A post without words..

A day through Cole's eyes

Cole wanted to take our old camera off our hands. We happily obliged. I wish I could post all his funny pics on here..but I'll entertain you with just a few right now.

Look at that angle! Boy, does he have an eye for art!

Cole's new little cousin Finn. He and his mama Ellynn were over here the other day and we were watching little Finners on the chair while she was making biscuits. Cole got quite a few cute shots of him.

Dayne gets Geof.'s books out and goes on and on "reading" them. Such a creative minded kid!

I think this was a Sat. morning..me cleaning up and the kids creating more mess for me to clean up. Don't I look lovely? (:

st. pattys day

On Geof.'s bday we both went to Cole's school to pick him up. He was so excited to tell us about the leprechauns messing up his room while they were gone (I still have no recollection of this tradition growing up). He was even more excited that his own dad looked like a leprechaun in his green suede getup and red chin strap of a beard.

Green Birthday

Geof.'s 29 today! Still so young..

Sunday night we had corned beef and cabbage and some delish cake. Today I think we'll go on a run..just the two of us (it's nice to have fam around, isn't it?). Happy Birthday to the guy who still brings me to tears laughing.

A day outside

Here's my 2nd attempt at posting this..so I'll cut it short. It took some coercing, but I finally talked three out of the five of us into doing a little hike around Battle Ground Lake today. It's been absolutely perfect and clear here the last 3 days (thanks to our usual cloudy weather, our clear days are the best!) and it's crazy not to be out in it. Dayne threw a fit wanting to watch 101 Dalmations for probably the 101st time (I'm totally serious). Cole had to be bribed with video game time tonight when his cousins come over, and Geof. had no excuse other than being plain depressed about not being called into work today.
Couldn't even get him to look at the camera. ): Half way through the hike, however, he got called in to sub at Cole's school. All was well after that.

Perfect baby. No complaints here. She was more than happy to go outside.

We soon realized that the short trail around the lake is not made for bikes. I ended up carrying it until we got back to cement.

Dayne telling one of her many stories to a listening ear. Geof. is such a good daddy..even when he IS having a bad day (unlike me..I don't fake the smiley face very well).

what you are to me

Geof. and Cole are home. They went to Utah for the weekend with Geof.'s parents for a wedding. A long, LONG drive (as it turned out to be) and my whiny girls did not go well with me. So I opted to stay home. I missed my boys, VERY much. More than I thought I would. Someone recently commented on how Geof. and I are so high strung and what a wonder it is that we don't drive each other crazy. I've thought about this, and yes.., it's true, we both are hyper and have that nervous energy about us.., but we also find a lot of comfort in one another and balance each other out so well. I've always said this, but from the moment I met Geof., he calmed me. He was "home" to me. Whenever he walks in the door, I feel so good and know I'm whole again.
I heard this song on the radio today and it made me think of you, Geof. You ARE my shelter in the storm.

Ray

When your husband and active son are out of town for the weekend, and your girls have snotty noses and horrid coughs, this is something you end up doing way too much of- spending a ridiculous amount of time on the computer looking up new music. I
LOVE pandora.com, by the way. And this here Ray LaMontagne is fabulous! It's been YEARS since I've been to a concert and I looked up tickets only to learn that he's only playing on the east coast. Too bad we don't have flight benefits anymore!!

Can YOU do this??

Cole cracks me up. He's inherited some moves (from my family, might I add)! (: He had done this jumping hoola hoop thing a few times before I realized, "I really gotta film this.". Oh, how I love my bubbs. (spelling on that?)

I was reading in my journal the other night. It's pretty pathetic how little I've written in the 7 years I've been married. I did write quite a bit when Cole was around 2 1/2 to 3 yrs. Every entry was a desperate plea for some sort of answer on how to control this kid. I guess trying to "control" him might have been a mistake. Who knows? Either way, Cole has matured into a very sweet, sensitive, helpful kid who still has his moments of craziness.., but overall we couldn't be happier with him. Thank the heavens for that!

now time

mmm..a smile on Dayne's face, what a wonderful thing. This girl of mine is so 3. I've decided 3,4, and part of age 5 have to be the most difficult ages. She's cute, she's sassy.., but boy is she independent! Ellery (my father in law) found her in his car, having STARTED it, ready to back up down the driveway because she "couldn't find him and needed to go look for him". She has us close to a heart attack quite often. Here she is with my cousin Chelsea's sweet first born, Jackson. She and her husband Justin came up from CA for the weekend to visit our beautiful WA.

I told my cousin Nolan (my Aunt Renee's son) that I'd post this pic of him, because boy, is he hot!! (He's 15 and I'm pretty positive he'll post this on his facebook page).

We went up to a place called Lucia Falls on Sat. It's only 5 minutes from our house and incredibly beautiful. Cole was so excited to be outside. We forget that sometimes and force him to play his video games all day. (joke. he WANTS to play video games all day. I think we'll have to give 'em away soon..).

Geof. got slammed, or head butted, or something while playing basketball. When I came out, he had 2 huge tissues stuffed up his nose, just playing like nothing had happened.

Cousin Chels, and her family.

Lucia falls. The water was the prettiest deep green color. LOVED it!

Happy Cole. The falls look scarier than they really were..., and Cole looks closer to 'em than he really was. Promise..

It's your birthday, and we love you!!

Have I mentioned how wonderful, blessed, happy, and THRILLED I have been to have my beloved Aunt Renee living only 5 minutes from me??! It's been great! I mean, GREAT! Renee is my mom's sister (and her husband Bryan, my dad's brother), so I feel especially close to her and can relate to her in so many ways. Thank you, Renee for taking such good care of us. We love walking through your door and feeling so welcome. How great is that?!!

Happy Birthday!! This pic is HYSTERICAL. For those of you who know my ant-sweets, anti-preservative, anti-anything artificial aunt, you'll laugh at Cole's refusal to Renee's...almonds, I believe? Oh, how my kids adore you!!... and I know they're grateful that you feed them so well.

My cousin Chelsea, her husband Justin, and their baby Jackson came up for the weekend. Dayne was in heaven helping hold little Jackson. She especially feels close to Renee and can't get enough of the special attention you give her, Renee. Thank you, thank you, thank you.