Being Thankful, Being Positive

I love reading the post over the last few weeks about being thankful. I know some days, weeks, months and years are harder to be thankful for the people we have in our lives and the things we have. I have been needing to blog about the kids and all the different adventures we have been doing, but being thankful and being positive have really been on my heart. Some of you may read this and think it is a bunch of bull, but to be honest I write this for the kids and for them to remember things that we have done as a family and as individuals. This is something that I want them to learn and I want them to always remember. For me the best way to teach them is it do it myself.

Growing up I always wanted to be a stay at home mom. My picture perfect day would be filled doing fun things with the kiddos and then having dinner on the table at 5:30 as Mike walked into the house. Well, that does not happen. Honestly I hate having dinner every night without Mike at home with us, but we have faith that one day it will change. One day we will get to do family dinners more than just the weekend or the random blessed day that he gets off early. 

The kids and I have become one awesome team tackling the to do lists. it takes me a little longer to do things at times, but we all learn something from it, mainly me with patience!! I have learned to carry and climb a 10 foot ladder and give Evan instructions if I fall, as well as strength and skills I never thought I would have.  With prayer and will the kids and I having really gotten the swing of things. Now when Mike is home we all work awesome together and it is even more fun to do it all with the 4 of us together.

I guess the point of this blog that I want my kids to learn is that life does not go the way you dream. I know that I have been given the strength the think positive and to be thankful for what God and Mike have provided for us. To (try) and take each day at a time. Yes, I am a HUGE planner and love to have my day and week planned out so I know what needs to be done and when, but at the same time I know things come up and I will have to change our plans. I am generally Ok with that and so are the kids, as long as I have a snack for them!! You just need to laugh sometimes. Crying works as well, but laughing is much better in my book. I try to always think positive and I try and point out the positive things that have happen during our day, not the stinky things, like I have paint on my carpet, someone hacked Mike's debt card and I had to deal with the bank to get our money back, having to stick my hand down a toilet to try and grab something,  that the kids have been at each other for an hr now and I am about ready to just let them duke it out to see who wins. I just laugh not to be mean or anything, but just because I know it is making me stronger, that I have the power to change my day with help from God. Plus I don't want people to read about my problems all day long or to think I just complain, even though I do to my close friends, often!! It is being human to complain. Everyone does need to vent it out. That the kids seeing me do this will hopefully help them and teach them how to try and always find the positive.

 As I am writing this blog I have a friend texting me that is going through a few different trials with life and she that she was able to be with a dear friend of hers and just laugh together and that brought her closure. I found it funny that with the things she is going through and her friend that they were laughing to get closure. They were and are thinking positive and being happy for their blessings, even though it is hard. Laughing helps, thinking and being positive help!!

I have a blessed life and a blessed family. I am so fortunate that I get to be home with my kids, every day!! I am thankful for our jammie days. That we just get to sit at home and play whatever their little minds things up. We are all thankful for Mike, how hard he works and just how awesome he is as a dad and husband.   I may get stressed, down or angry, but I am thankful and I am always trying to find the positive in every situation. It is not always easy, but it does make me smile or laugh!!

VEGAS BABY!!!

 OH my goodness, these pictures do not even say half of what we felt while being in Vegas. We had so much fun, words can not describe it. This was the first time that Lilah had flown and Evan's second time ( he was almost 1 when we went to Vegas last time). Saturday morning Evan started throwing up. Every parents dream when you are getting on an airplane later that day. We watched him, didn't let him eat for a few hrs. Lunch time came and he scarfed down his lunch and was fine. He proceeded to be fine except in the middle of the night he would wake up and puke. One time on Mike and the next time on me. I learned how to use my friends washing machine quick!!!  We went down to spend some time with one of my great friends. We have been friends for 10 or 11 yrs ( I had to count because I can not believe it has been that long already). We have gone through so much growing up  with. Her moving, me getting married and having kids, her getting

 engaged to a wonderful man.  For me it is so great that we are still friends after changing and growing up so much. She is truly one of my dearest friends.I loved being able to talk with her and just sit outside with her or all of us and play games.  I was so nervous going there. They do not have kids and I was bringing mine. We wake up super early and they sleep in. The kids were glued to their hips the entire time. They absolutely made my nerves go away. It was like I was at home. The kids did awesome there and out and about. We went and did family things and all had a blast. I love watching Melanie and Jeremy, their love for each other just glows. I love that they are so comfortable in front of each

 other and they have so much fun being together!!!  I can not wait for them to get married and to see them start a family. I know they will truly succeed. They were so awesome and natural with our kids!!! Although they do make me feel old. I was trying so hard to stay up late with them and having a fun late night, but this mama is old. I could barely make it past 11:30 and that was hard. Although I will say that I was up at like 5:30 in the morning and getting up with a sick little boy in the middle of the night, so that makes me feel a little better, but not

 a whole lot. The kids did great!!!  Everyone who knows me, knows I love my schedules, but while we were there, there were no schedules. The kids would nap at like 3 and we would eat dinner late all sorts of fun stuff. They did great. I did not do a bed time. I just watched them and knew when it was time for them. Although by Tuesday they were pretty tired and needed to get back on a schedule soon. I don't know why I doubt them so much. I think it is from hearing other moms about how stressful it is in certain situations or being around kids so much through out my life and seeing how others behavior. Don't get me wrong, my kids have tantrums and misbehave all the time, but I have found that if I just talk with them and prepare myself that it might be a harder day, it goes by so smoothly. My kids truly ROCK!!  They drive me crazy at least 5 times a day, but when I need them to behave they generally do and they are awesome away at places.  I just need to stop stresses over them at certain places. Give them the benefit of the doubt, but they do awesome.

 We also went down to see one of Mike's best friends, Ernie. We just love our Uncle Ernie!!  The kids just love him. He is a big kid and loves our kids so much. We went over there right after we landed and spent a few hrs with him. Mike also got to go over and have some guy time with him. Which I know they both needed and wanted. I love the look on Mike's face, actually both of their faces when they are around each other. They have such a great friendship. It is amazing. I makes me sad that he lives so far away. I wanted to put him in our suitcase and bring him home with us. Hopefully one day he will live back up here, but he is achieving so much down there and we are so proud of him.

We had such a wonderful time in Vegas. It was much more exciting and relaxing than I could of imagined. I am so happy that we went and that we got to spend the time with some of our closest friends. We love them so much and are so thankful for them opening up their homes to my crazy clan. I love how they love on my kiddos and how they embrace them. It is so nice to know that we have friends that will just hang out at home and be a family with us. we don't have to worry about leaving the kiddos with a sitter or at home. They get to go with us and experience trips and family moments. I love that our friends are our family. They are the best and we are just so blessed to have them in our lives. They all mean the world to us and to our kids.

Lilah learned to box

Evan played and tried to skate on a skateboard.

Evan seeing Ernie!!! I just love their bond!!

Lilah waiting for Grampie to pick us up

Ernie helping Lilah shoot hoops!!

The kiddos playing with Uncle Ernie

Mel blowing bubble for the kids.

Snuggle buddies on the couch!!

Jeremy and Lilah riding scooters in the house.

Evan is in preschool!!

Well we have finally gotten to the stage where Evan has started preschool. We went a few days before to meet his teacher and that was so much fun. it was harder for me to meet the teacher than I thought it would be.

Then came his first day of school. I was ok going into the school, but walking away from him it was so sad. I tried not to cry, but a few little tears came out. He loves going to school and I am so happy for him. He came home and wanted to do homework. He walked around with a workbook everywhere. He was always wanting to do homework. He kept saying " Homework is awesome." I was so proud of him. He was doing so good and having so much fun!!

I got to go on the second day to be the parent helper. It was so nice to go in and see what goes on in the class when they are there. He is such a good little student. He listens so well. He is differently the quiet kid who just does what he is told and listens really well. I love that he is so good, but it does make me nervous that he is just in the background. Evan is such an observer.

One of the things that I dreamed about with the kids going to school was able to walk one or both of them to school. That happened this week. I got to walk Evan down to school and then Lilah and I walked back home. I was so thrilled that I got to have an "AH HA Mommy Moment."  I love the fact of being able to have that feeling. I can not wait to be able to walk him back to school!!

I have been so good with him going to school. We are getting into the swing of things and our new schedule. It is different, but we are getting there. I am excited to see how Evan keeps growing and learning more and more with everyday at school.  

What do you get when...

You pack 4 moms and 8 kids?

Four of us moms packed up our kids and went to the beach for the day!!!  We had a blast!! The kids were just under a year old to 9 yrs of age and they did AWESOME!!! 
We met up and got into 2 mini vans. Then we of course had to make a stop at Starbucks before we hit the road. We got to the beach, made a potty stop and then loaded EVERYTHING up and headed down to the beach.

 Us MOMS!!!  We got to have girl talk, mom talk, wife talk and just talk. It was so nice to have our kids with us, but be able to talk with each other.

 Exploring the water. The kids loved going in the water. Jumping the waves, sitting in the water and just running back and fourth.

 Spencer is jumping the waves with Lilah.

 Some of the kiddos being goofy in the water.

 My sweet kiddos at the beach!!  They are such beach bums

 The kids playing in the sand. Using their imaginations and helping each other.

The kids played and played in the sand and water. They did so wonderful. We had very little time-outs and very little redirection of the kids. They all did so well playing together and sharing. 

All the kids pitched in and helped carry things to the car. They were all such troopers. Once we loaded everything back in the car we loaded 4 kids into the wagon and hunted down something for dinner. We ended up finding a great little Mexican restaurant  and ate a great dinner for super cheap!!! We had a wonderful ride home with the kids and did not get home until way past bed time.

The kids and moms did so well. I would do it any day of the week. We have decided to make it an annual activity that we will do every summer. I can not express in words how much fun we had. My kids still talk about that day and things that all the kids did together. I can not wait until next summer to go again.

Camping ADVENTURE!!!

Oh this is a story we will always remember. We left Saturday to head up to the Mt.Hood to go camping at Trillium Lake. We did not have a reservation for Saturday night, but borrowed my parents RV, so figured we would sleep at a rest stop or parking lot and we would be good. The next day we were going to go to the MT. Hood Adventure park at Ski bowl, so we wouldn't be in the parking lot for long.

On our drive up there Mike stopped to check something and everything looked fine, so we kept going. Looked for at a couple campgrounds and everything was full, so we went into this parking lot that was nice, shaded, and fun for the kids. I love how the kids did not even care we were in a parking lot, they played in the little sand and dirt they had, ran around the parking lot, walked the dogs. It was great. getting everything set up there was smoking coming from the brakes. I didn't really think anything about it, that it was some what normal driving and braking with the big RV. Mike had mentioned to me the brakes felt funny, but it was probably just them warm from the hot day, "Ok, thanks dear."

We had a blast a man with his 6 yr old daughter was broken down in the parking lot, so we offered them dinner, and a restroom. This is the first sign that I know we were meant to be there. They were able to use the bathroom in the RV and the little girl got to talk with the kids a little and make her day a little better. It was nice being able to help them. We had fun last  night. Made our plan for the am that we would get up to the adventure park at 9 to make lunch and get ready to go play for the day!!

Morning came we were getting ready as planned, went to drive off and we had no brakes. going like 2mph, granted down hill we could not come to a stop. Tried it a little more, and I saw Mikes face, I knew something was not right. We turned around to get going up the hill and still not stopping really at all. Mike pulled over into the shade and we called my Dad. I do love my husband so much and I am glad he did not really say anything to me about how the brakes were acting when we did get up the mountain, but kind of mad, because I truly did not know they were that bad and he felt that way. I thank God that Mike is an awesome driver and knows what he is doing. This was our other reason why we were meant to be in that parking lot. Much easier for a tow truck to get in there and tow the RV out.

My parents drove up and decided to stay the night. Since we had a car we were able to go to the adventure park and still have a great time. We never made it down to the lake, but hey that is what next time is for, right?

What I love is that our trip was ruined. We could not drive anywhere and we were in a parking lot for 2 nights. Yes, we were in an RV, but still had to be careful with water and our electricity, but we all had a great time. We made the best of what was going on. The kids were awesome. When we told them we weren't able to go to the lake or the adventure park they were fine. We told them we were going to have fun still and they were all up for it. I love that they are like that, especially Evan, since he gets it more and can be bummed out. Lilah is just along for the ride still.

 On our way home we also stopped at the Rainbow Trout farm and caught a few fish. It was such a nice way to break up the drive and do something fun. Evan has been asking to go fishing again, so we stopped here. I love this place. The owners are just so great and fun. They love their job!!!

We just thank God that we were able to get up to the mountain safely and that the brakes when out completely up there and not when we were coming down. we are so blessed and truly thankful for Him keeping us safe. Also that we were able to still have a great time and get to do fun things.

Family Reunion in Californina

 Our first really long road trip with both kids was this past weekend. We drove down to Weed, CA area. We picked Mike up from work Thursday evening and then headed straight down there. I am not one to choose favorites, but Evan is by far my favorite car rider. He just sits back, asks for a snack or a drink and watches outside. He asks for movies as well, but he is ok if he hears "NO" Lilah keeps us on our toes. She wants something every 2.5 seconds, screams, and asks to get out, OH and she doesn't watch TV ( good and bad). She did amaze us. She had a good 2 hrs, split up that she screamed, but other than that she did pretty well. They both slept for a couple hrs on the way down, which was a nice break. We even went through a drive thru at like 11:15pm and got Evan a treat. That was fun!!! He had a huge smile on his face. I made a bunch of fun ways to eat snacks, a fun dinner, and some cool car and camping games. Lilah got her food necklace and was a hot mess, but she was quiet for an hr, so wiping her face for 5 minutes, was fine with us!! !

 The kids had a blast while we were down there. We went down to the creek and Evan crossed it on his own and we walked up it a little bit. The kids helped each other and held on to each other before asking for help from us. I love their team work!! They rode their Jeep and mini quad all around, played with guns, glow sticks, cousins and cow pies!!! Lilah became a pro at squatting in the woods and Evan loved going on the trees!! They were so good. We went to the lake where Evan and Lilah both became fish, they do not have my fear of not liking water that I can't see the bottom. I braved it for them and went in just about waist deep. The lake was pretty shallow where we were at. Evan got to shoot his first bee-bee gun and loved it, maybe a few more years and he can ask for his own.

 Camping for the weekend was a lot of work. Thankfully our tent was set up when we got there, thanks to Mike's parents, but taking everything down, loading it up got me going crazy. We all had fun!!!  Found out Evan is sensitive to mosquitoes, as he go bitten up and his faced swelled up. He did not care at all. He still ran around with all the kids and did not complain at all. It was fun to watch them with all of their cousins and see them grow closer together.

Both of them feel asleep within 5 minutes of leaving the camp ground. They did an awesome job on the way home. We got stuck in a good amount of traffic, but they still hung in there. WE had to make many potty stops, but it was worth it. I will make that drive again anytime with the kids!!!  They were awesome little troopers and we had tons of fun!!!

4th of July

 We had quite a busy day on the 4th of July!!!  We went to my brothers and hung out there for a little while and then went to some friends house to eat dinner, DESSERT, and of course fireworks. We went into the night with no expectations of how long the kids would last. They did not stop all evening. Pool time, play structure, running around with a bunch of kids and of course a trampoline. I thought for sure with all the activities the kids would be knocked out before or right at bed time. They amazed us all by staying up till 11 to watch the fireworks are were such good troopers.

 Evan was loving being with all the big guys and having them light his fireworks. He would walk right up to them and ask them to light it for him. They were all so good with him. I love that he has such great role models to look up to and he thinks they are so cool and wants to be just like them.

 They didn't like the loud ones, so they both would cover their ears as the loud ones went off. It was so cute watching them enjoy the fireworks.

 Lilah feel asleep for about 10 minutes during the fireworks. She was just snuggled up on me. Once we got up to get ready to leave she woke up with a smile and was ready to go back to bed once we got home

I love how they are getting older and we have just learned to prepare for whatever they want or need. We never thought we would be out till after 11 with the kids that night, but they were just so awesome. We also had awesome helpers that let Mike and I sit down and have conversations, while the kids were being watched and that was a HUGE BLESSING!! I love that the kids let us know what they need, that we can read them and that we listen to them. It was nice not having a set plan for the night. We knew where we were going, but we didn't care when we left. It made it so easy. They loved it as well. I am excited for every holiday or adventure that we take to see what new changes and excitements bring to us.