HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY

Buddy's Birthday- update

Today started out really SWEET.
Donuts with Dad.

Then Michelle surprised him with a heart shaped 'peener jelly'. Buddy's fave- Michelle and the sandwich!


It wasn't a shock at all that Buddy requested Topper's Pizza for his birthday dinner. I heard his sister's bribing him this afternoon. So, pizza it was for the boy who, five years ago, opened my eyes to the unbreakable bond between mothers and sons.



Happy Birthday Budderson. We love you!

I'M BACK!

Did you miss me?

After a few day in Oregon and then a few days home, I left again. This time I went with my Aunt Karen and Cousin, Kailey, to Idaho. We spent 4 days with our fingers intertwined with wedding details. My cousin, Katie, was getting married.

Here are the 10 tips I came away with:

1. Flying stand-by is NO BUENO.

2. I NEVER want to fly on a small airplane again- EVER!

3. Renting a car in one location and returning it to another location is DOUBLE the price.

4. The drive from Spokane to Moscow, ID is probably the most peaceful drive on the planet. Plan ahead however, you will not see a public restroom along the way.

5. California might be the only state that has not given in to the idea of drive-thru coffee stops- GENIUS!

6. Picking out make-up for the bride (without her) the day before the wedding really isn't that difficult.

7. Waitresses at 11:45pm sometimes speak without filters.

8. A bride that can nap 30 minutes before her wedding is a rare, but beautiful thing.

9. If you are having a wedding, ask your guests to help with refreshments. If they each bring a cake to share you will get the credit and everyone will be REALLY happy!

10. If all you have heard for the past few days is that the Wedding Reception is all about DANCING, believe whoever is giving you this information. Then, when you decide to 'march' in the GRAND MARCH you will know what you are getting into...and yes, it will involve running, kicking, skipping, bowing...and yes, it will last for at least 20 minutes- especially if your cousin 'DJ WES' put the music together.

PICTURES!

Kailey and I thought it would be fun to take some pictures with each member of the Saunders crew at the Wedding-

Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday to the boy who continues to inspire us.

We love you TATER BUN.

Back Home

Our girls trip to Oregon came and went way too quickly. Here are a few highlights:

Gavin, as always, stole my heart. In fact, I think I left part of it with him.


Bailey requested a bike ride for her birthday, so we hit the road and headed to Starbucks for breakfast.


These two sweeties kept us cracking up the whole time.


AGHHH, have you ever seen anything so cute!


KINDRED...see next picture


This is our girls in 20 years :)


Did I mention my heart?

BELLA

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BELLA!
Wish we could be with you today to celebrate. We are so thankful for you and your friendship. We can't wait to see all of the ways the Lord is going to use you. You are a precious friend.

Birthday Gift

Bailey's 9th birthday is on Wednesday. It's hard to imagine, but every year has been. Mike and I surprised Bailey with a trip to Oregon (she also earned it by reading a TON). I think we set the bar too high last year that we knew nothing could compare. So, we are going back. It's a girls trip and I can't wait. We leave in the morning and I am sure I won't be the only one wide awake in bed tonight.

In preparation for the trip I made hair cut appointments. Everyone desperately needed SOMETHING done. Bailey decided that for her birthday she wanted to give a gift- her hair. Did you know it only takes a second to cut 10" of hair?



We hope that her hair blesses someone through LOCKS of LOVE. She was very emotional about it, but has now settled into having a 'style'. We think it is PERFECT for her!

SPOILED

It's not even Mother's Day yet and I am already feeling spoiled. Yesterday morning around 7:30am the door bell rang. The three big kids and I were snuggled on the couch in our pj's reading. I figured it must be important because NOBODY stops by that early in the morning. When we got to the door this is what we found-



My mom had stopped by and surprised us with BREAKFAST! She is flying up to my sister's house this weekend, so we will not get to celebrate with her. Happy Mother's Day, Mom, you made my day!

In the afternoon Bailey entered a contest and wrote this about me:

Mom to me is a fun, loving character with a wonderful heart. Breakfast time is fun because we snuggle with blankets. We sip Chai Tea while my mom reads to us. Our favorite thing at lunch is my favorite recipe Turkey Delight. It is more on the line of a sandwich. I thought it was so fun so my mom made up a song that goes "Turkey Delight, Turkey Delight, Oh how I love my Turkey Delight." My favorite thing at dinner is Chicken Noodle Casserole. We usually have a few side dishes such as fruit, salad, bread, or anything. Before dinner my mom does something rather interesting, we sing songs with hand motions- Open Shut them, Thank you Jesus for this food, and Creep them, Creep them. We do them for my 5 1/2year old brother, Tate. He has Down syndrome and can't communicate with words. Our family adopted him from Ukraine in 2008. Those are songs he enjoys. My mom makes dinner special in a lot of different ways. Sorry for the late entry but I only found out at 8:00 p.m. on the 6th. Give who ever wins a high five for me. This is Bailey McKay from Ventura, CA. I am nine. Thank you!!


I am BLESSED!

SMOKING A PIPE?

I have been rather stumped about something lately and it just became clear. Buddy has been caught several times 'smoking a pipe'. Now, that might not seem totally strange, but we live in CALIFORNIA. You NEVER see people smoking in California unless you are at an airport or outside of a club late at night. I am assuming the night club thing. I wouldn't know. I don't even stay up until midnight on New Years! So, where in the world did my 5 year old pick up the pipe smoking thing?

His favorite bed time book, of course!


The man in the BIG YELLOW hat smokes a pipe and now so does my son. And I thought reading was a good thing! Now, here is the funny part. A few weeks ago Mike was saying good bye to me (in bed) on his way to work. Buddy had already hijacked his spot and was snuggled up next to me. As Mike was walking out he noticed Buddy putting something into his mouth.
Mike: "Hey Son, what's that?"
Buddy: "It's my pipe".
Mike to Me (laughing): "Um, I don't think you want Buddy to have that".
Me (squinting my tired eyes open): "YUCK, Buddy, that is not something to play with".

Buddy had taken USED tampon applicators out of the trash can and had stock piled them to use as PIPES! AGHHHHHHH
I think we need to find a NEW book to read at bedtime. ;)

My Garden

Just to clarify, that was NOT a carrot out of my garden. We were visiting a local garden and Emmett just happened to pick the BIGGEST carrot out there.

Here are a few pictures of our garden. This year I decided to start with seeds rather than seedlings (mostly). Everything is growing really well. Several of the seeds we reserved from our crops last year. Our favorite was the yellow watermelon.

Lettuce (5 varieties), radishes, carrots and cucumbers.


Sugar snap peas, soy beans, spinach, cauliflower and broccoli.


Several varieties of each: Tomato, bell pepper, melons and eggplant.


Herbs and onions


Zucchini, squash, corn and peanuts.

Organic Farming

This carrot might just feed 5,000!

AVOCADOS ANYONE???

The girls have been picking avocados all morning and the bags are bursting. Let me know if you want some and I will put a bag outside for you!

UPDATE:
SNAILS are also available!

ENERGY

Buddy and I were studying different forms of ENERGY when we came across some very interesting information- especially interesting when you are a 4 year old boy! The Venus Flytrap gets some of its energy from BUGS!!! Buddy was hooked and REALLY wanted to get one. That afternoon we checked at our local nursery to see if they had any. I thought it was a strange request, but they had several.

If you have never owned one yourself, I suggest rushing out to get one.

They are so much fun to watch!

And catching the fly is pretty great too. Wearing your 'bug catching outfit' is another added bonus!

ONE for the BOOKS

Yesterday was one for the books. Every little detail will be seared in my mind for a long time, hopefully forever. Nothing major happened and that's probably why I loved it so much. When we are in the midst of either Track or Cross Country season our mornings are HURRIED and LONG. Yesterday, we opted out of all commitments. Instead we slept in (well, the majority slept in- Buddy loves his Legos at 6:30am). Around 9:00am Bailey and I started out on a short 2.5 mile run to the Bagel Shop. Mike and the littles were already waiting for us and Aunt Karen and Uncle Bob arrived a few minutes later. It was leisurely, no agenda. After breakfast we went home and packed our backpacks with water and snacks for a hike.
Mike and I were married in Ojai at a Christian Conference Center. We haven't visited in years and thought it would be fun to finally show the kids around. It was a beautiful day to go hiking.

Mike and I took this same hike on Christmas Eve 1998 when he proposed to me.

This is the spot that he asked me to be his wife. It was surreal to to have kids with us. We could not have imagined, at that time, that our life would be so blessed.

After a few healthy snacks on the hike we felt it was time to refresh and cool down with a little ICE CREAM! The kids were sweet and our afternoon was again, leisurely.

We couldn't let a fabulous day go to waste on a boring evening, so a camp-out was planned for the night. The yard was just fertilized so the tent went up inside the house. And what camp-out would be complete with out one of these?


Jealous?


Saturday April 24, 2010- One of the BEST days EVER!

HAPPY EARTH DAY

NEW SOCKS

Last Sunday we had UNCLE BOG (Bob) and AUNT TAREN (Karen) over for dinner. Chicken Tortilla Soup was on the menu. It is one of our favorites. The food was great, the company fabulous, but things took a funny turn midway through. Buddy was talking to Aunt Taren about his new socks when he popped them up on to the table. These were the socks that were so new I took them out of the package that morning. They had not even been washed yet. OBVIOUSLY Buddy had been playing VERY hard for the past 3 hours since putting them on. Take a look:
A new pair of socks each day is NOT going to work. Next time he has been warned that he MUST wear shoes when skateboarding. Knowing Buddy he will probably build sock protectors or something.

SHOTGUN

What little kid can pass up the opportunity to drive the car with Daddy?

FLASHBACK

The following picture is a flashback of sorts. This type of picture took place 25 years ago but I was the subject and my parents were taking the picture. I don't recall the moments, however our family albums bear witness to the events. My Mom and Dad would say smile or cheese or something to get me to look happy. I would do EXACTLY what Brooklyn does to me now...

The only difference is that I didn't have a charming little brother.


I was trying to get her to show off the container of succulents that she had made. Give her a few more years. I smile now- MOST of the time ;).

More Potty News

I suppose it isn't funny to everyone, but we think it is hilarious when Emmett is singing on the potty.


Translation: GROWIN' A TAIL...