There were 272 pictures on my phone all from the last week...

Daniel and I got to go to the Olympic Diving trials and it was awesome!  I never know how cool it could look to watch syncronized diving in person.  It was super fun to go with my brother too because we grew up swimming together and watching the lame diving on the hs dive team. :) 

I learned a new way to tie a headscarf on pinterst.  This was my church outfit last week. 

Eric got locked in the craft room for 8 hours.  He always sneaks into the closet to munch on this grass and I didn't see him when I shut the door (because the cats are not allowed in there).  Needless to say he didn't pee on anything, just tore up a bunch of carpet by the door trying to get out and munched on some more grass. 

These are some awesomely gorgeous flowers at my in-laws house.  They are moving in a month or so to a new place so this will be the last summer we get to enjoy them!

Getting started on some house projects.  Color picked out for the laundry room (top one), and now I need to pick out some cabinets from Ikea.  Next we will replace a few boards on the deck and paint the whole thing.  It's a summer of projects for sure.  Oh and our lillies are blooming!!

Paul and I went on a walk one evening.  I asked to go on a 20 minutes walk and it ended up being an hour and 20 minutes.  I was so tired at the end, and I had to wake up at 5:40 the next morning for work because I picked up a day shift.  It was worth it to be out in the sunshine with my love though! 

I started wearing a cardigan to work.  I love how it makes scrubs look more "cute" or "normal" and that it is lightweight and easy to take on and off if I get too cold or warm. 

I repainted our front street light and it looks so so so much better.  I just taped over the brick and glass with newspaper and spray painted everything (well first I sanded down the light).  It only took like 20-30 minutes. So worth it!

Our awesome drawings at a "fancy" Italian restaurant in Leavenworth.  Everything about the restaurant was fancy except the paper tablecloth over the nice white cloth one! 

We definitely went to the candy store and got lots of taffy.  Paul and I always pick ours out in seperate bags because he likes the hot and spicy ones and he always eats his taffy super fast and I make mine last a long time. 

Our first morning at the cabin we made a fire, I ate a bunch of fruit, and the boys read catalogs about guns and stuff. It was actually quite awesome and relaxing! 

Then we went to town and went shopping!  We had to stop at the Hat Shop of course and try on some awesome hats.  I also dragged the boys into a few other shops but didn't end up buying anything.  I really wanted a new smaller purse but didn't find one I liked at the Bag Shop.  Their shops have such original names haha. 

Paul and I can't go anywhere without going to their safeway....we got lots of good food though.  Corn, steak, chips, and the essential smores supplies! 

I was a little tired when we got back to the cabin (because I had been awake from 5:40am to 2:20 am the day before which is wayyyy too many hours for me).  So I went upstairs to read my book and ended up falling asleep for 3 hours.  The boys went down to the river and back, then took an hour nap themselves before I woke up. 

Now this is a gun I actually enjoy shooting.  The scope is amazing on it so you hit every single target you aim at, and it only sounds like ping, ping, ping.  Now loud bang our kickback.  And this is coming from a girl who hates guns. 

We shot lots of potatoes and full soda cans, empty cans, and a coconut.  So fun! 

There were a billion mosquitoes out there so we kept swatting at each other.  I only ended up with one bite and so did Paul amazingly.  

I very much enjoyed having the boys cook all my meals for me. :)

First meal made by the boys, dinner.  Scrumptious. 

Then we had tastyyyyy smores . I wish I had bought reeses because I hear reeses in smores are heavenly! 

Playing settlers of catan the second night we were there.  So fun, even though Joel won every single time. He has played about a million games because he has the game on his phone/itouch. 

While shopping we came across a store with a lot of funny onesies.  I had a fun times looking through all of them! Party in my crib!

The view is amazing.  I can't even explain how good it was to get away for a few days.  No cell phone service, no electricity, and no bathroom at the cabin.  Life was so simple. 

I ate some cereal at the house before we headed to town for breakfast and I just wanted to get coffee but then I saw this cinnamon roll and couldn't pass it up.  I definitely didn't finish it but it was amazing and super sweet! 

And again, Safeway.  Hey, at least the view from the parking lot is exceptional! 

Paul said he would never wear a matching shirt with me, especially one that said "made in Canada"  Haha, this couple was so cute.  

More Catan, Joel won three games in a row. Lame.  But at least I got some color to me while we were sitting outside.  I applied sunscreen so I wouldn't get burnt too, how responsible of me!

The only picture I have of Paul and I together where his eyes aren't closed.  You can see how much he lovvvvessss pictures. :)  For lunch/dinner before we left we (meaning the boys) made shishakabobs and corn.  I sat and enjoyed the reflection of trees in the cabin windows. 

I never get tired of the views of Leavenworth.  It is seriously like you are in another universe there.  Time moves slower. 

The clan.  I wore that headband like there was no tomorrow the last day we were there.  My hair was so so so greasy it was nasty.  

And here is the mantel I decorated today, Happy fourth girls! 

Oh and note to self, never go to Costco on a Saturday (especially the Saturday before the 4th of July) at 5 in the evening, very bad idea! 

a quick brag

After a super long day yesterday with a boy who missed his nap, ran around at the zoo with his cousins for 4 hours, and came down with a cold...we have dismissed the binky (I think for good)!  I was so ready to give him his pillows and binky and let him cuddle up and go to bed and feel better, but we went to give it to him we discovered that he had bitten a big hole in it!  We did have a back up, but I showed him the hole, told him it was broken and that it had to go in the garbage.  He was sad, and maybe it was because he was so tired, he only asked for a new one once (which I said I had no way of giving him) and went to sleep!  He woke up one time in the night and asked for it also, but I just reminded him that it was broken and he said "Okay" and went back to sleep.  


Today, he asked for it before nap time and in the morning, but I just reminded him that its broken and in the garbage, and he completely understands!  How crazy.  I thought it was going to be a way bigger fight when we finally had to take it away.  Now I really need to go hide that extra one so he doesn't think he can have it again!  Luckily, all the ones for Hailey that we have gotten so far are pink and purple, so they look different enough that he should understand they aren't for him.


And that is my mommy-brag for the day.

Brag

The house has been more or less clean and tidy for about 2-3 weeks.  I even vacuumed twice this week!

Today I:

• Swept all the floors
• Mopped all the floors
• Cleaned the bathrooms 
• Washed glasses with vinegar so now they are all sparkly
• Did dishes (Angela helped with this too)
• Am doing a million loads of laundry - all the rugs and all the blankets, plus two loads of clothes.  What was I thinking?
• Cleaned out the fridge and made a list of stuff to use up that I don't want in there anymore
• Plus littler things like emptying all the trash bins, scooping and refilling cat litter, and of course going to church!

We had leftover chicken pot pie stew for lunch.  Pretty good but I'm getting tired of it (made it two days ago) and we're having oriental chicken salad for dinner, so all I have to do is cut up lettuce.

Oh, and I took a nap for about 1.5 hours!  I got a bad nosebleed after church and it gave me a horrid headache and nausea.  I still felt sick when I got up from my nap, but I sucked it up and cleaned stuff - mopping instead of moping.  =)

That's all for now, I'm not terribly type-ative lately.  I really hope I get to see becca's birth!  She said I could come.  =)

Catching my Breath

Hi Girls!

It is so nice to be posting again, I have missed it.  I just got caught up on all the posts I missed and commented on the last two.  Life got hectic pretty fast for me. Two weeks ago I got a job and started volunteering in an ESL class.  I work Tues-Thurs in an office doing data entry and filing.  I got the job through a friend of our small group at church.  He's my boss at the office, and it's been working out really well so far.  Then on Mondays I have been volunteering for 5 hours in a class that teaches Chinese adults English.  I was really excited to start helping out there, but I have been disappointed so far because the teacher hasn't asked me to do anything in class, and last week she told me that it's a bad time of year to volunteer because her classes are smaller.  I don't understand why she requested for a volunteer to help her and then just wants me to sit and observe.  I think next week I'll see if I can make suggestions for things for me to do, but I know that a lot of teachers in this field are protective of their classes and aren't really excited for a newbie to come in and change things up.

I was still going to class Monday and Wednesday nights, so I would leave the house at 7:30 AM on those days to go to work, then after work go straight into Toronto for class and get home at 10:30 at night.  Thankfully now I have two weeks off from school till the summer term starts, but then I'll be taking classes four nights a week...I'm happy for the job and volunteer opportunity, but I am so tired by the end of the week.

We have also been going through a heat wave, this past week it was over 95F.  Last night it rained and brought in some cooler air, so today was around 80F and much more bearable.  I've been biking to work, and it hasn't been so bad in the mornings, but coming home in the afternoons has been HOT.

Today I was able to catch up on sleep (I took a 3 hour nap this morning) and I got to do some thrift store shopping.  I went to Plato's closet and sold a dress for $4 that I had bought at a garage sale for $1 and bought these awesome and super comfy sandals for $5.

I have to share with you guys about our last bulk item garbage day. We have it once a month, and this month we got a ton of stuff!  Justin played hockey at 9pm, and when he left I took Beatrix out for a walk and saw some good stuff along the curb.  So when he got back around 11:30 we went out to check out the stuff I had seen.  We ended up with a good haul!  We got a book case, which we desperately needed (our books are still in boxes), we got a nightstand for Justin's side of the bed, a wine rack, garden pot, house coil and some baskets.  We also saw other people picking up stuff along the curb, so it's nice to know we aren't the only scavengers.  Here are pictures of the book shelf and night stand: 

      

Ahh, it feels so good to post again!  I'm really looking forward to having more time these next two weeks since I don't have class.  I'll have more time to do fun things that I can post about!  

rain. rest. wait.

the last few days have been making me and Jeremy very anxious.  I don't really know what to do with myself!  We thought the baby was coming last night almost for sure - except I am extremely skeptical of anything that looks like "real labor" to the point that I hardly know when to tell anyone that I am in labor!  But last night, I was getting steady and uncomfortable (tolerable, sure, but definitely not just braxton hicks) contractions for 3 hours straight - these were coming about 4 minutes apart and lasting a minute.  Which was weird.  Because they weren't getting any stronger, but at least they were consistent.  So after calling my midwife, I finally went to bed to try to sleep, and sleep I did.  But then at 2 I woke up in the middle of a painful contraction and thought, "Oh ok maybe things are going to get going now!" but I was tired, so I still tried to sleep.  And I did.  Then I woke up again randomly a few hours later from the same thing.  By morning, they were back to just being random like they had been the rest of the week.


My Midwife tells me this could go on for any number of nights, its just so different from when I went into labor with Shea...it was so obvious.  This time, it feels real, but it is just stop and go.  So, I'm pretty sure its like any day now, but its impossible to know how many nights this is going to keep up!  My morning and afternoons have been spent playing with Shea and spending time with him as much as possible, ignoring all signs of labor, and sleeping.  In the evening - which has been when I start getting regular contractions almost every night this week - I start cleaning like a mad-woman getting everything done I want done before I know I won't be able to focus on anything any more.


Anyway, this is the hardest part!  Part of me wants this girl to come out soooo sooo bad because I am so anxious to meet her and be done with the guessing and waiting, but part of me wants her to wait a little longer  because there are always more things I can do to get ready...plus we are going to the zoo with all of Jeremy's  side of the family on Sunday, and I don't know that I could manage that (well I'm sure I would try, but I would be told to stay home) if I had Hailey tonight or tomorrow (I do NOT have my hopes set on that thought!)


Anyway, now random pictures!  We got out and enjoyed the sunshine on Wednesday!  In the morning, a mom who joined my mom's group this week came over with her three kids for a playdate at our house.  Shea had a hard time sharing and we got to witness one of his screaming-the-entire-time time out sessions, but at least he's learning.  And I think I definitely need to go get another set of trains...having only one Thomas and two boxcars is impossible to share, because in the mind of a 3 year old, Thomas either needs a car to pull, or the cars need an engine.  Duh, mom.


After that, we went to my midwife appointment, and nothing interesting happened there...I picked up my tub, measured out right, and was on my way.  Oh and Shea was a stinkin' little angel there.  Playing it up for the midwife by being cute and acting like the perfectly obedient child.  Want to know how much I weigh?  174 pounds!!  Isn't that nuts? haha.  I think I gained about that much with Shea too, though, and its still right inside the expected range for my pre-pregnancy weight.  Jeremy loves to brag that I weigh more than him now though.  I don't mind.


After we got home, we went to the beach for a while before nap time.  The tide was out and it was so perfect, we were down there for almost an hour running like two kids!  Shea had a blast.  We walked back up, intending to get cleaned up and in bed, but...Shea's cousins were over from Federal Way (which I didn't know, but we saw their van parked at Tawny's house), and they were headed down to the beach.  I couldn't say no, so we went back down with them and didn't come back up until after 4PM with one sunburned maa and tired boy.  By the way, wearing a racer-strap sports bra under a regular tanktop with no sunscreen on?  BAD IDEA.  I didn't think I was going to be down there that long, and I don't usually burn that much.

Yeah look at those awesome tan lines.

Shea and I rested and relaxed and then rejoined the family for dinner later.  He didn't go to bed until close to 9:30, and with no nap he slept almost 12 hours!  I'm so glad he did, boy did he need the sleep!

This is just from yesterday when we were playing together.  Oh he is getting so big!

And here is our birth pool that is now taking up our dining/living room. haha.  We blew it up last night in anticipation, since we wanted to make sure we knew what in the world we were doing.  Its really nice!  Shea has been really good about not touching it too.  I even managed to find a drinking-water safe hose at Walmart for only $10 (Jeremy wanted to use our garden hose at first, but it is super long...he bleached it out in our bathtub, since there could be a risk of e-coli from garden soil getting in there...anyway, I wanted to buy a new one, but new hoses have so many chemicals in them, I was really happy to find an FDA approved one so easily!)

  

I still have to take a picture of Hailey's dresser to post, but Shea is sleeping, so it will have to wait I guess!  Today Hanna came over and took pictures of Shea, Jeremy, and I since we didn't get any with all of us during our maternity photo shoot.  We all had rain boots on and Shea was walking around with the umbrella, I can't wait to see them!  I know she got some really cute ones of just Shea, too.  He was so happy to be able to hold the umbrella, and I was able to use it to bribe him into a couple of poses (like kissing me, except he bit my lip one time really hard and it started bleeding!!)

Life lately

I have been thinking about living simply and enjoying the moment lately.  Summer is my favorite time of year, and summer days are few and far between in western washington, so everytime there is a good day I need to slow down and enjoy the moment.  Not think about cleaning the house, running errands, making phone calls, just enjoy the beautiful weather. 

On Wednesday before I went to work Paul made us awesome steaks for lunch while I prepared the fruit salad and gatorade (a summer necessity).  We sat outside on Paul's old comforter for over and hour and it was heavenly. Someone at work even told me I looked a little more tan after that (I have a hint of color to me now that doesn't scream WHITE chick). 

The cat's were meowing at the screen door because they were lonely so Paul went in to pet them, but I stayed outside to enjoy the beautiful day just a little bit more. 

Then our friend Clarence came around, he is pretty friendly and loves belly rubs.  When Paul heard me meowing at Clarence he came outside to chill again.  I think our cats were jealous because they could see us through the screen door. Oops! 

Yesterday while vacuuming I stopped for a quick second to grab my prescription so I wouldn't forget for the millionth time to pick up contacts at costco, I couldn't put it off any longer because I am wearing my last pair.  Eric heard me open the craft room door and came running .  This boy LOVES the craft room like no other for some reason. 

Then I got to thinking about how Amber doesn't like to go to costco alone so I invited her along for the ride, she needed cat litter so we made a little shopping/lunch date out of the whole thing.  We enjoyed Costco hot dogs and soda (Amber had water), I got contacts and lots and lots of fruit, and we each got 2 bags of cat litter.  Might I mention a bag of costco cat litter weighs 42 pounds, so we added 168 lbs to the cart with that cat litter and boy was it hard to push!  Amber and I looked like crazy cat ladies! 

When we got home from costco we went on a 20-30 minute walk around the neighborhood, walked to the school to swing (my butt is way too big for child swings these days- it hurts!, and then walked back home to enjoy fruit salad and chedder fries (like chips) from costco outside on a pretty flower blanket.  We laid around for about an hour before I took Amber home. Best sister date ever. 

The cat's where super cuddly when Paul got home since I had been gone/busy most of the day.  While we watched a movie they cuddled. 

Last night Paul said to me "I will make you a deal, if you wake up early I will take you to coffee".  We then had a discussion about what early meant (I said 9am), and agreed I would wake up at 7:45.  I did, and while getting dressed I said we should go swimming first, so we did.  We were still at the coffee shop before 9am and had already worked out, it was awesome.  

We went to a little place in downtown Auburn (that Paul researched and found on yelp) called Jason's Coffee Shop.  It is in an old house pretty close to the hospital and has lots of rooms with lots of furniture where you can just chill out.  

We had one of the rooms upstairs to ourselves (we should have brought a cribbage board) where we fiddled on our phones, chatted, and I read my Bible while we enjoyed sweets and our white chocolate mochas (which tasted way better than one from starbucks- way less sweet and way more yummy). 

It is 55 degrees and rainy here today so we turned on the fireplace, popped on a movie from netflix and chilled with the cats. :) 

Oh and I forgot to mention, Paul is into motorcycles these days so we stopped by a motorcycle dealer on the way home from coffee.  One of the editing programs on my phone was updated so I was playing around with it!  So fun (the pictures that is, still not convinced about a motorcycle). 

Then end! 

The last few days.

I take a lot of pictures, but one thing I regret is the lack of before pictures I took of our yard.  I love to see progress, that's what keeps me  going.  I am glad for the few pictures I did take, this being one of them.  I had honestly forgotten how bad our grass and island looked.  All better now though. 

We continue to have lots of snuggle times with the fire on even though its June. 

Steve came over on Saturday and he cut this board to fit so the beds will match better.  Grass never grew well there anyway, so I am pretty excited. 

Coffee at church on Sunday was heavenly, I think this guy used to be a barista, because his coffee tasted amazing. 

Sunday after church I stopped by Top foods to deposit a check and then went to home depot to buy some new boards for the fence.  I also got a new plant and some nails for the fence.  Then I went and hung out at Ambers house and let my car smell like a pond while we hung out and listened to the womens conference. 

Joe called so we took a little break.  I sipped my tea and at Reese's Pieces. 

When I got home I tore out the old boards to the fence, and when I went to go grab the skill saw I found out we have a skill saw but there wasn't a blade in it.  When I went to Steve and Kathy's to borrow a saw I got more than a saw.  Steve came over and helped with the fence!  It was a God send because you really needed two people to do it and Paul was dead when he got home.  He had worked 81 hours in the last 8 days, poor guy.  He still has two more days to go before he gets a day off. 

Paul was going to cook us steak for dinner but he was super tired so we went to Indian food for dinner and it was absolutely amazing.  It was jam packed because of Fathers Day, but it was so so so yummy! 

After dinner we went to Uwajimia and got lots of fun Asian candy and a super blow pop.  I had forgotten how awesome these blow pops are, and how they turn your tongue, lips, and mouth crazy colors. 

The front yard is pretty much good, just have to keep up the grass, oh and we need a new roof, the fence is fixed, now we just need rock (which apparently the place we want to buy it from the delivery guy is on vacation for a week and a half),  and that empty little flower bed? It is to the right of the garage and it needs some loving.  I will get more plants soon! (Maybe even from Steve and Kathy's yard because they have ton of awesome plants they offered us and they are moving out of that house in a few months!)

I have awesome plans for our laundry room, teal for the back wall, Ikea cabinets (white), and a cute little shelf.  I can't wait to have cupboards for storage! 

Never thought I would be a plant girl, but I love this happy green window sill! 

I attempted to have curly hair and it ended up in a pony tail, I was trying to wrap fathers day presents and Eric thought he was more important, I officially have a mullet and need a hair cute, and my dad's fathers day/birthday present.  I need to see him! (at least I got to talk to him on the phone for half an hour last night!)

My picture that screams work.  Plastic to rip off the deck, a wire vine plant growing thing that needs a new home, a rhododendron that has lots of room to grow, beds that need rock in them, and a fence that needs a few new boards and definitely some new paint!  

Lots of work coming my way (and Paul's if he ever gets some time off). It is going to be an  awesome summer!