Off to Cascade

We are off to Cascade today. It is windy, rainy, and cold here. I can't imagine what it will be like up there, but we are still off. Matt has a bass fishing tournament tomorrow morning on the lake and we are going to entertain ourselves until 4:00 which is the weigh in. Should be a good time. The kids are dying to swim and I am dying to enjoy the sun and I'm not sure if either of those things will happen, but we're off to try. I'm thinking of taking a few good books and the portable DVD player and enjoying a lazy day inside, but I doubt the kids will go for it. We'll see.

Happy Birthday Cameron!

I can't believe that Cameron is four years old today! It seems like not long ago that we were celebrating her first birthday with a full blown luau, as seen below....When she turned two, Tucker was just about 10 days old and she was all over the place, enjoying her new toys. Here is a picture of her with her playhouse she got for her 2nd birthday. So sweet.What a difference a year can make. Here is her third birthday. SHe is really starting to look like a little girl instead of a baby. She LOVED her birthday this year. Loved everything about it.And here she is just recently, this is not a birthday party shot because I'm lazy and I haven't downloaded them yet, but they're coming. She is such a sweet princess of a little girl. Full of life and asking a million questions about everything. I am so lucky to have such a sweet little girl for a daughter!

Class Reunion--fab or flop?

So I have officially been to my ten year reunion. I just keep thinking about when I graduated from high school, the idea of a ten year reunion seemed so far away, and now, I turn around and has it been ten years or has it been five minutes? Isn't it funny how life just goes? I swear, ten years used to be a long time, but lately, ten years doesn't quite seem like enough time. Tucker is two. Cameron is four. And in six more years, Cameron will be ten, and half way grown. And it will happen in the blink of an eye.

I fear that I will turn around again and I'll be sitting at my 20 year reunion. Hopefully it will be a little more planned than this one, because we seriously hung out at the park for a family picnic, which was fine, and then the whole adult get together got cancelled and moved and I missed it because we had other plans and then it flopped big last night at the rodeo in town. Of course it was great to see the few that I saw, but there were a lot more than I would have liked to see again. I'm almost wondering if facebook and myspace has taken the place of the need for reunions at all. I was not surprised to see anyone in particular because I'd seen everybody roaming around online.

Today will be a day of rest. I am so tired from this past week! We have been cleaning and preparing for two big birthday parties, and I also helped chair our first vacation bible school at church, which required loads of work and preparation and then ended with a hugely successful week. I taught preschool and had 10-15 kids all five days. We got down on the floor and sang songs, played games, and used a lot of glue and glitter. It was so rewarding and great to be back in the swing of things as far as teaching goes.

Well, I think I'll hit the shower and then see what condition the kids are in for breakfast. I actually think they may have given up on me coming downstairs and fixing anything and they are eating chips. I'm a great mom today.

Happy Birthday Tucker!

July 22, 2007 Born at 11:12. Weighed 7 lbs 3 ounces of pure innocence and angelic love. Perfect in every way, could never imagine that I could love something else as much as I loved his sister, but it works. Close to July 22, 2009 Lovin' the chocolate and dirt mixture on his face, the bruise on his forehead and the half black eye. Of course he's hiding from me in the yard. WEIGHT: about 26 pounds of snips and snails and puppy dog tails. God, I love this boy!

My sweet baby is two today. We celebrated his birthday last Saturday but today is the official day. It seems like the time has flown! I can't believe how much Tucker has changed and how much of a little boy he is compared to the day he was born. It's always so amazing to me that you can sit and hold them in the hospital and try to picture what they will look like when they are two, or four, or sixteen, and not be able to see it, and then poof! It's already that time.

I think I'll make some brownies to go with ice cream tonight for Tucker. After all, it's kind of bitter sweet that I really don't have a baby in the house any more. But chocolate will soothe the pain....

This is why I don't blog very often....

I feel like I go way too long between blog posts. I have friends who religiously blog with downloaded pictures on a daily basis. And their blogs have music and fun things to see and do. I don't. I am lucky to get a post once a week, but I will try to do better. Here are some of the things that we have been busy doing over the last couple of weeks....

This is Cameron fishing at the pond down at the Sports Complex. It was really cool because there were hundreds of tadpoles and frogs in all stages swimming and hopping around. I think the kids actually enjoyed playing with the tadpoles and asking, "Mommy, why does that frog still have a tail growing out of his butt". I don't think I had ever seen one that had it's legs, but still had it's tail and it's pretty weird looking. Cameron caught a blue gill and reeled it in all by herself and Tucker caught a trout with Dad's help. It was pretty cute. I love the pink swimming suit wedgie. My back yard looks awesome this year and I am all caught up on weeding and gardening. Finally, the kids are big enough to play around while I work and it looks like I have no "baby" excuse to keep me from weeding. But, it's therapeutic and I do enjoy it. I had to take some shots of the kids by the lillies.

And, I even made Matt take some shots of me with the kids because I realized I am always behind the camera and nobody ever sees me. So here we are. Next time I will put on some make up and do my hair so I don't look so haggard.

And me and my first born, Sammy......

This one turned out really neat....

Here are the kids having a "yard sale" as Cameron called it. They're both in there under that pile of junk.



Cherry Festival rides are always the best. Here they are on the Jeep ride.

And of course, the 4th of July. Tucker's first sparkler. He looks like he's pretty consumed by this. Bad quality shot, but still cute.

Going on Six Years

Every month I go back through my picture files and reminisce about the same time but at different years. I happened to come upon this shot of Matt and I leaving out wedding reception and I can't help but think, my how time does fly......We will be married six years on August 29th and it hardly seems possible. Notice he's wearing a t-shirt in our limo? I should have known then that if he wasn't going to cooperate for our reception, he definately wasn't going to cooperate wearing anything as long as we were married. Oh well, it's one of the things I love about him.

So I guess I'm just being nostalgic by posting this shot, but it was a good day, probably one of the best days in my life and I am so thankful that God blessed me with such an amazing husband, even if he thinks that a major clothing line is "D&B Supply". I am more in love today than I was on this day and I was pretty in love standing in that limo. In another blink of an eye we'll be married 12 and then 18 and then before we know it, 50 years....life is just amazing.

4th of July!

I was doing so well with my blog in May and June and now here it is, going on two weeks and no post. It's been crazy busy and crazy hot around here the past week and I love it. Cameron has been doing a three day Tumbling Camp at the park and we have been swimming and trying to get caught up on yard work in between. Luckily, Matt has been able to be home most evenings this summer so I have yet to venture up to the woods and stay in the trailer.

We are gearing up for birthday season, which is two weeks away. Tucker will be celebrating on the 18th, (his birthday is the 22nd) and Cameron will be celebrating on the1st of August (hers is the 4th of August). We are having a Handy Manny Birthday for Tucker and after much indecisiveness, a "Cinderella Castle" birthday. I have been looking up castle cake ideas online and I found one that looks awesome. It takes like 4 square cakes to build an then you add ice cream cones for turrets and decorate with frosting. I have recently been inspired by the show "cake boss" on TLC so I may be over my head with this one, but hey, what are kids for if not to keep you up all night building a castle out of cake?

And speaking of staying up all night. Tucker is officially off the bottle (yes, I know he's almost two) and sleeping all night in his own bed without any sort of rocking, rubbing of the back, coddling, or getting into bed with me. This is the first time in four years that I have not had to get up at night with a kid. I slept so hard last night my head hurt when I woke up, I thought I'd had a stroke, but low and behold, it's just what it feels like to lie in one place for over 8 hours and not be interrupted. I kinda liked it....apart from the dizzy stroke feeling.

Have a wonderful 4th of July. I swear we're the only people who didn't go anywhere this weekend, but it's going to be nice to just be low key and hang out with the kiddos. We're very excited to go see some "real" fireworks at the Island.