She has stayed busy all year in sports; is just finishing up the club volleyball season and is well into track. She amazes us every day. She is running the 400, 100 meter hurdles, and long jump (and doing well in all!) At the meet yesterday, Abbie took 2nd in the 400 and 3rd in hurdles… Way to go!
Amara celebrated her birthday with school friends at JJ Jump. A fun place to run, bounce, slide, and have fun! The cousins stayed close together throughout the party… I laughed and told Steph she could have just taken the 2 out for ice cream and they would have been thrilled.
Ready… Set… Pose for the Picture… Slide!
Amara was very excited and very proud to have so many good buddies to help her celebrate her day!
Happy 4th Birthday Amara Ann!
The Red Rubies Group from Dallas, Oregon celebrated their 1st Brag-About; inviting other Red Hat Clubs from both Oregon & Washington. The turn-out was amazing as over 150 women gathered to socialize, show off their fancy hats, and celebrate the joy of being moms, sisters, grandmas, and friends.
My Mom, Sister, and Aunt Margie were invited to attend the Brag-About and Luncheon.
The Red Rubies put on a playful fashion show!
Nana showcasing bell-bottoms…
…and let me tell you, she knows how to shake it!
Isn’t her outfit great! It was complete with sunglasses attached to her shoes. She went all out and had the ladies in the room cheering and clapping at her creativity! It was fun!!
We were treated to some songs and dance from Elvis. Let me tell you, the crowd went wild! These ladies can move!
Nana and her sister Tina, aren’t they cute all dressed up and fancy in their red & purple!
We enjoyed every moment of our day spent celebrating Nana. She is one special lady; beautiful, young at heart, and full of energy! I am so proud to call her my Nana!
Stacie’s Favorite Things
So, I was in a 2nd Grade classroom today, reading with my students when I noticed a “Favorite Things” list written on the white board… to keep myself busy, I decided to make my own favorite things list…
Subject: Reading
Animal: Cat
Pie: Strawberry
Cake: Chocolate Torte w/ Raspberry Sauce
Pizza: Pepperoni w/ Fresh Tomato
Color: Green
Food: Chunky Strawberry Topper from Jamba Juice
Ice Cream: Coffee
Flower: Daffodil
Meat: Chicken
Book: Good Night Moon & Where the Wild Things Are
Planet: Earth
Travel: Hawaii
Veggie: Garden-Fresh Cucumbers
Soda: Diet Coke
Abbie taught James the art of coloring eggs this year. It was a fun, yet frustrating task…
…in the end the eggs were bright & beautiful!
Gramma came for the night and helped the kids color eggs. Aana and Upa came too.
Gramma brought baskets full of treats…
You gotta love James and his favorite treats! He LOVES candy, but he LOVES fruit even more.
Aana & Upa’s basket to James are these blueberry and raspberry bushes, now James can create his own berry patch here in our yard like the one he spends hours in each summer at Aana & Upa’s.
Everyone, even Max, woke up to a basket full of treats on Easter morning!
We met my grandparents at Spirit Mountain Casino for Brunch and had a tasty meal and fun spending the afternoon together.
A color-filled, egg-filled, treat-filled, family-filled fun kinda day!
It’s going a bit slower than I expected. Being new to painting, I thought I could do the entire job by myself in one day… as you can see, I’ve had lots of help and it’s taken a little more than a day!
even our beautiful boy, Max, has been in the middle of all the fun!
To get into the space above the fridge, we had to bring in a bigger ladder.
and I had to conquer my fear of heights!
Here’s where we are so far…
Today we WILL finish this project. AND it looks like a rain-free day, so Josh may be able to start his deck!
Today we bought paint. After some debating, we settled on Bison (brown) and Trillium (green). The paint we bought is “green” and environmentally friendly… it’s Devine: color therapy for the northwest!
Here we are trying out some of the samples we bought…
Josh has been busy taping walls
as I start to paint…
Here is the first coat of Bison. We love it!
The deck is still waiting for the rain to stop… Thursday is looking like a good day. We are ready!
It’s a BIG job, but we think we’ve recruited a few helpers!
On a side note, James finally created a habitat for and purchased 2 fire-bellied toads. He named the small one Bumpy and the big one Horny.Yep.
Josh and I both chose a project to work on over Spring Break. My project is to tear down all the wallpaper border in the kitchen and repaint with a fun & inviting color. I feel like the kitchen is where we spend most of our time, it’s like the center of our house… so it needs to feel more inviting. The beige walls aren’t working for me.
Step One: Take a Visit to Lowe’s & Buy $$ Supplies
Step Two: Get the Paper Down
(before)
(During)
Notice how this is my project yet, I have a crew doing all my work… Hmmm!
(After)
It already looks cleaner and less cluttered. Today we head to the paint store and decide on the color(s)!
Josh’s Project is to tackle this deck. He is striping the old paint off, pulling out old screws, planing the wood, and when the weather turns sunnier… he’ll stain with a mahogany flame with white or cream rails… it will be so very beautiful!
Step Three: Paint
(hoping it will happen today… fingers crossed!)
Now that the weather is nicer, we’re finding ourselves outside more often.
James and Max love to play inside & out.
My three boys – they all love to play!
Josh is cutting down shrubs we don’t want or need in an attempt to start creating more of a design we do want. It’s a big yard and a big task… we are being patient and working in baby-steps. In the meantime, Josh enjoys burning everything he cuts down!
The pool deck and liner are also on that long list of To-Do’s. In fact, the deck was a priority to strip, plane, replace old screws, and stain over our Spring Break… that was until we saw the 7 Day Forecast: Rain, Wind, and more Rain! Great, Happy Spring Break. While the pool waits for upgrades, it’s a great place to find water bugs, frogs, and frog spawn. So it is James’ new favorite place to go adventuring.
We will see what Spring Break brings… we were hoping it would be LOTS of outdoor repair. We may be changing some plans. Even though the weather is a bummer, the good news is — We have the next week off.
James’ class has been learning about space at school. As a grand finale they took the kids over to OMSI to visit the space exhibit.
James enjoyed the day of playing and learning…
Another unit they’ve recently studied is Africa. As a celebration, they invited families to an African Lunch. The kids dress-up, sing songs, and share traditional African foods with their families.
Aana shared this special lunch with James. He was sad to say good-bye.
Last Saturday we spent the day watching Abbie and the Wildcats play some great volleyball games!
The girls have become a very close team, they support each other through practice and games. The coaches have been wonderful at teaching the girls skills and staying positive, even when the girls make a mistake. The learning that happens when the girls are not afraid to go out there and try has been amazing!
Abbie was easy to spot cause she is wearing those pink and black striped socks!
The day was beautiful. It was sunny and warm. When the girls were not playing or helping out on the court, they enjoyed the fresh-air and sunshine.
James was a trooper through the 8 hours of volleyball. When he wasn’t hanging out in the gym watching his sister play, he was out catching bugs and playing on the track.
It was all just too much for James and he fell fast asleep on the way home.
Abbie on the other hand, was excited and having fun! She planned a sleep-over and movie night. It was the day New Moon was released on DVD!! She and friends watched the movie 3 times in an eight hour period.
Excellent playing Miss Abigail! It was a fun day!
