Jakob had his agenda all planned out. He was going to find himself a snake. Fortunately for him when he was out scouting the campground, Grandpa & Daddy saw & caught a small racer snake for him. Jakob brought his small terrarium and set it all up. He spent most of his camping trip holding and studying the snake he came to name as Frankie Jr. (Frankie Sr is his big stuffed rattlesnake).

It was great spending time relaxing and literally being unable to do all the things that you feel obligated to do when at home. I was just glad to have nothing to do, other than keeping an eye on the kiddos. My Mom, Father-in-law and sister-in-law came with us too. The more the merrier…especially when hauling all of the gear in and out of the campsite. I have noticed it take quite a bit more packing when you have kids. My loads were definitely lighter prior to children and consisted mostly of beer. LOL! My how times have changed.

Anyway, my Mom was over yesterday and we of course were watching Yo Gabba Gabba. Madison had Grandma’s glasses on and was dancing. It was too cute not to share. I took a few pics, but most entertaining of all is the video of her little dance.

A lot has happened since I last posted. The most significant was a flood we had at the end of January. The pipe running from the toilet to the wall leaked while were sleeping. We woke to a soaked floor in about 3 rooms and the hallway. There was around 3 inches of ice cold water in our bathroom. Needless to say it caused a lot of water damage. We were forced to move out of our house for a month. It was a totally fun adventure at first which quickly faded to stress and a strong desire to go home. I will highlight some of the really fun parts of the experience though. We decided if we must be out of our house, maybe it would be a great time to go to the coast. We stayed at a great place in Lincoln City called Surf Tides. It had such awesome views as we were right on the beach and when it was high tide the water was at the base of the building. I don’t know if there is anything quite as relaxing as listening to the awesome sounds of the ocean as you drift off to sleep. It was wonderful! I grew up on the coast and I think I will always feel as though it is a big part of me. Every time I’m there I feel as though I’ve come home. Here is the view from our room.

I must make an honorable mention here to Pig N Pancake. I had never been to one of those restaurants before, but we ate there every day. I’m so glad there isn’t one close to us here because I would be a cow. LOL! Breakfast there was sooooo good.

We did a lot of fun things at the coast. We went to the Tillamook Air Museum, the Newport Aquarium and we finished off our trip at the Evergreen Aviation Museum and got to check out their new space wing. It was really so much fun and just what we needed to get our minds off of our flooded home.

Easter this year was definitely memorable. Madison is finally old enough to appreciate things like egg hunts and of course CANDY!!! Her obsession at this point is Elmo and so I created a special Elmo egg for her. She adored it. The excitement came during Easter dinner. Josh and I had his family over and we were cooking a wonderful ham that his Mom brought with roasted garlic mashed potatoes & asparagus. Unfortunately during dinner, potato skins slipped down the sink and apparently past the garbage disposal. The sink was clogged and we tried everything to get it unclogged. In the chaos of it all, the ham overcooked. We did finally get the sink unclogged but unfortunately when we were plunging the sink all of the water decided to come up the pipe where the water from the washing machine drains. Once again, water all over the floor. Fortunately, this was a manageable water mess. I’m glad at the end of the day we were able to chuckle about it. It was definitely a very “Griswald” like Easter.

Jakob has become quite the artist. It’s amazing to watch him grow & develop. He is such a smart and creative little guy. This month I got a letter from the school. A self portrait painting of his was chosen to be hung at the local Starbucks. It was so cool because we all got invited to the “unveiling”. What a fun and proud moment for me as a Mom. The unveiling party was great & complete with hot chocolate and Starbucks snacks for all!

April also brought Madison’s 2nd birthday. I really can’t believe how fast she has grown. She is becoming such a little character. She is already talking up a storm (I don’t know where she gets that…LOL). She can definitely be a handful at times and she climbs literally everything. This girl has no fear. She reminds me a lot of myself which as a mother scares me! What is really funny is her passion for clothes. At this point she will choose clothes over toys. I doubt (and by doubt I really mean hope) that this will last, but it really is funny to watch. She loves to dress herself and will most definitely let you know what she wants to wear. She is famous for taking her arm out of one side of her shirt. I guess this is her “off the shoulder” look. LOL. Who knows, maybe she will be a fashion designer some day.

This year we had her party on the Sunday after her birthday. As a Mom I couldn’t resist making her a cake for her birthday too. So I made two Elmo cakes this year. They came out so well. The first one we made a chocolate cake with a strawberry filling and cream cheese frosting. The second one was the same except Jake & I decided to make a chocolate cream cheese frosting. Good call. They were both great but the second one was AMAZING!!! I got a lot of help and advice from Jake when making the second cake so I must give him credit for how beautiful it was. Great job Jake!

Last but not least I’m going to leave you with a couple of great pics of the kids. They are so wonderful and Josh and I feel truly blessed to have them. They make us laugh and sometimes cry. LOL. They are absolutely magical and I couldn’t have even imagined how much they would enriched our lives. I’m thankful each day to be blessed with my wonderful husband & children.

Hopefully I get on updating this blog more frequently. The less I do it the longer the posts seem to get.

Josh and I were fortunate enough to get out without the kids for a little while this month too. My Uncle Matt threw a party to celebrate my cousin Rachel’s birthday & graduation from college, so we got to go out, have a couple of drinks and visit with family & friends.  It was great, most of all because we were without children! 

Every year Jakob and I decorate cookies or cupcakes.  This year we made some great and tasty Halloween cookies.  Jakob is so creative and baking with the kids is always so memorable and fun!

Halloween is a big deal around here with Jakob. He is a major advocate of pumpkin carving, pumpkin pie, dressing up and like every kid, candy!!! October is always a really fun month for us.  This year Jakob carved a pumpkin with grandpa at the beginning of the month, one in the middle of the month, and then 3 with us on Halloween. Unfortunately our latest pumpkins didn’t come out so well. Typically we spend a lot of time carefully carving our pumpkins, but this year, Madison cried most of the time we were carving. She has been super cranky because her eye teeth are coming in. Needless to say, we carved quick and in that desperate hurry a pumpkin was sadly lost. Oh well, better luck next year!  You can’t win them all

Halloween this year was super cool! We had friends and family join us for pizza, beer, vanilla rum & hot cider and most of all trick or treating. It was a hoot! It was Mahala’s (my cousins daughter) first Halloween and she was dressed super cute as a firefighter! Jakob went this year as BumbleBee the transformer and Madison went as a fairy. The look on Maddy’s face when she realized people were putting candy in her bucket was priceless especially when she saw her favorite…M&M’s.

I know I have already put up a ton of photos, but I have one more set I would like to share. Madison likes to play in my makeup while I’m putting it on. So I decided to take some pictures of her. She is so funny and her hair in these pictures absolutely cracks me up!

I hope everyone had a great October and a wonderful Halloween!!!

August was such a great month for us.  We did lots of fun things.  Jakob had his 6th birthday on the 8th.  He was so excited to get “Devastator”, the transformer made up of 6 separate construction Decepticons.    We topped off a wonderful family party with a chocolate cheesecake made by Grandma Ellynn.  Yummy!!!

On the 11th of August we decided to go to the Zoo which offers a special on the 2nd Tuesday of every month.  You get in for only $2!  There were ton’s of people.  I would venture to say if you want to go to $2 Tuesday you should really think of doing it during the school year, LOL!  We did have so much fun.  We even rode the train which we have never done before.  It was great!  What a beautiful ride.  I think we need to go to Zoo Lights this year to enjoy the ride with all the Christmas lights.  The zoo has done a lot of remodeling and we had a really great time enjoying all the exhibits.  Jakob particularly enjoyed the snakes, bats & insects .

Josh had his 3rd surgery on his knee this month as well.  I can’t tell you how long and exhausting this road has been.  He is still in pain and we are both frustrated and concerned.  Only time will tell if the most recent surgery was successful.

Next up for the month…the Sandy Mountain Festival!  We joined my Mom & cousins Lisa, Rachel, and little Mahala at the Sandy Mountain Festival Parade.  It was so much fun.  Jakob was really hoping to see the tanks like in years past, but unfortunately…no tanks this year.  My Mom had to keep Madison under control.  That girl was ready to join the parade.  Good think Grandma had her by the seat of her pants or she would have!

Here are some random pictures from this month.  Jakob, Maddy & I had fun racing around Safeway in this sweet cart!  I don’t know why more grocery stores don’t have these things.  It makes shopping so much easier for parents!

Maddy loves to wear Jakob’s backpack.  It is too cute watching her run around with that huge thing on her back.  It cracks me up!  My cousin said that we should get her a green backpack and dress her up as a turtle for Halloween.  I think it’s a great idea!  LOL!

This month brings a lot of family events as well.  July 27th was Maya’s 20th birthday and it is also Josh’s parents anniversary.  We celebrated Maya’s birthday last Sunday with a wonderful chocolate cheesecake topped with chocolate ganache and cherries made by my Mom.  It was so wonderful!

Next up this month…well Josh’s birthday is tomorrow and Jakob’s 6th birthday is right behind it, so stay tuned for pictures and maybe even video.  Oh, I almost forgot.  I cut my hair.  It’s a pretty drastic change but I absolutely love it.  I was really tired and bored with my long hair.  So here it is!

Maddy saying “Hey Cuz” to Mahala

Rachel, Grandpa, Tina & Madison

Jakob & Daddy with their snakes.  Eeewwwwhhhh! 

And last but not least I will leave you with a short video. Yep…at 14 months old she is washing her own hair. Maddy absolutely cracks me up!

Madison turned one in April. It’s so hard to believe how quickly this year has gone. She is already walking and saying a few words. She just loves being with her big brother Jake. So since I haven’t updated with pictures or video for a long time I am going to throw some in. I have also updated my YouTube page with some videos from the last couple of months. You can find them here:
http://www.youtube.com/weedbead1.

Maddy taking a stroll

Josh, Jakob, Grandma Lynn & Madison at Jakob’s Spring Concert

Maddy in Jakob’s bee costume

3 Generations on Mother’s Day