Diaper Love

Cade got some new diapers for Christmas and I decided to have a Diaper Fashion Show! Above we have the Fuzzi Bunz Under the Sea print.

Next is the Fuzzi Bunz Trains print.

Finally, Thirsties in "Melon" ~ Kind of hard to actually see the diaper in this pic, but is that a happy baby or what?

January Pics

Here are some random pics from the last couple of weeks. This was soon after we arrived home from Michigan....can you say "Jet Lag?"
He's moving......and he's into everything!

Big Brother, Little Brother

Alayna loves the cat, but I'm not sure how she feels about Alayna.

Vacationing in Michigan

Well, it took me *way* too long to post these pictures, but better late than never. These were snapped during our vacation to Michigan in early January.
Cade & Aunt Karen

Dad, Kelly, Dan & Karen all sporting their new hats that Chad and I got them for Christmas! (Actually, Karen's hat was a present from Dan....I guess I should clarify!)

Playing Cards...gotta teach 'em young!

Let's see, Is this a good hand?

Karen and Dan took the kids to Build-A-Bear Workshop. Getting a pictures without a silly face proved impossible!

For some reason, the ducks decided to stick around this winter!

My kiddos crack me up!

New Year's Day in Michigan

The kids and I are spending two weeks in Michigan over New Years! It has been a fun time spending time with Grammy & Grandpa, Aunt Karen, Uncle Dan, Aunt Kelly as well as seeing extended relatives. Every day has been packed with activities and I know this wonderful time will be over with before I know it. I will definitely enjoy every minute that I am able to be here.

The Snow Just Keeps Coming!

Believe it or not, its STILL snowing! This most recent picture was just taken (about 3 hours after I took the previous pics) and shows the massive amount of snow that is piling up! Gavin started asking if it would snow so much that it would cover the house! I laughed and said, "I don't think so, honey".....now I'm starting to wonder. No, according to the news, it looks like we're right on the edge of the snow....it will probably stop accumulating soon as this storm blows through.

Portland Blizzard

We have snow! And lots of it too! I took these pics this morning....this shows the "drifts" that have been created as the snow has been blown up against the fence. There is another drift on our back porch that is probably about waist deep!


Why did I snap a pic of our recycling bin? Just to show how much snow has actually fallen....it looks like about 4 or 5 inches to me.

This is NOT what I meant when I said I wanted a winter garden!

Preparing for Christmas

Alayna checking the lights in the star....just to make sure they all work, of course!

Gavin and Alayna were a BIG help getting the lights onto the tree!

Gavin singing for his school Christmas concert. It was a very neat concert. The theme was "Around the World at Christmas Time". Gavin's class sang "What You Gonna Call Your Pretty Little Baby?" (African American Spiritual) and "O Tannenbaum!" (Germany). Select other songs included "Here We Come A Wassailing" (England), "Para Pedir Posada" (Guatemala...Yes, the 4th graders sang in Spanish) and "Gong xi fa cai" (China...And yes, the 3rd graders actually sang in Chinese!!!) The whole thing was highly impressive!


This is the church where the concert was held...just beautiful!

I wanted to get a picture of Gavin's music teacher because he looks completely different from what I would have expected. You know, the sterotypical male elementary teacher in his 40s and wears a sweater vest....this guy looks like he should be in a rock band or something. (Sorry if I've offended any teachers out there.) I took several pictures, but this was the only one that was somewhat not blurry. Oh, and this picture is actually taken of the 5th graders who learned to play these instruments....I can't remember what they are called, but think of a bell choir, but with these sticks that you hit on your hand and the different colors produce different sounds. It was highly cool!

~Happy Thanksgiving~

It has been way too long since I've posted pictures, but hopefully this little smiling face makes up for it! Cade is now six months old. He just started rolling over and scooting around on his tummy. He very much wants to crawl and one of these days (soon) he'll figure out how!

We spent Thanksgiving in Puyallup with Chad's family. Everyone was in charge of a portion of the meal.....we provided the turkey & stuffing! It was a great day spending time with everyone!

Chad and his brother, Dan, relaxing at the table after the big meal!

Kate (Dan's girlfriend), Ashtin (our niece; Tammy's oldest) & Cade posing for a pic.

Mama & Alayna taking a picture of ourselves....Alayna loves looking at herself in the viewfinder!

One More Election Post

Ok, I promise, after this I won't post anything more about the election. I happened upon this blog and I agreed so completely with it and thought of emailing it to lots of people, but then decided to post it here so that everyone who has interest can read it.

A Christian's Response to the 2008 Presidential Election

Thoughts After An Election

It was an exciting time watching the results pour in on TV last night. It was also conflicting for me, as I really do like both candidates personally. I've felt for some time that our two choices were both excellent candidates, qualified in different ways. I've defended both Obama and McCain to different people (devil's advocate?) over the last several months and last night it hit me that the road was ending for one of them. As the night wore on, it became more and more obvious that McCain would come up with the short end of the stick. When the official announcement was made, it was bittersweet for me. I was excited about an historic election. My grandchildren will probably ask me some day what it was like to elect the first black President of the United States the same way I wonder what it was like to listen to Martin Luther King's Dream Speech. But, I admit that when McCain took that stage to give his concession speech, a tear fell as I watched the dream end for this man of honor.

As someone who is now completely addicted to Facebook, I also kept tabs on my friends "status reports", an area where all of my friends can write a blurb about themselves and I view the whole thing on one page. It was interesting to view the polarizing thoughts. Some cheered and leapt for joy; others were disgusted and declared that our country as we know it is over! I know for the next several days and weeks there will probably be hostile feelings. My hope, though, is that in time we can all come together as a nation, the UNITED States of America! No, things won't be perfect and we can and should all stay just as involved and invested in what our government is doing as we are right now. But hopefully we can all move forward, now, together.

Halloween Fun

Princess Alayna & Batman

After school, Gavin changed into his costume within about 5 minutes of arriving home. He then went next door and waited for the neighbors to get home from school (they usually get home about 20-30 minutes after Gavin). Then they quickly changed and everyone played outside until trick or treating time!

I'm so glad she's finally willing to wear the crown! She usually doesn't keep anything in her hair. This was her 2-yr-birthday crown, actually, but its the first time she's willing to wear it!

We went to Melissa, Jason, Maddy & Karis's house for some fun and trick-or-treating!

Here I am with my princess and my pea!

Froggy Karis, Batman Gavin, Tigger Maddy & Princess Alayna all inspecting their treasures (aka candy)!

I'm awake, I'm awake! Are we ready to go? What? I MISSED IT?! Its all over?

Ok, well back to sleep then!

Recent Pics

In the morning, before we took Gavin to school. Alayna was all dressed and ready to go to her gym class at the community center. Brother & Sister.... I love this picture of them together!

Of course, this is how the boys play! Gavin's already training Cade to wrestle.

Cade loves lying on blankets....especially the super-soft microplush ones!

Single Mom for a Week

Chad was in Kansas City for a week long training for his new job at Yellow. He left early Sunday morning and is coming home tonight (Friday night). As I type, its 10:30 p.m..... his flight should be coming in at any time and I expect him home within about an hour or so. It was definitely a LONG week, especially with all of the Doctor appts (all three had appts this week). Oh, that reminds me. Cade had his 4 month check up and is already 17 lb, 8 oz!!! He is in roughly the 85% for both height and weight. Of course, he's still in the 10% for head size....that's my kid for you! All three of them had 10% heads....go figure!

Well, it will be nice to finally have Chad home! I am looking forward to a well-earned break this weekend!
Alayna loves to grab Mommy's cell phone and "talk" to people. She informed me that she was talking to Daddy this particular time.
Gavin can be such a weirdo sometimes! Here he is, in a laundry basket, on the chair, watching TV.