Soren's Preschool Graduation

From Soren's preschool graduation on May 31st, 2012...

Bored.

Bored-er.

Bored-est.

Though Soren looks bored in these pictures, he did a fantastic job in the ceremony.  He was one of the loudest singers and said his memory verse with volume and confidence!  The kids even said the Lord's Prayer and he knows every word. I'm so proud of this little guy and there is no doubt he will excel in the years to come.  Ha ha...he gets annoyed and confused when Synnove doesn't do her math homework right because she insists she's got the right answer.  I'm sure you can imagine the look on Synnove's face when either Adam or I tell her that Soren is actually right!  What Soren "lacks" in sass, he makes up for in smarts :)

The Last Days of Preschool

Soren had a busy last month of preschool.  We started May with a field trip to the market to pick up supplies for the annual Spring Tea.  I forgot my camera for that trip...but have similar pics from last year.  Grandma Quashnick, Grandma Patty, and Grandma Suzi were able to make it to this year's Spring Tea.  Again, no pictures.  Soren made me a giant heart cookie and a card with a magnet with a cute picture of him on it.  The kids sang songs for us (Soren was the LOUDEST singer) and did a great job being adorable.

Synnove's Daisy Troop donated some of their cookie money to the preschool to help them build a new sink in the classroom.  Part of the construction of the sink is going to be tiles with the kids' hand prints on them.  So, we took a last minute field trip to the high school to make the tiles.  The kids also made their own pinch pots as well.  They still haven't been fired or glazed, so hopefully I'll get to see his creations soon. 

The kids celebrated Hawaii Day for their last day of preschool.  Soren had the perfect outfit with his special pirate boat sweater and the shell necklace Miss Kara brought back for the kids from her Hawaii trip in January.

As a fun experiment, the kids helped Miss Kara crack open a coconut and drink the stuff inside.  Out of Soren's group, he was the only one game to try it.  From the look on his face, it didn't taste too great.

Coconut bowling.

Miss Alyson and Mr. Jim made yummy smoothies and Papa Murphy's pizza for snack.  The kids also celebrated all the summer birthdays.

Linus

With the discovery of more rat poo in the garage, and the never ending rat problem in the shop, we decided another cat would do us good.  The kids were very surprised when my friend Andrea and her girls delivered him to our house this morning.  Her girls brought him home from their Grandpa's dairy farm yesterday and wanted to find him a good home.  He's very sweet, tolerant, and purrs a lot.  He's been putting up with the kids carting him around aaaaallll day.  We named him Linus since we have a "Peanuts" theme going on at our house.  Charlie is undecided on whether he likes him or not...time will tell.

Catching Up: April

Well, I've finally downloaded pictures on my computer from the last two months.  It's funny, on a few occasions, I've actually found myself at my computer ready to write a quick blog...until I realize my camera is upstairs...full of the photos I'd want to include. And, instead of going to get the camera, I move on to doing something else.  Even as I type, I'm running out of time...we just got home from softball practice and the kids are outside enjoying a rain-free evening.  However, bedtime is less than an hour away, the kids still need a bath, and Synnove still has homework. Adam is out again for work, so it's just me.

Here's a few pictures from April...

To be honest, I'm not sure why the kids an I were at the Weaver's house.  The kids had their boots on, so we must have made a quick run somewhere...umm...yes, that was a crazy day involving kids over at my house, locked keys in a car, a garage sale, and helping a friend set up for a jewelry open house.  This picture was taken when I had to drive Andrea to her house after picking up her spare key from a friend.  Her oldest (not pictured) got pigs for her first year of fair and the kids were in the pig pen...

 The preschool went on a special field trip to visit the Astoria Trolley.  We got our own private tour, and each kid got to ring the bell.  I'm pretty sure that was Soren's favorite part.

We had some very nice weather in April...a mini-heat wave!  So, we took the opportunity to have the Bigelow's and the Wilson's over for a BBQ.  While the husbands and the kids played on the 4-wheelers, I stayed in with the mommies and the babies.  We laid Avyrie and Evelyn on my bed for a bit and watched them play...Avyrie loves to give "loves."

Everyday Favorites

It's always fun to hear what other people use every day...especially other moms.  There are so many wonderful products out there and I would love to hear what I've been missing out on!  So, I encourage all my blogger friends to do the same.  Here are just ten of my favs...what are yours?

1. Stonyfield Organic whole milk yogurt. YUM!  I bought some of this stuff a couple of months ago and have been stuck on it ever since.  When the kids were going through rounds of antibiotics, I started making fruit smoothies with probiotic powder EVERY day and this yogurt is a yummy base.  Sure, I miss a day here and there...but I try my best.

2. Clek booster seats.  After we got in our car accident a year and a half ago, I took the opportunity to trade in our beLOVEd Britax Marathons for some new boosters.  Of course, I did lots of research.  Mainly, I wanted them to be safe, comfortable, and user-friendly.  These seats are very comfortable, they are height adjustable, they recline, AND they latch!  It's rare to find a booster that latches in your vehicle.  My main complaint with them is that the recline can be tricky and very frustrating.  Overall, though, I think these seats are fantastic and worth the hefty penny they take to purchase...ugh.

3.  Thieves household cleaner.  Natural, kills germs, smells lovely (kinda clove-y), cost effective, versatile.  I use this stuff in my home daily, use it when I clean with my friend in her cleaning business, and I've got the local preschool using it. It's just plain great.

4.  Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 lens.  I got this lens for Christmas, and though I still haven't taken the time to figure out my camera, I really love this lens!  PS....I accidentally dropped my camera last month and thought I had broken it! BUT, my darling husband fixed it...phew!

5.  Leapfrog Leapster Explorer.  I got these for my kids a couple of Christmases ago, and they are pretty fantastic.  My kids go through phases of playing with them, but they are great for the car.  The new LeapPads look pretty cool too...but I'm not gonna fork out the extra money for new ones.  Since getting our new computer, I've been able to utilize the online part of the Leapsters and have been able to see what the kids have been learning!  It's pretty neat.

6.  Mary Kay Lash Love mascara.  OK...I didn't really want to put MK on this list, but I just can't get over how much I love Mary Kay mascara! I've got blonde lashes that usually need several coats of mascara to be dark enough for my liking and then, by the end of the day my mascara has flaked and faded. I started using MK Ultimate mascara a long time ago and was sooo impressed.  It only took me two coats and I was done.  Lash Love (fairly new) only takes one coat, and neither mascara fades by the end of the day. LOVE!

7.  Liquid Vitamin D3.  We've been buying this stuff at Costco for the last year or two and it's a great way to give D to the kids.  I give each kid a double dose every night.  I'm not a fan of the fact that it changed it's product to now use Sucralose to sweeten it, but use it still.  If there are any readers out there that have a better suggestion, I'd love to hear it!

8.  Etsy.com.  I realize this isn't really a product, but it's the one place that I LOVE to browse on a regular basis.  In case you were wondering, I haven't joined Pinterest yet...on purpose.  I really only have time for Facebook, Etsy, and Blogger...and by the lack of posts, you can see I don't even have time for that!

9.  Borax.  I started using this last year when I started making my own laundry soap.  Now I use it for cleaning...and it works great! I love it for cleaning the shower.

10.  Odwalla Juice.  I don't get nearly enough fruit and veggies in my diet.  I'm always feeding them to my kids, but for some reason, I don't eat them as much.  Back in March, my parents bought my husband a juicer for his birthday, and we love it....but don't seem to find the time to juice enough.  It's also difficult because we live a few miles out of town and only buy fresh produce about once a week.  It's hard to plan for those times when you actually have some time to juice and have the produce on hand.  So, we (Adam and I) drink a lot of Odawalla...superfood is my fav!

Mr. and Mrs. Thompson

Daniel and Heather got married on Monday, April 9th...yes, Monday.  Apparently, the number 9 has some meaning...don't ask me what.  It was a whirlwind day, but absolutely beautiful considering they had 5 weeks to plan.  As I type, they are headed to Florida with Heather's parents on a trip that's been planned for months.  The trip was a gift for Heather's graduation from massage school and they invited Daniel to come too.  So, they decided to get married two days prior and make it a honeymoon as well!  Though it was a short engagement, this was no shotgun wedding.  I think they are just two love birds who know what they want and wanted to take the next step.  When they got together last July, I admit I thought they were an unlikely pair...but as the weeks passed, it was hard not to see how perfect they were.  I'm so happy for them!

I took quite a few pictures, and it was hard to pick just a few. I decreased the size of these so they aren't the best quality...but you get the idea...



Emily (a friend from massage school) and Heidi were bridesmaids.  Faith and Tyler (Heather's niece and nephew) and Synnove and Soren were flower girls and ring bearers. Not pictured...Steve Tadei and Henry Balensifer (groomsmen)

Getting ready to walk down the aisle

Lots of happy tears. Daniel giving his dad a big hug.

teary mommies

My great grandma Ruth Thompson made the cake for Don and Alice's wedding 24 years ago, so Doris (Alice's mom) thought it was only fitting to make the cake for Daniel's wedding.  She even made the groom's cake...Daniel's favorite (and mine)...chocolate.  Usually, I'm a white cake girl...but Doris' chocolate cake is to DIE for!  She even let me take the extra chocolate cake home! YUMM!

Synnove and Faith watching the cake cutting.



Off to their new apartment in Warrenton...Daniel had to go to work the next morning :)

Easter

Oh boy, Easter was a busy one this year.  The marathon started on Friday.  Synnove went to school and my Dad picked up Soren so I could clean 3 houses with Andrea before 2:40 (when the kids were going to be dropped off at her house by the bus).  From Andrea's I headed to Warrenton to drop Synnove off with my Mom and go to Les Shwab to get my studded tires off.  Synnove had a big school project due on Monday, and Friday night was going to be the only time that she I could get it done. We worked on the project while my car was being worked on. Meanwhile, Mom had planned a last-minute dinner at her house so that she could give all the kids their Easter baskets together.  A couple of weeks prior, Chris and Elise officially found out that Chris has an 11-year-old son.  As you can imagine, it's been an adjustment (to say the least), and as a family, we've been trying our best to make Forrest feel welcome.  Adam had taken the day off to take his Dad to the doctor in Portland, so he took a different way home so that he could have dinner with us.  We had Pizza.

The next morning, I got the kids ready to head over to my Grandma's in Warrenton to color eggs, eat candy, and have fun with the cousins.  It was a beautiful day and the kids had an exceptional time! We had Fultano's Pizza for lunch, hid eggs, and played with silly string.  We had to head out early to go to the rehersal for Daniel and Heather's wedding that the kids were asked to be flower girl and ring bearer in.  And guess where the rehearsal dinner was??...Fultano's Pizza.  Pizza for 3 meals in a row...wow.

On Easter Sunday the kids woke to gifts from the Easter Bunny and then we got ready for church.  We decided to go to my parent's church so that we could see family and friends.  Our church was having an early service, and was going to be much less intimate.  We had a wonderful breakfast at the church, I got to see some friends I haven't seen in many years, and the kids got to do another egg hunt!

After church, we all headed to Ridgefield, WA to have our traditional Easter celebration at my Aunt Kathi's house for more egg hunting and fantastic food.  We made it home at a reasonable time so that we could get the kids to bed for school and Daniel and Heather's wedding the next day...phew!

I only have pictures from Grandma Barb's house...

All the kids were there except Brielle...she was napping.

After I took this picture, I realized my camera was in manual focus...duh!

There were 3 girls and 3 boys so they took turns hiding eggs for each other.

Grandma bought everyone a can of silly string...60 seconds of mayhem