Yummy!

We went strawberry picking last week with Kathy and her kids.It was lots of fun and I think the majority of the kids ate more than they picked.

Me and my 5 picked a total of 10 lbs that morning but Mia wanted to do more serious picking without the boys. So we dropped them off at Grandma's in the afternoon and within an hour Mia, Holly and I picked 35 lbs. of berries (Mia won with a bucket full at 12 1/2) So, 2 strawberry pies, a couple batches of shortcake, 6 batches of jam, 3 bags of sliced frozen berries and plenty left to "just eat" they are now almost gone!

Oh so addicting!

I've been scrapbooking for a long time now but have recently wanted to start digital scrapbooking. I have finally taken the time to try to figure it out. They were fun to put together and way quicker (with no clean up and scraps laying around!) They need a little tweaking before they are printed, but it's a start. This will definitely keep me away from laundry that needs to be folded and dishes that need washing!

It's that time of year again

Holly waiting her turn to dive in. She is the only girl in the class with 5 boys. I have to say, she's holding her own just fine....which is not surprising!

Mia attempting the "breaststroke" the length of the pool.

"You go girl!"

"I look like a Rockstar"

are the exact words that came out of Joey's mouth today as we got in the car and he settled into his carseat with his new shades on.

Tyler had fun watching Holly's class.

Father's Day Fun

We headed out for a weekend of camping at Fort Worden (the site of the '03 VH reunion for all the VH fans out there) We had a ball exploring the beach and the hills and just hanging out by the campsite.

Eric and Joey enjoying the view on the ferry to Port Townsend.

(we even saw some seals and dolphins along the way)

The kids had a fun on the beach, throwing rocks in the water and collecting shells.

They did stop long enough for a picture for me.

We had fun hiking through all the old military gun batteries.

Perfect weather for flying a kite.

Father's Day lunch on our way home. We found a great spot by the ferry terminal to watch the boats come and go.

Do you see a problem?

This was supposed to be naptime!?!

A lesson learned

About a month ago I decided to buy some new silverware and found a great set for a reasonable price at Costco (where else?) We were always low on forks and spoons and I didn't feel like "forking" out the extra money to buy more to match what we got for our wedding so I was rather satisfied with my Costco purchase. That evening I was rather excited to open it up only to find about 50 zip ties holding all these utensils in the cardboard box. I got out my trusty, rather sharp Fiskars scissors and begun snipping away. As I neared the end a couple of them were REALLY tied on good and required a little more effort. One a little to much effort on my part and the scissors missed the zip tie and went straight into my other hand right at the base of my thumb (notice....no photos attached!) Eric was about ready to leave for a full council meeting at church when I let him know he now had other plans. The boys thought the blood was cool (especially, Joey) and the girls were traumatized once again! We called our great neighbor, Bill, to come sit with the kids until Eric's mom and dad could arrive. Off to the ER we went! Well, now that it is nicely healed the bill has arrived from the hospital...a $600.00 bill! :P Now I'm thinking to myself that I should have ordered the Oneida silverware in the first place. I'm sure it would have come in a nice little box with no zip ties and I would have saved some money. Oh well, lesson learned, right?

A Different Perspective

Eric, Mia and Holly went fishing over Memorial Day weekend. I wasn't to sure about sending my camera along with them..you never know when you're going to need it...so I bought the girls each a disposable camera and told them to take pictures of their trip so I could see what they did. Here is just a random mix of some of their pictures from the weekend.

Who's Who?

Now can you tell? The Otter Pops should be a dead give away.

What a bunch of monkeys!

Gone are the days of the perfectly posed pictures!


Eric and the girls have been fishing this weekend so the boys and I made our own fun. Yesterday we went to the zoo with some friends. My friend Amy hadn't been out and about in a large public place with us and our large stroller in a while and enjoyed all the crazy comments we get. You just learn to not make eye contact with anyone and respond to the comments you want and just pretend you don't hear the rest.

My favorite (not really!) was a woman who said "Oh, do you have triplets?"
"Yes" I said as politely as possible.
"Well, I guess you (looking at Amy) were the lucky one. You just got 1".
To that I couldn't help but reply "No, she was terribly unlucky, she really should have had 3!"
I wish I could have thought of a better comeback.
Sometimes I wonder why people even open their mouths!

We did have a great day and it was kind of fun to only have 3 kids to hang out with.

please stand by...

I'm messing with the template as you can see. But it's getting late and more changes will have to wait until later!

TROUBLE

Just having a little fun!

(next time you may want to move your car, Beld!)

Never take the gift of life for granted.

Our dear friends had there first baby, a boy, early Saturday morning. He is absolutely perfect. As perfect as he is he has some major hurdles ahead of him. I've added a link to his care page on our site since some of you who check our site know Kevin and Janelle and are concerned about what is happening with them. So if you are wondering who Alec is, this is him. When you think of him, say a prayer for him and his mom and dad. Sometimes becoming a first time mom and dad is way harder than it should be. We so often take for granted what a miracle babies are and how perfectly they are put together. Truly it is AMAZING how God put us all together.

Fun Filled Weekend

Mia's class hatched chicks this spring and the kids could take them home if they wanted. So currently we are the proud owners of 3 little chicks. Of course Mia got one from school and they suggested buying 1 more otherwise they are really noise.

The park was almost done on Friday afternoon...1 more day!!

The girls both danced in the Holland Days Festival this weekend.

Hurray!!!! It was finished (by about 1/2 hour) when we walked down Saturday night after dinner. The kids had a ball. We'll be there plenty this summer, I'm sure of that.

Silver Lake Fishing

We headed up to Silver Lake Monday night to do a little fishing. This time of year you are guaranteed to catch fish...which we did. The kids had a ball, although by the end of the night they were much more excited to bonk the fish over the head than to reel the poles in with a fish on.