Cute pictures

Just like Daddy

Our girls love practicing and learning to play guitar just like their Daddy does. Jadyn decided today, that since we are going to be all done working with the junior high group at church, that "Daddy will be able to save all of his guitar playing just for her and Karina". This is just another little reminder that we are doing the right thing by stepping out of that ministry and into our girls'. They treasure all of the moments we give them.

A good day

Today was a relaxing day. After church, we just stayed around the house all day. The girls spent some time playing and doing art with their friend Isabella. Then, after dinner, we ate popcorn and watched a movie. A nice way to recover from our busy garage sale yesterday.

Nap time?

This is one of Karina's new favorite places to hang out. She is reminding me to be quiet because she is trying to sleep. Jadyn even tucked her in with 5 cozy blankets. Pretty cute, but not such a convenient place to sleep!

An unexpected night of fun

Last night I had the fun chance to go to see the Sounders play soccer. I was invited by a new friend I met at MOPS a couple of weeks ago. We had great box seats where we could see everything perfectly! I took a couple of pictures, but mostly just enjoyed the company and watching the game. We won 1-0 against the Railhawks in case any of you wanted to know. At one point, we were thinking this was more like a hockey game than a soccer game. Our goalie took it upon himself to take out one of the other teams' players. After a frustrating play, he walked by and stuck his arm straight out right at the other guys face level. Very unexpected to everybody. The team swarmed all around ready to fight all involved. Pretty crazy!

Here you can see the poor guy in the background after the commotion had subsided for the most part. The uncaring ones in white are our Sounders. The goalie and the injured guy were both out of the game afterwards.

A big thank you to Davia for thinking of me and inviting me to hang out with you for the night. I had a lot of fun! (Also thanks to your husband for giving up his ticket.) I am sure we will get together again sometime very soon! Thanks again!

I feel so loved!

As most of you that read our blog know, Mark and I have worked with the junior high group at our church for many years. We have made the hard decision this year to leave this ministry in order to be more involved with what our own girls are doing. Our official last day with the group will be on Sunday, June 3rd.

We just announced this to the whole group last Wednesday night. The staff surprised us with cake, gorgeous flowers and a gift card to a restaurant we love.

And then as if that was not enough, on Sunday after church, I had lunch with my 7th grade girls, (the grade I work with specifically), which we do every month during the school year. They completely surprised me with an amazing chocolate cake (they know I love chocolate) and a beautiful quilt that has all of their names on it with a group picture.

It is so sweet that they not only thought to do something so nice, but to think of things that are so personal and perfect for me. Once again, proof that junior high students are capable of doing so much more than people give them credit for. I am going to be leaving a big part of my heart with this group when we leave. Thank you all so much for making me feel so special!

Jadyn's turn to sparkle!

Karina's first haircut!

We took the girls to this amazingly pink, very princess-like place by our house called Monkey Dooz to get their hair cut. Karina got to watch Jadyn first, then did surprisingly well when it was her turn.

Karina had fun trying out the fun pink chair in the waiting area.

Karina's turn! She did a great job staying mostly still~ of course, the use of fruit snacks and getting to sit in the fun car with a horn to honk helped a little!








All done~complete with a new pink barrette and a ton of gold sparkles everywhere!

Look no more mullet! She looks so cute with her short hair!

Outside fun

Our neighborhood biker gang being silly!

(Karina-2, Isabella-5, Jadyn-4, Haley-3)

Family Vacation

We got to go on a great getaway this week with our friends Chad, Cindy, Andrew, and Nicholas. We went up to Birch Bay by Bellingham for 4 fun days of great sunshine.

We played on the beach, making sandcastles, hunted for shells and crabs, and threw rocks into the ocean. Jadyn and Daddy had good boots for walking, but Karina only had a short pair. We thought she might be a little timid at getting wet in the giant puddles left during low tide, but we were wrong! She trudged right on through!

Of course, we swam a bunch in the pool at the condo - the girls had a great time with the boys, and Jadyn really liked trying on Chad's snorkel mask and breathing tube. Chad even did Karina's hair for her with some sunscreen - what do you think?

All in all it was a great getaway! Thanks to the Carlsons for a great week together!

New scooter!!

Jadyn has been working VERY hard for about 9 weeks and has finally earned her new scooter! She had to earn the money doing various chores around the house. Each week we would count up the nickels she had earned and she got to color in her Scooter chart for the corresponding amount.

Once she had it all colored in, she would have earned up the money ($10 US) to buy a scooter. This week she finally made it, and here she is the day she got the scooter!

Is it ever okay to be the boss?

I was shocked to hear what was coming out of my Jadyn's mouth as I came downstairs a couple of days ago. She was all-out bossing and demanding someone to do things her way and in her time frame. (It was not shocking to hear it, but shocking to hear so much of it at one time coming from her.)

Things like: "No! You can't go there! Stay right there until I tell you to move!" Or: "I told you, you are not allowed to play with that! Put it back where I put it!" Or my favorite of all: "God made me the boss of you- you don't have a choice!" (Multiply this by about 10 statements, and you will get the idea of what I was hearing.)

Now, being the concerned mom I tend to be, I run in, expecting to rush to the defense of my little Karina, who I am sure is cowering in some corner somewhere. Instead, I find Karina happily reading books by herself in the playroom, and our poor cat, Wicket, trapped in the living room with Jadyn practically sitting on top of her.

When I asked Jadyn what in the world would make her think it was okay to talk to anybody that way (even the cat), she said: "But I have to be able to be the boss of somebody! Wicket is the only one that God gave me. I am not allowed to boss Karina or you or Daddy and the turtles don't listen to me!" Not to worry, our cat made a full recovery and has once again forgiven us for such inhumane treatment.

Our new favorite place!

We just found this brand new park not far from our neighborhood! It has everything we could want and more, as the following pictures will show you. So if there is no rain coming down, this is where you can find us!

Party time

Yesterday, Jadyn got to go to her friend James' birthday party at a local gymnastics place. She had so much fun playing freely on everything there with her school friends!They had a balance beam that was extra wide and covered with carpet. You can see the huge dragon blow-up obstacle course in the background. Of course, no place is complete without a foam pit to jump in!Here is the whole class trying to pose for a picture together.
One of Jadyn's favorite spots was under the

donut mat. You could jump up and surprise people on top.
Here is the birthday boy, James blowing out the candle on his amazing pirate ship cake. Thank you for inviting us to your fun party! Happy 4th birthday!