Tomatos and Bows

I love Pinterest. I read through a bunch of different sites and learned how to make these little bows.

Love 'em!

I tried Mia's on and I think it'll be perfect for the 4th!



I'm pretty excited to try some other colors for Karli.

 While I was busy making bows, Denver and the boys were weeding the garden. There's a lot of weeds. And a lot of tomato plants too.



Corbin was helping but he could only find one of his gloves so he borrowed one from Daddy.



Our giant zucchini plant. I think we counted twelve zucchini's. I love that some of the tomato plants are already taller than the kids. I think we'll get a good crop.



Denver's such a hard worker he wouldn't even stop weeding to eat lunch.

It was a perfect Saturday.

Hair

I love Mia's hair. I hate it also, but mainly because she doesn't exactly like having it combed. With the new camera, I feel like I'm never going to get enough pictures of it. Or her, because she is so full of life. Every time I turn around she's making me laugh while driving me crazy!



I'm hoping that Karli's hair will continue to do what Mia's has done and that Karli will actually like getting her hair done. The second part is doubtful, but the first is looking promising.

This is Karli's favorite position, tucked up in Daddy's arm-I call it the football hold.

"Faaaacct. It's oceanology."

Ever seen Kid History? We sure have, thanks to Gama, who I believe learned of it from Aunt Bess. It's quite the hit around here. Even Karli laughs her head off whenever Corbin says, "Faaaaaa-c-t. It's ooooceanoooloogy." As evidenced by the following pictures.

Okay, so maybe you can't see her laughing because she's got her fists in her mouth, but she really does. One of these days I'll get some video of it.

Children and Cameras

I miss my family. It's hard living so far away and not seeing them very often. Especially when I want to share my children with them. It seems that no matter how hard I try to take pictures of them, they never work out the way that I want them to. So I caved. I bought a new camera. I let it charge and the next day I went a little picture crazy. I can't wait to explore all the options and really learn how to use it-but even if I never do, at least the pictures are finally starting to turn out the way I really see my kids.


This is what I wake up to most mornings.

My Karli.

My Karli's smile.

My Karli being "tickled" by my Mia.

Corbin. This is the image I see in my head whenever I think of him.

Denver's lips-I was experimenting with close-ups.

I took these next shots to demonstrate the curl in Karli's hair. I've spent hours trying to get a picture to work with the old camera and in less than 2 minutes I had several.



Fresh out of the bath.



Her hair falls flat after it dries and we all pet it.

Chase shooshing me for taking pictures of Karli sleeping.

"Stop taking pictures of me!"

Denver showing off his cool face-making skills.

I love this one, not because my husband looks so sexy but because of the depth of the image. FINALLY!

Corbin loved posing for me.

Top one-old camera, bottom-new.

Even I didn't escape that first day of photo frenzy, although I thought the look on my face was a strong enough deterrent.

Slaves

I was hurt today. Not to worry, it was nothing physical and nothing I won't get over. Yet, I'm still surprised at the depth of the pain. Let me explain.

This morning, Denver informed me that he changed his flight time from 3:00pm to noon. Normally, I wouldn't care, but Chase had an appointment to take part in a study and needed to be there by 9:45 and then be picked up sometime around noon. Chase has been begging to go since they were offering $25 for his participation and I didn't want to make him reschedule just so I didn't interrupt the kids' nap time and because I have an irrational fear of driving the truck in town on narrow streets to places I've never been. So irrational, that a massive ball of anxiety takes up residence in my chest constricting my lungs and making it very difficult to yell at my husband for being so crazy as to make a change in his schedule. Luckily, I am married to an amazing man that can forgive me after I explain why a change in his schedule can evoke such strong emotions from me and actually finds my reluctance to drive the truck endearing. So Denver stayed with the little ones, including Karli, while I dropped Chase off and then ran some errands-in the car. While at Shopko, I ran across a shirt that I thought Chase would really like. It was a little more expensive than I normally do (anything over $3 is expensive to me) but I decided to get it anyway because I wanted to make him happy. I rushed home so Denver could take the car and proceeded to load the tired, cranky, ready-for-naps kids into the truck and went to pick up Chase. As we were driving home, Chase started in about wanting to go play with his friends and how soon could he leave and could he do this and that and so on. I reminded him that he hadn't done any of his regular chores yet and that even though it was summer that didn't mean that he didn't have to help out around the house. Of course, the other three kids were yammering away and vying for my attention also, and Chase continued on, oblivous to the noise, asking me exactly what he had to do before he could go play. I told him that I needed him to mow the lawn and that I had another task I just couldn't remember what it was. (I've started making lists to help me remember everything, but I keep losing them-fat lot of good that does me!) As we were pulling into the drive I told Chase that since I couldn't remember the task at the moment he could finish cleaning off the porch, and I'd call it good. He got pretty mad at that, and then seethed, "Mom, why do I always have to be your slave?" Wow. I'm not quite sure why those words ripped me apart the way they did, but coupled with his anger they knocked the breath right out of me. I think Chase could tell he might have gone a little too far because his face took on an odd expression after he saw mine. I was silent for a moment and then I climbed out of the truck and began herding children back into the house. Once I'd gotten all of them inside, I turned to Chase and began listing the things I do for him. Of course I said it like this, "So you're a slave huh? Well, do slaves get rides from their owners to appointments? Do they get their own rooms over their heads and special treats from the store? Do their owners ask them what their favorite meals are and then cook them? Do they get to go play with their friends? Do slaves get new shirts from their owner just because the owner thought they'd like it?" I said the last one as I flung the shirt I'd just bought at him. And then, I didn't say anything else for a while. I cleaned and got the kids settled in for their naps. And I tried to ignore how much it really hurt that he'd said that. I know that I often joke that he's my slave, but I don't really feel like he is one. Or maybe I do sometimes. I expect an awful lot from that kid. Am I pushing him too hard? Should I back off in the amount of chores he does? And of course, the age-old question that every mother askes herself, Am I a bad Mom kept running through my head. I suppose that's why it hurt so much, because every day I do something wrong. I know I do things right also, but they're hard to remember sometimes. I only hope that the right things outnumber the wrong things and that in the end my kids will know that I'm giving them everything I've got. That even though I'm making mistakes on a daily, ususally hourly, basis, I'm still trying. I'm giving it the best I can and I know it's not enough but at least I haven't given up, right? In the end, I knew it was probably just Chase being angry and disappointed that things weren't going the way he wanted them too. In fact, I must be doing something right because Chase mowed the lawn, cleaned the porch, and then washed the doors because he'd heard me mention that they needed it. And then he came and aplogized for what he'd said and spent the rest of the day trying extra hard to help with the kids and doing whatever little chores he could think of to help me. We're gonna get through this somehow.

Refinance

Okay, so normally I don't post about stuff like this. In fact, I hate talking money matters at all, with anyone, ever. But I'm so excited I can't help it. We signed the papers to refinance our house this morning. We lowered our interest rate by 2.5%, and will make back the money we paid in closing costs in one year, and it was by far the easiest house stuff I've ever had to do. We weren't even looking-they called us. No appraisals, no bank statements or pay stubs. Seriously, simple. A very nice gentleman who also happened to be a notary, came to our house, checked our drivers licenses, and watched us sign. It almost felt illegal it was so easy. Sigh. Wish my kids could make life that easy...

Should Have Known Better

Things have been a little hectic. Family visits, while wonderful, tend to leave us needing some time to catch our breath. Of course, that hasn't really been happening. Chase started Camp Lane yesterday. Although it's similar to Scout Camp, it's probably more like Girl's Camp for boys. A little more spiritual, although with a big group of boys that sounds completely contradictory. Anyway, we noticed last night that our phone wasn't working right and so we called the phone company, but they couldn't send anyone out until tomorrow. I didn't think it was too big of a deal until we noticed all the calls we were getting. I kept seeing one come in from Lane Coun-that's all the caller ID would show. We tried calling the number back with our cell phone (the emergency one) but couldn't get through. So I just plodded on housekeeping and gripping my sanity while all the work I was doing was simultaneously being undone by the little ones. Well, the calls started up again and Denver finally managed to get them on the line only he couldn't really understand them. Rather than explain that he's having a hard time hearing them, he says "You should talk to my wife, she handles this sort of thing," and passes me the phone while whispering, "Something about Chase and his eye-I don't know." Fabulous. Turns out, Chase hurt his eye and the medic at camp felt it should be checked by a doctor and they have somone headed back to town after lunch so they'll just send Chase back with him. Fortunately, Chase's doctor had an opening that afternoon and so we were off to the doctor. This visit reminded me of why I love Dr. Hemsley so much. When he came in the room to check on Chase, he asked how Chase hurt his eye and listened patiently while Chase explained how he and another boy were sword fighting with some sticks and the other boy hit his stick against a tree, breaking it and sending a fragment flying into Chase's eye. Dr. Hemsley kept a straight face through the entire story and then said, "So, it's kind of a you-deserved-it sort of thing because really, you should have known better." We all laughed then, and the doctor proceeded to check his eye. I was really wishing I had remembered my camera because the doctor put a solution in his eye that glows bright green under a black light, making Chase look really creepy, but also letting us see the giant scratch that started about the middle of Chase's pupil and went to the end of his eye. It was a pretty wicked looking scratch. The doctor started him on antibiotic eye drops and made me promise to bring him back the next day if there was no improvement. Fortunately, by the next morning Chase's eye looked and felt much better and Chase was able to catch a ride back to camp. And I have a feeling that Chase will be a little more cautious because really, he should have known better.

Daddy Rabbit

I love my Daddy Rabbit. I have a feeling some people think I call him Daddy Rabbit because we seem to breed like them, but that's not the case. I got the name from Cars. It's what Mrs. The King calls her husband. The first time I heard the line in the movie I absolutely loved it. Partly because it makes absolutely no sense to me, but also because you can sense the years of love and commitment behind the words. Since having children I rarely call my husband by name, but by adding the Rabbit to Daddy, it makes him mine.

For Father's Day this year, we had company. Muriel and her family were still here in the morning. We made a giant batch of biscuits and gravy for everyone and I tried my best to let Daddy Rabbit sleep in. I didn't succeed. Too many noisy little ones in this house and I think he wanted to make sure he was up to see his sister and spend a few more minutes with her. After breakfast and good-byes, The Greshams were off to Washington for the rest of their vacation and it was time for Daddy Rabbit to open his present. I'd wanted to make a card to go with it, but just never got to it with everyone here. I had planned on explaining how grateful we all are that he spends so much time with us. He gives and gives and we take up so much of his limited time, yet he never complains. He is the ultimate father and loves his children dearly. So when we gave him his watch we were giving some "time" back to him. It was a lovely card in my head, made for the man that is the best father my children could ever have.

Making faces just to make us laugh.

She loves to snuggle with Daddy. Would do it all day if she could get away with it.

He takes the kids fishing as often as he can-they love it.

Daddy found the bike at a garage sale because he's always thinking of his family and trying to find ways to make us happy.

Mia's favorite perch.

Daddy Rabbit, we are so lucky to have you. Thank you for all you do, and Happy Father's Day!

Muriel's Beach

It seems that I have forgotten how to take pictures. Well, not really how, more like to. Fortunately, Megan let me get a bunch of pictures that she took before she left, so I actually have some to share from our trip to the beach. I thought Megan was brave for taking four teenagers in her car, but I gotta give the brave, crazy medal to Muriel and Chance for taking Corbin and Mia. Maybe they'd just forgotten what it was like to have toddlers. Maybe they felt sorry for me and Denver and recognized that harried look in our eyes. Maybe they're just suckers for those cute little voices begging to ride with them in their truck. Whatever it was, I'm glad they did. I had no problem taking Karli-almost felt like it was just me and Denver again. That's probably why we drove straight to Devil's Churn-no kids in the backseat whining for something or other.

On the way to the beach.

Chillin' in the backseat.

Apparently, it was a long drive.

On the hike down to The Churn.

A lovely couple overlooking The Churn.

Little Miss in heaven.

Muriel with her beauties.

Handsome, handsome cousins.

Another group of beauties.

Where's Waldo/Uncle Chance/Aunt Muriel/Megan/Chandler/Sunni/Chasidie/Jo/Chase/Corbin/Mia? Good luck!
P.S. Waldo's not really in the picture.

Gotta watch out for that spray.

Little Man holding up the sky.

Our first family beach picture with the newest addition.

I pretend that Corbin and Mia are going to grow up and love each other like these two do.

After we visited Devil's Churn for a bit, we headed into town for gas and supplies. On the way back towards Florence we were able to stop and get the picture I've been waiting five years for. Ever since we moved and I discovered a beach named after Muriel I've wanted to get her here and get a picture of her with this sign.

Dream come true. She looks great with her sign.

We thought we'd keep this for Muriel's Funeral Services. Blow it up nice and big with the cute siblings. We could just photoshop the extra words out.

After fueling up and grabbing some munchies we headed on back to Heceta/Dalton Beach. What a fantastic day it turned out to be. I was a little worried since there were major foggy patches but our beach was perfect.

 Heceta beach. Plenty of sun and sand.

Somebody has to hold up the walls, right?

I think everyone had an amazing time. The kids, young and older, played in the sand for hours. Most of the teens even braved the cold Oregon Ocean and went under. Mia fell in love with Chandler and refused to leave his side. And even though the lighthouse was out of commission, we got to see something equally cool.

Chase managed to get some video of our little friend which I thought I'd put at the end. However, after several attempts to dowload, I gave up. So here's the link to watch it on YouTube if you'd like:Baby Seal. What a wonderful trip and I was thrilled to get to spend some time with family. I am still impressed by how well the Gresham teens behaved. What a fantastic group. Next time, we'll have to convince them to stay for a lot longer. Megan, too.