Crazy Kids

Ok, so yesterday I'm on the phone with Trav. He's asking me what's going on, and I say "Oh, nothing, we're just hanging out...." Then all of the sudden several things happened all in about 2 minutes. I hear the front door open, and Elijah's little feet racing to the bathroom (he always waits until the very last second). I turn around to see one of the neighbor kids running through our house: "Elijah! Elijah!" Rogue runs outside, Neighbor boy won't stop ringing the doorbell, I'm trying to ask him to stop while Alex is insistant upon getting outside, and Elijah is yelling my name. I return inside (with Alex in tow) to find Elijah didn't quite make it to the toilet in time. I go to get some new underwear and pants while Alex is crying, Rogue is running around outside somewhere, and the neighbor boy keeps ringing the doorbell, opening the door, and calling for Elijah, and Elijah won't stop yelling at me (there's only one of me kids!!). Finally, I get Elijah what he needs, I get Rogue rangled back inside, and the neighbor stops ringing the doorbell (still opening our door at random, but at least no bell). Ahhhhhh.

Etsy Listings

Here are some pics of my items currently listed on etsy....








Hopefully I'll get around to adding more soon. Some friends have asked my to have a girl's night at my house, so they can browse my jewelry and clothes, so I'm trying to save everything I have for those couple of nights. As soon as I'm done with those, I'll have A LOT to list. Also, I've started making something new- tutu's. I've already made a black one for Alex for her halloween costume- super cute. Elijah insisted on trying it on, and did not want to take it off! Elijah: "Can I wear this to church today?" Travis: "Um...no. Get that off before anyone sees you." I'm sure he would be just delighted to get to wear it to his dance classes too :)

A New Addition to the Family!

That's right! We have a new baby girl! Her name is Riken. She has dark brown eyes, golden blonde hair, and the cutest little tail. :) We've talked about getting a dog for a couple of years now, and had decided that a golden retriever was just the right fit for our family. And wouldn't you know it? Our neighbors down the road have a litter of 12 golden retriever puppies for sale! The boys discovered them first, and absolutely adored them. We discussed it, and although it is a little sooner than we had anticipated buying one, we couldn't help bringing little Riken home. Well, actually she has to stay with her mom until the end of the week, then she can come home. Wow- what a responsibility that is going to be. I hope we can handle it okay. I just can't wait to take her boating, rafting, swimming, running, hiking, etc.

Boating pics.... NOT!

So, we FINALLY got our boat up to the lake for some tubing yesterday, and I just wanted to post some pics of all the fun we had. Here they are:






....Oh, yeah- THERE ARE NO PICTURES!! Why? Because of an itty bitty 1/2 inch diameter object: a drain plug. That's right- we got up there, unloaded the boat, all of our gear, parked the trailer and cars, took bathroom breaks, then just as we're about to get on, Travis notices that the boat is filling up with water. The drain plug is missing! What happened to it between last year and this year has yet to be discovered, and frankly doesn't matter- we just want to go boating! Shane's girlfriend, Alyssa, and I drive over to Kane's Marina to buy every plug available in the hopes that one of them will fit. Meanwhile, Shane and Travis load the boat back onto the trailer while watching all three kids, too. So, Alyssa and I buy every plug they have- ONE! They had one "universal" plug. So, we get back with our one plug, to find that the entire parking lot at the loading dock is full. I ask the ranger where to park, assuming that he would allow me to park in a "no parking" zone. Nope. Next place to park is a 1/2 mile up the road, or I can park there and risk getting a citation. Needless to say, we decide to take our chances with the citation and are wondering where Shane is supposed to be able to park the trailer. So, we get back down to the guys only to find that the "universal" plug is not so universal afterall. We are out of luck. While we are loading everything back up, we find that ranger standing by our car about to give us a ticket!! We talked him out of it, since we were leaving and 3 hours after leaving Shane's house for the lake, we are back with nothing but frustration and a stomach full of Giovanni's breadsticks to show for all our trouble. Well, hopefully our next attempt will yield better results, but I wouldn't mind being left with a stomach full of Giovanni's breadsticks again!

too far off track

so it has been so long since i posted last, and so much has happened, that all i can do is a brief overview. otherwise, this post will end up being far too long!
so, let's see... we went on our rogue river trip. it was great, as always. i look forward to that trip more than anything else every year. being a mother consumes so much of you, that you start to lose sight of yourself sometimes. for me, going camping and rafting just helps me get back in touch with myself. it's hard to explain the feeling i get- it's so free, exhilerating... i just get a real sense of my true self when i go. i need to find more outlets that give me that feeling. i think that if i could get myself back into really good shape and start dancing again- that would give me a similar feeling. it's difficult to explain, but i'm sure that other mothers out there know exactly what i mean. Anyway, oh yeah- supposed to keep details to a minimum- moving on....
Elijah is taking dance classes now. He loves them, but I think that he liked gymnastics even better. I might have to look into that again. He's also learning to play the zither/melody harp. I've promised him that I will teach him to play the piano next- he is so artsy. He loves music, dance, movement, singing, drawing, painting, creating. I do my best to encourage his interests, but I think I need to do it even more- I want him to have every opportunity that I can provide for him. He's also learning to read. Our schedule has been super crazy busy lately, so we've been slacking on a lot of things, but I am so impressed with how quickly he took to reading. I need to make sure that we contiue to practice regularly to help him keep it up.
Rogue is as adventurous as ever. He absolutely loved riding in the kayak on the river. I even jumped in the water, and left him to paddle the kayak by himself a little! He's eased up on the Thomas trains juuuuuuuuuuuust a little and I jump at the opportunity to encourage other interests- he very into sharks right now. I think that next week, the kids and I might take a trip over to the coast to the aquarium.
Little Alexandra is not so little anymore. she turns 10 months old tomorrow! I can't believe it. Plus, she refuses to eat baby food- she is a finger food girl. So, she's no longer the tiny little thing she once was. She is still such a happy baby, just don't put her in a carseat! Today... well, I hate to even write about this because it just makes me sick to think about it... Alex, Elijah and I were playing upstairs in the playroom (Rogue was sleeping). Instead of putting up the baby gate at the top of the stairs, I just closed the door to the playroom. Alex and Eli played while I reorganized the closet. All of the sudden, I heared Alex make a little noise, and I realized in a dreadful split second that the noise had not come from the playroom! Elijah had left the room for a moment earlier, and had not closed the door when he returned. I bolted out the door, and dove for Alex, who was at the top step of our staircase. I picked her up, walked back into the playroom, and immediately said a little prayer thanking Heavenly Father for that one little noise that she had made. Oh- I can't even think about it anymore! I am so grateful that we have Heavenly Father watching over us!
On a lighter note, I went out for a girls' night out tonight! We took a trip up to portland to the melting pot. That is a new favorite restaurant! Fondue appetizer, fondue entree, findue DESSERT- just can't beat it! Sooooooooooooooooo yummy. I love girls' nights out. They're so relaxing. Of course, we inevitably talk about our kids for at least a little bit, but we also have a chance to get some adult conversation in, which is so fun and refreshing.
ok, so this is longer than what i was hoping for. There's still so much, but I'll wrap it up with this: I have closed down my ebay store, and I also won't be attending the Homer Davenport Days, because I was way too stressed and super busy. I did do some posting on my online etsy shop, and hope to get a lot more up very soon.
Well, i suppose this ends my ramblings... for today anyway.