Eight

Since September 27, 2003, we have:
-had 3 beautiful children
-lived in 3 different states
-and 4 different cities
-owned 3 different homes
-spent 4,204,800 minutes loving the one God made for us!

Happy 8th anniversary to the man of my dreams! I love you!

Why We Vacation

We spent last week in Cannon Beach, OR. It is difficult to vacation. I spend the entire week before vacation making lists of what needs to be packed, then actually packing, then checking to make sure I thought of everything. It is easier to just stay home where the clothes are all here, the beds are here, the toys are here, and the kids are comfortable. This video exemplifies why we vacation, though.

W do it because the kids love it! They get to do something new. They get to see the world that God created for them to enjoy. It is our way of telling them that we love them; that we will sacrifice comfort and ease for their enjoyment. That we love being with them and watching them grow. That we want to make good memories for them of fun, exciting adventures we went on as a family. We do it for Erika, Laurel, and Levi.

Not to say that we did not all have fun on vacation....we did! It was beautiful weather and fun to get to spend so much time together. We went to the beach every day, ate super yummy, not-healthy food, and played in the ocean. It was an amazing vacation and I am really looking forward to doing this every year! And, as the kids get older, it is a lot easier to travel. We can do more things with them, too. So, it was a great family vacation!

We started off right by visiting the Tillamook Cheese Factory for ice cream. And cheese.

Beautiful sunny beach weather!

Levi got to play in his tent again so as not to get completely sandy.

Building sandcastles.

I love that they love the beach like their mommy!

We introduced them to beach combing.

And wave chasing.

My cute little boy!

Love this pose. Last year I took this same picture....I am planning on taking one every year in this pose to show the growth of the kids over the years.

Levi and Daddy enjoying the ocean.

This was about 10 minutes before I got stung by a bee on the neck! Who knew that bees like the beach?





Love them!

This captain wood statue was on the porch of the vacation home we rented. The girls love him!

Levi loved our trip to the donut shop.

So did Laurel.

On the one rainy day of our vacation, we went to Seaside to ride the carousel and play in the arcade.

Wrestling in the house.

Looking at starfish on the rocks during low tide.

Super fun vacation!

Preschool Girl!

My baby, who is growing up entirely too fast, started preschool this week. She loves it! I was not ever worried about her liking school. There were other things to worry about. Like if I packed her enough snack. (I did.) Or if the other kids would play with her. (They do.) Or if she would miss me while she was gone. (She doesn't.) Her first week went very well. She is not extremely forthcoming in all the goings-on of preschool like I would like to hear about, but so far I know that she does art projects every day, plays with Hope and "a girl with white hair", sings a good-bye song and does not miss me while she's there. I love her preschool class! After meeting her teachers and looking at the classroom, I knew I would like it, but did not know just how much I love it! It seems like she is having a great time. And, I am making some new mommy-friends while standing in line to drop off and pick up our kids. I am also really enjoying having Laurel and Levi at home. As the second little girl, and so close in age, Laurel has always kind of been included as Erika's shadow. Without Erika here, however, I get to talk with Laurel and have her answer me without Erika butting in, we get to play what Laurel wants, and she gets to be the big sister to her brother. It is good for all the kids!

Getting a good night's sleep before school. She is of the use-the-entire-bed-while-sleeping variety of sleepers.

Her favorite cereal for a good breakfast before school. Rice Krispies. Not sure what happened to Laurel prior to taking this picture. I think she was smiling?

Ready for a fun day!

She loves her new Tinkerbell backpack.

Outside her school, ready for the first day!

Checking out her new classmates.

Hugs from brother and sister. Levi looks like he has the mumps. He doesn't.

One last hug from her little sister!

This is a video I took of her walking back from the playground with her classmates right before I picked her up. I'm not sure what was on her back, but it is pretty funny to watch!

And here is a video of her coming out of her classroom after the first day.

Warrior Dash

On Sunday, Matt and I, along with four of my girlfriends, ran the Warrior Dash. What is the Warrior Dash, you ask? It's the "craziest frickin' day of your life". And it is! It is a 3.18 mile run with various obstacles thrown in just for fun. The first obstacle, we had to run into chest high water and jump over a series of four logs. Most of us jumped. Matt had to throw me over the logs, however, as I lost my breath once I had to plunge into the cold water. I am more of an emerge-yourself-very-slowly-into-any-body-of-water kind of gal. I didn't appreciate running into such deep water and still having to keep my wits about me. The other obstacles were equally terrifying including climbing a ladder and sliding down a fire pole, climbing a rope up a couple story-high wall and then flinging yourself over the wall to climb down. Oh yeah, I also don't like heights. As in it is rare to even find me on a ladder. But, this race made me do some pretty silly climbing patterns. I also got to jump over fire and plunge into a mud pit and crawl on my belly so as not to get tangled in the barbed wire strung over the pit. Good times. Actually, it was pretty awesome and I did feel pretty much like a warrior when I was done. I am so thankful that Matt was with me. Honestly, I might still be trying to get over those logs right now if he wasn't there! He was very encouraging every time I had to climb up high and then pray that I would live to see my three children as I climbed back down. Every married couple should do this race together!

The women warriors: Randie, me, Kelsey, Abby, Sarah
Ok, long story ahead. The race concluded with a mud pit and mud slide, so we were pretty muddy afterwards. The kind organizers of the race provided a pond right by the parking lot to rinse off in. However, on the way from the lot to the start line before our race, Randie noticed a fish swimming in said pond. A pretty big fish. Once I saw that, I knew I would not be stepping foot in that pond. I do not swim where fish could potentially touch my leg. I really think I might pass out if that were to ever happen. So, all the other girls rinsed off in the pond while Matt and I took a chance by just cleaning off with towels and bottles of water.

Matt and I. Clean after the race. Or as clean as three towels, a sheet, and a couple bottles of water could get us.

Erika and Laurel wearing our "warrior helmets" we received for finishing the race.

Warrior Levi!

Nine Months

Levi went in for his nine-month check up this past Thursday. He continues to grow and be a healthy happy little boy! He weighs 19 pounds, 6 ounces (35%) and is 30 inches long (94%). He's a big boy! Levi still gets around fastest in the army crawling mode. He is super fast that way, though! Luckily, there is lots of room in our house for him to crawl around in and we don't have stairs to worry about with him. Which is really nice for Mommy. He gets up on his hands and knees to crawl, but then goes back to his belly to move quickly. He is pretty adorable. He can pull himself up to standing, but so far doesn't have much interested in doing anything beyond that. He gets into everything and is constantly being told "no" by his sisters as well as his parents. Poor third child. He is always talking...nothing intelligent yet.....just a lot of ba-ba, some da-da and once in a while will give the "l" sound a try. He always has something to say, though! He is now eating everything that we eat, whether it is just cut up super small or pureed. He gave up baby food, which is awesome because he no longer spits up as much as he used to. I am very thankful for that! He is truly an amazing gift from God and I love him and his adorable face more every day!

Meet the Teachers

Erika went to her preschool today to meet her two teachers. I am quite impressed with the teachers.....they seem like they are going to be great!
She was so excited! She saw her coat/backpack hook, her little cubby and walked around her classroom. The classroom is divided into three areas: art/table time with just tables and chairs; discovery zone, aka free play with dolls, a play kitchen, cars and other toys; and learning center with story circles and sharing circles and a learning table. I love how organized it all seems. There are 18 kids in her class; 9 boys and 9 girls. They divide the class into three groups of 6 to rotate through the different stations. Erika is in the blue group with 2 other girls and 3 boys. Every day they have snack time and recess. They have an outdoor playground, but the church that the preschool is in has a huge gym so they go to the gym when the weather is yucky. Every Thursday they have chapel for 40 minutes were they watch a movie and sing and dance and have a Christian values lesson. I think she'll really do well in preschool!
Erika's favorite thing to play with was the pretend kitchen. Some other little classmates were there so Erika met them and they played together. She told me that she really likes her classroom, she likes her teachers and she is excited to come back next week! That was exactly what I was hoping to hear.
Ready to meet the teachers!

The discovery zone. Laurel had a blast in here as well!

The little tables and chairs for art time and morning greeting time. Her little cubby is behind her.

Erika and her two awesome teachers: Mrs. Funk, in blue, and Mrs. McAdams, in pink.

Labor Day Beach Trip

We drove the 1 1/4 hours to the beach on Monday to celebrate Labor Day. I know I have said it before, but I LOVE living so close to the beach! It is so nice to go in the morning, spend a couple of hours, and then be back to put the kids down for a nap at home. Lovely.

The weather in town when we left at 9am was warm and sunny. At the beach, however, it was overcast and foggy and a little cold. But, we still played in the sand and dipped our feet in the water. I packed the kids swimsuits for the day, but did not pack sweatshirts or jackets or socks. Fortunately, we were able to throw a few warm outfits together with the clothes that get left in the car instead of taken in the house. Erika wore one of Laurel's jackets and Laurel wore one of Levi's jackets. So, two kids were running around the beach with too-small clothes on. Oh well, you do what you can!

Levi had on pants, but did not need a jacket due to the brilliance of my husband. We brought a tent with us so Levi could crawl around and not get sand all over him. It was perfect! Plus, it was warm in the tent so I stayed in there with Levi. We will definitely be bringing a tent with us when we take our week long vacation to the beach this month!

Levi inside the tent. He loved it!

Showing off his new talent - sticking his tongue out awkwardly to relieve his teething pain.

Getting her dig on.

Goldfish crackers and the beach. What could be better?

They love the beach no matter what the weather!

Doing laps in the sand.

Annual Fair Trip

On Monday, we went to the Oregon State Fair, our annual trip. We met Matt's dad and our niece there. It keeps getting more fun the older everyone gets! The girls had a ton of fun looking at animals, going on rides, playing games, and eating. Levi was not at all scared of the animals like his sisters were at his age. He spent most of the time in his stroller and was at just the right height for pigs and goats and sheep to sniff him. He loved it! The girls were both very nervous of the animals when they were babies, but not this brave boy.

The girls were excited to ride the ponies! This was Erika's second time riding the pony and Laurel's first. I was a little nervous that Laurel would fall off (she's not always super attentive) but she did great!

Riding the rails.

Erika on her horse, Cowboy.

Laurel's horse did not have its name clearly shown so we asked her what she wanted to call it. "Um, Ella." Which is the name of every one of her dolls, stuffed animals, and pretend friends!

We watched a Crazy Barnyard Race between two sheep, a goat, a pig and a duck. Our team, the green team, was a goat and he did not win. The pig did, if you are curious. Anyway, Erika was chosen to be the cheerleader for our team so she got to wave the flag and cheer on our animal!

Fair fun.

Thanks to Grandpa, the girls were able to ride some rides. They chose the motorcycle ride. Laurel tells us all the time that she wants a motorcycle when she is older. Erika always says she wants a van. Lofty ambitions for that girl.

Laurel started out perfectly sitting on her motorcycle....

....and eventually ended up in a speedster position! It was hilarious!
Here's proof:

Levi's ride through the fair in his stroller.

Daddy and Levi on the tractor. He liked the gear shift!