A couple of very special BiRtHdAyS!

First Leo turned 2!  This little boy is so dreamy, in many ways!  He wants to be a big boy so badly!
Tries his hardest to keep up with his big sister and brother daily.  He tells everyone "I'm a big boy".
~He still remains our pickiest eater, worst sleeper*Uh still hasn't slept through the night...like never! Leo is one of the funniest little people on the planet, and even laughs at himself, he thinks he's hilarious.  He is so happy HAPPY!  Loves to give and receive hugs & kisses. Talks our ears off.  Is obsessed with anything that has a motor, but especially lawnmowers, blowers and his Papa Walker's motorcycles, and airplane.  Likes piggy back rides.  Has a sweet tooth.  Still has spiral curly hair, buttermilk breath, and baby soft skin.  He is very much baby...yet BiG boy at the same time. 

Leo James is truly the butter on my bread, the cheese on my crackers, the wind in my sails.  We are so in love with this small boy!  Oh he was very much into eating goldfish crackers so we had a goldfish themed small birthday party for him.  Was cute, simple and fun!  Hard to believe my baby is 2!

Next up, Noodle girls 9th birthday...9!  She keep reminding Shane & I that this is the last year of a single digit :*( so sad!  She is growing up so fast!  She remains to be a natural little mama and caregiver.  Take very good care of her little brothers.  I would be lying if I said they got along perfect...because they don't, well she and Leo do, but Nolan & Liv are starting to get under one anothers skin.  To be expected at their ages.  Nonetheless they would be lost without each other. 
Hard to believe she will be a 4th grader in two weeks! 
*OLIVIA=SO CREATIVE, LOVE LOVE LOVES MUSIC! Playing her guitar, singing, writing music, constantly writing songs.  Let me not forget DANCING! She makes things out of duck tape, loves to do nail art on herself, and anyone else who is wiling to let her paint their nails.  This summer she has learned to kayak, board behind the boat, she loves going on walks, taking long bike rides, tubing, and will tinker around doing yard work with her Gam for hours!  She is a beautiful little girl, growing up incredibly fast!  The theme of her party this year was One Direction.  It was also the first all girl party she had, just few of her closest friends.  Was different not having loads of our family and friends to celebrate.  It was a fun and cute party.  The girls tubed, went swimming, had a BBQ, danced, karaoked, jumped on the trampoline and watched Flicka, it was special and FUN!  The highlight was having her BFFFFFFFF...Ella Bean for a sleepover after the party.  These two girls love each other so much and I am so thankful they have each other, and care so much for one another. They have known each other since they were tiny baby girls and have so much fun together!

Have always taken Liv's birthday picture on our front porch...but since we've moved and this summer we spend our days in our bathing suits...this was how it was done.  Liv in her suit on her birthday ;)

Next up~Nolan's BiRtHdAy! July, August & September Birthday celebrations make for a busy summer!

Under Construction

This blog needs some fine tuning.  I fiddled with the layout and now it's a bit messed up.  Hopefully it will be back up and running soon.  Loads of things to catch up on here!

Holy Toledo A LOT has happened!

~We sold our house!!
~Nolan started reading a few weeks ago, it's so crazy, and has been so much fun!  He's 5, it's brilliant!
~Olivia and Nolan both finished school and are officially on summer break, yeah!
~We move out of our home in less than 2 weeks.  Very happy yet equally sad.  I love our home!
~Leo is inching towards 2 years old, talks up a storm, talking in complete sentences now, is such a funny little guy, is so loving/compassionate... and wants to be a big boy in every way!  I will try and post some videos soon.  His tiny voice is so sweet!
~My cousin is getting married(I am in the wedding) in a month, lots of family coming into town from Canada. 
~Olivia had her Dance recital, she loves dance, I love watching all the dancers, especially Liv :)
My life has pretty much revolved around packing and moving.  Like 24/7!  The kids have been pretty darn good considering.  The big kids have had a lot of fun packing up their things, they like taping boxes shut and labeling their goods with a black sharpie.  This has been a HUGE help to Shane & I.  For our breaks we've been taking lots of walks, ice cream shop visiting, and playing outside.  Packing with small children around is a funny thing, it's like a revolving door at times so I feel like we've been trying to get packed up forever. 
So glad it's SUMMER BREAK!  We will spend our summer at the lake soaking up the sun, playing in the water, taking long bike rides, trampoline jumping, hanging out by the campfire, and hopefully the kids can do lots of fishing with their Dad=FuN!
*Pictures pretty much go hand in hand with what I just wrote


My favorite girl & I headed out for Liv's dance recital

We heart dancing!  Isabel & Liv

Oops pictures got a bit out of order.  This was Liv's diorama of Nordstrom.  So cute!

Puzzles

SO EXCITING!  Our Realtor is amazing, truly!

Each time we load up our storage unit it's like playing a real life Tetris game

The best BiG sister!

Hip Hoppers!  With their sweet instructor Katie Bri~who is also a dancer at the studio, she wears many hats.  Was in several performances, she's amazing!

He Loves Art!  I had the worst migraine this day.  So the patio was perfect because I needed fresh air :/

This 5 year old boy is a joy!  He also says some of the cutest things.  The other day when I was really struggling with my allergies he said "mom everyone is allergic to pollum" I love it when he things he's pronouncing things the right way ;)

Love their shoulders!!  Um, their hair is so different, too cute!

Ice Cream break!

Enjoying the simple things in LiFe =)

YOU KNOW YOU'RE A MOM...IF YOU ANNOUNCE YOU ARE TAKING A SHOWER

Mother's Day weekend kicked off with a Mother's Day Tea at Nolan's school.  It was darling!  The kids had a performance, singing sweet songs to their moms.  The tables were set up so cute and we sipped on pink lemonade, and munched on fresh veggies, fruit, cheese & pretzel sticks, and shortbread cookies made by my favorite 5 year old.  Nolan made a placemat for me.  On one side was a watercolor painted vase with flowers, and on the other was a list of things called all about mom(which melted my heart when I read them!)  *things like "My mom is as pretty as a jewel necklace, she makes the best spaghetti, her favorite thing to do with me is snuggle and watch a movie, it bugs my mom when I don't get ready for school ;), I would not trade my Mom for anything!  Not even for all the things in my room."  Too cute!

Mother's Day...was simple, sweet, and pretty much like any other day, I mean let's get real, life as a mom with 3 young children doesn't stop because it says mother's day on the calendar.  We had a nice family day.  A few things from the card Shane got me...gave me a good laugh~
~In a perfect world...
~ our house would clean itself.
~The kids would eat all of their vegetables and whatever else you put in front of them, without any complaints.
~The bills would be taken care of by a generous donor
~You'd have a husband who brought you breakfast in bed each day...
OK. Back.  To.  Reality!
*My other favorite gift was from Liv.  She made me a little book called Remember When... 
There were things in it like remember when you took me to get my ears pierced, when we baked our Christmas cookies and fudge, when we went to the Oregon coast?  She ended it with "I love making memories with you!  Love, Noodle

I am one loved, proud, blessed Mama!

Mother's Day Tea with my boy.

He was so proud of his cookies =)

Kindergarten Buddies.

These little guys have become a connected group during this school year.

Brother love!  It was HoT last Friday.  We were on our way back from a Kindergarten playdate at our neighbors.  They drove over, gator style =) 

Noods on Mother's Day.  Love those blues!

This little monkey was taking shelter under our pup tent during Nolan's soccer game.

This is rare!  A photo with the kids and I, and everyone looking at the camera.  Wish Shane would have been in it...but he was snapping this photo. 

Sweet punky sleeping away on me.

S-U-P-E-R Saturday!

Here is our day...in pictures. 

Soccer Saturday for NJP~sweet little buddies Landon, and Addy.

Leo playing with his "see see" sissy =)

Our little helping hand =)  He loves loading this thing up during yard work=CUTIE!

...more helping tiny hands, we potted these flowers.

We have another tinker on our hands...this is Nolan's collection.  He loves to explore outside.

*Not from today, but my favorite picture of the week.  My fave 5 yr old small boy napping on his Mama.  This is the same boy that on his way home from school this week said"Ahh, this is the life!  I could just sit outside and relax in a chair, sunglasses on, drink coconut water, and listen to my radio."  Ha...haha.  It was clearly a nice day in the 70's.  He makes me belly laugh daily...I love his verbiage, and imagination!  

What a day, was a nice family day, chaos and all. We always end our Saturday with a movie night with the big kids. Our favorite weekend tradition. So off I go for some much needed snuggles, & R&R with my sweet faces...and to watch Wreck it Ralph!

*Post Movie night=Sleeping Babes!

It was a GREAT day!
I.  Love.  My.  Family!
Goodnight!

Some GOOD news...

We are proud land owners!  We bought a lot out North & are so very happy about this!  God once again orchestrated something completely unexpected and wonderful for our family.  More to come on this later.  For now, here are a couple of pictures of our children standing on the site of our future home(that Shane will build=so fun!)

It really is everything we have prayed about and needed as far as a lot.  It's 4x's the size of our current lot.  It's the perfect location, school Dist, is builder Shane ready, and more.

 This journey and new chapter, to be continued...