up the canyon

 I love that we live next to a beautiful little canyon and we take advantage of it as often as we can.
This particular evening we decided to head up the canyon for FHE. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and let the dog and the boys run wild.

Every Monday night since, the boys have asked if we can head back up the canyon. It's an evening we'll definitely have to repeat.

graduation

 Porter graduated from preschool this year. Here he is with his teacher Miss Jamie (I couldn't keep Bridger from jumping around behind the two of them). Miss Jamie was absolutely wonderful and I'm so grateful that he was in her class. She is fantastic with kids and so excited to help them learn.
Porter is reading so well and he loves to read. He has learned so much this year and I'm just sad that he's old enough to go to kindergarten.
I don't know how I'll do in the fall when I have to take him to a new school. We've loved the boys preschool, and I hope that the elementary school doesn't fail in comparison.

Bridger didn't technically graduate, but here he is with his teacher Miss Adrienne. She was fantastic as well and Bridger loved her.

 After Porter's graduation ceremony we headed to get the boys their favorite snack... snow cones.

So proud of my boys and all they have learned this year.

Summer, here we come!

sayings...

I've got piles of pictures to edit and not enough time to do them. But I have to post some of these cute and funny things that my boys have said before I completely forget them. I'm sure that there are several more and I will just post them as I remember them, but here are a few from the past several weeks.

*About a month ago I had another kidney stone and Kyle and the boys took me to the hospital to get the pain under control. Both boys were a little frightened to see me writhing in pain and wanted to know what was happening.
The following Sunday at church Bridger was brought to me by his teacher. He curled up in my lap and I could tell he had a little bit of a temperature. He didn't move for a little while and I asked him "Bridger, are you okay?" He shook his head, but wouldn't answer me. I asked him what hurt and he started to mumble something. So I asked him to tell me what hurt and he slowly lifted his head and said, "I have a kidney stone".

He tucked his head back down into my arm and tried to go to sleep in my arms. Needless to say, it wasn't a kidney stone and it actually turned out to be fifths disease... which we were all thrilled about.

Just this morning he announced that his foot was hurting because he has a kidney stone in his foot. In fact, he's starting to claim a kidney stone for almost any ailment. We may have a hypochondriac in our family.

*Porter received a stack of Bible flash cards for his birthday last year from his primary teachers. He loves looking through them and since he has been getting so good at reading he's been trying to figure out all the names on his own.
I didn't know that he was looking through the cards in his room the other day but all I heard was Porter shouting, "I found Jesus!! I found Jesus!!"
Can I get a hallelujah?

*I took the boys up to Kangaroo Zoo one day and let them go crazy for as long as they wanted. It was nice cause I could chase them around for a bit and then crash on one of the couches for a while. At one point while I was sitting on the couch a little girl who was probably only one year old came over to me and climbed into my lap. Her mom came up and apologized, but I told her she was fine if her mom was okay with it.
She had been sitting in my lap for quite a while before the boys rounded a corner and saw her sitting in my lap. Both boys got so excited and started shouting, "The baby is here! The baby came! It's here!" They were a little disappointed when they realized that the baby wasn't ours, but they sat down and played with her for about an hour.  These boys are obsessed with babies and are so excited for their baby brother to join us.

*We have a boy in our neighborhood who comes over to play with the boys frequently. We'll call him "J" J is 4 years old, but he can't speak very well. I wasn't sure how old he was for a while because I simply couldn't understand him and I assumed he must have been around 2, but I was wrong.
Porter has a difficult time understanding what J says and Porter frequently asks J to repeat himself. The other day we were all playing out front and J started saying something that none of us could quite understand. We all started trying to guess what he was saying when Porter finally turned to me and said, "It's okay, mom, he's just speaking Spanish."

*Bridger continues to be a hypochondriac.
Porter has terrible allergies and frequently needs some Claritin to make it through the day. We were out watering our garden the other morning when I noticed Porter rubbing his beet-red eyes like crazy. I asked him if he needed some Claritin and he said yes.
Bridger then piped up and said that he needed medicine for his allergies too.
Bridger doesn't have allergies.
When we started talking about how he doesn't have allergies and Porter does, Bridger started to argue. And the arguing led to crying. He was so sad because he wants allergies so he can get medicine for them... and nothing changes his mind. He doesn't care if he has to have itchy, watery eyes or a runny nose. He thinks those all sound great as long as he can have medicine.
I'm really not sure what to do with those arguments. I'm at a loss of how to make him okay with being healthy.... any suggestions would be helpful.

all of my boys

It's a rare occasion that we all get to be together during daylight hours. Most families have the weekends to hang out. But we run on a slightly different schedule than most families. I work Friday and Saturday nights... which means I am home on Saturday, but if I don't sleep then I'm basically awake from the time I get up with my boys on Friday morning and stay awake until Sunday night which is about 36 hours with no sleep. So I sleep on Saturdays and Kyle is so sweet to let me catch a good cat nap on Sunday mornings too, but I'm normally so wiped out that I have to crash after church as well.

This particular Sunday I decided that I had had enough. I wanted time with my boys.

All of them.

At the same time.

So we had Charlie jump in the back of the car and we headed up our favorite little canyon. It was a beautiful day and we had so much fun throwing rocks in the river and playing fetch with Charlie.

I realized as I took this picture that I'm slightly outnumbered.

One girl, four boys.

Wait, make that five, there were five boys on this outing... I'm getting more outnumbered as we speak and I love it.

It was a perfect Sunday afternoon.

The big four.

 This big boy turned 4 in March. I can't believe how fast he has grown up! He is such a sweet little rambunctious boy and we just love him.
I interviewed him on his birthday, just to see what he would have to tell me now that he's 4.
What do you want to be when you grow up Bridger?  An engineer that fights ghosts. (we've never heard that one before... but he's stuck with it since his birthday.)
What is your favorite food? Strawberries
What is your favorite dessert? Strawberry pie
What is your favorite animal? Elephant
What is your favorite movie? The Grinch... the old one (he actually means the one with Jim Carey, the new one to him is the cartoon version)
What is your favorite color? It's still black (it's always been red, but he thinks that now that he's 4 he has to come up with a new one)
What's your favorite toy? Buzz Lightyear
Who's your best friend? Porter and Mac at school
What's your favorite number? 1
What's your favorite game? Cat in the Hat game, Candyland
What's your favorite thing to do outside? Ride my bike
Favorite song? Twinkle Twinkle
Favorite book? The Grinch and Calvin and Hobbes and I like lots of books
Where do you want to go on your mission? To Madagascar with Porter
Do you still suck your thumb? No (Yes, he does)
What can you do now that you're 4? Not suck my thumb
Tell me five things that you are good at. (I ask the boys this question frequently and I normally get some really good solid answers... Bridger was apparently on a roll on his birthday.)
1. I'm good at doing what I do.
2. I'm good at getting a cake by myself.
3. I'm good at riding in our car.
4. I'm good at growing oranges on trees.
5. I'm good at not riding in someone elses car.

He's a sweet kid. He has so much personality. Bridger never stops moving...even when he's asleep. It's a good thing his mattress is still on the floor cause when he's asleep he considers the whole floor his bed. Rarely is there not a part or all of his body on the floor. He still loves blankets, the green one my mom made for him is still his favorite. It's getting quite worn, but he sleeps with it every night.

He still sucks his thumb, although he tries really hard to stop. He told Kyle the other day that "my thumb is my favorite snack". Which is funny because I found him chewing something the next day and when he told me it was "the end of my finger" (his nail) he also mentioned that those are his favorite snack.

His real favorite snack is strawberries. Whole strawberries. He loves them.

He doesn't like chocolate, at least not real chocolate. He'll eat brownies, but he's not a fan of anything with chocolate that has the milky chocolate texture to it, no chocolate chip cookies, chocolate candy bars etc. In fact he doesn't like many desserts... cake, cookies, cobblers. But he loves frosting, candy (gummies and anything that is fruity flavored), ice cream, popsicles and gum.

He loves to eat meatballs, he asks everyday if dinner is going to be meatballs. He would eat them all day everyday... as long as he could have apples and strawberries as snacks (and fingernails and his thumb apparently).

When he was three, he told us many times that he didn't like a certain foods, but that he would like them when he was four. He doesn't like potatoes in any form (except for fries, but I don't think that counts). He has told us that he would like potatoes when he was four. Since he turned four we've had potatoes in a few different meals and he's choked them down. Last night he announced that he doesn't like potatoes. When I reminded him that he told me he would like them when he was four he told me, 'I'll like them when I'm 61."

Star Wars is the greatest in his eyes. He loves everything to do with Star Wars, but R2D2 is his favorite. He plays with "lightsavers" all the time (the Easter bunny brought the boys lightsabers) but if he doesn't have his actual one, he'll pretend anything is a lightsaber. A bat, his fork, a helmet, his shirt... they're all "lightsavers". 

Bridger loves Charlie. He thinks Charlie is the greatest, which is fantastic because he was terrified of him when we got him. But Charlie likes Bridger as well and they've become good buddies. Despite my warnings not to let Charlie get in his face, Bridger likes to lay down on the ground and call Charlie over to him to lick his face... he thinks it's hilarious.

Shorts are his favorite piece of clothing. He would wear them all day everyday. In the snow, in the rain, in freezing temperatures. He changes out of his pants and into shorts whenever he sees them in his closet. He loves them.

Bridger is so independent. He wants to do everything himself and show you that he can do it all. He is fearless (hence the reason for so many injuries and his poor mothers nerves.) He likes to argue and he likes to test his boundaries on a daily basis. But he's my buddy. He likes to cuddle and have me read him books. He's very sensitive and caring and wants to make everyone happy. He loves to share with kids that are sad and give them his toys... including his brother.  He doesn't like anybody to be sad and will cry when others get hurt, or when his brother gets in trouble.

We love this little boy. I just can't believe my baby is four.
Happy Birthday Bridge!

Neskowin

 On our last full day at the beach Kyle wanted to show me a beautiful little beach that he had stumbled onto the day before. We ditched the boys at the beach house and headed for this beautiful little spot.

 It was breathtaking.

We walked up and down the beach for a while and talked about how we have to return to Oregon again soon. It had been 10 years since I was last there... our plan is to return before another 10 years pass.

It was a beautiful vacation, one that we will remember forever.
Great company, great memories, great food!
Thanks for the good times Carri and Dave! It was a fantastic vacation.

sneaker waves

There had been a lot of warning signs for sneaker waves... and I think every one of us got caught by one at some point on the trip.
However, I don't know if any of them were documented, and not nearly as well as this one that Kyle documented of Porter.
Kyle and the boys were out flying kites on the beach while I was taking a nap.

A little boy, thrilled to be flying a kite... has no idea what is approaching him from behind.

At first, he was only a little nervous.

But then he started to get wet.

At this point, Kyle ditched the photos and ran to save Porter. Those sneaker waves were quite sneaky. Just when you thought you were safe, one would jump up and get you.
And although he got pretty wet, Porter was mostly happy that he kept his kite in the air the entire time.

Family Pictures

While tidepooling, we found a beautiful little spot for some pictures. But there was a slight catch, you could only reach the spot at low tide. So we headed out early one morning to take some shots... and it was an interesting session.

We ended up with many pictures without Bridger... cause he was running around.

And loads of pictures where he decided to join in, but not even remotely focus on the camera (we really couldn't figure out what he was laughing at here... he was staring at a rock)

After trying for a good picture for a while, we had to make it fun by frowning for a few pictures so that they would smile for others.

From getting photo-bombed by the boys when we tried to take couple shots.

 To the actual photo-bomber... he saw us setting up the picture for a while, and decided just when we all got into the frame to run across behind us and get distracted by the tide-pools so that there isn't a single photo without him in the background.

We were able to get some fun pictures of the boys showing that they really are best friends.

And at the end of it all, we had a couple of great photos...

Oregon... continues

 The next morning we got up early to head out tide-pooling. I love looking for starfish, and we found quite a few. Porter loved looking for different things in the water and was so thrilled to find starfish.

 After we got back to the beach house we caught some pictures of Kenny trying to pull off a superman jump on the back of the bike.

 And he gave it his all.

We all got cleaned up from our adventures for the morning and headed south to go see some lighthouses and sea lions.
On our way we pulled over to see the Spouting Horn in Depot Bay. With the storm rolling in that day, we saw some really big splashes as the waves would come in.

 After lunch at Mo's and checking out the bathing sea lions, we headed to Heceta Head Lighthouse.

 You can see the lighthouse in the background behind the boys while they enjoy the enormous suckers from Newport's candy store.

 It's a shame that the lighthouse was closed for repairs. But the hike was fun and the views were incredible.
Such a pretty, windy, rainy day on the coast. I loved it.

Oregon continued

 

Day three started out by exploring our beach. The boys really didn't see much of a difference in the ocean from when we were in Carlsbad back in September. Until they had been out in the water for quite some time, they didn't care/didn't realize how cold it was.

 

The boys had fun playing with the seaweed, and playing in the sand.  Here they are building volcanos in the sand. 

 

It was a beautiful walk along the beach, and a little climb up a sandhill to see some really pretty views.

 

Not the best wave that we saw here, but it was pretty cool to see this big hole in the rock with the waves coming up through it.

Kyle and the boys playing tag on the beach.

Porter loved playing in the sand. Rolling down it, digging in it, building things out of it...

 It was a fun morning, but I think all the running and the playing around wore the boys out. They fell asleep on our way to Tillamook. Porter was so tired that he slept on my lap through all of lunch.

 But he woke up for the air museum.

 The air museum was pretty cool. I don't know what it is about old airplanes, but I love them. Reminds me of  one of my favorite movies, Memphis Belle.

 After the air museum, we headed to the cheese factory. Squeaky cheese and ice cream was the perfect end for the day.