Quote of the Day

"I want to be a librarian when I grow up. You know why? Because it's quiet and peaceful, unlike our house." ...MiaBut, once in a while they surprise you!

Everything needs a little maintenance now and then.

This little video clip is especially for Dad and Uncle Herm. I thought they'd appreciate it since that is where these guys have learned this trade. Pretty cute, if I do say so myself!

I've been tagged!

I've been tagged by my friend, Amy.

Here are the rules:

1. You have to post these rules before you give the facts. 2. You must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had. 3. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag.

SUE

S - I can be stubborn! :) An example of this is my Eric and his friend, Brian take their wives fishing on the Skagit River every other year when "the humpy's are runnin' " They want to share their love of fishing with their us and figure this is a great time to do it since you are guaranteed to catch fish. I don't share the same passion for fishing but I went and I supposedly had a bad attitude. :) Poor Eric tried to teach me to cast and I was not a very good student. I'd much rather teach myself something I'm interested in through trial and error. A couple of those things would be scrapbooking or soccer. Speaking of soccer, I realized I have been involved with this sport since around the 3rd grade, and now I have two kids involved, one being a 3rd grader. Every year (accept maybe 1 or 2) either spring or fall, I have been involved with some sort of soccer team, whether playing or coaching. That's more than 25 years...crazy.

U - During a good week, I wash and fold approximately 49 pair of underwear! Enough said. :)

E - I am excited and exhausted. Eric is home!!! He has been working out of town all week. He and his dad, his brother and my dad have been installing cabinets at Rehoboth Christian School. They built a brand new gym and the Van's Cabinets crew were more than happy to help. Mandy and the girls went along to make supervise!

Alright, Amy, I did it! I would tag Kathy and Amy L. but that would mean they'd have to update their blogs! :) Instead I tag Evonne, Lauri and Jayne. Have fun!

It's that time of year, again!

It's the beginning of the soccer season. Tonight was Holly's very first game...ever. She did great. It was quite cute. Especially when her friend on the other team had the ball and picked up with his hands and started running the other way. Whatever works, right? She played in goal for part of the game and when the ball wasn't around she spent her time cheering on her team. The soccer mom in me wanted to yell "Focus, Holly, Focus!" But I think I kept most of those thougth in my head! :)

Mia's team is off to a good start. Not to many action photos of her this season yet since I am trying to coach them and my photographer hasn't come to town yet.

I now pronounce you....

Do they look ready?

These 3 monkeys, along with their sisters are all part of a wedding tomorrow. The fellas are bell ringers and the gals are flower girls. This was taken at rehearsal...lets hope for the best! :)

Holly's Humongous Sunflowers

Holly wanted some sunflowers in the garden this year. I guess I didn't read very closely what variety they were! These things are gigantic!

Tyler and Grandma picking beans.

We couldn't find Joey and when I went to look for him he was washing the carrots in the bathroom sink in Grandma's house. Grandma had said they had to be cleaned off before we ate them, he was just trying to be helpful! :)

Guess who.....

First Week of School!!!

It was Holly's first day of Kindergarten today,

Mia's 3rd day of 3rd grade. Due to heavy construction in front of school we have become the new place to drop off and pick up. Makes for a fun walk to school with about 15 kids.
Mia and her new teacher,

she is brand new to our school this year.
Holly with our favorite kindergarten teacher.

(she has been forwarned that she will get all 3 boys together for kindergarten)

Believe it or not, once we got Mia and Holly dropped off at school it did seem rather quiet at home!

Answered Prayers!

And baby makes four!

Alex Dale

only 8 lbs 4 oz!

Eric and I stopped by tonight to see the happy family. Kathy was in her room alone when we got there and Dale was with Alex getting his ultrasound done to check the ventricles in his brain. Dale came back beaming and saying that the ventricles looked normal...no increased fluid or anything! Amazing!!! If I understand it correctly he will still have to got to Children's for an MRI to look everything over but this is a HUGE answer to prayer. He is a healthy, beautiful little boy! Thank you, God! To leave Dale and Kathy a message you can click this link.

Sun, Sand, Surf and More SAND!!!

In case you had trouble viewing the video before I've updated it so it should work now. :)



Here's a look at our vacation last week. We had a ball playing in the sand dunes and along the ocean. The native Michigonian in me was so excited to find REAL sand! But the dunes down there went on for miles! I am still shaking sand out of everything.

Attention, Local Bloggers!

The entrepreneurs in the family have begged me to add this to the blog, nothing like free advertising! :)

ONLY OPEN ON SATURDAY FROM
1:00-3:00 P.M. AND AFTER SCHOOL
ON MONDAY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY
FROM 4:00 – 5:OO P.M.

Gotta admit...they're pretty cute and

they do a pretty good job for cheap!

In other news....we went camping,

with friends and got some great pictures!

Actually, we spent a week on the Oregon Coast and had a great time. I have a little video I'm trying to post but having some Blogger/Google Video technical difficulties...

so check back later for that!

Baby Alec

Just thought I'd give a little update on Baby Alec since so many of you were following his story. He is truly a miracle and doing wonderfully. He is doing everything a "normal" baby should be doing and is med free. This picture is a few weeks old but he is as cute as ever and is doted on by Mia and Holly whatever chance they get. He had a check up at Children's Hospital a couple weeks ago and he is doing so well they don't need to see him until October. Kevin and Janelle are so amazed by all the people who ask about him and tell them they have been praying for him. Truly a testament to God's goodness and faithfulness!

Impulsive?!?

We've been talking about going to the zoo all summer but haven't made it there yet. With summer winding down, the weather perfect and Eric gone for the evening, I decided today was the day. We had a ball and took our time meandering through the different exhibits. I think it will be one of our last outings with our "Cadillac" of strollers! Hurray!! I think Mia is the most excited about this. She wasn't quite sure why someone was taking a picture of our empty stroller (although we're not complaining) We decided instead of sitting in traffic we'd stop at The Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner. I was mentally prepared to be stared at so we headed in. Thankfully everyone did great and server was awesome and we got a few compliments on our way out. :)

Got Salmon?

Eric and Lee headed to the Frasier River this afternoon in search of some King Salmon. Mission accomplished? Funny thing is, they didn't have a "fish" scale so they used our house scale and Eric held it while he weighed himself. The larger fish weighed in at 28# (although Eric thinks it's at least 30#....he says our scale is off!) :)

Entrepreneurs

Mia and Holly have come up with a rather creative way of making money. We live at the end of a cul-de-sac so it's not very high traffic. Instead of a classic lemonade stand Mia started making jewelry and selling it to neighbors and friends who stopped by. Holly of course wanted to get in on the action and sorted through all our board books and was selling those. By day two they were selling stuffed animals, coloring books and other toys they were ready to part with. After 3 days they still keep making money somehow. They have different sales techniques. Holly is definitely high pressure sales. Mia takes a more low key approach. Somehow they've ended up about even. :) The neighbor kids keep coming over with quarters and leave with some great treasures.

Fun with our visitors.

Grandpa and Grandma were out for a visit and some babysitting. They took care of the kids while Eric and I escaped to Las Vegas for the weekend.

As usual, the kids found time to slow down and read books with Grandpa. On Saturday, Grandpa, Eric, Lucas, Tyler and Joey headed out to do some crabbing.

After they got home from crabbing, Eric, Mia, Holly and I headed to Seattle to the Mariner's game. They beat the Detroit Tigers that night!

While we were gone, Grandpa and Grandma braved the mall with the crew and went to Build-A-Bear.

Grandma somehow dodged the camera during this visit, she kept herself rather busy. Grandpa said it the best after we arrived home. He said they had a great time but he was ready for a shift change! Thanks, Mom and Dad!
As the boys were picking out their pirate costumes for their Build-A-Bears, I was finding them their own costumes. Argggg!

Viva Las Vegas

Eric and Jason had a trade show to go to in Vegas this past weekend. Mandy and I were not about to let them go alone! Our friends, Tom and Deb, from MI (one of Eric's roommates from college who also have triplets) also met us there. It was great fun catching up with them, also! I think the highlight for all the fellas were the number of professional athletes they saw and even met. Eric was just a little thrilled to have Shaun Alexander (from the Seattle Seahawks) autograph the book he had finished the day before, entitled "Touchdown Alexander".

Summer Fun

Who doesn't love a good outdoor summer concert. It wasn't quite a Jimmy Buffet concert but it is the next best thing.... it's Hot Wally !

A Family Fourth

Good Clean Fun

I never seem to have bubbles in the house when the kids want to play with them. Today was one of those days but I found a great recipe for homemade bubbles and they worked great. It even came with an idea for homemade bubble blowers as well. Gotta love familyfun.com.

I ended up using Joy "Ultra Concentrated" dishsoap and it got a little soapy.