What a DECADE!

Our little Avy Baby turned 10 years old this Friday! What a great decade it has been having her in our lives.

Here's our (Slade is helping me) Top Ten reasons Avy is fantastic:

1. The girl is creative. And in a creative way. Just give her random things and her ideas will be NO WHERE near the box!

2. Avy is friendly and enjoys being with people. She has an inclusive streak about her that we hope will continue with her.

3. She enjoys being active: soccer, lacrosse, skiing, bike riding.

4. Avy LOVES to laugh!!! And laugh she does. A beautiful, contagious, infectious laugh.

5. Recently she has learned the art of saving money. It is so refreshing to see the restraint from what she "needs right now" for something in the future.

6. FASHION. In the sense that "fashion" is not "mainstream".

7. Singing is a joy for Avy and follows in her grandpa's footsteps for singing about anything.

8. Avy values her library card. She frequently asks to go and enjoys reading.

9. Avy is a compassionate and caring person. So much so, that she has become a vegetarian. No kidding. And no exceptions since September. She feels for those little chickies and cows.

10. Caring part 2: she was the most excited when asked about adding kids to the family.

We look forward to the next decade and know she will be an incredible adult!

We love you, Avy!

AM's 11th Birthday

Little AM celebrated her 11th birthday today. As requested, we enjoyed "breakfast for dinner", rootbeer, brownies and ice cream. It's been a sugar-loaded evening. (Hurray for Slade taking on post-dinner-homework activities!)

We hope this year brings her mucho happiness and joy!

January Birthday x5?

January is the month of birthdays for our family. Heidi, Sawyer, Slade and then Avy. But this week we added a few more kids to the household AND another January birthday. Party on, dude!

Isn't She Lovely?

Really, the title should say, "Aren't THEY Lovely?" But not many songs written about multiples of love.

Thursday meant my mom has another year under her belt. She has done some amazing things in her life. She's raised 6 kids (all born within the same decade). I am not following in those footsteps. She has spent a portion of her life living her dream as a farmer. My black thumb and I will not be following in those footsteps. She has amazing sewing skills. I have tried, unsuccessfully, to follow in in those footsteps. She has patience and love for many four-legged animals. Again, not a match.

But there are many things that I have learned from her:

1. Creativity. I attempt it in my own little way. I think a portion of this comes from her ability to create a new homestead while moving every two years for many years.

2. To dream. She always wanted to be veterinarian, but didn't do that because "that's not what women do" back when she went to school. I think she has encouraged all her children to do what they love to keep us from having regrets. (There is more of that rebel spirit in there too!)

3. The love for road trips. I have happy memories driving across the country. It may have been out of necessity (who can afford to travel with 6 kids?) but regardless, I find myself with the hankering for a road trip every year.

My kids are lucky to know her and we are even luckier to just be a couple of miles away!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

A dozen . . .

years ago I was in denial.

I woke up in labor, 3 weeks before my due date. "False labor," we concluded. Slade took me to work (back in our student-one-car-days) where he helped me get comfortable. But I couldn't do too much from couch cushions on the floor so we went to the doctor's office where it was confirmed as the real deal. Slade skipped class that day and we enjoyed our last kid-free day together.

Eventually we made it to the hospital and even more eventually we met our silver-haired boy. Who knew you could feel so much for someone so small so fast?!

We've loved the 12 years since. Sawyer has a seriousness about him but can quickly revert to a funny little guy. He has particular tastes about things and life, but is willing give new things a shot here and there. Lately, he has shown some impressive maturity that must be coming with age. We can't wait to see what a dozen more years have in store for him.

Milk was $2.03/ gallon (somethings don't change much)
Movie Teickets were $6
Gasoline was $1.19 /gallon (somethings do)

B-lated B-day

September always sneaks up and seems SO busy with back to school (Slade and kids), soccer practices, soccer games, etc. Each year I devise a plan to manage it all better. It's working, but not perfect yet. Kennah's birthday celebration is one of those events that we CAN do around her actual day but it is so much easier just a few weeks later.

This year the kids went on a Haunted Tour of downtown Oregon City. Rocky Smith - an art teacher at this high school, city commissioner and life-long OC resident - took the kids on their own spook walk. (He takes tours all month.) It was fabulous to walk a few blocks and hear about how different life was a couple hundred years ago. It was a lot of fun to see the kids warm up and ask lots of questions. Rocky did a great job telling things that have been reported but letting the kids decide how to process the info.


I drive by this mural almost daily. I guess I knew it was the beginning days of OC, but never thought about where things are in relation to today.

More stories . . .

The Perfect Birthday

Today Kennah is 9 years old! She has had a flawless weekend of partying, friends and FAMILY! It was an absolute delight to have so many of our family members celebrate. We enjoyed having those we love so much share a few hours with our "little" girl.

All on her own, Avy made this wonderful sign to round out (and only) decorations for the evening. In the hurry to get everything done yesterday, I neglected the work that she did. What a great little sister!

Grami made a delicious and beautiful cake. "Vanilla with vanilla," the birthday girl's request.

And the best part--no tempting leftovers! It was devoured by this group. MMMMM...

Music was in the air . . .

. . . and will be in the next few years, as Kennah puts her new guitar to use!

Let's hear it for the beauty of September and the IDEAL weather in Oregon. The kids played outside. Dominic's expression could tell a million stories.

Reevkah sampled Sam's latest creation and hobby--bottling his own sodas.

The PERFECT years!

Kennah had her birthday party last night.

We seem to have entered the phase of slumber parties. It seems too good to be true to have HER make invitations, bake some pizzas and a cake, buy candles and PRESTO, a party. (Sadly, I do miss the days planning themed parties, they were always so fun. But a lot of work, as Slade will quickly point out.)

Slade and I enjoyed kicking back (literally), hanging with the girls.

Once the suger kicked in, the giggles were non-stop. That is a sound that someone should market.

Wonder how Slade held up by the end of the night?

Just a little over the top--such the exaggerator!

Ugly Party

Yup, you read it right. Avy's birthday party theme this year was UGLY. But, it actually, it turned out very, very cute. She's really been into her drawings and being an artist. So, I had the idea to let her (and Kennah) design their own little creations and turn them into dolls. I guess, a version of Build-a-Bear, but in our home. And so the girls and I designed the shapes, Mimi sewed the shapes together and like that, we had a birthday party.

There was no school today, so Avy had 6 friends over. First we started with questions all about Avy. Hey, it's her birthday, why not give her some attention? Then, the girls with the most correct answers picked the body "shell" she wanted.

We entered the "operating room" and stuffed the dolls full of filling and a little red heart. Then they sewed it up and put a band-aid on for recovery. They named the dolls and filled out birth certificates. The babies rested in their "bassenette" baskets in the nursery while their moms enjoyed cake and ice cream. Avy opened her gifts and it was time to go home. It was really very fun. (If I had really been on the ball we could have sung lullabies or made a bigger deal out of stuff. But, you can only do so much, so it was what it was.)

And thus ends the 4th family birthday of 2008! Shew!

Double Digits

Well our little boy has hit a milestone--double digits! The big "10"! (Although Sawyer confidently says he'll make it to triple digits.)

He had 5 friends over for a slumber party--a first in our home. (When I grew up, our family rule was 8 years old. And NOW I completely understand.) The boys had a great time playing video games. . .until 3:30 am. At that point Slade finally threatened seperating the boys unless the projector was turned off. It was very cute to see a room full of boys laughing & talking in their own little language and awareness of each other.

Happy Birthday Sawyer!

Since he's 10, it is the perfect time to share:

Top 10 GREAT things about Sawyer:

1. He has a keen awareness of how things work and go together.

2. He is definitely an outside the box thinker! (Or at least knows how to push things to the limit.) (There's a funny story about recess soccer rules & the last day of school.)

3. Everyday Sawyer makes himself do things that aren't easy for him to accomplish. (As an adult I can make things work out for myself, but Sawyer has to work within many rules and guidelines.)

4. Sawyer can't look you in the eye when he lies.

5. Doesn't take hot showers for granted.

6. Is super creative!! (He writes and draws detailed and entertaining cartoons and takes after his dad in designing mazes.)

7. Is very loving and loyal to his parents and sisters.

8. Works hard and has shining behavior at school.

9. Is gifted with a 6th sense of understanding electronics.

10. Has a strong sense of justice and fairness.