Max's Field Day!

It's so fun to help out at Max's school.  I get to see him in a whole new light.  At first I was on otter pop duty.  Our cold hands separated the otter pops, cut off the tops and arranged them in the cooler to be ready to pass out.  Then I had a chance to see Max participating in events in-between handing out the popsicles. 

 

The soccer challenge!

 

Hockey!

 

Football!

 

There was fun music playing over the loud speakers and Max and a buddy were doing some awesome dance moves! ; )

 

 

Happy Father's Day Tony!!!

We are grateful for the wonderful fathers and grandfathers in our lives.  We couldn't feel more blessed.  Today, we were able to celebrate what an awesome father Tony is.  He had breakfast made for him.  The young kids all sang at church and then he got cookies.  For his father's day dinner, he wanted to fry some of the fish he's caught.  So, I don't fry things.  I think I tried once after we got married and did not enjoy the experience.  I shopped for everything, but it was Tony's thing.  He spent 2+ hours in the kitchen preparing and frying fish and potatoes.  We had yummy fish and chips.  Then Tony got to rest while we cleaned up. 

 

Tony also helped by hanging pictures.  I have been remiss because Jason's picture hasn't been on our wall yet.  Tony gave me new frames and prints for my birthday so we could have enough frames for all of the kids.  Now we have one up already for baby girl so she won't have to wait a year to be on the wall.

 

 

I love these pictures that Becky took!  I'm trying to think of a little something to go above the family picture that isn't a quote in vinyl.  Hmmm...

 

I love my little family and Tony is a wonderful father, teacher, provider and creator of fun!

 

 

 

A Super Saturday!

Grandpa J was in town for a work conference so he got to stay here for a few days!  Here is Grandpa J and Jase, his namesake.

 

It was such a fun day, that we had to split up to get to do all the things we wanted.  Grandpa J and Tony took Max and Ryan to the Flight Museum and then they went to Max's baseball jamboree.

 

Max was so excited to show me his trophy.  He even asked if he could have it in bed with him tonight.  :D

Jase and I were able to attend the wedding of a dear friend of mine.  I am so excited for her to find happiness.  She was married at beautiful Snoqualmie Falls.  I took a few pics but I didn't take any pictures of them outside because I didn't want to get in the way of the photographer.  So here are a few pics of the falls and of the happy couple inside dancing and then posing for a pic.  My heart was full to be with good friends and to share such a special day with a good friend.

 

Aren't they a beautiful couple?

 

Just a random side note for posterity.  Jase was sitting on my lap during the luncheon and he choked on small piece of food and the whole bottle he had had and everything he had eaten came up all over his shirt and my shirt.  I had lots of cloth napkins thrown my way and we were able to clean up (Jase became the shirtless wonder), but wow, nothing like having the puking baby at your friend's wedding. 

And to end on a better note.  This is the song they danced to, one of their two favorite songs.  I hadn't heard it before and I loved it.

SWOON!

Fun Friday with Cousins!

We got to play with the Denny family while Lincoln was in town for a work conference.  We started out the day at Newcastle Beach Park.

The weather wasn't cooperating for swimming in the lake so we went to the hotel pool to swim.  It warmed up really nicely and the kids had a great time swimming.  I forgot to take pictures at the pool.  Afterwards we had dinner at our house.  Grandpa J, Lincoln and Tony went swimming.  Several fish were caught but they brought back the 2 delicious bass that Lincoln caught for Beth.

 

And Beth's birthday was the day before so we had to celebrate!

 

 

Here is Jase trying to love on Emily.

 

 

And here are the guys filleting the fish.  Do I dare mention that this bass was still flopping and when they removed the heart it was still beating?  Ugh!

 

We had such a fun time.  Thanks for the visit Dennys!

 

 

Our Summer of 100 Miles

We've had some busy, fun days lately with lots of play dates.  Today we slowed it down a bit and started one of our summer goals.  The library has reading incentive programs and we have charts to mark how many books we read.  I also saw on Pinterest, this great idea.  So we did what any Pinterest follower does with a good idea and we copied it.  We are having a summer of 100 miles on wheels (bikes and scooters). 

Here is our chart:

The boys had so much fun riding bikes and scooters.  Ryan is kind of obsessed with his scooter right now.

 

I'm sure I looked ridiculous with a baby on the front and a baby on the back.  Good thing I don't care. ; )

 

We had to stop every now and then to watch streams...

 

 

Play Pooh Sticks...

 

 

And fly Maple seed "helicopters."

 

 

We went a grand total of 2 miles.  We decided that every 2 miles we go, we should have a game night (so we did).  The halfway prize is yet to be decided.  The grand prize is going to be tickets to the Puyallup Fair in the fall.

 



 



 

Cherishing the Moments

There are times when being a busy mom with part time jobs and big responsibilities can be overwhelming.  And there are the moments when I lean on the Lord more and feel some of the weight come off my shoulders.  I wish I did this all the time, but when I do, I get these sweet, sweet moments of peace to cherish as a mother.  I get to sit back and watch and enjoy my children in their innocence. 

I love that my boys still enjoy blowing bubbles.  I know this won't last forever, but how perfect and innocent they were just blowing and chasing bubbles on a sunny afternoon.  I love my boys.

 

Another enjoyable moment was when my boys were helping me clean up after dinner.  Max was sweeping and Ryan was wiping the table.  Then he decided he needed to wipe the balloons.  Whatever makes him happy and love helping, right?

 

Jason is 1!

We love Jason.  He is quick to smile and laugh and brings so much joy to our family.  It's been a little crazy around here lately so we kept his birthday simple and enjoyed the family time together.  On Saturday (his actual birthday), we met up with cousins who were staying on Lake Sammamish.  Although the visit was too short, we had a great time with Becky, Ben, Will and Lucy.

 

 

Tony and Ben took the kids out on kayaks and then they floated and swam around the dock. 

 

A little duck family also joined us.

 

 

Thanks to Becky, I have a few more pics to add!

 

 

Then we had to hurry to get to Max's last baseball game.  He has really enjoyed being on the Redsox.  Then to a little end-of-the-baseball season celebration with some friends.  Then we just relaxed and played.  We enjoyed yummy rock fish for dinner from Tony's first deep-sea fishing adventure the week before.  Tony and I made Jason's cupcakes but there was a little ingredient error so we had to make them again on Sunday. 

Sunday was the day we celebrated our Jason with balloons and cake and presents.

 

First we made a family favorite of taco salad.  Even though we don't know Jason's favorite yet, we could tell this quickly has become a top contender. 

 

Then we finished the cupcakes.  Grandma Kate always has a theme animal for each grandchild.  She makes darling blankets, etc. for each one in this theme.  Jason's little animal was a turtle so we kept with the theme.

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

Lots of pics to commemorate your very first birthday Jason.  It's hard to believe it's been a whole year since you joined our family.  We love you so much!