A little change

Some of you may have inadvertantly clicked on the comment in the post below that gives you a virus warning (if you haven't, please don't - there is no actual message). I can't figure out how to get rid of it yet so for now I have made two changes to the comments section.
1) You will have to type in the weird letters like you have to for credit cards and such
2) I will be previewing all posts before they appear on the blog. So if you want to include something more personal just tell me not to post it! I hope this isn't a porblem for anyone because I love to get comments!

A little late but here's the birthday pics...

I actually took 61 pictures and had a really hard time narrowing them down. I'll post some of the others later.

A little something I've been working on...

I am just amazed at the beauty I see when I look at her little face. I am often just left speechless when I see her asleep. But awake with a personality like no other is when I am most in awe of her!

Catching Up

Oops! I just thought this picture was kind of funny. It was one time Caden made a mistake and I was able to get him to laugh about it! He didn't realize the box of spaghetti noodles was already opened.

Anyway, I haven't updated recently because Rick has been home for two weeks now. He was sent home from training pretty sick with a sinus infection and an intestinal bug. A few doses of antibiotics and he was on the mend in a couple of days. Unfortunately they aren't able to get him back into class until the 29th. So he is home for one more week. It has been nice to have him around and we've managed to get a couple things done too. The kids are loving every minute of it (so far)! So, at the moment all is well. Financially we are ok for now and I really appreciate all of you who have expressed your concern and offered help. There may come a day when we do need your help!

Easter is tomorrow! I hope you are all celebrating this wonderful day with family and/or friends. We are overjoyed to be able to celebrate with our family and friends both this year.

Put on a happy face...

I thought maybe I should post something since the last one was such a downer! It seems like there is something going on around here daily. I keep hoping life will slow down a little bit. I got a call from Rick yesterday morning that he was coming home. It is a really long story (I'll fill you in if you call!) but it isn't a bad thing as far as his training goes. In a few days to a week he should be going back to finish up. For now, he is home trying to get caught up on sleep mainly! As for the rest of us we are about the same. I had a conference with Trace's teacher yesterday and he is a good student which we knew. He does have a bit of an issue with talking in class -no surprise if you know Trace! His reading is at or above grade level and his vocabulary is well above - in the 98 percentile. An all around good kid. Caden is still, well Caden. I can't seem to get a hold on his anger and it errupts at the most unexpected time. All I can do is keep muddling through for now. Paige is working really hard on potty training! I had high hopes we'd be done by now but considering she is just barely two I have to give her a lot of credit. She is having about one accident on average a day and telling me she needs to go about half the time. We're getting there! As for myself, I'm hanging in there. What else can I do? I got to get away for a few hours Tuesday morning which was wonderful and I'm feeling a little more on top of things since finishing Paige's room and getting ours to a liveable condition. There is still the neverending trail that Paige leaves behind her and the boys too, and the laundry and dishes just don't wash themselves either! Life is really not all bad, just a lot to deal with at the moment and some days are better than others. I'll get some more pictures up soon!

Warning - Don't read if you're in a good mood!

I'm tired. Tired of kids. Tired of motherhood. Tired of arguing. Tired of trying to figure out how to make Caden quit saying things like "I hate you" which his sister is now picking up. Tired of a two year old who will not listen and only says "NO" and "STOP IT" usually at the top of her lungs in public places. Tired of this house being a mess. Tired of never feeling like I can get ahead. Tired of potty training. Tired of being stressed about our finances and not able to go to the grocery store. Tired of that D_ mn scale not going anywhere but up!
I am starting to think that girls are a lot of fun until age two then we might as well lock them away until about age 30! She just keeps getting into things she know she isn't supposed to be into and watching me the entire time with a look of, "what are you gonna do?". If I ask her to come to me or pick something up she moves r-e-a-l-l-y slow then the second I move she flies into gear and does what it was I asked! I know the boys were into things and busy, but they weren't so openly defiant!
I know I'm feeling a lot of this because of the move and changes we've been going through. But I had really hoped by now I'd be settling in and feeling better about life. Trace and I sat on his bed last night crying together as he told me how much he missed all his friends in Chicago. He just hasn't found one good friend out here yet and he had a couple out there as well as being generally popular. Part of me was right there with him wishing nothing had changed. I miss not being so busy and I miss having friends I can hang out with anytime. Rick will be home in a week which will be good. After that we will have to learn to adjust to our new life. Starting with Easter which he will miss this year (and probably every other holiday but that's to worry about another day). I don't have a problem with him being gone, I'm pretty independent and like my time with the kids. But having him gone for basically 6 weeks with just a few days home in the middle has been unbelieveably hard. Especially considering we threw in a cross counrty move with it and three kids who are struggling to adjust to that! I really don't know what I would have done if I hadn't had my parents help. They have taken the kids and helped me out with things around the house and I appreciate it so much!
Life isn't all bad news though. I added a couple of pictures from the last few days that we are having fun too! We went metal detecting again and the kids had a ball. I took Paige's potty chair and sat it on the beach between some logs and she used it twice! We've also been outside a lot with the neighbor girls. Tomorrow I'm going to finally get a couple of hours by myself to just go wander somewhere and Wednesday I'm going to get some financial help with food. Hopefully by the end of the week I'll have a little brighter outlook!

Ready for takeoff

Apparently Baby likes tuna... who knew?

Another day at the river

Riding the neighbors bike...

Whew! It's finally over!

What a long week this has been. Getting Rick home and trying to finish up the house in time for the open house today. In the middle there we had a tiny birthday party for Paige too! She loved her cake and the plastic food that velcros together was a big hit too. Then today we combined her birthday and a party for Rick into one open house. It went well, I think, and we had a decent turn out. There were lots of kids which the boys really liked but it took a while for Paige to get used to. By the end though when the final goodbye's were being said she kept repeating, "pawdy, pawdy." It took me a minute to figure out she was saying, party! I asked her if she liked her party and she said, "yeah." I asked her if she wanted more party and again she said, "yeah." I think she was sad to see everyone go! Her party dress was a hit (thanks Grandma!) and I hope to take her two year pictures in it someday soon so everyone can see it better. In the meantime, I'm off to sit!

"Pawdy" time!

Frenchman's Bar

For those of you not from around here, that would be a bar like on a river! More specifically, the Columbia River. My friend Robin and I took the kids down to hunt for treasure with her metal detector. It was a beautiful day (just a tad chilly) and the kids had so much fun. It combined two of Caden's favorite activities - digging and collecting junk! He grinned from ear to ear each time he dug up a rusty nail or piece of rebar. It was such an opportunity to remember the beauty around us and be thankful for what we are blessed with here in the Northwest!

A few pictures