{Busy}

Ok, so I am back in business!! I finally have my computer all put back together and my photo editing software reinstalled. This post is mainly a catch up post, a run down really of what we have been doing the last two weeks. The picture above was a little outing that Ryan took with the OB department a few weeks ago. Once a year they go on a ski trip. This was Ryan's first year getting to go due to rotation conflicts the last two years. Half of the group went skiing and the other half went snowshoeing. Ryan did the latter of the two. He had a great time, so much so that he recommended us doing it as a family sometime. I am glad he got to have a little bit of time away from the office!!
Next up was Ayden's blue and gold banquet for Scouts. It happens to be the 100th birthday of scouting so the boys were to bring a birthday cake that they decorated to the banquet. Other than spreading the blue frosting (and baking the cake) Ayden did everything else. The cake had a little mishap in the car and one side got smooshed, the balloons on the side started to run (yes those black things are suppose to be balloons) and all the yellow sprinkles from the 100 came off the cake. It sounds worse than it looked. The boys were judged for the most creative and Ayden was really bummed that he didn't win. Maybe next time buddy.

The next day was Scout Sunday so Ayden got to wear his scout uniform. He was pretty excited to wear it on some other day besides scout night. He is really enjoying scouts by the way. Next up for him is the Pinewood derby this coming Saturday. A post will surely follow.
Ryan has been busy at work refinishing the piano that we got from my sister. He is enjoying working with wood and is really liking the way it is turning out. The bench is done now, except putting the hardware back on and now it is on to the rest of the piano. We now have to get it out to the garage though, not looking forward to that!!

In other home improvement projects. We are finally attacking our floors. When we moved into our house the linoleum in the kitchen, laundry room and half bath had tears in them so we knew before we sold the house we would have to redo them. So we have been slowing working on getting the trim off the walls and getting everything prepped for the week Ryan has off later this month.

We are also replacing the lament counter top with new lament and redoing the back splash with tile in the kitchen. It should make it look a bit nicer than the aluminum encased lament back splash. Lots of work going on at our house.
One of the more exciting home improvements that we have done is getting blinds for the house. When we moved into the house there were really ugly and really damaged blinds in only some of the rooms. So we ditched those and have been waiting to get nice ones ever since. I was especially excited to get the blinds up in my bathroom. Thankfully that window only opens up to the neighbors side yard and they are never in their yard, but I was still a little apprehensive about getting undressed in there. It was like a 25 foot sprint to get into the shower, hoping no one saw anything. Now I can dance around confident that no one will see me!!

And last but certainly not least Ayden completed his first science fair project. I don't remember doing science fair projects until like the 7th grade but I guess Ayden gets to start way sooner than that. He had a good time testing the wing span of paper airplanes to see which one would fly farther. He also had to write a report and give an oral presentation to his class on his project. He said it went well and his teacher liked his project so it all turned out great.

Ayden also starts baseball practice this week, so I guess Spring is in full swing here at our house. I have a few other posts to do, so in the coming days I'll try to get to those!!

{I'm not dead}

For those of you that have checked my blog and keep seeing the crazy hair of my son, I apologize. I am not dead (although after last night and today with a stomach bug, I wish I was), my computer crashed. I got it back today and will work hard at putting it all back together. My posts may be few and far between but one day here real soon I'll be back in full force. I know how much you are all on the edge of your seats waiting!! I'll try to hurry!!

{What do ya think...}

So what do you think...does the kid need a hair cut? He chose to style his hair yesterday for church. His choice would not have been necessarily what I would have chosen but I had asked him to comb his hair and so he did. I am choosing to pick my battles, he chose the spike look.
People at church got a chuckle out of it and some girls said that it was weird, but he was not the least bit phased by their opinions. I think it is long over due for a hair cut, which he will be getting before this coming Sunday. Funny kid!!
And on a totally unrelated topic. This is how I found Ayden this afternoon. He has to read for 20 minutes each day for homework. I love his choice of reading material!!

{A Life Saver}

This may look like a regular frog shaped sandbox. But it is sooo much more. It happens to be a life saver. I know, how can such an ordinary thing be so important?
It keeps this young man out of my kitchen and therefore saves his life. Hence, being a lifesaver. He has to be going all the time and he gets bored really easy. So he will walk around my kitchen and take out everything he can, spread it all over my house and then whine because he is bored again. Well the weather has been really spring like as of late and so I have booted this little man outside to play. I can keep an eye on him while I tidy up and he LOVES it.
He played outside for probably a good 45 minutes the other day, by himself (I had the sliding door open)!! It was pure delight. He wasn't bored, walking around whining, and I didn't want to squeeze the life out of him.
He liked getting to use the broom to help sweep off the rocks from the patio. Such a boy wanting to use the tools and stuff!!

Does this look like the face of a little man so content and happy with his life and new found freedom? Why yes, I think it does.

{Old Tacoma}

My mother in law came this last weekend to visit just because. It is always nice to have her here. We both have a love for photography and so we thought it would be fun to go up to a place I had wanted to check out in Tacoma. So with the kids in toe we went to check out a part of Tacoma, called Old Tacoma. Basically the area is where people first settled along the sound. We were wanting to do a lot more exploring but time didn't permit it. So we played on the dock and checked out an out of commission fire boat and then headed home. The kids liked getting to get some fresh air and play in and amongst the rocks. It was a really nice morning and we got some good pictures to boot!! Ayden didn't like being on the pier. He thought he couldn't see how the pier was being held up and that we would fall any moment. I told him he was fine and he managed to stay out with us for a good 20 minutes. We got him chasing the pigeons so it took his mind off his imminent death by water.
You'll have to excuse Wyatt's constant runny nose. I think I had just wiped his nose with my shirt about 5 sec. before this picture was taken. I use my own clothing for such a task when only absolutely necessary.
So sweet!!
When we were on the pier Wyatt has strapped into a stroller because neither I nor my mother in law felt like taking a dive into the water. Because frankly that is where this little monkey would have ended up I am sure. But once on land again he was allowed a small amount of freedom and he loved it. Although he almost took a dive off a cement bench it was pretty much accident free.
Not one of Lauryn's finer moments caught on film. She is such a ham. Meysa was perfectly content to run along the pier like a horse and chase the pigeons. At this point I think her behavior as a horse is as second nature as her behaving like a girl. I don't know if that is good or bad.

I love this picture. I look at it and I can't believe they are all mine, along with their boogers too. How lucky can a girl be?