While sister is napping....

the brothers will have a photo shoot with mom :)

Dark-eyed Brothers

One of Mommy's tie dye creations

Huh?!

one step forward....two steps back

Over the past week we have decluttered a lot of stuff; 5 - 33 gallon bags of clothing, HUGE box of shoes, toys, misc. housewares, 1 - 33 gallon bag of toys (the boys chose the toys to give to other kids that didn't have any, and they did this without a fuss :)
It feels good to declutter, it was needed obviously, but the more I declutter the more I realize how much JUNK, excess stuff, whatever you want to call it that WE have. I have my reasons for keeping some of the stuff; another child will wear it down the road, when Téa and Dillon are older they will use the two extra beds we have. However, there is some stuff that there is absolutely no need for...I do not need 5 30gallon plastic containers full of Christmas decorations, I do not need pictures frames that I have no room on the wall for, I do not need stuff in a filing cabinet that I haven't looked at in atleast 2 years, I do not need a lot of the stuff that I have.
We are moving to a much smaller house, even though it is suspose to just be temporary, we do not have a specific length of time we will be living there. I feel like the Lord is challenging us to live simpler, to not just accumulate stuff because we CAN. The Lord has called us to move back to Eureka, to live in a small home and to make good use out of what we have. I mean what is the point of saving all of this stuff, just for the *day* that we *might* be able to use it. I mean who needs 4 Pyrex cake pans, plus two metal ones, who needs 12 coffee/tea mugs that match our dishes, plus 10 or so others that don't match.
I feel motivated to continue decluttering, to live a simpler life...I guess I fear one day I will regret giving away something, silly, silly.

one step forward, two steps back

Over the past week we have decluttered a lot of stuff; 5 - 33 gallon bags of clothing, HUGE box of shoes, toys, misc. housewares, 1 - 33 gallon bag of toys (the boys chose the toys to give to other kids that didn't have any, and they did this without a fuss :)
It feels good to declutter, it was needed obviously, but the more I declutter the more I realize how much JUNK, excess stuff, whatever you want to call it that WE have. I have my reasons for keeping some of the stuff; another child will wear it down the road, when Téa and Dillon are older they will use the two extra beds we have. However, there is some stuff that there is absolutely no need for...I do not need 5 30gallon plastic containers full of Christmas decorations, I do not need pictures frames that I have no room on the wall for, I do not need stuff in a filing cabinet that I haven't looked at in atleast 2 years, I do not need a lot of the stuff that I have.
We are moving to a much smaller house, even though it is suspose to just be temporary, we do not have a specific length of time we will be living there. I feel like the Lord is challenging us to live simpler, to not just accumulate stuff because we CAN. The Lord has called us to move back to Eureka, to live in a small home and to make good use out of what we have. I mean what is the point of saving all of this stuff, just for the *day* that we *might* be able to use it. I mean who needs 4 Pyrex cake pans, plus two metal ones, who needs 12 coffee/tea mugs that match our dishes, plus 10 or so others that don't match.
I feel motivated to continue decluttering, to live a simpler life...I guess I fear one day I will regret giving away something, silly, silly.

Fun with Yoghurt and Playsilks

Breakfast youghurt, more fun that could be imagined :)

I had to show of Téa dressing up in her playsilks. These playsilks were hand-dyed by yours-truly. Playsilks are awesome, they can be used to make pretend dresses, capes, wings, used as blankets, smoochies, danced with, snuggled with, wrapped up with, the list goes on and on.

Busy life, constant changes

Life has been busy lately. I mean we are always *really* busy, we have a family with 4 kids five and under. But lately life has been even busier. Aidan is in Kindergarten, so in September we added daily homeschool time to our schedule, he plays soccer and Aidan and Coda are both involved in AWANA. On top of that we have been praying about making some major life changes. So here it goes, at the end of the month we will be moving back to Eureka. Nick is leaving his job with Advanced Security and will be working part time subcontracting for a communications company and the other time he will be studying like crazy for his C-7 Low Voltage Electrical License. After he obtains his license, which takes about three months, he will be completely self-employed. For the time being we will be living in Nick's grandmas house (she passed away about 3 years ago), it will be quite a challenge as it is quite small, but I look forward to meeting this challenge. We will also get to go back to our "home" Church, Eureka Nazarene and Nick will be leading worship there! All and all we are very excited about this next step in our lives.

Please keep us in your prayers!
P.S. We are still working on a business name and a few other details, when we have more info we will let everyone know. Who knows Nick might be able to fulfill your video surveillance or access control or communication needs!

Wordless Wednesday

Seven Months

Dillon is seven months old, seven months old, really?! YEP. He is sitting up all on his own, army crawling his way through the house and even eating a little something other than Mommy's Milk. Last week he ate boiled egg yolk mixed with a little Earth's Best baby cereal and loved it, he has continued to eat it daily. He is by far our longest and skinniest baby, he is about 17lbs and 27inches.

Were you...

Aidan has been constantly leaving the door open when he goes out to play. So yesterday I thought I would talk to him about it.

Me: Were you born in a barn?
Aidan: Jesus was.
Me: Ok? But were you born in a barn?
Aidan: Jesus was born in a barn, Dillon was born in the car. How come I wasn't born in a cool place?

I should, he should

I should be folding laundry and he should be napping. But instead he is building with blocks and I am taking pictures of him. Well, this is more fun anyway.

seven hours.

done. finished. whew. it fit.

I thought when the process was over I would be thinking, I will NEVER do this again. But I wasn't, actually I was thinking, yeah, I could do this once a month. The day was nice, Téa was my side-kick, played with her baby and the potty on the kitchen floor, had her first experience with Playdough and took two naps (which is odd for her), Dillon napped, nursed and hung out, either in his saucer or the Ergo, and the boys were in heaven, I let them play in the dirt and ride bikes all day long. And guess what, I finished, I made twenty dinners in one day, I started at 11am and ended at 6pm. So seven hours, not bad, since I was caring for four children and cooking 20 meals. On a normal night one dinner takes me close to an hour, so hey I am up 14 hours already!

All the produce cut up, this was the first step!

YAY! One down, 19 to go.

And I am done!

I wanted to tell everyone that I do not have an extra freezer or even a really big freezer. I have a normal size freezer and I had some stuff already in it, some frozen juice, two loaves of bread, frozen chicken breasts, Eggo waffles and a few other things. My freezer is filled to the brim, but in about 30 days it will be ready to be filled again.

Happy Half Year....

DILLON!

We are so blessed to have you be a part of our family. Each day you bring joy to our lives. Your smile is contagious, you strength surpasses your age and you have the wondrous ability to warm each of our hearts!
I told Nick just last night that I don't want Dillon to get bigger, I want him to stay a baby forever. But then in the same breath, I told him how it will be so neat when all our four are riding bikes or playing soccer together.

Lord, I thank you for Dillon. I thank you for entrusting him to us. His smile warms my heart, his smell melts me, I love him more and more each day. I pray that you watch over him, I pray that he comes to know you at an early age. Lord, be with him wherever he goes, AMEN.

Meal planning squared.

Meal planning to the next level or crazy as my step-dad said. Tomorrow I am embarking on a new journey, an in-home, labor intensive journey. I will be assembling twenty freezer meals, yes TWENTY. For a long while I have wanted to take meal planning to the next level, but never did and it was for good reason. Our family is primarily vegetarian and all the freezer meal menus were for meat-eating families. So I bugged and bugged and poked and prodded the ladies at Saving Dinner and viola, TWENTY VEGETARIAN DINNERS, complete with start to finish instructions, shopping lists and recipes. Hooray!

So today I went to three stores to get all that I needed, such are the joys of living in a small area, not one store has everything you need. The kids were wonderfully behaved, they toughed through almost two hours at Fred Meyer. Then I did the next two store while everyone was asleep. I am wiped out and the preparing hasn't even begun. Cool thing... I got everything I need for about $125.

Well I am off to bed. Please say a prayer for well-behaved children tomorrow, so I can complete this task without wanting to rip out my hair, haha.

Fun at the fair.

Mommy and Dillon


So the boys wanted to go on a ride with Dad, so with Dillon already on my front, we added Téa to the back, boy did I get some funny looks!

Love the face Aidan!

We went to Santa Rosa for a week. We had a blast, the boys went to Dino Camp, Kristy and I tie dyed, we welcomed E home from Africa and had a great time with Grandma, Grandpa, Tyler and Sergio. However, like always I did not get done near what I wanted to while down there, I think it is a combination of having four kids, it taking an hour to drive anywhere and just having tons on my t0-do list.
We went to the county fair, which isn't too small for where we live and there was an awesome Rodeo. The boys enjoyed going on some rides. Dillon slept almost the whole time in the Ergo and Téa enjoyed pulling Daddy's hair from the backpack. It was a nice family day!

Splurge.

I, ummm, well, yes, sort of, well ok, it was me, I SPLURGED! I have had so many in my five years of being a mom. I have a few that serve some sort of purpose, but none that would serve my needs now. It's perfect, expensive, but perfect.

It is made by Skip*Hop. I had decided awhile back that I really wanted it, it was definitely not a need, but a want. So Nick and I came up with a plan, I get rid of FIVE bags or purses that I don't use AND I make the money myself and I can buy the $80-or so diaper bag. I met all my requirements, so while visiting Sonoma County this past week I bought it. I have yet to put it to use, but once I do I will surely post action pictures.

He's Five!

Captian Aidan that is! Each year I am in awe of how fast time goes by. Five years ago I became a mom, five years ago God entrusted this little baby to me (and Nick :0), five years ago my life began to mean something and five years ago I fell in love in a way that I never thought possible.
Aidan is wonderful kid, he is full of life, he is a clown, he likes to make people laugh, but he is not made of steel, he melts with a mean-look, he loves to snuggle, he love to hug, kiss and take care of his littler brothers and sister. He loves to pretend, one day he is Captain Jack, then the Red Power Ranger, a tiger (which according to him could never be related to a cat!), a T-Rex dinosaur...and the best part is, we all get to play along in his pretending.
We let Aidan pick where we are going to go to dinner tonight and I was shocked (NOT) when he said McDonald's! The Close's are joining us for our gourmet meal at the Crescent City McDonald's.
On Saturday we had a HUGE party for Aidan (which my camera broke 1/4 of the way through)! We all had a blast, Nick built a "pirate ship" in the front yard, the kids all had eye patches, they ran around with plastic swords and pirate bubbles. We opened presents, ate our "treasure chest" cake and demolished the pinata. All in all it was an awesome day, pictures to come!

*Aidan's shirt was painted by a WAHM (work at home mom), she is amazingly talented, if you want her info let me know!

Drama "cough".

Baby Dedication

On Sunday, July 15th, Dillon was dedicated Dillon. For those of you who do not know what a Baby Dedication is, I found this description:
Christian parents who dedicate a child are making a promise to the Lord to do everything within their power to raise the child in a godly way, prayerfully until he or she can make a decision on his or her own to follow God. Parents who make this vow of commitment are instructed to raise the child in the ways of God, and not according to their own ways. Some of the responsibilities include teaching and training the child in God's Word, demonstrating an example of godliness, disciplining according to God's ways, and praying earnestly for the child.
-taken from About.com

The dedication was bittersweet. Dillon is the first of our children to not be dedicated in the Eureka Nazarene Church and the first to have only his parents and Church family present for his dedication. However we are so blessed to have found such a wonderful Church family, we honestly feel like family. God has truly blessed us through this past year...moving to a new place, removed from friends and family has not been near as hard as we thought it was going to be.

Dillon, I will take this time to share how much of a blessing you are in our lives. I cannot imagine my days without you. You are growing so fast, already you are rolling over, sitting up like a monkey, and your trademark is your smile. Everywhere we go, everyone we see comments on your smile. It is truly amazing, it spans from ear to ear. You are a happy, calm, lovable little man.

Relate?

"Sometimes I secrectly let the milk run out so that I have to make late-night grocery run -- all by myself.  I drive slowly, put the windows down, and enjoy a tin ypiece of solitude."

-------from I Was a Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids: Reinventing Modern Motherhood, by Trisha Ashworth and Amy Nobile

Family Camp

I love that my kids are growing up camping. Aidan went camping for the first time when he was 4 weeks old, how cool! Each of the kids has gone camping before they were six months old and then yearly after that. I am so excited to start this tradition, well actually I am continuing my mommy's tradition.

The past weekend we went to Blue Slide Camp, which is about 40 miles East-ish of Eureka. Eureka Nazarene Church owns the camp and holds Family Camp there every year. I love family camp. What's not to like about someone else cooking, warm weather, tons of kids to occupy my kids, tons of parents to watch everyones kids, campfires, smores, fireworks and always a good message by whomever is the speaker. Also, this year Nick was the Worship leader, he did a great job! I can't wait for more camping adventures, I think we have atleast one more planned for this summer!

Three things.

#1 Aidan had a consultation with a surgeon for the repair of his hernia. We had been praying for healing and as of now, it looks like it is on its way to being healed. Please continue to pray for continued healing. We will go back in a few weeks to check the status.

#2 My sister is in Ghana, having a good time. She is half way through her study abroad. Yesterday I missed her so much, I actually called her cell phone (her US one) just to listen to her voice. Then I stayed up until 12:30am to call her on her African cell phone. It was good to laugh with her.

#3 We had a great time at Blue Slide Family Camp. Nick was the worship leader. We ate food cooked by someone else, swam in the river, basked in the sun, roasted marshmallows, watched fireworks and had a great time with friends from our Church in Eureka. (pictures to come)