The boys were really excited to spend Thanksgiving in Oregon so they could see cousins Ely and Nora.
First discovery of the trip is that Max does a really good job of feeding his baby brother.
Tony took one for the team and consumed enough olives for the both of us--after they were on his fingers of course. The olives never made it to the kid table. Oops.
We made plans to hang out with the Kevin Jenson family again but these cute kiddos got sick. I'm glad the kids enjoyed playing together Thanksgiving night even if Max was shy at first.
We played at the park and visited Bob's Red Mill. There were several mini excursions to do some Christmas shopping. Lauren and I also got pedicures together. A very pregnant lady deserves that and well someone had to drive her there. ; )
We also did graham cracker houses which were fun.
I am not a good camera woman. Sorry Ely, I thought I was getting you in the shot more.
We loved spending Thanksgiving with family! What a fun, relaxing weekend!
Both my inner explorer and inner child were happy today when I found a new place to go on adventures with the kids. I took the boys and two friends to the park to play. We hadn't been to Coulon park in awhile and it is a favorite. We played at the playground and then went to the beach to throw rocks and explore (ducks and a few salmon carcasses that had washed ashore). Then Zach said we should go to Duck Island which is a small little island accessible by bridge. And can I just say it is one of the cutest places ever? There are tunnels in the bushes and more beach to explore. The skyline is beautiful and there were ducks to watch. I loved it. And the kids did too which I guess is important. ; )
Here the kids are exploring the tunnels. It kind of reminds me of the shire.
Ryan did swimming lessons in the morning with daddy. He is more comfortable in the water than before--but still a little unsure of himself at times. He did love going with daddy. During his last week of swimming lessons, Grandma and Grandpa and the whole family watched him and we got pictures. The pool isn't heated so the instructor wore a wetsuit. Tony decided to wear his too. Ryan had two swimming shirts on. ; )
Grandma and Grandpa came up for Max's primary program. They boys have been having lots of fun.
Jase and Grandma Pearl!
Max did really well in the program. I got to help out. It was my first time being the person helping at the mic. I was so proud of how all the kids did. After Sunday dinner we dipped pretzels.
We went on a letter walk. I saw this on pinterest from this blog. You make a paper plate with letters around the side. You cut it to make tabs. When the kids spot something that starts with that letter, you push the tab down.
I recently told the boys what little girls and boys are made of. Then we got the chance to watch some cute girls while their parents went on a date. We're not used to just having friends who are girls without any brothers along, and it was funny to see the boys show off.
Here is Ryan and Lily. I think Ryan's going to have to work a little harder to impress her.
His neck is doing well; he can look both left and right without problems and has been able to for awhile. He has much better neck strength but he still needs to get his neck a little stronger. The physical therapist and chiro think that because of his torticollis, his neck muscles grew assymetrically and he's had that as an obstacle to having full neck strength. Soon he'll be able to sit up with less support and hold his head up even longer. He just gets stronger every day.
The election results were very disappointing in our home but we want to be positive and continue to be prayerful for this great nation and beautiful state that we live in.
Lately, Tony and I have been trying to take our money-saving skills and food storage/preparedness to another level. It's been fascinating to read about different ways to be more self-reliant. It started with me reading this blog post which led me to read
I love learning new ways to stretch certain areas of our budget so there's an even greater savings. We started doing our budget to reflect how they do theirs and it really works for us. Not everything in the book is how I would do things but there's so much to learn. Freezer meals have become a new favorite of mine. I recently tried these 8 meals and they are great. I'm constantly looking for ways to stretch our budget so we have more wiggle room to save and have fun outings and also we're continuing to save and be prepared for any emergency. Any tried and true tips are always appreciated! :)
We've also been reading from a reading list which is fun. There is a list of 100 books children should read from our local library system. I love requesting the books online from all over the county, picking them up at my library and reading them with the kids. This one wasn't on the list but it was a favorite anyway:
Ryan has continued with swimming lessons. He is doing so well with daddy there watching him. Max is in an afterschool athletes class and loves it. It's fun to watch because he's got to be the youngest one there (5-7 years old). They play all kinds of games to practice sports skills and the coach is amazing. We've been lucky that all of the kids' lessons have been positive experiences.
Tony and I have been married 15 years and have 3 sweet boys and one darling girl. We love family time, traveling, exploring, flying and laughing. Tony is an amazing pilot and airplane mechanic and I'm a social worker turned work-from-home mom.
