mixed feelings

i know i need to be there for her

i know i should be nicer about that boy she's dating

i cannot hide my frustration

so she's cutting me out

...seems fair. oh wait, no it doesn't

she wants my honest opinion

it's not going to change

she can't see that he's changed her

the guidelines were breached before they were even set

i hope for the best...but expect the worst.

best. summer. ever.

the fun never ends around here. really.

saturday we went mini golfing with the in-laws (all of them, for a grand total of 11 breeces!)

moses didn't quite get his form right:

solly, on the other hand, played the role of golfer quite nicely:

while gardening on saturday evening i spotted a little lizard running around so i grabbed it, showed the boys and let it lose. they proceeded to follow, name (moses picked "joseph") and chase it into the house and under the couch. so after moving furniture around and retrieving the little guy we put him back in a nice safe place. the boys then sat there and talked to little joesph for quite a while.

they are so cute:

sunday after church & lunch we filled our van with people (us, rose & my parents) and we headed towards the mountains in search of cooler weather! we made it to sunrise and up near mt. rainier and it was a whooping 30 degrees cooler up there. so we went for a little hike!

a few of us on the trail:

moses was quite the trooper:

mama & boys taking a quick break:

today i took my boys to a friends house who just happens to live on a lake!!

this little man loves the water!!:

look! no hands! (he FREAKED out when i let go of him, but he did great!)

they were hard to get IN into the water...but once they were there they were impossible to get out!!

solly in "cannon ball" action!

little stinker would not get out of the water!!

this summer has been so full of unexpected (and barley planned) fun. it's great and exhausting all at the same time. can't wait to see what happens next!

super nanny

i've been working a fun little part time job & i am lucky enough to have the most wonderful friend to watch my little mojo while i'm away for about 12 hours a week. they understand each other and are so funny together. it's nice not to have to worry about him while i'm away.

thank you rose!

gone fishin' (and playing)

today we went to deep lake for fishing and other fun.

rosie & mosie racing down the slide:

daddy & solly "fishing":

mosie & rosie spinning:

some more "fishing":

racing to the playground!:

listening to brother:

(i love this picture!)

listening to his response:

going home with a little "wheels on the bus"

family park trips are the bee's knees (those are suppose to be pretty cool, right?) the fishing wasn't great but solly had fun. it was nice enjoying what might be the end of our sunny streak.

mega random

i'm so proud of rose! she's been wanting to make changes...and i was starting to give up hope. but all it took was a trip half way across the county and some time away from her life to realize there is so much more out there.
she went home almost a week ago and it feels like she's been gone for a month. but on friday i took the boys over to the park and i smiled when i saw that rose was still here:

her pretty art was probably still
there today up until it rained this evening.

i can't wait to see what the future has in store for my dsbff! love you!

you ask, i deliever.

for rachie and rose, who have been waiting about a week for a new blog...here it is. i am still suffering from bloggers block. but i figured i could just get over it and come up with something. so here you have it. pictures from the past week. there aren't many, but they should entertain you for all of 3 minuets :D

solly-mid haircut

driving and talking on the cell phone is not nearly as dangerous as making oreo cheesecake cupcakes and talking on the phone. (and yes, they were SO GOOD)

solly's pumpkin patch is in bloom.
we're gonna have a ton of pumpkins this fall!

alex, nico & mojo rockin out at the stairs house

awwwww, i NEVER get to take pictures of moses sleeping because he's such a light sleeper but last saturday he was so pooped that i managed to get a couple. how cute is he?!?!

last saturday we also visited my lovely kaydee who is "busy" growing a baby. we had fun just getting to see each other again. (the sun was too bright for solly)

OH! also, last saturday was FREE slurpee day at 7eleven they were TINY, but it was hot out so we enjoyed every minuet of it!!!

and this one picture can sum up the past week. hanging out in the back yard while the boys "swim" in their tiny pool. the weather has been wonderful and i am thankful for that.

this next week will bring us all kinds of fun stuff. solomon will be attending art day camp in the woods. rose will be with us for a few days before all my older children (anthony, becca and rose) head off to South Dakota for the annual mission trip. and i'm sure other unexpected things will come up this week.
so there you have it. 8 blogs in one. i hope it was all you dream of girlie's! love you!

a weeks worth of pictures.

so, even though jakes birthday was over 2 weeks ago. he just got his birthday present last monday. his loving wife (with the help of his mother and mother-in-law) got him an ipod touch. being the funny, witty person i am i had "big jake's book & bible" engraved on the back. you see jake has always (or at least since high school) wanted to open a book store and a few years ago he and i decided it should be named "big jake's book & bible" he could have a sign with a big cheesy picture of himself sporting a big thumbs up!

isn't it pretty?

monday was also roses actual birthday. we hung around the house being bored for a good part of he day

making horse faces while trying to take your own picture is harder than you might think!

then we went to the mall to try to find rose some new jeans...no such luck. so we played in the kiddy play area instead.

oh no! the hippo is eating my boys!

there were some very annoying kids running (and jumping) around the play area.

you can see the annoying girl in the background
this was roses attempt to keep that girl away from me
(she kept jumping over this thing and almost kicking me every time)

(*i have no idea what i did on tuesday...?*)
then on wednesday after dropping solly off at school jake, moses and i went for a drive. we ended up at mud mt. dam and it turns out at 9am NO ONE else is there!! it was GREAT!!!

lot's a fun

and of course moses just HAD to go swimming while we were there:
(that water was FREEZING!)

so later that day i got the boys their own pool
(since it was about 90º out side :P)

then of course thursdays is youth group. solly, mosey and i all went and hung out for most of the night we had a ton of fun!!

mosey hitchin a ride

who let jake have the camera?

could this kid be any cooler?

solly thinks he's in high school sometimes i think.
(the cried when it was time to leave)

friday. moses and i picked up solly from school early and headed to whidby island to see jakes parents for the night.

as annoying as it is to take a ferry, but it's really pretty

while on whidby island, the in-laws church was hosting an african children's choir. they are from an orphanage type thing called watoto (pronounced wa-toe-toe, it means "children" in swahili) they were AH-amzing!!! i could just look at them all day they are beautiful and so sweet!!!

this is solomon with seth and moses
(yes! another person named moses!!!)

moses & moses (and a little bit of seth)

then on saturday morning, while getting ready to go at a ladies tea with my mother-in-law, i burnt...scratch that! i FRIED the boys breakfast!!

oops!

moses and grandpa went for a little ride on the lawn mower.

moses wasn't too sure about it

and solly waited for his turn

he got to do 99% of the driving

we wrapped up saturday with dinner at ivar's, then a walk out on the pier to watch people fish...and also watch the ferry boats

solly with his menu on his face

grandpa with is boys

and then made the long trip home with some tired boys...to see our favorite person, DADDY!!! we were all so glad to see each other!
sunday. after chuch i hauled tooshie up to south hill to see an old friend at her baby shower. her and her husband are going through the process of becoming foster parents with hopes to adopt down the road.

thank goodness she hasn't changed!
i love paula!!

who wants cake??

after i got home from the shower, the boys and i went out to have a nutritious dinner...at mcdonalds. followed by ice cream and then grocery shopping.

yummy!

i think he wanted more ice cream
sorry babe, you ate yours too fast!

moses thought something was funny!

mommy & solly

jake "borrowed" mosey's ice cream to lick the drips... moses was not ammused!

and that was what i did with the last week of my life.
today, my mom and i did some gardening today. and let me tell you, i HATE gardening. i would rather do just about anything else!! both my front and back gardens look great now...i would just rather someone else take care of them from now on :) stay tuned for pictures of the garden!