January 28, 2019 ~ Celebrating 14 Years

It’s double the giggles and double the grins, and double the trouble when you’re blessed with twins!

August 18, 2018 – I’m 40!

Ack! I sure as heck do not feel old enough to be 40, but according to the calendar, I am! I guess 8-18-18 was a good day to venture over the hill. My family is way too good to me and they spoiled me rotten.

For the last two years, we have been growing apple trees in pots, and in the front yard of our house was an empty brick ring. Whatever had been planted there had not survived, and it seemed to me the perfect location for a tree. So on my 40th birthday, we planted one of our trees. For the first time in 8 years, we did something permanent. I guess one could say we put down roots, in more ways than one. The kids’ hand-print stones from 2006 even have a new home around the base of the tree. Our little tree seems to like his new home and is doing great. Maybe next year we may even see an apple or two. 🙂

August 14, 2018 – Happy 50th Birthday, Rob!

As hard as it is to believe, Rob turned 50 back on the 14th of August! The kids and I had a blast decorating the car for him. He was not overly excited to drive it to work, but he sure was a good sport about it! It is, after all, not everyday that one turns 50, and we wanted to make sure as many people as possible could celebrate with him. And he is still talking to us, so that is a bonus! 🙂

So to Rob, Happy 50th Birthday!! We all love you so much and are grateful that we get to be a part of your journey. Here’s to the next 50!!! 

 

June Wrap-up

I cannot believe June has ended already, and with it the first month of summer vacation! The summer got off to a slow start, but has since picked up speed and is just flying by!

My sweet BooBerry!

Hard to believe Liam turned 15 back on the 6th. Wow. Looking back through pictures reminded me of the deal he and I made back when he was 4 years old. He was a thumb-sucker, and as he approached his 5th birthday, I really tried to get him to break the habit. He was resistant, of course, so I decided to bargain with him. I would give up my favorite part of the day (which happened to be nap time…) if he would give up his thumb. He told me that on his 5th birthday, he would stop sucking his thumb. Well, true to his word, he woke up on his 5th birthday and that thumb never went into his mouth again. I still miss nap time… That was 10 years ago now! It seems like just a few months ago…

Happy 15th Birthday, Boo!

Speaking of Liam, he has been doing football conditioning three times a week since the second week of June. Conditioning is optional, but it is really getting the boys who can attend into great shape! Official practice starts on August 6, and Liam is really excited for high school practice. It is looking to be a good year for the team.

Back on the 17th, Rob and I celebrated our 17th Anniversary! Once again, how time doth fly! Hard to believe we are coming up on 20 years of knowing each other! Are we really old enough to have known each other that long? Why yes, yes we are… I think I will insert another ‘Wow’ here!

Love, Love, LOVE this man!

The twins and I have been staying busy while Liam has been in football. There are a lot of activities around the area that we have been attending. They have also been doing a lot of swimming. Catheryn is getting ready for the start of the cross-country season on July 23 and Nathan is looking forward to the start of football on August 13. I have already received school registration dates, which tells me just how fast the summer is going!

July is looking to be another busy month. For those of you who remember the 50th birthday trip to Alaska we surprised Rob with months ago, you may be surprised to hear that he is leaving TOMORROW! It was months away and now it is tomorrow! I think he is going to have a blast.

Many of you may know that we are required to live here in the park. We requested to move out last summer, but were denied. We decided to try again this year, and they granted our request! After 8 years of our kids sharing a room (yes, EIGHT…) they will finally have their own rooms in the little house we are purchasing in town! We close on July 25 and could not be more excited!

I think that is about it for now. I am hoping that once we move into town we will have better internet so I will be able to load pictures and updates more regularly. For now, though, I am grateful for the library. 🙂

Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!!!!!

Changing Decades

Birthdays are always fun, but I think perhaps milestone birthdays are the best. After all the youth milestones, it is the decade changes that get our attention. As many of you may already know, Rob is having just such a birthday this year. Come August, he will be saying hello to the big 5-0.

The puzzle board

I usually try to make the milestone birthdays stand out just a little bit from the rest. Whether the gifts are a little more special, or we go somewhere new, or the cake is just a little bit bigger, making them different is always the plan. This year I felt like we needed to do something really special for Rob since he is a full half century old!

He’s figuring it out!

I went through many ideas in my head and the one I had originally decided on was quickly becoming unrealistic. As soon as I realized that, another idea popped into my head. Rob’s best friend lives up in Alaska, and they have not seen each other since our wedding almost 17 years ago. That is a long time! When Rob and his buddy both lived up in Alaska, they spent a lot of time fishing together. So I thought it would be fun to send Rob to Alaska for a week to hang out with his best friend. I contacted his friend to arrange the best dates for salmon fishing and made sure he was on board. He was, of course, and has it all planned out that they will spend the week at his cabin. Should be a fun man week!

Impatient kids looking on…

Once I purchased the tickets, I had to decide how to give them to Rob. That was actually the hardest part! The kids had introduced Rob to a game where you have to unscramble letters to make words that match pictures. I now find him playing it almost every night. Catheryn thought it would be fun to make a word board just like in the game. That was a great idea, so she and I spent the morning putting together a word puzzle.

Almost finished!

Since Rob will be going to Alaska in July (better salmon fishing apparently…) we decided to give him his gift now so that he has time to get the time off from work as well as plan for the actual trip. The kids and I were excited to give him his gift, so we decided to do it over his lunch break. Unfortunately we picked a day when he was very busy, so he did not really have the luxury of taking his time. I realize now that we should have just waited until after work, but it is a little too late for that now.

Prize time!

He was pretty quick at solving the word puzzles, and I think he was a little surprised at the ‘prize’ at the end. Normally you get tokens for finishing a level, not plane tickets. I am so excited for Rob to be able to go back to Alaska, I just wish I could have managed a little more. After all, it is not every year you turn 50!

He liked the comic I put with his tickets. 🙂

(I apologize for the terrible pics!)

The New Teens!

Well, it is official. Rob and I are now outnumbered by teenagers. On this date, an incredible 13 years ago, these two adorable babies entered the world.

Catheryn and Nathan – 1.5 months

Watching my children grow has been one of the biggest joys of my life. To our twins, thank you for being so amazing! We love you more that you will ever know! Happy 13th Birthday, Twinnies!!!

The Birthday Roll… 

And finally… 🙂 

Happy 70th Birthday, Daddy!!

I love that we were all able to gather at my parents’ house to celebrate my dad’s 70th birthday, even if we were a little early. Normally there are too many miles between us all to celebrate together, so this year was a special treat.

Today I want to wish my dad the happiest of birthdays. Thank you for all your support over the years. Thank you for your guidance. Thank you for your love. I wish I had the words to tell you what my heart feels… How special you are to me… What an important part of my life you have been and always will be… How grateful I am everyday that you are my Daddy.

I love you more than you will ever know…

Happy 70th Birthday, Daddy! May all of your wishes come true.

Happy Birthday!!!

The Twins are Twelve!

Celebrating a dozen years with these two not-so-little-anymore bundles of joy!

Happy Birthday, Twinnies!

Happy Day!

It has been many years since we have been able to celebrate my dad’s birthday with him, but my parents just so happen to be visiting right now, and today just happens to be my dad’s birthday!

So, to my amazing dad, Happy Birthday!!! We all love you so very much! Thank you for allowing us to share your day with you. Let’s do it again next year!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!!!

13!

It does not seem possible, but apparently Rob and I have been parents long enough to have a teenager!

Happy 13th Birthday, Liam!!

Knowing Liam, his teenage years are bound to be a wild and crazy ride.

Let the fun begin!

But I love this boy dearly, and am so glad that I get to be a part of this adventure.

Happy 13th Birthday, William Clark!! I love you soooo much!