Happy Birthday Nicky Poo!

Woot! Officially in your 20's today (for real this year- HA!) I hope this year brings you even more growth, good times, and fabulous memories for you... I love you!

You always make me laugh, and I love that the kids have an uncle they see so regularly that plays with them and spends time with them- I hope it's always that way!

I love that I have an adorable nephew and beautiful neice now because of you, and that Serene is now such a big part of my life (rockstar!).... You've had a rocky road, but the future is yours... Happy Birthday!

p.s. I still love you guys even though you did give poor Ethan a mohawk :)

relax...

was the theme this weekend... had an awesome weekend, hanging out with family down at Shelley's. Cam was a little bummed he couldn't ride Gus- the pasture is soaked from all the rain, so there was no going out there. But the kids still love spending time at Aunt Shelley's, getting spoiled and seeing all the animals. Megan is obsessed with the donkey, Tinkerbell. Couldn't stand when she couldn't see her, and always wanting to know where she was. We got to see an absolutely gorgeous sunset from out back- definitely a plus of country life. :) We stayed up entirely too late Saturday night playing Phase 10- Brent and I had never played it before, but it was so fun! Kurstee whooped us in the end though.... that girl takes her cards seriously...

got up Sunday and headed home, only to walk in the door and right back out to head to Jensen's birthday party... she turned the big FIVE Thursday! Happy Birthday Jensen!!

Cameron was SO adorable when he called her to tell her happy birthday that night... "Happy Birthday Jensen. I love you" Cracked me up!

i love dr. suess...

“Be Who You Are and Say What You Feel Because Those Who Mind Don't Matter and Those Who Matter Don't Mind.”

Cameron is doing such a great job these days with his reading.... I can't believe how much he has progressed! I always loved Dr. Suess when I was little, and that's Cam's tried and true favs too...this is a pic of Cam with his buddy Hayden- aren't they both adorable??

baby jorja...

Serene and I took the kids down to meet baby Jorja on Sunday. She's so sweet and soft- that little snuggly bundle that I adore. Cameron is uncanny in his love for babies. I think he takes after me in his love for family. He gets so excited to see his cousins, and to meet the new babies. He couldn't wait to meet Jorja, and to hold her. His sweet smile is enough to melt my heart.
Megan was amazed by the baby, and kept saying "wanna hold it". It was adorable =) She definitely kicks into 'little mommy' mode when the babies are around. We had Ethan at the house for a couple of days, and she was always making sure he wasn't hurting himself with something, or climbing the stairs (hmm... maybe because she's been there done that, huh?)

little piggies...

these were so cool. Doing this one made me smile remembering this day- we had a great time in downtown Seattle. I've said it many times, but I really love Seattle- awesome city!

This is based on an ad challenge of Brandy's over at Simply Obsessed.... part of the 31 flavors challenges this month- full of fabulous challenges and cool prizes!

a fabulous challenge...

rite of passage. This is the challenge at Scrapfaith.... a fabulous site with amazing inspiraition... these pics were from the kiddos baptisms. i was so glad for this challenge, because I don't know if I ever would have gotten around to scrapping them otherwise....

May I present...

miss Jorja Lynn, born today at 10:40 am, weighing in at 7 pounds, 1 ounce and measuring 18 inches long. Both mommy (my sis Adrienne) and baby are doing great! I was right outside the door to hear the first cry, and snuck in as soon as I could... the newest little member of our family is beautiful, and has a set of lungs that are working great!

tink tink tink...

was the sound I was hearing as I was changing the sheets in the bedroom.

tink, tink, tink.

Familiar sound, but couldn't quite place it... hmm...

tink tink. rip-pop.

No way.

I raced out of the bedroom, and sure enough, Megan had grabbed a stool, got my unopened Diet Coke off of the bar, and was sitting on the stairs drinking it.

I do believe the addiction is hereditary.

*sniff*

My not-so-big-big-girl started her first day of school today. I cried. Of course. I'm predictable like that. I felt so bad for her at first... she was so excited to start school, and then when we got in there, she kept asking for Cameron... she thought she was going to be with her big brother :( But she was a little anxious, but didn't cry. I waited for a while, and then sniffled my way out to the car.

They said she did great all day... all the things I was worried about- going to the potty, lunch (yes, I do worry about her NOT eating from time to time) and sleeping... those three are her big anxiety clues, and she had no problems with any of them. She even took an hour and a half nap- she doesn't even do that at home sometimes! If I would have known all it took was a nap mat and a floor with plenty of people around, geez... although some may remember the day she fell asleep on the office floor, so I guess she was training for a while....

anyways, think she'll do great and love it. me, I felt a little lost, although trust me, I took advantage of the time, and I swear I got triple the amount of stuff done!

didn't get a great picture of Megan with her teacher, but I got a picture of the kids, typical morning... milk and breakfast in the backseat on the way to school- rofl! Mom of the Year award goes to...... not ME! lol

While we're examining this lovely picture, please take note of the rod across the back of the 'hoe... that would be the rod that my umm fabulous husband made out of a broom I had thrown in the trash, a coat hanger and electrical tape. All because he didn't want to go to lowe's and pick me up one!

Can we say ghetto??

Anyways, we went to Coldstone for an ice cream treat (a must on any first day of school!) and the proceeded to have children bouncing off the walls for the rest of the day!

some color....

to add to the winter days....

she started slow, but picked up speed FAST!

My daughter refers to everyone's Daddy as "Daddy" these days. Nothing like having your daughter yelling "DADDDDYYYY" to random men at the park. You've never seen such a bewildered look on a man's face until that happens.

My son has now officially made the connection with the speed limit signs and my speedometer. crap. "The speed limit says you're supposed to go 40 mom. How come your little thingie is above 40 on the dash?" "Because it's broken."

a few new ones...

for simply obsessed's January kit:

It was fun having an excuse to use the fun flock- the snowflakes were inked with craft ink, then covered in flocking. super fun! And I couldn't find a use for the birds in a traditional sense, so I just flipped them upside down and used them as leaves on the "flower" that was made from snowflakes. :)

carrier monkeys....

Shelley pointed out this morning that every time we have a gathering at my house, I get sick. NYE would be no different. But I ended the evening with no injuries, and that was my goal!

Had a great time for New Year's, save for some family drama at the end... boo on that. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it all blows over, but only time will tell.

Other than that, we had the usual fondue and fireworks. This was the first year that Cameron got to stay up for it all- he had a great time, but was ready to pass out by 10. :) Oh, we learned that you need to snuff the burner right away when making the cheese fondue with the sterno pots. We usually make it in the electric ones, but this year did them in the sterno ones, and it resulted in some really awful smelling burnt cheese. Blech!

By the time we came in from the fireworks, it was a little past midnight, so we actually missed the countdown, and this is the first year I didn't get the pictures of everyone kissing :) Boo.

Hope everyone had a wonderful New Year's, and best wishes for a fabulous 2008!