Bikers

Man have these guys done a lot of bike riding this summer. That was pretty much the default activity for this guy 

the whole time we were at my folks' house, since they have a long driveway far from the road. He's a natural, having ditched the training wheels LAST summer, he's fast and totally in control.  

Caroline talked me into a new bike of her very own. She can talk me into a lot of things. 

Not her greatest picture, but she too did very well with this and spent a ton of time going up and down the driveway...with my help. Thank goodness Matthew was so happy to ride alongside in the stroller and just watch. 

And last but not least, I finally got the big girl a big bike, too. Amy had outgrown hers quite awhile ago but since we didn't have a good place to ride in Oregon and she didn't seem as into it as William anyway we just put that purchase on hold. But this summer she was big enough and ready for a 20" of her own and has gained a ton of confidence and handling skills just since the middle of the summer. 

Our new house is on a super-quiet street so the big kids can ride as much as they like, but since I don't want C out in the front of the house without one of us adults on hand that makes the biking free-for-all not quite so free. But hey, they are only getting older. 

So Here's the Plan

I have been unusually horrible at documenting ANYTHING this summer, whether on my public blog or even in my private journal. My head is so full, my days are so busy, and is just don't have the energy to digest any of it properly. School starts September 1st here, so since I love things nice and even I'm going to spend the rest of August posting a random picture or two every night in hopes of catching up with summer before it is all totally in the rear view. I can't promise any cohesive themes or even that the pictures will be in the right order. But here it goes. 

I love this picture of my Dad and Matthew. My little guy is quite a bit bigger now, two months later, but his mischievous expression is just the same. 

And my Mommy and Caroline. We sure spent a lot of afternoons by the "pool". What a warm and sunny summer it has been. 

Amy and William were on quite the mermaid kick for a long time and many hours were spent drawing mermaids and mermen and their bubbles on the driveway. Some impressive artwork. 

Stay tuned for more tidbits tomorrow! 

Summertime Growing

This has become my new favorite picture - 4 kids, 4 smiles, 4 sets of eyes on the camera - amazing! If you look closely you'll notice Matthew is fully clothed...minor detail. 

Oh my, there has been so much growing going on around here this summer. It has been almost 2 months since we left Oregon. We have spent most of it with my parents, as I've mentioned before. The last several summers have found us here for a good stretch of weeks, so it has become very much our comfortable summer norm. I think I can safely say that despite the still formidable pile of boxes waiting to be unpacked at the new house, nearly all the stress I had been carrying since for months about the move has melted away. I am very thankful for that. 

Summers at my parents' house are really simple - very few field trips, aside from maybe a mall trip or other "for-fun" shopping. No organized activities, very little visiting. If we are lucky we get invited to the neighbor's pool; mostly we just fill up one in the backyard. There are berries to pick and the garden to tend. Bikes are ridden endlessly. Chalk mermaids are drawn on the driveway. Some tv is watched, then later acted out in the front yard. There are naps and cookies and trips to the park. Two of us visited the urgent care clinic. On Saturdays there is free popcorn at the hardware store. It is just the right formula for reducing stress, and it appears to also be just the recipe for making kids grow like weeds. 

When we arrived at the tail end of May, Matthew had been sitting on his own for barely three weeks. He had been riding the tiny end of the percentile curve and was a sorta small, elfy little fellow who was still very much of a carry-me-around baby. He came down with a rough upper respiratory virus when we first got here and that took a few weeks to shake, but he worked right through it and was crawling by seven months. Now at eight months he is almost cruising. He can cross a room faster than I can get trouble out of his way, he pulls up on everything, and would really like to walk. Like, now. Or maybe just go straight to bike riding. He has also put on at least three pounds in the last two months. His current loves are pizza crusts, willow leaves, stroller rides, attempting to eat the cat food, being led around by the hands so he can walk, and watching his siblings. He is eating solid food well now but is starting to be a stinker about sitting still in the high chair. With his blue eyes and blonde hair he is awfully cute and gets to be more fun (and more of a handful) every day. 

Aaand he's waking up for a midnight snack right now (the mobility milestones alway mess with the sleep, right?) so I'll publish this much so far and finish up about the other three REALLY soon, I promise. Till then! 

New House Fun

Oh dear, after almost a month off from the blog there will be very little chance of catching up in one shot, and I hardly know where to begin. It has been a very transitional summer, to say the least, and it has also been seeming like a rather long one (not a bad thing). We have been mostly still at my parents' house since D is back on the west coast finishing up the old job, but the kids and I have made two half-week field trips to the new house to slowly settle in and unpack. I'd really love to tell more about the house, or give room-by-room before and afters, but I can't seem to bring that sort of focus to the game right now, so in the interest of simply breaking my blog-silence and sharing a small slice of the moving-in part of our summer, here are a few pictures from our two separate visits out there, about mid-June and last week. 

The house is so BIG and bright and especially after our tiny house in Oregon it feels really good to spread out. The boys are sharing a room but the girls each have their own, we have a huge finished basement with lots of natural light and a guest bedroom, and for the first time in two years we have a master bedroom to ourselves! We are on a quiet street tucked way at the back of an established neighborhood. The house needs paint inside and maybe some new bathrooms down the road, but overall it is just perfect for us inside and out. We are feeling very very blessed to have all this, in our home state no less. The kids and I really have been having a good time getting to know the place and the town and surrounding areas, being in a part of the state I never knew well. We've been feeling quite lucky to now have civilization so close at hand - Panera Bread! A mall! Target! Restaurants! Did I ever mention how very remote our last town was? I have new found appreciation for, um, commerce, I guess you could say. 

Anyway, I've rambled longer than I intended to tonight. I'll try to be back sooner with some more pictures of our summer so far. Hope you all are enjoying a lovely one as well! 

Back from the Flip Side

It's late and I'm a little punchy, so I'm not quite sure my title makes sense, but it's been a pretty zooy couple of weeks so I'll just go with it. 

We are now officially back on the Right coast, over the jet lag, and HOMEOWNERS! The day after Don's 10 year CG anniversary we closed on our very first house. We've looked forward to this time for our whole almost-eleven years of marriage but never knew exactly when it would come together for us, given how often we move and all the different parts of the county we've lived in. I'll spare you the nitty gritty and just summarize with the obvious statement that God is So Good and has plans and timing more perfect than anything we can scheme up. 

D still has to go back west to work a few more weeks at the old job before he rejoins us out here, and we are planning to spend a good chunk of time on "vacation" at my parents house. So we aren't totally and officially living at the new house yet, but it's OURS, and that's very exciting. 

Meanwhile, a few pictures from the last week or so, just to catch up. I'll write more about the house in bits as we settle in. Here's just a couple from closing day: 

Since our HHG were not ready yet we spent a few nights in a hotel which was perhaps the best decision of 2016, given that we were all pretty tired of camping in a house with no stuff by the time we left Oregon. 

Plus, well, a pool 

And a nice cool hotel room with fluffy white beds. 

Back at my folks' for a bit and we've had beautiful weather for roaming about the yard and garden. 

And lots of good inside play with all the favorite in-house toys

I'll be so happy to have this move completely behind us. This project has been taking up all my mental RAM for months now and I'm ready to move on. The truck arrives tomorrow; D's handling that one. After that it's all fun and games. Right? 

More soon, best wishes for a lovely start to summer! 

Last Day

Oh my, the emotions and the to-do list are both overwhelming, but before we fly out tomorrow afternoon I wanted to share the briefest of thoughts on this, our last full day in Oregon. 

But first, must mention that on Sunday my sweetest tender-heart William turned SIX years old! 

He graciously celebrated his birthday amidst boxes, as our packers came the day before and the truck came the day after his special day. He's a pretty awesome boy. 

The school year goes for three more weeks out here, but awhile ago we had to accept that the kids wouldn't finish with their classes due to arrangements with Don's job, travel, and our house closing. They were all smiles about the plan, but when it came to the end it hit William pretty hard. Amy, the ever-cheerful, optimistic, intellectual one took her goodbyes in stride. We went out for dinner, and while these pictures aren't the greatest (I was trying to be all candid and discreet in my picture taking) they sort of capture the day pretty well in my mind. 

And in hasty closing, because it sounds like the little guy is waking up for a late-night snack, here's one last pretty view to remember: 

We will miss it here! 

May, so far

I appear to be in danger of letting the month slip by without a word here, and that can't stand. Sometimes I feel that when I can't say everything I might as well say nothing, but really that doesn't get us anywhere. These last three weeks have been incredibly busy as D has been away away for the longest stretch of the last two years. I used to be accustomed to month-long patrols, but this is our first with four kiddos, and our first of that duration since being out here. So, yeah, not trying to throw myself a pity party or anything but oh my! It's been a lot of work. But on the whole, the kids and I have been having a really fun time and the school routine propels the days along pretty quickly. I've been wanting to write "big thoughts" about our impending move, and about the tremendous growth on display in each kiddo, but I just never have it in me by the time I get to my blog at 11pm. So instead I think I'll just share some recent pictures, with minimal explanation. Enjoy! 

I almost retired the rock-n-play when Matthew went through a spell of trying to crawl out of it at every chance. He has now realized that that would not be a wise idea. 

We've had some great after-dinner art time...and some colassal messes. 

Toes!

Caroline loves this show on her kindle called Creative Galaxy, where they feature different art projects, and the one that all the kids wanted to do was tie-dye t-shirts. This was a new one for me but now I can see the appeal, it was such fun, and each of our shirts turned out really well. C did hers all herself and was the proudest of all. 

There have been a lot of McDonald's lunches. Just saying. 

Amy is devouring the Baby Sitters Club series and has continued to be my go-to girl to help with Matthew when I need an extra set of hands. Her rapidly increasing maturity astounds me. 

He's been sitting on his own for a full week now and has graduated to eating woodchips at the playground. Guess it's time to start real food. 

This weekend was fun. Spaghetti dinner at church (school) on Friday which was memorable, but unpictured. Saturday we went to the local museum and C cared for this baby cow (not real) which was part of the agriculture display. Sunday we went to a different park, one with lots of awesome, older equipment. 

And beautiful trees. Ah, this place. We'll be leaving so soon, but we'll be taking so much with us.