, chocolate dripping down his tummy and yet he still is stinkin cute! I know I say it alot, but I'll say it again, I live a good life! The past couple of days have been so much fun, I love being a mom! Christopher has been so loving lately, he'll just run to me with open arms and throw them around my leg and kiss it. He is soooooo adorable. Monday we had FHE, and we went on a nature walk down the trail by Fairview Park-the things my babies notice! We all watched a worm crawl, (until Zach picked it up and fed it to a duck), Bekah would tell us to be quiet because she was sure she was going to see a fox, and I think Christopher picked up about 90% of the rocks on that trail, showed them to me and threw them down again. Let's just say it was a long walk-but so fun. Yesterday we went to lunch with my mom at the Old Spaghetti factory, we had such a good time. We have so much fun when we are together. She left this morning for Vegas and won't be back until Sunday night-I miss her already, what am I going to do if I move away from her again? She is one of my best friends, wow-I just feel so blessed! Speaking of best friends, my bff sister just posted pics on her blog of her new place, and some more cute pics of my kids from our last outing before she moved. Love those pics! Love her and love my life....ahhhhh.

PS-I want to say hi to one of my most adorable friends, Amy. I didn't get to talk to her much today when she called, because I was on the way out the door-but if you want to see one cute baby...Little Quinn was just born on Memorial Day-and he has cuteness oozing out of him too, minus the marshmallows!

New Drastic Do's

There are some new drastic hair do's at our house. Chad cut his and Zach's hair on Saturday, to nice little crew cuts. Bekah's hair got chopped to her chin, she looks a little too grown up, but still adorable. Ryeleigh just got a trim, but then decided she wanted bangs like her sister. How cute are they?The wierd thing though is that Zach didn't want his hair cut at all, but after it got cut, he wanted it buzzed. So Chad buzzed it tonight and it was SHORT, but Zach wanted it cut even shorter, so Chad ended up bic'n it. He is as bald as they come. A little icky for my taste, but Zach thinks it's the coolest-he can't wait for his bald Papa to see that they now share a haircut!

Cute Little Nerds

Went to OMSI on Saturday. Got a few pics, just the stuff I have lots of pics of already though. This was new though. We went into to chem lab and everyone had to wear goggles, even the little ones. Aren't they cute?

Sights of Summer

Need I say more? This is what summer looks like around here-kids in their swimsuits all day, every day, slip and slides, flip flops, kiddie pools, buckets of water and usually piles of wet beach towels-this year I wised up a bit and put nails in the fence to hang the towels up. I think it made it look even more like summer has arrived!