Too Garden or Not Too Garden...

 I have a bit of a dilemma...

Garden boxes are done and ready to go. I planted my onion starts first. I was super excited about getting a good start on the garden this year. I haven't had one the past few years-

Anyhow, after I got the onions in, I took a short break to make lunch.

The kids were out playing.

When I got back to do some more planting- this is what I found!

GRIFF, OH GRIFF...what am I gonna do with you?

He pulled out every single onion that I planted!!!

I told him "NO"...and started replanting them.

As soon as I turned my back- he pulled them all out again...he was very happy with himself.

SO- NO MORE PLANTING until we get some sort of fence or border up to keep the 

GRIFF MONSTER out of the garden boxes.

Yikes, Geeeezzzeeee...what am I to do with this crazy kid!

 This past weekend was AMAZINGLY warm and sunny! 

Princess Lilly and the rest of us commoners, soaked up every second of it.

It was a much needed few days of outdoor fun.

 Mac didn't even complain about mowing the lawn...

 Lilly decided that he did such a great job, he could move up ranks and become a Prince.

Ha...

We were even able to set up the water slide and had a backyard full of kids before we even got the water on. I started on my garden and Pat and I got a fresh layer of bark dust down in the front yard. It's amazing how nice it makes the yard look.

Hope you all enjoyed the sunshine too!

Lunch with the Gals

I went to a church luncheon with my mother-in-law and sister-in-laws this past Saturday.

It was great to visit with all of them, have a delicious lunch and listen to the message that was being presented.

I am so blessed to have each of these gals in my life.

Thanks Kathy for a nice afternoon!

Lots of Birthdays!

 Lately we have had oodles of birthdays! We have gotten so many invites, that we have had to say no to a few of them. It's crazy! We did make sure to celebrate Tarver's 7th birthday. I told Lilly his was most important because he is family. She agreed! They played Laser Tag and then went to Grandma's for cake and presents. Mac and Lilly loved the Laser Tag!

 On Saturday, Lilly went to another party to celebrate her friend Tauren's birthday. A lot of her friends were there and they were all having a good time. (blogger has a new format and won't rotate my pictures!!! Grrrr...does anyone know how to rotate them, I need help)

Goofy Gals!

Dog Treats

 Troop 45512 had a blast last week making dog treats! We had two special guest speakers that coordinated the projects. Sara and Riley are Vet Techs and they had as much fun as the girls did!

Each of the girls were able to add-in an ingredient for the healthy treats...

Next, it was time to mix...

They loved rolling out the dough and using the dog-themed cookie cutters to make the final product!

After baking treats, the girls were given a chance to examine a dog.

Henry was more than happy to be their patient. He soaked up every bit of the attention!!

The girls were able to examine his teeth, his skin/coat, his ears, his nails and even listen to his heartbeat!

It was pretty neat...we may have a few future veterinarians in this group.

Our next adventure is coming up soon. The troop will be visiting the Oregon Humane Society for a tour and to turn in all the supplies they purchased with their cookie money!

Way Cool-

A Celebration-

We got to go out on the town Saturday evening to celebrate Fuller Bother's (Pat's work) 50 year anniversary. All of us (employees & spouses) were treated to a very elegant evening and dinner at Portland City Grill. It is one of the nicest restaurants I have ever been to. We were on the 30th (top) floor. It's located in the heart of downtown Portland, so the view was absolutely amazing!

We were all decked out....
I even wore 6" heels!
I felt like I was towering over Pat...hee-hee, I sort of was!
In this last picture I was giggling because I kept "dunking" down to be the same height as him for pictures.

It was a great night!
We are really truly blessed that Pat works for such a caring, honorable and respectful company. It's small and very family oriented. Mr. Fuller cares about all of his employees and his company very deeply. He surprised each of them with VERY, VERY generous gifts.
You just don't see that a lot anymore.
Thanks for a great party Mr. Fuller (:

Splish, Splash!

We had Lilly's swimming party this weekend and everyone had a great time.
There were over 30 kids there......oh my....it was a bit busy!!!
Good times, lots of smiles and great memories! Lilly will always remember it-
Griff never stopped the whole time.

Lilly wanted a cake that looked like water...so I did the best I could. It's a good thing I made it 4 layers high because we used every bit of it!
Thanks to everyone that came out and celebrated with us.
We sure enjoyed seeing ALL OF YOU!

The Best Day Ever...in Lilly's Words!

Lilly woke up with a huge smile on her face this morning and was so excited to get to school! We had cinnamon toast for breakfast, her favorite, and a few gifts ready for her to open. She got a hula-hoop and some fancy lip gloss from her brothers and a bride and groom Barbie Doll set that she has been wanting for a long time from Pat and I. She was thrilled with her gifts!
On the way to school she could not stop chatting about how fun of day it was going to be and that she was excited for me to bring cupcakes to her class. She had no idea that her cousin Sydney was going to surprise her at noon and eat lunch with her!! She was so surprised to see her... almost in shock! I wasn't there to see it, but can only imagine.
I got there towards the end of the school day and all the kids were buzzing around Lilly and then swarmed me when they saw cupcakes! Kids are hilarious... they sang to her and then devoured the cupcakes in a hurry!
This is one of Lilly's famous silly faces- I am not sure where the clip-on earrings came from- but she loves them!

We had pizza for dinner, per Lilly's request. She got to have another birthday cupcake and blow out her candles.

Pat surprised her with a new mountain bike helmet! She can't wait to "test" it out.

She ended the day with gymnastics. She took a cupcake to Coach Carol because today is her birthday too! Very cool!

My phone rang all afternoon and evening for her. Lots of family and friends called to tell her Happy Birthday. She also got on Face Book for the first time, so I could show her how many Happy Wishes she was given. She loved it!
While we were getting her ready for bed, she said "this was the best day ever"...
I am so glad.
She still has a big birthday party coming up on Sunday at the pool!
Thank you all for the Birthday Wishes. It made her day!

Lilly's turning 7!

When you awake in the morning, you will be 7...it will be a fun and busy day with cupcakes at school, a surprise lunch with your favorite cousin Sydney, a little celebration at home, presents and pizza for dinner and gymnastics class in the evening! Here are a few things I will always remember from year 6...

Six was fun. I have treasured it all.

You are fierce and independent, strong willed and very smart.

Your laughter is infectious.

Your smile is the best. Maybe today you may not love all the pictures of your gap toothed smile I take, but I know one day when all your adult tooth are in, I will miss that pirate smile of yours. You say funny words like "pam-pakes" and "chickmunk" though they are dwindling more and more as your vocabulary has exploded this past year with words and reading. You are now an independent reader!! Way to go!

You are constantly moving, spinning and dancing. Every person you meet is your new best friend. You are such a sweet sister to your brothers. I have no doubt that you will always have many friends Lilly- you exude confidence and fun and those are two very wonderful qualities. You stand your ground steadily. You are a firecracker, little gal. You do a lot of things that most girls your age won’t even try. You ride dirt-bikes, you ski, you ride a mountain bike, and you have NO fear on the trampoline, in the swimming pool or on the diving board. You always give everything all you’ve got.

Seven will hold many new adventures for you, but I never fear adventure when it comes to you, you just dive right in.

You draw beautiful pictures, your handwriting rocks; you love gymnastics class, and will soon begin cheer.

You dress yourself each day in fun patterns and stripes. You love dresses over blue jeans, but play hard and tough like the boys do.

You have the warmest, deepest brown eyes I have ever seen and beautiful wavy hair.

You had to learn a very sad and hard lesson this past year about love and losing a loved one. You love Grandpa Tex with all you have. We can all see it in your eyes, your actions and how you speak of him. He is so very proud of you Lilly- always, always remember this and always remember how much he loves you, all the special times and memories of him. You are right when you say that he is an angel and that he is watching you. You have handled this whole process with remarkable grace. We are all so proud of you baby girl. Grandpa Tex always called you “the apple of his eye” and he even picked out your name.

You still sleep with a blankie at night tucked under your chin, which I love.

Your favorite colors are pink and blue.

Next fall you will be a big second grader. I know you are so very excited for that day to come, but for now we have spring to look forward too and a whole summer to play, laugh and linger in.

Happy Birthday sweet Lilly!
You amaze your Daddy and me every day.
Your spirit is full of sunshine and happiness. May you forever keep that and may all your birthday wishes come true. We love you so very much.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!

We had a great day full of love, family, sunshine, delicious food, laughs and lots of candy!!

We could not have asked for a more lovely day.
(except for Griff to look at the camera just one time!)
Hope you all had a great one too!

Easter Prep!

I think we are ready for Easter...
...the eggs are done, most of food is done, candy is ready to go, clothes are ironed...and kids are EXCITED!

They were very into decorating the eggs this year.

We went to the community park today to participate in the big EGG hunt they have every year. There were a lot of people there! It turned out that there wasn't an egg hunt for Mac's age group, so helped Lilly eye-ball a golden egg and other big goodies from her section for her age group. With her big brother's help, she came up with a very strategic plan to be the first kid to one of the golden eggs...

...and she GOT IT! She was so excited!

When she turned in her golden egg, she was given a sweet Easter Bunny. She did not put it down all day and it went to bed with her tonight!

Griff ended up not doing the hunt for his age group. They had each section roped off by age and parents were not allowed into the hunting area at all, not even with the tots. I thought that was a bit ridiculous and knew that Griff would probably run away or I would loose him in the total chaos of all those kids...there were TONS of them. I told a few of the people that were "working" that section that I felt it was not a good idea to not have toddlers accompanied by an adult. Of course, it got me nowhere. I will be contacting the city about it and also asking why Mac's age group was left out. They even had a Teen Flashlight Egg Hunt last night for kids in grades 6-12. Mac couldn't participate in that because he's a 5th grader, so today they left out 4th and 5th graders. Really not that fair, I think.
Hope you all have a very fun and blessed Easter!

Feeling Better-

We are all "on the mend" finally. The kids have been able to go to school. They are still coughing a bit, but everything else has cleared out. Pat is better and Griff and I are the last one's to need maybe another day or two to get rid of the crud we have all had. It has definitely been a LONG few weeks! We all have cabin fever from being in the house for so long to get well!
On the positive side, it is still snowing, so the kids can make up some ski time that they missed the last few weeks. We can also still go cosmic sledding at ski bowl. The kids have really been wanting to do that for awhile now.
Griff and I have been having lots of snuggle time and rest time the last few days while the kids have been back at school. I think he has finally gotten over Pat and I leaving him when we went to Texas...LOL!
Lilly has started gymnastics and has just a few days left before she is an official 7 year old...YIKES!! I can't believe she is going to be 7.
Mac starts track on Monday, he likes running, so he's looking forward to it.
We are all ready for the Easter Bunny to visit us as well.
We seem to be getting back in a routine.
Hallelujah...it's about time (:
I have decided that Faith in God includes Faith in His timing.
Love to you all-

Hail

This looks like snow, but it isn't. We had a hail storm yesterday that was pretty crazy to see. It was coming down hard and fast. The roads were completely covered. Very odd...it is APRIL!

Then, this morning we woke up to SNOW...in APRIL.
I don't know what's happening to our weather, but it's nuts!
Lilly was whining this morning about how close it is to her birthday and she does not want snow for her birthday. It's funny how kids think we (parents) control almost everything (: