Noah's loft bed

Right before school started this year we found this loft bed on craigslist. We'd planned to make one all summer but for various reasons it just hadn't happened yet. We have been able to bring in the dog kennel now and put it under there as well. Noah Hooper doesn't have to sleep in the below freezing temps outside at night. The white dresser unit isn't done being painted yet. LOL

Another photo shoot

This last week I got to do a photo shoot for a friend and her family from church. Here are some pics that I thought ended up nicely done. The lighting was hard to work with as we did it at 1 pm. The sun was so high in the sky that it was hard to avoid lots of shadows on faces as we stood under trees!!! But, we ended up with some fun shots still. I didn't know their kids very well so it took some time to warm up to each other :) It was fun though.

I like black and white a lot. I made sure to give them a disc with black and white and color shots.

We went to the arboretum to take the pictures. The trees were beautiful.

Little monkey :)

And ANOTHER lil monkey!

I think he has the coolest eyes.

I love her freckles in this one!!!

The happy family. They were pleased with their pictures so I was relieved. I do my best but never really know what I'm going to end up with you know?! :) I'm always eager to get home and upload the pics and see... and then edit and tweak just a little.

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As for the Nutthouse... we're doing all right. Micah was sick a day last week and it's JJ's turn last night/today. We have a very busy week so I'm praying we can keep it contained. I have a head cold and I'm leading worship at church this week. We'll see how THAT goes.. ha ha

A couple weeks ago we went and visited my Grandparents down in Oregon. We had a great weekend with them. We had some of our corn the other night and Noah declared it the "Best corn I've ever had".... so I think all that shucking and cutting the corn off the cobs was well worth it. Thank you Grandma for your professional cutting skills!!!!! I'll make another post with a few pictures from the weekend.

Last weekend I went to Seattle with my friend, Jani. We attended the Women of Faith conference and it was an amazing weekend. The speakers were authentic and real - which is always refreshing. I could easily be making that a year event.... if the pocket books allows it .. ha ha. :)

Whoopsie

Last night my phone slipped off the bar by my computer and into the pot soaking in the sink. I RAN for my phone so it was only in the water a few seconds but enough to obviously be submerged fully. I took it apart and let it sit out over night. This morning when I turned it on, it fired right up. A few minutes later it randomly turned off. I turned it back on and it froze. The keypad won't work or anything!! GAAAH! So, it's in pieces again and sitting in a container of rice .... hoping it will soak out the moisture in it. If not... who knows what I'll be doing for a phone ??????

Anyway - life's never boring at the nutthouse :)

A day at the park ends in kids having the tired's

Today we headed to Randall park to feed the ducks and play on the toys. Apparently so was half of Yakima! The first parking lot we went to was full. The second had a few spots left so we got lucky. We took a little pathway along the creek and saw lots of water skippers (or also called water skimmers) and bugs. We finally made it to the pond where all the ducks were. Everyone threw what they had and then climbed the big tree nearby and then moved on to the play equipment. There were lots of kids so I didn't stay long there with the kids. There are so many parents that don't feel the need to supervise their own children at the park. So I had to talk to several kids to not pull on mine, to wait their turn on the slide, and to ask their own mom or dad to lift them up into the tree as I didn't want to be responsible for them while up there. I had 2 kids come up to me asking for bread to feed the ducks... their parents no where in sight. It bothers me that kids are allowed to roam free and it scares me to think of how parks can be such an easy place for predators to pick up kids and parents are left none the wiser. Which is sometimes why going to the park is so much work for the mom. Because I am vigilant.. :o) But the kids and fun and we left with mostly happy faces... JJ was wiped by the time we left as he'd not had a nap and it was a walk back to the car.

Anyway... the first full week of school has left the kids still happy with school. All 3 of them love their teachers and seem to be doing really well. The homework will be kicking into gear here in the next week or so. They're also enjoying AWANA and everyone said their verses this week! yeah!!!

This next week I start back into watching my friend's little boy on Tuesday mornings. Thursday I have a doctor's appointment for a general physical. I'm concerned about some hearing loss (or just plugged ears???) that I've been experiencing this summer. I'm doing my best to not worry and think worst case scenario's but when Eric asks me if I'm hearing something and I'm not ... it usually makes me freak out. LOL ... since when is HE the one with good hearing?!?!

MOPS starts this week as well. It will be fun to get back into the swing of things. I'm hoping to take my sister in law with me some times. She can't make it this month but maybe next. Afterwards I'm headed to a friend's house and plan to do her house cleaning every 2 weeks. Just the basics like vacuuming, dusting, sweeping, mopping, and bathrooms (floors, toilet, sink, ocunter... NO showers!). It will be a way to bring in a little extra money to save up for something special.

Tomorrow I'm leading worship at church and then am off to a Worship Dept. BBQ that I have been in charge of organizing. Noah and I took all the food, ice, and drinks to the location today (friend's house) and unloaded it. Boy was I glad for his muscles! I only had to take about half the trips from the cabana (pool house) to the car! :)

Well, I'm going to end this. My neice, Kadie is wanting to chat with me on facebook!!! :o)

BYE til next time.

1st DAY of SCHOOL 2010-2011

Well, I loaded these in the backwards order so you'll get the last picture first :)

The morning started with Micah up at 5:30! He did go back to bed for almost another hour, thankfully! Eric ran out to the school at 5:30 this morning to quickly install a projector for a fellow teacher. He planned to do it last night, but when Micah cracked open the back of his head, our plans changed. He and I headed to the ER (where he got 2 staples put in) and Eric and the other 3 kids went home for dinner, baths, and bed. Eric was back home by just before 7 am and we all sat down to coffee cake and scrambled eggs at 7:30 am. I made up morning checklist charts for the kids and they enjoyed putting stickers or checking off what they'd done already. I'm hoping it will cut down on the "Did you ______", from me. I can just say, "Look at your checklist." :o)

So, here are pics.

Eric and the kids loaded up to go. JJ and I followed behind in my car. I walked all the kids to their classes. Noah and Carissa were quick drop offs and then JJ and I went in with Micah for a few minutes.

My little Nuttlings... all in a row. Micah's face (EYES) cracks me up here!!! HA HA

I can't believe Noah's in 3rd grade already!! Where's the time gone?!

Carissa is so excited for 1st grade and is eager to show Micah the ropes at school.

Micah is SOOOOOO excited. Can you tell?! He's been counting down the days for nearly a month and today finally came.

JJ and I are home now. It's raining and only supposed to be 67 today! Brrrrr!!!! We're headed to Costco later and cleaning house. We'll make chocolate chip cookies today too. That's our annual "first day of school" tradition.

Here's hoping it's a GREAT school year! :)

Anniversary Trip with the hubbers :)

Us and the mt

NO mischief in my eyes!!! :o) HA HA

Narada Falls. I loved the rainbow!

Us and the falls

Some pretty flower/mt pics

We hiked up past where we did last year. Last year we couldn't get this high/far b/c of the snow and the route we'd taken. This year we did a different route.

What you can't see is that there is a sign on the door. "CAUTION, low door frame. Please use caution and duck." YEAH, I didn't have to.. hee hee

Me on top of the world :)

We followed SKYLINE and did the High Skyline as well. Total of 5.5 miles.

About 1.5 miles in I started complaining that my heel's hurt. Here's why. OUCHIES!!!!! I wore the wrong socks with my hiking boots. It hurt!!!!

We had a great time though. The kids did great with Grandma Bombard and only watched 3 movies the WHOLE time we were gone. She kept them busy with the park and visiting their Auntie and lil cousin and visiting her house and the dogs.... :)

I'm off now to help Eric get his classroom ready for school to start.... NEXT TUESDAY!!!!

JJ hits the swimming pool!!

It used to be that we never had to worry about JJ around the pool. He was happy and content to keep his distance, walk around the pool, and snack on whatever anyone had handy. He'd just mind his own business and keep under the radar. He did NOT want to get in the water ever.... no amount of convincing or encouraging mattered.

Today, however, marked the end of JJ's contentment to watch the rest of the family splash around and have fun. (For which, I'm actually thrilled!!) It started with sitting on my lap while we sat on the top step of the pool. He splashed his feet in the water and got used to it on his legs. We G-R-A-D-U-A-L-L-Y eased deeper into the water until most of his legs were wet and up to almost his waist. He then got to where he liked to sit (and stand) on the step on his own. He did NOT want the arm floaties but he did love the little boogie board. I was just glad he was in the water and not showing the fear like he has before so I wasn't about to push it. It just meant either Eric or I had to stay close by at all times. The one time we both turned our backs he took the boogie board and jumped off the step!!! He went under but it was cute to see 5 people grab for him. No chance of him drowning with all of us 2 steps away. :o)

So, JJ was brave today. He took huge steps in being a big boy! He truly isn't a baby anymore! Now if only he'd just decide to poop in the toilet!

Park play days

We went to the park today. Eric is doing some extra work at the Jr. High near our house. He's putting in a few really long days installing projectors so the kids and I have been finding a few things to do. Today we went to the park after we dropped lunch off with Eric. They actually cooperated for the most part while I did a quick photo opportunity. :o) I made this collage of photo's. I think my favorite one is of Noah. He's laughing and it's such a great natural shot of him. And notice, Carissa is missing BOTH of her top teeth. She is so proud of herself! :)

Hope ya like the pics.
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Summer Swimming

Last summer was Noah's first summer to take off and start swimming. This summer it was Micah and Carissa's turn.

Micah took off first - naturally as he is the dare devil and will do anything to keep up with Noah.

Carissa had a HARD time gaining confidence w/o the water wings. But she was sort of forced into it as we lost a pair and the others ripped and went in the garbage.

She actually did much better once I got out of the pool and sat poolside with a friend. We are so thankful for our friends that let us use their pool whenever we like. I am NOT a public pool kinda person ... (wink)

So, here's a youtube link of the kids yesterday. It was Carissa and Micah's first day of "real" swimming in a big pool unassisted. I think they did great!

BEFORE and AFTER house pics

Here's the before and after of the WHOLE front of the house. I think it got a much needed face lift! :) The curb appeal just multiplied a BUNCH! :o) The cute little girl on the porch helps with that too!! HA HA!

Photo Shoot shots

Tonight I got to do a fun photo shoot with a friend. It was a great hour of FUN! Little Jaiden Hope is the daughter of my friends, Brian and Lisa. When I began singing at church 9 years ago Lisa was just in junior high. A few years later she helped sing on the worship team some. As she went through high school we'd talk and hang out a little bit. She later got married to Brian and 7 months ago they had Jaiden. She's such a cute lil rolie polie!!! So, here is a snippet of the photo shoot for you to enjoy. And please join me in prayer, as I consider doing some photography on the side for some extra income. :)

Bring on the cuteness!!!

Big girl on the slide

Rolling over at the end of the shoot.... tired but still smiley!

Lisa, Brian, Jaiden and Lisa's mom, Colleen.

Kiss the baby!!!

Starry eyes!

Just chillin' at the park :)

Father and Daughter hands

The happy family

Mmmm... toes! :)

Spontaneous Camping

So, Thursday morning we decided to take a quick trip to the mts! We packed up and headed out. It always takes longer to pack and prep than we think so we didn't get to camp til evening but that was okay.

Here's the family eating scrambled eggs and sausage. I told them they only got ONE good breakfast while we were gone.. ha ha...

We went into this big meadow during our morning walk and it was still a little dewy. I really like the way this little flower turned out.

Another patch of flowers :)

I got the kids to pose. I can't somehow make them all smile and look at the same place at the same time!! HA HA....

There were mini wild strawberries all over. They sprawl all over the ground and it was actually hard to NOT step on them. The animals in the area I'm sure love them.

Speaking of animals. That is Hooper, our dog, running toward us. We were hollering for him to come back to us b/c we could see elk crossing the path in the distance. If you look closely you can see them too!!! We saw a LOT of elk this trip which we had never seen before. It was really neat.

Just an artsy black and white of the kids.

Eric and the big kids. This is a big tree over the stream where the kids played.

Carissa and I. Yes, she lost a front tooth this week!!! And can you believe that the Tooth Fairy didn't respond the first night!!! Ooppps! We convinced the kids easily that it was b/c they had slept over in the living room. While the kids were out playing that morning I snuck in the coins! :o) I can still remember losing a tooth at Grandma and Grandpa Hostetler's house and sticking my tooth in a glass of water and putting it on the window sill by the kitchen sink.... and of course, the coins :)

My sweet girl and a flower she picked for me.

We're home. Kids were FILTHY. I'm pretty sure the tub has a scum ring. And now I'm off to bed. Church in the morning.