Randomness

A few random moments: 

Dad sharing a funny video with the kids

Marcus blowing air into a beer bottle (really...)

Is this before or after he was blowing air
into the beer bottle? 

Marin the animal lover #1

#2

#3 (this time i warned her not to get her eyes
 poked out! Cuz I'm nice like that)

Hanging with three cute Bury babies

Saying yes :)

You know how being a parent means a lot of saying "no"? Kids ask for things all the time, and I recently re-read my favorite blogger's well circulated article about starting the summer off right, and what kinds of things to say YES and NO to - once you have them all at home again.

It was such perfect timing, because my girls have been asking me to get "tips" put on their hair... Basically they want bright colored hair like My Little Pony. Back in my day (back when people walked to school barefoot), it was a really rare, and extreme thing for a child to have purple hair. All I can say is, it's a new world. Colored tips is just a THING, and my girls wanted to experiment.

Well guess what girls... Mom and Dad said YES to that... They each earned this privilege by completing some important tasks, plus they each added some of their own money to the pot, and we made the appointment a few weeks out so they could REALLY mean it when they walk in with natural hair, and walk out like Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie  (I know all the names of My Little Pony characters, be jealous).

So here we go - the sweetest most brightly colored little girls you ever did see!

They were surprised how long foils take :)

Strawberry picking

I really value being on time. It bugs me to death if I'm late for something, I just am wired this way. However, when it comes to trends and "doing what Portlanders do" I am always fashionably late. Case in point - I lived in Portland for seven years before I ever stepped foot on a light rail Max train. 

Second case in point - berry picking. The entire earth within a 60 mile radius of me has gone berry picking in this region, because Northwest berries are the best, and you can go pick your own fruit at the zillions of farms near my house, for pennies on the dollar compared to buying fruit at the store. But see, I really value my fashionably late personality when it comes to trends, so I just decided to take 10 entire years of living here before I had this experience.

So... Marcus and I, and a handful of school friends went strawberry picking this week. It was fun! And didn't take that long (I also don't have large dreams of picking a truck load), and it was cheap! And GUESS WHAT I DID NEXT?!?!?

(I made jam)

Also something my mother and Kyle's mother did alllllll growing up, and I have not done once in my entire life. Not one time have I jarred, canned, dehydrated a single solitary thing. I would die of starvation if I lived on the Little House in the Prairie. I'm a spoiled city girl!!

So, really I'm just so proud of myself. I made home-made strawberry jam. Go me. I could survive on jam :)

Satisfied with myself

Happy 70th birthday to Nana

Kyle's mom turns 70 this year, so we had a big family celebration weekend with all the sibs coming into town. We had a family BBQ on Saturday (which Max and I sadly had to miss, due to his stomach bug) complete with matching "Nana's Favorite Grandchild" t-shirts for all the cousins -  and then an adults-only dinner on Sunday evening. It was a special time with fancy food, everyone going around the table sharing their toast, and an after-dinner walk to Salt & Straw for dessert. It is always good to gather together - look with your eyes, hear with your ears, feel with your heart - all the blessings God has given you. Such a special family.

All the favorites (minus Maxy)

The original seven

Special menu

My love for life.

In line at Salt & Straw

The gang

Fishing with Marin

Fishing happens in spurts around here! The same week he took Marcus, he decided that it had been a very long time since he took Marin fishing, so he pulled her out of school for one day to have a day on the lake together. Her teacher is so awesome... She knows the environment for all Intel families has been stressful with all the layoff announcements, so she fully encouraged us to let her skip a day. As she put it "you don't get unlimited opportunities with your parents in life, take them now when you have them". I love her. And these two fantastic "cut from the same cloth" fishing fans... They love each other so much, and they are so similar. I love that the have so much fun together, and genuinely get the same things.

Always with the critters

Kyle's trips

Kyle had an unusual month of lots of international travel for work - both Netherlands and China... He sent a few pics of his adventures! So glad to have our Daddy home again :)

Special days for Max

Max is... like... almost grown up or something. I quickly blinked this time last year, and suddenly I have a boy who does the following:

- LEARNED TO RIDE HIS BIKE (that makes two down, two to go... we are on a roll!!)

He likes skateboard gloves and kneepads

- GRADUATED from KINDERGARTEN (at church, a special ceremony with a presentation of his own Bible with a blessing Kyle wrote from us inside)

- Buying his own Magic Treehouse books at Barnes & Noble (he had his own gift card he won at school! I am not even needed for the money! All he needs is a ride!)

Marin's Timbers field trip

Oh man, I do love being with my kids' friends at school. I love volunteering, and I really love field trips. It is rare that I can go on a field trip with my big kids, because it is usually an all day commitment, and Marcus is only in preschool for a couple hours. Daytime sitters are hard to come by! But my favorite, Meredith, cleared her calendar for this special occasion because she loves me (I mean Marcus) that much. She actually is besties with Marcus, she used to watch him all last year every week during my volunteering. They miss each other! He was so excited to have a whole day with her. Like really... "Mom you can go now. Pleath leave now"... really excited :)

And guess where Marin's field trip took us??? To a Timbers game at Providence Park. There was a regional "Health and Wellness" event for students, so we got to take the Max train downtown and watch the U-23 team play a game, and go through all the booths about health and wellness. It was super fun. And super crowded. Being on downtown city streets with a bunch of 4th graders is no joke man, I even made my crew hold hands a couple times (they loved that, two girls - two boys - and a Mom holding hands, ha!) Actually they were real champs, and I only briefly lost a kid once on the Max train when the little punk (kidding, I love that kid!) slipped through the packed train to say hi to his friend. That freaked me out, but we found him quickly. Not on my watch are we losing any kids, my word.

Anyway, I had a delightful time with this little crew, and they are all the most precious and hilarious, exuberant and affectionate kids! I learn so many things from my conversations with kids in general. They have so much to share, and sometimes nobody to share it with. One reason I'm so glad our family is in public school - it was such a special day of me able to love on these kids, and be their cheerleader for a day. (I also taught a few kids some of the Timbers songs, ha!)... We had an awesome time, and it was such a fun experience all around. I. LOVE. THIS. STUFF!

My babies for a day ;)

Trying on Lacrosse gear. Just say no (to head lice).

One of the boys bought us cotton candy. Sweet young man!

My doll.

We are proud of our face tattoos.

Decompressing on the ride home!

Date Hike

We had an overnight date planned last month, and we had made a reservation at a cool downtown Portland hotel. But honestly... as it was approaching, I think both of us were just not in a city-date sort of mood. I mean, I LOVE THE CITY, but it had been a hard month, Kyle's job situation had been over-the-top stressful - he had been overseas for most of it, then the Intel layoffs hit the press... a lot of stress all around - so when you are frazzled and emotionally wiped out, you sometimes just need peace and quiet, not more action.

So... we changed our plans, cancelled our reservation... And instead spent the day on a hike, followed by an afternoon exploring Hood River. Honestly, it was so therapeutic being outdoors, just the two of us. We hiked Eagle Creek in the light rain, and then enjoyed walking around Hood River with a dinner out. There is really something special about having the entire day to decompress. Our kids are our biggest joys, but it is a round-the-clock adventure and taking a break from this adventure once in awhile is such a good thing. So thankful for our families who are so willing to give us these breaks.

Madeline the Brave

Maddie's pastor always tells the kids "God transforms you when you step outside your comfort zone".

She has really had to keep that in the forefront of her mind, as there have been a couple big things for her to overcome. For some kids, these things are no big deal, but for her it was a very big deal. Two big things within a few days of each other - first was a blood draw - little darlin' has been so sick in the last few months, just a whole host of infections, viruses, it has gone on and on and she has literally missed weeks of school if you accumulate it all. So we decided to do some blood tests, to just put our mind at ease. But trying to convince her that letting someone stick a needle in her arm was a GOOD IDEA was not going to be easy. (Results came back totally normal, thank goodness)

The other event was a big dentist appointment, getting a tooth pulled and a cavity filled. I personally know what physical anxiety at the dentist feels like when you are laying back in the chair, and anticipating it - that is hard for even a person who doesn't spook easily.

Here's the cool, amazing thing... God wants to free Madeline from her anxiety. This is happening day by day by walking with her through scary things. She is gaining self confidence and learning she is an OVERCOMER, each time she gets through something hard.

They say self esteem cannot be gifted to your child by way of flattery. Self esteem truly only appears when a person actually does something meaningful, and then as a result they get the gift of confidence because they actually DID IT. It is not going to work for me to just tell Maddie she is brave, that she is an overcomer. I can totally encourage her in that truth, but she has to walk in it herself to truly be transformed. And she did.

Remember those necklaces from the baptism? Well, as luck (nope, not luck) would have it, her amazing teacher presented her this necklace the week of her two big appointments, and I will tell you that little girl clutched her necklace through it all, as a tangible reminder of the verse printed there. Psalm 32:7 ~ "You are my hiding place, you keep me safe from trouble".

We pray for each other so that BIG things like this will happen in the lives of our kids. Thank you God for inviting us to pray, to lean on Your power and be transformed.

The face of victory

Her rewards: self confidence, and milkshakes :)

Graduation season

The first of the cousins has graduated high school! Happy graduation to my nephew Jake. He has been through a lot, and I feel so proud of him for persevering and accomplishing this goal. We celebrated at one of his favorite spots in downtown Portland.

The ladies

The dudes