20 years!

Steve and I had a great date night... Yikes it has been about 6 months!  We went to the chateau ste Michelle Toad the Wet Sprocket/ Tonic/ Smash Mouth concert....  blast from the past!  We are nearing our 20 years anniversary of when we first met in August!  Incredible it has been that long!

Fun with friends

Summer officially started this week!  We have been enjoying the sun, the pool, our friends, picnics, summer blockbusters, and trapper! 

One of our early morning picnics!

Cast is off!

Yay, Syd's cast is off!  We managed to go swimming 5 times with the cast on and everything went smoothly!  Sydney never complained about having the cast on!  It was pretty amazing! She had pain in the arm for a good week or so after the break and that finally went away.  

Our new puppy to be!

It's official, after years of debating whether or not to have another kid or to get our first family dog... We decided on a dog!  It's something I have thought about for at least 2 years but knew I was not ready for that added responsibility.  

We have been spending time with Elesha's new puppy, Trapper.  Taking notes and for me seeing how involved and ready the kids are for this new responsibility.  Needless to say, They have impressed me!  Luke has been taking care of Graycie's letterbox and Ava has helped also.  

I found a breeder that was recommended by another breeder.  She has been breeding for 20 years and I was impressed by the passion she has for dogs and for breeding healthy animals.  Since Luke and I have allergies to golden retrievers, we decided on F1 goldendoodle.  The mama is a chocolate goldendoodle and the dad is red moyen poodle.  Their puppies will be medium sized... No larger than 40 pounds.  They have curly coats so we don't have to worry about allergies or shedding.  The pips were born on June 3.  We are going to meet them in a couple days.  We have 2nd choice.  We love the chocolate one and dark apricot one but ultimately it will come down to temperament and the best fit with our family. 

Daddy

Mama

Here are the babies!

1 week old

2 weeks

Almost 3 weeks old...

Bundles of joy

I love Sydney's little displays of random things she sets up and plays with.  Usually they involve water in small containers.  So cute!  I never want to forget these cute things and I ponder what this love of making random displays will turn into when she grows up.  It is definitely some type of collage art... Maybe mixed media art.  

Our walks and our growth...

Lately the girls and I have been taking walks in the evening, enjoying the beauty of nature as we discover new places to see.  I love it because Ava is learning all the different plant names and points things out as we walk along.  It has only been the past few years that I started learning more about plants, trees and flowers so I am impressed with her ability to retain all of the information.  I guess my passion for nature is rubbing off on her.  

Sometimes if we are lucky, Daddy and Luke join us.  There is no way I could of convinced Luke to go out on a walk with me just a few months ago.  As his interests broaden from what used to be such a narrowly focused world he chose to live in, he is really beginning to get quite more confident, relaxed and comfortable in his own skin. It is fun to watch all of that unfold!

I have faith that Sydney will in time feel more comfortable to explore the world outside the confines of her stroller soon. Lately she has been exploring playgrounds more and increasing her larger motor skills.  Too bad she had the setback of her broken arm but I do believe that was a valuable lesson for her as well as Luke and Ava.  It's human nature for children to think they are protected in some sort of bubble where bad things just happen to others.  As her brain tries make sense of what happened so she does not create a dehabilitating fear of falling or heights, I let her retell the story in her own words as many times as she chooses.  We focus on the outcome and how everything will be ok.  Needless to say, she seems to be dealing with all of it rather well! 

Preschool picnic 2015

PThis was my 5th year at the Bothell Community Preschool picnic and it was a beautiful day for it at Cedar Grove Park. We found some cool things in the woods like a dead animal tail and stinging nettle. Luke almost got stuck on the chain link fence, hanging from his underwear.  

I can't believe Sydney will be in pre-k next year and that will be our last year at Bothell Community Preschool! 

Best friends!

Precious

Absolute sweetness sleeping in my bed!  And she lives to "snugs."  Someday I will miss this warmth in my bed!

Quite the eventful day

Sydney got her cast and we are at children's urgent care because Ava fell off her chair during dinner and fell on her face.  

Broken arm

Poor Syd broke her arm today when we were playing at Nadine's.  I was just about to grab her so we could go pick up Luke at school.  We heard her screaming and I walked into the room where she had fallen off the ladder up to the bunk bed.  She was yelling about her arm.  When the crating didn't stop, I knew it was not good.  I brought my crying poor baby up to school to get Luke and we hopped in the car to get an X-ray.  Turns out she has a buckle fracture on both bones in her forearm.  She was so brave and did such a great job telling me how to hold her and where it hurt.  There was no swelling or bruising at all! We are off to get a cast tomorrow morning! 

She was so excited to show the neighborhood friends her broken bones.  I am letting her enjoy the cute sling and the splint she has on it because I know it won't be too long she will be begging me to get her cast off!

Both Luke and Ava were so supportive and sweet all day.  They both cried tears for her as she was in agony on the way to get the X-ray.  We are so blessed that she did not fall on her head! I always tell the kids, fall anywhere but on your head if you can.  You can fix and arm or a leg but the brain can not be fixed so easily. 

How blessed am I?

Such a blessed Mommy to have a hubby that wakes up early to get me breakfast at Panera and spoils me with one of my favorite things... Plants and lots of new rose bushes from flowerworld and Molbaks.  Seeing those beautiful roses bud profusely in spring and summer reminds me of my own beautiful flowering children.  They truly are like flowers and they have bloomed like crazy this Spring! Luke and Ava feel comfortable and want to try school out so they can meet new people!  I think it is great and what God intended especially for Sydney and I.  the 2 of us can spend some extra time together on academics and having fun!  we can always go back to homeschool if needed!  It has been successful and it will be missed by me :). But I know I will still have plenty of time to spend them after school. 

As this Mother's Day draws to an end, I thank God for making me a Mommy, I thank him for My Mom and my mother-in-law.  They all have amazing qualities that aspire me to be who I am today.  

Fun in the villages

On Saturday, we made our way back to the Villages after we dropped Daddy at the airport and said our goodbyes to Paige, Chase, Auntie Jen and Uncle Chris.  

We have been riding around in the golf carts having a great time taking in the warm weather and beautiful scenery.  We stopped at one of the kids favorite spots to look at the snapping turtles, fish and if we are lucky enough... Gators.  No gators this time!  They are some ice cream and then we headed to the Polo Game which was really neat!  The kids each got a polo ball that rolled out of bounds. After that we experienced a very windy and heavy downpour while we were shopping for shoes for Sydney in Bealls. We were so lucky that we didn't get stuck in it!  

Tomorrow we are going back to Orlando to visit Sea World!  Luke will be excited because they are a couple scary rides. 

Craft Day at Marriott

Today we decided to make a craft so we could take home something special to remember our fun trip!  Chase made a turtle bank and Luke make a bear bank in honor of his favorite Disney Bear, Duffy!  Paige and Sydney painted a ceramic flip flop and Ava painted a wooden snake that slithers. 

Hollywood studios and Epcot 2015

I

A twirly dance with Minnie!

Rockin Rollercoaster...

Luke's favorite!  Duffy

Beautiful Epcot at night

Test ride

The girlies...

On Monday we hit Hollywood Studios and Wednesday we went to Epcot.  We lasted pretty much all day and went on most rides!  Luke and Chase rocked it out at the Rockin' Rollercoaster.  We also did the Tower of terror.  At Epcot the kids enjoyed getting a passport  stamp at all the countries and we were lucky enough to see the beautiful flower show.  They had flower topiaries of all the Disney characters. The kids got to pick out a brand new Disney pin as well as collect more smashed pennies!  What a fun day!