Raising Angels

Kids Being Kids

2011-08-05T16:17:00.000-07:00

This morning I had the wonderful privilege of watching my friend Sarah's little girls. They are so beautiful that I couldn't help my desire to create a video of our play time together. I love watching kids be kids:)

For the Love of Fathers

2011-06-16T12:22:00.000-07:00

If you are like me, you force your family to live in sterile conditions for days before family arrives from out of town. The recently cleaned guest bedroom and bathroom are off limits, all toys must remain contained in their proper place, and no one dare walk on the carpet with shoes unless they want to incur the wrath of the maid, otherwise known as the insane mother from, well you where. It might be a good thing that daddy has to work late every night of the week as to not become the victim of stress outbreaks and mommy tantrums. The children on the other hand must abide by all rules of the newly sterile house because mommies can otherwise take away privileges or set an earlier bedtime.

I am pretty certain that my obsessive compulsive disorder is influenced by a bigger appetite for perfectionism. Are you still with me?

Tomorrow my father and step-mother come to town for the first time in about a year and a half. Although we will be spending the majority of their visit camping at Beachside State Park, dad and Michelle will also be staying with us for a few days. We are excited to celebrate father's day with both of our fathers and with Jeremy's sister's family. It was six years ago on Father's Day that Jeremy met my father for the first time. Immediately they hit-it-off and just a few days later Jeremy took my father aside to ask for his blessing to marry me. I will always be grateful to my father for saying yes. Father's Day will always hold a special place in my heart for it was the first day that the two men in my life became friends.

Happy Father's Day to my three favorite dads!

Al (my dad), Jeremy, and Al (my father-in-law) - photo taken November 2009

You Will Always Be My Babies

2011-06-05T21:36:00.000-07:00

As if standing in the sun in my driveway for 7 hours was not enough to cook my skin, we decided to forego all yard and household projects to spend the day at the beach. After a successful garage sale on Friday, I noticed my neck and shoulders starting to tingle. It was very difficult to sleep peacefully that night. Then, the very next day we decided to head to Pacific City to enjoy the ocean view and sand between our toes. After lathering Jeremy and the kids in sunscreen, there was hardly enough left for me. So yes, I burned again (especially on my forehead). It was a fun day in the sun, but I will be sore for some time to come. Oh Aloe Vera, where for art thou?

These pictures amaze me. As a young mother, I was always told that kids grow up fast, but I guess I am just now starting to realize this truth. When we first moved to Newberg in April 2008, Maya and Declan were still babies. Take a look at these photos taken at the beach in July 2008 (just 3 years ago):

It brings tears to my eyes to think my babies can now fly their own kites at the beach. Where does the time go?

Raising Angels Continues

2011-06-01T13:12:00.000-07:00

I suppose my hiatus is over. My friends have requested that I start blogging again so here is my first entry in about 8 months. I can hardly believe it has been so long.

In summary, these past few months have brought with them many new milestones of which there are too many to count. However, I would most definitely like to point out that it was not just my little Miss Maya who had a birthday. On November 3rd, Dearest Declan celebrated his third birthday by monkeying around with his friends at Safari Sams. In December, the love of my life turned the big 3-7 and on May 18th I was awakened by his "beautiful" piano rendition of Happy Birthday. That was the day I turned 33 and I rejoiced with the angels while clearing three rooms of silly-string and vacuuming through the sea of balloons. Between the hours of 4 and 6am, Jeremy had just enough time to bake and decorate cupcakes and blow up about 30 balloons. That boy must have a crush on me because just days later he whisked me away on a romantic getaway to Newport. There, we had the freedom to act like teenagers by racing each other in the swimming pool, eating Carmel corn and donuts, and watching the sun set on the beach. Along with purchasing my first COACH purse at the outlets along the way to Newport, it was the perfect end to my birthday celebrations.

With my return to the blogosphere, I look forward to documenting many more of the precious memories that help remind me that I am not only getting older but I am also Raising Angels.

Miss Maya Turns 4

2010-10-04T09:04:00.000-07:00

It was a fun and exciting ROCK STAR DIVA party. The girls played dress-up, did their own make-up and nails, and even had a modeling shoot. It's cute how little girls love to get dolled up! Declan, the only boy, loved flirting with all the girls!

And this year's mommy headache:

First birthday of the season down, 1 anniversary and 2 more birthdays to go.

Hammock Baby

2010-07-15T16:57:00.000-07:00

We went to a play date at a friend's house today and Maya just loved the hammocks that she had over there. I took this picture, not really realizing how cute it was until I fiddled around with the coloring. Just thought I would share it with you.

Camping at Beverly Beach

2010-07-12T08:24:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we went camping at Beverly Beach with some friends, Amanda and Bob and Sarah and Tony. We all have 2 kids each so in total there were 12 of us. With so many kids around, it was nice to have 6 adults to keep an eye out for them. They played together really well and slept good too leaving us adults with some nice campfire time in the evenings. Camping near the beach was great and we all had fun getting our feet wet in the ocean. Now that we are home, all I want to do is sleep! I only got about 3 hrs of sleep the first night we were camping so now I am exhausted. Anyway, here are some great pictures of our first camping trip with friends.

After camping, Jeremy and I took the kids to Newport to have lunch and walk around the pier. It was fun and the kids loved watching the sea lions.

Fourth of July Block Party

2010-07-05T13:36:00.000-07:00

We spent the fourth of July with some friends of ours from Canada outside our house where we were also having a block party.

Yes, our neighbors are pyromaniacs! They put their fireworks inside plastic bottles and lit them off in the streets. Thankfully we moved our own cars so they didn't get damaged.

We had the wimpy fireworks in our driveway but the kids loved them and for those Canadian friends of ours that were over, it was more than they had ever experienced in Canada where any sort of street fireworks are illegal.

Maya LOVED holding the sparklers....

And Declan LOVED throwing the poppers....

Me, Miriam, and Yvonne all met in Edmonton, Alberta and here we are in America celebrating the 4th of July with a Boston Cream Cake....

The kids and I on our neighbors lawn watching the loud fire-bombs...

The kids in their RED, WHITE, AND BLUES...

Maya and I checking out our fireworks...

Declan with his sparkler...

The End of June and Summer Finally Begins!

2010-06-24T13:55:00.000-07:00

Seeing the kids are past the regular doctor check-ups stage, Jeremy and I decided to check online to see what percentages they fall into and this is how they both line up:

Declan is in the 75th percentile for his height and 73rd for his weight.

Maya is in the 50th percentile for her height and 25th for her weight.

They have both remained pretty steady in their growth but Maya seems to have lost a couple of pounds over the last few months. She has been eating like crazy but I'm pretty sure her energy level keeps her weight down....or at least steady. Declan only likes to snack. There are a few meals that he will sit down and eat but he mainly likes to munch on fish crackers, carrots, and fruit during the day. They are both starting to look more like kids rather than toddlers....which is surreal for me to see.

We have had some great weather lately and have taken advantage of it for sure. Lots of park time, yard time and yes, even some boating...

And we had a wonderful father's day celebration with Jeremy's dad and mom...

Beach Trip #1 For 2010

2010-06-13T08:21:00.000-07:00

The short if it, yesterday was a warm day so we had to hit the beach!

Camping and Bike Graduation

2010-05-30T10:48:00.000-07:00

We camped in our backyard last night and the kids had a great time. They especially liked jumping on our blow-up mattress! Maya acted like a grown-up, sipping her drink by the fire & eating popcorn. Declan loved his kiddie camping chair and Maya wouldn't stop spying on our neighbors, I mean BIRDS, with the binoculars.

And we had to say goodbye to Declan's tricycle. He graduated to a big-boy bike and the transition was so smoothe. He rides it like a pro!

Clean Teeth

2010-05-24T14:50:00.000-07:00

For the first time in years, I had a clean Dentist report today. Usually there is some issue with a tooth that requires an extraction or some other crazy work. The cancer screening turned up negative and overall the Hygenist was very impressed by the way I take care of my teeth. On my way out, I had to make an appointment for Maya and she even let me make one for Declan too so he will see the Dentist for the first time on Tuesday.

At a previous Dentist appointment, she checked to see if I qualify for Invisalign braces and apparently I do. This is something I have wanted to do for years....straighten my teeth. I know I am 32 yrs old now but I don't want to live the rest of my life continuing to hide my teeth. Because our Health Insurance does not cover Orthodontics, I will have to save up before I do it. This is something I know I have to do so I might start saving now. Afterall $3000 is not just pocket change to us.

A special thanks to my dear friend Sarah for watching the kids today. I was so happy to hear that they didn't torture you too much.

Private

2010-05-23T08:35:00.000-07:00

I have gone private. I have been wanting to do this for a long time. You can never be too careful with internet settings. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Let The Competition Begin

2010-05-20T14:43:00.000-07:00

Declan figured out how to zip his coat today. I was so proud of him! Unfortunately, this caused his older sister to get very upset this afternoon when she tried zipping and failed. Looks like we are reaching a stage in life where the youngest sibling is learning to do things that the oldest one hasn't yet mastered. Otherwise known as a competitive stage.

32 And Still Going

2010-05-19T08:42:00.000-07:00

I turned 32 yesterday and realized that I will be 47 when littlest angel graduates high school. Does that make me an old mama or a young one? It seems like the older I get, the younger 50 sounds.

We went to Safari Sams yesterday to let the kids play around. It was so fun spending my birthday with my 3 favorite people. Then, my sweet little kids helped daddy bake me a cake...

We just returned late Saturday night (Sunday morning) from our trip to Alberta. We ended up driving the last 15 hours in one day so we were extremely exhausted and cranky when we got home. On Sunday I got my birthday gift....a new laptop. YAY...I can finally check my mail during the day instead of relying on Jeremy to be here to watch the kids while I relocate to the office. Life's good now:)

Here are just a few pictures from our trip up north...

Crushes and Kisses

2010-04-29T19:21:00.000-07:00

Today was the second time that Maya has mentioned a boy from her class (from Bible Study) has thrown a ball at her. At first I passed it off as tattling, but today I found out from this boy's mother that he has been trying to sit next to Maya in class because "she is pretty." I was taken aback. Could my daughter be experiencing the beginning of boys crushing on her? I can now identify from looking back on my own childhood that boys do silly things to get girls attention. Could this be the reason why Maya keeps getting hit in the head with a ball? If so, I might need to teach her some blocking or perhaps batting techniques.

This afternoon, I took the kids to the park near our house and just as we were leaving, an older girl ran over to Maya shouting "Oh I forgot to give you a hug!" So with her bicycle helmet on her head and her jacket in her hand, Maya reached out to offer a one armed hug only to follow it up with two puckered lips ready to be kissed. To which the little girl responded "Sorry, I don't kiss girls!" Needless to say, I spent the whole walk home explaining to Maya the reason why she should not offer kisses so freely, especially to girls.

We leave a week from today to head up north to my homeland. This vacation is greatly needed but sometimes I find myself biting my nails over the thought of a 21 hour car-ride with two toddlers. We are already equipped with two portable DVD players and two bags of new toys and snacks, but there is still something telling me that this is not going to be as simple as it seems. In any case, it's a family vacation and what's a vacation without a little stress right?!

We may be bald by the time we get there but we'll see you soon Alberta!

(Here are a couple of pictures of the kids playing on their new play-structure in our backyard.)

(A play date at our house: Crazy Hair Day...)

(I straightened Maya's hair and here she is modeling it.)

I Love Park Days and Music Videos!

2010-04-15T15:36:00.000-07:00

Declan loves his lawn-mower. This is him pushing it all the way up to the park...

...an then mowing the grass at the park...

And Maya can get up on the swing by herself and she is doing good with learning how to pump her legs...

Our little monkey-girl...

Our little American Idol and her latest arrangement of This Little Light of Mine....

Easter in a Few Words

2010-04-05T06:41:00.000-07:00

Easter Morning finding their baskets...

Ready for church...Maya tickling Declan.

Cheese!

Coloring Easter eggs...Declan thought we were supposed to color the yolks too.

Miss Maya loves pink and purple

Easter Egg Hunt

Here, There and Everywhere

2010-04-01T19:51:00.000-07:00

The kids and I decided to surprise Jeremy by showing up at his office when he got off work this afternoon. I was not expecting to get stuck in traffic on the interstate, but I did and all I could do to occupy the kids' time was to point out all of the interesting parts of the city. Declan especially liked the "Castles" by the river, more commonly known as skyscrapers. Maya liked correcting my mistakes, like when I spotted a tall van and said "Maya look at that bus," to which she replied "Mommy, that's a van not a bus!" Then she promptly discovered a metro-bus and said "THAT'S a bus mommy!" After sitting in city traffic for more than half an hour, I decided to call Jeremy to warn him we were on our way so he wouldn't leave to go home.

Instead of walking around the river, as I was intending, Jeremy hopped in the truck and we took the kids across the river to see Oaks Park. On our way, we spotted a movie being filmed. Jeremy and I slowed down to see if we could recognize any faces (because we're all buddy buddy with the Hollywood folks you know). No one caught our eye though. The kids loved seeing the abandoned rides in the park and the girls practising their Roller Derby in the rink. After our drive around the park, we dropped Jeremy off at his office to get his car so we could all head back to Newberg and go to Jem 100 for dinner (a 50's diner).

All in all, it was a spontaneously fun Thursday afternoon.

We are getting pretty excited for our next cross-border vacation. I can hardly believe we will be in Alberta in just over a month. The last time we were in Alberta was when I was pregnant with Maya, 4 years ago. This time we will be spending time with my dad at his acreage outside Edmonton. I can't wait to take my family into the city while we are there to show them my stomping grounds from my college years. At times, Edmonton feels like home to me. We are pretty excited to spend time with family and friends, but Jeremy and I are not sure what to think of the 21 hour car ride. We will be dividing it up into 2 days of driving and we will have a DVD player in the car to keep the kids somewhat occupied. It will be nice to see countryside that none of us have seen before too. We leave in just 35 days.

And now I will close with a couple of pictures that were taken in Bellevue, Washington last weekend when we were visiting Jeremy's grandmother.

Six Things About Tammy

2010-03-20T22:38:00.000-07:00

My friend Beth tagged me to write six things about myself so here it goes:

1. I was born in Sarnia, Ontario - a border city for Canada and the USA. I often joke that if my mom had been a little further south when she went into labor, I would actually be American like the rest of my new family. That said, I am a Canadian married to an American with CanAmerican children.

2. My first job was being a clown over the Halloween season at Woolco (which was later bought out by Walmart). I walked through the store for 2-3 hours handing out candy to kids. Most of the time, though, I would just give the candy to the workers who would stop and talk to me.

3. I was a very BLOND little girl. Here is a picture of me and my sister Dayna when we were little...

4. My husband and I will be braving the storm, so to speak, by taking the kids on their first real road trip to Canada in May. We are heading up there to visit my dad on his farm just an hour outside Edmonton, Alberta. I am really looking forward to showing Jeremy and the kids my old stomping grounds. (If any of my Edmonton friends are reading this, please let me know if you will be in town at the beginning of May so we can possibly stop by to say Hi).

5. When I was little, I wanted to grow up and be everything from a doctor to a chemist to a fashion designer. In my college years I thought that the only way I could be everything I wanted to be is if I became an actress and played out these careers on stage or on film. So I decided to minor in Drama.

6. Being a mom has changed my life. It is hard for me to think about myself anymore because my children (and husband of course) take over my mind. I am constantly trying to make sure they have cute clothes to wear and yet when I look in the mirror before heading out the door, there is no evidence that I once longed to be a fashion designer. I focus on providing an appropriate amount of fruits and vegetables for the kids, but fall short sometimes when I feed myself. I try to choose my words carefully when I am around the kids, but manage to embarrass myself when talking to adults. I call it the Toddler Controlled Mommy Talk Syndrome (also knows as: TCMT)....

....and this post has been brought to you by the number 6 and the letter T.

Afraid to Admit It, But I Must!

2010-03-19T07:42:00.000-07:00

It is easy for us to point the finger at the preschools or church nurseries where we bring our children. It is easy for us to make snap judgements at how clean the toys are at these places and how healthy (or unhealthy) the other kids are. But when was the last time we looked in our own home for germs or growing bacteria? I will be the first to admit that it has been a very long time since I have actually cleaned our kids' toys. To be honest, I was better at this when the kids were babies than I am now. I could blame it on the fact that there are more toys in the house now, or I could just eat my words and face the fact that I have not lived up to my mothering duties. Now, if you have a squeamish stomach, you may want to stop reading this right now because what I am about to show you is the hidden dirt and germs that harbor on toys. This is a picture of our bathtub after I cleaned all of the non-electronic toys with bleach...

So needless to say, we all have to do our part. Not just the churches or the schools or the play centers. Good Health starts in our own home.

Transitionmania

2010-03-16T19:20:00.000-07:00

"I want this book," she said as she jumped into bed with the biggest (and longest) storybook in the house. "I want to read it first and then you can."
"But that will take a long time sweetie!" came my response as I tried stifling a yawn.
"No it won't mommy. It will only take a hundred hours."

This is how it feels as a mom in this house. Every game of Duck, Duck, Goose and Hide-n-Seek seems to take a hundred hours, at least until I look at the clock and only five minutes have gone by. After a successful week of eliminating the television from our list of daily activities, the children are more accepting of play-time now, a concept that was quite frankly lost for some time. The children seem to play nicely together now, value each other's opinions more (as much as any 2 and 3 yr old can), but my job as a mother has done a 180. My days of working on the computer have gone out the window, my private time has been taken from me, and I am lucky if I manage to find time to take a shower. With only one child napping now, it is a whole new ball game.

On the bright side, we are entering our 7th dry night with Miss Maya. Once this was a distant dream, after all she has been potty trained since she was 22 months. Wow, now that I say that out loud I am astonished that it has taken me 20 months to start her night-time training. She is almost 3 1/2 so I am very thankful to have this milestone behind us. Her brother is not far behind. Declan loves to go potty but I have been postponing his training because I was simply trying to focus on Maya's night-time training. I have already purchased the M&M's so now he just has to earn them.

Can we add any more transitions to our lives right now?

Two Nights in Sunriver

2010-03-08T14:34:00.000-08:00

We were blessed to have had the opportunity to go to Sunriver to spend some time at Jeremy's parents' timeshare. It was a beautiful two-night getaway.

Here is Declan on his way back from the hot-tub...

Our cabin...

The view of the bridge from the cabin...

We did lots of bike riding...

(Jeremy met a horse on our bike-ride)

...had lots of outdoor playtime...

...And here is Maya in the morning telling daddy (who was taking pictures outside) that breakfast was ready.

The kids had their first experience on SKATES and yes my fellow Canadians, there is a such thing as RENTING skates down here. I guess owning my own skates for all of my life played a big part in my ignorance of this rental process. Maya was pretty wobbly and hard to control out there but Declan - well let's just say that he might be our little hockey player!

Preparing for my triple lutz....

And now back to life, back to reality.

My Golden Homeland!

2010-02-28T19:20:00.000-08:00

We recorded the men's Olympic Hockey final so we could watch it together after Jeremy got home from snow camping today. What a game! Just when I thought Canada had it wrapped up in the last period, U.S. scores. "No WAY!" I shouted. "YESSSSS!" was the response from my dear sweet American husband. Biting our nails and shoeing the kids away while the game went into overtime, we waited anxiously to claim our own nation's victory. Oh how proud I was when Crosby, a Canadian from the Maritimes, scored the winning goal! Thank you Canadian hockey team for urging my CanAmerican children to shout "GO CANADA" for the first time in their young lives!"

I knew we could win at least one gold medal hosting the Olympics but this is amazing!

All this said, I was cheering for Apollo Ohno all the way through the Olympics. He's my skating hero:)

The Inside News

2010-02-25T10:43:00.001-08:00

I had to take Maya to the doctor last week and they measured and weighed her. She is almost 3 1/2 and she weighs 32 1/2 lbs and she is 38 inches tall. We were hoping to get her into a booster seat soon but we may have to wait another year or two until she reaches the weight requirement of 40 lbs.

Declan weighed in at 31 1/2 lbs, just a pound shy of his sister. He had a temperature last night and has been quite irritable and lethargic but he seems to be coming around. I am praying it was just a 24 hr bug but we'll see.

And just because I am on the computer and I don't get on her much anymore, I thought I would share my new haircut with you....

(The style I wanted) (The Result on my own head!)

Racing Through Another Month

2010-02-21T13:41:00.000-08:00

Jeremy and I have had been so blessed to have had three date nights this month. Our first being a dinner date when Jeremy's mom took care of the kids. For our second date we went to a local coffee shop while the kids were being watched by the child care workers at the church. But nothing topped last night's date night. We wanted to do something fun and interactive. Jeremy and I are pretty competitive and love to try and outdo each other. The typical end result is, of course, Jeremy's victory. We went to the Malibu Raceway and got a new kind of driver's license:

(I blurred our signatures for obvious Internet reasons)

With these new licenses, we were able to drive a go-kart type race car and of course I picked the pink one. We did two laps with Jeremy's best individual speed time of 59 seconds and my best speed time of 68. Then we had dinner at a local German restaurant before returning to the speedway for more racing. This time we decided to ride together in the same car with Jeremy driving. (On a side note, I would not suggest returning for more race car driving after having had a big meal!) Our fasted time was 52 seconds and the record time of of the day by another driver was 49 seconds, so we were pretty close! As a passenger, I felt like a bobsledder shifting my head from side to side, hanging on for dear life, but I was proud to be sitting alongside my adrenaline-filled hubby.

Yesterday was such a beautiful day that Jeremy and Maya decided to wash and clean-out our two vehicles. Maya wants to be with her daddy all the time. They did a great job and with it being another nice day today, the daddy-daughter pair took advantage of it and went out for a bike-ride together. Here is a shot of them riding down the street while the sun peaks through the trees...

What more could I ask for out of the month of February? Wonderful nights out with my husband, beautiful weather, the Olympics, and a sleeping boy who allows me some computer time while the other two play outside. Life is good!

My New Past Time

2010-02-11T08:03:00.001-08:00

Knit one, purl one. My grandpa taught this to me at a very young age and it has stuck with me. However, I shouldn't forget to mention that my mother played a big role in my knitting education as well. So many nights I would sit beside my mom watching her knitting and marvel at how simple yarn could magically turn into a beautiful sweater. She had every size needle and knew the ins and outs of reading patterns and finding the right yarn to make each pattern come to life. I am thankful that she allowed me to watch and learn.

I remember knitting barbie clothes when I was younger. My most intricate design was a wedding dress - and I still have this dress in my keepsakes box today. I don't remember ever using a pattern and to this day I find it easier to create my own designs instead of straining to read a knitting graph. My designs are one-of-a-kind and that's what makes it so much fun for me.

All that said, I continue to add more to my knitwear collection on my etsy shop (http://www.expressionsdesign.etsy.com/). The following is not for sale but I thought I would share it with you anyway. This was my first attempt at a skirt...

I tried to make a matching hat but the yarns did not match so well. Here is the hat I made for Maya as well...

Thanks again mom for sharing your knitting knowledge with me.

Date Day and the Jungle Song

2010-02-05T09:20:00.000-08:00

I took the kids on a date yesterday. We went to the new cupcake shop here in Newberg. The owner told me that he named the shop after his nickname for his daughter... Sweetest Thing. It is a cute little shop, great for a date night or to sit and have your favorite little treat. Here are some photos I took with my phone while we were there...

I started teaching the kids the song "Who's the King of The Jungle" this week. At one point I stopped in the middle of the song so they could sing the next line and this is how it went:

"Who's the King of the Jungle

EEE EEE

Who's the King of the Sea

bubble bubble bubble

Who's the King of the universe..."

to which Declan replies "CHICKEN!"

Correcting him, Maya shouts "No Decky! It's JESUS!"

We took Maya off her nap this week because she was not going to bed on time in the evenings. She would sometimes stay up until we went to bed around 10 or 11pm. Since Sunday, she hasn't had a daytime nap and it has worked out great! She is asleep before 8pm every night now, which gives Jeremy and I more time to cuddle on the couch - free of kids.

Declan is slowly potty training. He takes his diaper off whenever he wants to go potty. Sometimes he wants to, sometimes not. Sometimes he will even do it on the floor after taking his diaper off. A mother's work is never done!

So that is my five minute update. Hopefully I have some time while the kids continue to play to get a quick shower. Crossing my fingers!

Slowly Working Through Things

2010-01-27T12:20:00.000-08:00

With the economy in a slump, it is clear now that this will not just be a transition house for us as we had originally had intended when we bought it almost 2 years ago. With that in mind, we have decided to use colors that we believe to be more homey for us instead of sale-worthy. I remembered that we did not use a whole can of paint in Maya's room because it was tinted too light (almost white) so I went to Lowes and asked if they could add another color to the existing one. I was thrilled that they matched the color almost perfectly and that it was free of charge because I had already purchased the paint there a couple of years ago. I picked up some accessories and redecorated our guest bathroom. When we moved in, we painted it a very light grayish blue and now it is a beautiful tan color. I still have some curtains I wish to add above the vanity but for now, this is how it looks...(and all for just $28).

BEFORE...

AFTER...

Over these past few months I have been itching to get back to work. I am currently looking for employment - even in this tough economy - but I know that we will be okay regardless of my job situation because Jeremy is such a great worker and his firm loves him. That said, we continue to pray that more projects are brought into his company soon. The building industry has been hit pretty hard and when that happens, it just trickles down the line from the Developer to the Architect, and yes to the Structural Engineer. Things are slow for a lot of industries right now so we are thankful that Jeremy still has his job. If I find a job, the kids will be going into full time childcare. Maya can be in a preschool program right now and Declan can enrole in preschool in November. It is so hard to believe my babies are at that age! We are working through all of these changes and pray that God continues to provide and steer us in the right direction.

And one last thing. Many of you are probably wondering what the link is all about on the top of my Blog. Well, I manage my own shop on Etsy.com. My shop can be found at http://www.expressionsdesign.etsy.com/ . I have different handmade and vintage products for sale so please check it out. It is a great site that allows regular people the chance to sell their items for a great price. I love it because most of what I buy on Etsy is one-of-a-kind. I just recently purchased a skirt for Maya that I just have to show-off. She looks so cute in it...

My Heart Cries Out

2010-01-21T20:15:00.000-08:00

I had to console my baby today while tears streamed down his face and his shreiking cry echoed in the distance. It was his first experience with being, shall we say, bullied at the park. This boy about 10 years of age, had been at the park before. I recognized him from his personality. He was the kind of boy who would say anything to anyone. Today he was taking care of his younger brother (of about 3 years of age) while his mother sat in her run-down car at the end of the sidewalk. I was taking pictures of my kids with my cell phone to send to Jeremy while he was at work. Over and over I could hear this boy telling Declan to get out of his way and pushing his brother aside as well. At one point, while Declan was attempting to be nice, the older boy asked "What are you saying, I can't understand you?" Maya and Declan backed off - at least for a moment. Just as Declan was pulling himself up onto one level of the play structure, the boy stepped down onto his arm. I hadn't noticed if it was intentional or how hard he landed on Declan, but the crying had caused my baby to gasp for breath. For the next 20 minutes I tried to console Declan, thinking it wasn't too bad and he'd be back on his feet in no time. I noticed that Declan couldn't even look at this boy so I gathered up the kids and headed to our house down the street. Declan didn't stop crying for about 45 minutes after the incident. I sat him in front of the TV and with his blanky wrapped around him he watched a whole 90 minute movie without moving. He still can't put pressure on his wrist and his palm is bruised so we are assuming it is a sprain as there doesn't seem to be any broken bones. We are waiting to see how the night pans out before we decide on taking him to the doctor.

On Sunday my 1 year old nephew ran into a wall and ended up with 6 stitches in his head. That same night I received a call that my dad had to stay in the hospital for a couple of nights. And later that night Jeremy received word that his sister's father-in-law had just suffered a stroke. To everyone reading this, it may seem that we have had a terrible week and the truth is you're right. But how can I complain when all of the people I have mentioned are actually breathing and are living in safe comfortable homes. I heard the cry of my baby today and I was reminded of the thousands of babies in Haiti crying out for their mothers. Mothers they may never see again.

This earthquake has shaken the world, myself included.

In 2003, I had the wonderful opportunity to teach English at a Christian school in San Francisco de Macoris in the Dominican Republic. I stayed with a local family whose house-keeper happend to be Haitian. She did not speak English nor did I speak Spanish or Creole so the majority of my day was spent doing hand gestures with her as a way to communicate. She wouldn't allow me to do my own laundry so she spent hours scrubbing my clothes and hanging them on the line in the dirt yard behind the house. I would watch her make my morning cafe con leche and witness her killing tiny bugs on the dining table. She rocked in her chair while watching her favorite Spanish soap opera on TV and she would ask my host mother for money every day so she could buy fresh fruit from a road side vendor up the street. While I was staying there she slept in the dressing room of the dress shop owned by my host mom. She normally slept in the room I was occupying which was made of cracked concrete floors with a half concrete and half grass floor in the bathroom off to the side. (I never used that bathroom the whole 6 weeks I was there). Mata was her name and she quickly became my good friend. The motherly type.

At the school, I was teaching Basic and Advanced Grammar so I had approximately 35 students altogether. Noel, the soccer player who wanted to make it big. Jose, the baseball player who would often miss class because of baseball priorities. Ana, the very smart and only white girl in class. I do not know all of their backgrounds but I know their names. They could be Dominican, Haitian, or both.

And now nearly 7 years later as I am watching the news and I hear them naming the survivors, I get goosebumps. Am I going to hear a name I recognize? Is there anyone I know, I've taught, under that rubble?

Me and Mata's grandson Louis

These boys are from an orphanage I visited outside San Francisco de Macoris. Notice the little boy playing with sticks. It doesn't take much to entertain children in these parts of the world.

To Help Or Not to Help

2010-01-10T15:18:00.000-08:00

We were early, as usual. Jeremy and I were lounging on the couch while the kids, still eager to go to church, were frantically trying to get their shoes on. First Maya, a near pro at putting on her shoes - then Declan. Noticing he was struggling to figure out the right approach to making his foot fit in the shoes, Maya stepped in to help. He grunted, she groaned. He wiggled, she explained they were on the wrong feet. He growled and kicked some more and Maya finally had enough "Fine I give-up. He's Crazy!"

(The kids in our bathroom this morning before Church)

Ringing in Another New Year

2010-01-02T13:05:00.000-08:00

Since moving to Newberg, we have had snow around Christmas time. This year it came a few days after Christmas Day when everyone was back to work. Jeremy left his office in Portland early (around 4pm) to beat the weather but it turned out that some roads were closed and the Interstate was just crawling. It normally takes him 30-45 minutes to get home but on this particular day it took him 5 hours. Needless to say he was hungry and nearly out of gas when he got home. Thankfully he arrived safely. The next morning, we took a picture of our driveway...

(Not a lot of snow but enough to stop traffic here in Oregon!)

The kids and I decided to enjoy some time in the snow before it completely melted away...

On to a different story, enough is enough when you have to spend 30 minutes blow drying your hair! I just couldn't do it anymore. I chopped it off...not as short as I was hoping and not the style I had asked for but at least I am not spending all that time getting ready to go someplace. I do not have any great pictures of it but here are some fun pictures from New Years Eve. We went to my friend Amanda's house. We played ROCK BAND and just mingled the whole night. The kids did really well in Amanda's playroom with the other kids that were there. They barely made it to mid-night though. We left her house at about 12:15am. Thankfully we only live around the corner from her.

Me and the love of my life!

Sarah, Me, & Amanda

Me and my baby Declan

The men decided to try doing pull-ups on the laundry room clothes bar. Jeremy probably could have done 30 or more without breaking a sweat but he stopped after 5 or so.

Then it was Declan's turn!

(FYI: Ladies, don't try this at home! I honestly believe that only men can do pull-ups. I did half of one and could not continue.)

Maya found a toy guitar in the playroom and decided to "play" Rock Band with Jeremy and Isaac.

And here is a picture of the toy room. Sorry for leaving so early Amanda. I hope this didn't take too long to clean up!

All in all...we had a fun-filled Holiday. Happy New Year to you all!

Our Christmas in Pictures

2009-12-28T07:47:00.000-08:00

The Sunday Before Christmas

Christmas Eve at Jeremy's parent's house....

Christmas Eve at our house in their Christmas PJs. (Declan's still fit him from last year but I had to buy new ones for Maya)...

Maya's letter to Santa. I wrote down everything she said....

Santa even left this picture for the kids. He really wanted them to know he was in our living room delivering gifts this year....

Jeremy really wanted the kids to have a boppy bag and this was the only affordable one we could find. Now we get to box the President of the USA.

This is how we found Declan....eating with Maya's doggie.

For Jeremy's birthday, Maya gave him 2 tickets to the movie theater. So daddy took Maya to see The Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel. This was Maya's first movie experience and first BIG date with daddy. She did really well.

My sister Dayna and my aunt Gail gave us gift cards to Toys R Us so here are some pictures of the kids playing with the new toys we got from there. A Coffee machine and DJ mixer for Maya and a Weed Eater and Buzz Lightyear wings for Declan.

We still have some money from family that has not been spent yet but I think I will just go clothes shopping sometime soon. We can all use some new clothes! So thanks again to everyone who helped make this a special Christmas for our whole family. We had a great year and it was nice to relax and not get too stressed out. Blessings for a wonderful New Year!

From One Event To The Next....

2009-12-21T13:51:00.000-08:00

With the Christmas Season in full swing, it is hard to find time to think, much less write a blog. That said, these pictures clearly show how busy we have been.

This was the first year I let Maya and Declan make their own ornament. We traced their hand and molded it to size with some baking clay. Then they painted their baked hands and I have yet to finalize this project with string so they can add them to the tree....

Although I had every intention of taking the kids to see Santa in years past, we never got around to it. So when our friends Tony and Sarah invited us to meet up with them at a local Real Estate Company who had a winter wonderland set up, we jumped at the chance to get the kids' picture taken with Santa. For my Canadian readers, I just want to point out that the picture below where Jeremy is playing in the snow with Maya is not really a picture of snow. They had to bring in a snow machine. As a Canadian who is used to a REAL winter wonderland, I just found it funny that they have to make their own snow around here. Below you can see us riding on an old fashion trolly too. Maya asked to ring the bell afterwards.

And what would Christmas be like without a picture like this?? haha!

(Maya asked Santa for a NEW CAR! Could it be that she heard her daddy say he needed a new one?)

To celebrate Jeremy's 36th birthday (on December 19th) we thought it would be fun to take the kids sledding on Mt. Hood. So at 7am I piled layers of clothes on the kids and packed up the truck while Jeremy got ready. After we were all ready to go, Jeremy checked the weather and the forecast showed temperatures well above freezing and rain on the mountain. So a 2 hour drive to the mountain would have been silly because we probably would have had to turn around to come straight back home. Instead, Jeremy suggested we take the kids bowling. This was a first for us and perhaps a last, at least for another 2 years or so. Maya did really well. She quickly learned that she had to wait her turn, but Declan didn't really understand that concept. At first, Jeremy and I found it funny to see Declan carry a 6 lb ball from lane to lane trying to find the perfect place to DROP the ball. Then, it started to get tiring. We had the man delete Jeremy and I off our play list because we thought it was silly to pay for 4 players when Maya and Declan were really the only ones playing. So all in all, Declan nearly ended up with a hernia from carrying the ball around and Maya ended up with a great score of 61.

MERRY CHRISTMAS FRIENDS! See you back here next week:)

In The Morning When I Rise

2009-12-10T12:39:00.000-08:00

There is a song we sing in my women's Bible study called Give Me Jesus. It chokes me up every time I hear it. This week we learned that a woman in our study had passed away and even though I did not know her, I still could not bring myself to sing this song because of my own personal convictions connected to the lyrics. Here they are...

In the morning when I rise, in the morning when I rise
in the morning when I rise, give me Jesus.

Give me Jesus, give me Jesus.
You can have all this world,
but give me Jesus.

And when I am alone, oh and when I am alone,
when I am alone, give me Jesus.

And when I come to die, oh and when I come to die,
when I come to die, give me Jesus.

Nearly every morning when I wake-up and stumble out of bed I have a pout on my face, a to-do list in my head, and crying toddlers asking where daddy is. So in the morning when I rise, I am ashamed to say that my first thought is not to ask for Jesus to steer the day. In writing this, however, I hope to keep myself accountable in doing so. I hope to start each day with a smile on my face, a calmness in my heart to face each task with joy, and a love that can equal the love of my children's father.

Lately, Jeremy and I have been struggling with balancing the parental discipline of our children. After hearing Maya say "I like Daddy better," and hearing her cry for her Daddy to put her to bed I have decided to ask Jeremy to help me co-discipline the children in hopes that they do not see me as the mean one. I recognise that it is probably much harder for him to discipline because he gets very little time with them during the day and does not want to spend a second of it in a fierce battle over right from wrong. Love and discipline is a tricky thing, but we now understand that it is something that needs to be tackled together. Our new plan has already begun to make a difference in our family life. We seem much happier. We laugh more and we play more. I stress less and hope for the best instead of expecting the worst. And I owe a lot of it to the most amazing daddy and husband I know.

As a couple, this is our 5th Christmas together. Our first was only 2 months after we got married. By our 2nd Christmas, we had a 2 month old daughter, and by our 3rd Christmas we had a 1 month old son. Last year the kids were still young and it seemed overly stressful with two sugar-filled babies. So it is nice to welcome in a new Christmas where we can change the course of events, eat less, and just enjoy playing together as a family.

I do not make New Years resolutions because they normally never work out for me, so instead I wish to make promises to my family for 2010. I promise to be more loving and less nit-picky. I promise to play more and do less list-making. I promise to make our marriage a priority and not just our kids. I promise to breathe more and tense less. And if I begin to fail, I give Jeremy the right to remind me of these promises because Satan can have all of this world, but as long as I have the love of my family then I have been given the gift of Jesus.

Our First Christmas together (2005)

Our 2nd Christmas together (2006)

Our 3rd Christmas together (2007)

Our 4th Christmas together (2008)

Our 5th Christmas together (2009)

Merry & Bright

2009-12-02T13:09:00.000-08:00

As most Americans do, (my Can-American self included) we decorated our house this past weekend after Thanksgiving. This was the first year, since having kids, that I decided to put the ornaments all the way to the bottom of the tree. (In years past we only decorated the top half because little hands liked to remove the ornaments.) Well it worked out fine, for a few minutes anyway.

Here is Maya helping place ornaments on the tree...

And here is Declan...(notice how we had to cut the feet out of his pjs because his ginormous feet wouldn't fit in there any longer!)

Now here they are taking the ornaments OFF the tree.

The final product...

I'm sure some day all of the ornaments will stay where they were originally placed. Right?!

This was also the first time in 3 years that we have put Christmas lights on our house. (Obviously the kids kept us really busy in years past!) Jeremy did not have the proper equipment to repel down our mountainous roofline so he only placed lights on our landscaping instead. Perhaps next year we can borrow our friend Tony's boom-lift so we can go all Griswold on the neighborhood! Until then, baby steps...

We are extremely busy this week with three get-togethers at our house, Jeremy's company Christmas party, and much more so I have to keep this blog short and simple.

But one more thing before I go. I have only been to the gym 3 times in the past 2 weeks (I think) and I have been feeling pretty yucky about it. I stepped on the scale last night to see how much I had gained and to my surprise, I lost another 2 lbs. The crazy thing is, I haven't seen that number on the scale in 10 years and even back then it was short lived! I was so happy that I just had to share my excitement with you. My quest is not over though so I just need to stay focused and not be tempted by all of the baking I am doing for other people!

Have a great weekend. Check back next week for more Christmas decor pictures.

Understanding Motherhood

2009-11-26T11:38:00.000-08:00

I am a nurse and a therapist. A mediator and events planner. I am a hair-stylist and a chauffeur. I cook, I clean, and I blow multiple noses. I am a personal shopper, a home decorator, and a teacher. More occupations are added to my role as a mother as my children increase in age. I do not get paid and the benefits usually come from personal satisfaction of accomplishing the fore mentioned duties. Days off seem to be allotted only when I have a doctor's appointment or a crisis on my hands that cannot be solved by chasing after two toddlers. For me, Motherhood starts at 5:30am and continues until 8:30pm. If I were to include the hours when the children are sleeping and I am restlessly tossing and turning wondering if they are warm enough or safe enough in their own beds, I could easily say that Motherhood is a 24 hour/7 days a week position.

All that said, I wouldn't change it for the world! Motherhood has taught me selflessness. It has taught me sacrifice. Being the mother of two toddlers who test me four or five times a day has taught me patience and encourages me to love differently. I now know to love every little idiosyncrasy. I love the independence they develop from day to day. I love the arguing because it helps my children's voices get heard. I love the disobedience because the time-outs teach them right from wrong. But most of all I love my children for their innocence. They are little people unaware of safety and cooperation but with my help they are learning.

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful to be a mother. The days off are few but this is easy to forget when memories are being made and love embraces each day.

Jeremy, I love you too! I am Thankful for my whole family.

(Taken this summer in the Detroit airport)

Hi-Ho! Hi-Ho! It's off to ____ I go!

2009-11-18T13:27:00.000-08:00

Who knew that life would all of a sudden get so busy when the Fall season swept into our lives. The kids have enjoyed our fun outings but mommy has been a little stressed with trying to maintain a clean house as well as carting the kids from play date to gymnastics to appointments to Bible Study to...(you get the idea!). Add to that the constant reminders to make meals, desserts, or gifts for said groups and it seems too much for one person to handle...right? Well I have started to realize that this is the life of a mother...at least a stay-at-home mother. I can't imagine (yet) the chaos that comes along with being a working mother of two athletes who needs to be in two different places at one time. I'm sure that time will come though.

And here I sit for a few minutes - kidless while my children rest after a long morning of excitement and play time.

I rest in moments like these to reflect on the sweet innocence of my children....

What can be more sweeter?

Even when the volume in the house is at a maximum, they still manage to make me smile and be proud of everything they do. I see more and more promise in every day that my little girl will be a future performer.

This morning we had a play date with some friends at Scotty's Playhouse in McMinnville. The playhouse is located at the church we used to attend when the kids were first born. It is named after my friend Carmen's son, Scotty, who died when he was around 12 year old of cancer. Scotty would be in college if he were with us today. On our way to the playhouse, Maya said "I love Scotty mommy!" Knowing she had never met Scotty I asked her why she loved Scotty to which she replied "Because he's my best friend and he has a park in his house."

Perhaps there was a little too much static around for Kestyn. Can you tell?

Here is my friend Sarah who is starting to show. She just found out she's having another girl! Now Declan will have TWO Ondracek girls to choose from.

I love the look on my friend's son, Brevin's face in this picture. I think he really wanted to play with one of those enormous baseballs.

It was a fun morning.....now I'm off to work on a newsletter.

Our Little Shawn Johnson

2009-11-10T12:53:00.000-08:00

Maya started gymnastics last night. Her class age group is 3-6 years but she did really well. I was given the wrong date of the first class so she missed last week's session and was able to make it up last night. TWO HOURS of gymnastics for a 3 year old is a long time but she did great. They stretched, did sommersaults, jumped on the air-blown trampoline, walked on the high balance beam and touched their toes to the uneven bars. I was so proud of her. She is not used to taking instructions from teachers but she did pretty good - aside from being tempted to move on to the next activity before the rest of the group. She made it through the two hours and we treated her with a nice healthy PIZZA dinner afterwards (wink).

(Unfortunately, the lighting made it hard to get good pictures. We managed to get some good video footage though!)

(This video was taken with our regular camera so it too is not the best quality)

What's In a Name - Part II

2009-11-03T13:16:00.000-08:00

Jeremy and I decided early on in my second pregnancy that our baby should have a repetitive first and middle initial just like we had done with Maya Marie. I was not about to give up on the middle name I had chosen, Curtis, because it was my maiden name and I had always hoped to keep in the family. So that limited our choices to names starting only with the letter C. We brainstormed for a couple of months and discovered that the only name we had both agreed on was Caleb. After hearing the name pop up more and more, I was convinced that it was too common for my unique taste. So after many months had gone by, I urged Jeremy to continue looking for the perfect name. Now, Jeremy likes more common names like Carter and Cody, but I just couldn't see us choosing either of those names - yes I was selfish! We had it narrowed down to two names the week before I went into the hospital - Jacobi and Declan, both of which I had only heard in passing as I flipped through channels on the television. Jacobi sounded better but Declan looked better on paper. Jacobi meant "he who supplants" and Declan meant "full of goodness."

We did not know the sex of our baby when we went to the hospital. On November 3rd 2007, our beautiful baby boy arrived and the doctor asked what his name was going to be. "Declan Curtis" I replied and Jeremy just looked at me and said "Really?" Nearly 3 weeks had gone by before I heard Jeremy say that our little boy was beginning to look more like a Declan to him. It is an uncommon name and it caused us a lot of mixed-emotions. Did we do the right thing? Will he get teased? Will he like his name? Will he always get people asking him to repeat his name (as we do now). But now I am reminded that our little boy IS full of goodness. He helps me do the laundry. He shares with his sister. He says "I lul you" without always being prompted. He thanks God for his food and blows kisses to random strangers. Declan Curtis is and always will be full of goodness in mommy's and daddy's eyes.

And if he chooses, he can always go by the name D.C. or Curtis.

Birthday - November 3, 2007

1st Birthday

2nd Birthday

Side Note: If Declan had been a girl, his name would have been - without a doubt - Carlee.

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY SWEET DECLAN!

Fall & Halloween Festivities

2009-11-01T13:45:00.000-08:00

I saw a grass-hopper yesterday jump onto the shrubs in our front yard and thought that all of it's grasshopper friends in Northern Alberta must be jealous of it's ability to still hop about at the end of October. A blanket of snow covers Fort McMurray (where my father lives) yet we have been so blessed down here in Oregon to have had beautiful weather these last few days. Actually, I don't remember ever trick-or-treating in weather as warm as this. The kids were even coatless this year!

We started the festivities off with a fall festival carnival at our church. The kids dressed in their costumes off we went to experience some children's worship time and carnival fun. When the kids spotted their friend Ella (Snow White) in the sanctuary, we were hard pressed to keep all three of them away from the platform area.

I love this picture of Declan (a Train Engineer) and Ella in the pew at church. Looks like they are praying.

Miss Maya (or shall I say SUPER GIRL) in her costume and showing off her new face paint...a butterfly.

Saturday morning we headed to Tualatin for the Annual Pumpkin Boat race. According to the announcer, it is the WORLD'S LARGEST Pumpkin Race Regatta in the WORLD! (Could it be because it is the ONLY pumpkin race regatta in the world? hmmm!) It was fun to watch the Seed Extractors at work...yes carving out a hole in their ginomous pumpkins so they could have somewhere to sit when they began the race. It was hilarious and yet it looked like so much fun. Jeremy even said that we should try growing a huge pumpkin just so we could enter the race next year.

Me and the kids with one of the big pumpkin boats....

A Seed Extractor...

Maya and Declan wanted to paint & decorate a pumpkin at the regatta...

Grandpa's little buddy!

Grandma's little followers!

And the race begins...

Then it was trick-or-treating time. Super Girl got ready by flying all around the house...

Our little Train Engineer looked like a pro as he pounded the pavement, even though it was his first time going door-to-door...

Super daughter is off to the next house!.....SWOOSH!

"That's it daddy?! That's all I got?"

Better to come home early than to have kids bouncing off walls for the next week or so;)

A Look Into Our Busy Lives

2009-10-26T09:46:00.000-07:00

We carved our pumpkins this weekend. With the NFL game on in the background Jeremy decided to make it easy on himself and carve a simple Jack-o-lantern face. I was originally going to gut mine and just add a flower arrangement inside the pumpkin but that seemed like it would have been more work. So I carved a pumpkin face only to have it's tongue get sliced off (my bad). So now I have named it Jean after the former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien who likes to talk out of the side of his mouth.

And yes folks, Jean likes Sugar-Free Taffy!

The last several weeks Jeremy has been working hard on our backyard, leveling the ground, adding compost and seed and then fertilizing it. We are doing this in preparation for our new deck and plants which will hopefully be done in the Spring or Summer time. Jeremy has done an excellent job so far. The grass seed is almost full grown now so we are excited to finally have a green backyard.

This was what our grass looked like when we moved in (April 1st 2008)...

And this is how it looks today...

(The area without grass will be our future deck.)

I took the kids to the park a few days ago and decided to bring the camera along. This was the first time I was able to capture a shot of Maya and Declan holding hands.

It was a beautiful day and we stayed there at the park for almost 2 hours!

My Precious Angels...

Fall Is In The Air

2009-10-16T12:27:00.000-07:00

This year, it seems like I started decorating for the fall season long before the leaves started falling to the ground. Last year we purchased this great wreath from Costco that we can use year after year. Inside the house are the same decorations as last year as well...leafy garland with baby pumpkins and squashes covering our fireplace mantel. Of course it seems to help a little that one of our accent colors in our living room is orange anyway.

At the kids' pumpkin farm party this year, we each got a pumpkin. I usually let the kids decorate their own pumpkins instead of carving them so this year I decided to try something that I saw online....mod podging tissue paper to the pumpkins. Maya did very well with hers and needed very little help finalizing her pumpkin (the larger of the two decorated ones in the bottom picture). Declan on the other hand, needed some help....especially after his glue brush seemed to mysteriously attack all of our clothes. In the end they turned out great. It was fun having my friend Sarah, her daughter Kestyn, and her neice Lane over as well. It was all around a great learning experience for all of us.

Note: Jeremy wants to carve his pumpkin and I am hoping to gut mine and plant flowers in there...hopefully we get this done before Halloween;)

The Humbled Super Mom

2009-10-12T13:25:00.000-07:00

It is a little surreal when you are placed in a group of 46 mothers of preschoolers and you are given a special gift for having your kids the closest in age. That was me today. Normally I would never feel shy or resist telling people my children are only 13 months apart out of personal claims of being, of course, SUPER MOM. But today was different. I was surrounded by women who were obviously far more collected and mindful in the mommyhood department. I slouched in my chair as if to escape being recognized and awarded for having near Irish Twins. Beside me, a mentor mother to one middle-schooler and 2 high-schoolers, and on the other side of the table a pastor's wife and mother of three girls all of whom must have taken behavioral pointers from their mother because they are as close to angelic as any child can be (or so I've heard).

And then I retrieve my children from their classes only to find my daughter, Maya, leading a parade of children around the room - all wearing capes and pretending to fly like super-heroes. That's my girl...always full of life and keeping mommy on her toes.

My boy, who I like to call Declan, just doesn't seem to hear his name when being summoned. He has no understandings of disobedience yet but he always chooses to go his own way, even if that means I will not be right there beside him. Thankfully a friend stepped-in today to watch him while I carried an armful of stuff to the car....including Maya.

And again I am reminded of my bible study friends. The ones who have children suffering epilepsy and autism. The ones who have mentally unstable family members for whom we continue to pray. I am humbled. Just when I feel like a Super Star mom I am reminded that there are others out there who embrace the tough moments far more often than I do. I am humbled because I have been blessed with healthy children whose active nature is not a medical impairment but a gift from God.

So now, when I am chasing my kids around the house with my Hoover in hand trying to clean-up the spills, I promise to stop and take a breath and be thankful for my children...the angels of my life.

Fourth Anniversary

2009-10-11T18:00:00.000-07:00

On October 8th, Jeremy and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary. Every year we do the TRADITIONAL gift thing and alternate between us in choosing a gift or outing. This year was my year and the gift was supposed to be Flowers or Fruit. I wanted to do something that we don't normally have a chance to do together - just the two of us - so I made a picnic and we went to Champoeg Park. There were a few (almost unnoticeable) flowers around the park so I lucked out on that one. But in the packed picnic bag I had packed some fruit for dessert...a favorite of mine. Jeremy is much more a COOKIE kind-of-guy so I baked his favorite Chocolate-Chip cookies. All in all, we ate more than we walked around the park, but it was a beautiful time. With two kids that keep us busy we hardly ever get a chance to just be with each other in the quietness of the outdoors. I love you Jeremy and here's to another wonderful 4 years!

Pumpkin Party

2009-10-07T12:28:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the delay in posting but my daddy and step-mom are in town and we have been pretty busy this week. The kids' birthday party at the pumpkin patch went really well. Declan couldn't take his eyes off the train and Maya couldn't stop roaming around the haystack maze with her cousins. All in all it was another fun birthday party for them. It started with the invitation...

More pictures of my dad & Michelle's visit will come soon.

What Is In a Name?

2009-09-28T12:30:00.001-07:00

When my husband and I were researching names for our firstborn there were far too many names on which we did not mutually agree. The one name that I could not part with was Malakai. The name had been a long time love of mine and the death grip I had on it was too strong to break. It didn't take long to persuade my husband of less than 6 months to go along with the name after I explained the baby's nickname would be Kai. He liked "Kai" and bonded with that name for next several months.

In our 4th month, when most parents are eager to find out the sex of their baby, we decided to go against the grain and not find out what we were having. There was just something exciting about not knowing. It may have been slightly archaic but the decision to wait was one that made my adrenaline soar for the next 5 months. Was it going to be a boy or a girl? I was looking forward to holding our beautiful little Malakai in my arms. "But wait," I thought "we have not decided on a girl's name yet! We must start researching more names." We had decided that if Malakai was to be our choice of boy name, then perhaps we should find a girl's name that starts with M as well. That way we could call it Baby M until the day of it's birth. The only name we could both agree on was Maya - divine creative force in everything.

Even until the day I was induced, I was convinced the little baby I would soon be holding would be Malakai. But after 18 hours of easy labour (thanks to a good dose of epidural anesthesia) I was handed our precious little Maya and the tears started to flow. I was overwhelmed with emotion, I was overwhelmed with the sudden responsibility that laid before me, I was overwhelmed with the shock of having a princess in my arms instead of a prince! Looking back, I wouldn't have had it any other way. My princess has turned into a beautiful sculpture of God's handiwork. In her three short years, she has lived up to her name - Maya, the divine creative force in everything. She is divine: she says her prayers and sings Jesus loves me to the top of her lungs in the middle of the grocery store. She says in no uncertain tone that she wants to go to Jesus School when she gets older. Maya is creative: she can create a magical story of floating balloons and giant chocolate castles at a moment's notice. She paints, she colors, she recites word-for-word the dialogue from all of her favorite shows. Maya is the force in everything: no need for Obi-Wan Kenobi to tell this girl to "use the force" because it is always her mode of action. Her mind operates at the speed of light and her intelligence astounds even the newest of friends. She can single-handedly hold her equally weighted brother in an arm bar until he yells "Top!" (Stop!) Maya is not only the most beautiful girl in my life, but the most perfectly swaddled divine force I could ever have been handed.

Day of Birth: September 29, 2006

First Birthday

Second Birthday

Third Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY SWEET, SWEET ANGEL!

Are you wondering why we did not choose "Malakai" as our son's name? It was simple...we just knew that God had only leased that name to us for a little while. The story of the pursuit to find Declan's name will come on his birthday. For now - we are celebrating three precious years with our loving daughter.

Weekend Work

2009-09-21T10:00:00.000-07:00

Take a glimpse into our lives...

Leveling the backyard with our helpers and our prehistoric blade leveler! Jeremy has worked HARD on this project and we are close to getting the grass seed planted.

Installing blinds in our stairwell....a task that only Jeremy was brave enough to tackle!

Modeling while watching daddy risks his life hovering over the stairwell!

All in a weekend's work!

Hairstyles and Pounding Hearts

2009-09-17T13:14:00.000-07:00

Okay, so when I get something in my head, I just have to go out and do it! I saw a beautiful lady singing at church and I just had to have her hair-cut! It is not much different from my own but her bangs looked so cute on her. I bit the bullet and went to the salon to get mine done.

Declan's grandmother usually cuts his hair but some major action needed to be taken before she returned from vacation. Thankfully Jeremy has picked-up a few tips from his mother and was able to cut Declan's hair over the weekend. Now he is our little Marine!

BEFORE

AFTER

On Saturday night we took the kids to Safari Sams with some friends of ours Sarah, Tony and their daughter Kestyn. It was a night I will never forget. The indoor play center has great security and no child can get out unless they are with a parent. We all get stamped on the way in so our numbers match our child's number. Pretty clever if you ask me! We have been to Safari Sams before but this night was especially heart wrenching for me. My beautiful 35 month old BABY girl took off into the climbing structure without mommy or daddy. When we had been there before, Jeremy and I would alternate and climb the structure with her, but this time she wanted to do it on her own. My heart pounded as she got further and further out of my sight. A little piece of me was finding it very hard to let her go and have fun. A little piece of me was shouting inside "Maya come back, you can't do it alone!" But I stopped, took a deep breath and let her go. I knew she would be safe. I knew she couldn't get out of the building without mommy or daddy, but it was just so hard to accept that she is becoming a big girl now. A girl who can scale the side of our kitchen island without the help of a chair. A girl who says her boyfriend is Troy Bolton (from HSM) and who wants to go to the Jonas Brothers' school. Somewhere along the line I blinked and this little girl grew-up without me knowing! Have you ever heard a 35 month old hip-hop dancing and rapping the words "Freaky Freaky Freaky Fresh....WORD!" ? That's our girl. A real gangsta (haha)!

The two dads chillin' while the babies (Declan and Kestyn) play in the toddler zone.

In Support Of Our Family

2009-09-08T15:32:00.000-07:00

In support of my hubby who is an alumni of OSU, the kids and I performed a cheer-leading routine for the first OSU game of the season on Saturday. We were thrilled that the Beavers won but it was doubly sad for the UofO Ducks who lost their game against Boise and had to say farewell to their running back LeGarrette Blount after he threw a punch at an opponent. But again, we say YAY FOR THE BEAVERS!!!!

Today we said goodbye to a dear friend. This morning Jeremy attended the funeral of a well-loved man, the grand-father of our nephews and the father of our brother-in-law Tony. He was a very caring and loving man who always complimented our family, gave us hugs and blessed us with his smiles. We love you Tony senior. May your family continue to feel your love everyday of their lives.

Forsyth, "Tony," Bacon
Publisher of The Daily Insider - Vancouver, Washington.
March 31, 1929 ~ September 2, 2009

Chugging Along - Toddler Style

2009-09-03T14:39:00.001-07:00

Declan said his own name while we were driving in the car this week. Sure, it was just his nickname but it was none-the-less a milestone moment for mommy to enjoy. Decky is learning new words everyday now but his cute rendition of Maya's name ~ "My-Me" ~ makes him still seem so young. He turned 22 months today, but last night he turned and bit daddy on the chest...a term of endearment that Jeremy was not too excited to experience. Each day that passes his feet grow bigger and bigger. I am now in search of a size 9 tennis shoe for our little Big-Foot. His smile envelopes so much of his personality and his giggles are straight from his heart. Everything is a train to Declan. He pushes two toys together, or two grapes tomatoes (he is non-judgemental), and "CHOO CHOOs" along. Some days I fear his sister will eat said tomatoes and cause a major train-wreck, but what would a day in our lives be like without a little friction?

On Saturday Maya turned 35 months. She is a very inquisitive and smart little girl. "What does that sign say mommy?" she asked as she pointed to the Golden Arches (McDonald's) on the side of the road. "That is McDonald's sweetie." I replied trying not to interest her into going there. "No, that's not right mommy! That says 'Come-in! The watermelons are in the back of the store!'" Who was I to argue with a little girl who was so excited about fruit? If McDonald's served more of this sort of food, perhaps I would have turned the car around right then and there to relieve my daughter's craving. But alas we drove on....on to the store where she just had to have all of the school supplies in sight. She insisted that she needed all of that stuff for school. In the back of my mind I was praying that she would be just as excited about school when she was a Senior in high school as she was that day in the store.

My babies are now toddlers and I often find myself grasping for air at the very thought of buying them bigger clothes or planning their next birthday party. That said, I am one step closer to finalizing our plans for their joint party. The invitations are complete and will be sent in the mail next week.

Post-Op

2009-08-28T08:05:00.000-07:00

Surgery went great. Didn't even realize I had been put to sleep.

So now, between wakefulness and sleep, I have decided to highlight the things that has helped me through my recovery so far...

1. My beautiful husband who took time off work to take me to and from my appointment. He has been watching over the kids and treats me like his princess. He even made me a blueberry & yogurt milkshake for breakfast this morning. This wonderful man is my sweet angel and I am so thankful to have him.

2. Flowers: I arrived home and just minutes later I received flowers from my surgeon. Then I receive a call from him later in the day to see how I was doing. What a caring doctor!

3. Muscle Milk: This is the best way to get protein when all you can eat is soup and yogurt. We got a carton of it from Costco last week.

4. Drugs: anti-inflamatories, anti-nausea, antibiotics, and pain-killers. All VERY GOOD!

And the thing that got me through the rest of the day....

5. Prayers from my children: On my way to surgery Jeremy told Maya that she needs to keep me in her prayers and right then and there she prayed a prayer for my quick recovery. Because Declan can't talk much, this is what his prayer sounded like....

"Da Goh, mmaaham ducklukah, Amen!"

I have been blessed. Now it's off to bed again.

From One Thing To The Next

2009-08-25T08:42:00.000-07:00

In our family, we never stop. Jeremy was off work on Friday so we decided to go for a hike at Silver Falls. We bought a new backpack for the kids because they have both outgrown our old one. We packed the backpacks full of water-bottles, extra diapers and wipes, and a picnic lunch. Jeremy carried Declan on his back on our way downhill while Maya walked on the trails beside me. We stopped to have our lunch and then we made our way back uphill - both of us carrying the kids in the backpacks. I am not sure if it is that I am totally out of shape or that Declan is just super heavy but I was dying when we got halfway up the hill. It was a fun hike but I was thrilled to see the end of the trail. Thankfully, I wasn't sore the next day!

(Stopping for a 60 second rest halfway up the trail)

On Saturday we took the kids to the local pool to get them used to the water again. We took them swimming a lot last year but when we stopped, their eagerness to get wet came to a screeching halt. This summer has been a constant battle between parent and child because all we wanted was for them to cool down in their kiddie pool or sprinkler and neither of them would go near the water. So we are making it our ambition to get Maya and Declan used to the water again. We discovered while we were swimming on Saturday that Declan is a FISH! He went down the kiddie slide by himself and even went about a foot underwater before Jeremy had rescued him. He loved the rush and immediately wanted to go down the slide again. Maya on the other hand was a little too protective of her space. She stayed on the 3-foot-wide ledge moving her arms around as she pretended she was swimming. At one point she lost her footing and fell underwater. I pulled her above water and knew she would be alright but you could hear from her gasps and cries that it was as if the world was about to end at that very moment. She was scared for a few minutes but when it came time to leave, she wanted to stay longer. Children will always keep you guessing!

Last week we witnessed Maya doing some tricks on the rings on the play structure at her grandparents house so we have decided to put her in gymnastics this year. She has to be 3 yrs old to start so we are going to wait until October to enroll her in the 3 week program. She is so excited, especially now that she has a new gymnastics suit (thanks to grandma). I know Maya will do really well because she has the body of a gymnast. I like to call her our little Shawn Johnson....no pressure though:)

Like most mothers, I am struggling with which stage of toddler hood to tackle next. I really wanted to wait until after our vacation to take Declan's sleep-time Binky away but after trying a couple of times, I have decided to give it some more time. I was hoping to wait until after his second birthday to start potty training him but I have already found him taking his diaper off (TWICE) and peeing on the carpet. This to me is unacceptable. Maya was almost entirely potty-trained by the time she was Declan's age, so maybe it is time that I just bite the bullet and try to work on Declan's training. It just seems a little scary and foreign training a boy. Where do you start? Sitting him down doesn't work - we've tried that. Should I try having him stand? There is just so much to think about. The technique is certainly not the same as training a girl.

Maya still wears a pull-up when she sleeps so if we train Declan now, we could end up dealing with their sleep time training at the same time, and do we want that? It would be double-duty potty training.

All of this will have to be put on hold for a little while because I am due to have oral surgery on Thursday. I have the wonderful opportunity to get 2 wisdom teeth and a molar extracted. (Sense the sarcasm?) My wonderful, gracious, and loving husband will be taking Thursday and Friday off to help take care of the kids while I recover over the weekend. I have had oral surgery before and I know the pain that comes along with it so I am hoping to be back to normal by Monday. I'm sure the drugs will help too.

So if you don't hear from me until next week, you know where I am.

Professional Family Pictures

2009-08-20T12:22:00.000-07:00

Declan Curtis Williams - age 21 months

Maya Marie Williams - age 34 months

Siblings

Mom/Nanny Photos

Family Photos

The Spanos Kids

Roman Evan Spanos Michael Elijah Spanos Gabrielle Emma Spanos

Canadian Vacation 2009

2009-08-17T11:30:00.000-07:00

Vacation Facts:

1. Kids learn from other kids. Declan can now turn knobs to open doors.

2. Yellow-Jackets Sting. I got my first sting on this vacation.

3. August is the hottest month of the year, and even hotter in places with 90% humidity. It was around 110 degrees the entire time we were there.

4. Food & Gas is usually more expensive in Canada. At least that is what we have found.

5. Vomit-bags are located in the pocket in front of you on the plane for a good reason. Poor Declan!

6. Green-cards must be updated before re-entry into the U.S. Thankfully I found my updated one after searching hard through my wallet. Phew!

7. Arrests happen! We saw an Arab man get strip-searched and arrested at the border in Detroit. The next day, a man at Wal-mart was hand-cuffed and placed in a police van just a few feet in front of us.

Here are some random photos from the first few days of our vacation in Ontario, Canada...

I hadn't seen my uncle Albert in about 11 years. He reminds me so much of my dad. I am so glad we got to see him at his campsite outside London.

This is Storybook Gardens in London, Ontario. We met up with a childhood friend of mine (Deana) while we were there too (bottom left picture).

It had been about 5 years since I had seen my step-sister Danielle. It was so great that she was able to spend a few days with us while we were there.

And this is Sarnia...my place of birth. I hadn't been there in about 28 years. This is the apartment that we lived in when I was first born...

This is the hospital where I was born. It has sinced changed names...

We were invited to my brother-in-law's parents' house for a GREEK BBQ. It was fun to experience more of the Greek culture and language.

Our next big road-trip was to Niagara Falls which was about 4 hours from my sister's house. We stayed there overnight at a College dorm. I think we could have stayed here for a few more days. The Falls are so breath-taking! We stayed for about 3 hours but left before the thunderstorm came.

Jeremy and I really wanted to capture the Falls at night so after we got the kids to bed, we went down for an extra couple of hours. It was MAGNIFICENT and much cooler than it had been in the daytime (although it was still around 80 degrees).

The next day we headed to Marineland which was in the city of Niagara Falls. It was a fun theme park with lots of rides and marine shows. We had lots of fun but Jeremy was the most adventurous one of us all. He got on what is known to be the world's longest steel roller coaster and the world's tallest 3-towered sky-drop. It was exciting to see him have fun on all the rides the rest of us were too scared to go on.

We also got professional family photos done but I will save those for my next blog.

Taking a Hiatus

2009-07-30T09:25:00.000-07:00

I'm heading to the coast for a retreat this weekend and then it is off to Ontario on Tuesday. I may not have a chance to write a new post until I return from our vacation so I will leave you with some pictures of my sister's kids that we will get to see in a few days. I am so excited to cuddle them!

Roman, Gabrielle, & Michael

Gabrielle - 4 yrs old

Michael - 2 1/2 yrs old

Roman - 8 1/2 months old

WE ARE SOON TO BE CANADA BOUND!

In The News...

2009-07-28T13:31:00.001-07:00

The Oral News

I had my consult with my oral surgeon and it appears that I will have to get a general anesthetic when I have my wisdom teeth and other molar extracted. I have never been put to sleep before so the whole thing is a little scary for me but the way I look at is if I can go through childbirth, I can go through anything. My recovery time is between 3-5 days apparently so I have arranged to have Jeremy take a couple of days off work to help me recuperate and take care of the kids. My surgery will be happening the morning of August 27th... just 2 weeks after our vacation.

The DC News
Declan Curtis went in to get his 18 month check-up today, even though he is turning 21 months next week. He was given the last of his baby shots so I guess this officially makes him a toddler (wink). The next shots will happen when he enrolls in kindergarten. Apparently we give him more milk than he needs to drink. He gets between 24 - 30 ozs of milk/day but the doc said that at his age and weight he only needs about 15-20 ozs. I guess we'll be giving him more water to drink....thus saving on our grocery bill. All in all, Declan received a good bill of health today and he is growing nicely, of course.

Height: 34" (74%)

Weight: 27 1/2 lbs (55%)

The International News

We leave a week from today to go to visit my sister and mother in Ontario, Canada. Both Jeremy and I have had a busy summer so it will be nice to spend 2 weeks together. The kids are getting excited to see my sister's 3 kids and we are prepping them for the flight by reading books about airplanes. Maya insists that I ask the pirate to let her drive the plane. This will be the first time since Maya was 8 months old that we have travelled by plane and it will be a long haul to Ontario with a stopover in Houston (of all places). I am not sure how seating will work because we did not buy a seat for Declan to sit in. Hopefully they do well and possibly fall asleep for part of the ride.

A Maya Moment

2009-07-26T15:20:00.000-07:00

After waking from her afternoon nap yesterday...

Maya: Mommy, I'm from Afritca!

Me: Really? What is it like in Africa?

Maya: It's cold! Burrr!

Me: Maya, I don't think you are from Africa.

Maya: No, Maya's from Newberg.

She has been learning a lot from her favorite TV Shows and everyday I hear her saying new words. One day I asked her what she wanted for dinner and this was her response:

"I want tacos, lettuce, cheese, salsa and frijoles." (Which I later learned was spanish for beans.)

Today I was trying to give her a play by play of what is going to be happening tomorrow when I am at my oral surgeon appointment....

Me: Sarah will be coming over to take care of you and Declan while mommy is at the dentist

Maya: I can go with you mommy!

Me: No you will have to stay here and help Sarah take care of your brother.

Maya: It's okay mommy. I can go with you. I can hold your hand. I give you water. You'll be okay!"

My sweet sweet girl!

Resurrecting the Pen

2009-07-23T08:35:00.000-07:00

The crib is sold, the playpen is packed away and Declan is now sleeping on his full sized mattress on his bedroom floor. He has been doing really well at bedtime and we have only had to check on him a few times this week. After he falls asleep, he stays in his bed and in the morning he sits on his bed and calls out for us to come get him. He has been a lot easier than Maya to transition so far. We are pretty thankful for that.

Last night while Jeremy was working late at the office and I had just put the kids to bed, I sat outside their rooms to wait until they settled down for the night. As I sat there, I began to write. I used to write a lot of poetry when I was in high school and college, but life started getting in the way after I became a wife and then a mother. It was nice to finally touch pen to paper again. And this time the loves of my life became my inspiration:

Sweetness of Motherhood

I breathe the escape
from which expectations follow

I rest in the folds
of the flowers that color my love

A mother with a spirit
that grasps for the heavens

A beating heart without noise

I hug the air that lies beneath their heads

And I wait for morning.

Painting in the Sun

2009-07-21T14:25:00.000-07:00

I am carless this week so my friend Sarah decided to stop by today to keep us company for a while. I thought it would be fun to let the kids paint pictures outside in the yard. They did really well until Declan started painting the concrete and Maya started to make paint soup. I was afraid they would start adding some color to the siding on our house so we called it quits after about a 20 minute art class. It was Kestyn's first time painting so I let her take her brilliant piece of work home with her.

Back to the car...

It received a new fuel filter and the oil was changed and it seemed to run fine. On my way to drop off some movies last night, it died again in a major intersection. Jeremy picked me up and we managed to get it into a parking lot where it slept over night. Jeremy went to check on it this morning and it started running so we drove it up to his parents' house where he plans to work on it himself this weekend. Hopefully it can be fixed or else we may have to say Bubye to Madame Blueberry.

Thank You and No Thank Yous

2009-07-20T13:47:00.000-07:00

THANK YOU

It has been really hot here the past week or so and the kids and I have had lots of fun playing outside. We have gone to two playdates this week and I managed to capture some moments of water fun at my friend Heidi's house. Thank you Heidi for a wonderful play time and for putting up with the whining from both of my kiddos:) I will blame it on the heat.

Jeremy and his dad have been planning for about a month or so now to take his dad's boat out on the water. The motor boat has been in hibernation for about 15 years or so and they wanted to see if it still ran okay. Well, on our way home from Heidi's house on Friday, I had to stop at my in-law's house to pick-up our carseat that was left there. That's when I heard the news that Madame Blueberry (our car) had died while Jeremy was on his way to his parents' house. He had to have it towed back to our mechanic in Newberg and that is where I had to pick up my husband. My mother-in-law suggested that I leave the kids with her while I drove 15 minutes to get him and then Jeremy, his dad and I could go on the boat together while she watched the kids. FOR REAL?! I thought I was going to spontaneously combust because I hardly ever get a chance to have fun like that. The last time I was boating was about 7 years ago. I took her up on her offer and for about 2 hours I almost forgot I was a mother;) Thank you Nancy for allowing me to have a wonderful afternoon with my dear husband and father-in-law!

Even my father-in-law wanted to be towed on the raft.

NO THANK YOU

We were expecting a call from the mechanic while we were out boating but nothing...not even a voicemail. So we were a little caught off guard when we also realized that they are not open on the weekend. We had to go the entire weekend not knowing what was happening with our car. Not to mention that Jeremy had left his eye-glasses in the glove-box. It is 2:10pm on Monday afternoon and we have not heard if the car is ready to leave yet but when Jeremy dropped over there this morning to get his glasses, the mechanic said that it looks like it could be an inexpensive job. We are hoping he is right because our 1992 Honda Civic is almost on her last breath and to pump a few hundred dollars into her is not even an option. NO THANK YOU! We may have Madame Blueberry back by the end of the day but at this point, who knows?

I had to go to the dentist today for X-rays and a cleaning and by the end of it, I almost wanted to say NO THANK YOU to the doc! A simple visit turned into 2 hours when the doctor realized that I needed an extensive cleaning of the gums too. And to top it off, I have to have my wisdom teeth removed AND a tooth that was just filled less than 2 years ago. I already had 2 molars pulled a few years ago so at this rate I may need to get dentures...haha. Hopefully our insurance will cover most, if not all, of the extractions. I am really not looking forward to this experience though.

A Dental Report

2009-07-13T12:13:00.000-07:00

It was an emotional day for me. I came to the realization that my baby girl is not really a baby anymore. Today she had her first visit to the dentist. I have been preparing her for a couple of weeks for this big day and she was pretty excited about it until this morning when we were heading out the door. She seemed a little unsure about what was to come so she asked if she could bring her blankie. Knowing how frightening new experiences like this can be for a child, I agreed.

Before the doctor came in the room, Maya got a little more nervous so she asked if Declan could sit with her in the chair. So I let him sit there until the doc arrived.

She was pretty reluctant to keep the sunglasses on her face but she did really well after we told her that she looked like a movie star with a spotlight on her. She even tried singing Twinkle Twinkle for the dental hygienist.

She was even allowed to wear the ring that held the bubble-gum flavored tooth cleaner.

She had a great report. The dentist said that the space between her teeth was exactly what they like to see because it allows room for the bigger teeth to grow in later. Her bight is perfect and she has no stains on her teeth. She did really well and I don't think I could have been more proud of my little girl today?

Call The Police!

2009-07-10T19:14:00.000-07:00

Have you ever felt as though someone is watching every step you make? That you are trying to live up to the expectations of so many other people? People who are obviously out to get you?

Today we received a violation letter in the mail from our HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION. Attached to this letter was a picture of our house. Can you tell what we were in violation of??

Okay, well maybe it is a little obvious from the picture but to us it was just hilarious! The letter stated:

This condition is not in compliance with the CC& R 4.12 Rubbish and Trash.

So now we have a CONDITION on our hands?? Apparently we only have 12 hours from the time of pick up to put our trash cans away. The garbage man comes at about 7am so we only have until 7pm to get the cans put back? What if we were on a weekend getaway or something? Do we get fined?

Upon further investigation on my part, the Northwest Community Management Co. states in a subsection of their FAQs:

4. What are violations?
Violations are essentially non-compliance with the governing documents. They might include architectural violations like having a basketball hoop affixed over the garage or painting your house electric blue with magenta trim. Or, they could be violations like leaving your trash can out, parking vehicles in unapproved places, or leaving your holiday decorations up too long. Your documents will detail what you may or may not do with regard to each of these situations, as well as many others. And in the case of any changes to your home (like the paint example), you must have prior approval before beginning any work; otherwise, the association may require that you reverse the change at your own expense.

Northwest Community Management will send you a friendly reminder about any violations they note when observing your neighborhood periodically and give instructions for when it must be corrected. If the violation continues, a penalty process may begin, so it's important to address the situation promptly.

So does this mean that the lady up the street who leaves a blue light glowing in her window long after Christmas is in VIOLATION as well?

What makes this situation even funnier is that the letter was dated on July 9th and we had already taken in our can the day before this. We were only in violation for 2 days.

MOTHER Time

2009-07-09T13:06:00.000-07:00

It's a compulsion of mine. A disease really. I am always early for things. When I was a child, I would come home from school on a Friday afternoon and the first thing I would do was my homework. I wanted to make sure I had enough time to do it so I started early. I am not quite sure who infected me with this disease, but I am pretty certain that it has overtaken my life. When the kids and I are expected to meet friends for a play date at the park, I am always 10 minutes early and the other moms are always 10 minutes late. This means I have to explain to my kids at least 20 times that the other kids will soon be arriving. I am not frustrated that others are late (well maybe sometimes I am) but I am a little irritated that I am always early. Being EARLY or having projects prepared far in advance simply means that I have a lapse of time when NOTHING is really going on. It is dead air. Wasted time. To some this may not sound like a disease but rather appropriate time management. To me, it just makes me irritated because I almost expect the same of other people. Where is the balance in all of this.

I have cookies in my fridge waiting to be cut and packaged for our bake sale on Saturday but I think I will make them wait a little longer....at least until after my meeting tonight. A meeting that I am - YES - already prepared for.

Hectic Schedules Lead to Smiles

2009-07-08T09:21:00.000-07:00

When things get a little stressed out in our house, the kids always bring a smile to my face. It seems like we have been living in a whirlwind of expectations, decisions, and deadlines lately and I'm sure it has gotten the best of us as parents, but we have managed to stay positive amidst the chaos. These pictures make me laugh!

Declan sporting his BEACH BUM
tattoo while shaking his bum!

Maya sporting her new sparkly bathing suit!

Four in the Bed

2009-07-05T18:55:00.000-07:00

Do you remember the nursery rhyme that said "There were four in the bed and the little one said 'roll over'"? Well that was us this weekend. We decided to spend the evening of July 4th in Newport at my in-laws' vacation rental. Declan fell asleep early in the playpen located in Jeremy's grandmother's room so when it was time for the rest of us to go to bed, she said it was okay if we left him in there instead of moving him. Well, I couldn't sleep thinking about him being in the next room. He woke-up a few times, resulting in Jeremy's grandma also waking up, so at 2am I decided that maybe it would be better to bring Declan in the bed with us....making it 4 in our bed (including Maya). And to top it off - it was a sofa sleeper...haha. Needless to say, Maya and Declan ruled the roost. Jeremy slept with one arm on the bed and one arm off. I slept on my side between two very comfortable kids. So it is now 7pm on Sunday evening and after this blog is posted, I will probably head to bed.

We had a fun time in Newport. We watched the fireworks from our balcony and walked in and out of stores along the strip. Maya and Declan were super cute sporting their patriotic attire and Jeremy and I had a great time with his parents and grandmother. We even had time to go swimming in the pool. On our way home, we stopped in Dallas to meet up with Jeremy's sister who is visiting from Indiana. Maya and Declan love spending time with her three kids.

Here are some fun pictures of our Independence Day weekend...

Trying Hard to RAISE ANGELS

2009-07-02T12:29:00.000-07:00

I was on my way upstairs after making lunch for the kids when I noticed a strong cologne-like scent hovering in the air. As I turned the corner, I could see the kids at the top of the stairs looking like this...

When I asked Maya what had happened, she said "Daddy's hair projects!" And indeed, it WAS daddy's hair proDUCTS! I had used the Redkin paste to spike Declan's hair the night before but accidentally left it on the ledge upstairs. I should have known better because there is absolutely nothing that can stay on that ledge for very long before the kids get their hands on it.

I have been trying to teach Maya that boys can take their shirts off but girls must always keep their shirts on to hide their boobies. So I was pleasantly surprised when she decided to cover herself while she was watching TV a few days ago....

I was reading the Cinderella storybook to Maya before nap time one afternoon and when we got to the page where the fairy godmother turns the pumpkin into a golden coach, Maya very seriously exclaimed "Cinderella needs close door quick! She let the bugs in!" I am happy to see that some of what I drill into my kids' heads is actually getting through to them. I am also a little happy to see that they are almost as ickified as much as I am about bugs. (And YES I just made that word up. Feel free to spread it like wildfire:)

Declan can find his belly button now. It is quite common for him to lift up my shirt (even in public) to find MY belly button too. He calls it a Bebe. He is starting to form more words now. It still sounds a little slurred at times but we get the gist of what he is trying to say. He is very much a follower. Everything big sister does, he does seconds later. Sometimes I joke and say it is like having twins in our house. When Declan gets bored or sad about something, he slugs his shoulders and pouts off. When he gets angry, he has been known to hit his head against a wall or slam a football helmet over his sister's head. He started jumping up and down in his crib a few months ago, so after my mom left we decided to dismantel the crib and try him in his big boy bed. He slept in it for about 6 hours before falling out. He is now in his play pen until we have enough energy to devote to this major sleeping transition in his life.

Maya is still adjusting to her new FREEDOM. Now that there is no plastic knob on the inside of her door, she thinks she can come and go as she pleases at bedtime. Things seem to have gotten a little better since my mom has left and there are no big distractions. You see, this sweet little girl is the biggest socialite I have ever met. She needs to be with people all the time. If someone comes to the door, she has to be the first to see who it is. If we are at the park, it doesn't take her more than a minute to make friends. She is, at least right now, a leader.

Declan is our little politician. Whenever we stroll through a store, he says hi to EVERYONE! Sometimes he even blows kisses. I am just waiting for the day when he starts handing out his business cards.

So that is a brief summation of the stage the Williams' kids are at in life. For the most part, they are in the TERRIBLE TWOS - testing mommy and daddy. But there are wonderful moments of fun and laughter too. My mom once told me that I will probably never remember the rough times as a mom - just the good ones. And the good ones are the moments that I will cherish forever.

Speaking of my mom, we had a wonderful visit with her. Here are some fun photos from her 2 week visit in Oregon...

Just 3 More Sleeps!

2009-06-09T12:49:00.000-07:00

Today my mother landed in Ontario to begin her new life near my sister's family. There are three reasons why I am so excited about this:

1. She will get to see her grandson, Roman, for the first time. He is just 7 months old. She will also get to see her 2 other grandchildren Gabrielle (4) and Michael (2) for the first time in over a year.

2. Now that she is in Ontario I know that she is only 3 sleeps away from her visit to Oregon. And again, this will be the first time she gets to meet her grandson Declan (19 months) and see her grand daughter Maya since she was just 6 weeks old.

3. This move means both my mom and my sister will be living closer to me. Sure Ontario is not just around the corner but it is still MUCH closer than Newfoundland!

Some people have asked me "How do you handle not seeing your mother or sister in 2 1/2 years?" Well, the answer to that question is simply this, I have a wonderful family of my own who keeps my mind busy. I also talk on the phone to my family in Canada several times a week so that makes it easier to keep in touch. My blog is also another great source of information and helps to keep my family up to date on our day-to-day experiences here in Oregon. But that said, it is never easy being so far from home.

Some days I just want to drop by my sister's house to let the kids play together.

Some days I just want to call my mom to go shopping with me.

Some days I just want to get a coffee at Tim Horton's with my father.

These days are not so easy for me. The days when I am reminded that I will probably never live near all of my family members again. As adults we grow-up, move away from home, and try to make the most of the lives we have been blessed with. As teenagers we dream, along with our siblings, to always stay close and one day let our kids grow-up together. As children we fight, argue and moan about never having our alone time. I am now 31 years old, but sometimes I still feel like that teenager wishing to be closer to her sister, niece and nephews. As I have heard so many times before, friends come and go but family is forever. I know that nothing will ever change that for me. Not even distance. My family is and will always be my support and the ones I can count on for everything in life.

So now you can imagine how excited I am to have my mommy come visit us here in Oregon. This is where I have started my new life and where my children are growing-up. I want her to see Oregon in all it's beauty. From the mountains to the beaches and the vineyards in between. Oregon is breath-taking and to now share that with my mother will be the best experience of all. Just 3 more sleeps Mom (Nanny)!!!

One Project At A Time

2009-06-03T12:53:00.000-07:00

When we moved into our house in April 2008, we decided that we would make our upstairs bonus room into our family room where we could all sit, play and watch TV. So we bought a new sleeper sofa in hopes that it could be used when guests came to visit. It turned out that neither the sofa nor the mattress were very comfortable. We decided to sell our couch and put that money towards a big screen TV for our living room on the main floor. This new TV meant a whole new design concept. We reconfigured our living room to fit the 50" plasma and in turn transformed our bonus (family) room into a play room for the kids. This is what our bonus room looked like when we first moved in...

And this is what it looks like now...

A dress-up center, toy cubbies, and a soccer ball bean bag chair

Paintings that my talented kids created for their very own play room

Family pictures frame the door to the bathroom

A wall of memories

The futon cover is actually my duvet cover that I had when I was in college. After describing my ideal window coverings, Jeremy bought these sheer curtains which seem to brighten-up the room.

Thanks to my friend Heidi who is a Stampin'-up Demonstrator, I will also be adding some white vinyl numbers to the wall above the dress-up center. They should arrive before my mom comes next week so it will be fun to get the room COMPLETELY done by then.

The installation of our surround sound system in our living room should be completed this weekend as well. We have been very busy these last few weeks with remodeling projects. We installed 3 new light fixtures on the main floor of our house and also a new kitchen faucet. There are a lot of other projects that we hope to get done but our next big one will be our backyard. We are planning to build a deck and extend the roof to cover the deck. Considering how busy we will be this summer with family visits, this project will probably be postponed until next summer.

My Angels

2009-05-29T12:39:00.000-07:00

(Note: The first few pictures were taken with my cell phone)

It is incredible to me how BIG Declan's feet are. I just had to buy new tennis shoes for him and I thought they would fit him for a long time but it turns out they are a perfect fit right now and he could grow out of them within the next couple of months. Is it normal that an 18 month old is wearing size 8T shoes?

It seems as though Maya is growing into a little girl. I do not want to jump the gun, but it seems as though she has been doing better with bedtime over the last couple of nights. It could have something to do with Jeremy laying down and singing to her for about an hour while she falls asleep, but it works and she loves sharing that time with him. Nap time is not so difficult anymore either. She usually tries to get out of her room once (or twice) but I immediately put a stop to it and she is back in her bed sleeping within 15 minutes of putting her to bed. Yesterday, after vacuuming, I took a rest and sat down to watch a movie with the kids. Maya cuddled into me and said "I love you mommy!" There was no coercing or fishing for her to say it. And of course it brought tears to my eyes.

On Thursday I bought a bean-bag chair off craigslist for the kids and Maya absolutely loves it. She gets so close to dozing off in it.

Declan is saying more words now. He can say "Mama" (which is what he calls Maya), "er go" (here you go), "Tank Oo" (Thank you), "EE EEE EEE" (Monkey sounds), and more that I cannot remember right now. It seems as though he is going to be a big boy. I added his growth information on an online chart and it estimated his height at 16 yrs of age to be 6 ft. 2" tall. FOR REAL? Maybe he will be the first basketball player in our family.

The kids love dipping their feet in the pool. It was so hot out this week that we would often have to drain some of the warm water to make room for colder water. Maya loved "painting" my toes with a turkey baster and a colander. She has quite the imagination and strength as you can see below! She is not afraid of anything, or so it seems right now!

Tonight is our MOMS NIGHT OUT for our Mothers of Preschoolers group. It should be lots of fun just relaxing with some friends and playing some new board games. I am a sucker for any kind of game. Perhaps that is why I am looking forward to my mom's visit so much - because she is a game-a-holic like me. She's the one who got me hooked. We would play Trivial Pursuit 2-3 times a week and it didn't take long before we had memorized all of the answers. That was the older edition though...not the new 80's edition Jeremy and I have today. In any case, I am really looking forward to our MOMS NIGHT OUT tonight.

I want to do something really fun and interesting. I am going to TAG 5 of my blog readers and ask them to respond to this question with a photo and a little story about that photo. What were you doing 2 years ago to this very day? If you can't remember, try looking through your old calendar, blackberry, or pictures. If you still can't remember, tell us a story about what you were doing around this same time 2 years ago. Add it to your blog so all of us can see your answer and then TAG 5 more people to keep the ball rolling.

I Tag:

Heidi Boos

Sarah Ondracek
Yvonne McClees
Kim Caldwell
Karri Presley

I don't remember what we were doing this exact day two years ago but on May 22nd my in-laws gave me 2 tickets to the GREASE Reunion show for my birthday so Jeremy and I went to see it in Portland. We dined at the Portland City Grill and walked a few blocks to the World Trade Center Theater. It was a great night! Everyone in the audience had to pretend to be a certain person from Rydell High so they gave me a name tag with the name Martha on it and the guy who played the character of Eugene wanted to take his picture with me. Patti Simcox called me on stage to be a cheerleader with her - reving up the audience before the big show. I was about 3 months pregnant with Declan at the time but we had LOTS of fun. I have always loved the theater so this was right up my alley. It was a little more uncomfortable for Jeremy I think, but he managed to do well. He does not like being part of the show, just an innocent bystander. The very next day, my wonderful husband surprised me by taking me to the Salishan Hotel and Spa. Up until this point, we had never left Maya to stay with anyone over night so being the over protective mother that I was, we took her with us. It turned out okay, but looking back on it now, it would have been nice to relax too. Both Jeremy and I got great massages and spent some time in the pool and spa. Maya tagged along wherever we went and also had a great time in the hotel room. Can you believe that I was 3 months pregnant when our little girl was this young? Looking at these pictures reminds me how quickly she had to grow-up because there was another little baby forcing his way into our lives. And by FORCING, I mean tugging at our heart strings;) I love my family so much and I am so thankful for all of the wonderful things they have done for me and for making me the happiest mommy and wife in the whole world!

Question & Parenting

2009-05-27T12:34:00.000-07:00

Thanks Heidi for asking me another question. Answering questions really reminds me that so much has happened in the last few years. It is easy to lose a little bit of yourself when you become a mom but I will try to answer as best as I can:

Q: What would be the perfect way to spend a day all by yourself?

A: It is funny that you ask this question because my dear sweet husband has been after me to take a PERSONAL day since Mother's Day (when I didn't really have the opportunity to relax). He wanted me to take it on my birthday (May 18th) but I wanted to take the family to the beach instead. It seems like anytime our family is able to spend the day together I just want to take advantage of it. Now, if I were given an entire day to myself I think I would try and relax at a day spa (like the SALISHAN) but again, it would be much more fun to spend a day like that with a friend or my husband. Hmmm...I suppose a day to myself would actually look more like this:

Sleep in until at least 9am
Drink a cup of French Vanilla Coffee (something I rarely get a chance to drink at home)
Work-out at the gym for 2 hours straight without feeling guilty for being away from my family
Start working on a canvas painting

(An ink drawing I did a few years ago based on the creation of man)

Drive to a lake and go kayaking

(Whidbey Island 2005 - my first time kayaking)

Eat at a nice restaurant and try not to care that I am alone
See a Broadway show
And return home relaxed and rejuvenated

Or maybe I would just hang out with some of my close friends...

The rest of this blog is not exactly about ME but about parenting. Lately we have had some issues with keeping Maya in bed or for that matter, in her bedroom. When we were transitioning her from a crib to a bed, she would often open her door and not want to sleep. We remedied that problem by installing a plastic safety knob on the inside of her door. Over the course of the last few months, she has managed to remove this knob several times. Miss Houdini has somehow managed to engineer her way through all parental attempts to crazy glue, rope, and duct-tape this safety knob. So my motherly instinct kicked-in about two weeks ago and we have been operating under the assumption that if we keep locking her in her room, she could get scarred for life. This may be a long-shot but I just don't want my baby to feel like we don't want her around. In any case, this past week has been extremely hard on us because she just refuses to stay in her room. Opening the door nine or ten times at night has become somewhat of a game for her now. As parents, we feel we are at our wits end. We don't want to get angry with her but our lack of sleep has almost forced us off the deep end. The night before last, I got less than 2 hours of sleep. And for anyone who knows me well, you know that I cannot function without my sleep. So how do we solve this dilemma? Maya needs to be free to get up in the middle of the night to go potty, so how do we cope with new this transition in a loving way. Is there a way of parenting without the parents losing focus on each other? Is it time to call Diane Moore?

A Relaxing Weekend Without the Relaxing

2009-05-25T12:44:00.000-07:00

Even when we decide to stay home and lay low on a holiday weekend, we tend to get antsy and have to stay active. On Friday night, we wore the kids out before bedtime by bringing them to the play structure at McDonalds. They LOVED it! Then Saturday rolled around and we just had to do something with the kids to get them out of the house so we decided to take them to the Rose Festival in Portland. Maya enjoyed the rides and Declan really enjoyed the corn-dogs:)...

Here is Maya looking like a pro on a motorcycle.

Here is Maya unbuckling her belt while the ride was still going and the attendant stopping the
ride to buckle her in again...

Here is Declan chillin' in the stroller while his sister had all the fun...

There was a cute little Toddler Center set up for the kids to run around and play

More rides and Maya winning a her first toy at a carnival game

They played so hard that it became nap-time on the way home!

On Sunday we were invited to go sailing on our brother-in-law's boat. It was so much fun. This was the first time I have been sailing since I was pregnant with Maya. The kids really enjoyed it!

So the moral of the story is, when you plan to relax on a weekend that is when you are the busiest, so just plan to just have fun.

Now, Sarah was the only one who threw a question at me on my last blog so I will end this post by answering her question....

Q: What is your five year plan?

A: In five years, Maya will be turning 8 and Declan will be turning 7 so with them both being in school, I see myself working during the days and playing with them in the evenings. Over the course of these next 3 years, while the kids are still at home, I plan to watch them grow and learn more everyday. Hopefully we will be able to take lots of family trips and I will have the opportunity to further my education - whether it be an interior designing course, a sewing course, or basket-weaving....(haha). I am looking forward to each new day that awaits us as a family.

New Faces, New Friendships

2009-05-22T12:52:00.000-07:00

We had a fundraising meeting last night for our MOPS team and decided to take a picture for our Newberg MOPS blog and now I am posting it on my personal blog. Here are the team members (minus two)...

(Starting at the top left to right: Bryanna, Sarah S, Heidi, Kim, Sarah O, Angie, Tammy)

It has been fun getting to know these women better and getting involved in our community here in Newberg. I am excited to start some fundraising activities over the summer months.

My friend Heidi (pictured above) did something fun on her blog where she allowed people to ask her questions about herself. I know there are a lot of new people viewing my blog these days so I thought I would give everyone the opportunity to do the same and ask me some questions just to get to know me better. I will answer the first 6 questions that are asked in the comments section of this post.

The History of Thirty One Years

2009-05-20T13:26:00.000-07:00

I celebrated 31 years on Monday. Our DEATH BY CHOCOLATE party went well and everyone stayed until around 12am....which is way later than I usually stay up even for a Saturday. It was lots of fun though and I really didn't miss much sleep.

Here are some highlights of my birthday weekend in pictures. (Unfortunately there are no pictures of my party though.)

Have you ever googled the year you were born to see what was in the news back then? I think you will be amazed at how old I really am from some of the things that happened in 1978.

1. First test-tube baby born in Britain
2. Charon, the moon of Pluto is discovered.
3. Average Worker earns $10,500 per year
4. Bottled Water was introduced
5. Serial Killer Ted Bundy was finally captured
6. Drinking age in the USA was raised to 21 (beginning in Michigan)
7. The Average Cost of a home in the USA in 1978 was $54,800
8. The Unabomber killed his first victim, Hugh Scrutton who was killed in his computer store in Sacramento, California, by a mail package that exploded in his hands.
9. The movie Grease was shown in theaters across the country
10. The first computer bulletin board system (CBBS) was created in Chicago
11. Charlie Chaplin's remains were stolen from Cosier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland
12. U.S. President Jimmy Carter decided to postpone production of the neutron bomb - a weapon which could kill people with radiation but leave buildings relatively intact
13. The Commonwealth Games opened in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (LET ME HEAR A HOOT HOOT FROM ALL ALBERTANS!)
14. U.S. Army Sergeant Walter Robinson "walked" across the English Channel in 11 hours 30 minutes, using homemade water shoes.
15. Indira Gandhi is re-elected to the Indian parliament. (YAY FOR GIRL POWER!)

So much has happened throughout the course of my life too. Technology gets better and better everyday, new products and faster services make our lives easier, but are we losing that closeness that we once had when there were no cell phones, pagers, blackberries and notebooks? Sometimes I wish things were a little simpler, like it was back in 1978, but then I am reminded I TOO am a fast-paced girl. I hate to cook so I whip-up something quick and easy. I go to the car-wash instead of washing it myself. I write blogs instead of calling everyone I know to tell them what is happening in my life. Times have changed and I know I must face that reality. I just can't believe my kids will probably ask me someday what a record player is or how to do long division instead of using a calculator (or some other digital device). Will they ask me how we managed without hair conditioner or microwaves?

Learning From The Little People

2009-05-15T14:51:00.001-07:00

I published a blog yesterday before thinking it through. In it I rambled on about the trying day I had with the kids. Thankfully I came to my senses and deleted it just minutes after publishing it. You see, we all have our trying times. We all have moments of complete madness and stress but I did not want to portray my kids to be something worse than what they are. Kids are kids. They will do things that get to us sometimes and turn us into a monster mom, but we have to remember that they are gifts from God. They are precious beings who need our love and understanding above all chaos.

When Maya woke-up this morning, I expressed to her how sorry I was for yelling at her yesterday and giving her so many time-outs.

Me: "Maya, mommy is really sorry for getting mad yesterday. Do you forgive me?"
Maya: "It's okay mommy. I'm sorry for pushing Dequin."

In her eyes, the only thing she did wrong yesterday was push her brother. In my eyes (yesterday) she did EVERYTHING wrong. Have you ever sat back and tried to understand your toddler? Does she/he hit to get attention? Does she/he yell because you are yelling? Does she/he understand what sharing means or what dangerous means? I am trying my hardest to understand my children, to try and see the world on their level. I have realized that the last month or so has been extremely hard on me because now I have two children in the terrible two's stage. Declan is just 18 months old but he is learning all the traits of his sister. So you can imagine how tired and emotional I have been over the last month or so. Jeremy and I have decided that it is time to start educating ourselves on toddler behavior and on parenting in a loving way. Why? Because it is evident that "Eat your broccoli or you'll go to bed early" just doesn't seem to work anymore.

So I will leave you with this bit of information. Miss Maya learned how to scale the toddler gate at the top of our stairs. I suppose I should warn the nursery leaders at church that we have an expert escape artist on our hands.

(November 25, 2007 - Declan's Dedication - when the kids were still babies.)

BUSY HOME TRANSFORMER & PARTY PLANNER

2009-05-13T13:03:00.000-07:00

We were up until 1am last night installing a new chandelier in our dining room. Jeremy did most of the work while I put pictures in frames and stayed glued to our gigantic television. I was a little concerned that the TV was too big, but I think I am getting used to it now. We watched American Idol on it last night and it really felt like we were right there in the audience. I'm looking forward to many more lounging-in-front-of-the-TV nights with my hubby. The bad news is we are now spending more time downstairs near the kitchen, which means eating more. This has to STOP! I mean, do I really need to eat sorbet AND fish crackers at midnight? I don't think so!

We are having some friends over on Saturday night to celebrate my upcoming 31st birthday. ZOIKS! It seems like just yesterday I was packing my bags to leave home and move across the country (Canada) to go to university, and that was 12 years ago. Where has time gone? Anyway, I don't normally have birthday parties and I knew Jeremy is not really interested in party-planning, so I decided to invite people over myself....yep...brave huh?! Nothing like an invitation to say "LOOK AT ME I'M GETTING OLDER!" However, I clearly indicated that gifts are not to be given, instead - chocolate! It is a Death By Chocolate party and everyone has to bring their own chocolate dessert. I'm looking forward to gaining a pound or two over the weekend (not really)!

In the midst of home transformations, party planning, and publicity designing, I managed to catch a few pictures of the kids yesterday. Unfortunately they were really squirmy so it was hard to get both of them to smile at the same time, but maybe their expressions add character.
(Maya wanted to wear her Tinkerbell costume).....

Projects and Publicity

2009-05-11T12:40:00.000-07:00

Happy Belated Mother's Day to all the moms who read my blog. It seemed to be another ordinary day for me - managing two out-of-control kids and helping my dear sweet husband get some over-due projects done in our house. And we all know that Weekend Projects + Attention Seeking Kids = a VERY Messy House! I am trying not to think about it so I can relax for a few minutes of stress-free time. This, I have decided, is my Mother's Day.

One project we got done yesterday was changing the light fixture in our living room. It was really bothering us so we found a great deal on one at Costco and happened to buy two, one for our living room and one for our bedroom. Only one has been installed so far....

Living Room Fixture BEFORE

Living Room Fixture AFTER

The kids also worked on some art projects for their new play room. I would post pictures but they were shirtless and I don't want to expose my kids over the internet. My friend Sarah and I went to IKEA and picked up some super cute things to transform our family room into a play room. Again, no photos of it yet, but here is a hint.....Maya loves her new dress-up station. She is such a little fashionista. I love it!

Today was our last M.O.P.S. meeting so it is now official - I am the new Publicity Coordinator. The committee will be meeting a few times over the summer months so I will understand more of the ins and outs of the position before the fall semester begins. I will be in charge of maintaining the blog, writing/assembling the monthly newsletters and various other promotional work. Anyway, I am off to look through my stacks of promo material to prepare for a Ladies' Tea that I am expected to speak at this weekend, before I tackle my messy house that is.

Miss Maya

2009-05-06T12:37:00.000-07:00

Someone's Trash is My Treasure

2009-05-05T12:20:00.000-07:00

Yes friends, it is GARAGE SALE season! I must confess that I was not a big lover of garage sales or anything even remotely related to second-hand shopping when I was growing-up. It must have bothered my mother because all I really wanted was crisp new brand name clothes purchased only from the best stores. Well, I am an adult now and understand more clearly the value of a dollar. I can buy BRAND NAME clothes from Marshalls, TJ Maxx and Ross and not have to break the bank doing it. Last week I bought a pair of Jones New York Jeans that were originally $98 for $19 at Ross. A great deal right?! Well, nothing beats the deals I got at some garage sales this past weekend...

GUESS Jeans:

retail price $75-$135

garage sale price $3

Ann Taylor Hoodie-Top:

retail price $40 - $55

garage sale price $0.50

Disorderly Kids Coat:

retail price $25 - $45

garage sale price $0.50

Barbie "Jam With Me" Guitar/Head Set Microphone

retail price $99

garage sale $3

I bought a few other things too but I just wanted to share some of my great finds with you. Keep an eye open for an upcoming blog video of Maya jamming on her guitar.

"Hip Hop Harry" - The Declan Edition

2009-05-01T15:48:00.000-07:00

I know I just blogged earlier but I wanted to share this video of Declan Dancing. He looks like he is walking on coals when he dances....

Time to Play

2009-05-01T13:59:00.000-07:00

It is always nice when an unplanned playdate happens. It makes the day go by quicker and seems to always tire-out the kids, making nap-time so much easier. Today we went over to Sarah's house in the morning while she was taking care of Angie's daughter Alexis. All of the kids had a great time playing inside and in the backyard. We even managed to dart over to Sarah's neighbor's house to check out the loot at their garage sale. All in all, it was a fun morning and I was happy to see the sun again.

SNACK TIME...
(l-r: Kestyn, Alexis, Declan, & Maya)

Whenever I see pictures of Maya with younger kids, I am amazed at how big she is getting. She turned 31 months a couple of days ago. Where has time gone?

Kestyn wearing Declan's sailor hat. Sarah said that this was a picture to keep in the archives until their wedding....haha.

Sarah and Maya posing for the camera

And I just had to throw this next picture in. Jeremy fed the kids while I was at the gym last night and here is Declan chomping into a big piece of canteloupe. That's our Hungry Hippo!...

Remodeling with Super Heroes

2009-04-29T13:08:00.000-07:00

I don't know if it is that my kids have inherited my passion for design and remodeling or if it is just their super powers at work. Last week we found Maya's drawer to her bed broken with the face of it laying on the floor. After some analysis of their behavior, I have decided that it was our little Hercules that managed to rip the face off the drawer. Declan loves playing with Maya's socks and this was the only drawer housing her socks....ergo Hercules did it. Jeremy drilled the pieces back together once, then twice. Today I found the drawer face broken again on the floor.

Minutes later, during clean-up time, I noticed that the track for Declan's side table drawer was broken too. Yes...more evidence convicting the Deckster.

Can it be that our little boy is really a super-hero stuck in an almost 18 month old's body? It would explain why he has such a big desire to eat. He needs to replenish his body after a long day of fighting off the torturing antics of the Mighty Maya.

Mighty Maya (or self nicknamed Super Daughter) has been known to scale walls and leap from high heights (otherwise known as her headboard). She counts "One, Two, Three, Go!" and lands on the soft pillows below, just barely dodging the relaxing Hercules.

The parents of these two super heroes have therefore decided to remove said headboard from Mighty Maya's bed out of fear that someone will lose an eye, or at the very least, a tooth.

...and so the remodeling continues.

Before Dreamland

2009-04-28T20:02:00.000-07:00

After I return home from the gym at night, I have just enough time to eat dinner while the kids finish their bath. Then it is family time - watching one last Hi-5 with the kids before bed. Nothing is sweeter than family quiet time!

Mission Organization & Relaxation

2009-04-27T14:03:00.000-07:00

One of the downfalls to this house we live in is that the laundry room is just a closet. In our old house, our laundry room doubled as our kitchen pantry so when we moved it was clear to me that one of my top priorities was for us to buy a house with a big laundry room. Well, as most people know, buying a house that envelopes all the desires of your heart hardly ever happens. There is always something that you must compromise. In our case the laundry room was one of those compromises. Imagine a laundry closet with no shelving or cupboard space. Now imagine two toddlers reaching for all of the chemicals every time I opened the doors to do laundry. That's right, the only place to store our soap and other cleaning supplies was on top of the dryer - until this past weekend. Enough was enough. In order to keep my sanity while doing my daily rounds of laundry, we had to install some shelving. We could have installed cupboards for around $150 but we decided that spanning the width of the closet with a shelf was a better option and it only turned out to be a $25 project. Design on a Dime....that's how we roll in our house. I do not have any before pictures but as you can see from the amount of chemicals we have, the shelf has been put to good use. Now all the kids can help me with is transferring the clothes into the dryer and who is going to argue with that?

We had a great time with some friends on Friday night who came over for a BBQ. Maya was being pretty hard to handle but soon after dinner we got the kids to bed and managed to have a fun night with Sarah and Tony - playing Cranium and Pass The Pigs (a hilarious game). It was nice to just relax and enjoy each other's company without having to run after the kids every five seconds.

And to end, here are a few pictures of Maya and Declan playing on the play-structure at Jeremy's parents' house while we were working on the salon. Maya is so strong that she can hold herself up on the rings for about 20 seconds without letting go. Check out her sparkly shoes too:)

From Ottoman to Futon

2009-04-24T07:44:00.000-07:00

The ottoman was good while it lasted up in our bonus room but we are happy to see it reunited with its family of couches downstairs. After selling our couch, we only had 4 options of seating upstairs:

two toddler chairs

ottoman

rocking chair

...none on which were remotely comfortable to sit. While a futon is never the first choice for comfortable seating, we have once again welcomed the Williams family futon back into our home. I say the family futon because it has been in Jeremy's sister's home, my mother-in-law's salon, and now our home. Hopefully it will serve us well - at least until we find it in our budget to buy a comfortable love seat for our bonus room. Transforming our room from a family room to a play room means that there doesn't have to be so much seating, so this futon should work well for now. The next step is finding a TV we like to put in our living room downstairs so we can actually sit on the comfy couch down there. Yes, we have the money, but according to Jeremy we must wait until there is a big sale or at least until the Samsung 46" LCD comes available again. (Although we are starting to think that a 50" or 52" might be better in that room).

The kids seem to get lost in the futon though. It's pretty big!...

96 Hour Marathon

2009-04-21T12:51:00.000-07:00

The salon is finished and we can now relax and kick-up our feet. Thanks again to Sarah and Tony for helping us out in MANY ways! Thanks to Jeremy for putting up with my insanity at times and for working so hard to get the heavy work done. It was fun and I would do it again in a heartbeat - but not for a long time to come. Nancy and Al are already in the city and should be home to see it shortly. Like I said, time to relax now.

BEFORE...

AFTER...

Home Projects:

1. Pricing Schedule that I ended up framing and putting on her shelf

2. Curtains that Jeremy sewed (he was the only one who knew how to sew)

3. I added some ribbing to a couple of the Pillows

4. Bench seat reupholstering

5. Editing Photos of all of the grand kids and framed them

6. Painted a plaque board and added some hooks for her hair capes

If you can't imagine the work the goes into something like this, the pictures below should explain. I believe we figured out that we spent approximately 96 work hours on the project. Lots of late nights and early mornings.

Sarah and I were the ones who made the final touches and didn't get home until 2am on Monday night (Tuesday morning). Don't we look TIRED!

Remodel

2009-04-19T20:50:00.000-07:00

With reference to the salon remodel currently taking place, I feel as though I am entitled to revise my contract. I assume no responsibility for killed, ignored or poisoned bugs. I would also like to assume no responsibilty for mis-treated, damaged, or refurbished items. That said, allow me to provide you with a timeline of my weekend.

Saturday:

5:50am: WAKE UP so Sarah could pick me up at 7am to head up to Sherwood to work on salon remodel.
10:30am - 1:30pm: Sarah and I play around with the kids while our men work on the molding.
1:30pm - 4:30pm: Snap-line and Paint top of walls.
5pm - 7:30pm: Spend time eating and getting kids to bed.
8pm - 1:30am: Sew, Staple, and start on home projects

Sunday:

7am: WAKE UP to Declan's cry
8am - 10:30am: Finish said projects from Saturday night
11am - 6:30pm: I worked on the salon myself - painting molding and edging walls
7pm - ??: I came home, tagged Jeremy and that is where he is right now....finishing the painting and installing the molding

I only found out on Saturday evening that my in-laws are actually returning home on TUESDAY at noon instead of Wednesday as I had originally thought. This means that we have been working non-stop to get this project done so they can come home to a bright new hair salon in which my mother-in law can work. I am convinced more now than ever that those HGTV and TLC remodeling shows are rigged. Do they really remodel a room in 24 hours? I suppose it could be possible if you do not have 2 kids to watch, and you have a crew of 6 people helping out. In any case, I have come to realize that remodeling is A LOT of work!

I wanted to share something that is not work related. I was reading a book to Maya when I was putting her to bed tonight and at the end of the book it says ABCs and 123s. Then Maya sits up in bed and counts "One, Two, Three, Four, Five!" and then she looks at her hands and says "Five and Five make Ten!" Our two year old is already doing Math! Her love of numbers must be a gift from her daddy.

Time to relax and put my feet up.

Hunchback Goes To The Salon

2009-04-16T12:55:00.000-07:00

I have been suffering major back pain for several days now. Last night was the first night that I actually didn't wake-up at all so I think the pain is beginning to subside a bit. It is not fun trying to take care of the kids when my body is imitating the Hunchback of Notre Dame. However, I managed to venture out of the house last night to start work on my mother-in-law's salon. (Stay tuned to my blog for complete remodel pictures). Thanks to my wonderful friend, Sarah, for helping me get started and for being there to help lift the heavy things. Jeremy stayed home with the kids last night but we plan to do the bulk of the remodel on Saturday. We are so grateful that Sarah and her husband have agreed to help in this project. With my back issues and Jeremy still recovering from his surgery, we are very thankful to have friends like them.

For those of you who are totally in the dark, Jeremy's mother asked me to create a new interior design for her hair salon. I was given a small budget and I am really trying hard to stay ON BUDGET. My in-laws will be returning from Indiana on Wednesday so this project has to be completed before then. And so begins our real life version of WHILE YOU WERE OUT!)

I know that my mother-in-law is probably reading this from INDIANA and expecting some pictures of her salon remodel, but I'm afraid that pictures of our kids will have to do for now:

Declan loves wearing daddy's hat and Maya's glasses...

On Tuesday, I tried making Maya's hair curly...

The kids love to brush their teeth together...