Boards and our Backyard

 Time to transform the yard! One of the major selling points of this house was the big backyard. There was just so many possibilities of what we could do with it (all of which involved our boys getting as much exercise and energy out as possible! :)  We started by building a french drain around the backyard, as it had a bit of a flooding problem.

The boys were thrilled with the mountain of rocks in our driveway!

Then we moved on to preparing the area for the kids' playstructure. There had previously been a large garden in that spot, so we were able to just flatten it out (gasp! Don't worry..it had been neglected for quite a while, so we didn't destroy anything that could've been eaten!.) The boys definitley were able to entertain themselves in the mud (which was a cheaper option than the playstructure) but the muddy laundry that accumulated each day was getting a bit of a hassle!

We were able to find a fantastic deal on a playstructure at ToysRUs, and it ended up being better than we had planned! It took 2 days to install, including lots of sorting of the boards and hardware and 32 steps to put it all together. Whew!

To keep things as simple as possible, I sorted the boards and hardware according
 to each step so we could just grab and go (sorting took about 4 hours)!

Papa had some helpers when we moved in all the cedar chips!

The finished product! Of course, Daddy had to push them on the swings right away!

Home Sweet Green House

After over a year of house hunting...we finally found the house! I have to say, taking the plunge is a little intimidating. But with Christian's massive CPNE exam out of the way...and the kids gaining a larger capacity of energy by the hour....it was time. Not that we didn't like our sweet little apartment, but to be honest, we were looking forward to sleeping in a bedroom where we couldn't hear our neighbor snoring every night...



                                

                                      Thank goodness we had little movers to help us!

We learned that there are many perks to moving a few doors down from your parents. Here's a prime example! 



They selflessly let us move everything we owned into their garage, and stay in their home until we closed on our house so that we could get out of our apartment sooner!

And here it is....our green house. Funny to think it's been four houses down from where my husband lived throughout his teenage years! We are so blessed to have such a great home (for such a great price!).  Thanks to Christian's incredibly hard work and dedication, it's truly a dream come true.

Now on to making this house feel like home....lots of painting, yardwork, etc to be done! :)

                                  

Passing and Planning!

After flying across the country (and back!), and three stressful days of incredibly intense testing, Christian PASSED the CPNE exam! Praise God! I am so proud of him and his dedication to his family and his schooling! It is such a relief to have him home and know that he never has to undergo that kind of pressure again! WHEW!

Judah at the airport, watching for his dada to come off the plane!

This is also exciting as he can now turn his full attention to the home we are buying. With the inspection and appraisal behind us, we are counting the days til they hand us the keys to our "green house"! We're so thrilled to find a home that was affordable, and most of all....has a huge yard for our energetic little guys!  I'll be posting before and after pics of the rooms in our house after we get all settled in :) But for now....we're trying to wait patiently......and dream about what we're going to do with the place!




Male bonding!



Love Day and Lessons Learned

It has been a hectic, crazy week in our little household! Between going through our house-buying process, various doctors appointments, playdates and birthday parties, and Christian doing a final cram before his CPNE (Clinical Performance in Nursing Examination) in New York, I'd say we made it through the week rather well!

Christian has spent the last 8 months studying, testing and preparing to become a Registered Nurse (did I mention he has been working full-time as an LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse) at the same time?!). My wonder-man is about to travel across the country to New York, to take a 3 day exam that entails thousands of dollars, countless hours preparing, time off of work, and dare I say the stress equivalent to taking several years off his life! He is to spend 3 days performing labs, as well as treating and caring for actual patients in a hospital he is unfamiliar with.....while a clinical examiner watches his every move. The chance for failure for anyone taking this exam is huge....with only a 68% pass rate! Let's just say that we are taking Philippians 4:6 to heart: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

In the midst of all this, the boys and I found time to make a turkey. Random, yes...but I guess the motivation of not having to lug a frozen turkey to our new house when we move was enough to fit it in the schedule. Judah had recently obtained a stuffed-animal turkey from his grandma...which had become loved and slept with him in his bed at night. Needless to say, both the boys learned a thing or two about the circle of life during this activity!

  And then, there was Valentine's Day. One of the last days before Christian left for New York, he didn't have a lot of time to focus on mushy love stuff. The boys and I made heart cookies, and they each recieved a small gift (Josiah got his very first watch...hot wheels themed, of course! And Judah got a license plate with his name on it for the new bike his grandparents gave him for Christmas).  It was a sweet day!



Monkey Party!

Judah decided he wanted an "Ah-ahh"(monkey) party for his 3rd birthday...(coincidentally, he also had an "ah-ahh" party for his 2nd birthday!) Excitingly enough,we found a party store that was going out of business and had the entire store on sale for 75%-90% off! Jackpot! We were able to get so much more than we had planned this way! His grandma and grandpa graciously let us use their home as the party spot for about 18 rambunctious little boys and two sweet girlies. He had a blast....I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking!

Waterfalls and baby lambs

One of the blessings of getting to be a stay-at-home-mom is that I get to come up with all sorts of exciting ways to learn and have fun. This past week, the weather was uncharacteristically sunny and dry for Oregon, so we spent much of our time outside (hoooray!) We were able to have some "daddy time" with Christian at a park, which was fun
for the whole family (Christian was able to lay aside his studying and get some sun and fresh air!)

 Later in the week, the kids and I met up with Don and Elena (Christian's parents) at Silver Creek Falls. The kids really enjoyed the little hike around and behind one of the larger waterfalls in the park....Josiah was much more timid, but Judah had no problem getting close to the edge!

On Sunday after church, we visited a friend's farm. They had just had some baby lambs born and wanted to show the boys. They enjoyed seeing the lambs, chickens, and geese. Judah enjoyed the farm so much that he shoved a dirty, chicken-pecked corn cob from the chicken coop into his mouth and chewed on it. I have yet to figure out what would posess him to decide that it would be in any way tasty! Fortunately, he didn't have any issues being sick later in the day. Toddlers have resiliant little tummys!

It's so exciting to watch the boys experience life each day.....learning and encountering things they've never done before. My goal is to take each of those new experiences and turn it in to a positive time for them to learn and grow!

Funny sayings....things I want to remember that came out of the boys' mouths!

This is a record of funny things the boys say....I know I'll never remember them if I rely on my brain...so this is a place that I jot them down for future laughs!

*"Hello, oh yah. They split the nanas. Ok. Goodbye. Adios. Au revoir." -Judah's pretend phone conversation

*"Can giraffes see God, mama?" -Josiah while in the car

*"Is it dark inside a dinosoar's tummy?" -Josiah, concerned about being eaten

*"Don't throw garbage on the ground! How does that make God feel!?!" -Josiah after seeing me miss the trash can when throwing something away

*"Why do flies like rotten compost bins?" -Josiah randomly

*"Why don't people have fur?" -Josiah while riding in the truck to Target

*"Bad people hurt him.....bad people hurt him....bad people...hurt him.....and he came back to life!     
                           -Judah explaining the Easter story

*"These are the girl cars, and these are the boy cars."  (Josiah showing me his hot wheels that he had organized into two lines) I asked "What makes these ones girl cars?" "Cuz they're so colorful. They're like a rainbow."  "And what makes these boy cars?" "Cuz they're new."

*Josiah was looking at a vase full of dandilions he had picked for me today, and he asked, "Why are dandies called dandies? Is it because they're hairy, like all the other lions?"

*Josiah asked, "What kind of cows make chocolate milk?"

*Josiah said to Milo, "No, don't eat mommy's paper...she'll be THRILLED!" -12/11

*We were out this morning and everything outside was covered in frost. Josiah looked out the truck window and said, "Doesn't it look like the world is a white wedding dress?!" -12/11

*deep thoughts from my 5 year old today, "Mama, you know, sometimes love hurts." -12/11

*last night I told Josiah we'd be making handprint wreaths today. This morning he asked me, "Mama, when are we going to make the coral? You know, the coral reefs? With our handprints?" -12/11

*Judah just asked Santa for "twelve hundred monkeys". -12/11

*Me: "Boys, we're going to go to a playdate today!" Judah: "Is dere gonna be girwuls (girls) dere?" Me: "Yes, I think so." Judah: "*gasp* I gotta bwing my sword! Cuz I don't wike girwuls!" -11/11

*‎7 a.m. logic from my 5 year old: "God made the first bug, right? And then those bugs became mommies and had more bugs, and then more bugs, until there's lots of bugs. So, God didn't make all the bugs, He only made one....." -11/11

*the boys and I were talking about how some people decorate their houses "inappropriately" for Halloween...and Judah asked me, "How would God decorate for Halloween?" and I told him I thought God would use brightly colored leaves, etc to celebrate his beautiful world. I asked him how he thought God would decorate for Halloween and he said, "He would use the sun. Because the sun lights up the whole world!" ;) 10/11

*Judah just asked me if we could call the puppy "Perfecto" -09/11

*I sent Josiah to his room for a time-out and he yelled, "Well.....you're not a very fancy girl!" -09/11

*Dropping Josiah off for the first day of Kindergarten. And on the way home, Judah said "Mama, you can twy in the twuck, but NOT at the library, otay? Because you has me. Mama, pwomise you won't twy in the house, otay?" 09/11

*showed my 5 year old a picture of a backpack on a website, and I asked him if he liked it. His response was, "Is it cheap?" 08/11

*I heard Judah quietly counting to himself, and all the sudden he exclaims, "I have four fingers and five thumbs!!" 08/11

*Josiah: "Mama, there's the biggest 'mergency EVER! There's a BUG in the TOILET! We have to hurry, it's spreading germs EVERYWHERE!" -08/13

*Josiah's playing outside and I just heard him gasp and say "My pupa's GONE!" -07/11

*Judah came up to me, upset, and said "Josiah talled me a femayow (female)! And that means gu-wuw (girl). And I'm NOT a gu-wuw (girl)!" -07/11

*Josiah asked me, "Mama, some people don't have kids??" I answered, "Yep, some grown ups don't have any kids" And he said, "so...they don't have much work to do?" -07/11

*Judah asked me, "Mama, when will I be a daddy?"
I answered, "When you find a girl you love, and marry her, and then have a baby...then you'll be a daddy."
Judah was silent for a moment and then said, "I wuv Ana."
Me: "Well, Ana is your cousin, so you can't marry her."
He was quiet again and then said, "Mama, I wuv YOU!"
Me: "You can't marry me, I'm your mama!"
He thought one more time, and said, "I wuv Tayore! (Aunt D Taylore Ives)
Me: "No baby, she's your Aunt. Maybe you should wait til you get a little older to find the girl you love."
Judah got frustrated and wailed, "But what if I forget?!" -07/11

*Josiah says he wants to be a "bug nurse" when he grows up. -06/11

*Josiah is taking his role as a 5 year old seriously as he stubbornly argued with me over why he was not allowed to have his ant farm be the centerpiece at the dinner table... 06/14/11

*I tucked Josiah into bed and he said, "Mama, I love you more than all the beetles in the whole earth!" :) 06/11

*Judah gave me a big hug and said, "You get the hugs and kisses, and daddy gets the wrestling."06/11

*gave Josiah a kiss on the cheek, and he wiped his cheek and said "mama...when I wipe off the yuckiness, then the love goes into my heart." -05/11

*I told the boys that I was getting McDonalds for lunch for a treat...and Judah exclaims, "Mama! You are SO PRETTY for getting me Old McDonalds!" -04/11

*Me:Where do babies come from, Josiah?
Josiah:The Baby Store. And they got carts that have baby faces on them.
Me:How are the babies made?
Josiah:God made them and put them on the shelf. And, there's free sample babies.
Me:How much does a baby cost at the baby store?
Josiah:-They cost $1. Okay, mama? (As if I even needed to ask!)
Me:Can you return the babies?
Josiah:Only one you can return back. That's just the rule.
Me:Can you pick which baby you want?
Josiah:Yah. There's boys, and girls. And there's even baby toys there, at the store too. It's full of baby stuff, with babies too. -5/11