8 Is Great

He is 8... I cant believe it.  It seems like just the other day he made us parents.  He has grown into such a fun, smart, incredibly thoughtful, supper witty and a little bit sarcastic young man.  We are so proud of him.  he is growing and changing right before our eyes and I feel like every time I blink, he has learned something new and is excited to show it off.

He loves being a hockey player, a digger of dirt, a Samish drumer, a teacher to his younger brothers, a love bug to his mama and his dads right hand man.  He loves animals and when he retires from the NHL someday, he wants to be a teacher because he says that there needs to be more guy teachers (I think his school only has 1).  Blake notices things, hes the observer that doesn't say anything and that you don't know is listening until he says something about it days later, and he has an opinion about everything!!

Ahhh... he is 8, in second grade, and I cant believe we have survived these last 8 year.  I am better because of him, a better person all around.  We love him with all our hearts and cant wait to see him fly... the sky is the limit for this young man, and we have no doubt that he will achieve all his dreams.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BLAKE!!

   

The Boy Can Ride

It was just a normal day last week, and by normal, I mean we were all running around outside getting chores done.  Josh and I were mowing the lawn (he rides on my lap while I drive, and I wouldn't do it if it wasn't safe)... but that's not what this story is about.

I'm mowing, and then all of a sudden, Luke comes riding past me on Blake's bike... the bike WITHOUT training wheels!!!!  It took me a second to realize what he was doing and then it clicked!  I looked back and Blake is running behind him and clapping, yelling, and jumping up and down.  Blake taught Luke how to ride without training wheels.  It was such a proud moment for both of them to share together and I couldn't help but smile.  They kept jumping up and down, hugging and hi-fiveing.  It was the cutest and sweetest thing I have ever seen between them.

These two have moments when they want to kill each other and times where I physically have to pull them apart. Fists fly, feet kick, words are yelled... its usually a daily occurrence, so when something like this happens, where they work together and share in each others successes, rather then compete, it fills my heart with such joy.  These boys... They are turning my hair grey and filling my heart at the same time.

We are so proud of you Luke!! And thank you to Grandpa Monty and Grandma Tammy for the kickstands!!

I wish I would have taken more pictures...

Summer Adventure 2017

This summer... I tell you, it was sure one to remember.  Before I started writing this, I was having a hard time remembering if we did much that was "blog worthy" but after looking through all the pictures, you bet you butt it was!  We had some amazing things happen this summer and it is definitely one that we wont forget!!

This summer, Josh was 1 1/2 which was easier, but also harder.  He is Into absolutely everything... the things you think that he couldn't destroy, he will and nothing is safe with this little tornado around!  We introduced him into eating raspberries off the vine this year.  Side note- Every year I fight the kids to make sure that I can pick enough for jam because they usually beat me to it.  This year, josh joined in, and if we were outside, and I happened to lose sight of him for a second, thats where he was... sitting in the middle of the rows, picking and eating, with his hands stained red. :)

We also lost a very important member of our family, Kyles grandma passed away this year and it has been really hard on the entire family.  She was such a wonderful woman and had treated me like her own grand daughter ever since I first met her when I was in high school.  Our family is strong, thanks mostly to her, and I know we will all stop hurting so much, but the ache in our hearts is something that im not sure will ever go away, but she leaves behind memories that also fill our hearts, so we are just learning how to live this life without her, but also live our lives in a way that honors her.

I finally have a SISTER (in-law) lol and the boys have their first official aunt!!  Tyler and Liz got married this year and it was a day filled with love, devotion, laughs and dancing!  We all had an amazing day, and Luke still says it was the best day of his life because he got to stay up all night dancing!!  HAHA  We were all in the wedding, and that just goes to show how close this family is... were all up in each others business... see what you married into Liz?!?!

It was HOT this summer... I mean, its still hot!!  We had sprinklers, kiddie pools, water balloons, super soakers, and little naked babies running around all summer! We didnt go to any fancy pools or resorts, but we did play, and hard... my kids feet are still black from all the running around barefoot, and I love it!!

We snuck away for a week...just Kyle and I ... and let me tell you, this took months of planning.  Monty, Tammy, Tyler, Liz and Ryan all tag teamed our 3 rowdy kiddos and dog while we were gone and we are so lucky!  They hardly missed us, because they took them all camping and swimming!  its easy to leave when you know they are in good hands.
We snuck off to Colorado to celebrate 10 years of wedded bliss!! haha, and it was an experience that we will never forget.  We stayed just outside on Vail, deep into the Rockies in a tent... not just any tent, here's the Link to Collective Retreats. Ill have to go into more depth later, but it was perfect!  we forgot what it was like to spend time like that with just each other, and with how busy we are raising these 3 kiddos, we kind of realized how important getting away was... maybe not always for a whole week every time, but their might be some weekend get aways in our future!

School started... Blake is in Second grade, I feel like he was just born, I remember every bit of it, and its hard to believe that hes about to be 8... ugh, I have to fight back the tears.  Luke... my little Lukie is going into kindergarten.  He is so excited and his eyes are full of wonder and his heart is excited.  Kindergarten is such a special year, they grow so much, and with Blake it was hard for me to let Kindergarten go, because after this year, they are considered the big kids... oh, hold still, my heart cant take this!  Thank goodness for Josh... I have few more years until hes in kindergarten, but nevertheless, its a milestone that shapes these boys, and we have the most amazing teacher that makes everlasting imprints on their hearts.  This is going to be a crazy year, full of challenges, growth and achievements!

Group Hug!!

My Bad Mom Moments

Well, HELLO!!  I seriously miss this blogging thing, so I now am committing to myself that I will be making more time for this.  I LOVE TO BLOG and Josh takes good naps, and my household is starting to find rhythm amongst the ciaos, so its time to get this show on the road!!

I have been thinking a lot lately about how there isn't an actual manual for parenting, and how we all parent different, and thats OK!!  We are all raising different little humans and they all need different types of love and care, and after deciding that I am okay with NOT trying to be "perfect" I finally come to the realization that I am a bad mom, but in the best way.  I used to spend all my time making sure that the kids were reading enough hours a night, that whatever was on their tablets was educational, and making sure that their meals were balanced... which I still believe that I (we) should be doing, but I am no longer beating myself up over grilled cheese 4 times a week or using the TV to entertain my children to get things done... don't lie, we have all done it!

I'm a bad mom because my 16 month old knows how to find YouTube on my phone and he also knows how to skip the adds.

I'm a bad mom because I told my son that it was pizza day at school because I didn't want to make his lunch, but he never complained that he was served Teriyaki dippers... and what the hell are teriyaki dippers?  He didn't say anything and I didn't ask!

I'm a bad mom because I do a secret happy dance when someones practice or game gets canceled!  (2 kids are in 3 different sports and we do that 5-6 times a week)

I try and meal prep, and I really do eat the meal prep food... because you know that i've been working on losing 30 lbs for like 3 years, but then I will eat a bag of chips and watch Grey's Anatomy during nap time!  Sorry, but not so sorry...

I'm a bad mom because I have thrown away birthday invites that come home from school before Blake or Luke have seen them.

I'm a bad mom because I have made my kids grilled cheese for breakfast before... many times.

do fruit rollups count as a fruit serving?

Oh, I'm a really bad mom because Blake was complaining of headaches and I told him to just drink more water.. this went on for a few months, he fell behind in reading, and come to find out...he needed glasses (parenting fail)

I'm a bad mom because Josh was throwing a fit that he wanted my glass of water, so I finally just gave it to him knowing very well that it was going to end up all down the front of himself... and then when it did, he screamed, and I laughed!

I know that I have my "bad mom" moments... we all do things that aren't perfect to get through the day, but that doesn't mean that we don't love our kids to pieces.  No one can be perfect all the time, and there is so much fun in the imperfections.  I'm one lucky lady to have a rad group of chicas around to validate my bad mom moments with... or that show up with coffee at 9am just because sometimes moms need that to get through the day.  With all this mom shaming I see on social media, it makes me realize that I need to do more to help my mama friends, because without them, I would be up shit creek!  And if you see a mama bear that looks like she needs some help, don't ask, just do it, because a lot of the time, we are all too proud to accept.  (but you already knew that) ;)

Oh, and one more bad mom moment... I just remembered that one time, I took the kids to the YMCA and dropped them off at the child watch so I could workout... but I didn't work out... I went upstairs, found a quiet corner and played candy crush.... for a whole 45 minutes HAHAHA