I'm Spontaneous

We're really not, usually, but everyone is allowed to be spontaneous and irresponsible every once in a while, and this weekend was it for us. Jefferson's cousin was playing in a volleyball tournament in Seattle, so we thought we would go up for the day on Saturday, catch a game or two, and see a few sites in Seattle. Well, Friday morning Jefferson called and we decided to head up that afternoon and stay the night. Sounded like fun to me!! We got an AMAZING deal on a Marriott hotel room at the Renaissance-thank you priceline! Corner king room with a separate office (for the kids to sleep in). 

We met up with his Aunt Di, Uncle Dave, and cousin Taylor when we got into town. We just walked around the pier and ate at "The Crab Pot." (we had just seen this on an episode of Man vs Food). 

They steam everything in your dish in one pot and then dump it directly on the table, give you a little board and a mallet, a roll of paper towels, and you go to town. I think I ate my weight in crab and sour dough bread that night. It was delicious!!!

After dinner we headed back to our hotel and went swimming on the 28th floor. It was such a great view of the city and our kids love the water.

Saturday morning we got up and walked down to Pike's Place Market. It was so fun to roam around and see all the fresh fish and beautiful flowers. There were lots of tasty treats that we just had to sample as well. We managed to make it back to our hotel for a short little nap for the kids before we hit up the volleyball tournament at University of Washington. The kids got a little antsy sitting there so between games we walked along the waterfront, threw rocks into the water, found a mama duck and all her babies, found turtles, scraped up our knees, and enjoyed the sunshine. We grabbed burgers at the games and then headed back to our hotel for another swim. Sometime during the day we decided to stay just one more night. We were having too much fun!

A little pre bedtime milk and snack:

Sunday brought a whole nother day of fun. We took a boat ride around the bay. The kids were so excited to go on a boat. 

After the boat we went to the Seattle Aquarium. It was a pretty good aquarium. Unfortunately we didn't get to spend quite as much time looking around, or catch as many good pictures as we would have hoped, because Carter was so busy running to the next room. He would stop and look at a display for maybe two seconds, point out the Nemo's and Dori's, and then run ahead. We still had a great time and got to see lots of fun fish, sea otters, seals, and whatnot. 

The flannel board slowed Carter down for a minute:

And we did stop to get our faces painted:

We went back to the Crab Pot for lunch, and then over to one more volleyball game before we hit the road. 

We made it home in good time and were grateful to have all of Monday to relax and play together as a family. It was kind of our first trip as just our little family. We weren't tied to anybody's schedule, we didn't have to coordinate plans, we just got to be our little family. It was a lot of fun and made us excited for future family vacations!

Dani Daycare

Our house got pretty busy on Tuesday. I had agreed weeks ago to watch my friend's little boy Logan for her while she had to attend an all day training for her job. Logan was scheduled to arrive at 8. At 7am I got a call from a gal in my ward saying that her daycare worker had called in sick and was wondering if I would be willing to watch her daughter Ava from 7 to 4pm. I cleared it with my friend, and took them both!

It actually ended up being a good day. All the kids got along well and the day went pretty fast. I definitely could not do daycare on a regular basis, and I only had four kids! 

We started out with breakfast for all: eggs and toast:

Then we had lots of play time, listened to music and danced with instruments, had snacks, made butterflies, and then had lunch.

Then was glorious nap time. All the kids napped without a problem!!! I felt extremely lucky and enjoyed a couple of hours of quiet time. Ava's dad got off work early and came right around 3 to pick her up. Then Ryan and Hayley came over just after 5pm to collect Logan and stayed for pizza and the basketball game. It was exhausting, but a nice change up to our day. 

Single Mom Saturday

It's been about a week of being a single mom. Jefferson had his last set of boards this past weekend, so he was hitting study groups and review sessions every night this week after class. He usually rolled in around 9pm or later. He had his first part of the test Friday afternoon, and then the second part on Sunday. So where was he Saturday? You guessed it, at the library studying!! I am very grateful that he takes passing boards seriously and am glad he puts in the time to study. I have no doubt that it will all pay off. It did, however, leave the kids and I with yet another whole day of playing by ourselves. I am pretty sure they are sick of me!! Anyways, it was BEAUTIFUL weather on Saturday. Low 80s. Absolutely perfect. We decided to hit up the Gresham Farmer's Market, which was surprisingly good. We decided to take a break from wandering and listened to the live music while enjoying a Hawaiian shaved ice and kettle corn. It was a great morning. We loved being out in the sun, and Jefferson actually did take a few hours off in the afternoon to come home and see us. I really love playing with my kids. They are awesome. 

Yup, I'm pregnant

26 weeks:

And I love this quote that came on our customized chocolate bar wrappers that the men in our ward gave out to all the moms on Mother's day. It should have gone on my Mother's day post, but I thought I would share:

"May each of us treasure this truth; one cannot forget mother and remember God. One cannot remember mother and forget God. Why? Because these two sacred persons, God and mother, partners in creation, in love, in sacrifice, in service, are as one." 

-Thomas S. Monson ("Behold They Mother," Ensign, Jan 1974)

A week away

We had such a great time in Klamath Falls this past week. It worked out really well. Sharon and I got to carpool down with all the kiddies while our men folk stayed home. Jefferson has his last set of boards this weekend, so it was good for him to have some uninterrupted study time.

The kids doing their silly faces:

Summer and Reece were already there waiting for us and we were so excited to see them. My kids could not get enough of their cousin Reece. They both love babies, so we're hoping this trend continues right on through August. 

Unfortunately the weather was crummy while we were there, but we still managed to have some good times. Frankly, the kids were just happy with a change of scenery, a huge house to run around in, and animals to play with and feed, not to mention cars in the garage to "drive."

 We went on walks about every day we were there, windy and cold or not. 

Most of the time we hunted for caterpillars. There were always a ton out on the road. 

At the end of the cul-de-sac, where we always walk to, we would throw rocks over the edge. And almost a kid on a couple of occasions. 

My kids love my parents dog Moki. He is such a mild, good dog. Andi always made sure she had tabs on where he was at and was fearless when it came to approaching him or Chasca (their other dog). Carter liked to walk next to Moki on our walks. I think he felt pretty grown up "walking the dog" even though there was no leash and Carter had absolutely no control. They are animal kids.

If Carter ever disappeared while we were playing outside he would be down feeding the horses. Like I said, he loves animals.

There is an open gym at a large indoor soccer park that we like to hit up. Unfortunately they had kind of closed their doors for summer, but luckily the nice lady working there said we could come in and run around anyways. The kids loved it. There was a huge soccer field and a bunch of soccer balls. We are easily entertained. Thanks you Gramzee for running around so my belly didn't flare up and Sharon's knee didn't start hurting. 

There is also a new children's museum there. It is definitely much smaller than the one up here in Portland, but definitely a great addition to their community. We were the only people there, and it was plenty big for our four kids + Reece.  The boys loved the fire truck. All the buttons made lights and sirens go off, there was a real fire hose in there, and the radio worked. It was great.

My kids definitely love to ham it up, so Carter played the background music and vocals while Andi took the stage.

It was a great little museum. My dad obviously had to work the whole time we were there, but we managed to sneak in some play time with him. We met up with him for breakfast one morning and lunch another day.

Friday finally started to get a little nicer and we got to eat outside. I LOVED it!! I am so ready for summer and bbq's. 

The last night there we made journals. It was quite an intricate process and somewhat time consuming, but very satisfying and fun. Us girls had a blast and love the final product. 

All in all it was a great week. We were definitely ready to be home come Saturday though. A week is just too long to be away from my man. My kids were angels on the way home. We sang songs for the first hour, they both slept for about an hour and a half (which NEVER happens), then we watched Jungle Book, and we were home. We didn't even stop!  I did come home to a nice clean house and the kids were ecstatic to see their dad. 

Home again:

Thanks for a great week family! It makes me so excited for Sunriver!!! Let the countdown begin!

Happy Mother's Day/ Birthday/ Valentine's/ Christmas/ Anniversary to me!

Yes, so this is my new right hand ring that my hubby got for me... not even for Mother's day, or any special occasion really. We had a tender moment the week before Mother's Day. Jefferson asked if we could sit down and talk. This is not normal and so immediately raised some red flags. But then he started saying really good things, like, what a great mom and wife I am and how he wouldn't be where he is right now without me, and he couldn't do school without me, and how much he loves me, and, and, and. And then proceeded to give me this beautiful diamond right hand ring. 

He knows how much I have always wanted one and I always tease that my right hand is jealous of the rock on my left. And who knew?! The man listens!! 

He was super sneaky about getting it, because I am the money manager in our house and all major and minor purchases go through me. He, however, was awarded a grant at school that he kept secret from me and saved that and a little extra he took out of our account. It was truly one of the most selfless things he has done. That money could have gone towards so many things that he/we wanted, or heaven forbid, savings, but he chose to spoil me. Even without the ring, the sincere expression of gratitude that he expressed, along with a few other moments that have occurred this past week and a half, have made me re-realize how much I love and need this man in my life. 

He was so determined to make sure I knew that his gift was not for Mother's day, or our anniversary, or any such event. It was simply because he loves and needs me too. I did, however, tell him that I was trying really hard to be angry about the ring and that if he so much as purchased a single carnation for me for Mother's Day, then I really would be mad. Instead he made me a delicious steak dinner and mediated all the kid's fights for the day... I could not have asked for a better gift for Mother's Day. 

Happy Mother's day to all moms and future moms. I hope you find as much joy in being a mom as I do. I feel so blessed to have such an amazing example of what a mom truly is. My mom exemplifies what motherhood is all about. She has shown me how to enjoy motherhood and how to magnify that calling. She let it be her identity and her career and has loved and supported us every step of the way. I am beginning to understand all that she sacrificed for us. She loves being a mom. And I love that I know that. 

Thank you to my two beautiful children who make being a mom the most amazing calling I could ever ask for. Thank you to my husband who helped make me a mom, and who allows me to be a stay at home mom, where every woman belongs. Without his love and support I would be failing in the motherhood department (more so, at least). I am so excited that I am going to be called "Mom" for the rest of eternity. It has a very sweet ring to it.