Mother's Day!!!

 I just LOVE the fact that I was blessed with these two kiddos and to be there mom!!!  I have no clue what I would do without them. They are just so awesome!!!  No matter how hard my day is with them or how many tantrums they throw, they are the best!! I just love it

 We went to church and then went to lunches with the grammies and family!!!  On our way home we stopped by the lake and went for a small walk then plopped down by the water. Mike tried to show us how to skip rocks. I think the kids did it much better than I did. Lilah was close to Mike and started to throw the rock to try and skip it, but instead she skipped it on his head :) It was funny, sad, but funny!!!  She also FREAKED out because a bug was on her. Mike and I laughed so hard. I know that sounds mean, but it was really funny how she just screamed.

 The kids did great walking out to the little rock. Evan was so proud of himself and then Lilah wanted to follow!!!

 These two just make me smile. I am so honored to be there mom. I would sacrifice anything for them. They have blessed me in so many ways. I am so thankful for Mike for making one of my dreams come true, by making me a mom. He is a wonderful husband and father. I just love our family!!!

Yes...this was Lilah at 6:30pm. She was so tired from the day and weekend. She was dozing off at dinner and we tried to hard to keep her up until bed time and we finally gave in. She was just a tired little girl. I was a bit nervous about the morning, but she woke up normal time.

Evan is 4!!!

YAY!!!  Our Evan is 4!!!  I can not believe where the time has gone. I just love the little boy that he has become. He is a caring and thoughtful kid. He is one that just truly loves being with his sister and is always willing to help her. For his birthday this year he asked to go bowling. I said lets go for it!!  I love that he is getting little friends of his own and that his relationship with his cousins are just awesome!!!

 For some of the kids it was their first time bowling. I just loved how they helped each other and they all stood around the balls and waited for their turns.

 Hannah, ( one of Evan's friends) was so excited to bowl.. She made my heart so happy watching her light up with all the kids and actually bowling!!  She was so excited for her self. She is such a joyful little girl and Evan truly enjoys being with Hannah!!

 Evan and Lydia have been friends since they were in side, us mommies bellies!!!  I am going to speak for Lydia's mom, Jessica and say that we both just get so thrilled when we see them together. You can see their close bond with each other. It is some weird and awesome connection that they have...They must take after us moms :) These two just make me smile, laugh and cry about how special their relationship is.

 The grammies!! 

Hannah getting so excited!!  She had a blast!!

With all the craziness of bowling with 8-10 kids, plus their parents it was still SOOOO much FUN!!!  I just love how Evan has such awesome friendships with all of his friends. I also hope that the friends he is choosing as a young kid is a sign of how he will choose friends as a teenager...It would make our parenting much easier when he is older!!

I can not wait for what this next year brings to Evan and our family. He will be starting preschool and growing up so much. It is hard to believe that in a year and a half he will be kindergarten. It makes me so sad to think that he will not be home with me everyday soon. I love that he is growing up, but I also love my time with him.

Thank you all who came and and helped with all the craziness!!! We love having all of you around us and helping us celebrate Evan!!!   

Camping, well kind of...

So I had a hard time titling this blog "Camping." My parents recently bought a motor home and we have taken it out once to go up to Olympia, but haven't really been in it. We have gone camping with both kids since they were tiny babies. Both of them were camping by the time they were 3 months old. As a child I was camping all the time. I loved it and when I say camping, I mean a TENT!!!

We camped last year and it rained. It was somewhat a nightmare for a day and a half, well the thought of it was, but the kids did great. We all got a little tired of sitting in the tent, but we all managed and it worked out great. This time we took the motor home. I loved it. It was nice to cook and clean. The kids napped really well and slept wonderful at night, thanks to my parents giving up the bedroom for the kiddos to have the room so we could play games, talk and read books together!!!
It did rain the for the first day we were camping, but who cares, we had the RV!!!  SPOILED!!!  Other than that we had pretty nice weather. We had a great time. The guys got to go out on their quads and we played with the kids and got stuff ready for the next meal or bed time!!

 Lilah got a little rash, so we made upour own bathtub for her!!!  The kids got a kick out of it. I had helpers!!

We went down to the big park a few times, but right by our camp site we had a big sand box that the kids had so much fun in!!!

 I always stare at this picture of Mike and Evan. Their hands are in their pockets, leading with the same leg and both knees are bent. I can just think this is the BEST picture. I can't wait to get it up on the wall at home, so I can look at it even more.

 Evan in his working gear. Helmet, gloves, tie downs, and maybe some chairs in there. Who knows, what he was working on!!!

 Took the kids and the dogs down to the lake. The dogs got to run wild. They slept so good!! We met a nice man named Robert, who was awesome with the kids.

 Say CHEESE!!!! We had to chase down Evan for this photo.

 Robert caught a fish and let Evan reel it in.

 Evan and the fish that he helped catch!!

 I took the quad out this time!!! Yay me!!! Yes I got stuck,but hey...I went out on the sand. I have not done this in years by myself. I usually stay back at camp with the kids, it was nice to go out for a little bit a ride with Mike.

 We drove from Florence to Newport and went to the aquarium. We have taken Evan there when he was about Lilahs age. They had a blast.

 Walking around Newport, so of course we need ice cream!!!

 Evan enjoyed his a little too much!!!  After eating, walking and the aquarium we drove to Lincoln City, for what else but the OUTLET MALLS!!!  We made a quick trip shopping around and then we found a pretty cool camp ground for the night

 Devil's Lake. It just rained and rained, but that did not stop us from being outside for a few hrs before we headed home. Evan and Lilah doing their laps making sure they hit all the puddles.

 Lilah on the quad by herself!!! She loved the puddles.

Evan found a new pathway to take. He was having a blast. 

We had so much fun camping. I am so happy and beyond blessed that we get to make these memories with the kids. I love getting to do all the fun camping things with them and the adventures it brings. The nature hikes, the dirt, sand and mud!!!  I loved it being so relaxing. I made it through a book and started another one, which I have not been able to do for a very long time. I even sat down while the kids naps, most of the time. I can not wait to do another camping trip, which I know will be soon!!!

Kids and TV...

So this blog is going to be a little different, but it is something to do with the kids and what has been on my mind....and I need some advice!!!

I have been struggling with the TV and the kids. They don't watch it. Lilah is a YEAH RIGHT, In my dreams will she even pay attention to it and Evan is if you let him he would watch a movie, but doesn't ask every day, actually very often at all.
I know as a child I watched TV, but I don't remember it being something I did all the time. I rarely remember sitting and watching TV. There are some shows I do remember watching, but not on a Saturday morning or anything like that. Mainly I remember playing sports, playing outside with neighbors or my back yard, and doing stuff as a family. Not in front of the TV. Maybe I didn't enjoy the time in front of the TV, so that is what I don't remember watching it a lot. Who knows. ;)
So this is my struggle... The kids maybe watch 30-60 mins of TV a week. I have friends that kids watch TV everyday for a certain time or whenever they want. I am also not being super strict with the kids either...They never ask to watch TV. Usually when Evan does, I let him, because he never asks. I don't know if I am in some ways doing them a disservice not watching more TV. Yes, I know that sounds so funny, but some kids I know have learned so much and in some ways are more advanced because of what they watched on TV.
The kids and I play a lot and they play together a lot ( thank you God!!), so I never think about turning the TV on. Maybe if Lilah watched TV I would be more likely to turn it on, so that both of them would be watching TV while I, umm showered, did the dishes, got ready, sat down and just stare into the walls. The possibilities are endless in my mind of what I could do if they both sat down for 30 mins, but I still get everything plus more done that needs to be done and play a lot with them. I am home with the kids a lot by myself, not as much as when they were younger ( thank goodness), but still home alone a lot. So do I really need to turn the TV on?

Basically I would love to hear how you limit TV for the kids and what you do while they are watching TV. I know some of you may say do what is  to do what is best for the kids and the family and I feel that we are doing what is best for them, and I have actually prayed over this. I laughed with God, I just felt silly, but this has just been weighing on me for a week or so. I don't want this to come off in anyway slamming parents about letting their kids watch TV or movies every day. This is just what we/I have done with the kids since we had them.

Thank you in advance for your advice back to me. I will try and update you all!!! LOVE YOU