Eight.

Eight. That is how old my daughter now is. Eight. That is how many years I have been blessed to answer to the name mom. Eight. Where did it go?

Well, Kacia had a super fun, (& possibly a little hectic,) puppy-themed party with her girlfriends from both school and church on the Friday of Labor Day weekend. We did some face-painting, made doggy bags for their take-home treats of puppy-chow and chocolate covered scooby snacks, made dog-tag necklaces, ate watermelon in the shape of dog bones, enjoyed pretzels and chips from dog bowls, etc. (my list goes on)! As you can see, I may have gotten a little carried away with the theme... but that is nothing new :)

All in all, Kacia had a dog-gone good time, and we enjoyed celebrating with a house full of wonderful girls God has placed in her life.

On Sunday, her actual birthday, we went to Starbucks for her favorite breakfast sandwich before church, then to a movie in the afternoon, and finished with a family party at our house celebrating both Kacia and her cousin Lili.

Eight. Eight wonderful, incredible years full of loving an amazing, creative, kind, compassionate, silly & fabulous daughter! I am truly blessed!

School is in session

The girls just completed their 1st entire week of school. They got a taste of it the week before-going only Thursday and Friday. Kacia has entered the 3rd grade, which amazes me! And my Rylin finally got to start kindergarten! She has desperately wanted to go since her 5th birthday last November. Getting 2 lunches made, 2 kids dressed, hair brushed, teeth brushed, and correct things in their backpacks has made our mornings a little more hectic, but hey, after that- it's just Lincoln and I for 6 hours. Day one, he asked by 10 o'clock if it was time to go get them, but he's adjusting quickly and I'm loving the one-on-one time!

Summer fun

So the kids and I visited the city aquatic center atleast twice a week during the summer months, sometimes more. It works really well for the ages of all my kids; Kacia has the pool to jump and do somersaults in and what not, Lincoln has the large play structure to explore, and Rylin could juggle between the two. With summer heat, water is practically a necessity, and this has been a great tool to get us out of the house and off the couch.

We also discovered this summer, that our kids can camp! This is huge to us, because this has not been something I have wanted to attempt if sleep was going to be an issue. But they all did great in the tent. In fact, if you ask Lincoln what his favorite part was, he'll say sleeping in his sleeping bag in the tent. We first spent a great and relaxing weekend with friends. We enjoyed the lake, fishing, and getting dirtier than I thought possible. Then we went back the next weekend with Kevin's extended family. I failed to charge the battery in my camera, but here is one picture of Linc doing his 2nd favorite thing- s'mores. I think I may see a tent trailer in our future....

Roadtrip!

So with the assistance of my fabulous niece, the kids and I went on a roadtrip up north to see the family. It was a great week spent with people we love so much!

We made a stop in Oregon to see my precious friend Suzy and her boys!

This is me and my 3 kids conquering a hotel experience just the 4 of us. You should have seen us on our venture to the ice machine, I'm sure we were quite entertaining!

Reid loves to wave hi to the camera. Oh this boy is simply too cute!

S'mores at the Crabtrees after rootbeer floats? Why not, it's vacation right!

Me and my WA siblings at beautiful Alki

As you can see, we had fabulous weather!

Aquarium souvenirs...

It was so fun to share a day on Lake Meridian with my kids, a place so full of memories for me, 4th of July's, sunny Sunday afternoons with friends, etc. Plus, it was quite funny to see that Rylin was up for tubing before her typically fearless sister.

Mt. Rainier still takes my breath away! Nothing against Shasta, but this mountain seems to just fill the sky.

We went to a fun & interesting park, and we turned this stage into an entertaining game of charades and song performances, etc.

There's so much I loved about our trip and so much that is not captured in these pictures. I was a little skeptical about taking my kids (who typically hate car rides) on such a long trip without Kevin. But I'm so thankful he encouraged me to go, and that Allie was willing to come and be the one in the car passing snacks back and forth, helping on bathroom stops and so much more, and that all the family made time to simply hang out with us! We love you!

July Activities...

So with the heat that comes with July, we have been spending a lot of time at the lake and the aquatic center, but on the days that we don't find water, the girls still manage to create entertainment...

They love "surprising" me with decorating the patio table and then serving me lunch. They have me sit down, read their menus (which offer yogurt, string cheese, coffee & goldfish) and then wait on me. It's quite precious.

This day reminded me of when Bre and I would attempt to play superheroes with Tim.

The 3rd & 4th grade girls from church have enjoyed getting together and learning new skills this summer. There was a sewing project, paper crafting project, baking, and then we just did flip flop decorating and pedicures yesterday. It's also been a good tool to discuss our roles as young women. Why we cook for our families, what the Bible says about fashion and vanity, etc.

Kacia also learned how to crochet this summer, which meant I first had to learn in order to teach her. Thank goodness for youtube! This was her 1st project- a scarf for her doll.

We went on a wonderful hike up in Lassen. It was a fun day getting away from everything except one another. This was one of my favorite days!

This is the hot spring lake- it was a little stinky. But it was great to know our kids could all "hike" without being held and without whining!

Playing Catch Up...

Summer has been flying by!! Here's a few pictures from our CRAZY June. We went straight from the last week of school to summer camp for Kacia, to prepping for VBS, to Lincoln's bday and weekend in Sacramento, to VBS, Kevin went to Resolved while we finished VBS then had 2 sick kids, and then boom- June was over.

For VBS this year, our church was transformed into Nazareth. Lincoln was so excited when he got to come in and join the fun! He visited the Carpentry shop where he made a toy wooden sheep.

Everyone loves games- especially when it's hot and they involve water!

Kacia at the wool shop, where they made felted soap.

The dye shop- a favorite for my girls, tie-dye bags.

At the Sacramento Zoo, we were able to meet up with our friends the Gibbs, which was a real treat. I can't believe how much their boys are growing!

This is from the front of our hotel. We were able to walk across the bridge right to the ballpark, and we were also directly across from Old Town, which is always fun to tour.

We loved the Rivercats game, the junk food, and the fireworks. (As a bonus, I got to see my favorite A's player, Mark Ellis, who I knew would be getting traded soon, so it was fun to see him play one last time!)

We say goodbye to the 2's...

Well, it's official, my baby is 3! Lincoln turned 3 on the 17th, and we didn't really have a "party" in the normal terms because we had planned to take Lincoln on an overnight adventure to see the Sacramento Rivercats. However, the more we talked about going to watch a baseball game, the more Lincoln made it clear that he wanted to play in a baseball game. So we had pizza, opened presents (which was quite entertaining! - I have never seen a kid open presents so quickly and so passionately!), enjoyed cake, then walked across the street to the school and "played" a game of baseball. I use the word "play" loosely here since aside from the teenage cousins, the rest of the players were ages 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 & 2. But my boy had fun!

Lincoln loves life! He talks with such great expression and passion. He is enthusiastic about what he loves: baseball, Cars & family. Oh how he has me wrapped around his finger!