its a bit belated but here it is

the kids got their hair cut last month. izsak has had long hair since he was about 6 yrs old (at his request) and was curious how he looked w/ short hair. i wasn't a big fan of the hair cut at first because i thought it made him look younger (like six?). but it doesn't really matter because he still normally wears a hat.

ryenn doesn't really like hair on her neck and has had short hair (at her request also) off and on. in september she got a bob, but is wasn't a good, proper bob. so for her summer do she wanted a proper one and rob found someone who could do that. :)

ah...

on thursday rob and i had the opportunity to see "flight of the conchords" up in portland. first, we picked up cousin tim from salem to watch the kids and pets. then we headed up to portland and visited briefly with our friends the becks. at 7:15 we made a mad dash to downtown portland to the albert schnitzer concert hall. there is really not a bad seat in the house there and we enjoyed a really humorous show. rob did awesome considering there were so many people. indeed. we lucked out w/ aisle seats which make him feel less anxious. and believe me, the crowd at the show just couldn't sit still. every minute somebody had to get up to what? go the bathroom? smoke? it was a sit down show and quite a few people had a hard time w/ that concept. regardless, we had fun. we then headed back to the becks where we stayed up too late chatting. we then spent most of friday with them, eating lunch at the park and then visiting the model home of their future home and walking around the neighborhood to possible lot options. and connor (their two year old) only threw a major fit once. :)

rob and i then headed to the movie theater and saw "wolverine". we very much enjoyed it. me for hugh and rob just in general. :)

after that we headed to our friends the davisons where they'd prepared a very lovely dinner of chicken (as in a WHOLE bird), kale w/ green beans, salad and mashed yams w/ potatoes. it was delicious!! we then went out for dessert and drinks. then we splet in their cozy, delightful guest room. the next morning they made us a fabulous breakfast w/ fresh eggs from their chickens (in which they discovered days old kittens in the coop while we were there), corn bread muffins, toast (mark is english..gotta have the toast) and the BEST coffee.

we then had a very easy drive back considering it was a sunny saturday and the traffic could've been a lot worse. in fact, the average speed was 70mph in the fast lane much to my dismay and if i hadn't been so tired i might have been more irritated. :)

all in all a fantastic reprieve from the kids and pets. this next weekend when i head to san francisco for three days for a sisters weekend!

better example of color

deck's comin' along

so you can compare, i've started this w/ a pic the old deck and stairs, complete w/ the beautiful toddler/doggie barricade

and this is what it looks like today after rob's work. i wish i could convey how gorgeous the wood is. but i'll have to try to take a pic or two on a sunny afternoon.

rob requested my assistance and i'm sure he was sorry because i have to known how he's doing it and why he's doing it that way because i know so much about it. :) but we got it started! next apparently are the stairs.

Thoughts on being a mom

1) it is difficult for me, a generally selfish individual, to be unselfish and yet without children i imagine i would be a horribly self-absorbed person. so for them i am grateful.

2) even to this day (with an almost 12 yr old), i still find it odd i am indeed a mom.

3) i totally understand women who choose not the have kids

4) the older my kids get the better it is to be a mom. having conversations with my children can be so interesting and having them understand me it by far the best!

5) i wish my impatience with my children wasn't as frequent. it really isn't their fault i might be pmsy or stressed out. they are very forgiving of this character flaw of mine, however, i could be better about it

6) i wonder what my kids will do/be as adults

7) i hope i'm teaching respect and tolerance

8) being mom makes me more keenly aware of all the unpleasantries of life and i have new nightmares/worries/fears than before motherhood. it has made me cautious

9) my stomach will never be the same. however, it is evidence of two of my accomplishments in life

10) i am so grateful at this time that my children are healthy

11) in regards to my animal children...i am finding it difficult to like their new spring schedules and waking up at the butt crack of dawn and scratching and banging on bedrm doors to be let out and start the day roaming the house (or in sparky's case, simply going to sleep in a different room). however, with the addition of the two cats and another dog i feel my family is indeed complete.

12) i love my kids. still working on fulling appreciating them, but i do love them. :)

birthday girl (from 3/26!)

It was a girlie's 8th b-day in march and since my digital camera came back not working after being "fixed" we had to rely on a disposable camera. the quality is awful, but at least it's documented....

so ryenn turned 8 and hung out w/ her best friend aiden who shares her birthday (he turned 6). she hung out w/ him at his house for his party the first half of the day and then we had aiden that night.

ryenn wanted cheesecake for her cake.

she loved her gifts. she got a coloring book, big soft fluffy pink dog gel pillow (which she uses every night and calls it "fuzzy"), a cute shirt, in-line skates and a tattoo airbrush gun.

she wanted to go to pizza, so we went to chuck e cheese, which we just got in our area last year and had never been.

ryenn has grown at least 2 inches since the summer and poor aiden hasn't grown one bit, so even though there is only a 2 yr age difference she looks like amazon woman compared to him and he looks like her 3 yr old brother... they make an odd couple...



they really like the air hockey. i would love to have our own someday...

i totally thought i had some pics of me, but alas, not really. there is ONE and i have a mouth full of food. so its not the most attractive picture and while i think its funny, my mom read this post and i wouldn't want to be "uncouth". :)

ps-- on a non-sequiter note, rob has begun the deck around our little pool yesterday. hope to have pictures of that soon!!

cause he's so cute

Ah...big puppies. Finally got my film developed and was pleased to see on these days it cooperated...just sharing how totally cute Leo is... :)