More Birthday Celebrations!

So since today was Jalen's actual birthday we of course had to celebrate! With adults it may work to have the party a couple/few days before or after...or even weeks for that matter but not when you are 3. All day long we would break out in song singing Happy Birthday and he would join in singing it to himself. We had a busy day with two school events and putting together stuff for a garage sale this weekend. Since we were all over at Nana and Papa's anyway, Nana put together a wonderfully simple party and Jalen was as happy as could be! We had a BBQ, an amazing Go Diego Go cake and he got a HUGE bubble maker from Auntie Amber, a lacrosse stick (so he can keep up with the girls!), some new clothes and a new bike from Nana and Papa! Jamie and I were feeling guilty all day because we hadn't had a chance to get him a present...now I know he really doesn't know, especially when he has all these other great gifts but that's not cool to not have a birthday present for your own child! But...Daddy came through BIG TIME! He saved the present until we got home (just to make sure he knew it was from us!) and I didn't even know what he had gotten. Probably a good thing. Remember that post awhile ago about the BB gun? Remember how I mentioned I REALLY don't like guns? Well Jamie and Jalen have this thing for nerf guns. Yes I get that they are not real, they don't hurt (unless Jamie is on the other end from 3 feet away which he often is), and all boys love guns. But still...not a fan. This gun was unreal...not to mention for age 6 and older! I think it was secretly more for Jamie than Jalen and it was just a good excuse to buy it! So he gets it all put together...it comes with 30 bullets and it's basically an automatic nerf gun...it takes 6 "D" batteries if that gives you an idea of the power behind this thing! Jalen had a grin on his face and got such a kick out of pulling the trigger...he ran down to the bathroom where the girls had just gotten out of the shower and aimed and fired. They ducked down and were hiding behind the cabinets and drawers! After he got some tears out of both the girls by firing at close range he made it all worth it when he took his shirt off and let them fire all 30 bullets at this back. When he turned around he had little tiny red marks all over his back...I could not stop laughing! So i guess as long as I'm married to a big boy I have to learn to deal with all these boy toys. So Happy Birthday to my big boy...enjoy your giant nerf gun!

May Birthdays

With how much our family has grown we have started to celebrate birthday's in groups. So yesterday were the May birthday's...Tristan, Lacey and Jalen. I can't believe that Jalen is 3 already! All the great granparents and John and Robin came to the party. We of course had good food as we always do, opened some presents, watched the kids play outside and then had some birthday dessert. The big hit for Jalen was the new fishing pole that Lace and Aaron got him. He immediately took it out to the pond and proceeded to jump the rocks to get closer to the fish...I can already see the worry this will cause me this summer! Little does Aaron know he has a new little fishing buddy! We had three different dessert...Mom made Lacey's favorite cream cheese pie, Papa Ben made my favorite angel food cake and the kids and I make monkey cupcakes for the little birthday boys! Jalen had just as much fun helping mix it and licking the beaters as he did eating the actual cupcake but they turned out so cute! It was a beautiful day to enjoy family and watch all the 6 kids play outside. I started to reflect on the last 3 years realizing how fast time goes. Tristan came over in the same shorts that Jalen wore on his first birthday and it brought back so many memories. If you ask Jalen how old he will be on his birthday you will get a different answer everytime ranging from 5 to 8 to his latest 6 and 1/2...think he soaks up what his sisters say or what?! He keeps all of us laughing...whether it's watching him ride his quad through the field, get stuck, get off and push it off of the bump...riding his bike in circles around the kitchen...insisting on hitting Daddy's "big driver" instead of his own golf clubs (and yes he knows which one is a putter, iron and driver and when to use each!) while wearing a lady's golf visor because it has golf balls on it...stripping off his clothes everytime he walks into Addie's house so he can wear her "pink" clothes...and when you ask him what he wants for his birthday he says "flowers...pink ones". For as much as he gets into...gasoline is his current favorite...he makes up for it with his sweet nature. For no reason he will reguraly say "Mommy, I like you" or if I'm really lucky "Mommy, I love you...so much". He has made me understand the meaning of the term "Mama's boy". Many parents can put on cartoons to act as a temporary babysitter so they can get something done...but Jalen of course says "Mommy lay with me?" in the cutest little voice it's hard to resist. So I have watched more than my share of Dora, Diego and Handy Manny! As we celebrate almost 3 years I am so thankful that God blessed me with Jalen so I could experience this crazy, exhausting, and dirty world of boys...I love it!

Disaster of a Mother's Day

I have figured out that having expectations can only lead to one thing...disappointment. I have known this for awhile but continue to make the same stupid mistake. You would think that Mother's Day would be the one day that you could have some expectations...even if it's sleeping in or having Starbucks brought to you. Before I begin our adventure of a day let me clarify that my girls were awesome...as always they had made me the sweetest gift at school...one of those gifts that makes your heart smile and you want to frame it and keep it forever as a reminder of them at this precious age. Kuddos to the kids! So Lily had been at a birthday party slumber party and Ellie had a friend sleep over here. Ellie woke me up at 7:15 to give me her sweet gift...a painting and a poem...which was the only reason I wasn't mad that I was awake that early. I got up and decided to go to church with my mom at 8:30. I have Jamie the instructions and who to drop where and what time to get Lily. After church we all headed to Starbucks (I wasn't so lucky as to get it in bed!). When Jamie asked what I wanted to do I said I wanted to go to Multnomah Falls. Now there is a story behind the falls...I have wanted to go forever...we drive by it a couple times each summer and I always say I want to go hike up to the falls. And everytime Jamie rolls his eyes...hiking and nature are not his thing unless it involves a golf course. But I figured it's Mother's Day...he can't say NO! So we loaded up and although he wasn't thrilled he was going to make the best of it. I should have known that on Mother's Day...when it is blue sky and sunny...going to get up to 70 degrees...we weren't the only people that thought the falls were a good idea! We waited in line to exit the freeway...then in line some more to find a parking spot. After finally finding one we unload the kids, get out the stroller and camera and make our way along with the rest of the crowd. Of course the first thing the kids see is the snack sign and it becomes a priority above all else. I tell them after we walk for awhile we can get snacks on the way back. We head up and fight our way to the edge of the viewing area to get some pictures and of course Jalen won't coopoerate. He is still obsessing about the candy at the snack shack. When nothing else works we use the candy as a bribe...take some cute pics and you can get the candy. The pictures are just okay...he won't stand still...he is doing the closed eye grin...and doesn't want to be too close to the girls. Not to metion the only spot that there will be no one else in the background is right in the sun so it's all hazy. Whatever...onto the hike and enjoy the sun and fresh air. WRONG. There are stairs so we can't take the stroller. I mean really...what guy designed this place?! We head back down to find out where the trails are that don't have stairs. Well going back down meant the snack shack because "remember mom you said on our way back!". $12 later in a bag of chips, a popsicle, a resses and a hot dog they were happy. Not so lucky for us...we have to drive back three exits to get to the other trails we can hike with the stroller. So...back to the car, load up, get on the freeway but going the wrong way. Remember this is I84 not I5 so we have to drive a bit in the WRONG direction before we have a chance to turn around. When we are finally on the right path again and getting ready to exit I turn around to find Jalen asleep. Great. He has a cold, and is cranky anyway and if I wake him up it will be a bigger disaster than it has been so far. So we bag the falls, bag the hike. Good thing we drove an hour...seriously we could have gone to Chevron and got the kids some snacks and called it good. Jamie was laughing and I'm sure I will later but in the moment it wasn't funny. He was laughing because it seems that it is always our luck that these things happen. It seems like whenever we TRY really hard to make something fun and special it totally backfires. It has made for some of our best memories...but at the time I couldn't let go of that "expectation" I had...the way I had played the day out in my mind...and the complete failure of execution. I was so bummed. We stopped in Troutdale hoping for some lunch and somehow ended up at the outlets. Jamie stayed in the car with Jalen while the girls and I got out to look around. Oh...the girls LOVE to shop. I can't blame them but I just wasn't in the mood today. They had clothes in their hands and were heading to the fitting rooms when I heard Jalen half whining half crying behind me. He had woken up and not happily. After paying for the kids clothes, Jamie got some new boxers...I'm thinking wow...it's Mother's Day and I'm the only one not getting anything...what is wrong with this picture?! We got home and Jamie who was just getting the beginning of Jalen's cold was not feeling that well and much like his son a little cranky! My dad asked if I wanted to hit balls so I took the girls with me and we went to the club. I figured at least I'm getting to enjoy this weather...and there aren't much better views than at the club. We had a good time...stopped by Nana's on the way home to deliver a card and gift and called it a day. When I got into bed I really just wanted to roll over and have a good cry...but when I did roll over I saw Ellie's poem laying on the nightstand and I had to smile. It's the little things that matter...and this gift from her heart and spending the day with the three little people that made me a mother is really what it is all about.

Title: MOM
Written by: Ellie

You're as generous as an angel
as beautiful as an amethyst,
You're always filling my spirit with laughter,
And you tell me don't give up, NO matter what.
You always are cheering me on,
You care for me like Jesus would,
You watch out for me in a way I can't describe.
You love to see the colors in the sky,
When the sun starts to rise, early in the morning.
Mom, I love you, you love me,
you're one and a million can't you see.

LAX

I just learned that is the abbreviation for lacrosse and I think it is the coolest thing...it just looks cool! I guess I'm easily amused. So Ellie decided to switch from softball to lacrosse this year. Of course we let the kids play whatever they want to play but I had no idea what to expect...I had never even seen a game of lacrosse before let alone know the rules, terminology or how to play! So I am learning right along with Ellie...although she picked it up pretty quick so she is now teaching me! It is a lot like soccer from what I can tell...a lot of running up and down the field. The best part is that two of her four games have been on turf which is SO nice in the spring in Oregon! Normally we are decked out in our rain boots because even if we get lucky with a day of sun the field are still a swamp from the other 20 days of rain in the month. So we had a wonderful 70 degree day for these two games...and it was awesome to be able to sit in the sun on dry turf with sunglasses and watch Ellie play her games. She did awesome...there were no subs today so she played for 2 hours straight and even scored a goal! It is definitly much more exciting to watch than softball...so far a good switch!

A Special Mother's Day Luncheon

Every year we have a Mother's Day Luncheon at our church which the girls and I attend with my mom, my grandma and my sister. It is always a good time...good food, there is a cake walk for the kids, crowning of our Mother Mary statue and the kids get to make a craft for us during the guest speaker. Well...the reason this year was so special is because the guest speaker was my mom! I was shocked when she told me that she had been asked to speak...not that they had asked her but that she had said yes! My mom and I are a lot alike and neither one of us do well speaking in front of crowds of any kind! She worked on her speech over the course of many months and had me and my sister help her in the editing process. I had read it a couple times not to mention living through it and she still brought me to tears. She was sharing her journey of faith through the hard times with my sister and her addiction. My sister of course gave her permission to share her story. She did an amazing job and I wasn't the only one in tears...it was like she took us on a fast forward version of her ups and downs over 12 years. She called Lace up at the end to introduce her and Lace did just as great in the few words that she said. It was moving, inspirational and a true feel good story. I recorded the speech, which made my mom even more nervous I'm sure...but I'm glad I did...it is something that someday will be pretty cool to share with our kids. Speaking of kids...Ellie didn't hear the speech because she was in doing her craft but at the end she saw everyone coming up to my mom and my sister hugging them and telling them how moved they were so she clued in that she had missed something. Now Ellie is not the most patient person...mix that with her very persistant personality and she kept asking and asking and would not let it go when we told her that someday when she was older Lacey and Grandma would share the story with her. She finally gave up on asking us and when I looked around for her I saw her over talking to Father Bill. On our way out Father Bill stopped me and told me that Ellie figured since he was a priest he had to be honest so she asked him what her Grandma had talked about. He of course told her to ask her mom. He thought that was pretty funny!

My first ever golf trip!

I know...you are thinking what person has taken over my blog right? Me...on a golf trip?! It's funny for a couple of reasons...the first being that since this is the first time in almost 3 years that I have had a single night without kids you think I would have gone somewhere other than a golf resort! And secondly...I don't golf! Well Jamie's friend Lloyd asked if we would like to join him and his wife Angie on this three day two night unlimited golf trip. I said yes not so much because of the golf but to have a break away from my sweet but BUSY kids! I did start hitting balls, asked my dad for a few lessons (Jamie does not like to coach much!) and even had a couple lessons from a pro while we were in Arizona. I was feeling okay about things until I found out that Angie is the club champion at Oregon Golf Club as well as just winning the member-member tournament. I thought that's great...three super good golfers and then me...talk about being the odd man out! Well it wend way better than I imagined...I managed to keep the same ball for three rounds and although my score was no where near any of theres (about 30 shots more to be exact!) I didn't hold anyone up. Jamie and Lloyd went early on Wednesday to play and ended up playing in the snow and hail! By the time Angie and I got there they decided they were done for the day so we went to a hole in the wall Mexican restaurant to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Luckily the next day it was a beautiful blue sky...although still cold...so we played 36 holes and finished up on the last day with another 18 holes. It was so fun to be outside, looking at all the mountains, then having relaxing dinners and sleeping in a bed with no little feet rubbing up and down my back! And the best part is it went so well at home with the kids that I am already planning our next mini-vacation away!

A Sunny Morning for Softball

We finally got a sunny day...the first of the softball season! We had a very busy Saturday...started with Lily's softball game, then the Mother's Day Luncheon at the church and we finished with two lacrosse games of Ellie's! Lily plays with such a fun group of girls and their parents that it is really fun going to her games. There are younger siblings running around everywhere and the parents are all so supportive cheering the girls on. Lily finally had her shot at playing pitcher which she loved, she got two great hits and scored a couple runs! Jalen had to be the bat boy and proved he still had some rules of the game to learn...like how to stay away from the batter! They won the game and we rushed off to get ready for the luncheon!

Cracker Jax

We had all been looking forward to escaping this rain and getting a week in HOT Arizona. My parents went down a week early and I would get a call from my mom while she was laying in the sun saying it was 90 degrees...I was so excited! So...we got in on Monday night and just our luck the weather changed. We were sitting around in the morning looking at cloudy skies and thinking of what we could do to entertain the kids...it was just like being in Oregon over spring break...depressing! Despite the cold wind and drizzle we headed to Cracker Jax where the kids always have fun bungee jumping, riding the bumper boats and driving the go carts. We managed to kill a couple hours there although there wasn't a lot for the little ones to do...and they are the ones who need the most entertainment! Leaving Jalen and Addie together inside a house for hours on end is not pleasant for anyone! Being almost 3 they are in the midst of the "mine" mentality and whatever one has the other wants and they battle it out with a screaming match that would drive anyone crazy and then usually end it with someone being pushed, pinched, hit or bit. The Daddy's took them on the bumper boats which they thought was pretty cool and Jalen was able to drive one of the mini go carts...although they had to manually start it for him and let it idle because his legs weren't long enough to reach the pedals. Anything that goes vroom puts a smile on his face!

Finally some sun!

After three days of overcast skies and 65 degree weather (NOT what we came to Arozona for!) we finally got some sun! It was a wonderful 85 degrees and we took advantage of it by hanging around the pool all day! We brought lunches and snacks for the kids and between swimming in the big pool, jumping in the hot tub, running to the kiddie pool and relaxing in the cabana they were happy...and so were we laying in the sun! Except for chasing Jalen and Addie between pools the entire time! We took turns being "on duty" so we all got a chance to soak up the sun and even take a quick nap. I can't wait for the day when all my kids can swim and I can set up with a towel, book and ice tea and relax!

Blooming Desert

Normally when you think of the desert you think of blah brown rock, sand, and prickly cactus. My favorite part of going in the spring is seeing the beautiful flowers that actually bloom off of those painful looking things!



And even more amazing than those pretty flowers are the baby owls! The mama owl lays her eggs in this huge cactus right on the side of the road every year and it is so cool to see these big little eyes peeking out over the top! Everytime we drove by there were people set up with there tripods and zoom lenses to capture this awesome sight. Of course I had neither of those but I did my best to keep a steady hand and got as close as I could. When we were getting in the car we saw the mama owl watching us carefully from the roof nearby. The craziest part is where she chose to make her nest...not out in the middle of the desert but on a main road through the neighborhood! We are all sure glad she did though...it is always one of the highlights of our trip!