The End of Summer

Here are some pictures I never got around to posting from our annual church picnic. Gavin has gotten so brave in the water!

Back to School!

Well, the first week of school went well. Gavin is in second grade this year and Trevor is in "Junior Kindergarten"! Trevor was so excited for school to start! The night before the first day, the boys got all ready for bed and when I left the room for a few minutes and came back in, Trevor was half dressed for school! I said, "Sweetie! You have to sleep first!" He just said, "Oh, I forgot!" Ha! He's also thrilled about his backpack, which has next to nothing in it, but it has a reflector on it! You can't beat that! Gavin was mildly excited for school to start. He's at the age where he wasn't looking forward to the school work so much, but he was looking forward to recess! He was also happy to find out that he gets two P.E.'s per week this year! This week was also spent working out a carpool. Since Trevor is in school 5 half days per week, that means I am driving to the school 3 times a day! My friend, Carrie, has kids in the same classes, so we got it worked out so that we will both only need to drive to the school twice a day, starting next week. Phew! I am definitely not complaining, though. I am so blessed and grateful to be able to take my boys to such a great school! Praise the Lord! Chris and Yvonne (Bryan's brother and sister-in-law) arrived safely from Boston, late last night! We are so excited to have them stay with us for a few days! We have missed them so much! Their first night here we were already cracking each other up and rolling on the floor with laughter! We all have so much fun together! It should be a fun visit!

Kidnapped!

On Thursday, Bryan whisked me away to the Salish Lodge for our anniversary! Our 9th anniversary was actually on August 2, which helped make it a TOTAL surprise! We had a beautiful room overlooking the falls and we had a lovely time together, without the kids! www.salishlodge.com

Crazy week!

I've had a pretty full plate this week, so my blog has been an after thought. I was just informed, however, that the butterflies are "old news", so here's a quick update! (I'm not taking a long time on it, though, so it may not be the eloquence you're used to! Ha!) The concrete strike is over! Praise the Lord! For those of you who don't know, many of the big concrete companies had been on strike for a while. This directly effected Bryan in that, as a concrete pump operator, if there's no concrete, there's nothing to pump! By the grace of God, he had steady work through it all, but it was slow and trickling off. So, now that the strike is over, everyone is going to be working their tales off to catch up on all of the construction projects that have fallen behind! It sounds like everyone will be working 6 days a week for a while. Hopefully all of the extra hours will catapult us through the winter! Bryan had a fender bender the other day! No one was hurt, thankfully, but the car is pretty crunched up. (It's at the repair shop right now.) It really couldn't have happened at a better time, though, as we just happen to have his parents' extra vehicle right now! (That's me...always looking for the positive! Ha!) In addition to the above, this week is also filled with orientation and "meet the teacher" meetings, doctor appointments (school starts next week), a Sunday School project that I volunteered to do, getting the house ready for my brother and sister-in-law to come stay with us for a couple days... Last, but certainly not least, I have been pursuing a work from home job opportunity but it had been a month and half and I hadn't heard anything. So, I heard about another opportunity this week; followed up on it; and she started sending me work that same day! Wouldn't you know, that same day, I also finally heard from the other company to schedule an interview! Go figure! I'm praying that, when I do finally have the interview for "job A" that it goes well, as it was my first choice. Maybe I'll actually get to do both! We'll have to wait and see what God has planned for me (us)! It's all in His hands, thankfully! So, now you're informed! Hope you're all well!

Butterflies

My mom got a "Butterfly Garden" for Gavin for his birthday. It came with a cage and 5 caterpillars. We got to watch them grow and transform into butterflies and then let them go! It was very interesting...Albeit, creepy! Bugs are bugs, I say! We let them go right quick, as they were turning my stomach! Ha! The boys sure got a kick out of it, though!

Gavin's Butterfly...

Family Fun...

Bryan's sister and her husband (Alicia and Paul) were in town last weekend for a wedding. We got to see them briefly over at the folks' house, on Sunday. It was a very nice visit. They got Gavin a pitching machine for a belated birthday present. (When Gavin opened it, Bryan said, "It's a plastic dad!" Ha!) It was so much fun...for everyone! Gavin and Trevor took turns hitting the balls and loading the machine, while all of the guys ran after the balls (John, Bryan, Paul, Paul's brothers)! The rest of us watched from the deck as Gavin would hit balls over the house and over the fence... It was reminiscent of "The Sandlot" when Gavin would foul it off into the neighbors' yard and Paul would dangle a hotdog in front of Zeus (big dog), so Bryan could hop the fence and not get eaten! Ha! Great entertainment value, that toy! Thank you Uncle Paul and Aunt Alicia! Or, as Trevor used to say: "Antle Paul and Unc-Alicia"!

Why I don't talk on the phone...

This is me having a pleasant telephone conversation...in my dreams! Ha! As handy as the telephone is, in my real world, email and instant messenger is so much easier! See, it's like Pavlov's dog: when mom picks up the phone, the kids go nuts! But, if I am having a conversation with someone on the computer, I can also be doing laundry, making dinner, paying bills, breaking up a fight...at the same time! Well, my sister-in-law (bless her heart), whom I usually only communicate with via instant messenger, called me today because she was bored. We actually talked for quite a while and, despite the noise and interruptions, had a lovely conversation. But, then it came to an abrupt end with: "I have to go! Gavin's bleeding!" (Not to worry...Trevor just kicked him in the face. On accident, I'm sure! ; )

My Cuties!

"Candy Cotton"! Rally cap! Go, M-Dawgs!

"Is it over?"

Take Me Out to the Ball Game...

We rode the train into Seattle, on Sunday, to watch the Mariners play Oakland. It was really fun! (The M's came so close to winning!) This was our first time taking the train and we've decided it's the only way to go, from now on! It was faster and we didn't have to worry about traffic or parking! The boys really got a kick out of it, of course. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day, either! It just happened to be Sea Fair weekend, so we even got to see the Blue Angels fly over a few times! Bonus!

More Birthday Pictures...

As you can see, Gavin got the rest of the Jack Sparrow costume for his birthday! (He had half of it, but now it's complete! He's so happy!) The Under Armour shirt was his "Red Ryder B.B. Gun" (A Christmas Story)! He has been begging me for this shirt for months! I know...I don't get it, either. I don't know of any other 7 year old boy who would be so happy to get clothes and, yes, school supplies! Ha! Fortunately for both of us, I found the shirt on eBay for a third of the price! The look on his face when he opened it and put it on was priceless! It just melts my heart to see him so happy! I can tell you, he will be wearing the Under Armour shirt and Jack Sparrow costume every day for a while...regardless of how hot it gets outside!

Gavin's 7th Birthday!

More Party Pictures!

Adventure Thursday...

So, I thought we'd try out the new pool today. You know, the little free one that we got last weekend? Well, it works great once you plug up the little drain hole in the bottom! (It sure seemed like it was taking a long time to fill up!) Good grief! I've got to start getting more sleep! Let's see..what else? Oh! Chris, if you're reading this, your mom wanted me to tell you that Gavin has joined the ranks! Here's the equation: Grandma and Grandpa's basement + tennis ball + golf club = broken window! Oy! I think that sums it up. Ha!

Weekend Update

We had a fun weekend! Saturday morning our neighborhood had a garage sale, so the four of us went on a "treasure hunt"! Gavin got a Star Wars Episode I video for $1! He couldn't be more thrilled! We also got a little pool for free! You really can't beat that (with a stick)! Unless, of course, it was a free pool LAST WEEK! Most of us know how hot it was around here and there wasn't a pool to be found all over town! (Believe me, we tried! We ended up just spraying the boys with the hose. That works, too!) Saturday evening we had a BBQ with Clark and Dina and Zach and Kim and all the boys! At the last minute, Jeff and Michelle needed a sitter, so their boys came over, too! So, there were 7 boys* between the ages of 2-7 running around in the back yard for four hours! They had SO much fun and were FILTHY! (My boys almost needed a shower after their bath, because the bath water got so dirty! Ha!) *There were actually 8 boys here, but baby Jafeth hardly counts. We decided he's not a boy...he's a goat/cat...because of the funny noises he makes! We grown-ups had a great time, too! Great food and fellowship! (We love you guys!) Oh! And Kim even brought me a belated birthday present and Michelle brought me flowers! You just can't go wrong there! Clark and Dina stayed till about 10:30, as we had to have a Rummikub tourney after the boys went to bed! The stakes were high, too! The winner got to determine the name of the game! (Just for the record, it IS "rummy-cube"! Yes, I won! It also helps that the phonetic spelling on the back of the box agreed with me! I think it's quite possible that Clark will shout out "RUMMY-CUB" every time he wins, though! I'll certainly never let him live it down! Ha!) Lastly, this doesn't have much to do with the weekend, but it IS funny... Gavin and I went to Party City yesterday to get stuff for his upcoming birthday party. When we got home, I began stuffing the favor bags, only to discover that I WAY miscounted! I am five short!? What the..? (I seem to be having a hard time counting past five, lately. Kim will attest to that. I keep counting wrong when I'm making plates of food for all the boys when they get together! How hard is that!?) ...Back to the party bags... the bags I do have are having a hard time staying stuffed, as the cat keeps stealing the toys out of them! Then, last night, Bryan caught her putting Q-tips INTO the bags! So, for any of you reading this that might be getting one of these party bags...please note: I did NOT put Q-tips in the party favor bag for your child! That's all for today! Hope you all had a great weekend!

Funny Boy!

I think I got out of the blogging habit when I was on vacation. I just haven't felt much like writing since I've been back. I should have known that it would only be a matter of time before one of my boys would inspire me! Well, it happened tonight while we were eating dinner and watching the news... When the stock report flashed across the screen, Gavin read it out loud: "Dow Jones down 2.8." Then, he said, "He should start going faster!" Ha ha! I am still laughing!

The Last of the Vacation Pictures...

The boys even got to play in the snow! (At Crater Lake.) And that brings us to the end of our vacation!

Crater Lake...

Ok...Here are pictures of the actual lake!

Crater Lake...

We came back home via Crater Lake. It was gorgeous! Unfortunately, (as you may be able to see) there was a smudge on the lens of my camera that I didn't notice until we got home and downloaded the photos! Argh! At least it wasn't that way for the entire trip.

And soccer, too...

Yes, this is Bryan playing soccer, on a league, while we were on vacation!! (It's a long story...) He actually got to play twice while we were there. He was giddy! It was at a HUGE sports complex, so there was lots for the boys to do, too....and all free! It was great! (I got to finish a very good book! Ha!)

Horseback riding...

By the pool...