Twinkle Toes

Riley had her first dance recital on Saturday, and it was just adorable! Her class danced a little ballet number to "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes", and we couldn't have been more proud of Riley! Aunt Robyn, Cousin Cassidy, Aunt Debbie, and cousin Jamie all came to watch with us. There was no photography allowed during the show, but we took some before and after.

With Cassidy, before the show

And after, with her beautiful flowers

Being silly!

Proud parents


SO tired!

And maybe a little grumpy...

It was a busy day... after the recital, Robyn and I took the girls to a cousin's birthday party at 4pm, then we met up with Rick and the boys with the Thames family for a Graduation/Joining the Military Goodbye party for our nephew David.

The kids played HARD in the backyard and were up until nearly 11pm while the adults played poker! They had so much fun!

Cooper playing the "drums" aka the garbage can

Riley and Tyson enjoying yard games

Riley was cracking herself up and posing for all sorts of silly pictures for me...

A few of the kids getting ready to fall asleep to a movie in Melissa's room.

The beautiful view of Mount Hood from Randy and Debbie's house!

It was a jam packed day, but we loved every minute of it!

Now Rick and I are all packed and ready to head to Las Vegas for a little adult vacation! I'm sure I'll have many pictures to post from our trip when we return!

A list

33 things I'm liking, not-so-liking, and loving right now...

Liking:

1. My primarily Glee Cast-filled running playlist on my iPhone (with a little Sugarland and Carrie Underwood thrown in for good measure)
2. So You Think You Can Dance... amazing top 20 and my favorite summer T.V.
3. The re-usable Starbucks cup Rick got me for my birthday and how hydrated I'm staying because of its convenience
4. Looking through the random photos the kids take with my cell phone... I'm talking hundreds
5. Having the kids home from preschool for the summer (sleeping in & not needing to be anywhere)
6. Bunco nights
7. Re-reading Breaking Dawn and catching things I forgot about/missed from the first time around... Next up, The Hunger Games series, round 2
8. Water
9. Groupon, blogs about how to save money, and coupons I can actually use
10. Blueberries
11. Our peaceful backyard

Not-so-liking:

1. Having the kids home from preschool for the summer (the fighting with each other and their talking back)
2. The cloudy, rainy weather keeping the kids from playing in the backyard (where they don't seem to fight as much)
3. My apparent inability to stay healthy for longer than a week
4. Not receiving RSVPs (yes or no, it's nice to know)... what happened to the good ol' days?
5. The grunting, arm crossing, stomping, and otherwise negative interactions I've been getting from the kids a little too often lately
6. The extra 10-15 pounds I'm carrying around
7. Trying on clothes with above mentioned extra lbs (even the ones in my own closet)
8. Keeping up with the laundry and housework... it's a never-ending beast
9. My lack of patience with the kids that sets in around 4pm
10. People who sit and wait for your parking spot... even when you've just walked up with your 3 kids and a full cart and still need to unload everything and get your kids buckled into their car seats (It's not like a trip to Target/Costco/Winco/etc. isn't stressful enough with 3 kids, right?!? I don't need the added pressure.)
11. The fact that basketball season doesn't start again for many months... I miss my Blazer's!

Loving:

1. Cooper's word explosion and his expressive face!
2. Watching Rick's stress melt away with the end the of school year and getting his report cards done! It's going to be great having him home all summer!
3. Riley's goofy sense of humor and ability to make herself laugh... often
4. Tyson's amazing brain and watching him use it to figure things out... for good, not evil.
5. The fact that Rick and I will be packing for Vegas (and 4 days without kids) in 10 short days
6. Running
7. Finally finding time to blog again... I think it's theraputic for me
8. Working for Premier and being a "Jewelry Lady"
9. Having the kids home from preschool for the summer (spending time with them) :)
10. Getting facials... why did I wait 32 years to get one??
11. Myself... At least I'm trying. We're our own worst critics, aren't we?

Summer do'

Brushing Riley's hair has become an unpleasant experience for all parties involved, so we made the decision to get it cut somewhere between her shoulder and chin. She wants it "Short like Mommy's." The appointment was all set for the 14th... until we found out that her hair needed to be long enough to fit into a bun for her dance recital on the 25th. Instead, we're inching our way up... the rest will come off in July after the recital.

Before...
(Getting unhealthy and difficult to brush through.)

After...
(Healthy, shorter, and still long enough for a bun!)

I know I will be posting a ton of pictures after her recital, but this one is just too cute not to post right now! All dressed up for her class photos.

Lemons into lemonade?

I posted a status update last night on facebook making reference to the mother of all fits that Tyson was throwing at bedtime... It started with him not wanting to brush his teeth ("I can't! I don't know how!"), moved on to him not wanting to wash his hands after going potty ("I can't! I don't want to!"), and finally evolved into him focusing on the fact that we wouldn't cuddle with him. We're talking screaming, grunting, stomping, yelling, and crying uncontrollably. It was definitely a "Where have we gone wrong??" moment. I started laughing a couple of times (not in front of Tyson of course), only because if I didn't start laughing I would have been crying. My heart hurt to watch him be so upset, but Rick and I were not going to give in to his spoiled behavior. It was a power struggle, for sure.

After he kept running out of his room screaming about his room being "boring" and us "not being fair" for not cuddling with him (at 8:45pm after the fit had been going on for over an hour), we decided to tell him that his bed would be taken away if he continued to come out screaming. He screamed FROM his bed for about 5 minutes, knowing what would happen if he did come out, but he couldn't resist- out he came. So, he lost his bed, and he had to sleep on the floor in a sleeping bag for the night. I still wouldn't cuddle with him, but I did end up sitting in his room reading my book while he calmed himself down and finally fell asleep. Now I'm sure there are people that will read this and NOT agree with the way we handled the situation (taking out Tyson's bed), and I'm sorry for that. I probably wouldn't agree with every parenting decision you have made, either. But, Rick and I are good parents and most importantly WE LOVE OUR KIDS- very much. Also VERY important throughout all of this- we didn't yell at Tyson, or get angry with him, or lose our cool. We were calm the entire time- and thankful when it ended.

This is how our smart, strong-willed, free-spirited son ended up sleeping last night.
Tyson was most concerned about losing his bed because he wanted to be "comfy".

This morning, Tyson woke up and shared his new room "set-up" with Riley. They promptly decided that Riley needed her sleeping bag out as well, so they could play camping. They built a fire, cooked, and generally got along really well playing for most of the morning. Tyson even told me earlier that he didn't want to earn his bed back until tomorrow- even though he's making good choices today and COULD earn it back- because he wants to continue sleeping in his sleeping bag ("Because it was so much fun!"). So, did our "punishment" backfire on us because now Tyson thinks his room is fun for camping without the bed? I don't think so. I think he still got the message, and today has been a new day. A better day. So far.

This was their camping "set-up".

33 and 13.1

June has been a big month already!!

On June 1st, I celebrated my 33rd birthday! Three is one of my two lucky numbers (13 is the other), so 33 is sure to be a fantastic year!

Rick and I celebrated a couple days early at Edgefield, playing golf, pool, and darts, and enjoying our favorite local micro brew- Ruby! We love playing the pub course at Edgefield... pitching wedge and putter only!

Us on the course!

For my actual birthday, I was scheduled to get a facial and planning on seeing a movie in the afternoon, but Riley ended up getting sick so we had a relaxing girl's day at home instead. When Rick got home from work, he let me head out for a night alone to see a movie and do some shopping on my own. I enjoyed Happy Hour at The Ram, saw Bridesmaids, and got a few new tank tops at The Loft- thanks to some gift cards and birthday money. It was a great day!

My birthday dinner...
(Healthy, right?!?)

Just 11 days after my birthday, I ran my second half marathon (my first since September of 2007), the Helvetia Half Marathon. A half marathon is 13.1 miles... which includes my other favorite number! It's named for a tavern in Hillsboro, and the race starts and ends at the Hillsboro Stadium. I've been training for the past few months, and when I was able, I would join two other awesome women for a long run on Saturday afternoons- THE only thing that kept me motivated to train! Just my luck, the week before the race I spent sick, probably battling whatever it was that Riley had, so I wasn't super confident going into the run on Saturday morning.

Despite not feeling 100%, I had a great run! My official time was 2:12:39, 4 minutes and 15 seconds faster than my previous half. And after running two full marathons (26.2 miles), this half marathon went by SO FAST! I can't wait to run another soon!

My friend Holly and I before the race, sitting in the bleachers.

And after the race!!
Holly came in over a minute ahead of me- she kicks butt!!

These are the two awesome ladies I trained with, when I could; Holly and Jeni. I seriously would NOT have done the race without their support and encouragement. :)

After the race, the Helvetia Tavern supplied some tasty burgers and Widmer Brother's supplied the beer garden! Cheers!

The rest of June consists of being spending quality time with the kids while they're home for summer break, flying two 3-day trips, and then enjoying 4 days in Las Vegas with Rick the last week of the month. I can't wait for our trip and the chance to spend time with my incredible husband!!

Last day of preschool!

Last Thursday, the kids said goodbye to their friends and teachers at preschool for the summer.

I thought I'd go back to their picture from the first day of preschool in the fall, and I couldn't believe how similar they look- just a little more grown up!

Now we are just sitting around waiting for the summer weather to show up... which usually happens around July 5th! :)

I'm ready to enjoy this week at home with the kids by myself until next Monday when Rick finishes up his school year, then we're all home together! (At least when I'm not off flying!)

Tyson's Amazing Surprise

** This post was actually written May 17th, but I finally got around to trimming the video and getting it posted- the full video wouldn't post.**

On Saturday night, Tyson snuck out of bed and came downstairs to see Rick (I was flying). When Rick asked why he was out of bed, Tyson said he wanted to show him something... then proceeded to READ the first page and a half of the kid's Bible we have. READ!!

I wasn't there, but for Rick I think it was definitely one of those jaw-dropping, what-the-heck?? kind of parenting moments. In a good way.

Rick has been working with Riley and Tyson doing Hooked on Phonics, and we knew he could sound out some words. This was still rather amazing though! Tyson just turned 4 in February, but he has always been one to pick up on things easily. S0 just to clarify... This is not being read from memorization. This is not a book we read to him every night (or ever for that matter), he really was just reading it!

I was home Sunday morning when the kids woke up, and the very first thing Tyson wanted to show me was his new skills... check it out!!

San Diego: Day 3

We spent our last day in San Diego on Coronado Island, visiting the beach outside the Hotel del Coronado. Such a beautiful, historical hotel... too bad the weather wasn't beautiful, too! It felt like a cool day on the Oregon coast rather than Southern California! The kids still had a lot of fun playing in the sand, despite the clouds and wind!

Hotel del Coronado

A big smile from Miss Riley!

Tyson was in heaven, running around leaving his mark all over the beach!

Cooper was content burying his own legs, following his brother around, and trying to destroy whatever Riley was building!

Several military planes landed on the island's military airstrip... flying low RIGHT over our heads! It was pretty cool!

Rick and I trying to get a picture of ourselves... I didn't realize until downloading them how much the wind was blowing my hair in Rick's face- oops!

I like this one because my hair looks like a little mustache on him! :)

Looking at this picture, I thankful for still photos rather than video...
Here I see a beautiful setting, three amazing kids having fun and getting dirty, and I think "What an awesome vacation!!".
In reality, I remember being a total ball of stress almost the whole weekend. Often trying (without success) to get Tyson or Riley or Cooper or often times all three of the kids to listen, stand still, not climb on things, not throw sand, not fight, not whine, not run off in the middle of big crowds, etc., etc., etc. We still had fun, but I need to remember to chill out a bit more on future vacations with the kids. Or they need to learn to listen. :) (kidding)

And this was the scene on the way to the airport! So peaceful!
(And yes, Cooper's face got about 10 times more red AND blistered by the morning! We will not be forgetting sunscreen again for a while- we felt awful!!)

San Diego: Day 1 & 2

Finally getting around to posting pictures from our Memorial Day weekend trip to San Diego...

Rick and I picked the kids up early from preschool on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend and finally let them know where we were going- San Diego and Sea World!! They were just excited to be going on an airplane!

All settled on the (Southwest) airplane... in our FREE seats!!
(One of the perks of being a stewardess that we don't take advantage of often enough.)

Thank goodness for modern technology to occupy the kiddos!

After spending the morning at preschool and the afternoon and evening traveling, we had 3 very tired kids and only 2 beds in the hotel room... happy they are still small enough to all fit on one bed!

Geared up for a big day at Sea World!

We played in the Sesame Street area for a while...

Then we found some dolphins.

And had perfect timing to catch the dolphin show... and for Cooper to rest a little before it started!

The show was really entertaining!

Southwest Airlines is one of Sea World's main sponsors, so I was proud to see this!
(And thanks to Southwest and Sea World for the FREE entry for Rick and I!!)

We walked under sharks... this is Tyson's best shark impression!

Then we found ways to entertain ourselves while we waited to see One Ocean, the brand new Shamu show. We saw it on the very first day, and really enjoyed it.

Look familiar?? With a little more red on their faces... oops!

And I have to post a picture of Cooper, doing his best impression of a poorly dressed tourist!
He wet through his diaper and his original shorts were dirty, so we had to buy him new ones. We went practical with new swim trunks. Then of course there is the socks with shoes look... he was a vision!

And another night of hard sleeping!