Like Beckham

The inspiration piece...Miss Beckham's latest do.

Me doing my best 'pregnant' Posh Spice...

I finally did it! Chopped my hair off again. I haven't had my haircut since Bekah was a baby, and I always really liked it short, but pulling it into a ponytail was just too big of a convenience. I'm glad I finally did it though-my hair was looking pretty damaged on the bottom, plus it was the longest it has been since I have been married. They cut over 10 inches off-long enough to send to locks of love which was cool. I didn't think it was that long-but when you straighten out that curly mess-there was a lot of hair there!

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The very scary before-

I know I look tired-I am...(and what's with that Superman curl-not quite sure-one of those freaky things that just grow there after you have kids and your hair starts to grow back in....)

The much better after...From the back before-yikes!

Ahhh-so much nicer!

Graduation 2008 (Bekah Preschool)

She did it! Bekah graduated Little Eagles Preschool today and it was pretty dang adorable. The kids were really excited and they each got a special award for the year-Bekah got the "most bright and understanding student" award. The class sang (screamed) the ABC song and got their diplomas and we all stayed after for pictures, goodbyes and cake. She had a fun year, and despite having to get up early every day and for the few little attitude things she picked up-I'm glad she did it. Congrats little graduate!
Pics of the graduate with her dad, mom, friends Jackson and Alexi.

Memorial Day Weekend

For Memorial Day weekend-my family and their friends all went camping at Barton park.

Notice I didn't say 'we' went camping.

The idea sounded fun, until Chad reminded me that #1-I am pregnant, #2-We don't have a trailer which translates to me sleeping on the ground in a tent, and #3-We have Christopher.

It then did not sound like a good idea any longer.

So instead-we just went up both nights and visited with everyone, ate yummy camping food and had a good time after a good nights rest in our nice cozy bed without having to worry about Topher escaping in the middle of the night. The friends that they go camping with have really become like second families to us and our kids and it is going to be sad to leave them-they surprised us with a little going away party and cake on Saturday night-which was so sweet.

This is where Christopher had to spend most of his time, because the second we let him out-he was either running straight for the road or towards the trailer 4 over that had a big dog, or the trailer to the other side with the guy who had been drinking since 8 in the morning. None of which I thought was the best place for my 2 year old son. I am thinking of getting one of these for home-except I know that he would figure out how to escape all too quickly! I need a sturdy one with a lid-know of any?This is after he got caught running away one of the times...

Then Chad took them over to the playground for a bit. Christopher loves swinging with his dad, it scares me to watch-he goes way too high and Christopher is hanging on to daddy's shirt for dear life, and just loves it. Crazy kid!

Still-makes for a cute cuddling with daddy pic huh?

Bekah's Zoo Field Trip

The reason we went to the zoo and were able to take just Christopher to see the dinosaurs was because Bekah was on a field trip there with her class. We walked through the zoo until she got done and then grabbed her and her friend Jackson to stay at the zoo a little longer with us. This is her class and all the high school students that help teach her-I dare you to try to find Bekah-crazy amount of kids huh? (If you really are looking for her here is a hint: she is on the front row)Bekah and her friend Jackson riding the horses...These 2 were both so excited to "run into eachother" at the zoo. They are so cute-whenever Bekah comes home from school they both scream eachother's name and run to give hugs. You would think she'd been gone for days, not hours!
It was a good way to spend a slightly rainy cloudy day, especially since I don't know when we will get the chance to come back to this zoo that we have all fallen in love with after we move so far away-but this preggers feet still hurt from all that hiking around!

More Dinosaurs!

This is what we heard as Christopher ran from one dinosaur to the next at the Dinosaur trail at the zoo. As suspected this was something he loved! They were a little too lifelike for him to turn his back on them-so I couldn't get any pictures of him looking at me in front of a dinosaur without his dad holding him. They moved and roared and growled and even spit at us-and Topher thought it was the coolest ever. Until we got to the T-Rex. It was life-size, and when it roared it shook the ground. Christopher was fascinated by him, but when he roared he would grab on to Chad like there was no tomorrow, say "uh-oh" and get a scared look on his face, but then wanted to stay and hear it again. He was a little upset when we got to the end of the trail and there were no more dinosaurs to see-just the regular live animals-no comparison mom! Dinosaurs are way cooler!

What do you do in the Summertime?

As I go to post these pictures of the past few days I am looking out the window as the rain falls on the sidewalk-and I am trying to remember that it really was that hot 2 days ago! It got to be over 90 degrees here in Portland, it felt like summer for sure-with no warm up to the idea-just here's the hot! We were trying anything and everything to keep cool-while still trying to enjoy the sunshine. We did spend it at my moms-since we don't have air conditioning here-and our apartment was pretty unbearable.

The first day of heat-I let the kids run through the sprinkler and jump in the puddles they made in the grass at my moms with their clothes on because I didn't bring their swimsuits.

The next day we brought the swimsuits, did that whole scene again-ate ice pops, played in the long grass and took naps on the swing (okay the last one was just me-I'm pregnant, taking naps is what I like to do lately!)

We are looking forward to more fun in the sun-I just hope the weather gradually warms up, so we can get used to it rather than just dumping it on us again-we were all a little heat shocked!

Our Superman

This man seriously is Superman! He is just finishing up finals this week for OIT. Let me tell you about this guys week so far- Monday-Get to school at 10 to study for 2 finals-takes 2 finals-works at school until 9pm. Comes home grabs quick dinner. Calms wife down from dealing with screaming kids and unhelpful teenager problems. Changes clothes, kisses goodbye, family prayer and he is out the door by 9:45pm. Goes to work at Wal-Mart, (his least favorite place in the world) until 7am, Tuesday morning. Comes home, grabs breakfast. Changes his clothes, kisses goodbye, morning prayer and he is out the door by 7:45am. Final at 8am in trigonometry. Come home 9:30am, play with kids, take a shower, climb into bed-sleep. Which is what he is doing now, finally! But just for 4 hours, because he has to go back to work at the school tonight until 9 again, and again tomorrow! I know that a lot of guys go to school and work on top of it too-but this man is going to school full time at OIT to get into the Nuclear medicine program (rough), and has been trying to finish up his bachelors at University of Phoenix in Business and Finance at the same time. THEN he works at the school at the computer help desk-which is a great job, pays next to nothing, but a great job, because he can study, at least some while he is there. THEN he works at Wal-Mart a few over-nights a week, which he hates because he just despises the place to even shop there, but to work there is torture for him. Yet he still has a smile on his face, (most of the time) about it all. Why on earth does he do all this? Because he is a good dad. A good dad who loves his kids more than he hates Wal-Mart, more than he needs sleep, more than anything else, (except maybe me:)). The only way he can pay his child support is to work both jobs- There might be other men out there who would say it's not worth it to work so hard and still not have any money at the end of it all-but not Chad. He would go to the ends of the earth for those kids, and you don't need x-ray vision to see who their hero is-it's their dad. He does everything he can to make sure the kids have all they need and works extra hard to spoil them on special occasions with things they want, and most importantly showers his kids in love and gives them undivided attention when he talks to them. He may not wear a cape or tights (in public), but he is still our Superman everyday. We love you Babe!

The Practical Mother

We are driving home from my doctors appointment yesterday and get off the Stark Street exit passing Red Robin-Bekah's favorite restaraunt...

Bekah: "Mom, I am starving, can we stop and get some lunch?"

Mom: "Not today, we are almost home, I'll make you some food when we get there."

Bekah: "Mom you are so....." (pausing now, choosing her words carefully, because she has gotten into some trouble lately with her attitude)

Mom: (sensing she is about to say mean or something) "I'm so what Bekah?"

Bekah: "Practical!"

Even used in the right context, no idea where she heard it, but it was laugh out loud funny! And yes Bekah, sorry you have such a 'practical mother'!

My mothers day!

It's Mothers Day and I had a fantastic one with breakfast in bed, a super yummy dinner, lots of hugs and kisses and time with my family. My husband made this day for me, just like he makes every day for me. He wrote the sweetest things on his blog about today, about his own mother, my mother and me. All I can say is, I'm glad love is blind! Don't tell him the truth about me okay?

Mothers Day pics 08

At this apartment we just don't have a cute background to set the kids up against like we did at the last one, so here they are on the patio for their semi-annual "We Love You Grandma" pic. Christopher was of course being a big stink for the whole thing, and Bekah was watching him-but I think I got one or two decent ones.

I think I like the top one the best and I'm thinking I will change it to black and white like this...what do you think?

Bekah's Photo Skills

These are the photos you get when you give your 4 year old the camera on a nature walk. These plus about another 50 or so of sticks, her shadow taking a picture, tree trunks, rocks and really really close up pictures of weeds.

A walk at Fairview Trail and Park

May 5 2008- It was a HOT ONE! What a perfectly wonderful day we had yesterday! It was so nice outside the kids were begging to go to a park, and it sounded perfect to us too-who could resist going out to play on a day like this one!