Our EIGHT year anniversary!

Whew! We fixed our deck problem. Nothing a few rented post jacks and cutting new posts can't cure! We've spent the past couple of days fixing that so actual progress on the deck hasn't been happening. Plus, yesterday was our 8 YEAR ANNIVERSARY - YAY!!! So we went hiking for the day and had wonderful fun. See the pictures below...

Tomorrow we are going camping and 4wheeling. We should have some fun pictures of that soon.



This is Darrin's sister, Raychel and her husband, Rusty.


This is us using a hand tram to cross above a river. We met up with an older couple there who weren't going to cross it because they didn't think they could pull themselves. So Darrin and Rusty pulled them across and I took pictures of them with their camera. They thanked us for the time of their lives!


Darrin decided to get up close and personal with this waterfall while I hyperventilated nearby.



Happy anniversary to us!!! Aren't we cute?

Bummer

Okay, so the deck is starting to be a problem. We are noticing a distinct slope from one side to the other. It seems our main cross beam is no longer level. Is it possible that the concrete settled after it set? Well, whatever the cause, it looks like we are going to have to jack up one corner and shim it somehow.

On a lighter note, here is a cute picture of little Joshy. He appears to be busting quite a sag.

Deck building is consuming my life.

Here are a couple of pictures of our new deck project.


This is midway through our demolition...


This is midway through our rebuilding!


I'm so excited for my new big deck!

Thump

Well, it runs in the family I guess. Yesterday Joshy fell down the stairs. I was standing at the bottom landing talking to the cable guy and I heard a thump and turned around just in time to see Josh bump off the middle step and land in a heap in Darrin's school bag. He cried of course but thankfully the book bag was bookless and made for a soft(ish) landing. He's perfectly fine but I might be scarred for life.

More deck building

Okay, the second footing has been poured, the lumber has been delivered and "most" of the hardware and supplies have been purchased. I say most because there is always something forgotten.

Our goal is to finish this deck before Darrin leaves for commercial fishing for a month! Otherwise I will have to finish it myself and that won't be pretty.

Hammock!

Would you believe that our current living situation contains the very perfect makings for a day in a hammock? When we moved out of our old house, with the two perfect trees, we resigned ourselves to the fact that our beloved hammock would never again swing gaily in the wind. But here is proof that there is more than one residence in Alaska with two trees in the yard.

A special shout out to Tommy for the best birthday present ever.

More Home Improvement

Yesterday was exhausting. We took three truck loads of rotten lumber to the dump. And believe it or not, there is more! We staked out the holes for our footings and got everything squared up. We did this AFTER we dug the holes, which you aren't supposed to do, but fortunately for us, we are awesome and our holes were perfectly placed.

We ordered all our lumber through a contractor friend of ours and it's being delivered on Thursday. He saved us a ton of money!

AND...I am getting high speed internet tomorrow! Whoopee!

Jakey in a hole

Today was another busy day in the yard. We dug our second footing for the new deck. It needed to be about Jakey high.

When it rains, it floods.

Today was an exciting day. We did some demolition on our back deck in preparation for it's expansion. We now have an even bigger pile of junk behind our carport than we did when we moved in. Kinda wish I still had a truck to I could take it all to the dump. We dug ourselves a little test hole in the ground to see how difficult it would be to pour the new footings for the new part of the deck. It wasn't difficult at all and Darrin went ahead and dug the entire whole in about 20 minutes. It is three feet deep. So now we have a three foot toddler death trap in our back yard. I opted to protect my children by putting a rotten piece of plywood over it. Good job me.

Later in the evening we decided to wash our cars. The spigot on the front of our house doesn't have a handle for some reason. So Darrin got out his trusty tools and managed to turn it on. We had a sprayer attached to the end of the hose and we couldn't figure out why we could hear the the sound of water running at the spigot when the sprayer was turned off. So, sprayer off, water running. Water running where? Oh, into our downstairs. That's great. BIG HUGE FLOOD! I tripped and fell up the stairs trying to get back outside to tell Darrin to SHUT OFF THE FAUCET!!!! Lots of scurrying and scrambling but we got the water turned off. Too bad it was running for a good five minutes or so before the big revelation. So THAT'S why the faucet didn't have a handle...

So now we have extremely soggy carpet and some bad attitudes. At least we are getting a nice big deck.

Uh Oh!

I walked into Joshy's room to pick him up after his nap. This is what I found.

HE'S STANDING UP!

Joshy is getting so big!

Lots going on with little Josh in the past couple days. He got two new teeth (now a total of three) one more on the bottom and this afternoon I found one poking through on the top! Also, he has started pulling up on things. So far he's pulled up to his knees on the coffee table, fireplace and his crib. He pulled up to standing on one of his toys but he was kind of hunched over to keep his hands on it. Here he is peeking over the coffee table.

More birthdays for Jordan

Today we had our little family birthday party for Jordan. Grandma Diana got her an ice cream cake with her picture on it! She got some fun presents including her very first bible, a Veggie Tales video, some blocks and a tricycle!


All my babies LOVE blocks!

Back home

Well we made it home safely. Our flight was fine and our kids were good. Today we started trying to get back into our usual routine. I managed to go to the bank, the grocery store AND mow the front lawn today. I'm feeling quite productive. Well, actually right now I feel exhausted as it's almost midnight. But the sun is still shining brightly and I'm finding it difficult to call it a day.

I should have more pictures to post tomorrow because we are finally getting around to celebrating Jordan's birthday!

Look who's TWO!

Today little Jordan turns TWO YEARS OLD! Such a big girl.

Duvall Days

Am I getting good at this updating thing or what? Today the family headed out to my old hometown for annual Duvall Days parade and associated goings-on. We found a parking spot very quickly, found a friend shortly after that, wandered down to Main Street and settled in for a good show. Jaycob just loved the parade. Every time a car came through he would squeal with delight. He has decided that ambulances are no longer called fireplaces, they are called firelances. Jordan boogied down to the school bands a few times and Joshy mostly ate dirt. My best friend Kelly shared the day with us and she was awed by our baby wrangling skills.

Snoqualmie Falls

Today Darrin arrived in town at about 2am. He slept in a bit this morning and then we took the family to Snoqualmie Falls. Jake loved it, Jordan hated it because of the cold and the mist, and Joshy didn't really care because he was too busy with his bottle. A nice man took our family picture but like I said, Josh was busy with his bottle. So I took a picture with him a little later.

Woo Hoo! The ZOO!

It is my baby brother's birthday tomorrow. He has to work. Isn't that sad? Well, today the kids and I treated him to a day at the Woodland Park Zoo. Here are some pictures of the festivities...

More fun!

Today was another fun-filled, sun-filled day in Washington. Grandma and I took the kids to the park where Joshy got to swing for the very first time. Lots of giggles and grins. Jake and Jordy splashed around in the nearby lake a little bit and later, back at home, everyone had fun swimmnig in the pool...or the bucket.

Remlinger Farms

Another exciting day in Washington. Today the kids and I went to Remlinger Farms with our friends, the Schwopes. We had fun riding the canoes, traveling by train, jumping in the hay, feeding the animals and riding the ponies.

Wedding Day!

This week the kiddos and I flew down to Seattle for the wedding of my younger brother, JR to his sweet new wife, Kate. The outdoor wedding was held in my parent's backyard, in the pouring rain, admist a small crowd of family. Other than the downpour it was a wonderful event!

My youngest brother and oldest brother had fun "trying" to trash the newlyweds' car. But the rain proved to be a major deterent.

This is me with my brand new sister-in-law, Kate.

And this is a picture of my youngest brother and me. This is just for him because he was angry that I hadn't posted anything in so long.

And this is my baby Joshy meeting his Great Grandma!

Sorry for the delay!

Wow, it's been a while. I blame my temperamental computer. He crashed and burned twice in one week and caused me all sorts of stress and anguish. He's fixed now but on probation.

So what's up with us you ask? Well, the most notable event is breakup! Don't jump to conclusions. That's the term us Alaskans use when referring to the massive carnage left behind after the massive snow melt in this city. It's soggy and dirty and ugly around here. But the air is warm(er) and the sun is shining! It's beautiful to me! The kids and I have been outside every day for about two weeks. We aren't going to waste a single day of the short season of sun, aptly referred to as, not summer, but road construction.

I planted some dahlia bulbs the other day. I doubt they'll grow. They never do. I'm not sure why. The science of horticulture utterly and completely eludes me, despite a respectable amount of home study on the topic. Try as I do to be a mini-Martha Stewart, I can't get the hang of gardening, cooking or raising chinchillas. Okay, I haven't tried the last one yet.

I've managed to meet a couple of my neighbors these past two weeks. Everyone is coming out from hibernation and blinking in wonder at the sun and gazing in awe at the grass. We are excited about all the kids that have been living nearby this whole time, completely unbeknownst to us. Is that a word?

Jaycob is becoming a pro at riding his bike, albeit still depending heavily on the training wheels. He did learn to stop yesterday which was an exciting experience. He hasn't mastered the art of falling though and he is now sporting his very first skinned elbow, a painful reminder that you can't run full speed into your baby sister's ride-on car and expect the outcome to be fun for anyone involved. Jake's first year in AWANAs is coming to an end in a couple of weeks. I am looking forward to the recognition night at church where he will be up on stage and I will be the idiot mom in the front row with the video camera and big dumb grin trying to capture timeless footage of my baby picking a wedgy or other some such thing...

Jordan is almost two years old. The terrible twos are in full swing and our little princess is learning the meaning of consequences. She's not much of a fan. But she does seem to be learning quickly which is a relief for all of us. And even when she does digress, she's still really cute. Her vocabulary is increasing tremendously and she is starting to get her own funny entries in my online journal. http://happyhothead.livejournal.com/

And speaking of cute! My little Joshy angel. I swear if he didn't holler out a squeal of delight every once in a while, I might just forget he's there! Low maintenance is an understatement. Which is lucky for him (and me) because he doesn't get near the attention he deserves due to his older siblings. This past week he has started scrunching up his knees and rocking on all fours. He can also sit up unassisted for several minutes. A recent trip to the doctor revealed him at a hefty 17 pounds and a lengthy 28 inches. He's considered quite tall, but not terribly fat. He had two shots with nary a whimper, he's such a macho man.

Darrin is fully immersed in track season right now. Every weekend is spent on long road trips out of town and we miss him terribly. Looking forward to the end of the school year in May.

I'm still doing the same old thing. Hanging out with the kids, writing, scrapbooking and failing at gardening and other womanly tasks. I would now consider yourself sufficiently up to date.

Sick AGAIN

I knew it was too good to last. Jordan's nose starting leaking again last night. So this morning she and I are home while the boys are at church. It's so quiet around here right now. I'm glad nobody was sick while my mom was here. I don't think we would have had quite as much fun if we would have had to wipe runny noses every five minutes. Every once in a while Jordan will run in here and say, "A Tissue!" When I turn around to face her I have to hold back a gag at the giant snot ball hanging out of her nose. I wish she would learn to sniff or something. Ew.

Being a Writer

I've recently started a new endeaver. I am writing for an online baby magazine called Peekaboo Picks. I've already had one article published and this week I submitted my second one. It's very exciting! For me anyway. Check me out at www.peekaboopicks.com

Half a year!

My little man is 6 months old! Wow, time flies. Here is his official set of big boy pictures. Isn't he such a doll?

Workin' like dogs!

Mommy is in town this week and as always, we got ourselves involved in an extensive project. Whenever we get together we end up tearing up some corner of her house or mine. This time it was mine. After about 3 days of very hard work we turned this musty utility room into my very own craft room! I'm thrilled with it and I know it never would have been possible without my mommy!

Updates and Rambling

It's been a while since I've posted. I hate it when I let that happen. Unfortunately, time tends to get away from me a lot. But I've got a good excuse with three young children and all. The irony is, without them, I would have nothing to write about at all.



This past weekend was exciting. Darrin had to go out of town for a basketball tournament so my friend Carly, who's husband was also coaching at the tournament, moved in for the weekend with her two boys. She has a 17 month old and a 2 month old. It was baby central around here and poor Jordy-Roo was outnumbered by all the boys.



Carly and I spent the weekend catching up on our scrapbooking, drinking hot chocolate and breaking up the fights between all of our toddlers. At one point we heard her son, Trenton, crying and we found him in a pile at the bottom of the stairs and when we looked up to the top of the stairs, there was Jordan, holding his sippy cup. Trenton wasn't hurt so it was pretty hilarious.



Jordan made great strides in her potty training this weekend. She is starting to tell me when she has to go but then she runs away because she doesn't actually want to go. She wore little underwear all day today. It was a big mess.



Little Joshy is over five months old now and he is still growing at a rapid pace. He is so funny and giggly. He loves to smile and laugh and chew on anything. He found his feet the other day but despite a good effort, he still hasn't managed to eat them.



Jaycob is getting pretty sassy. He's testing the boundries with talking back but I think he's starting to regret it. 'Nuff said.



I think we are all getting very antsy for winter to be over. We've been pretty cooped up because this winter has been colder than normal. It's been hard for us to get too worked up about global warming here where it's been in the negative degrees for the past couple months.



My mommy is coming for a visit tomorrow and I'm looking forward to it. Her visits always fly by so fast. Hopefully we can find some fun diversions even though it will be bitterly cold the whole time she's here.



That's about it for now. I leave you with this picture of Jordan asleep. It was taken last night around 11pm. She is Snoozer Jr.

New glubs!

Grandma Diana recently went on a business trip and came back with new hats and mittens for the kids. Unfortunately, she forgot that all my children have giant freak heads. So the hats were a little too snug. Perfect opportunity for a snapshot though! Jake has a little bit of lunch on his face but still a cutie!

Technology is hard!

The kids and I were blessed to have daddy home all weekend! In fact, he was able to come home from work at 3:30 on Thursday and Friday and he was home all day today and will be tomorrow as well. Lots of fun family time! Today Darrin and I got an unusual afternoon to ourselves. Darrin's mom stayed with the kids during their nap while we went out looking for the equipment we need to transfer home video to our computer. Why does it have to be so complicated? Well, we managed to figure something out so I hope to be able to post a home movie or two in the near future.

Check out my Slide Show!

The sickness never ends

I think my kids managed to get healthy for almost 24 hours before succumbing to another disease. Where does all this snot come from? I had to skip church again yesterday so I could nurse them back to health. Of all the jobs that come along with being a stay at home mom, I'm apparently bad at the Nurse one. I can't remember the last time my kids were healthy!

Actually, I'm also bad at the Safety Inspector job. This being apparent today when first, Josh rolled over and bonked his head on our metal stair rail and Jordan went ahead and tumbled down the stairs onto a metal chair. Both are fine, just terrible upset by the whole experience. I haven't seen Jake get injured today, but he does have a mysterious bump on his forhead.

On a less traumatice note, here is a sweet picture of our winter walk with Grandma Diana last night.

So little Joshy has started doing lots of big boy things like rolling over and eating some solids. I'm glad he's finally old enough for rice cereal because I just can't keep up with his enormous appetite all on my own.

All the kids have nasty colds right now and we are going through tissues like crazy. I can't wait until they are old enough to blow their own noses!