You Don't See That Every Day

We had a baby this weekend. And he is a cutie!  It all started with a parade, and a family reunion. The annual get together at my aunt and uncle's house was this past weekend. I managed to make it to the little town parade too. I got to see some college friends in the parade, which was a cool highlight for me!  And instead of just candy, one group handed out Otter Pops - score! on such a hot day!  Aunts and uncles cousins and far flung relatives along with friends (and plenty of people who I am related to but I don't know) were at the get-together. The dessert contest once again honored my girls' hand at cake-decorating: And there was plenty of time for games and some football throwing. It's always nice to see the older two actually getting along.    And then we took the young un's home. The house was fairly baby-proofed, but thankfully I have some great older kids who are terrific babysitters. (Plug here - anyone need a sitter? Call my older ki...

There is a lot of hair around our house. 5 females with long hair adds up to: many strands floating or found in various places; plus a lot of emptying of the vacuum canister. My two older girls have each cut their beautiful long hair once for Locks of Love. And this month it was the third one's turn. She has been asking since March, I think, to get her hair cut. I kept putting her off, until I had to tell her about the wedding. I had grand dreams of her long blonde hair in beautiful long curls. But since I have never really curled her hair much, I didn't realize that curls do.not.stay. in her hair. So she had long wavy hair for the wedding. And she still looked cute. The week we got back she started really hounding me about getting her hair cut. So I made it happen. Here we have the before photos:  so long and wavy And then after we visited the hair salon: Isn't she cute!? I said it made her look like Kit from the American Girls series. She really likes it ...

It isn't often that I get to go anywhere without a child or two. And leaving the city we live in without children? Doesn't happen. Well maybe once a year. This time I actually left the state I live in - with only one child along for the ride. Miss Squiggles and I took a nice airplane ride down to San Diego.Here she is at the airport, waiting. She did a lot of that, waiting. And she was so good about it! Usually she has a lot to say, and a lot of wiggles. But this weekend or ours was mainly grown-ups and plenty of waiting, and she was pretty quiet and patient. She did great! San Diego was almost like another country for us. It was warm and beautiful on the harbor. The palm trees were cool to look at, so different from the fir and pine around our home. And all the ships! Wow! We saw the USS Midway - that thing is huge! We also saw this cool ship - someone said it was used in the Pirates movie.  We had a day to explore before we had to be at the rehearsal and dinner. ...

Our family adventures this past June were not as dramatic as the previous year , thank you Lord! We've had enjoyable times as a family, without blood, sweat, or tears! The day after school finished, I took the 5 minions to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. It was a bit of a splurge for the 6 of us, but I thought it was worth it this time. We got to see the otters and sea lions being fed. That was great! There was a seal there that really liked the spectators attention, and would just linger at the glass for minutes at a time, instead of swimming. Sometimes she just stayed there upside down.  I think the best part were the sea otters. So much fun to watch!  We spent most of the day there, looking at all the inside exhibits, and enjoying the 'undersea' experience also, where we saw the sharks. Little K wasn't too thrilled with that part. But the girls all had a lot of fun being silly whenever possible. Overall a great way to kick off the beginning of summer. ......

Owning a home allows a person to have a great dating life. As long as those dates are to stores like Home Depot. The Mr. has been working on the upstairs remodel as time and money allow. And we are nearly done with it! The bedrooms are 99% complete and the bathroom is getting there. The countertop and sink and that tile is in. One light is up, but not attached. The shower has taken the longest time. He had to cut the concrete board and get it fitted for the shower. The sheetrock in the bath is nearly all up, and the mudding process will begin soon (I think). Then it will be tile, floor, toilet, and turn everything on! But then the front deck rotted out, and we've been working on that. Since the plate below the door also is gone, we have to replace the front door; which means we actually have to go down together and pick out a door to order. Which means we have to find time to do this together. Looks like another date night to Home Depot. Along with all this fun we found ano...