Spring head!

I was exhausted from a long week and little sleep, so I took a nap.

The kids didn't mind...

They had dad to play with!

Just in case you didn't get enough...

here's the view from the back!

He's just so purdy!

Overheard at our house...

Michael and I were reading from an Eyewitness book, called "The Natural World".

Me reading from book: "Some animals are unlikely to become prey. Michael, do you know what 'prey' means?"

Michael: "Yeeeeaaaahh..." (like that was the silliest question he'd ever heard....)

Me: "what?"

Michael: "When you talk to Heavenly Father!"


This morning Brinly was jabbering away...

Michael: "MOM! Brinly knows how to speak SPANISH!"

Me: "Oh? What did she say?"

Michael: (Laughing) "I don't know, Mom! I don't speak Spanish!"

Mother's day

I was truly spoiled this year for Mother's day.

First, there was the Mother's-day-tea at Michael's preschool.

I loved getting time to spend with him, all alone. 

He served me a plate of treats, and then served himself. What a gentleman!

He decorated this beautiful flower pot, which had a picture of him now, and from the beginning of the year.

Then the kids sang some song and surprised us with a special "THANK YOU!" 

(that's what the paper plates are supposed to spell....)

Then, the next morning...

I got to eat donuts with Chelsea at her school!

It's harder to get pictures at school....

around all the friends...

while eating sticky donuts...

and needing to rush off to the CROWDED book fair in the library.

But, we got this one!

For the actual Mother's day, the kids and Dan brought me breakfast in bed:

a bowl of fruit

a blue berry  muffin

and an english muffin sandwhich (eggs, cheese, and bacon, YUM!)

We don't have church until 1:00, and the weather was BEAUTIFUL, so we went to feed the ducks at the park.

Brinly LOVED riding on Dad's shoulders...

She's a great driver!

Despite the challenges, frustrations, tears, and exhaustion...

I love the

laughter...

smiles...

kisses...

hugs...

cuddles...

and plain joy I get from being a MOM! 

Are you there?

I don't know what my problem is.

I've got lots to tell you about.

lots of pictures to show.

Yet, I am only updating this blog, MAYBE once a month.

Are you still there? Have you given up on us?

We're here! I promise! I'm scheduling lots of posts today, so hopefully we can keep you entertained for a short while.

 Okay...forget the entertainment part, but at least you will know we still exist!

In the meantime, here are some "randoms":

RANDOM #1

This is what happens when I am teaching piano lessons:

The kids get Spikey hair...and some fun playtime with Dad. 

RANDOM #2:

These are the boys from Michael's play group. 6 boys! They are such crack-ups. 

During snack time, they like to play a game called:

"My Mom calls me...." 

When one of the other moms told me about this, I was worried. I mean, I don't name call my kids, of course, but sometimes I don't hide my frustrations or anger very well....who knows what they were saying.

Today, I understand.

I heard the following today, with the boys trying to out talk each other, with the most funny thing they could think of:

"My Mom calls me.....hair in my pants!" followed by hysterical, LOUD laughter.

"My mom calls me...cup in my mouth!" more, LOUD laughter

"My mom calls me...hey, why do you have an eyeball in your pants?" LOUD laughter....

"My mom calls me...why do you havea treat in your underwear?" yup...you guessed it....LOTS of LOUD laughter....I think it was the word "underwear".

Silly boys. :) 

RANDOM #3

We're still enjoying our piano. A lot.

Times THREE! 

Check out those curled fingers, and that reach!

This was a particularly rambunctious piece performed by Brinly. 

...Think, Jerry Lee Lewis....

We will be back with more!

Our baby girl...growing up

We love our Brinly. 

She's always making us laugh. 

Take this clip for instance:

For a while, she would sniff in and out like this after eating every bite.

 It cracked us up every time...as you can hear... 

Sadly, this phase has passed.

Then one day, she discovered a new trick!

How very lady-like.

 I like how someone encourages her to keep going in the middle of the clip.

 Lovely.

And lastly, she is our earliest WALKER! At 10 1/2 months, she walks!

Unfortunately, as cute as this is, this picture doesn't do the experience justice. 

you can't hear her squeals of delight.

you can't see her toddle like a drunken fool.

So, lucky for you, we have video footage!

A lesson in crabbing. (Spring Break)

For Spring Break, we went with some friends down to Lincoln City, in Oregon. I broke this trip up into 2 posts, in hopes that you don't get too bored!  (This is still a VERY long post....)

 I found this great beach house that was large enough for all of us to stay in. There were 4 families, and we each got our own bedroom and bathroom! There was even a game room on the bottom floor, with an arcade machine, so the kids were  happy down there, while the adults mingled way up on the top floor, in peace. :) 

The view was amazing! I'm afraid, I never got a picture of that view (curses!!)

We stayed for 3 days and 3 nights, but all felt it was NOT long enough. There was just too much to do!

One of the days, we rented a charter boat to go crab fishing.

It was quite the experience!

First, we speared some fish through the eyeballs, to use as bait.  We did this on the dock before we left.

(oops...didn't I mention this was going to be graphic?)

Then, it was off to sea!

...well, the bay. 

The waves were too large to go out to the ocean.

Brinly was thrilled to have the wind thwapping in her face. (Like that word, thwapping? :))

Then, it was time to drop the baskets with baits in them. These are called "pots".

After all the pots were dropped, we circled around, to pick them up again. 

 

There is a buoy attached to each rope, that we snag with a long pole, and then grab the rope.

Then, it's time to pull like mad! If you're too slow, the crabs will crawl out.

Then, you have to pick them up. 

If you are brave enough... 

Things to notice in this picture:

•  crab mid-flight in the lower right-hand corner 
• the many bystanders 
•  the people picking up the crabs are all male....

I did try to pick one up...

almost...

got...

it..

 

There! Do you see it! Okay, so maybe I just dropped it, but I did eventually get it to the bucket...about 20 more pictures later....

 

Then you have to measure them. We are only allowed to keep the big ones, so if they are too small, we have to throw them back in. 

It was hard for Dan to part with the babies....

This is our "discard" pile. We filled the bucket to the top! 

All these were thrown back into the sea!

But! We still caught about 30 crabs. Granted, alot of these were the "red" crabs, who apparently, are very hostile, and kill the other crabs. We were allowed to keep all the red crabs. :)

I wish I had taken pictures of the feast, but I was tired and hungry. :) Everyone tried at least a bite, and some had a full feast of crab.

One very lucky gal!

I thought I would feel like a "big" girl when I graduated from college.

nope... I still felt like I was 18...

I thought I would feel like a "big" girl when I had children.

(Chelsea)

(Michael)

(Brinly)

nope...still feel like I'm 19 (okay, maybe 24) ..just a little more busier, more tired, a little more lumpier, and much more happy.


I thought I would feel like a "big" girl when we bought our first home.

and, YES, I did feel more grown up!




BUT...






I was amazed at how grown up I felt when this arrived this week:

Our newest family member!  I am so thrilled! SO excited! YAY!!!!!

I can't stop playing it!

The laundry isn't getting done...

I haven't made my bed all week...

There are dishes in the sink...

(I am still feeding my family...)

I LOVE it. Even Dan is taking up piano again! We played a couple songs together last night. It was so much fun! 

The story: (this is rather boring, so feel free to skip....)

I have been teaching a few piano students and knew I needed something more than my digital piano, although it has been such a wonderful instrument. 

There aren't any piano stores here in the tri-cities, so my options were drive to Spokane, Portland, or Seattle, or Craigslist.

a few months ago, Steinway Piano Gallery of Spokane, brought some pianos down for a weekend sale, held at the convention center here in town. I went, tried out some pianos, and really liked this one, but didn't want to make such a huge decision on just one brand, and 4 types of pianos (in my price-range).  Besides, it was in an a weird color (not the one pictured above, so sound wasn't everything...)

So, I held off buying it, until I could make a trip down to Portland to try out some others.

Well, that trip happened last week, for spring break. I spent several hours going to different stores, trying out pianos. I kept leaning towards this same brand, The Essex (a piano designed by Steinway and Sons, their entry level piano). 

I decided to call the Spokane store to see if they could price match, in hopes that the 2 hr drive would cut shipping costs. (although Portland has NO sales tax....) It was tough.  

I called on Monday. Yes, they could price match. But they didn't have it in the same color as when they came out. I asked for pictures. The Color was PERFECT.   

AND, he happened to be making a trip down to UTah, and could "drop by" with the piano so I could play it. IF I liked it, they would leave it, and I wouldn't have to pay shipping! Wahoo! So, about 48 hours later, I had the piano. I played it, loved it, and the rest is history....