The Latest Trend!

This is the cool thing around our house these days!

Summer Fun!

I know I'm taking over the blog by adding so many photos but we have hundreds of great photos from the summer and I thought I would add a few to sum up the kind of summer my kids had. These don't include the zoo, a train ride, miniature golf, hiking, and many more activities (a lot of these were thanks to grandparents). These photos are a Twins game (Juan's first), Ruby's first push pop, Reptile Gardens (that turtle is over 120 years old), swimming, and the park! I love summer.

A Family Past time

I LOVE how much my girls love to read. J and I are both avid readers and I can already see it's passed on to them.

Sisterly Fun

The girls discovered hand holding the other day for the first time. (Hand holding in regards to each other that is) They walked all through the apartment holding hands for like 15 min. which is pretty long in kid time :) It was really cute and I snagged several pics. I love watching their relationship continue to develop. They are definitely each the person they first think of when they wake up in the morning or when they have been separated for any length of time. They call each other Sissie, something I would not have thought I would have liked at all but it felt like it developed completely by them seeing as neither Jonathan or I had ever referred to either of them in that way until after they started to. Then the other day I was watching some home videos from when they were littler and was surprised at how often I referred to them to each other as "Sister" so I guess I did encourage it a little and didn't know it. Now it seems really sweet how much they look for and love their "Sissie".

30th Birthday.

Sorry this is late. I just got it. There was a table full of children staring at the cake.

Triathlon Day!

I had some butterflies Sunday morning as I drove to pick Nikki up at 6am. It was finally Triathlon Day! We made our way down to Gennasse Park in Seattle which was the site from where all the various events would take place. My start time was 7:40, I was in Wave 20 and had a hot pink swim cap. Nikki's start time was 7:46, she was in Wave 22 and had a neon green cap. I being "older" got to go first :)

When it was time to head down to the starting point at the water I saw the swim course for the first time and immediately thought "CRAP!" it looked so long, I was thinking there is no way!!!! But that was not an option so after a cheer of "WE KICK ASS!" with all the rest of the ladies we were off! When we hit the 1/4 way point I was seriously thinking I'm not going to be able to do this! But of course you just keep going and by the time I was 3/4 of the way done I was finally feeling like I was finding a groove. Though I was moving at a relative snail pace and was expecting Nikki to pass me at any moment even with her starting 6 minutes after me!

I finally made it to shore and didn't even need help out :) I had enough energy that I actually did run to my bike which was a little ways away, threw on my helmet, my shirt, and stuffed on my socks and shoes and got going! As I headed out I passed Nikki running to her bike we shouted "You Go!" to each other in passing.

I knew I would have to book it on the 12 mile bike so that I would be able to pick up some time, after my slow swim. There were more hills then I was expecting but I pushed through and felt I made pretty good time. When I got to the finish section I dismounted, re-racked my bike, took off the helmet, grabbed my baseball cap and headed to the run on jello legs! I had to pee so bad but I was not stopping!

The first mile went by well, the second took forever but then I picked up the pace for the last 1.2 miles. I crossed the finish line strong and felt pretty good about my possible overall time. My goal had been to do it in under 2 hours but I really wanted to hit an 1hr and 45 min. My finish time ended up being 1 hr 45 min and 7 seconds. I feel really happy with that. I must say I'm glad it's over but will definitely be doing it again! I think we should all do it together some day in New York!!! We ended our day with much deserved Mexican food and Margaritas!

Cultural Differences

My friend from Pakistan saw me the other day and said, "YOu've gained weight, Stacy." I have, 6 pounds. "You look better, " she said.

HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!!!

Busy Busy Busy

House is a wreck, have to get ready for Triathlon and run some errands, have to go to the grocery store, have a 1st birthday party to go to this afternoon will be stuck in hellish traffic on the way home, girls don't want to eat and are getting into everything, I want to eat everything and do nothing except read my new book!

Relate?

Camping

This past weekend Jonathan was at a worship Conference in Eastern Wa so we took the opportunity to check some more things off our list! We "camped" complete with sleeping in the tent, having a campfire and making smores. Nice thing about it was Papa set up and tore down the tent :) Grandma took the sick baby with her in the house (Elyse) and we had a clean bathroom. :)

A Personal Record

The day before I turned 30, my kids broke the "poopie" record. I changed 9 poopies that day! 6 were Juan's and 3 Ruby's. Nothing says, "Goodbye 20's" like a bunch of poop!

Reasons to Be Glad You're Not a Celebrity Mom

~Can salvage errant chicken nugget scraps off kids' plates without being reprimanded by nanny, husband, agent, or publicist.
~Blowout and full makeup before errands are strictly optional.
~Diaper bag not filled with pesky pre-playdate confidentiality agreements, leaving room for thermos of vital caffeinated/spiked liquids.

Pretty funny! I found this in Parenting magazine!

Summer List getting done :)

We tackled a couple of things on our summer list all in one day. We "picked" blueberries in Grandmas backyard. Then went and bought ten pounds of already picked ones from the fruit stand :) (only because the farms we called said it was a bad year and taking a long time to u-pick ten pounds) Then we headed down to the water splash area for some fun and topped it all off with a library sing-a-long/story time. Three things down...a ton left to go! :)





They were entranced with the storytime.

Reunion

I Could not resist sharing this! (couldn't get blogger to actually upload)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adYbFQFXG0U

Quiet

My big house is quiet today. I am alone. This is the second day this week my little ones have gone to child care. Monday, Andy was home and we were busy every minute with chores. Today everyone is gone. I don't know how many times I've said, "If only I had a day...". Now I have one. As I was driving back home, my heart was heavy and all I could think of was to go home and back to bed. It's funny, really, because of course I have days worth of work to do but I couldn't think of anything to do.
Really I feel good about this situation, in general. I like the lady whose house they are at. They seem to have a good time, Abigail didn't want to leave on Monday afternoon. I feel it is very necessary for my children to have some socialization - contact with the outside world. We don't have friends (that we see often) with kids their age and we aren't near our family. It is a good idea for them to get out a bit. It's just weird. I can't help but flash forward to when they are in school and I have quiet mornings. WOW! I guess this is what motherhood is all about: plugging away in the trenches and one day (even if only one) picking your head up to realize that nothing ever stays the same.

Open Water Swim....

So....we just did our first open water swim tonight. After working ourselves up enough to get into the cold lake water we then quickly swam out to the swimmers lane and braving the seaweed we began to swim and then a wave hits me and I'm back to square one which is trying not to drown let alone swim. Suffice to say I'm and I can safely say "we" I believe (though Nikki is 10x's better then me) need alot of practice and we have 12 days to get all that practice in. Why you may ask have we waited so long...well partly because the weather has been yuck for the past week and a half and before that we had vacation interruptions for a week approx. but really a big reason is I'm a chicken and I picture seaweed, fish, and dead bodies in the disgusting lake!

Thoughts on 30

You don't know how you're going to feel when a significant birthday, like 30, rolls around. I have to say, I feel great.
I've learned a lot in my 20's and care a whole hell of a lot less about what people think (thus the huge arm tattoo :) ).
I enjoy my kids more than ever and watching how fast Noah has reached 7 has made me take time to enjoy them all that much more - ie. choosing to play blocks rather than mop the floor once in a while. Someone asked today how my kids are and I found myself smiling a super cheezy mama smile and saying, "Oh, they're so wonderful." and then launching into a somewhat braggy account of each child's doings.
I'm realistic but optimistic about marriage. It's not easy, but it means a lot to have someone so committed to you even though they know all your faults. Brant is really an incredible human being is making a difference in the world around him.
I'm finally comfortable calling myself an artist. Half the time I'm embarrassed to say I make jewelry because I'm afraid that it comes across like an old lady painting rocks in her spare time or something, but it's becoming a real business and I'm getting great feedback - plus I love having a creative outlet.
I'm starting to actually form a life plan in my mind, not firm, but existent at least: teaching, volunteering in Chile and other places, giving more than taking, gardening, writing, cooking, adoption and helping others adopt, mothering.
My relationship with God has sorted itself out: Once I realized that God and Church aren't one in the same I felt comfortable being myself and still calling myself a follower of Christ, even if many Christians still think drinking alcohol is wrong and Christians can't vote democrat! :) I do both, mind you.
The list could go on, but I'll end with this, girls - Our friendships have come and gone at times and I remember phases in which we were not really in touch. A huge part of who I am today is affected by our friendships. You are my go-to girls for bouncing off ideas, problems, and well, thoughts like these. I know you love me for who I am. I love you both. Thanks for being there in these significant parts of my life!

Happy Friendship Day!!!!

I Love you both my dear friends!

When you shouldn't laugh.....

Elyse got upset about something this morning and when J picked her up she hit him, so he grabbed her hand and told her "No we don't hit" so she hit him with the other hand and he grabbed that hand too then she head butted him!!! I had to put my head down I was laughing so hard and he only kept it together by force of will. Isn't it so hard when naughty things are so funny!

Summer List

My friend here Staci and I have talked about doing so many things this summer and she finally put it all in a list and sent me an email, it makes me laugh looking at it all listed out its quite ambitious both in time, money (and we both are on rather extreme budgets) and what are kids could handle....and yet we are going to try and do it all or most before the summer is over!!

Places to go...
Ocean Shores
Alki
Kirkland
Edmonds
Downtown Seattle
Saun Juan Islands

Things to do....
Dog park
painting
water pictures
baking (although at this point we should almost wait for yucky cold day or fall)
canning veggies
pick blueberries
sew dresses
consignment store shopping
parks and rec activities
library storytime
childrens museum
camping

WooHoo what a list! We'll see what we accomplish. :) (wish ya'll :) could come too!)