Year: 2016

Hello all!

I hope you have all been enjoying the changing season. We definitely are! It is nice to be back into our routine after such an exciting summer. In lieu of sending out a Christmas card this year, I’m posting our yearly family photos here. It is simpler and more cost effective to keep everyone updated through my blog.

We have had an incredibly busy, fun year, and we look forward to many more adventures in 2017. We hope you have a wonderful fall, holiday season, and a happy New Year!

Love,

Abby, Chris, Caidoc, and Azelie

Husband and I have been living in Washington for 20+ years and we just now made it to Paradise on Mt. Rainier. It. was. spectacular. I booked the camp sites at the beginning of spring and just happened to pick a weekend that landed on their centennial celebration! It meant that we didn’t have to pay for parking or any extra fees, which was a nice perk. We were so glad my brother, sister-in-law, and their daughter were able to join us because camping is more fun with friends. C and A loved riding bikes, making s’mores, and hiking with their cousin! 

One night we went to a little presentation done on the campground for the kids. The rangers who ran it were so nice and great with the kids. C and A earned these badges by filling out a little booklet handed out to them.

Taking the Junior Ranger oath. C was SO serious and adamant about it I just about died from the cuteness.

After he filled out his booklet C volunteered all on his own to share with the group. This astounded me, since he is normally very shy and anxious about things like that. But he marched right up with Husband and talked all about what he wrote. I can’t really describe how big of a deal this was for him, particularly because he is very aware of his speech impediment, but still was excited and wanted to share. I think Husband and I just about burst with pride. I’m proud that we’ve been able to foster this type of confidence in our little man.

Besides hiking on the mountain we also explored around a short little loop near our campsite that used to be a health resort where people would come a soak in the mineral springs that a man found there. An original cabin was there too!

I couldn’t get enough of this weird cloud!

Being able to wake up and hike right away was nice because we never ran into any crowds! It was a tad chilly though which I didn’t plan for at all, that was a bummer.

 

We couldn’t have asked for a better end to our camping adventures this season. It’s already been decided we are going back next summer, but this time we are going to try for the opposite side of the mountain, Sunrise.

We have two more trips till our summer is really over (*WHEW*) and I have to say, although I am going to miss the warm weather, I am not going to miss all the traveling and packing. It has been worth it. We have had one amazing summer so far!

Our summer has been a wild ride so far. We’ve been on our first family camping trip along the coast, Memorial Day in Chelan, a wedding in Oregon, family birthdays, all in addition to our usual routine (Brock Soccer, homeschooling, babysitting, freezer meals, coaching, etc). To say it’s been busy would be an understatement! We have many more activities and trips coming up this summer too. The preparation for all these things while caring for the kids, the house, and my jobs has been completely time consuming, which is why this blog has been a little neglected. I’m hoping to play catch up here in the next few days (thank you B vitamins). First, I’m going to go fill up my coffee cup, make sure my kiddos are still down for their naps, then I’ll get started…

Okay, I’m back! Here we go…

Chelan, WA

We spent Memorial Day weekend at Chelan. It was a hard trip! First, what should have been a three hour drive, turned into a five hour drive due to an accident on the freeway. Miss A screamed most of the way over, we couldn’t figure out what was wrong. The next day, she wasn’t any better so we went got a skype-esqe appointment for her (thank heaven for technology) and she was diagnosed with Strep AND Hand Foot Mouth. Wow, I felt so bad for her. She was a trooper and did a little better once we had medicine for the Strep. Hand Foot Mouth is a virus so we had to ride it out. We didn’t sleep much, but I think C had the time of his life.

Fort Flager, WA

Our first family camping trip was so fun! We went to Fort Flagler, WA with most of my mom’s family. It was a nice way to get introduced to camping with our kiddos since much of the food and logistics were figured out for us. What a place to camp! It was beautiful.

Husband and I are not natural outdoorsy people, as in, we’ve never set up a tent on our own before. But we were so lucky to have a lot of help with setting up our tent and cooking. We had a couple engineers, some seasoned campers, and some veteran parents: that tent was up in about 20 minutes! The kids had such a great time with all their cousins and aunts and uncles that they were all smiles. We couldn’t have asked for a better first time camping.

 

Mt. Hood, OR

The wedding we went to in Oregon was held at Mt. Hood. I have got to say, this was one of the most amazing locations I’ve ever seen! We will for sure go back next year to camp there (no seriously, I have an alarm set on my phone for when those campsites are open for the summer 2017 booking…wanna come!?). The little town at the foot of the mountain is so cute and perfect for puttering around and the hikes are kid-friendly and breathtaking. Husband was a groomsman for one of our oldest friends and was so excited to be in this wedding. We both really admire the couple since they have been together for almost 10 years (!) and are such a easy going, kind people. It was such an honor and a joy to be able to witness in their beautiful wedding.

I wasn’t able to get many pictures of us at the wedding since I was having too much fun and chasing kiddos. But, I did get some great ones of our adventures between wedding activities.

I mean, can you believe this place?! DREAMY. We can’t wait to go back.

 

 

Daily Life

Home schooling is going very well. We are currently exploring a Mountain Theme, and just finished an our Ocean Theme. We do themes in addition to working through Handwriting Without Tears and Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons because that is how I incorporate science, math, etc. Here are some of the neat projects we’ve done:

This is the erupting volcano C made!

Along with schooling, I’ve been working on pillowcases for The C+A Project, jamming, gardening, trying to train for my first Tough Mudder, and maintain some semblance of cleanliness in the house. Its been busy, fun, and tiring, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Today, while I was washing dishes and watching my children play on our porch, I was thinking a couple things: 1) I freaking LOVE that I have kitchen window into the back yard. Life saver! and 2) I live such a privileged life. I am blessed beyond measure. Lately, I have been striving to earn the amazing life and family I have. They deserve my best and don’t get it much of the time.  I’ve been trying to put things like this blog and mopping floors on hold, as frustrating as it might be. Some more than others (I mean, mopping floors? Who’s dying to do that? *excessive eye roll* ) in order to kick a soccer ball, or read a book with my littles, or actually sit and have a conversation with Husband.

Mothering is tough sometimes. But, I truly believe moms are tougher. I find that when I try my hardest each day, I mean, really, my hardest, that those are our best days. Sometimes trying my hardest means resisting the urge to not nap with my kids, because as much as I need to get things done, I’ve been horrid to be around because I’m tired. Sometimes, it means getting up early and making a nice breakfast for everyone, even though I don’t like making breakfast because I’m NOT morning person, but everyone else in my house is and I need to suck it up. And, sometimes it means not doing anything at all, but sit in the back yard and play with my kids, trying very hard to ignore that laundry because my kids need quality time. We’ve had greatness inside us, moms! Keep trying your hardest.

Anywho, that’s our summer so far in a nutshell! I’ll keep updating as we go. Cheers!

 

 

 

If I felt allll the feels with Zelie turning two, I climbed in the Feelings Bus headed towards Heart Wrench Drive when Caidoc’s birthday came (all of two days later). I suppose I felt all sad and weepy because he’s my first baby, and we are experiencing all the firsts together. He’s growing up so fast, and very sure he can do everything an adult can do, in fact it took me a few weeks to convince him he was in fact turning 4, not fifteen, like he was telling everyone. Caidoc is constantly surprising me, and I constantly underestimate him. He’s our responsible, loving, kind, clever, curious, creative, lego-loving little man who always goes above and beyond for those around him.

His Lego party was so fun. This is the first year we introduced games and he took the bull by the horns and led them all! He made me very proud.

He requested a cake. Which is really not my strong suit. But I couldn’t resist trying. All those Lego cakes Pinterest were so cool.

I love you my handsome sweet boy. The best is yet to come.

 

How is it that my baby is already two years old?! I’m having these simultaneous conflicting feelings, that she was just my tiny baby, but that she couldn’t have possibly been that small once. She is thinning out, from all her running after (and from) her brother, convinced she is too old for naps, but still likes to be called my “baby”. While all her chub is shrinking, she her vocabulary is anything but. Zelie let’s us know what’s going on. She can tell us how she’s feeling and what she’s thinking and I LOVE it. It is so fun to have a glimpse into this sweet little girl’s mind, this pink-loving, affectionate, smart, opinionated (which is a good thing!), strawberry blonde, ocean eyed daughter. We are blessed to have such an amazing little person in our lives.

I mean, she’s stunning, right? 

Those blue-gold eyes, they slay me.

Her party was a pink and gold themed, ” she leaves a little sparkle wherever she goes”. I had a blast planning it.

Yep, that’s edible gold dust. Hey, you only turn two once!

That’s one excited big brother! He was so thrilled for her.

Happy 2nd birthday my sweet girl, the best is yet to come!

 

We have been trying to get lots of hiking in, and plan to do more. Here are some of our hiking pictures so far this Spring.

 

 

I cannot imagine not homeschooling. As challenging, time consuming, and frustrating as it gets sometimes, I. LOVE. IT. This comes as no surprise. My original major in college was teaching, I’m actually only a few credits away from my teaching degree. I also spent two years student teaching grades 2-12 which were some of the most fulfilling days of my life. However, teaching my own children has been infinitely more fulfilling. Watching my kids learn, and experience that excitement and joy with them is priceless to me.

This Spring we’ve had an awesome time learning all about Spring time, along with all the other regular subjects, like math, reading, writing, religion, etc. I’ve worked our Spring theme into all our learning which is so much fun. Here is some of what we’ve done:

These terribly technical pictures (NOT) are examples of things I pulled off the internet.

I LOVED this sticky garden activity. Anything to get us outside right away in the morning for school is just wonderful.

Here is our version:

I can’t get enough of C’s amazingly cute observations about the plants he collected.

This was really fun too, both kids got very creative!

I got an amazing Spring unit off of Teachers Pay Teachers. Homeschoolers, I cannot recommend this enough. I do not use a set curriculum because I find that very rarely does it address all our needs in the ways we need it to. This site is an amazing resource for putting together your own curriculum- cheaply!

This Life Cycle of a Bean has been the biggest hit. We’ve had so much fun.

We’ve been waiting weeks for our beans to sprout and they finally did! Each day C would show Husband which part of the cycle the bean was in.

When it finally came time to plant, they were VERY excited.

 

 

They did this all on their own and were so very proud :). C knows it his responsibility to take care of the seeds now.

Whenever we start having a hard time focusing during our school we do a physical theme dance like this one:

This life cycle of a butterfly was very cool to put together:

 

I so wish I could show you and explain everything we’ve been doing but that would just take too long. But, suffice to say, it’s been so fun and exciting! Both kiddos are learning so quickly and we have a great routine down.

I still haven’t totally decided what type of theme to do after the Spring one. Usually, I prefer to have it focus on what we are experiencing currently; a season, a holiday, etc. Last year I had a weekly theme, which was very time consuming, but moved at a quick pace. This year I’m really liking having a theme last a couple months, because we are able to go more in depth and explore more aspects of theme, for example, in Spring theme we’ve been learning about the biology of insects, plant life cycles, pollination, Spring weather, etc.

That’s it for our homeschooling update right now!

Cheers!

 

 

 

 

After much planning, consternation, and budgeting, my adventures in gardening for the year may begin! I’ve finally gotten all the plants and seeds in the ground with much help from Husband. Little Man and Miss A were good little helpers watering as well. I’m very grateful for the watering. cans they received as part of their Easter presents from Grandma Jill- my plants have a more fair chance at survival now that they aren’t being drowned by the hose when the kids feel like exercising their green thumbs! (Thanks mom!)

Naturally, I started out with incredibly grandiose plans which involved reading several gardening books and magazines (thank you aunt Gwen!), after which, I was sure we could live off our land while simultaneously having a glorious Eden. But, I gradually paired down my lofty thoughts to much more attainable goals (thank you again, aunt Gwen 😊). Now, I won’t end up with a bunch of dead plants and fruitlessly spent money (see what I did there? Haha!) .

I’ve focused on growing herbs and veggies- all things we can eat. I’m excited to make lots of salads. Obviously, just by planting these veggies I’m already well on my way to a summer bikini bod. At least I feel like it should work that way, don’t you?

We’ve been working on our backyard set up ever since we moved in. Slowly, but surly, it’s coming along. Since we have small kids and this isn’t our forever house, our goal is to make the yard useful and durable. Any pretty plants or bushes that are fragile, and can’t stand up to the kiddos get put out front. What does the front look like you say? Uh, let’s just not talk about that right now. Hey, I got the garden planted! That was no small feat. Stay tuned though, I got big plans for that front yard.

 

Cheers!