My kids started their spring break on Thurs. and don't go back to school until April 11th. It is a nice break not having to be up at a certain time, make lunches, check homework, etc. I love that Daron has control over his schedule so he has scheduled days going in at 2:00 and many days completely off. He is such a good dad and LOVES spending time with our kids.
We went to the Birds of Prey which is one of the few places in the country breeding birds like the California Condor to go back into the wild. The kids saw some live eagles, hawks, falcons, etc. We stayed so long we ended up seeing two live bird shows where they had taught the birds to do lots of fun tricks.
Tomorrow our cousins are coming to play for the day and the kids are really looking forward to seeing them.
Ian is talking so much! Many long, complete sentences and it's surprising how clear much of it is. Of course, some of it is just gibberish and we wish we could get inside his head. He loves to wrestle with Daron and the boys. The after dinner routine is for everyone to rinse and load their dishes and then they shout, "WRESTLE!" and run into the living room. Ian is small but very tough and he's right in there.
Gabe started fiddling lessons and is doing great! It takes so much practice just to learn how to hold the bow and violin correctly and his teacher is surprised at how naturally it is coming for him. She said she has kids who play for a year and still have trouble holding the bow correctly, and Gabe had it down in one week.
Luke is loving spring and being outside constantly. He wasn't too happy at mom because he left his bike jump behind the car and I ran over it. We were able to salvage half and he can still jump off it pretty well.
Maryn is reading a ton and is really enjoying Percy Jackson and the Olympians. She just started book III. She loves to help around the house and even changed Ian's poopy diaper for me today as I lazily laid in bed and read.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Dinner Out
One tradition we have that the kids really look forward to is their month to go out to dinner with just mom and dad. We rotate months, so once a month we take one of the kids out to eat anywhere they want to go. They get so excited when it's their month and Daron and I use this time to really talk about life and how they're feeling and to praise them for what great kids they are. It's so fun spending that one on one time with each child. Here is Gabe at Red Lobster. He had never been there before but loves shrimp and wanted to try lobster. He loved it!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Seattle
Daron and I spent a long weekend in Seattle with two other couples, and it only rained one day! We enjoyed lots of seafood, shopping and touring. We took a fascinating tour of the Seattle Underground. Originally, Seattle was built on a lower level but they had problems twice a day with the tides coming in and flooding the streets anywhere from ankle to knee deep. It was mostly the merchant district that had issues with flooding and mud as the houses were built a bit higher on the hill. Then a big fire burned the city down in 12 hours. They decided to build on top of the old city and raise everything anywhere from 8-30 feet. How they did this was the gist of the tour and it was fascinating! We walked underneath the city where the old buildings used to be and as we toured we were under existing sidewalks and roads.
Here we are ready to enjoy some great clam chowder.
Alaskan King Crab Legs...Delicious!
This was taken at Pike Place Market, a huge market right on the water. They sell lots of seafood, beautiful flowers and lots of other homemade trinkets.
Here is a picture from our hotel room. We were on the 45th floor and could see all over the city.
Here we are ready to enjoy some great clam chowder.
Alaskan King Crab Legs...Delicious!
This was taken at Pike Place Market, a huge market right on the water. They sell lots of seafood, beautiful flowers and lots of other homemade trinkets.
Here is a picture from our hotel room. We were on the 45th floor and could see all over the city.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Latest News...
I have been such a slacker with my blog. I don't love to write but really want to keep some sort of journal, especially so all our wonderful birth families can see what is happening in our lives. So here is the latest:
Maryn had to do a science project for school where she modeled several simple machines in one invention. She and Daron made an egg maker. She would crack an egg, it would slide down the tube into the measuring cup where it would be whisked by turning a crank. She used a lever to make the measuring cup poor into the frying pan, and it would cook the perfect egg. The teacher loved it so much she kept it to show her 8th graders. Parents were allowed to help, and all I can say is she's lucky she has Daron for a dad.
Ian is as cute and fun as ever. He is such an easy-going, happy little guy. Our only issue right now is that he wants to get out of bed at night when we tuck him in. The other night we finally had to tie his bedroom door to his closet door so he couldn't open it. Daron and I thought we were so clever, and then all of a sudden he was out again! We had forgotten his room actually has two doors, and he had managed to unlock the pocket door and slide it open. Lucky for him he is very cute (and so is my husband:).
Maryn and her friends love to bake cookies. The kids like it too because they love to eat the dough! We're lucky if we can get 24 cookies from one recipe with all the dough they eat.
I call Ian and Gabe my little rabbits because they will just sit there and eat lettuce.
Well, the question I've been asked the most the past few days is if I've let Daron back in my bed yet. He was extremely sneaky and threw a huge surprise birthday party on Sat. for my 40th birthday. I didn't suspect a thing because my birthday was in February. Daron had taken the day off work on my actual birthday and we had gone shopping, out to lunch at PF Changs and then saw a matinee. The next day some of my friends took me to lunch to Olive Garden. So I was happy and was adjusting quietly to the fact that I was 40. Then, Daron throws a party and invites 100 people! So the secret is out. I was totally surprised. He rented a banquet room at a hotel and they had decorated it all tropical and had dinner catered by a really good Hawaiian restaurant from Boise. It was a tropical theme because at one point Daron and I had talked about going to Fiji for my 40th. So he called it Nampiji (get it...Nampa and Fiji) and it was such a fun party. I wish I had more pictures because everyone dressed up in their luau clothes and they looked so festive. Three of our friends went all out and were the "bartenders" with their margarita machines. They were making delicious drinks all night and had dressed up in skirts, blond wigs, coconuts and lipstick. Daron had also hired a group of Hawaiian dancers to come dance for us. He also had a questionnaire with 25 questions about me and the winner got a gift certificate to PF Changs. Some of the questions and answers were hilarious. Daron even made a slide show of me through the years. Very, very sweet. He is such a thoughtful husband. And a good liar. I've learned my friends are all very good liars as well since pretty much everyone I know had known about this for weeks!
The hula dancers wanted me to come up and do a song with them, so I made my husband and our three bartender friends come up with me.
Maryn had to do a science project for school where she modeled several simple machines in one invention. She and Daron made an egg maker. She would crack an egg, it would slide down the tube into the measuring cup where it would be whisked by turning a crank. She used a lever to make the measuring cup poor into the frying pan, and it would cook the perfect egg. The teacher loved it so much she kept it to show her 8th graders. Parents were allowed to help, and all I can say is she's lucky she has Daron for a dad.
Ian is as cute and fun as ever. He is such an easy-going, happy little guy. Our only issue right now is that he wants to get out of bed at night when we tuck him in. The other night we finally had to tie his bedroom door to his closet door so he couldn't open it. Daron and I thought we were so clever, and then all of a sudden he was out again! We had forgotten his room actually has two doors, and he had managed to unlock the pocket door and slide it open. Lucky for him he is very cute (and so is my husband:).
Maryn and her friends love to bake cookies. The kids like it too because they love to eat the dough! We're lucky if we can get 24 cookies from one recipe with all the dough they eat.
I call Ian and Gabe my little rabbits because they will just sit there and eat lettuce.
Well, the question I've been asked the most the past few days is if I've let Daron back in my bed yet. He was extremely sneaky and threw a huge surprise birthday party on Sat. for my 40th birthday. I didn't suspect a thing because my birthday was in February. Daron had taken the day off work on my actual birthday and we had gone shopping, out to lunch at PF Changs and then saw a matinee. The next day some of my friends took me to lunch to Olive Garden. So I was happy and was adjusting quietly to the fact that I was 40. Then, Daron throws a party and invites 100 people! So the secret is out. I was totally surprised. He rented a banquet room at a hotel and they had decorated it all tropical and had dinner catered by a really good Hawaiian restaurant from Boise. It was a tropical theme because at one point Daron and I had talked about going to Fiji for my 40th. So he called it Nampiji (get it...Nampa and Fiji) and it was such a fun party. I wish I had more pictures because everyone dressed up in their luau clothes and they looked so festive. Three of our friends went all out and were the "bartenders" with their margarita machines. They were making delicious drinks all night and had dressed up in skirts, blond wigs, coconuts and lipstick. Daron had also hired a group of Hawaiian dancers to come dance for us. He also had a questionnaire with 25 questions about me and the winner got a gift certificate to PF Changs. Some of the questions and answers were hilarious. Daron even made a slide show of me through the years. Very, very sweet. He is such a thoughtful husband. And a good liar. I've learned my friends are all very good liars as well since pretty much everyone I know had known about this for weeks!
The hula dancers wanted me to come up and do a song with them, so I made my husband and our three bartender friends come up with me.
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