A re-cap of our June Adventures

Where has the time gone? I swear all I did was blink and the last month flew by! I feel like every day I have a list of things to get done so I don't have to do it the next day.....come to find a new list has developed that day. How does that work? And then every weekend we are headed off to do something super fun. Can life please just calm down, this mama is tired!!
June was a fun month, with cruddy weather. It seems our Spring came late and lasted a super long time with loads of cold and rainy days in June. We made the most of it though and created some AWESOME family memories!

The kids spent the 1st weekend in Seattle with their dad and Tara exploring the city and seeing the sights, aka The Space Needle and the zoo. They had a blast and couldn't get over all the cool animals they saw. Their last week of school was full of fun games and activities and parties as well and then they were cut loose for a summer of fun on June 9th! We kicked off the summer with our friends Kyle and Jess, who came over on the 11th for some BBQ'in! While the kids played badminton, jumped on the trampoline, and covered the patio in chalk drawings we sat around and enjoyed the nice summer evening.

We headed out for a fishing adventure on June 12th to Spring Valley. The sun was shining and the weather was breezy but perfect. We took up dock and had a little picnic while we fished the afternoon away. The kids both caught a few fish and then we ventured out for a hike around the lake. We made it half way and then decided to rest and feed Kyran and then hiked back to the pickup. The heat and sun were kicking our behinds!

The kids attended Vacation Bible School the 1st week of summer break and had a blast each day learning about God. Kyran turned 1 month and gained 3 pounds and grew 3 inches in his first month of life. Little piggy! He also attended his first circus on June 17th, however he slept through most of it.

But the rest of us enjoyed the fun! Here are some photos of our favorite moments:

Jason experienced his very first Father's Day on the 19th. The kids had given him a fishing pole the week before since he'd need it for our fishing adventure. Here is a picture of the proud daddy with his son:

The weather seems to FINALLY be getting warm and sunny! Yay!!!! We enjoyed 7-up and Sherbet floats one hot afternoon for snack and began to spend more time outside playing in the sun and less time cooped up indoors. Thank goodness, I needed a break from the craziness of keeping 5 kids happy!!!!!!

We even had a special visitor one evening. Bandit was the sweetest raccoon ever and made the cutest little purring noises. I had to snap a few shots and even pulled out the video recorder......it's not like you have a 'coon every day come to your house to visit. Her mama disappeared one day when she was a tiny baby so a friend is bottle feeding her and raising her. But seriously, how cute is she?!

We ended our June adventures with a BEAUTIFUL wedding in Elk River, Idaho on the 25th (and Shy's 3rd b-day on the 26th). The drive up to the wedding was gorgeous and made me so appreciative of all that God has blessed me with. We froze our tushes off in the 42 degree weather (once the sun went down) but had a great time and got to watch two wonderful people commit their lives and love to one another. Here's me and my hunky hunny before the wedding:
Overall, June flew by in a whirlwind but was full of many great memories. And as I look at the calender I see that July is twice as busy......oh boy! Better get a jump start on that sleep now! :)

Where's the Pause Button?

I'm an emotional wreck today. I don't know why. Well, that's not entirely true.....I do know I'm torn up over the fact that tomorrow my new lil bundle of joy will officially be 1 month old. (That's him above when he was less than 15 minutes old.) But why the heck am I crying over this??? I seriously feel like EVERYTHING makes me tear up. You know, kinda like when you are pregnant and you just blame it on your hormones? Yeah. I'm STILL a big cry baby one month later. Maybe it's because I'm stopping to realize how blessed I am on a daily basis. Or maybe because I'm so thankful I have healthy children and haven't had to experience the heart ache of losing one or the stress of major medical issues. Or maybe it's just the simple truth that I'm becoming a big softy in my old age. :) Which leads to my second truth.....I hate the fact that I'm sneaking up on the big 3-0 wayyyyyy too fast. After all, next year is my 10 year class reunion..... And seriously, I don't feel that old. But where did the last 9 years go?? I have been thinking of this for days now and can't seem to help but get emotional once again. So much has happened in the last 9 years, yet I feel like it's only been a year or two since I was fresh out of High School and venturing out to start a new chapter in my life. Then reality slaps me in the face and reminds me that I'm 27....or is it 28? Greeeaaattt, I don't even remember how old I am any more! Life has been flying by me and my children are growing and changing drastically each day and all I want to do is reach out and grasp on to it all and push pause. Freeze everything. But I can't. So instead I have decided to capture every single little moment on film. I'm already addicted to taking photos and use my camera almost daily. But I've decided to make use of my dusty video camera and record everything so that one day I can sit down and watch my Kyran snore in his sleep or hear his baby cry. So that I can watch Kendall be goofy and listen to her read a book to me once again. So that I can remember Kolby's toothless grin and watch him ride his bike. I want to hold on to every little tiny over-looked part of our lives and since I can't push pause on life I will push record on my video camera and enjoy the ride......

Just a little about me...

I live on routine. And list making. I have dozens of lists scattered around the computer desk. You know, the usual ones:a grocery list here, a Walmart list there, a To-Do list stuck to the computer screen, etc. In fact, I write lists so often I've learned to buy sticky-notes in bulk. Then I have extra lists...one with goals, another with hopes and dreams, one of scrapbook pages to make, and even a Christmas list I've started a year in advance. I'll be the first to admit that often my lists go only half crossed off, buried underneath a new list. But I like to feel that my chaos is organized. That, and the fact that I have developed permanent pregnancy brain. Seems that if I don't write it down on a list, it's going to be forgotten. Forever.
My children come first and foremost in my life. In all honesty, they ARE my life. Not only are they the greatest blessing I could ask for but they are truly amazing teachers. They are helping me learn to breath and not worry or stress so much about silly things. I'm also learning to live in the moment and to appreciate every second of life because I will never get this time back. I'm learning how to become a better role model for my children and to be the best mother I can be.
I've spent the last 5+ years teaching preschool children many important things to help them prepare for a lifetime of success. But then one day I realized there is so much more that we need to teach our children in order to succeed in life. It's not just about letters and numbers.....and thus began my most recent and most important list ever.
1. I want to teach my children to be givers and not takers.
2. I want to instill in them how to be lovers and to look out for those who are unable to do so for themselves.
3. I want to show them how to be cautious, yet take risks.
4. I want to help them learn to look at the glass half full rather than half empty.
5. Most importantly, I want to teach them to love unconditionally and to forgive those who hurt them because life is too short to live with any regrets.

A few other things about me....I LOVE scrap booking. I'm obsessed with it and beyond passionate about it. I live for it. My camera goes EVERYWHERE I go, which leads to my other hobby. Photography. I love to take pictures and my children spend hours posing for me. If I'm not taking pictures or scrappin them, then most likely I'm in the woods with my family. We are the backwoods type who LOVE mud and dirt bikes and 4wheelers. Camping is a MUST in the summer!!! My friends are very important to me and are my second family. Because really, what's a girl without her girlfriends?!