Albóndigas

Barefoot and pregnant in.... a bog. ;)

2012-01-27T10:29:00.000-08:00

Here are pictures my friend took (Morning Bells Photography) a couple weeks ago of me, Dame, and baby #4, due to arrive on the 16th. I love these pictures and am so happy to have them -thank you Michelle! :) It's hard for me to pic a favorite, but Noel says the best one is the one he snuck into. Yep, Noel, we didn't even know you were there. ;)

New Years Day @ Multnomah Falls

2012-01-07T09:56:00.000-08:00

It seems to be that we're starting a bit of a tradition... for the past 3 (or 4?) years we've made the short journey out to Multnomah Falls on New Years day. :) This year it wasn't frozen, but it was still beautiful to see. It was very windy, though, so we didn't linger too long. Poor Emma could hardly walk down by the parking lot where the winds were strongest. It's fun to compare pictures from these visits each year and see the kids grow (and multiply). Of course, Damian and I look the same since we don't age at all... Ha. ;)

More Christmas pics...

2012-01-07T09:46:00.000-08:00

Here are some more pictures from the girl's visit. We all went to ZooLights one night. I was surprised with how beautiful and well done it was. I haven't been there in years, and they've really done a great job. The whole zoo is lit up, even the train. So we took a ride and enjoyed the lights.

Maddie is still shy with all life sized, moving stuffed animals. Emma doesn't look too sure either.

Our train pulling in.

Emma didn't want to leave. She loved all the lights. But it got cold fast, so we called it a night. Until next year... :)

Sledding on Mt. Hood

2011-12-23T15:28:00.000-08:00

The girls are here!! They've been here for almost a week now, and time is going by fast. Apparently that happens when you're having fun. ;)

Here are some pictures from our trip up to Mt. Hood yesterday. We had a blast sledding and playing in the snow, even if there wasn't much snow to play in. (We've been having strangely clear skies lately, and I love it.) ;) Anyway, we're making the most of our time together as a whole family before the girls head back to North Carolina on Monday.

Here are the kids listening to Justin Bieber on Shel's iPod. Now Maddie claims to be "in love."

Noel came down with the flu on Monday, but he was feeling well enough to come up for the ride and eat some Doritoes. It's great to see him smiling after a rough few days.

Emma is a fan of Doritoes too. And she has just enough of her face poking out from all the layers to pop some in her mouth. Ha.

Our beautiful Mt. Hood.

Where's Emma??

There she is! :)

Here's our lovely Shelby.

And Damian with all the kids.

Maddie put Shelby to work, pulling her around. :)

Here's our lovely Raylee.

Emma had a blast being spun around in circles in the tubes. She's crazy like that.

That's Raylee starting down the hill, on her tummy, with Mad in front.

Here is a rare picture of me!... and Damian and Ems. ;)

Me and my love.

Sisters!!

Shelby took this picture of us, heading back down to the car. I'm glad there wasn't as much snow, otherwise I'd be sliding down this hill, hurting myself, instead of walking nicely. :)

And here's one last group shot before heading home. We were only up there for 3 hours, but everyone was exhausted!

Happy Birthday, Noel!!

2011-12-11T08:25:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday, Noel!!

You're 4 today!!
We love you, Bubs, and are so very proud of you. You're a wonderful son and brother. xx

Emma is 2 today!

2011-12-09T10:08:00.001-08:00

Happy birthday, sweet Emma-bean!!

Two years ago you surprised us in the middle of the night by your sudden arrival into the world. But that's just how you do things. :) We love you and are blessed to have you in our family.

xx Happy birthday! xx

Christmas Round-up Rodeo

2011-12-09T09:52:00.001-08:00

Well Howdy Howdy... we went to a rodeo last weekend. Maddie was over the moon to see all the horses and the rodeo Queens and Princesses riding them around the arena in their sequined jump-suits. The rest of us were stepping in poo and freezing our doodles off. Ha. But here are pictures from our morning there. In this one, Maddie got to meet one of the Queens and sit on her horse. It was a VERY big deal for Mad. :)

Noel would have absolutely nothing to do with the horses. Apparently he's scared of them. But, being the boy that he is, he entertained himself a safe distance back playing with sticks and exploring a field.

Emma didn't let me put her down the entire time. There were a lot of people there and it overwhelmed her. But she loved seeing the horses, and especially the wrangling of the bulls. Go figure.

Maddie got to ride around the arena after the rodeo. She was so happy, it's hard to describe.

Noel stayed as far back, pressed into the corner, while watching Maddie ride around. He still refused to take a turn, even when Damian offered to ride with him (and that's a big deal since Damian is not a horse guy either).

Maybe next year... :)

Christmas tree a huntin' and choppin'

2011-12-09T09:37:00.001-08:00

Here are some pictures from our trip to the tree farm. The kids had a blast running around and getting lost in the trees, while Damian and I (okay, mostly I) took our sweet time picking out just the right tree. It's true, I was being picky, but I also was enjoying the beautiful, crisp day.

Family photos in front of our tree.

Maddie, trying her luck at sawing it down.

Damian had to take over. ;)

Yup, it's a big one. But we managed to carry it back to the car and hoist it on top.

Sweet, snotty Emma-bean.

Gravel is really fun to play with while waiting for your parents to pay and strap the tree down for the ride home.

Another Emma picture, with bunny ears... or maybe a peace sign. :)

Happy kids! Now to go home and decorate it...!!

Conked out

2011-10-03T11:18:00.000-07:00

This looks rather uncomfortable...

...and he didn't even finish his snack.

Noel & Dame on the dead grass :)

2011-10-03T11:12:00.000-07:00

Summer Family Pictures

2011-08-01T08:58:00.000-07:00

Here are some family pictures!! Yay!! It was so wonderful to have everyone together while Shelby was here for two weeks in June. Raylee is still with us, but she will be leaving soon... too soon. It's amazing how fast our summers go by with her. Hopefully someday we'll get to keep her longer.

I'm glad to have these pictures. My friend offered to take them and, as you see, she's amazing with her camera. I'm glad to have them because my digital camera broke right after I got back from Hawaii. So we don't have many pictures from this summer; these ones are special.

Mother's Day 2011

2011-05-21T22:00:00.000-07:00

I don't even know what to say, except that Damian sent me to Hawaii for 5 days. Yes, Hawaii. It was awesome. Here was the view of Waikiki & Diamond Head from my hotel room. Pretty swank. ;)

My morning cup of coffee enjoyed the view as well.

And here's the tower I stayed in. I was in the 31st floor. I tried not to think of earthquakes while I was up there, but it was hard.

My friend Michelle got to come with me! Yay!

She's pretty rad.

We ate at a restaurant on the 3rd floor where there's a patio area with a swimming pool and tables overlooking the street. It started to rain a bit, and the waiter asked us if we'd rather be seated inside. But we're used to rain! So we just popped open the umbrella over the table. A moment later, it stopped raining.

Our 'Grand Excursion' away from the hotel was to Hanauma Bay to do some snorkeling. It was amazing. There were so many colorful fish, and we even got to see a huge sea turtle!

Getting ready to head down to the bay...

Here we are after snorkeling. I know it's after because of the goggle marks around our faces. Yeah, I didn't know I looked like that until I got back to the hotel. Ha.

If you've seen my most recent addition to my fridge, you'll know what this is about. Ha. Although, I wouldn't consider my magnets to be 'rude.'

Our last night in Waikiki. Michelle ate something nice and healthy. I won't tell you what I got. It definitely wasn't healthy. ;)

And here's the view looking straight down from our balcony. I'm glad I didn't drop the camera! This is one of many pools around the hotel property. I'm surprised to say that I never did swim in a pool while I was there. I did a lot of reading by the pool, but I swam in the ocean. :)

And finally, an evening view. This was the least blurry picture I took since it was tricky to capture with such low lights.

It was such a wonderful time. :)

Our little "reader"

2011-04-11T13:09:00.000-07:00

I love Calvin & Hobbes. And I love that Noel loves Calvin & Hobbes too.

Even if it does put him to sleep.

the post sans kids

2011-03-30T11:10:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of me, Damian, and me with Damian. Ha.

These are to make up for all the pictures I post of the kids. But who wants to see our ugly mugs anyway? The kids are way cuter. ;)

Damian was in our friend Brian's wedding.

I (obviously) didn't take these pictures. All the credit for how great they are goes to our friend Tim with Tim Denison photography. (Like the plug? Ha.)

The rehearsal dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory. That's my friend Kari, the groom's sister. :)

Now this next picture isn't one of Tim's, it's a random one I added to this post of me and Dame at a friend's birthday party at Chevy's. But it fit's with the theme of this post. :)

So.... that should be more than enough of our faces for a while! Now, back to the kids....

...February snow...

2011-03-30T10:42:00.000-07:00

Wait, could that possibly be snow? In February? ;)

Here are the kids up early the morning it started to snow. They're watching it and waiting to go outside. I'm really mean and wouldn't let them go out to play in 1 cm of wet snow at 7 in the morning. Ha.

But, a few hours later, there was enough to play in!

Emma thought it was pretty funny.

Noel's gloves didn't fit so well. But, at least he had some, unlike poor Ems.

His face explains his excitement better than I ever could. :)

Here's Maddie, building her first snowman.

Making progress with our little snowy friend.

And, voila! Our snow critter.

If I'm remembering correctly, her name was Rosie.

Now, fast forward a week and it snowed again! Even more this time. We got about 5 inches.

Um, Noel? That hat doesn't seem to fit you anymore.

Snow angels!

Sweet little Emma-bean.

After it snowed, the sun came out and the sky was clear. The tree was beautiful with it's red buds covered in snow.

Our snowy house & yard.

Emma, getting brave and stepping into deeper snow.

Looking up the street.

Er, Maddie? You should lie on your back when you try to make a snow angel.

I pushed her. ;)

After waiting all winter, hoping for snow, it finally came at the end of February. Yay!

Trip to the Aquarium

2011-03-30T10:26:00.000-07:00

We drove out to the Oregon Coast Aquarium for the first time as a family. The kids had a great time and are asking to go back already. It was nice to go on a day trip, but Dame and I aren't in as much of a hurry to make the 5 hour round-trip drive again. Here are some pictures from our adventure. :)

This is the bridge in Newport. Exciting, I know.

And this is the lighthouse. Okay, I'll move on to aquarium pictures next...

This was my favorite part. I think jellyfish are super cool (behind glass).

We thought it would be a good place to go on a rainy day... but we found out that most of it is outside. But he kids didn't care. Here's Emma super excited about the tidal pool.

Look, Maddie, the otter is behind you! Open your eyes! Ha.

Waiting for something to swim by.

Noel calls the sea lions "Ar-ars." Like the sound they make.

The shark tunnel was really cool.

Dum-dum. Dum dum.

And, last but not least... here they are on a wooden walrus. Classic.

Just one of those mornings...

2011-02-11T14:09:00.000-08:00

in doctor language, "invasive" = "painful"

2011-02-05T09:54:00.000-08:00

Damian's back injury saga continues...

On Thursday he had a Myelogram, which the doctor told him was "an invasive procedure." We rightly concluded that what he was nicely saying, in his own doctorly way, was that it was going to hurt. But Damian survived, he's recovering well, and we'll find out the results this Thursday.

The nurse thought my sense of humor must be a bit off, since I was taking pictures. She's right. Ha. This one is Dame right before going in. It's a nervous smile.

He had dye injected into his spinal fluid and then had x-rays taken. They did it to get a good idea of what's going on in order to decide whether or not to do surgery. I guess the worse case scenario would be that they say there's nothing further they can do for him and that's it. He'll just have to live with the pain. But we'll see. Who would have though that we'd be hoping that they find something wrong?! On the other hand, back surgery is scary too. Poor Dame. I just want him to be fixed one way or the other. It's hard to see him in pain all the time.

Anyway, with all that said... our "quote of the morning" is when the nurse decided to entertain us while waiting for the doctor. She said, "While we're waiting for the doctor, I'll show you my tattoo since that's entertaining!" We were relieved to see that it was on her leg! Ha.

It's as if she wants something...

2011-02-05T09:49:00.000-08:00

Emma has been going through a stage lately... well, since she's been born, actually... of being rather clingy.

So what do I do about it? Take pictures, of course!

Then, yes, I pick her up. So it's my fault. ;)

Houdini's opposite

2011-02-05T09:45:00.000-08:00

The other morning, Noel somehow managed to get stuck inside his Nerf basketball hoop. Usually Maddie is behind something like that, but this time he did it on his own (see Maddie back there, zoned out on TV?). Ha.

Ah, Damian... it's so fun to see your "Y" chromosome in action!

this fish will need therapy

2011-02-05T09:42:00.000-08:00

Maddie got a pet fish. She named him Rosie.

Welcome to the family, Mr. Rosie!

Sunshine does not always bring warmth

2011-02-05T09:25:00.000-08:00

If you haven't figured it out already, one of our favorite places to "get away" for the day without having to travel more than an hour is the Columbia River Gorge.

We had a sunny day and decided to get out and get some fresh air. I'm so glad I brought their hats and gloves in addition to their jackets --it was freezing! Literally, I'm sure. And the wind... wow. It was cold. We inhaled as much fresh air as we could in the 10 minutes we spent out of the car. Ha.

The kids are such good sports. Emma wasn't so sure, though.

We got glared at from an older couple sitting in their truck in the parking lot. I guess they didn't think we should have been out with kids so young on such a cold day. Oh well. The kids had fun! They ran around and explored the field a bit with Samson.

It would have been MUCH colder to hike up Beacon Rock, so I just took a picture of it. Maybe in the summer. There's a great view of the Gorge from the top.

I think this field is beautiful year round. Even when it's brown. :)

Anyway, we all survived... No one got sick... No one froze to death... We got some fresh air and vitamin D... It was a good day.

Christmas @ my parent's

2011-01-28T10:24:00.000-08:00

So Christmas was over a month ago... but I still want to post these pictures. The day after Christmas we went to my parent's house to get together with that side of the family. Here's the massive tree that my dad went out and chopped down (and dragged it all the way back to his car) nearly killing himself. Ha. But he managed, and it was worth it. "Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas Tree!" Did I mention he also decorated it himself? Not bad for a male. ;)

Here's the Emster, not really wanting to be in the walker. But it was keeping her in one place during the craziness of unwrapping gifts.

That's my dad behind the huge 49ers blanket.

Kids unwrapping gifts, and immediately looking to see if there's more.

Wait, who's this guy?? And why is this being underlined? Good grief. I can't figure out why it's doing this. And I can't figure out who invited the elf, let alone who gave him a gift! ;)

Maddie, showing off a gift.

Another general picture of the festivities...

Santa's big helpers.

Dame looks pretty exhausted in this pic, Emma too.

Maddie with Auntie Joanna.

Grandpa, Noel (he was mesmerized by the talking Santa), and my sister Joanna.

And now I'm ready to start blogging the new year! Hehe.

pro-cras-ti-nate = me

2011-01-28T10:03:00.000-08:00

It seems that I'm getting worse and worse at updating this blog. So, I've decided that my unofficial official new year's resolution is to update this blog more often. With that being said, it's sure to fail. Don't all new year resolutions fail?

Ha.

Anyway, while I'm "in the spirit" I think I'll post a couple new things. Yay!

After all, I have a cup of coffee and a quiet house right now. So conditions are perfect. :)

Mmm... coffee...!

Christmas @ Nana & Pappy's house

2010-12-25T21:58:00.000-08:00

!!!Merry Christmas!!!

At 6:15 this morning, Noel came into our room saying, "It's Chrithmath! It's Chrithmas!" He then went to wake Maddie and I heard her grumble, "Why do we have to wake up at midnight?!" :)

Here's Noel after opening his gift: "Stinky the Garbage Truck" ...or as he calls it, "Thtinky the Garbage Truck!"

Maddie quickly forgave us for waking her up so early when she unwrapped her new Leapfrog. :)

Later on, we headed over to Nana's house. :)

Here's Damian & Dan.

Me and Noel with an expression I can't figure out.

Me again... usually I'm the one taking the pictures, but I gave up my camera rights after taking half a dozen really bad ones. They're so bad, I'm not even putting them on here for a laugh.

Emma-bean, caught in the act.

Noel, playing with Mad's game. He spilled his drink all over his shirt and I didn't think to pack extra clothes, so he went topless for the rest of our visit.

Singer/Songwriter/contemplative of life and it's meaning and wondering if dinner is ready yet... Dan.

Ems.

Ems with her Nana.

Singer/songwriter/Mr. Nascar Undies-head... Dan.

it's autumn, no doubt

2010-11-27T13:38:00.000-08:00

As you can tell by the pictures, which speak 1000 words, Maddie and Dame are super excited to be raking leaves. Good thing we only have one tree.

Maddie, earning her keep. ;)

Pretty red trees in Portland... and a not so pretty parking lot.

I think we picked the windiest day to go for a walk along the river. But it was fun!

Samson survived that picture, don't worry.

Emma's cool so long as she's gots her binks.

I was FREEZING! Ha.

Hooray for fall in the beautiful NW. :)

Emma @ 11 months

2010-11-09T14:25:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures of Emma in honor of her being 11 months old today.

A month from now will be 1 year since she joined our family... what a blessing!

back at the Gorge

2010-11-08T17:14:00.000-08:00

Here are pictures from a drive we took (one of many this past summer) up the Columbia River Gorge. Maddie was happy to have Samson along...

Emma LOVES being outdoors. And we love this carrier to tote her around in.

Dame and the kids, heading down the path to the water. We see kites and we want to investigate. :)

I don't think I need to explain this picture. Ha. Dame's getting better about taking some of me here and there. Even if it requires some prompting. ;)

And the kites belonged to --kite surfers! They came closer and did some neat tricks for the kids to see. Noel and Mad were quite impressed! But I'm not surprised since they like anything that's: "To the extreme!" Ha.

...down by the river, the Columbia River...

2010-11-08T16:58:00.000-08:00

These pictures are from a while back, when Dame and I had an hour to kill before picking up the kids from... somewhere... I forget exactly, but it was a warm, cloudy summer day and it was so nice to walk along the beach.

This picture is looking east, up the river. Mt. Hood is behind the clouds, unfortunately.

Here's looking west, down the river. That's one of two bridges connecting Vancouver to Portland, and those are two jet skis I wanted to hotwire. ;)

My Damian, my love... and me too.

Fun in the sun @ Nana's

2010-09-02T15:51:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from our time visiting Damian's mom & step-dad before Raylee left for North Carolina. Yes, I'm still catching up on this summer's events...

Here we are with his mom --I like this picture, even though Dame's missing a shirt. Ha. :)

She set up the slip and slide for the kids. Here's Noel scooting (not sliding) down it. He did more of an Army crawl.

Maddie slid! With the help of Damian launching her down it.

Raylee wanted a picture of the three of us. I like this one too. :)

And here's Samson... still crazy.

We love you Ray, and miss you tons.

And let's not forget Emma! She loves exploring the yard and eating what she finds.

Saying goodbye to Ray

2010-08-14T11:35:00.000-07:00

It always happens too fast. Raylee comes to stay with us for the summer, and the next thing we know it's time for her to go back. Here are some pictures from her "End of the Summer BBQ." We had a wonderful time with her, we miss her already, and we're looking forward to the day where there are no more tearful goodbyes.

Wait, where am I????

2010-08-14T11:24:00.000-07:00

One of my absolute least favorite things about living in North Carolina are the large spiders everywhere. But I'm not living in North Carolina anymore --so what's with this spider?!

Dame is getting a good lock at his catch.

The thing was huge. I've NEVER seen a spider this big around here. And it was in MY BEDROOM! Ha. Noel and Damian were taking a nap together when Noel spotted this guy on the wall next to them. So Damian (of course) caught it and released it in the field across the street. And I'm sure it's finding its way back to my bedroom even as I type this... *shudder*

visiting my folks

2010-08-14T10:47:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from a BBQ at my parent's house. It was our last get together with Raylee before she left. Here are the cousins...

And here are the men...

My mom...

My sister, Joanna, with Emma-bean... her necklace must be tasty.

Auntie Joanna, Maddie & cousin Skyler giving peace signs...

And that's it! :)

Oak's Park

2010-08-12T10:52:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from our day at Oak's Park. The kids had a blast. :)

Here's Noel & Maddie on Noel's favorite ride there. He LOVES motorcycles, if you can't already tell by the look on his face.

It has been pointed out *cough*Christy*cough* that I haven't been in any of the pictures lately. So here's one with me in it... and now I am embarrassed. Ha.

Noel's hairdo, compliments of sunscreen.

I don't really understand what's going on with this picture, but here's Noel as a... dollar bill? with an octopus and a... yeah, I just don't get it.

Maddie doesn't seem to be entertained by it either. :)

Fun day!

Papa-Motorcycle's motorcycle

2010-08-12T10:49:00.000-07:00

I really can't describe Noel's love for motorcycles. He would sit on this all day if he could. And how could he be a super cool motorcycle dude without a lady riding on the back? ;)

at least this mess smells good

2010-08-12T10:32:00.000-07:00

Whenever the house smells really good, really baby-powder fresh, I know that the kids have done it again. This time the culprit was Noel. I suppose Madeline has learned her lesson by now.

Yup, caught him red handed... or, uh, white handed. See it all over the floor back there?

So hopefully this picture surprises you. Yes, the girls are older and both of them know better. But when they came in and looked at me to see my response, I simply said, "Well, at least this mess smells good." For some reason they thought I meant, "Rub it all over your faces."

They only smiled long enough for this picture before both regretted getting involved. Apparently, it stings the eyes and makes you sneeze. Who would have thought?

Emma @ 7 months

2010-07-21T10:50:00.000-07:00

Emma is now eating baby food and she loves it...

...thiiiiiiis much!

So there's an Emma picture update. Ha. :)

She's 7 months now, eating baby food, starting to crawl, sitting up, and smiling all the time. Well, most of the time. Our happy, beautiful Emma-bean.

Northwest Trek

2010-07-21T10:17:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we went up to visit Northwest Trek, a "zoological facility dedicated exclusively to Northwest wildlife." It was really fun! We got to see all kinds of animals: deer, bears, raccoons, wolves, coyotes, beavers, bald eagles... even buffalo and a moose! Here's a picture of the girls posing in front of a fake moose -but there was a real one we saw... it's just not as easy to pose in front of as this one. ;)

Dame took a turn toting Emma around.

Raylee looks like a pretty serious threat!

This bear was looking right at me, so of course when I went to take a picture he turned away and I got a photo of his "other side" instead.

This raccoon was more cooperative with my photography skills (or lack thereof).

Maddie couldn't believe how cute he was. We usually see them on the side of the road --if you know what I mean --which isn't so cute.

I had Dame pull over so I could get a picture of Mt. Rainier on our way back.

It was a fun day!

independence day, 2010

2010-07-19T15:59:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from the 4th of July. Noel was super excited to watch things blow up.

Miss Raylee, watching from the curb.

Dame is jealous of how awesome John's bandanna is.

So he joined in with his own God-bless-the-USA-stars-and-stripes bandanna. (Now my mom is jealous --see her in the back? I'm sure she wanted to wear one too, but how many stars & stripes bandannas can a family have? Instead, her shirt showed her patriotism.)

Raylee was old enough to learn the proper technique of lighting explosives on fire.

Yes, Maddie is flashing peace signs.

She was copying my brother.

And now Raylee is a roman candle pro. :)

--Our first family outing of the summer--

2010-07-19T15:08:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from our picnic up at Cresap Bay. It was one of the first sunny Saturdays of the summer and friends of ours blessed us with a truck to use so we could go do something special as a family. And it was really special! The kids had fun in the water and I, of course, was elated to be up in the mountains. Have I ever mentioned how beautiful it is around here? That is, when the sun comes out from behind the rain clouds.

Here are some pictures of Raylee keeping me company on the shore:

The water was FREEZING! But kids don't care. And Dame said that after a bit, his legs went numb from the cold so he couldn't feel it anymore.

You wouldn't know how cold the water was from watching Maddie playing in it!

Noel wasn't too sure he wanted to go any further in.

Time to eat and warm up a bit. Dame still couldn't feel his legs.

Dame and Ray swam out to the logs! I have lots of fun memories of swimming out to them as a kid with my sister. We'd lay out on them and talk until we would realize that we were completely warm and dry but then we'd have to jump back in to the cold water to get back to shore. So it was fun to see my husband and daughter enjoying them all these years later.

Emma was happy watching everything from the shore.

Dame found a log to play on with the smaller kids.

And then when we were getting ready to leave, my dad showed up with his boat! So that was a wonderful surprise. The kids (and Dame) got to sit in it. :)

My brother, John, was there to be skipper to my dad's captain.

This was the second trial run for my dad's boat, and it was another success!

The many faces of Noel

2010-07-19T14:52:00.000-07:00

Noel the hooligan.

Noel the allergy-ridden.

Noel the... uh, well, Noel in disbelief that a bag of cereal could be so big.

(The best $3 I ever spent.)

Noel the baby.

Noel the knight in shining armor (or pj's).

And, finally, Noel the bumble bee.

After 20 years...

2010-07-19T14:34:00.000-07:00

...my dad finally got his boat up to the lake. :) He got it handed down to him by his father and has been working on it to get it back in shape for sailing. So here are pictures from the trial run. It went really well! And I was so happy to be up in the mountains on such a beautiful, pacific northwest day.

East Coast trip

2010-05-19T11:18:00.000-07:00

Emma and I got back a week ago from our time out on the east coast. Here are some pictures I took while out there before my camera ran out of batteries. Yeah, that's a bad habit of mine.

Here's the story behind our trip: Our original plan was to go out to North Carolina from the 2nd to the 12th of May to help out my sister who was due to give birth to her third son on the 8th. Her husband was scheduled to be deployed in Afghanistan until late summer/early fall. But he got hit by an IED mid-April and was flown to Washington D.C. and hospitalized there. Jenna drove up, pregnant as can be, with her two boys to be with him. So Emma and I flew out early and met up with them in D.C. to help out. When Shane was released to go home for a week, we drove down to North Carolina where they live. While I was there I got to see the girls and also visit a couple old friends. Jenna gave birth to Trayson on the 8th -her due date -so I got to meet him before heading home. And since Shane was back he got to be there for the birth. It was a good trip! Of course I missed Damian and the kids and am very glad to be home with them now. But it was so good to visit Jenna and her family. And I'm glad she didn't go into labor while we were in D.C.!

Yesterday's drive up the Gorge

2010-04-19T10:32:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from our drive up the Columbia River Gorge yesterday. We went along the Washington side. It was a warm, sunny day and all the wildflowers were in bloom. So beautiful.

We got out to stretch our legs and blow some bubbles. The kids also had fun throwing rocks into the water. I had fun finding two ticks on me. Anyway, here are the pictures...

It was a really neat place to stop. The kids loved having an "adventure" climbing around on the rocks and exploring the area. Then we moved further east where the scenery began to change, but still, it was beautiful.

It was a fun trip! It makes us excited for summer when we'll be able to do this sort of thing more often. It rains a lot during the year here, but when the sun comes out it all makes up for it. :)

battle of the dandelions

2010-04-19T10:15:00.000-07:00

we've declared war against the dandelions in our yard. dame sprayed them the other evening and shortly after he did, they sprouted up their seeds (maddie said, "ooh! look at all the wishes!") in one last defense. so i teased dame about it (lovingly, of course) and suggested that he get a plastic bag and carefully pick off the heads so the seeds don't scatter. and that's what he did! i'm sure the neighbors think we're crazy with damian picking the heads off our dandelions while i'm laughing and taking pictures. and, well, they would be right.

Noel's new look

2010-04-19T10:01:00.000-07:00

Noel got his hair cut professionally for the first time last week. The gal put some gel in his hair to spike it a bit and he looked like such a little man. Ha. He did well, only shedding a few tears, but I think we'll buzz him next time. Easier maintenance. :)

Emma @ 4 months

2010-04-10T13:16:00.000-07:00

Emma is now 4 months old! I can hardly believe it --where has the time gone? She's getting so big. Here's a picture and video I took of her today.

We love you, happy Emma-bean!

evidence of fun

2010-04-10T12:55:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, Nana (Damian's mom) took Maddie and Noel to the Children's Museum. I sent them off looking like two normal kids, and got them back looking like this! They got to paint their own faces. I like how Noel painted bigger eyebrows and a full beard for himself. Maddie looks like one of the Na'vi. They had a great time --Maddie was disappointed that she didn't get to go again the next day. :)

Easter!

2010-04-10T12:27:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

Here are some pictures from our time at my parent's house. The kids got to do an egg hunt, which they'd been looking forward to. I think Grandpa was having just as much fun as the kids. He was the one up past midnight dying them for the big day.

Noel squished every egg he found.

Madeline had a really good eye! She found some really tricky ones like the purple egg camouflaged by the purple blanket.

Hmm... those are some nice eggs.

Grandpa and Emma, wearing my first Easter dress (also my mom's Easter dress) with some pants I had to put underneath since it was so chilly that day. So you can't really see the dress too well.

The kid's table. Maddie is not camera shy.

The big kid's table.

And the holiday wouldn't be complete without a picture of Damian, once again, cutting the meat.

our Christmas family pics!

2010-03-12T14:46:00.000-08:00

noel's bagel art

2010-03-11T11:45:00.000-08:00

yep, it's always fun to see how much of a mess noel can make with his food. this time, he decorated the back door with cream cheese and bagel chunks.

i think samson is wishing he was on the other side of the door!

feb 28th @ the beach!

2010-03-04T09:13:00.000-08:00

last sunday we drove out to the coast for some fresh, salty sea air. :) it was a beautiful day to go --mid 50s, no wind, high clouds with peeks of sun --not what you'd expect on the last day of february in the pacific northwest. it was so nice to get out and we all had a great time.

here's maddie conquering a sand hill. she climbed all the way to the top and then tumbled happily down.

i loved how these trees are permanently bent away from the shore... very dramatic.

yes, i blinked.

building sandcastles. it was fun until noel started throwing handfuls of sand at everyone. ha. but at least he wasn't eating the sand. maddie used to eat sand when she was his age....

looking north up the coast at cannon beach. you can barely see the lighthouse on the small rock out to the left.

this is maddie building a sandcastle at seaside (these pictures are somewhat out of order). she collected a bunch of shells and then buried them "in their castle."

what a beach town looks like up here. :) (this is back at cannon beach.)

haystack rock at cannon beach. any goonies out there?? does this look familiar?? ;)

(the rest of these pictures are at seaside.)

i didn't blink this time...

dame & the kiddos.

squinty damian... he really is having fun...

my kids sleep on the floor

2010-03-04T09:08:00.000-08:00

naked sheep

2010-02-19T13:31:00.000-08:00

maddie made the cutest little cotton ball sheep in sunday school last week. a couple days later she asked me what sheep are for, so i told her how they are sheared to get wool for sweaters.

the next time i saw her little sheep, he looked like this:

after a month of silence...

2010-02-16T09:52:00.000-08:00

...I'm finally catching up! I've neglected this blog, and with a newborn I know that's not cool. ;) So here are a few pictures and videos from the past month and a half. I'll try to be better at keeping up, especially with pictures of Emma, who's growing so fast. She's a happy, healthy baby. And she's sleeping through the night (from 9 pm to 7 am) so I'm a happy mom!

Madeline and Noel are doing well also. They both love having a little sister, especially Mad. The two girls have already formed a bond that's sweet to see. Emma will always smile for Maddie. Noel is pushing the limits lately, in true two year old style. But he's just as cuddly as ever and talks with the cutest little lisp.

Damian and I are up to the usual. He's taking a class at Multnomah and working on roofs during the week. I'm home with the kids, holding down the fort. :) We keep busy with three little kiddos... and Samson, who often feels like another kid.

Anyway, that's all for now! I'm out of coffee so my "computer time" is up. :)

happy Emma-bean

2010-02-16T09:43:00.000-08:00

this picture was taken yesterday, so it's recent! :) she's been smiling a lot lately. especially for Maddie, who's standing off to the side. they have such a sweet bond.

here's a video of Emma smiling for Maddie. at the end, Maddie says to "take a picture." i did, and that's the picture above. :)

miss madeline

2010-02-16T09:30:00.000-08:00

here's a couple pics of Madeline. she's quite the delightful character lately... always performing for us, playing with her princess dolls, dressing up... she's fun to be around! when i'm taking myself too seriously, she corrects me. and when she's not serious enough, i correct her. ;)

here's a video of her singing the ABCs. you'll notice she gets distracted by something... our computer was always freezing up (my excuse for not posting anything for over a month) so she was pointing out that it was working again. we recently got a new computer which i'm really enjoying --no freezing up! :) anyway, ignore that. ha.

i just couldn't resist...

2010-02-16T09:27:00.000-08:00

our Noel

2010-02-16T09:14:00.000-08:00

here are some pictures from the past month of our Noel. he's growing into such a handsome little guy, in my motherly opinion. :)

he loves wearing this bumble bee costume... he even sleeps in it!

peanut butter & jelly face... his usual after lunch attire

another favorite toy... it cracks me up to see him wearing this around the house as if it were a normal hat. and when he's not wearing it, damian is wearing it and chasing the kids around the house. fun times.

sweet Emma-bean

2010-02-16T09:07:00.000-08:00

here are a couple pictures of Emma, taken about a month ago... sorry i'm so behind in blogging! i'll try to catch up... :)

Maddie loves her little sis

New Year's Day @ Multnomah Falls

2010-01-05T10:28:00.000-08:00

Yes, we love Multnomah Falls. We drove out to see it on New Year's Day hoping it was frozen a bit like last year. And although it was surprisingly unfrozen, it was just as beautiful to see. :)

My handsome husband. :) And my handsome son.Maddie is so silly.
Lookin' for fish.
There isn't a single fish to be found! Says Maddie.

A snug little Emma-bean. ;)

Happy 2010, to all our friends & family (and anyone else who happens across this). :)

end of the year snow

2010-01-05T10:18:00.001-08:00

Here's proof that the weatherman doesn't always know what he's talking about... Ha. Especially when there are Clarkes praying for some snow. ;)

Hooray for snow!

This was just the beginning.
By nightfall there was about 1/2 an inch... enough for the kids and Dame to enjoy and pelt each other with dirty snowballs.
I don't know who was happier to see the snow, Damian or the kids. I'm leaning towards Damian, though.

What a wonderful way to end 2009. :)

our little artist

2010-01-05T10:12:00.000-08:00

Maddie's new favorite thing to do --finger paint!

Christmas @ my folk's

2010-01-05T09:15:00.001-08:00

And now, pictures from Christmas at my parent's house. :)

Here's Dame with Maddie and Noel (and Teagan in the background) getting seated to start opening presents. See how excited Maddie is?? Ha. She's eager to open gifts, but not so happy that I'm taking her picture.

As is custom, Damian carving the meat: And for fun, here's a picture of him from Thanksgiving... oh yeah, he's that good at cutting meat whether it's lamb, beef, or turkey... ;)
Okay, back to Christmas... here's a picture of my sister, Jenna, with her hubby, Shane. Of course, she closed her eyes and my brother John stuck his head in...

...So we tried again, this time with Teagan. :)
Here's Trevin and Raylee. They got along so well. Ray loved playing "mother" with all the little cousins and siblings. And my sister and I loved getting a break! ;)
(As you see, Trevin has his mom's talent at closing his eyes at just the right moment.)
Here's a pic of the cool kids. Sorry Jenna, we don't make the cut.
Here's Zoolander, Mom, Joanna, Teagan, and "Cat."
Here's my Dadio:
Jenna with Emma. Soon she'll have another one of her own! In the meantime she's testing out mine. ;)
Beautiful Raylee:

My Dad, really getting into a 3D puzzle he got from Jenna. After he conquered it, I was next to solve it although he figured it out quicker than me.

And lastly, I leave you with a picture of Dame cutting the pie. Did I mention he does desserts too? Hehe.

Up on Mt. Hood

2010-01-03T15:00:00.000-08:00

While the girls were here we took a day trip up to Mt. Hood. It was fun to go play in the snow. The kids had a really good time sledding. Maddie even tried it out and liked it (but not enough to go more than one time). :)

Here are some pictures:

5 kids!

2009-12-25T14:24:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

Here are some pictures of the kids. It was wonderful to have the girls here and have all five siblings together under one roof. Damian and I are blessed parents.

Alright you two, I'm trying to take a serious picture! Ha. Maddie and Noel are quite the little comedians.
Much better. Although I do like the silly one. :)

Maddie and Shelby. <3

....Noel's 2nd Birthday....

2009-12-25T14:07:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple pictures of Noel on his birthday. He turned two on the 11th, the day after Emma and I were released from the hospital. I'm so glad I got to celebrate with him on his special day. Let me tell you, though, the past two years have flown by. He's getting so big!

Here he is opening his gifts:

Figuring things out...

Looking to us for help...

Maddie was more than happy to help open his gifts for him. :)

And help him eat his candy... ha.

Happy Birthday, Noel. You are loved.

getting caught up

2009-12-24T14:49:00.000-08:00

Well, things have been pretty crazy the past two weeks... Emma was born, Noel turned two years old, Damian and I celebrated six years of marriage, Shelby and Raylee came out to visit... and I'm finally going to get caught up now... I hope. :)

First, some pictures of Emma...

Here I am with her for our first picture moments after she was born. Yes, I'm exhausted. Ha.Still exhausted... ;) Maddie came to visit and meet her new sister:One proud daddy. :)

Going home!

She likes the swing, thank goodness.

Maddie getting a little jealous of all the pictures I'm taking of Emma. :)

Holding her little sister for the first time.

Noel has been great with Emma. No meltdowns or anything!

That's all for now... I'll try to get on again today and post some pictures of Noel's birthday and our time with the girls this past week.

~ Introducing our beautiful Emma Grace ~

2009-12-17T09:34:00.000-08:00

She's arrived! And quickly too!

Early Wednesday morning, December 9th, at 4:03 am, our little Emma Grace entered the world weighing 7 lbs, 10 oz, and measuring 20 inches long.

I woke up at 2 am to use the bathroom and thought I felt a little something, but decided that it was nothing and went back to bed. At 2:30 I got back up starting to think that I may be having contractions so I woke up Damian. At 2:45 I concluded that yes, this slight feeling was getting stronger and was perfectly timed about 3 minutes apart... so I called my mom to come over and stay with the kids. She arrived at 3, and we got to the hospital at 3:30. At this point there was no doubt I was in labor and I knew the baby was coming soon. So when I was told that my doctor would arrive in about 15 minutes I wasn't too sure she'd make it in time. Thankfully, the moment after I told the nurses that I HAD to start pushing, my doctor arrived and two contractions later I was holding little Emma.

Here is our first family picture with her that we took on Thursday after we were released from the hospital:

And here I am with her. She's two days old in this picture.

So far that's all the pictures I can post. Noel was kind enough to put my camera's memory card in the wrong slot of the printer so I have to wait until my dad takes apart my printer to get it out. Yep, Noel is quite the tinker. He put a piece of Cinnamon Toast Crunch in my computer's disc drive last month. *sigh*

In other news, Damian is on his way to get Shelby and Raylee as I type this. So praise God that He brought Emma early. I've had a whole week to heal and adjust as much as possible before he left. And I really needed a week. This postnatal period has been harder on me both physically and emotionally than my last two pregnancies. But Emma is definitely a reward and blessing from God. She is deeply loved by all of us.

update shmupdate

2009-11-23T12:24:00.000-08:00

three weeks and counting and all is well! :) that's my pregnancy update. if i started going on about how uncomfortable i am this wouldn't be fun for anyone to read. ha. but, really, i'm doing great. i am anxious for her arrival and am praying that she'll come a bit early for us and not too late. why? well, because...

...damian flies out on the 17th to go get the girls! talk about cutting things close (my due date is the 14th). but i know it will work out one way or another so i'm not stressed one bit. at least not right now, maybe on the 15th i'll have a different outlook. check back with me then. ha.

we are very excited for the girls to be here --especially madeline. both shelby and raylee are coming this time. yay! they'll be here through christmas eve. it's going to be a full house with 5 kids. we'll just all have to cozy up. :)

anyway, that's about all i have to report for now! the graham crackers in the cupboard and frosting in the fridge are both calling for me to unite them. yum yum.

happy thanksgiving!!!

a walk in the rain

2009-11-23T12:20:00.000-08:00

the best days to go visit the ducks and fish at the pond are rainy days!
i don't know why i took a pic of these two canadian geese. they're so common here, it's like taking a picture of a cockroach in north carolina. ha! ;)

the spaghetti has TOO MUCH SAUCE!!!

2009-11-23T12:17:00.000-08:00

this is why we don't bathe the kids until AFTER dinner!

random kid pictures

2009-11-23T12:12:00.000-08:00

halloween costumes

2009-11-03T11:12:00.000-08:00

here's princess ariel:

and mr. moustache (he had the BEST costume that we made out of a paper bag, but he wanted nothing to do with it, go figure): so there ya' go. halloween 2009. :)

pictures shmictures

2009-11-03T10:44:00.000-08:00

here are some random pictures from this past month. first, damian and me:

and here's my dad with 3 of his 7 and counting (both my sister and i are preggers) grandchildren:

mom & maddie watching cartoons, well at least maddie is:

here i am, waking up & finding maddie fast asleep on me:

damian with the kiddos:

another sleepy picture of the kids:

maddie got up, but noel actually fell asleep right there on the floor:

most of these pictures are of someone asleep or looking like they need a nap! ha. i just noticed that as i wrote the captions. well, i guess that's about right considering that we have so many narcoleptics in the family. :)

a sad day for pumpkins

2009-10-28T12:54:00.000-07:00

this morning i let samson out front to go potty and noticed that two round, orange vegetables were missing from our porch. after a brief moment of confusion, wondering where damian moved them to, i realized their fate. they were smashed in the road along with many other neighborhood pumpkins. i tried to keep the kids from noticing thinking that maybe they just wouldn't ever notice. but that didn't last long since maddie always comes out to say hi and talk to her "friends" when i let the dog out. she noticed right away and cried, followed by noel who quietly said, "awww." it was a sad day for our pumpkins.

Happy 4th Birthday, Madeline!

2009-10-22T08:54:00.000-07:00

yesterday was maddie's 4th birthday. she woke us up at 6:30 am, very excited that it was her special day. so here she is, bright and early, opening her gifts:here's princess ariel maddie:

we took her to kids club where she and damian played like crazy on their indoor jungle gym until they were sweaty and exhausted (she was the sweaty one, dame was the exhausted one). then we took her to cold stone for a birthday ice cream.

she really did have a fun day, despite the scowl on her face.

happy birthday, madeline!

maddie's new friend

2009-10-12T09:52:00.000-07:00

yesterday maddie got to ride rocky*, a very gentle pony that friends of ours have on their ranch. it was such a treat to take the kids for a visit. they love farm animals and now maddie loves rocky. *maddie is telling me that the pony's name is rocket, not rocky. when dame gets home i'll have double check and then adjust this post accordingly. :)

pumpkin patch

2009-10-12T09:07:00.000-07:00

saturday we took the kids to the pumpkin patch! it was a beautiful day to do it. the sun was out, the ground was dry, perhaps a little too dry --we all got a bit of a "tan" from dirt getting airborne during the hay ride. but better dirt than mud, i suppose. anyway, we tackled the corn maze first. maddie was our navigator. after getting us good and lost, she decided she didn't want to do the maze anymore. that was fun. ;) here we are at the beginning of our adventure:

after the maze we got a couple hot drinks and said hi to the animals. petting livestock and handling food is always the best combination.

this was a very sweet donkey.
next stop, the hay ride. although facial expressions may suggest otherwise, the kids really loved it. dame's expression is accurate though.

i'm just now realizing that i didn't get a picture of us with our pumpkins. i guess you'll have to stay tuned for that. ha.

barber shop dad

2009-10-06T19:47:00.000-07:00

noel got a buzz cut from damian tonight. as you see, he's a bit nervous. i wonder if that's because we just read the story about samson in the bible... ah, that wasn't so bad. see his hair! :)

BBQ 101

2009-10-06T19:29:00.001-07:00

"alright kids, now are you watching? first let's get the briquettes in here properly..."

"next, we soak 'em up with lighter fluid..."

"there ya' go, maddie. you can never put on too much..."

"okay, noel, you got the matches? good!"

"okay, now, stand back --this is how you strike a match. see the flame?"

"good job! beginner's bbq is over. next time you kids can do it on your own!"

our beautiful gifford pinchot

2009-09-30T11:07:00.000-07:00

this past sunday we took a day trip out to gifford pinchot national forest. it's my favorite place to explore. this time, we drove east along the columbia gorge, headed north towards mt. adams, and then back west through the forest following forestry roads, going past the ice caves and many old lava flows from mt. st. helens.

at the foot of mt. adams, we pulled over to eat our lunches by a stream we found. so i took a few pictures and soon realized that i forgot to charge the batteries on my camera before leaving that day. it died shortly after this first stop. i tried not to be too upset, but i did miss out on so many beautiful pictures of mt. adams, the changing colors of the leaves in the forest, mt. st. helens, and pictures of the kids enjoying it all. but here's what i did get: damian's backside. haha.

everyone's hungry!

not the most flattering shot, but here's a picture of how big my tummy is getting:

our stream:
after driving a while longer with my camera off, i was able to get a couple pictures at goose lake:

and, go figure, the only deer we saw was at a gas station. :)

my view from the top

2009-09-30T11:00:00.000-07:00

hm, maybe i should paint my toe nails... anyway, this is my view lately. it's funny that sam is down there. he usually is, but the unusual part is that i can't typically see him so i'm always tripping over him.

on a side note: maddie just looked at this and asked, "is that your fat belly? that's pretty gross." thanks mad. ;)

our maddie

2009-09-30T10:54:00.000-07:00

this picture is great, in my opinion. it sums up our little maddie quite well. she's one of the only girls i know who will wrestle with the boys in a pink tutu. this was taken a moment before she clobbered noel with the soccer ball.

trouble times two

2009-09-30T10:43:00.000-07:00

as much as i like it when the kids are quietly playing together in their rooms, usually it means that they're up to something that i'm going to have to clean up.

it's hard to tell, but that's not just one layer of diapers and toys. the crib is about 1/3 full of anything they could find in the room to throw in there.

goofing around @ the park

2009-09-30T10:20:00.000-07:00

here are some pictures from the other day at the park. madeline wanted me to get a picture of her going down the slide. so here she is, miss madeline:

followed by a very daring noel:

at this point, dame had to join in on the fun:

and after everyone else got to go, i figured i'd take a turn too. i barely squeezed myself through the opening at the top.

anyway, here are a few more pictures of the kids (and by kids, i'm including dame) goofing off & having fun.

mr. naughty noel

2009-09-16T09:08:00.000-07:00

proof that i REALLY need to keep a better eye on my kids:

the kids were playing out back, i was inside, and i hear maddie yell, "MOM! noel is being naughty!" okay, okay, i'm coming. "no, come now! he's up on the ladder!"

apparently, the ladder wasn't brought in after cleaning the windows the other day. how was i to know? ;)

ha'way the lads!

2009-09-02T13:57:00.000-07:00

end of summer blues

2009-08-25T11:36:00.000-07:00

the summer is officially over for us now that raylee has gone back to north carolina. we had such a sweet time with her and miss her so much already.

we're back to the usual routine here. dame is working and i'm home with the kids. today is raining so we're having a pretty laid back day. i'm glad the kids and i went for a walk to the park yesterday while the sun was out. i think it's supposed to warm up again soon, though. we'll see. the weather is definitely changing already, cooling down and gearing up for fall.

maddie had a dentist appointment today (which she's been looking forward to since her last check-up six months ago). unfortunately, her teeth are in great shape so she won't have to go back for another six months. ;)

and that's about it! oh yeah, pregnancy news: i'm still pregnant. ha. :) perhaps i'll finally get damian to take a "belly pic" so you all can see how fat i'm getting. then again, maybe not. we'll see. ;)

thanks for reading!

some silly kids

2009-08-25T11:29:00.000-07:00

apparently, damian and i aren't the only crazy ones in the family. the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. or should i say, apples . . .

the county fair

2009-08-25T11:05:00.000-07:00

during one of the hottest weeks this summer, the county fair rolled into town. damian and i decided in advance that, yes, we would take the kids to it this time around. thankfully, the morning we went turned out to be slightly overcast which cooled things down quite nicely. by the time we were leaving, the sun was coming out and it got hot fast. so praise God that He made our day there so special --even down to the perfect weather! :) here are some pictures i took:

they had to stop the ride to let madeline off. she's not as brave by herself. but that's perfectly fine for a little girl her age. especially since she's extra brave when raylee and dad are with her! here they all are on the kiddie roller coaster:

this is what kept noel preoccupied the whole time since he was too small to ride anything. no, it's not pepsi. it's a slushie. :) he's always happy as a clam to be out and about in his stroller. so with the added treat, it was an extra fun day for him.

damian had to actually signal the guy operating the 'tilt-a-whirl' to stop the ride. it just kept going and going and going . . . and everyone riding (except madeline) kept getting greener and greener and greener . . .
and finally, the highlight of any fair for me --the animals!! we spent most of our time there looking at the cows, chickens, goats, sheep, rabbits . . . it was great.
noel loved the animals too. every one he saw he pointed saying, "aah, baby!" so that's it --our day at the fair '09. i hope it's really memorable for the kids since they probably won't be back until the fair of '19 (SO expensive). ;)

Oak's Park

2009-08-25T10:30:00.000-07:00

alright, i'm back. ;) let me take a look through my camera's memory card to see where i left off. . . hm. . . oh, my mom and i took the girls to oak's park. actually, i should give all credit to my mom since it was her treat. i just tagged along. :)
madeline was so very excited to go on her first roller coaster. there's a spongebob episode where he and patrick go on this insane roller coaster where they lose their spleens and maddie has been wanting to do that ever since she first saw it. go figure. i'd be freaked out, but not our maddie! but first, she went on the 'tilt-a-whirl' with raylee and my mom. she loved it so much, she and ray rode it two more times before we continued on to other rides (my mom was a real trooper to do it with them the first time).

next, the girls ran to the roller coaster. thankfully, it's a small kid-friendly coaster. but it overwhelmed poor maddie and she cried through the entire ride. after she got off and came to me for a hug, she immediately said (with tears still in her eyes) that she wanted to go again. so go again they did! and again! i guess once she knew what to expect it wasn't as traumatic for her. that and the 'tilt-a-whirl' where her favorite rides. here's a pic of raylee on the roller coaster (i forget why maddie isn't with her):here are some more pictures from our time there. maddie loved the slide until she got in trouble with the guy monitoring at the top. apparently, kids aren't allowed to go down head first and maddie didn't handle it well when he stopped her. ;)

thanks, grandma, for the fun day!!

blagh!

2009-08-25T10:25:00.000-07:00

eeeew! i just sat down to do some catching up here on the ol' blog with a cup of coffee i prepared for myself this morning --yuck! too much cream! not enough coffee! (normally damian makes my coffee for me. it's pretty sad that i don't know how to do it "the way i like" myself.) anyway, i must remedy this before i continue...

lemonade for sale

2009-08-11T12:57:00.000-07:00

here's a picture of our little entrepreneurs. raylee asked if she could set up a lemonade stand last week so, after a moment of hesitation (last time the girls did that i ended up doing all the work, so i was having flash-backs of the numerous lemons i squeezed for them to get bored with the idea by the time i had it all set up for them anyway), i remembered that i had some kool-aid brand lemonade packets in the pantry and then agreed to the idea. so there wasn't as much for me to do. they made four dollars. one dollar was the "change money" i put in, which ended up being maddie's share in the profit --raylee kept the rest for herself claiming "i did all the work." ;) they both had a really good time and i enjoyed watching them have so much fun together.

and the baby is ... drum-roll, please

2009-08-11T12:47:00.000-07:00

if you haven't already guessed by the color i'm typing in . . . dame will soon be the father of his 4th daughter! :) we're calling her emma so perhaps it will stick and we'll write that on the birth certificate. no middle name yet, so let me know if you can think of anything that goes well with that name. much to raylee's disappointment, though, we've already decided against the names roxy, bella, and flossy. so if you can think of something other than those names. . . :)

4th of July fun

2009-07-05T15:20:00.000-07:00

here are a few pictures from yesterday's BBQ at my parent's house.

BubbleShare: Share photos - Play some Online Games.

carousel ride

2009-07-04T14:10:00.000-07:00

i guess i took too long making lunch. . .

2009-07-04T14:08:00.000-07:00

hurray for the beach!

2009-07-04T13:44:00.000-07:00

last saturday we took the kids to the coast. it was sunny & 85 degrees here in the valley, but once we crossed over the mountains it got cold and windy! thankfully the day warmed up because some irresponsible parent didn't bring sweaters. i guess i'm still used to how sunny and warm the beach is in north carolina! but no one froze and we all had a really fun time. here's a picture of where we spotted a whale ... yeah, you can't really see the whale in this picture, but it's there!

here's raylee! although she didn't actually go down on the beach, we got a picture of her in front of it. ;) just kidding. we all went out on the sand for a little while.

here's the family (minus me ... i always seem to be the one taking the picture):

yay for candy!! there's the best little candy shop here that we always go to with the kids. and i can say "always" since we've been to the beach twice and have gone both times. :)

oh yeah, did you notice damian's iron man shirt in that last pic?? pretty cool, eh? here's noel and his huge lollipop. he was SO happy.

the end. :)

what, no pictures?!

2009-06-15T19:19:00.000-07:00

i'm finally in my second trimester --"and there was much rejoicing." ;) i do believe the nausea is behind me now for the most part. of course, i really should lay off the doritos since i'm sure that hasn't been much of a help. they're so good, but when i finish off the bag i feel so bad... :)
last week i got to hear the heart beat for the first time. so sweet. and fast. baby #3 has quite the little ticker.
i'm starting to show a bit. maddie likes to remind me that "the baby is making your tummy really fat." yes, madeline, and it's just getting started. wait until you see how fat mommy is going to get. haha. dame keeps asking me if i'm remembering to put on my cocoa butter lotion. do you think he's pretty much saying the same thing?? hm...
in other news... damian is flying out tomorrow evening to go get raylee for the summer. we're so excited to have her with us again and by the sound of things, so is she. shelby won't be with us this time. she doesn't want to leave family, friends, and softball back in north carolina. right now that's everything to her. she'll be greatly missed.
july is our last month here in the apartment (Lord willing). i'm doing my best not to get my hopes up, but i'm looking forward to moving on. we're praying for a place that will be a place of rest. a retreat from the world. somewhere we can call home. okay, i know we won't get that this side of heaven, but maybe something close?? :)
anyway, that's all i can think to report right now. sorry i don't have any pictures to put up. i haven't taken any in quite a while. don't ask me why. guess we're not doing much. i'm sure when raylee gets here there will be some good ones to share. in the meantime, you get to read read read. but at least i made it colorful, eh?

Albóndigas

Barefoot and pregnant in.... a bog. ;)

New Years Day @ Multnomah Falls

More Christmas pics...

Sledding on Mt. Hood

Happy Birthday, Noel!!

Emma is 2 today!

Christmas Round-up Rodeo

Christmas tree a huntin' and choppin'

Conked out

Noel & Dame on the dead grass :)

Summer Family Pictures

Mother's Day 2011

Our little "reader"

the post sans kids

.*.*.February snow.*.*.

Trip to the Aquarium

Just one of those mornings...

in doctor language, "invasive" = "painful"

It's as if she wants something...

Houdini's opposite

this fish will need therapy

Sunshine does not always bring warmth

Christmas @ my parent's

pro-cras-ti-nate = me

Christmas @ Nana & Pappy's house

it's autumn, no doubt

Emma @ 11 months

back at the Gorge

...down by the river, the Columbia River...

Fun in the sun @ Nana's

Saying goodbye to Ray

Wait, where am I????

visiting my folks

Oak's Park

Papa-Motorcycle's motorcycle

at least this mess smells good

Emma @ 7 months

Northwest Trek

independence day, 2010

--Our first family outing of the summer--

The many faces of Noel

After 20 years...

East Coast trip

Yesterday's drive up the Gorge

battle of the dandelions

Noel's new look

Emma @ 4 months

evidence of fun

Easter!

our Christmas family pics!

noel's bagel art

feb 28th @ the beach!

my kids sleep on the floor

naked sheep

after a month of silence...

happy Emma-bean

miss madeline

i just couldn't resist...

our Noel

sweet Emma-bean

New Year's Day @ Multnomah Falls

end of the year snow

our little artist

Christmas @ my folk's

Up on Mt. Hood

5 kids!

..*..Noel's 2nd Birthday..*..

getting caught up

~ Introducing our beautiful Emma Grace ~

update shmupdate

a walk in the rain

the spaghetti has TOO MUCH SAUCE!!!

random kid pictures

halloween costumes

pictures shmictures

a sad day for pumpkins

Happy 4th Birthday, Madeline!

maddie's new friend

pumpkin patch

...February snow...

....Noel's 2nd Birthday....

and the baby is ... drum-roll, please