Red, White, and Blue

No I'm not catching up with a 4th of July post yet... I'm talking about my house! I finally went for it and decided to paint my front door red. I love it! First we took the storm door off, something I've wanted to do for a long time {previous owners put them in, but it didn't make much sense on such small front steps. People practically got pushed off the steps just opening up the screen}. Then I took some pictures of the house and went to pick out paint, found a color that looked great with the blue, or at least I hoped it did. I really lucked out because I didn't even try it out first, just bought a gallon and went for it. Don't ask me why I bought a gallon for a front door... I just did. Before

After
I also painted the trim white and I'm going to be painting the trim around the windows white as well. So there you go red, white and blue... what do you think?

Okay three catch up posts down, more to go...

First camping trip with all the kids!

In keeping with the catching up theme now I will share about our fun little camping trip with J a couple weekends ago. We went camping for two nights up at a lake about an hour away from our house. Our van was packed to overflowing. In fact before we ever going camping again I insist we have a trailer or rack of some sort, we were ridiculously crammed in like sardines. But it was worth it, the kids had a blast. Spike has been insisting that he was going fishing with his uncle J when he came for a visit, so we made sure to bring the fishing poles! My one and only picture of J on this trip. He was trying desperately to get out of the way, but I snap it as fast as I could. I've had to get pretty sneaky these days with the pictures.

This camp site is such a beautiful place. It's next to a lake in the mountains and is surrounded by trees and then open pockets of fields. There is a cool bridge over the water and a little play area for the kids. Lots of fun to be had. We are thinking it's going to be our yearly go to place for camping with the kids. I use the word camping loosely as we ended up getting a cabin {thankfully there just happened to be one available, when we tried to reserve one they had been all booked up} I had packed up for tent camping but was so relieved to get a cabin instead. Especially since it decided to down pour the first night we were there. I don't think in reality we are ready for tent camping just yet with all the kiddos.

The kids loved this tire swing, I could not believe how many times they wanted to spin around on it! I got sick just watching.

Running around on the grassy hills. The only big negative about this place is the horrendous amount of goose poop that was all over the place... That being said in the three days we were there I never once saw a goose. Weird. We did see a really cute raccoon though, and deer, and about a million tadpoles. I kid you not, there were black clouds of tadpoles on the edge of the lake in one spot.

The boys fishing. They didn't catch anything, but they had fun trying. Actually I take that back they did catch something on the very first night, but it was so tiny it got tossed back in. It was cute how excited they got {my husband included}.

Daddy love.

Atty was obsessed with this net. In fact he threw the most embarrassing, have to go back to the cabin, fit over it. He said he needed to go potty so I asked Bubu to hold the net while he went. He did not want to let go of that net for even a minute. From the moment those words left my mouth until about 15 minutes later by the time we made it back to the cabin the boy fell apart. He didn't get that net back for quite some time. Mommy was not a happy camper.

No camping trip is complete with out s'mores {unfortunately, as I would rather skip the whole thing}. Atty roasted his banana chunks again this year and it didn't bother him one bit. I made him sweet crackers and cashew butter "chocolate" and he had s'mores the magic diet way. :)

On our last night there we went out at dusk to go bat spotting. Wow was there a lot of bats! I couldn't get any pictures, because they are super fast. It was really fun though, we sat and fished and got all excited every time a bat swooped by.

It was fun that is until this happened. It was Spikes turn to hold the fishing pole and I looked away for a moment to watch bats with the other kids and when I looked back over he had decided to wrap the fishing wire around his wrist! Just like that. This kid is always getting himself in the weirdest predicaments. He's the same kid that shoved a crayon so far up his nose we had to take him to the ER, and they had to sedate him to get that crayon out! Anyways, it ended up being no biggy, my hubby just clipped the string. I was freaked out there for a second though because it looked so tight! Lesson learned I hope. Lesson being either don't look away when Spike is fishing, or don't wrap fishing line around your arm, either one.

Beautiful time, and an even more beautiful spot.

And I still have more catching up to do... sigh. :)

A day well spent

Wow do I have some catching up to do, one post is not going to be enough. I have all kinds of excuses for my absence but I won't bother going in to them. You're welcome.{I find it nearly impossible to get good group pictures of these kids lately, drives me crazy!}

So for starters, J is here!!! He's camera shy so I count myself lucky if I happen to get a picture or two of him. To start his visit out right, and to celebrate Fathers day {yes I'm going back that far} we went to an awesome park, it's a favorite of ours. We spent the day enjoying the beach, hiking and having a picnic.

Daddy picked his girl a rose. So sweet, she hung onto that thing for a long time... before she ripped it into little pieces.
And yes my hubby is carrying her in a sling, he's awesome like that. :)

Got my yearly rock picture. I will have to find the other ones that I have taken over the years to compare. These kids of mine are growing up way too fast! The more I try to slow things down the faster they seem to go.


Had to get a picture of us together on my man's day. He is such a wonderful daddy! Makes me so happy to know that my kids have such a great example in their father. Some one they can look up to and admire.

Beautiful and full of spunk.

And wait what is this... a picture with J in it!?! Well count my lucky stars. :) I had an unfair advantage, he was trapped after all between two little kids. Isn't he getting so tall and handsome! We are excited to get to spend some time with him, more adventures to come!

A baby crow, Spike, and getting away...

So in random news... this "little" baby crow tried to move in. He or she was really confused. I'm not fond of these birds, but this one was so sad and hungry that I couldn't help feeling a little sorry for it. The kids thought it was awesome. Boy was it noisy... I think it cawed at us for at least a couple hours before it finally went away. I saw what I think was the mommy hanging around towards the end, and I'm hoping she got him to go home. Little run away thought he was old enough to leave the nest...I know it doesn't really look like a baby but it is, still had the fluff on the underside and was opening it's beak over and over again hoping that we would feed it.
Even tried to come inside at one point. I almost caught it and called the wildlife rescue people, but then I saw the mommy bird and decided to see if it would just go back with her {plus my husband wouldn't help me and I'm scared of crows... ha ha}. Seriously it kept trying to land on me! Wasn't fond of that idea. Anyways it made for an exciting night for the kiddos.

Love these silly little critters.

It is so hard to get a good picture of this girl anymore, she absolutely refuses most days.

This picture cracks me up... look at her face, I might be able to capture her for a picture but she will NOT smile for it... ha ha!

I put on a skirt, I think the first time this year, and the boys all declared me beautiful. I love how easy it is. I mean I hardly have to do anything to hear them tell me how pretty I am. Which is the upside of hardly ever getting "fancy" as I call it. :) Honestly I'm mostly a sweats and ponytail kind of a girl. Last night I was showing Ryder what I found for swim wear, I'm a seriously modest sort of girl and so I actually bought work out wear, a shorts and tank top sort of thing. It looked like a super modest tankini. I am totally unable to find anything that covers enough for me in the regular swimsuit section and have completely given up on that. Anyways I was complaining about how I looked in it because I'm really out of shape right now and not feeling so hot about it. Bubu pips up and tells me I look super pretty. Which was really sweet. Then when I was walking away I heard my hubby tell him "good call". So funny, my boys.

The kiddos sporting their new tank tops I got them on Spikes birthday. It takes so, so many shots before I get one half decent photo now days. Believe it or not this was the best one. Sigh.

Spike and his birthday pancakes. the BIG 4 year old!

I made my first real cake from scratch. I always thought for some reason it would be hard, but it totally wasn't. Not that I did anything fancy, but Spike loved it. He had been showing me different pictures of cakes that he wanted for months before his birthday. Funny kid. He has a real need for things to be made super special for him, must be a littlest boy thing. I think he sometimes feels a little skipped over. He was disappointed that no one was coming over for his birthday but we already had a get together the weekend before. He won't stop talking about the friends he wanted at his birthday party, it seems really important to him this year, so I'm going to do some sort of get together for him later this month.

The day after Spikes birthday is our anniversary. I was 15 when we met 17 years ago, I fell madly in love, and I still am. Through all the ups and down, and there have been plenty. Saying it was our 6th wedding anniversary seemed like such an understatement. My husband and I got to go over night to a hotel, which rarely ever happens. Left the kids with my mom and sister. It was hard to do, I haven't left Atty with anyone over night since his seizures started. Even though he hasn't had any in over a year now, it still was hard to do. There is so much involved in his diet and such. Anyways in was fine, he survived, I survived and even the baby girl survived {hadn't ever left her with anyone, including my husband, overnight before}. She is still nursing to sleep, so I was a bit worried, but she made it through. We had a wonderful time, dinner and then a movie in the hotel room and then some swimming in the pool later at night {because I only had a horribly ugly and old swimsuit I waited until the pool was empty, which was nice having it all to ourselves}. Slept through the whole night with out having to get up and take care of something/someone. That was a bit weird, but beautiful. Then I tried to sleep in, but couldn't...gerrrrr.... just to use to getting up early I guess. We waited until the very last minute to check out and then we tried going down to the beach for a picnic. But when we got there we couldn't help thinking about how we wished the kids were with us. We kept talking about them and how much they would like it there, then about 15 minutes in my husband said, maybe it's time to go home, and I agreed. So instead of walking the beach and taking our time like we had planned we hurried home to see the littles. It was a nice break though, and we are going to try to get away overnight every year now around our anniversary. We have only been away together over night one other time since the kiddos. We are getting better at realizing that we need to take time together {with out the kids} as time goes by. A moment to reconnect. Usually the conversations we do have are interrupted by little voices over and over again, so to have just a simple conversation were we could concentrate on what the other was say was so nice. I think my favorite part was the comfortable silence though, not something that often happens in a house full of little kids.

It's been a busy last few week, and already the weekends this summer seem to be filling up. At some point I want to have an open house with the kids to show some family and friends what we have done in school this year. As the school year comes to an end I've been reflecting on this last year and what I did and didn't do the way I wanted to. I've loved seeing them learn and improve as the year goes by. I'm already getting excited for next year! Next year will be even better. I'm planning on posting a little more about our experience this year soon. :)

Oh, and J is coming for a visit as soon as school is out for him... we are so excited!!!

The many {baby} faces of Spike

Today is my baby boys fourth birthday! How the time flies. I decided to go through some Cd's of photos trying to look for a baby picture of him and I stumbled upon these. They show perfectly all the side of my brilliant, mischievous, funny, and very serious little man.

*Giggles*

*Toothless grins*

*Big sparkly blue eyes*

*mischievous looks*

*Contemplation*

*Serious gazes*

You are my complicated, mysterious little boy Spike, and I love every little bit of it. You keep me on my toes and always striving to understand you better. You make me question, and guess, and learn. You are always teaching me something new, and yes testing my patience as a mother {or maybe you are simply trying to teach me patience as well}. You always seem to be ten steps ahead of the rest of us, and sometimes I secretly think you are already way smarter then me. A wise soul you are. As I watch you grow I am so proud of who you are becoming. I know I can count on you to always keep life interesting!

Happy Birthday my love. My shy little boy with the beautiful big blue eyes.

Wow... busy weekend!

This weekend we packed in Atty's party {seizure free for one year on his magic diet!} on Saturday, the Seattle Aquarium on Sunday, and a really great walk in a local bird sanctuary on Monday. A fun filled, beautiful, memory building weekend, just my kind of thing. :) I took over three hundred pictures in one long weekend, so in comparison these pictures here are just the tip of the iceberg so to speak. Didn't think you all would want to wade through that many pictures, ha ha! Atty's Seizure Free party was amazing. Wonderful friends, great Atty friendly food, lots of laughs, a few tears {mostly me...} it was food for my soul.

Atty's face was lit up with happiness the whole time. Being able to share his food, and have other people enjoying it meant the world to him.

I got trophies for all the kids and had them engrave a special message on each one, they loved them. I had to have my dearest friend stand with me and talk for me at first as I was so choked up with emotion that it just overwhelmed me, but by the time Atty's turn came around I was able to talk and give him his trophy. It was a really special moment. I also took a moment to thank all the people there who have been there for me and supported me and I made a super ugly cry face as I tried to get out the words I needed to express myself. I didn't quite say what I wanted to say, but they understood, tears were shed all around and we all hugged. It was beautiful.

Then my mom surprised Ryder and I with trophies of our own. So sweet and totally unexpected. Go Team Rivers.

We finished with almond flour cupcakes, they ended up being super yummy and not a single one was wasted. Yay!

This little red head {he would say orange head if you asked him} is my Champion! He has now been seizure free for one whole year, and as of Saturday is off his medicine. All of it! Wowsers.

The next day we were off to the Seattle Aquarium. Everyone was super excited!

The under water dome ended up being one of the favorite for everyone. The boys visited it twice, and spend quite a lot of time looking around at all the amazing fish. On our second trip in {yes we went around the whole aquarium twice!} we saw a scuba diver cleaning the windows and the boys thought that was really cool.

One of my favorite pictures of the day. :)

Looking in the tide pools, a touch and feel area. Another favorite.

A lady asked me how I kept track of my kids as she was having a hard time keeping track of her two {her words, not mine} I told her bright shirts. That's the ticket. Well that and teaching your kids to mind you and stick by you in crowds, but I didn't go there with her. I do always dress my kids in really bright clothes when we go to crowded places and find that it really, really helps. In fact I was just thinking while we were there that I want to have a tie dye party this summer and make some more brightly colored shirts, they are the best for spotting in a crowd. :)

Are they truly all mine!?! I am a lucky girl. :)

On Monday we went to a bird sanctuary for an amazing walk. I was looking through our Atlas and happened to see that there was a bird sanctuary on a close by island that we never knew of before. It took us all of about 15 minutes to get there. That's my kind of outing.

It was truly beautiful and the calls of all the birds was music to the ears. We saw so many, and the kids were all really excited. The walk was a super easy maybe two miles round trip. A big bonus was an eagle nest with two clearly visible bald eagles. We were told that there were babies in the nest and the kids thought that was really neat. We all spied on them with our binoculars.

There were also lots of cranes. The kids got a good giggle over one that wouldn't stop squawking. They are really loud!

We tried to get a family photo, but it didn't work out so well. :)

My hubby and I took turns for a group shot instead. This was the end of the trail. It emptied out into reedy marsh lands right next to the river and close to the bay. Beautiful.

We were all super proud to make it to the end of the trail. And everyone was a trooper on the way back. I love that my kids like to hike, because I am a big explorer! I can't wait to go on more explorations with this team. Slowly we will go farther and farther, pretty soon maybe I can talk the hubby into a hiking/camping trip... he's not as into the exploring as I am. But he lets himself be dragged along {and I think he secretly likes it}.

One whole year!

Check out my post on Atty's blog. Today = 1 whole year of being seizure free on the MAS diet!!!

So proud of my kids! Every one of them helped to make this year successful for Atty and his magic diet. We are having a party this Saturday with close friends and family. I got the kids real trophies with a special message on them for each kid. I am so excited to give each one their trophy and see their proud little faces. I might have to have someone else read what the trophy's say, because I'll probably be to teary eyed. I also made a video to show at the party and I am hoping to be able to figure out how to post it on Atty's blog to share his beautiful story. I will also post some pictures of the party on his blog as well. One whole year down, one more to go. Actually he will always have some sort of difference in his diet, but hopefully just not as strict as it is now.

Tonight after dinner we ate almond flour muffins to celebrate and then spent some time shouting "No More Seizures!" at the top of our lungs. :)