August Randoms

 These are all pictures from my phone, but still things I wanted to document!

 Maisey's choice of outfits isn't getting much better. This is what she chose to wear today.

And yes, I took her to run errands looking like that!

 When Shaun's fam came, his dad and I were getting ready to go to Wal-Mart to get food for our campout and Maisey came running out and asked Papa if she went to Wal-Mart with us if she could ride a ride. Then she told him that I won't let her ride them because they cost money. She asked Papa if he had money and he said back to her jokingly, "I have lots of money!" Then Maisey went running into the playroom to tell her friend Peyton that they could go to Wal-Mart and ride the rides because her Papa has tons of money! It was really cute!

 I went in to get Gage up from nap one day and found Max like this!

 Nothin says summer time like a fresh peach shortcake from the Shortcake Stand at EZ Orchards! YUM!!!

 We went with the cousins to a lake to feed the ducks. Did you know baby ducks like to eat corn? We took some corn and some bread and the kids had a great time! 

We went to my mom's school a day this week and Maisey and Peyton took the tub of bugs and separated them into categories! It took the a while, but they were pretty proud of their accomplishment! They called it their bug party!

FHE at the Temple

 Maisey has been begging all summer to go to the temple for a visit. Well, our temple has been closed all summer until just a few weeks ago. So the first Monday after it opened we headed up for a special FHE. We walked around the beautiful grounds, tried keeping Gage out of the fountain, talked about specials things that happen at the temple, tried keeping Gage out of the reflecting pool, and watched as Maisey pretended she was a bride and she sat on every white bench, posed, and asked me to take her picture!

 She will make a beautiful bride, someday!

 She was pretending Daddy was her groom!

After the temple we stopped at Divine Yogurt (I thought divine and the temple went hand-in-hand! Haha!) for a treat!

I think this was our best FHE ever!

(Minus Gage in the water!)

Sunriver

Sunriver was a blast, just as usual. It was definitely the busiest we've ever seen it. We actually had to pay to make tennis court reservations, which we've never had to do before. And to even find a court with an available reservation was tough! We also did a ton of other things that were way fun!

1. Getting delicious doughnuts from the bakery in the village!

2. Getting in lots of sweet baby time with my sister's new baby, Brock!

3. Eating ice cream with Aunt Spider on Thursday night.

 (btw, Kate is wearing my sweatshirt in this pic, and it kinda looks like me!)

4. And eating ice cream again on Saturday night!

5. Going on a long walk/run/bike ride with 3 adults and 3 kids while we let Daddy sleep in until 10:45 am!!!

6. Playing "This little piggy" with Baby Brock

7. Sneaking out to where the deer were

8. And watching 6 deer in a row!

9. Winning "Mom-of-the-year" award for going down the big water slide, which I didn't want to do, and holding Maisey up out of the water so her precious face didn't get wet, all the while I get the whole pool up my nose!

10. Swimming in the pool with the fam!

11. Watching Dad go down the slide over and over and over again with both kids.

12. Catching Maisey going down the tube slide by herself. This was more of my idea of having fun!

13. Watching Maisey, 2 years later, still giving a thumbs up with her pointer finger! 

14. Laughing at the kids giving each other rides in the John Deere!

15. Enjoying the new Cars Bouncy House!

16. "Hiking" in the village!

17. Hangin with Grammy, poolside!

18. Playing lots of games after kids went to bed, and dominating most of said games!

19. Beating Guitar Hero on medium!

20. And I think the funniest thing from the whole trip was that Kate adopted a new nickname - Aunt Spider! Gage says spider in this really funny growly voice and he kept saying it and pointing to Kate. We couldn't figure out why until we were at lunch one day and Kate's head was bent down and Gage did it again. She wears two bobby pins on the top of her head and they are crossed and apparently Gage thinks they look like a spider. Even since Kate left to go back to Idaho, Gage still says, "Aunt Spider, Baby, Buh Bye!" Sorry Kate, I think this one is going to stick!

We love going to Sunriver and we feel so grateful that we have the opportunity to do it so often! It is seriously one of the most peaceful and relaxing places that I have been to!

Ward Campout - Bar View Jetty

Our ward campout was just north of Tillamook so we decided to go a day early and hit up the Tillamook Cheese Factory on our way. For how obsessed Gage and I are with Tillamook cheese, I can't believe we've never been. We ate at their little cafe area. Everyone got a variation on the delicious grilled cheese sandwiches. Then we headed on the factory tour, which ended in a cheese sampling bar. YUM! After the tour we all settled down for some ice cream.

Peyton, Maisey and Gage inside the loaf van.

 Look at all that cheese!

 Sample bar!

These bricks were the size that Costco sells and my kids could barely lift them! 

 Ice Cream!

(oh yeah, did I mention Shaun's fam came with us on the campout? We all had a great time!)

 My mom drove out to do the factory with us, but then went back home! No camping for her!

Gage ate all of his cone, then happily finished off Peyton's, then Maisey's!

After the factory, we headed to our campground. It was definitely sandy! I wasn't used to camping on the beach! We got our camp all set up, roasted bratwursts for dinner, played games and crashed the first night. The next day was followed by more games, naps, playing at the beach, and a cheerleading show put on by Maisey and some other girls from the ward!

 See! This is our tent, and that is the sand!

Maisey found some crab pinchers! I'm surprised she touched them!

She also got the dirtiest I've ever seen her! The picture doesn't even do it justice!

The cheerleading show - complete with lifts and all!

 Playing at the beach doesn't mean playing in the ocean. The kids found these little pools in the sand to be much warmer than the ocean water!

 Daddy and Maisey built a beautiful sandcastle. . .

. . . and seconds later, Gage came by and made sure to crush every mound. 

Hoodies at the beach in August is inevitable in Oregon! Brrrrr, it was cold!

My cutie little boy on the beach at sunset!

We took off pretty early Saturday morning and stopped at the cheese factory one more time for some lunch and ice cream, then enjoyed a peaceful quiet ride the whole way home!

And it's two weeks later and we are still finding sand everywhere!

Thursday's Thoughts

I've kinda been avoiding the blog lately! I have soooo much to post on and we've gone on 2 trips since I updated last.

We have officially retired our suitcases for the summer! We actually took them out to the garage, and when I did laundry this week, I put clothes away in drawers and not right back into suitcases like I have done ALL summer! I'm not going to lie, it feels nice.

I'm ready to be done with summer and to have the routine of the school year! I think the busy-ness of the summer is catching up with me. I actually took a nap yesterday for the first time in months! My house is suffering, my yard is suffering, our dinners are suffering (apparently you can't eat oatmeal for dinner every night of the week), like I said, I'm just ready for fall!

I love the fall holidays, I love the cozy evenings on the couch cuddled up to the hubs (it's hard to cuddle when it's 87* inside your house!), I love the shopping, and the fall activities. I may sound crazy, but I'm looking forward to that first good fall rain! Before anyone hurts me for saying that I'll change the subject.

The last scheduled thing that I have is my Triathlon next weekend, and I just can't wait for it to be over. Honestly, I wish it was this weekend so it would be out of my mind! I put my running shoes on the other morning to go work out and my mosquito bites were so bad by the time I walked from my room to the front door I had to take them off. I haven't done anything all week, which isn't good. I'm hoping to get out for a real good workout on Saturday morning.

Oh, and about my bites. They are slowly getting better. I only woke up once last night because my one foot bumped a large bite on the heel of my other foot. The pharmacist recommend this stick thing called After Bite. It worked for about ten minutes before I had to reapply. It smelled like straight ammonia, so I was a little worried about putting it on my skin as much as I was, but it did help.

Maisey is really into drawing all of the sudden. Some of her pictures are actually legible! When I post about Sunriver I will have to put up a picture she drew while we were there. It was great!

Gage is going through this HUGE separation anxiety thing. Boo! Insert lots of hysterical crying here.

I'm picking up 40 lbs of peaches tomorrow and I'm going to attempt to can them. I also ordered pears that I will get in a couple of weeks. I've never canned before, so this will be quite the experience. Luckily there are people in my ward who are willing to teach me! Thank goodness for good friends!

Those are a few of my thoughts. When I get around to it, there will be lots of posts coming!

43

43 mosquito bites that is.
It wouldn't be bad if they were spread out randomly all over my body.
But NO!
They are all on my lower calves and feet.
And they itch like no one's business.
I can find no relief.
I've tried Benadryl itch cream.
I've tried toothpaste with baking soda.
I've tried nail polish.
And nail polish remover.
Deodorant.
Solarcaine.
Aloe Vera.
I look like a leper.
No joke.
I didn't sleep last night.
So technically I look like a tired, grouchy leper.
Any other suggestions?

P.S. Maisey said to me this morning, "Mommy, I'm going to go outside and tell all the mosquitoes to quit biting our family and then I'm going to spank them all in the bum."

Happy 4th Birthday Maisey!

You are quite your own individual, but that's what I like about you. I mean, who else would wear white leggings with a short pink shirt, and Christmas socks pulled up over your leggings, in August? However, you think you are quite the fashionista! And, you still think some of your clothes are hanky!

You love to type. You only know how to spell a few words on your own, so you often drag your preschool pillow to the computer and type all of your friends' names, along with the poem that is on the pillowcase. 

You also like to text Daddy in the morning if he leaves before you wake up. The latest text from you to him reads: DadhOw.are YOU. Daddy loves to get these texts at work and you love it when he texts you back! It makes you feel pretty special.

You are really into sleepovers right now. You love having sleepovers at Grammy's house and you can't wait to have a sleepover with Madi at our house in a few weeks. We have already had to have the discussion about how we only have sleepovers with girls. Oy!

Here is your 4 year old Birthday Interview (word for word):

 

* What are some things you like to do? Well, let me see here. . . playing my new Silverlicious game, and reading my Silverlicious book. Oh, and watching The Little Mermaid show and playing the Wii at Grammy's.

 

* What things do you like to do around the house? Oh, well I like playing dress-up and I like reading all of Gage's books in his room, so and I like to do yoga on my green yoga mat.

 

* What are some of your favorite foods? FOODS, well, grapes, and green grapes, mac n' cheese, grilled cheese but only with cheddar cheese, raisins and hotdogs, pizza, pepperoni and watermelon (that's what she calls pineapple)

 

* What do you like to wear? Um, dresses, my Disneyland shirt, skirts, and um, k let me think, my Tinkerbell outfit, and my white leggings.

 

* What’s your favorite color? Yellow and pink with white polka dots like my floaty

 

* Where are some of your favorite places to go? Well, Pump it Up, uhhh, Northwest Kids Club, Wal-Mart, that's my favorite place to get toys, Idaho, Colorado, the condo by The Little Mermaid and stuff, Old McDonald's, Panda, Red Robin, and Petco and that's it.

 

* What things make you happy? Happy? Well, when a person does silly things to me it makes me happy. And when you rock me in the rocking chair and watch TV. And when Peyton comes to our house all the time.

 

* What makes you sad? When Gagey hits me. When other people hit me. When I was younger I used to not like characters so they used to make me sad that time, but now I like them.

 

* What do you do when you are sad? I just um, go somewhere else.

 

* What do you do when you are mad? Well, like when Gagey hits me I just walk away. And it makes me stomp my feet.

 

* Who are your best friends? Peyton, Sadie, and her friend Riley, Porter, Madi, Jack, and Alex. 

 

* What are your favorite movies or TV shows? Brain Surge, Wipeout, Tangled, Sid the Science Kid, Max and Ruby, and Dora, Disney Princesses, and don't forget Tinkerbell, and the Disney Christmas parade.

 

* What are your favorite books? The number and the letter books, my Friend magazine, Pinkalicious, Purplicious, Goldilicious, and Silverlicious.

 

* What are your favorite songs? Um, I don't know mom. My preschool songs, and well, I Lived in Heaven, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, the ABC's because I totally rock it, and that's is.

*What is the best thing about having a birthday? When you get to be the older sister and you get bigger than your little brother. And playing games at my party. 

Happy Birthday my beautiful 4 year old!

The Big Boy Bed

For the last several weeks, Gage has become obsessed with any bed but his crib! He finds a bed, climbs up, snuggles in with the covers, then pretends to snore. So we started trying him on his big boy bed. It would last about 30 seconds before he would come running out and yell "Ta-Da!!" We'd play his little game with him for a few minutes, threaten his crib if he got up again, then ultimately put him in there.

That was, until we had a babysitter last night.

I had one of my YW over who had never babysat for us before. I showed her around the house, got out jammies and a diaper for Gage, showed her his beloved blankies, and ran out the door.

When we got home, the house was silent, both kids were sleeping. I took her home and was asking how the night went. I asked her if Gage cried when she put him to bed. She said he did for a few minutes then went to sleep. I told her how he really wants to sleep in his big boy bed but he won't stay in there so he gets mad when we put him to bed in his crib. 

The babysitter gasped and said, "I put him to bed in the big bed! I didn't know he didn't sleep in there. After I brushed his teeth I told him it was time for bed and he just ran and climbed under the covers of his big bed. He made it seem like that was what he does." And then she apologized over and over and over again.

I just laughed! 

We've been trying for like 3 weeks to get him to stay in his bed and he never would. The sitter said he never got out once! When we went to check on him he was still all tucked in his covers!

I guess all it took was a babysitter to do the trick, because he slept all night in his bed. 

 I snuck in this morning and took this picture!

So, when nap time came around today, I asked him if he was going to be a big boy and sleep in his big boy bed again. He shouted "YEP!" and ran to his bed!

And he's been sleeping for 2.5 hours and counting!!! 

Didn't even get up once!

Maybe we'll hire this babysitter again when we start potty training! :)

---------------------------------------------------------------

On to another big boy bed story:

Shaun's fam is coming into town tonight, so I was washing the bedding in his room for them. I started unbuttoning the duvet cover and Gage discovered a new hide out! He thought it was pretty funny.