Conversations with a 3 year old!

So we were heading out for a day trip this last week. On our way over the bridge Paige asks where we are going. I pointed to the mountain and said, "do you see the mountain? We are going to drive right over it to the other side." Seeing her furrowed brow I almost immediately realized what that must sound like to a three year old so I added, "actually we are going to kind of go up around the side of it." She sat there for a minute looking out the window then says (in an 'are you stupid' kind of voice) "That doesn't look very safe." Well, no, it probably doesn't but somehow I think the point was lost by then!

Yesterday she was having fun playing 'Commando' with her brothers upstairs. They were all shrieking and yelling and shooting guns. I heard her say to Trace at one point that her name was Anna and she was Caden't daughter. Okayyyy.

We were finishing up dinner when she announces, "Anna is a real name. Paigey is just, just isn't real." Then she thrust her left hand out to me and says, "nice to meet you mom!" Trying not to laugh I replied (shaking her hand), "nice to meet you Paige." Ooops! I mean Anna.

So then we had a little talk about her Chinese name. After telling her her Chinese name she gave me a look like 'what kind of name is that?" Then she announced, "I don't want my Chinese name anymore." I asked her why not and said it was special and would always be her Chinese name no matter what. Her answer? "Because I just don't (want it)." Well, ok then.

Such a little pill. I am always trying to remember the things she says. Inevitably there is something she says everyday that makes us all pause and look at her and wonder where it came from!

NOT Me!

There are a few things I need to clear up from the past couple of weeks. First of all I have NOT broken two cameras in the last month! (The second one just might be covered under warrenty - IF I had done that!) I did not allow my daughter to take a nap in jeans soaked in juice from her car seat just to keep her from waking up. It isn't possible that I filled all the kids bikes tires to go on a bike ride with them only to then discover my own was completely shot! I would never have left all their end of school papers all over (and under) the coffee table for over a week now. I would at least have read them. Ahem. There just isn't any way I would have spent Father's Day at IKEA and a park keeping my kids up waaay past their bedtimes because if I did then there certainly would be a good excuse! But finally, I definately did NOT go on a day trip with the family to an exciting place that we probably won't go to again for a very long time and forget my camera! I could never do that!

I am the perfect parent, don't you know? I watched a teenager load her infant into a car today and as a sign of my age I just shook my head and felt sorry for that poor baby. My brief thought was to wonder what kind of life he would have. Then I realized that my children don't exactly have the perfect life. No one does. So my thoughts changed to hoping that his mom was up to the challenge and hoping he has a chance at life. I'm constantly reminded of my age how much I've grown. Unfortunately it also reminds me of just how much older I've gotten!

Ahhh life. Isn't it grand?

The fun just never ends around here!

Well, we have a pool. All of our children have reached an age where we don't fear having one in our backyard (we're still extremely cautious!). So with Rick home he and Trace got out and did most of the assembly. We then had friends over to help break it in. Apparently no amount of water is too small! They sat in there most of the time it took to fill it!

It was actually just perfect for Paige. I bought her her own little pool since she probably won't want anything to do with this once the boys are in it!

It did eventually fill up.

Keepin' 'um busy!

We are lucky to have lots of parks and school playgrounds in our area. Probably enough for a different one every day! Trace likes to take his unicycle and ride around but a good game of tag can hardly be beaten.

Miss Happiness here... She spent a large chunck of the time looking like this. Unfortunately it isn't all that uncommon these days.

We did have a couple of happy moments though!

1st Day of Vacation...

We left Paige with Grandma and took the boys with us to the beach. The goal was to drop the trailer off and get it set up so the kids and I can go down anytime during the summer. It turned out to be a beautiful day (for the west coast!). We let the boys dig in the sand for about a half an hour then stopped at an old WWI/WWII Army Battery. Caden's dream! We've been there before but that makes no difference to them. It is an absolutely gorgeous site on a hillside of grassy hills overlooking the water. We made it home in time for bed and I think we were all exhausted!
That is the mouth of the Columbia River behind the boys. It is so wide right there that you can't see the other side in the picture. Caden loves going through all the old Battery's and asking a hundred times what each room was for. I personally hate going in them. They are wet and dark and generally really creepy.

The sand castle creation. They said it was Aslan's How from the Chronicles of Narnia.

And so ends another year...

The end of this school year hold some significance. At this point Trace has been at this school as long as he has been at any other school. Sometime before next Christmas we'll be able to say he has been here the longest of all! No small thing when you are ten and already been in four schools because your parents tend to move a bit too much!

Needless to say, the end of the year came on Wednesday. I had two very excited boys get onto the bus in the morning and when I got to the school that afternoon I found two sort of melancholy boys instead. No matter how badly you want school to be out, it is still really hard to say goodbye and know you're starting all over again in the fall. By the time we were home they were back to being happy though.

The boy's school has a couple of last day traditions that I made sure I was there to see. Because our fourth graders go to the middle school next year they get a big send off. About five minutes before the end of the day they announce over the intercom to get ready to go then they do a count down and yell GO! All the fourth graders run around the entire building high-fiving all the other grade levels who are lining the sidewalks. Some of the staff (including the principal) join in for the run. It is pretty cool to watch. The other fun tradition is that ALL the staff lines the entrance and waves at the buses and cars as they leave. Then the buses and cars all start honking their horns and it really creates an atmosphere of excitement for everyone! A great send off to summer...
Trace getting last minute info from his teacher (his back is to the camera with the black backpack)

Trace's run to fifth grade! Passing Caden's class,

Caden's final farewell to his teacher who is retiring this year.

The final goodbye from the staff.

That's Trace and Caden's bus leaving the parking lot. They weren't on it though but instead opted to wave everyone off too.

Same place one year later...

We happened to be at the place where I took these pictures of Trace last year. He was particularly struck by how grown up all the foliage was. I told him to pose like last year so we could compare them. Honestly, I don't see much difference! Do you? His face may be a little thinner. (Today was in red) Still, it's fun to do.

Please scroll down three posts and read them in reverse order! Blogger won't let me re-arrange them so they are in reverse order from what I typed them. Sorry about that!

Then there was this!

Trace was picked up today from school in this Hummer Limo. He and about 8 or 9 other boys piled in and headed for lunch, arcade games and ice cream over the following three hours! They were all so excited and could hardly believe they'd been invited to a birthday party in a limo! Definately a highlight!

So that was party #4 and the end of the mayhem for now. Tomorrow is the last day of school and it is only a half day. The fourth graders get out about 5 minutes early and run around the entire building while all the other classes stand out side giving them high fives. It is their send of to fifth grade and the middle school. Should be fun to watch!

Party #2 and #3!

Sunday rolls around with church in the morning. By 3:30 we were at another cousin's graduation party. Again, after more good food, visiting and fun for the kids were headed home. That time we got a little distracted on the way home looking at property for sale so we arrived home yet again at bedtime.
Party #3 was another cousin's birthday! Whew! It made three nights in a row that I didn't have to fix dinner though. This cousin lives on a Christmas tree farm (yes REAL trees for those of you in Illinois who laughed at us and our real tree!). So before we left Caden loaded up a portion of his arsenal to hand out to the other kids there. After that they pretty much dissapeared into the trees! So we visited, ate some more good food and finally headed home in time for -bed.

The blessings and curse of family!!

We have had a few BUSY days! The hell fun started on Saturday. Cousins from Africa are home and it happens to be their son's second birthday. So we had party number one. The kids had a blast getting their faces painted. Trace a Storm Trooper, Caden in camo, Paige half a butterfly. I was particularly impressed that Paige let them do it! So after lots of good food, pony rides, and a trampoline we made it home in time for bed!

Lots of Excitement Around Here...

The end of the school year is always a busy time with a lot of things to remember and keep track of. Gifts for teachers (x2), class parties (x2), food prep for those parties (x2), finishing up afterschool activities. Throw in a birthday party (or 3!), a graduation party, and all the normal day to day activities! I think it is all a plot to make us think we are ready for summer and the chance to relax! HA HA HA! Joke's on us. The summer calendar was nearly empty just two weeks ago. Suddenly it has two doctor appointments, week long summer day camp, the church summer fest activities (another week), birthdays, library day once a week and I don't even know what all else! Where are the lazy, hazy days of summer where you lay under a tree chewing on a piece of hay? Oh yeah, the allergies would prevent me from doing that and so would all the critters crawling in the grass so I guess I might as well be grateful we will be busy!

In the meantime, Paige decided to take things slow during this last full week of school...
First she spent a little time closely inspecting the bugs in the water on the front porch...
The she watched the big truck drop off our new recycling bins...

And even did a little reading on those new recycle bins!

I guess that is a lazy, hazy day for ya!

Sweet nothing...

Is there anything much sweeter than a toddler's good morning? Paige greets me every morning with, "goo morning, Mommy" We had to run Trace to school this morning with cupcakes and his unicycle and on the way home Paige says, "it's a bootiful day today"

I must be finding her a lot cuter this morning since she didn't wake me up once last night! I also put a timer on her night light like we did for the boys (way back when) and it has been wonderful! She knows, if the light is on it isn't goo morning yet, but when it goes off she can get up!

Memories, misty water colored mem~~ories...

Of the way~ we were.

Life comes full circle. With Legos. We have wondered for years what ever happened to my Legos. Not my brother's Star Wars and other miscellaneous ones - but mine. For I had my own dollhouse of Legos. The kitchen, nursery, living room and bathroom. Complete with all the necessary accouterments - coffee pot, record player, drinking cups.
Today, digging in my brother's attic my mom came across them! Even still in the plastic container I had kept them in as a child! I also had apparently saved all the boxes for directions on putting them together. Who knew that thirty years later those might come in handy?
I suspect these might be worth something to somebody out there but to me they really are priceless. Even better though was watching my own daughter playing with them.

Throughout my life I have often tried to imagine what my daughter would look like. The only thing I always knew was that she'd have long hair. Often I dreamt of her playing on the floor, never able to make out a face - just the hair of varying colors.

This caught me off guard today as a picture of life coming full circle...

Not Me! Nope Not Around Here!

You would not find me taking a nap in the middle of the day while my darling daughter watches a video! There definately is not a pile of clean laundry waiting to be put away at the top of my stairs. I'm certain I would not have avoided cleaning the downstairs bathroom for at least a week. I did not wait six weeks to cancel a doctor appointment and only do it then because they called to confirm it. I did NOT go "dumpster diving" at the Goodwill Outlet with my free time because who would do that!? I definately did not blow my diet completely out of the water and pig out the last couple of days - I'd never do such a thing! And then I am quite positive I did not feed my family hot dogs for dinner two nights in a row either!

How about you? Any other perfect mothers out there?

Pictures just for the sake of pictures...

See? I told ya I'd get some pictures! They aren't exactly exciting ones, but hey now you know what we were doing this afternoon. Now I'm going to go prepare a gourmet meal noodles for my children so we can go for a bike ride which will probably hopefully put Paige to sleep!

Practicing his idiling.

Just a pretty flower in our backyard. It is an herb but I'm not sure which one. All I know is that it is a pain in the rear because it grows like a weed all summer and I spend half my time wacking it back then cleaning up the mess!

If I can't post new pictures...

I guess I can at least change the blog around! I finally borrowed my PARENT'S camera so hopefully I can get a few shots of the kiddos soon. We've had such beautiful weather I'm just itching to get some new pictures!

Now, since my allergies are driving me beyond crazy, I think I'm going to go lay down for a bit!