Big Girl

All of a sudden Raya has gotten a lot bigger....
today she has pooped in the toilet (gross and hurray!)
today she has jumped into the pool all by herself.

... she's folding her clothes.. picking up her toys ... talks non-stop .... she is just getting so big!
(STOP GROWING!)

too quickly

This Memorial day weekend we spent it with two of our favorite people!  Jane and Dan (grandma and grandpa) came to visit.  I didn't take a single picture, but there were lots of moments where I thought I should!

So I'll make a mental snapshot of the things I wanted to take a picture of:

-The kids jumping up and down and running out the door in their XL Cougar shirts when they saw the suburban drive up; completely ecstatic that grandma and grandpa (finally) arrived!
-Saturday morning bike ride.  We were quite the procession. 4 adults bikers, 1 child biker, 1 bike trailer, 1 add-a-biker.
-Pick-up soccer with friends for Seth
-Playing baseball.  Levi had such a huge smile running the bases, he loved having some one-on-one time with Dan and Jeff -- and the kids loved the slap-stick humor performed by Jeff and Dan: falling trying to catch the ball. -- Raya wanting to bat all-by-herself and then "running the bases" -- she would run to second and then to home, or get distracted by the ball and start running after the baseball to help catch it instead of running home.
-Biking to Cougar Country
-Biking up Davis Way after Cougar Country (bleehhhh)
-Shopping at Tri-state and finding Chacos on sale for Jane :)
-Pedicures: Jane at least had her phone to snap a couple pre-pedi pictures:

Everyone was enamored by Raya, (who wouldn't be?!).  She loved soaking her feet in water, having her feet massaged and getting her toes painted... she insisted on having her finger nails painted too... and grandma was nice enough to oblige :) -- and of course sitting in her own "bear chair." What a fun afternoon! It was nice to get pampered, relax and chat.

Sunday:
-Swimming... the kids showing grandma and grandpa their new skills. Swimming ended early unfortunately because a child puked in the pool.  That was actually a better outcome than I originally thought... (large man + poop)
-Went to Sweet Mutiny instead.  Dan asking a million questions; enjoying frozen yogurt and cupcakes :)
-Jeff and I went on a date... watched our first 3D movie The Avengers -- tucked grandma, grandpa and the kids in with a movie and popcorn The Sandlot --
-Card games

The weekend went by too quickly.

Smarty Pants

Raya is looking at this picture of the solar system:

"Uranus, Saturn, Mars, Venus, Sun, Mercury, Earth, Jupiter, Neptune."

She read the planets from right to left.

-- What? "Good job Raya!"

Later, we're reading about Pluto, "Pa, 'P' -- Pluto starts with P!"

-- What? "That's right Raya."

Jeff tests Raya...  "Raya, what is the third planet from the Sun." -- Raya: "Earth!"

I was a little surprised tonight, just a little.... !

Pirates find treasure

The kids and I were over at a friends house for a playdate this morning.  They were pretending to be pirates -- finding and burying treasure, and my friend and I were having a whack at metal stamping.

The time rolls around to 11:30, and I'm needing to get one of my little buccaneers off to school.

But... no car keys.  

We looked and re-looked everywhere for 30 minutes.

Finally I broke down and called Jeff.... who doesn't have a license... and who biked to work... to come and rescue us.

I should mention that my friend lives 10 minutes out of Moscow (so 30 minutes from Jeff) on a large remote farm land.

Not the most ideal place to lose ones set of keys.

After my friend left to drop her little guy off at Montessori and Jeff was biking his way home.  I find the keys!

Raya... my dear sweet little two-year-old Raya looted my keys playing pirates!

I found them in the pocket of her raincoat. 

I'm just glad she didn't bury them with the other treasure.
(marbles, sticks, and trucks)

So, Seth didn't go to school today,
instead we went thrift-shopping for spoons
to make these.
Not a bad end if I do say so myself!

As I lay .... whining

Here is a picture dump :)

Levi, my budding photographer,  he likes to sneak my camera phone and take pictures.  

Most of them are self portraits and I always get a good giggle. 

I love the picture of Seth in the corner.  

Levi was being "sneaky," tip-toeing to get a picture of Seth during tball practice.

Friends:

I have so many happy memories of jumping on the trampoline with the sprinkler under it -- it's fun to see the kids making their own.

We have had very well-watered grass this past week :)

I had such a wonderful Mother's Day.  Jeff always does a great job making sure I feel appreciated.  

The day started off with breakfast in bed; strawberry crepes :)

I got a handful of handmade gifts from the kids, and they continued to make gifts throughout the day.  

Raya would tear off pieces of paper, twist the top and give me a "flower."
Levi and Seth would write me notes. It was so sweet!

Jeff bought me earrings from one of my local favorite stores that sells pieces from local artists.  

Jeff and the kids took care of everything domestic, and later we planted our garden. 

It was such a beautiful day!

 Raya loves worms. -- the boys never showed much interest in  them until her.  

I feel kind'of bad for the worms... because she loves them so much.  

I hope she doesn't squeeze them too hard.

The kids still love biking.  This was Raya's first time biking at the skate park.  Absolutely terrifying!  I had to convince her to stay to the lower ramps.   She went straight for the half-pipe.  

I love coming into a room and finding that my kids have been creative.  Seth has some poetry books laid out and a list of his favorite authors.  He wants to bring the list to the library... and he has marked a check next to the authors we already own.

old and fragile

When did I get so old? I'm stuck home today with a sore back. Accompanied with classic sweat pants and a pack of frozen vegetables on my back.  Lovely.

I wouldn't be worried... except for the sharp pains when I walk and the shooting pains down my leg that makes my leg numb.

I may be going to the doctors soon.

And I'm bummed, because I hate missing out -- Jeff is biking the kids down to the baseball field to watch the last WSU baseball home game.

*Jeff doesn't have a choice on biking since his license has been suspended. (another blog post maybe?)

At least I have time today... lots of it... so I can get caught up on my pictures/blog posts and I have a  Great Courses lecture series on the Civil War I can watch....  

I'm so old.

$11

4 tickets and 7 hotdogs for $11

sold.

It was the ideal baseball game. 

Beautiful weather, free shirts from Butch, inflatable slides.  

The Cougars won the game in the bottom of the ninth inning with a walk off grand slam!  

The kids will be talking about this game for some time.

The game ended with fireworks.

Go Cougs!

A moment

I had a fun moment today at swimming:

First time Raya swam in a life jacket.

Exuberant excitement.

Flapping, laughing, squealing,

"Mommy, mommy, look! I'm swimming!"

She did 4 lengths of the pool "swimming."

She looked like she was jogging in water. 

She was so proud of herself. 

She was beyond happy!

We might have to go swimming again this weekend, so Jeff can see.  It was just that cute.

My Modern Man.

I'm straightening up the back yard (gardening tools everywhere, toys, left out dinner on the patio, etc) and ask Seth to help tidy up.

Seth: "Of course, because I'm a Modern Man!"

Here comes the sun

The sun is out; I haven't blogged all week.  So I'll just make a list:

-Swimming (4x)   -Picnic (10x)   -Playdate (4x)    -Bike Ride (4x)   -Tball (2x) *side note on Tball, (coach) Scott stacked his team so Seth is playing with a handful of friends, he is so excited!   -Science Center   -Pick up Soccer.

I'll get to pictures later.. and mother's day and all that jazz ... I had such a wonderful Mother's Day!

 -- Under the headline of this blog is, "Forever is composed of nows" -- by Emily Dickinson (one of my favorite poets, I'll just throw that in there).  It's one of those pieces of writings that stick with me ...... Live, linger and love your life in the presence.  Enjoy now.

I might not being blogging as much... summer is coming... :)

Love my life.

Seth has been looking forward to going to a baseball game... for a very (very) long time. 

 While it wasn't the Mariners, he was still happy to go to a WSU game.  

It was "Butch's Buddies" day.

We invited some friends, and saw lots more.

What a beautiful day for a baseball game too!

Frozen lemonade and best friends. 

 I love the picture of Seth and Levi sitting together, 

can't you seem them doing this 30 years from now?

Rae wasn't too happy about seeing Butch

... and there was an inflatable bounce house for the kids

... with a giant inflatable butch on top ...

house of horror for Rae!

She is such a beauty though, even when she is pouty!

We went from the game to Seth's violin recital.

                                                                            

He is so cute!

Friends came to watch:

After he was done with his three variations of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." - He nailed it!

Ended the day playing baseball with friends   .... it felt like summer; beautiful.

I'm back'n up, back'n up, back'n up

Last Sunday... Arbor day! -- We went on  a bike ride around Pullman and then attended the arbor day celebration ...  free food and free trees, sunny day.  

On our way home we stopped off at Sunnyside Park to play tennis.

Wednesday -- went bowling with friends

Thursday -- Seth's last soccer game.  It was pouring rain by the end!!

They didn't cancel because it was the last one of the season.

Huge puddles in the field.

It made for a memorable last game :)

Seth is so focused on the game, even when he is not playing he is pacing the side lines watching his team mates, reenacting kicks and blocks he would do if he was playing on the field.

Rae and Levi were happy to play in the rain, riding their bikes and eating doughnuts

Randoms:  Rae and her babies, she is such a good mamma bear :) -- Rae and her rock-et ship -- I thought she was clever.  Everything is funner on the trampoline ... soccer, basketball, hockey, cars.  The kids spend hours a week on the trampoline.

Saturday:  18 mile bike ride to Moscow.  

We passed through the farmer's market

Looked over bike fest 

Unintentionally celebrated Cinco De Mayo at La Casa Lopez.

Seth biked the whole way! -- and we had a nasty head wind on the ride back to Pullman

Levi biked 4  miles! -- 2 of which were with the head wind.  Seriously, I can't believe he could keep up on his little single speed bike.

Seth's dress rehearsal

Kids went to bed; Babysitter came; Jeff and I went to a concert

Now.. to start Sunday.

sick?

I guess me being burnt out... was me really being sick.  who knew? I never do.. it's not until I am passed out in bed with an ache body that I realize... oh yeah, I haven't been feeling so great.  Anyways, a 4 hour nap later and an awesome husband who stayed home and took care of e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g (sometimes I think he should be the stay-at-home parent, he is so great) -- I'm feeling much better.  Whew! I think I'm up for a bike ride tomorrow :)

Now that I've complained a bit,

here are some adorable pictures!

I love photography and was glad to be able to practice on Tuesday.  I still don't feel like I can pose very well, but I love capturing "real life" moments, those are my favorites (and the ones above).  Thanks C family for letting me capture your adorable family before you leave Pullman!

... running low on fuel...

I have a problem.. I can't say no.  Especially to really fun things... like swimming.  But swimming 4x a week.. with 3 kids?  It's not so fun at the moment.  I'm burnt out!

I can feel it is close to the end of the semester.  The week to week routines are getting old.

 ... Picking up and dropping off Seth from school is becoming really tedious -- but at least... Suzuki is over... (final concert on Monday) ... Levi's private violin lessons are over ... Levi's last soccer practice was on Saturday ... Seth's last private violin lesson was on Wednesday ... and Seth's last Spanish lesson was on Wednesday.  Seth's last soccer game is tonight...

One more week and Seth will be done with swimming lessons...   and the only extracurricular activity will be Levi's swimming lesson.

One more week. check.