Lazy

A lazy day was in order for us today. Everyone took full advantage - Mike played computer games with some buddies from China (isn't the Internet amazing?), Andrew got to play Starcraft (which he's been wanting to do for awhile now), Matthew and Mom both got caught up on homework (but Matthew did his in roller blades....actually, Matthew did everything in blades today. They came off for bath ONLY!)

Jog-a-Thon

Both boys did amazing work at yesterday's jog-a-thon. They each ran 2.5 miles in 30 minutes! They earned over $75 for their school and were both amazing cheerleaders for each other!

Matthew ran first while Andrew cheered. Matt Matt took a little break...that was a lot of running for those little legs! Good job, buddy!

Baba did a lap with both boys...and was an amazing cheerleader the rest of the time.

Both boys also had ball games a few hours later...they did great, despite a little bit of exhaustion. :) Matthew had been eating a PBJ sandwich, would nod off while he was chewing, startle awake and take another bite - repeat. He finally dozed without taking a bite, only to wake up 30 minutes later still chewing the same bite. It was completely bittersweet...my little atheletes were tired and hungry!

1 month + 1 day

The boys' wedding shoes arrived today and they were allowed to try them on for size. Both of them wanted to run, play and never take them off. So glad we went with cute and practical for the little guys. While I love seeing them all dressed up for a party, I'm pretty sure the brand new, shiny sneakers will not detract from the rest of their outfits.

The after affects of a long, busy weekend - little man feeling a little icky, which = lots of snuggles for mama.

Even the big guy needed a little snuggle and down time...

Love these guys to pieces! They posed like this on their own...no prompting whatsoever from us. :)

Timbers

Baba treated his boys to a Timbers soccer game. It was quite the adventure...a max ride, sitting very close to the (super loud and smelly) Timbers Army (the fan club) and a sicky little guy at the end. Aside from Matt Matt not feeling well, it was a fun time. I loved seeing the awe on their faces as they watched the Timbers on the field, the fan club singing and cheering and when Timber Joey brought over a slice of 'goal log' he'd chainsawed off and let the kiddos touch it. If only we could rewind and make sure Matthew didn't get sick at the end of the night, it would have been a perfect outing.

Buying Max tickets - Andrew is checking out the downtown crazies (he spent a good amount of time staring at interesting people...I saw prostitutes, legless homeless guys in wheelchairs, a homeless guy with a cat riding on his backpack, a guy passionately yelling about legalizing marijuana...it was very entertaining, to say the least. Andrew seemed to think so also!)

Goal!

This is the stinky part of the army - every time they score a goal, HUGE smoke bombs are set off - it chokes you! Did I mention how LOUD they are? Ear plugs next time.

Baba took the time to explain things to all of us...even if it meant missing parts of the game.

Andrew was so precious, so helpful and awesome...Baba rode Max back to the car and we waited at Pioneer Courthouse Square (since Matthew wasn't feeling well)...and Andrew just sat quietly and relaxed as I held onto Matthew. If I could have ten more Andrews, I wouldn't hesitate for a second. He is so amazing.

Hidden Pictures

There were hiding on Mike's phone!

Matthew, our soccer star...

Mother's Day 2012

The first warmth of spring brings out the sprinkler and the neighbor kids...

Mother's Day 2012

Now this is how you celebrate Mother's Day....

Hanging out in the backyard with my ducklings....and my non-feathered ducklings...

...with the most handsome husband-to-be working hard to finish my gift (the chicken coop!)...

Hugs from the rascals...

...watching the boys dance for us - I believe this was a move called "The Lawnmower"...

...snacktime and exploring in NanaDee and Papa Robin's backyard...

...our first wedding gift (and an awesome one at that!)...

...and summery treats on the deck...

I couldn't have had a more perfect Mother's Day. It was everything I wanted - peaceful, relaxing time with the kiddos....warm weather, garden time and some swimming! Thank you everyone who acknowledged me on such a sweet day. (And for the record, I didn't relax on all of my mom duties - I was on my hands and knees at bedtime, scrubbing out the tub for the boys to have a bath after having given up their tub for so long to the baby birds!)

Brotherly Love

I'm pretty sure this post has the sweetest pictures ever in it. Even sweeter than the baby chicks. All of these were taken over the course of just today, and I'm positive that I didn't catch all of the sweet moments, either. Just a few. These two boys are my heart - I feel like I should be celebrating THEM on Mother's Day, for coming into the world and making my dream of becoming a mother come true.

Matthew had a very sudden moment of deep sadness. I was concerned about what happened; if he was hurt, sick, scared - what was going on? He responded quietly, "It's my Grampy. I miss him." Grampy Steve passed away just one year ago. Over the past weeks, there have been tears from a lot of us. We miss him and the overwhelming love and support he showed these little guys. Matthew said, "Grampy usually comes to my soccer." I know, buddy...and I hope he's still watching.

This picture shows what happened when Andrew learned why his brother was suddenly sad. The hand holding was followed by words of wisdom, understanding and a little bit of gentle distraction. I'll never be able to look at this photo without getting choked up. They are amazing.

The rascals were due for bedtime a half hour before this next photo was taken - but how do you end this kind of fun? I'll tell you how: let them freeze their tushies off and they'll come begging for a shower and warm bed in about ten minutes! Between baseball practice, a soccer game, a zoo trip with their father, swimming with the neighbor girls and an almost 90 degree day, they were ZONKED at the revised bedtime. I wonder if they'll actually sleep past 7 tomorrow morning?

Instead of traditional bedtime stories tonight, they opted to lust after new Playmobil sets together. They were plotting and planning, deciding what goes on whose wish list and who had enough money in their wallet to buy what right now!

Little Andrew was so tired - he could barely get up and make it to bed. Matthew took full advantage of non-wrestling snuggle time with his big brother. <3

Happy Mother's Day to all the mamas out there. It's the hardest job in the world, but the pay is overwhelmingly generous...especially on days like these.

Pukestack Rock

Matthew's kindergarten class went on a field trip to Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach to learn more about tide pools. Knowing that my child is prone to becoming carsick, I decided it was in his best interest to stay OFF the puke-inducing bus and ride with me. Our wonderful NanaDee came along with us to make sure Mom had free hands to help the little guy out if need be. Plus, she made for awesome adult company on a long day of driving.

We started off with a very excited little Matt-Matt. We knew we'd drive much faster than the bus, so we stopped off at Starbucks first - Matthew even got his own little kid's hot chocolate (which he downed in about 30 seconds!) NanaDee got Matthew cozied up in the back seat - he even got his own little personal air source, in case the sickies started getting to him. He was mesmerized by the lights on the fan, though (and I'm not entirely convinced that's not what ended up making him feel nauseous at one point! Ha!)

Anyhow, we made it to the beach without incident. It was a gorgeous drive, and seemed to fly by. Both of my little guys are wonderful travellers! We get to the beach and the busses had just arrived. I walked over as they were unloading to some very flustered teachers, parents and crying kids. Something was obviously awry.

SIX children got carsick and vomited. Holy worst-case-scenario. I would have died. Matthew stated, "I would have been one of them." Oh my gosh. I couldn't believe it. Those poor kiddos. I stepped up to help out where I could. Yes, this totally puke-phobic mama saw crying kiddos and had to help somehow. I hung onto one that was particularly scared and kept telling her it was going to be okay..even though in the back of my mind, I was well aware that there was still a 2 hour ride back happening in a very short while. (The bus ride back ended up being uneventful for them - so I wasn't lying after all!)

All in all, we had a wonderful day. It was a SHORT time on the beach for such a long drive, though. I did the math: 4 hours of driving, 30 minutes in bathroom lines (there were 90 kids total, and maybe half as many parent chaperones), 1 hour on the beach and a 30 minute 'picnic' lunch in the parking lot. I don't think I'd want to do it again without having more play time between the drive time!

Here's our excited little guy, leaving in the morning:

Excited to reach the rock!

So gentle with the starfish:

I will never see this rock again the same way. Haystack rock = massive puke fest. I think I can laugh about it, though. Does that mean my phobia is lessening?

Little man checking out the nesting birds on the rock:

A quick lesson from mom about why you shouldn't throw your garbage in the ocean. (Or why it's okay to sometimes chuck an apple core off the side of the boat.) And a quick brag to NanaDee about how I used cloth diapers, thus saving the environment from nearly 8,000 disposable diapers that would have each taken 500 years to decompose (that's what the sign said!) 

NanaDee was such a wonderful addition to our day. She's super easy going, helpful, fun and everyone loves her!

 Looking for hermit crabs - found a couple!

#1 sign of a successful field trip:

It Smells In Here

My Mother's Day gift every year is 3 huge lilac trees in full bloom. That means that every time I open the back door, I'm blasted with the heavenly sweet scent of lilacs. The two biggest trees have the tiniest little blossoms - and the strongest smell! I always snip a few branches off to bring the sweet smell inside.

Unfortunately, Mike may be very allergic to these sweet little flowers. I've had to remove them from our highest traffic living areas to see if it helps him out. Darn it.

Matthew is quite the artist...he drew a picture of our entire household. There's so many critters that they got their own page. (I have to admit that I don't think we actually have any live fish left in our algae tank, though.)

The family got nicknames. And notice the two 'babies' he drew and named? Not sure what's going on there - no babies that I know of in our near future! He told me their names were Sabannah (not saVannah) and Jo-Jo. Cute, huh?

Productivity

What a day! I woke up to snuggles from the little one - it was so hard to get out of bed with that sweet little guy nestled in next to me. After I got the kids off to school, I created a homework nest on the couch and dug in for 5 straight hours of homework. I got way ahead and  unloaded a lot of stress by doing so.

Then, I joined Mike outside to finish up the chicken coop. He finished installing the chicken wire, put a roost into the coop and a hook to hang the heat lamp. We'll remove the heat lamp after a few more weeks - they're still just baby chicks with few feathers.

Here's my guy working hard...he's done such an amazing job with this coop!

I took the leftover chicken wire and built myself a potato tower. The idea is that as the greens of the potato plant grow through the soil, you pile dirt on top of it and at the end of the summer when all of the leaves at the top of the tower have turned yellow and wilted, you break open the tower and you have a ton of potatoes to harvest! I can't wait to see how it works out.

Just to the right of the potato tower, I used the newly weeded garden area for my huge plants: zucchini, pumpkins and artichokes. Fingers crossed it all works out!

After some gardening, I decided to move the chickens into their new home. The bathroom was filling with feathers and the ducks just stink. They needed their bigger home. Tonight, we'll put them upstairs and close up the coop with the heat lamp on. They'll be super toasty! We're supposed to have very nice weather this week, so I hope they'll do okay out there!

I snagged a video of the chickens doing their thing in the first several minutes of being out there - and Rio tried to escape! She fly out and started running - I was so worried she'd get through the fence and we'd never see her again. I was quicker, though - and she's tucked in safe and sound. That one is a crazy bird (she was the first to start roosting on her brooder in the bathroom and has never enjoyed being handled - even from day one.)

Catch up

My grandma always told me that busy people are happy people. I must be ecstatic, then - because I haven't stopped to catch my breath since last Friday! Here's just a part of what's been going on:

Matthew took Mom on a field trip to downtown Portland's waterfront for a Cinco De Mayo cultural celebration...

We had a graduation party for Auntie Mel (where Matthew blew up ALL of the smiley balloons for us!)...

Pop and Grandma Margaret (and Emma!) visited...

Baba told funny stories while we drove from Matthew's soccer game to Andrew's baseball practice...

And on our third gorgeous day in a row, my little leprachaun enjoyed a SOUR popsicle...

And then played a baseball game...

And walked off the field with an injury. Poor Right Arm takes a beating every May...just a bruise and some (ball) stitches this time...nothing beyond skin is broken!