Independence Day

Yesterday we drove an hour South to hang out with some family for the 4th of July, and to meet our newest niece! Baby Lola was 11 days old the first time Auntie Kendra got to hold her...

Such a sweet baby!!

We hung out at some extended family's house and played in their pool. The weather was perfect and we had a great time.

My strong boys...

Super Daddy =)

Our kids have always called Grandma Donna "Gaga" ever since I can remember, and they are lucky to get to see her (and Papa!) on pretty much a weekly basis. They were thrilled to get to see her on the 4th too! Here's Gaga with her tenth grandchild...

Luke and Abbey had an absolute blast swimming and playing with their cousins! It was really the first time that they just played and played and could keep up just fine =). Four is a fun year!

Uncle Dave getting some cuddle time with Lola...

The twins were in that pool most the afternoon, they just loved it...

Finally we lured them out of the pool with the promise of fireworks...

It doesn't get dark until nearly 10pm here right now, so we had to settle for "evening light" and set them off around 8pm. Good enough =)

Luke gets a little anxious around fireworks, but the ones we set off were small enough that he was able to enjoy the fun with his cousins. Abbey loved them all.

Silly cousins...

We loaded up and got on the road after fireworks, and had the best ride home watching fireworks light up the sky all around us. It was so beautiful! Dave even pulled the car over at one viewpoint over looking the river and we got out and watched some amazing fireworks for a bit. The kids loved it (and so did I =) ).

Twice the celebration!

Last weekend was cause for double holiday at our house. Sunday was David's birthday and Fathers Day. So, we really had no choice but to (try) and make the day all about him =)

Luckily, we think he's pretty great, so it was fairly easy.

To help spread the festivities out a bit, the kids and I baked cookies and surprised him at work on the Friday prior.

Luke and Abbey passing out cookies to Daddy's students...

Then we stuck around for a bit, and the twins got to see what Daddy is like as a teacher...

On Sunday we let Dave sleep in a bit, and the second he appeared in the living room, Abbey and Luke literally ran to go give their presents to him!

I'd taken the kids to Target earlier in the week to pick out things for Daddy, and they were so adorable when making their choices for him. They did a decent job of finding things they thought were cool but that still something Daddy would like...he ended up with an Ironman Tshirt and some sweet Captain America pants.

(this picture was taken after Church and lunch on Sunday...never fear, we don't start drinking in the wee hours around here or anything =) )

He also got a frame painted by two of the most cute and talented painters ever...

We filled out questionnaires about Daddy, complete with portraits on the back...

(Luke's)

(Abbey's)

That evening we made David his very favorite meal (German Pancakes) and brought it to him in front of the TV so he could watch the NBA Finals game while he ate...

It was a fun day. I was so proud of how the kids really worked at making the day special for their Daddy. They were so thoughtful all day...giving him extra affection, asking if there was anything they could get for him (are you thirsty Daddy?), and just being really well behaved all day.
David said he felt loved, and that's all that really matters.
(But well behaved children make for a fantastic bonus)

Spring Program

In mid-May the twins' preschool had a Spring Program.

It was short and sweet. Well, more like ridiculously adorable.
The 3's class (which Abbey and Luke are in) and the 4-5 classes were all together for the evening, singing songs and having fun.

I asked the kids before we left if they were nervous to be up on stage.
"Nope" they replied in unison.

Their confidence sometimes blows me away.

(Are ya catching Abbey's pose here?!?)

(Okay, how about here?!? BabyGirl can sure play it sweet sometimes ;) )

This was right before Memorial Day, so the kids had a little thing for that...

...and then on to songs! Complete with hand motions, naturally.

After the performance was over, we had some cookies in the foyer and hung out with fun preschool friends.

The whole thing was about 45 minutes, which is just about right for 3,4, and 5 year olds =). They were so cute up there and really had a great time. I love that they are so comfortable there, and so confident in front of people. 

Preschool ended for the summer last week, and we're a little bummed around here. Luke and Abbey just loved school...which is such a blessing. We're planning on sending them back to the same school next year for the 4-5's class. Instead of 2 mornings a week like this year, they'll go 3. Still just 2 1/2 hours though. It's been just the right amount of time. I've loved having the time to run errands and clean house sans children. I've also loved just sitting on the couch, drinking coffee and reading blogs in an otherwise empty and silent house. But it's short enough that we still have lunch and the whole afternoon together. 

They had 24 kids in their class, and the whole class would start the morning together, and then divide into groups of 3 and rotate through different areas. So they gained experience learning in a large group setting, and smaller ones. There were 3 teachers and they were all so sweet and seemed to genuinely love their jobs...which blessed my Momma Heart =).

Abbey and Luke made friends, learned new things, and had so much fun. It was a great first introduction to school!

Oh, and back to the night of the Program... I was walking out with the twins and asked them to sit on the stairs and pose for just one picture for me. They sat down a foot from each other and gave me the obligatory-cheesy-forced-smile. I called them on it and then said "can ya please just scoot together, hug each other, and give Momma one real smile?"

And then they did this...

My babies. 

That picture is just so them. It really captures the dynamic of their relationship right now. 

And how much they really, really love each other.

I love that picture.

This one too...

...which is good, because right after that a fellow parent came up and said "why don't I take one of you with them?" And my kids did this...

=)

Quotable

I've been talking about prayer a lot with the kids lately. About how you can talk to God about anything, how you can talk to Him just in your heart without using your word, and about how He always hears you when you pray.

So when we were driving this week and Luke called out from the backseat, "Momma, can you turn down the music for a minute so that I can pray?" you can imagine how full my heart was.

I reached over to turn down the ubiquitous Frozen sound track, beaming with maternal pride.

And then my precious baby boy spoke his heart to our Savior...

"Dear God, please, PLEASE, turn me into The Hulk. Amen."

Love that boy.



Buddies

This September will mark two years since we welcomed Dory into our family. What a blessing she has been! We've loved having her, and she really is the perfect dog for us.

As much as we all love her, Dory's biggest fan is Abbey Mae.

Abbey loves all animals, and pretty much daily asks me if we can get a horse or a goat or a lamb or something. My answer is usually "if we ever live on a farm you can!" and so far that's working =).  She loves helping take care of Dory, always wanting to help me feed her and make sure she has water, and a common question out of Abbey's mouth is "can I give Dory a treat? She's such a good girl!" =).

I'm so thankful for our sweet pup and how much joy she brings all of us, especially Abigail.

Beach Trip Round 2

On a Saturday a few weeks back our little family loaded up the minivan and headed to the beach for a few nights.
After our trip in Feb ended so poorly, I was excited to all be healthy as we left town, and excited to make some fun family memories.

And we made one memory real quick...

Luckily it was a slow flat, so it's not like it exploded or anything that dramatic. But we were on the freeway traveling at high speeds so it was a little scary when we realized what was happening.
David got us pulled over right away, and began to put on the spare. I was praying SO HARD as cars whipped past my husband kneeling at our van on the side of the road. He was as far over as he could be, but it was still too close for my comfort.
Luckily a roadside assistance truck was randomly driving by, saw us, and pulled behind us in a way that kinda shielded David a bit more. I was so grateful!
David was able to get the flat tire off, but not without a Mr. Incredible moment where he broke a lugnut. Oops. So even though we had a full spare to put on, we only had four outta five lugnuts on the tire.
Since we still had 1+ hour more to drive, we decided to pull off at the next exit and have Les Scwhab check it out and repair it for us.
Which also provided some free popcorn while we waited =)

Once that was all fixed we got back on the road to Lincoln City. The kids had been begging to go swimming pretty much since the minute we left Portland, so as soon as we were unpacked our bathing suits were on!!

We swam and swam until Abbey said her tummy hurt.

*cue ominous music*

We got back up to our room and settled into jammies. And then Abbey puked. Everywhere.
Dave hand washed her jammies in the sink with dish soap while I called housekeeping for new sheets and towels.
I also gave Abbey a bath, which turned out to be stupid because she proceeded to throw up at least five more times.

So. I think we can safely deduce that my family is allergic to beach vacations.

Anyways.

After a decent nights sleep, Abbey woke up Sunday morning feeling better. David and the twins hung out at the hotel for a bit while I ran to the Carters outlet for some new shirts and jammies for Abs since we'd gone through most of them the night before, and also to see if there were any Laundromats around.

I returned to three people eager to hit the beach!

Dave packed their bat and ball...

 

 

I love, love, LOVE the beach. It is just my happy place. So even though we'd had a flat tire, and there had been lots of puke the night before, I was still so happy to be there.
Having an endless ocean in view at all times is just so soothing - so centering - to me.
And while the Oregon Coast is always a gamble weather-wise, we lucked out and it was 65-70 degrees every single day!

After several hours playing in the sand, we went back up to our room for naps. I think Dave was the only one who didn't sleep =).

That evening Luke wanted to swim and Abbey wanted to go play at the park, so we split up. Abs and I went to visit Regatta Park again while the boys swam.

Our brave girl...=)

Gorgeous sunsets each night we were there...

Monday morning we woke up slow and just hung around the room for awhile...

But it wasn't long before the kids were begging us to take them swimming again =).

AbbeyGirl prefers the "hot pool" (don't worry it was not a particularly hot hot tub) and spent the majority of her time swimming around in here...

...while Luke wanted to run and jump and fly into the water...

Super Daddy!!

We went back up to our room to change and then headed out to a local restaurant for lunch.

We kept ourselves busy while waiting for our food...

Luke didn't eat much of his lunch, and towards the end he laid down across the booth and put his head in my lap.
I didn't think much of it (you see from the pictures above he was acting just fine at the beginning of lunch) and chalked it up to just being tired from all that swimming earlier that morning.

We went back to the hotel for naps, and not ten minutes after he fell asleep, Luke woke up and puked. And then bless his heart he continued to throw up and dry heave well into the evening.
Oh and I joined in as well.
Luke and I hung out and threw up together in the hotel room,  while Abbey and Dave went down to play in the sand...
(I took this from our balcony)

It was so so so sad watching my baby boy wretch, and I hated throwing up as well, but I was at least grateful I knew what to expect (about 8 hours of this, and then it stops) and was relieved to have an ocean view and cable TV to provide Luke and I some entertainment while we were getting sick.

David took this picture of the sunset that night...I was in the bathroom puking and he captured it for me so I wouldn't miss it =)

That night pretty much sucked. Luke and I were still sick, and Abbey started throwing up AGAIN that night too. It was a long, long night. Lots of calls to housekeeping for fresh towels and sheets. Lots of stealing plastic bags from the bottom of the trash cans for bagging up soiled clothing. Lots of cleaning lovies in the sink and putting them out on the balcony to dry. But not lots of sleep.

Despite Monday night seemingly lasting forever, Tuesday morning did eventually come, and somehow Luke and Abbey both had energy and great attitudes.

So, they watched cartoons while David and I packed up the rooms, and then I took them for one last play on the beach while he loaded up the van (up and down three flights of stairs multiple times... thanks babe)

Luke had such a blast, you'd never have guessed he was so sick the night before!

 We dug giant holes and built sandcastles. It was a nice way to end our trip.

 I don't think Dave had even driven us out of Lincoln City before the kids and I were sound asleep.

I am not sure if it was the sunshine, the scenery, and the pockets of fun we had in between all the vomit that makes me feel like this trip was still a really good one? Or if it's just that since our last trip was such a disaster, I have seriously low expectations? Whatever the case, I actually feel like for the most part this was a pretty fun family trip...is that weird?!? We had a blast swimming several times, played for hours in the sand, and spent some great quality time together.
That being said, I still think we are going to be just a Day Trip family for awhile =).

Then & Now

December 2010

May 2014