3 boys and 3 girls

Adelle and I aren't outnumbered any longer.
We have a dog now, and she's a girl!

Just so you all know I was on the fence with this one. Jeff wanted a dog. The kids wanted a dog. I was happy with my little dog-less life I was leading.

Jeff thinks I am a bit of a priss when it comes to animals. It's like I say that I like them, because I do like them, but I don't want them to smell bad or rub their butt on my clean floor or jump on my kid or shed all over or drool or throw-up... and that's all just part of having animals. They do that.

But I do like them. Really. I grew up with a dog. I like the character they add to the family and I have wanted my kids to have the experience of having a dog. I think it teaches them a lot. Not just responsibility but also loyalty among other things.

This little brown eyed girl has completely won my heart in less than 2 weeks. Now we both laugh at night when the kids are asleep and Jeff's on the couch reading and I'm curled up on the floor next to the dog, rubbing her belly.

We kinda sorta inherited the dog from some close family friends who recently both passed away. The dog is 2. Her name she came with is Sophie. She is 1/2 blue heeler 1/2 black lab. She was trained really well and well taken care of. She is great with the kids. Exceeded all my expectations to say the least.

My aunt asked if we wanted to try it out for a week before we decided to keep her. The funny thing is Jeff was convinced he and the dog were going to be best friends. He would try and play fetch with her. Pet her. Let her in and out. The dog wanted nothing to do with him, actually avoided him at all cost. I played hard to get. Not really, but one could assume. I just went about my own business and before I knew it the dog was my fourth little shadow. Following me around everywhere. Checking on me. Anxiously waiting for the kids to be playing so that she could have me to herself. Flattering, really. On day two that we had her I got my kids down for nap and went into the laundry room to wash some clothes and Sophie crawled right between my legs (so yes, now I am straddling the dog). It was pretty funny.

So yeah, I guess that's the dog story.
It's like she is part of our family that we never knew we were missing. My kids are totally in love. Braxton was instant. Emmett was instant. Adelle took a little while for her to get used to the idea but now she's on board, napping beside the dog. And Sophie has warmed up to Jeff. They are officially friends. He's pretty excited about that.

weekend getaway

Honeymooners Forever :)

Me with the "bride to be in less than 2 weeks!"

After wading across the river we found this cozy spot to lay and dry off, only to have to walk back!

The only shot I got of the place where Jeff and I stayed Friday night.

My friend from forever, pictured above, is getting married in a couple weeks. She's actually getting married the same weekend as Jeff and I will celebrate our 8 year anniversary! This called for major celebration.

Mindi's bachelorette party was this last weekend in Lake Chelan. Super fun. Super Hot!! It was a blast.

When I got invited I knew I wanted to go but I also knew that more than I needed a weekend with friends, I needed a weekend with my husband. However, a weekend with Jeff would cost a lot more money than a weekend with friends. Hum, what do I do??

I asked Jeff what I should do and he said I should just go with the girls. When I suggested that he take me there and stay the first night that sounded even better so that is what we did. Back in January I had started a little anniversary fund. Any extra change I had would be put into a secret jar that Jeff didn't know about. I'm so glad I did this because we were able to go and enjoy ourselves on money that I had purposely saved for the occasion. This meant that I didn't feel quilty the whole time and we could actually enjoy ourselves.

We left Friday morning and drove away without our kids. They were happily at my parent's pool with my mom and aunt and sister and whoever else....not sad to see us go which is a huge blessing and makes it much easier to leave.

The drive was beautiful and we were able to talk without being interrupted. I can't even express how nice this was. Just riding in the car with my husband was so relaxing. We didn't listen to the radio at all. I didn't have my neck constantly crooked to see if Adelle was car sick...it was just nice and relaxing. The sun was also shining which made it that much better.

Along the way we found a little diner that advertized "World's Best Milkshakes" so we of course had to stop and see if that was the case. We got a milkshake to share and drove and parked at the river and walked across the river (Jeff say's I make him do crazy things that he wouldn't do for anyone else) and laid in the sun. It sounds great but really it was uncomfortable because we were laying on rocks so we didn't stay there very long. Just long enough to get warm so we could re-cross the river.

When we got to Chelan we ate at a really nice local pub that had outdoor seating and live music. I had fresh shrimp and Jeff had ribs. Then we checked into our hotel and looked around, walked the river, walked through town. Then we went in the outdoor hot tub before calling it a night.

The next morning we really wanted to sleep in and when I woke up I looked over at him, he was awake and I asked him the time and when he said it was 6:30am. I wanted to scream. We couldn't even sleep in!! So we just laid there, in and out of sleep, and enjoyed not having to get up for anything.

We went to a really cute crepe-ire for breakfast and it was delicious. Then Jeff dropped me off at the lake where I had Mindi snap the top picture of us. It wasn't long enough but at the same time it was exactly what we needed. I love my husband so much and I felt like a honey-mooner the whole time.

I met up with 13 other ladies for the bachelorette party and Jeff started the drive home.
Us girls laid at the lake for the whole day where I naively burnt my whole back side. No regrets, I was just happy to get some sun! Then we went to dinner and then back to a house that we borrowed for the party. It was really fun to be with some old friends who I rarely spend time with.

Sunday we woke up and sat on the deck and lounged a bit before cleaning up the place and driving home.

It was a wonderful relaxing weekend getaway!

doublely armed

Yeah!

Is it funny to anyone else that Braxton didn't have his first sword until he was 4 and Emmett at 18 months already knows what to do with the frightful weapon?

Surprise Visit

Our niece Riley came to town for a quick visit and we got her all to ourselves on Friday. The best part was that my kids didn't know she was coming so they were totally surprised! I am not one for surprises but I love surprising others, especially my kids. It's always so much fun.

Friday morning while they were in the tub I told them to hurry up and get their hair wet so I could wash it. When they asked why they had to hurry (ok confession, I usually let them stay in the bath for a really long, shriveled up, amount of time) I said, "Riley is going to be here to play any time." They were really happy and really cooperative and the rest of the day I didn't see much of them except when they were eating, notice that is when I got out the camera, or asking me for something. It was a good day had by all!

Soccer Season

This week marks the last for soccer season 2011. It's been such a fun experience for Braxton, number 7. He came so far in the 8 short weeks. There is nothing quite like watching your child try something that they've never done before and that they really didn't know much about and then, through practice and experience, learn it and gain the confidence to play it with their heart. That was my favorite part about the whole season.

I didn't come from a soccer family (to put it nicely:). I think between the four of us growing up we played every sport except for soccer... oh and wrestling. Jeff, my wrestler, hasn't played soccer since he was 8. Needless to say Braxton has been asking to play soccer all year. I think this has to do with 3 things; his friend Tia who played soccer last year and talked about it with Brax, my brother's girlfriend Chelsey, an awesome soccer player, and the soccer jersey my brother Brent brought Braxton from Spain. Whatever the cause, we signed him up.

We, well actually I, then proceeded to sign Jeff and I up to coach. What the heck. They needed coaches and I figured because of our current situation we were available and it may be the only time we have the opportunity so I jumped on it. We did a lot of research and some practicing and went to it. The thing about Jeff and I that you probably have already figured out is that I am the more assertive, get the kids together, sing a happy song, come up with a game plan, keep them busy....and Jeff has the skill. period. So we make a good team. The handy part was that my sister lives across the street from the fields so Adelle and Emmett got to hang out there with her and her kids while we took Brax to practice. Then on game days Jeff was coach and he wore the whistle and I was mom and I held the camera and the other kids and cheered from the side.

Our team named themselves the Blue Seahawks. There were 7 boys and 1 girl and that girl totally rocked the field. She was by far the most aggressive and the most into the game. Braxton started off thinking he was one of the coaches. In the beginning he would get my attention and tell me to wait if someone wasn't there or whatever else. This didn't go over well and he figured out that he would have better luck being a player and not a coach.

My favorite experience was during the first game. Our team had the ball and all the kids from both teams were huddled around it so that no one could really move. I hollered to Brax from the sideline, "Braxton run towards the goal!" My thought process was that then he could break up the cluster and get open for a pass. The special part was that he heard me and did exactly as I instructed. So obedient. He ran to that goal as fast as he could and even when the ball got stolen and kicked in the opposite direction, he was planted at that goal. Almost like he was waiting for me to give him his next cue. It was really cute and I can still see him standing there, waiting.
My brother, who was there watching commented, "wow, what an obedient kid."

Since then Braxton has really gotten a grasp on the game. His confidence has really improved as he's learned the skills and although he still isn't the most aggressive he loves to play and wants that ball!

We may be a soccer family?

Bestest Jam Ever!

You may remember this recipe from last year!
Easy & Delicious!

Hair pictures and Stereotypes

I'm totally loving my haircut.
I thought this picture showed the back pretty nicely

For example yesterday I got out of the shower and within 2 minutes I was out the door.
That was handy.

Today it looks just as good as yesterday. Don't tell but I don't wash my hair every day. Usually I don't even wash it every other day. Gotta preserve it, ya know!

And here we are, front shot.

So something funny; I have created haircut stereotypes. No one can take offense to this because I've had both long and short but I think it's really funny that I still can't get these stereotypes out of my head.

In my head when I have short hair I feel obligated to:

be a little more high maintenance
wear a little more makeup
wear jewelry/accessories of some sort
act more "cutesy"
get blonde highlights or something (not going to do that again)


When my hair is long I feel:

natural/hippie
loyal
comfortable
athletic/sport-z
sexy (oh come on, it's true!)
myself

So there you have it. My lists of what long hair vs. short hair mean. How crazy am I?
The funny thing is I know many of you have short hair and you don't meet any of the criteria of my short hair stereotype. Hello, I don't even meet the criteria of my short hair stereotype but I am rockin' (inside joke for those who remember the headband ) short hair! That's the beauty of the whole thing. I really enjoy both, long and short. I like the feel of having short bouncy hair and the comfort of having long, unchanging hair. It's all relevant, or maybe it's not, at all? I don't know. I do miss my pony tail. It was getting heavy and annoying but there is something about having the option that I will honestly admit to missing.
And as a side note I've always really admired people who do crazy things with their hair. I"m not one of those people but I figure bursting out of my comfort zone and chopping off my hair is a step in that direction. Probably as far as I'll ever go, but it's still a step.

Do you have any hair stereotypes? I'd love to hear them. No offense taken :)

"Mom, come out here. Emmett knows how to play duck, duck, goose!!"

I was inside doing the dishes and watching the kids out the window when I hear Braxton yell, "Mom, come out here. Emmett knows how to play duck, duck, goose!"
So, of course I headed out. Camera in hand.

Good-bye long hair

These are some of my favorite pictures of my hair this summer.
Does that sound silly? Vain?
If so, don't worry....
I chopped off 14 inches of hair and I'm totally over it!
Long hair was fun
for a while
Then it was just work, and a lot of braiding.
So, short hair it is again.

It's funny because I didn't tell anyone that I was chopping my hair off, except my husband because I tell him everything :)

It's been due for a while and I've always wanted to be able to donate hair to Locks of Love I just never really thought I could grow it out long enough.
So I did! I chopped it off and Braxton and I delivered it to the post office and off it is now to Florida so that someone who needs it can use it.

And now when people see me they say, "YOU CUT YOUR HAIR!!" like I committed some sort of crime or something.

visual update

head over heels for raspberries, literally

berry good

I told Jeff the reason we only give our kids ice-cream twice a year (wink, wink) is so that we can get away with buying them waffle cones that weigh more than they do!

Braxton thought he was the luckiest boy in the world

These two are stinkin' cute together. Here Emmett is being a total boy, taking Kate's drink and she is demanding it back.

the beach bums

Not gonna lie, ice cream is one of my favorite things, ever!

my little surfer dude

miss thang

hottest crabber ever!

letting the waves rock us to sleep

Emmett drinking from the slip n' slide

the father on Father's Day playing a little diddy

soccer boy

one of the fishes we ate for breakfast, in the rain

a little camping cribbage

a little horsey ride from unc

"Twilight" anyone??
The whole time we were playing I was waiting for vampires to come walk onto our field. It was a little eerie.

artichokes are the new chocolate in this house.
YUM!!

biker babe in her favorite new dress that she got for her birthday from her Gramy (Jeff's mom). Seriously she is wearing this dress in 9 out of the 10 pictures I have of her in June/July.

our evenings, :)

Bama with her little babes