Always Love the Zoo!

Dear daddy,
         We miss you sooooooo much! Here's some pictures of our recent adventures with Nana and Bopa, so that you can see what we're up to. Lots of loves.

Almost as tall as the Sun Bear!

 Riding the animals ... or at least the cool sculptures. Close enough. And at this petting zoo, you don't have to sanitize afterwards :)

 I swear there were birds in this picture when I took it. Dude is also wondering where they went.

 He was really really into the animals this time around. Previously he'd been a little young, but this time he loved it!

 Cutie patooties!

 Though because of his recent climbing obsession, he had to be watched closely at the edge of the enclosures. Or held. Preferrably held.

 M's longtime favorite animal.

 Sweaty girls. It was wicked humid, and that black concrete just does nothing good on a hot day. Nor do the thousands of schools that conveniently picked our zoo day to go on a field trip. Bit hectic. Totally crazy. But still glad we went!

 And it wore everybody out, making the stroller a bit squished.

The closest thing we get to seeing Uncle Adam in person, since he's currently off exploring the jungles of Laos, wherever that is. 

Technology keeps you so very busy ...

that who has time to get dressed?
Back to work!

Crazy Big Brother

 He's been into this climbing thing lately (love how shorts show off his chunky calfs!!!!). He watches M climb all over Bopa's playset, has taken ample notes, and now does it all himself! He spent at least a half hour yesterday going around in a circle: climb up the bars, spin the steering wheel once, sit at the top of the slide, say "hi" to me in his girly voice, slide down, clap for himself, run around the whole playset, and starting all over again (He only fell once! Big fall though, good thing it was him and not J!). Never gets old. Now if this was the only thing he was climbing ... but no, he learned to climb out of the pack 'n play this week. Oh brother. Fortunately he can only open the door like 5% of the time, so for the most part he's still "contained," until I can come save him!
He also spent a good 5-10 minutes yesterday lying on his stomach in the wetish dirt, inspecting the ground up close. Such. A. Boy. And here's other things we must do out back at Nana's - say hi or give kisses to the animals!

Funny boy.

And speaking of funny, yesterday my dad asked M how to spell a number of things, ending with Cooper. She put on her thoughtful look for a second, and then with a big smile announced, "D-A-D!" Bopa protested that it spelled dad, not Cooper, and she instantly replied, "I know, but I didn't know how to spell Cooper, and dad is his name too so it works the same!"

Baby G Picture Update!

We often see this bug-eyed look. Sometimes we call her Bugsy.

 We also often see this look. We like this look. Especially late at night.

 And here she looks like daddy. She's been probably the first one of our kids that hasn't come out looking just like Cooper. But clearly he's in there when I look at pictures like this one!

 She frequently sits like this sucking frantically. It's all very intense.

 And here she was trying really hard to talk to me. Her lips and even tongue were working and nothing coming out. So cute!

 The double chin is definitely in the works!

 And cracks me up but this is how she sleeps. Her arms are always up like that and she is all stretched out. So cute!

 Not sure about tummy time yet!

And her new trick ... smiling back at us!!

 BOO!

My art show!

So one other thing we had to squeeze in before moving day was my art show at the local art center! Fortunately, I had actually planned ahead on this one (a first, I assure you), and had all my painting done before baby G's birth, and actually we only had one or two left to frame the night before. Truly a miracle (Usually we're still framing an hour before. Ok, ok, so usually we're still framing in the car on the way there. Embarrassing, but true). Had no clue back in January and February how important that would turn out to be! Here's the super cool, historic building the show was in:

And yes, they spelled my name wrong but it's still cool. They just got a little crazy with the l's.

Spelled wrong inside too but the paintings looked nice! These are just some of them. I actually managed to get 11 done for them to show. It's always so fun to see them all up!

I invited two of my friends to show with me. One was Janelle, who sadly wasn't able to stick around for the opening reception, but did come briefly into town to bring her lovely photography and help hang the show. 

Our kids enjoyed the excuse to hang out. They had such a blast and got along so well that it didn't even some too crazy to have 4 adults and 7 kids under the age of 7 in our little like 1200 sq ft house. Sadly this is the only pic I have of any of the kids together. These are the two betrothed birthday buddies (born just a few hours apart on the same day! How crazy is that?! And they really seem to be exactly the same size at this point. They're getting married some day for sure).

They seem happy about our matchmaking. Just not both of them at the same time, in the same picture. But we did get his arm around her. They'll love this picture someday :)

Here's hoping that some of our pieces sell!

Cherry Festival parade

So I've been quite negligent lately (why is it that negligent and negligee sound so similar but are rather different things? Sorry, there's some of my morning randomness for you!) with all the craziness that's been going on with us, so here's my first attempt at catching up.

The Saturday before moving we rode in the Cherry Festival parade in The Dalles. Never having been there for it before, we had no idea what a big thing it was or what a long obligations it was! We got there on time to check-in, but the start time was still like 2 hours away! Basically it sucked up our whole Saturday, but the kids had a blast. Well, at least the oldest girls did, while the youngest slept cooperated by sleeping soundly. I kept worrying she was going to wake up and want to eat, and what was I going to do then? Nurse her as we paraded through downtown? 

So here we are on the new city shuttles for the soon-to-be-open Dalles Dam Tours (there were big signs on the car behind us). People were really excited actually to see us, despite the lack of decoration, candy throwers, or hula dancers, because the tours used to be a big thing and they're all pumped they're re-opening. And we saw tons of people from the ward and school and neighborhood, and got pretty tired of waving. Except for little man. He never waved. Not once. Every time we told him to wave he scowled and shook his head at the people. Friendly little fellow.

 Here the girls were impressed with one of the other paraders:

It was so nice of everybody to throw such a big party to send us off!

Book Review - Million Dollar Diva

When asked if I wanted to review this book about taking control of your finances instead of letting them control you, I thought, well hmm ... it certainly sounds nice. Certainly couldn't hurt to see what they have to say. But I was a little worried that it would yet again not be applicable because you'd have to be already in a lot better position than we are, or know more, or have done more, or the worst - make more. What is "nice" about this book is that it wasn't those things I feared, and it didn't go way over my head. In fact, it's casual, conversational tone makes it really easy to follow. And it gave me lots to think about. It did remind me a bit of advice I've read from Dave Ramsey, and right now as we're moving and looking to buy a house, it teaches a lot of good stuff to keep in mind. However, to really do any good, you'd have to not just give this a casual read, which is all I've done so far. It's not a get-rich-quick scheme. What they want you to do would take work. And time. You'd have to be willing to sit down and go through the, I'll say "exercises," for lack of a better word, to actually make a difference. Not having done that yet, I can't add my personal assurance that it'll help you "get rich safely," but it sure does make sense and helps fill in some of the gaps that those of us probably have who never took Budgeting/Finances/Getting Rich 101.
And here's an added bonus. They're offering the book for nothing more than the shipping and handling cost, if you order it here before June 15th. If you wait too long and are still interested, you could buy it here.

A smile from Baby G

Book Review: Motherhood Matters by Connie E. Sokol

You know how at the beginning of the movie, The Incredibles, Mr. Incredible says, "Sometimes I just wish the world would stay saved! I mean, didn't I just clean up this mess?!" I can sympathize Mr. Incredible! I think being a mom is just like that! Didn't I just wipe that nose? Can it really be time to nurse the baby again? Sunday again with no clean church clothes? OUCH! I swear I just picked up those legos so that I wouldn't step on them (is there anything other than childbirth more painful than stepping on a lego?)? Motherhood Matters is for the mom who's feeling like they just cleaned up this mess! It is for me as I sit here trying to type up this review with my 6 year-old reading to me, my 6 week-old alternating between smiling at me, falling asleep, and filling her diaper when she's supposed to be eating, and my 5 year-old entertaining my 19 month-old, who is still in his crib, until I can go get him out. This book is for me. Honestly, it's for any woman. And fortunately, it's small enough that it's easy to hold while juggling a small child, short enough to read that anyone make it through it, and inspirational enough to encourage without making you feel like you're not measuring up. (You know how sometimes things that are supposed to make you feel better about yourself really just remind you of all you should be doing that you're not? Thankfully, this book does not do that!) The chapters are super short; most are about two pages long. Some are actually over too quickly, which can't be said about most of the books I read. But it makes it perfect to pick up, put down, pick up, and put down however many times you need to, which I've really enjoyed doing as I've fed my baby. It's aimed at encouraging women of all ages, at reminding us why we continue cleaning up this mess, and would be a perfect Mother's Day gift to any mother or mother-to-be in your life!

You can learn more about the author here and purchase your copy here.