Family Colors

2011-11-04T11:19:00.000-07:00

Zumba has a kitty friend to give his hand me downs too. At least until Tim gwes bigger than him.

I finished advent tree and it just turned Nov. I have to wait a whole to lets the kids start decorating. I guess I need a new hooby.

Halloweeen

2011-11-01T14:15:00.000-07:00

Cleopetra in all her glory. She wore her custume to school. And then went trick or treating afterward... With DADDY. He flew home on Halloween day, time to find a new tour.

The most reluctant trick or treater, buy definitely the one that got the most compliments. He was a hot dog in case you couldn't tell. More photos on Facebook. Mikell took most of them.

2011-10-30T17:50:00.000-07:00

The chicken suit, nothing says Halloween like a big slab of poultry

very excited now, almost out the door

at school with her other revealers

Her she is exactly eating a chickennugget

The needed new do

2011-10-24T13:49:00.000-07:00

I will miss the cuteness of the ringlets but they had to go. No conditioner really worked and It was just listening to Billi scream bloody murder ever bath time. I think she looks a little younger with the short hair. But hopefully I can get her use to me combing it, now that theres not much to comb.

Notice how even a trip to the potty does not get the new kitty daily torture.

Joshi's 7th birthday masked carnival

2011-10-23T09:27:00.000-07:00

Joshi's 7th birthday masked carival

Everybody did a great job decorating their masks

carnival decorations and games in place waiting for the guests.

Caleb was our clown I missed the picture with his rednose on.

my gourmet popcorn cupcakes that took hours out of my week, making the ;0)

roll the dice to get your lucky number, spin the wheel and see if you can get a match. Winners got Cotton candy, then again so did everybody else!

ooooh lala ! Abel already knows shoes are a girls best friends

Billi's pumpkin

2011-10-16T11:11:00.000-07:00

Billi is very proud of her pumpkin, she shows it to everyone that comes into the house. She's dropped it a few times, so I doubt it will last untl Halloween. But she went on a field trip with her preschool class without me. So it was her first big adventure alone. And she did really well.
Thanks to Mikel, I'm forced to be crafty every once un a while. Which is lots of fun but I don't make nearly enough time for it. Here's the Autumn wreath I made. Made out of tons little fabric squares ( 8 yards of fabric)

Its been a good day!

2011-10-08T16:03:00.000-07:00

Meet Tim, he's cute and he's covered in fleas. I was really looking forward to introducing him to Zumba. But it may take a couple of days quarantine before that happens.

Billi's spiderweb

2011-10-05T16:33:00.000-07:00

Billi ponders the darker images of Halloween

trying to express the anger in this piece of work

Rooms, they are a changing

2011-10-04T14:48:00.001-07:00

This is before photo of the kitchen, in 2 weeks it will be a whole new world. White cabinets, stainless Steele handle, sink, and frig, microwave/stovetop. We will be in debit But Its an overall anniversary gift, xmas , keep up the house project and help the economyBelow are the accents we using to design the girls new native room. We found green Bamboo at Craft warehouse real cheap on clearance, a perfect place for the pandas she,s been collecting at garage sales this year. The cool hand painted Chinese fan also a gargare sale find $5.

Planning the big masquerade Ball

2011-09-30T12:43:00.000-07:00

Joshi will be turning 7 in 2 weeks and I think she has dreams of costumed suitors twirling and dancing with her and her friends. She showed me where to move the couch so there was room for dancing. We'll see. But we asked everyone to wear a mask and its the weekend before Halloween, so I think the kids will want to dress up. Hopefully our kitchen remodel will be done by then, or it could be a bit of a hassle.

Apple picking in Hood River

2011-09-27T08:38:00.000-07:00

Look at that tree truck. Man the trees are big in Oregon.

Take this sweater off

2011-09-24T09:58:00.000-07:00

Zumba doesn't seem to like the Halloween sweater and tie. Wait until I dress him in the pirate custome I bought him to go trick or treating in.
Can you find Zumba in the above photo? He's the blur, crossing the driveway, that Joshi is looking at. I love how he sails thru the air.

Mores pics of Billi

2011-09-24T09:46:00.000-07:00

Here's Billi in her Fall school outfit. I can't believe she's going to school already. We just went on her first field trip. A hike to Zig Zag Falls.

BiLLi's FirstDay of Preschool

2011-09-10T17:39:00.000-07:00

a little nervous at first

giving me a "big smile"

Strutting a new SMURF backpack!

OK, pretty excited to get going.

Joshis's first day of FIRST grade

2011-09-09T08:16:00.000-07:00

Joshi went off to school Tuesday, as stylish is usual. She seemed a little nervous but came back happy. Not nearly as excited as last year though. It might have something to do with the 38 kids in her class. Hopefully, on Mondays board meeting the parents can persuade the school to split the class. Budget cuts are totally ruing the Welches school. Although I imagine its happening country wide.

The Smurfs

2011-09-07T08:04:00.000-07:00

I was so happy to get to relive The Smurfs of my childhood with the girls this summer. The movie was just OK but I love that Smurf paraphernalia is all over the place. Yesterday I was able to buy Snurfette shirts in the girls sizes. They had to wear mine to the movie.

Joshi's sporty summer

2011-08-08T09:17:00.000-07:00

Joshi has been a hula hooping queen lately. She did so well this summer on the hoop she has, that when we saw some big ones at the craft fair this weekend we bought 2 more. The biggest one is almost as tall as her ! She can now do 2 hoops at once and is trying to perfect a 3 hoop trick. The third is a small hoop on her arm. Pic below of the 3 hoop trick.

Last week was the first time we went roller skating at a rink, since Joshi really learned to skate. She has been skating on the back deck with the skates she got for her birthday. But she finally got to show her stuff at the rink. Billi almost got the hang of it before we left.

Three weeks ago Joshi took her training wheels off. She noticed a few of her friends at the park 2 wheeling and didn't want to be left behind. I thought since Joshi is a little scaredy cat it was going to be an ordeal. But 1 and 1/2 days later and she was an independent biker. I think its great that she has had all these successes during the summer. She needed some more confidence ( in things other than her sense of style)

2011-07-06T20:59:00.000-07:00

my little Americans

SPARKLERS

Happt 4th of July

2011-07-06T15:25:00.000-07:00

Here some pics from our 4th of July BBQ. The girls had great time having friends over our house. Even Zumba got to have a friend because Mikels family brought there dog ;0)

Early morning block building

2011-07-03T22:16:00.000-07:00

Panties and swim suits are not unusual outfits for summer mornings. The girls were getting along surprising well this morning. We decided to put our large set of blocks out at hands reach. It hasn't been as bad as I had imagined, having the girls put them back on the shelves.

Camping out

2011-06-18T20:08:00.000-07:00

We bought a new tent this year. We just tried it out. We went camping on the deck.

Little Zumba snuggled in as Joshi yawns. We did not know that the night would end at 2 am with Zumba peeing in the tent, on Elwood. OOPS! That was the end of camping.

These are the candle holders we made at Nature Girls.

sisters hugging.

What? everyone doesn't set their laptop up while camping? I could even use the WiFi on my ipad. I don't know why everyone doesn't camp in the backyard.

Bowling with Dad

2011-06-16T18:06:00.000-07:00

Elwoods June visit home has not been restful but it has had some fun moments for the family. We all had a good time bowling. Joshi bowled without using the ramp for the first time. Coming home to 3 kids doesn't give him much time to unwind. But on the other hand he isn't dreading going back to work =0)

Becoming a Butterfly

2011-06-15T12:08:00.000-07:00

Joshi's kindergarden class performed a play entitled 'Becoming a Butterfly' last month. Joshi did great, she had practiced her lines a bunch. Of course as soon as she took center stage, Billi shouted out " I have a butterfly at home". I could not hear Joshi at all. Joshi didn't notice that day but when she saw the video in class she did. She actually took it pretty good. She's use to her little annoying sister ruining things for her.

Pics

2011-06-12T21:33:00.000-07:00

2011-06-12T21:23:00.000-07:00

Photos from iPad

2011-06-12T19:12:00.001-07:00

at the park today...

2011-05-14T20:14:00.000-07:00

So two's a crowd. How about three? No, Its 3 plus a puppy. I thought it was a totally normal thought to take my puppy to the park with my 3 young children. We had done it before successfully. But today was a sunny Saturday, therefore crowded. And it was not 'a day in the park'. This freaking dog is a nervous mess. He just wanted to bark and run at everybody. I would be mad but it wasn't aggression, he was shaking like a leaf the whole time. So, I had to hold the dog instead on the 12 month old. Emma, the 12 mos. baby, actually did pretty good.

The infamous Francis / Sheehan pie fight

2011-05-05T16:09:00.001-07:00

Joshi - I still look good after a pie fight

Jennifer- I think I lost my shoe?!

Billi- Oh, man this is really gonna mess with my curls

These photos from September were never posted because they were on Joshi's camera. I believe there were no clear cut winners in this pie fight =0)

Last Summers fashions

2011-04-29T09:35:00.000-07:00

I just uploaded 300+ photos from Joshi's camera from the last year. So, I', going to have to post a few of my favorites in the next few weeks. This was Joshi and Billi playing fashion model when I bought them matching tutu's from Costco. Can't wait for that summer tanned skin again :o)

Easter Egg dying

2011-04-26T11:18:00.000-07:00

Last Friday night, dying Easter eggs at the Francis residence. I'm already falling behind in my blogging again. Turns out having a 1, 3, and 6 year old and only one parent at home takes up ALOT of your time :o) We pick up Elwood at the airport this Friday night for a fews days, so we are all excited about that.

Cry Bunny

2011-04-24T20:34:00.000-07:00

OK, we did have a fantastic Easter (Resurrection Sunday) but our new charge is teething. And she is freaking out a little and cries when ever I put her down. Tomorrow she turns 1. Hopefully, we can find a way to make her smile on her birthday.

Nature Girls

2011-04-24T19:05:00.000-07:00

The last meeting of the Nature Girls was Monday. First, they did a cute craft. Bird feeders, made out out milk cartons. Then they went on an Easter egg hunt.

C'mon it's tradition

2011-04-21T17:44:00.001-07:00

it's Easter time again and the pet deemed most suitable most be stuffed into the bunny suit for my amusement. Rest in peace Dumbkin, you made a darn good bunny.

The Sheehans annual Easter egg hunt

2011-04-19T07:34:00.000-07:00

2011-04-18T10:46:00.000-07:00

The kids showing off some of the loot they got in their eggs.

Here's a close up of cute little Emery. I just got her Friday night so, I still have little info. on her case and don't know how long she'll be staying with us.

Dinner after the hunt.

Back to blogging

2011-04-17T11:39:00.000-07:00

Elwood is on the road so, I have to get back to blogging. I bought a new camera, so here are some pics from today. It finally stopped raining so we took a walk with the dog and then got Noki(the cat) and Zumba to play with each other.

Here is Zumba with his latex booties. He jumped up and scratched the face of our new baby girl so now he has to wear booties. He's had them on for a couple days and he is pretty much use to them. He only chews on them when he's bored.
Here are the girls Easter outfits. Mimi and Pap pap sent them money so they could buy hats to go with there dresses. Joshi already had to pay 50% for her dress because she picked the most expensive dress in the store.

Meet Zumba

2011-03-17T18:01:00.000-07:00

Well, today was a big day(besides being St. Patricks day) I finally got my little dog. He's a Chiuaua mix. We named him Zumba. Thats the name of the dance/ exercise classes I started doing at the gym with Mikel. They are fun and exhausting. Zumba the dog is 11 weeks old and adorable. Joshi was beside herself with happiness. Elwood refused to speak to me for almost an hour. I thought it would be worse really. But I brought the puppy home while his mom was here visiting so he couldn't act too badly in front of his mom right?

So, the snow finally decided to come

2011-02-28T17:12:00.000-08:00

Joshi had 2 snow days last week. But today we actually had some serious accumulation today. They reported 4 inches/ per hour. We've gotten a few feet and its still coming. And we finally got to make a snowman this year. The rest of our snowfall wasn't good packing snow.

Chinese New Year Party

2011-02-09T21:45:00.000-08:00

The Chinese New Year party was fantastic. Instead of inviting 10+ kids and their possible siblings. I kept it down to Joshi's best friends (and boyfriend) and it was much more managable. The kids actually sat at the table to bead the Chinese New Year bracelet. There were 2 other crafts ( cards and scratch dragons) that even the little ones could do. We ordered WAY too much Chinese food and just finished eating the left overs today. And I need a new C N Y party game. We had a fierce competition of marshmellow/chopstick races. But we need a new game for next year... any suggestion?

Happy Chinese New Year

2011-02-03T19:28:00.000-08:00

We are having our C N Y party tomorrow afternoon. Some of Joshi's school mates are coming home with her on the bus and we will have Chinese food for lunch and do crafts and play games. On the Jaylan front, he is still with us. Reunification is crawling along. He actually had an overnight visit with his mom this week. There are two scheduled for next week. We have mixed feelings about having him go. We will definitely miss him, but it sure was peaceful the night he was visiting his mom :0)

The Tooth Fairy's 1st Visit

2011-01-19T21:04:00.000-08:00

Joshi has been waiting for Ever to lose a tooth. Her dentist said this tooth was loose 6 months ago, so it's about time. The tooth fairy left her $5. That was big bucks until we found out today, she checked out 3 DVD's on Dec. 20th that she forgot about. Now she has has a $15 late fee. Fiscal responsibility sucks. The quicker you learn that lesson that better.

Creating Cupcakes

2011-01-18T09:45:00.000-08:00

This is our first family cupcake night. Joshi bought me this great cupcake book for Christmas. (What's New Cupcake?) So, the plan is to make a new cupcake design once a month. I guess my plan to get Billi off sugar, to help bring her 'crazy' under control will have to wait. Cupcake night was a big hit. These were suppose to be silly looking monsters. They looked better in the book. But our monsters had character, if not a few emotional problems.

Billi Bunny takes on 2011

2011-01-04T20:22:00.000-08:00

Here's to a great new year. 2011. Whatever will be will be, but my beautiful bunny seems to be very excited about the future :o) My personal resolution is to keep my life in balance. I am so excited to start a new year. I wish all of you who read this the very best in 2011. Bless you!

Santa Lap, take 2

2010-12-24T08:37:00.000-08:00

This was our second time visiting a Santa. Jaylan would not go for it either time. The first time when I tried to push him toward Santa he started crying. This time I was holding him. And when I went to put him down (still quite a distance from the Santa) he clawed at my faced trying to stay up. Its unfortunate how quickly his nails grow.

Christmas Break

2010-12-18T08:41:00.001-08:00

ATTACK WITH RUDOLF

Its officially Xmas vacation for Joshi. She came home from school super crazy yesterday. I decided it would be a good time to decorate Christmas cookies. But I realize I'm going to need to come up with a lot of activities to keep them occupied this week.

2 year old in glasses

2010-12-13T13:26:00.000-08:00

Now the question is how do you actually get a 2 year to wear her glasses. I can't get this 2 year old to stop chucking her scrambled eggs into the Xmas tree. So you could say she's not very co-operative. I bribe her to put the glasses on in the morning by offering her a piece of gum. That lasts about an hour. More if she's distracted.

A gaggle of princesses off to the movies

2010-12-06T10:19:00.001-08:00

Here is our group princesses at the movie theater. We all went to see the movie Tangled. I LOVED it. I can't wait for it to come out on DVD.
OK, maybe I was a little too excited!

Here's cuties Mikel and Bailey. It was their bright idea for the whole affair.

A gaggle of princesses off to the movies

2010-12-06T10:15:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-30T19:00:00.000-08:00

The 3 musketeers in the Sheehan backyard. Braving the cold for the unexpected fireworks display. It was great having Thanksgiving with our favorite Welches Family for the second year in a row.I love that there is an adult table and a kids table. It reminds me of big family gatherings when I was growing up. My little evangelist (Joshi) always suggests grace before a meal .. even if its not at our house. I wish I had her bravery.
We had much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season. Good friends to spend the holiday with. Troubled friendships that will withstand the test of time. Health problems that tapped into our fears and insisted we rely on our faith. Surprisingly instant joy, like our foster son delivered to us within 4 hrs. notice, and he has brought immense joy to our family for over a month now. Blessed our we.

3 weeks - not enough

2010-11-17T21:13:00.000-08:00

We all love Jaylan. Surprisingly, I have become fond of his birth parents, and their extremely complicated case. Friday they petition for he's immediate return. And I have promised to be there in court with him to support them. Of course, the selfish part of me wants to keep him for Thanksgiving and Christmas too!

-update- we get Jaylan for a little bit longer. The judge is very much in favor of putting birth families back together no matter what. So, they just have to follow the steps to get there. But it will be at least 2-3 weeks more. The birth moms visits will be stepped up. Right now, I drive him in to Gresham once a week. I'm not sure what that will increase to.

2010-11-09T19:28:00.000-08:00

Life with Jaylan

2010-11-05T19:20:00.000-07:00

We got an emergency certification to foster parent a boy over the weekend. A 2o month old sweet heart. I love this guy. I thought it was just going to be the weekend so I'm super happy I got him the whole week... but I'd really like him for a long time. His Aunt is in the process of getting certified to foster him, if that works out he may be gone next week. The girls have a lot of fun with him. Well, Billi is EXTREMELY jealous of "the baby". But they still have fun.

Harvest Party at School

2010-10-30T17:44:00.000-07:00

Roller Skating in her 6th Year!

2010-10-24T21:51:00.000-07:00

The big roller rink partE was great fun. Pretty much no one knew how to skate. But we had the employees tighten up the bearings and everyone had the hang of it 2 hours later. I ordered too much food, bought glow necklaces none of the kids would wear, and worried too much. Soooo, preparation is NOT everything. All in all, it was a great success.

Turning 6

2010-10-22T08:10:00.000-07:00

Joshi turned 6 on Thursday. We brought cupcakes into class for snack But the big rollerskating party isn't until Saturday. Actually, I'm starting to freak out at how many people I invited. But you have to invite the whole class if you want to hand out invitations at school. Elwood is, of course, out on the road. I wish there was a rent-a-husband service for events like this. He'd probably like that too. He'd tell me to use it even if he was home so he could stay home and sleep in.

I had our pastor over and her 4 girls after school so Joshi had a birthday play date. She opened some presents with breakfast and we had a cake with dinner. So, she gets to have 2 birthdays this week basically.

Pumpkin Patch Excursion

2010-10-16T20:26:00.000-07:00

Now you can just go out and grab a pumpkin

you can stew over the decision, like a teenager standing before her closet.

Eventually, everyone was happy with there pumpkin choices.

But we had a great time at our impromptu trip to the pumpkin patch this Saturday. Joshi goes again on Wednesday with School but Billi could not be left out of the fun. The had a pony ride(Joshis' ride was more like a horse), went in the kids play center, and then "inspecting" pumpkins more than picking them. Then to get them to leave the festival quietly, I bribed them with Mc Donald's for dinner. And, just in case, any social workers read this post I won't disclose how many times thats makes it this week. I don't want to get blacklisted for nutritionally depriving my children.

2010-10-16T19:52:00.000-07:00

This was our big pumpkin haul. The pumpkins have survived the night. If Billi hasn't smashed them by morning, we may paint them tomorrow. Thats the plan anyway. I can't commit to carving. I can't handle removing all the squishy guts.

Joshi on Tour

2010-10-12T16:00:00.000-07:00

Some pics of Joshi on tour

Oregon State Fair

2010-10-06T23:34:00.000-07:00

Best petting Zoo ever!! Here the deer is eating Joshis skirt.

Different girls, different temperaments. Joshi was petrified of this ride and Billi loved it.

Everyones a winner! That way we have 2 huge inflatable hammer prizes at home. I'm thinking of letting the girls work out their differences in a trampoline/ inflatable hammer cage match.

Billi looks deceptively innocent on this pony ride.

Well, now that Elwood is back in town I have my camera back (and the photos that were on it). So, we are going back in time for a few posts. This one is when we went to the state fair and got to visit Daddy at work. Although all these photos are of the fun we had together during the day before the concert.

Apple picking in Hood River

2010-09-25T09:51:00.000-07:00

Finally some warm sunny days. I'm trying to get in the mood for autumn so I took the girls apple picking. Soon it will be pumpkins. Billi is still upset every morning when Joshi goes off to school. So much for enjoying having mom and the house to herself. One more week and Daddys home for a 9 day visit. Then all will be right with the world.

First Day of KinderGarden

2010-09-07T08:46:00.000-07:00

The big day finally arrived. Joshi managed to fall asleep last night but I hardly could. I was so excited for her. Her little sister is not happy she climbed up on a big yellow bus and drove off into the morning mist. But as you can tell from the photos, Joshi was ecstatic. Her grandparents came in from the east coast to share in the big step, which added greatly to the magnitude of the event.

A dress for every occasion

2010-08-16T11:52:00.000-07:00

I was starting to wash the glass doors when the girls insisted on helping. But Joshi had to run up and change first She has to put on her "raggy Cinderella" dress. You know the one before the ball.

2 years of Tyranny

2010-08-14T09:28:00.000-07:00

And we we're extremely happy to celebrate the 2nd year of having Billi home from Ethiopia. We went into Portland so we could go to a fancy Ethiopian restaurant. First, we stopped to pick up our friends the Larrisons. Notice from the photos how an evening for Billi goes. A quick run threw the sprinkler- Billi uses it for a weapon. Then change into Ethiopian dresses for dinner. Just before that photo, Billi had dropped a full lemonade all over the floor. Then in Billis world, the crazed Portland homeless come up offering to make balloon animals. Its good to be a 2 yr old Tyrant.

Baileys Sleepover

2010-08-12T11:03:00.000-07:00

sprinkler trampoline

pre-school playground

1st art project of the evening

Joshi got to have a friend sleep over last night. It was a rousing success. We started the evening with an art project drawing on our sliding glass doors. Then we went to the local playground . And then to Subway for dinner. It was pretty cold but the girls we up for a round of sprinkler trampoline. Warmed up with a bubble bath, then cooled down with an ice cream sundae.

2010-08-12T10:37:00.000-07:00

Here are the girls hard at work on their second art project, painting wooden wands.

Then we we created ice cream Sundaes in waffle cone bowls. They actually didn't eat that much of these. I think they wanted to make sure they left room for all the Cheetos they planned to eat during the movies.

Joshi and and Baily finally ditched Billi(the 2 yr old pest) when she fell asleep in my bed at 9:30. I really don't even know when the party officially ended because I fell asleep before them. But I think it was close to midnight. But I was awoken by little voices at 7 am. So much for sleeping in.

Empty Nest Syndrome

2010-08-01T09:27:00.000-07:00

This is the daddy bird keeping an eye on the box in the tree with his baby bird.

And below is baby bird still alive after the big storm =0)

Well I really didn't think I'd be experiencing empty nest syndrome until the girls left for college but I got a literal case of it this morning. It all started Friday when I heard the girls getting serious on the back deck in their adventure play. It turned out they were throwing rocks at our cat to keep it from eatting a baby bird that had fallen out of its nest. Since here in the Cascades, trees are 100's of feet off the ground, we couldn't exactly find the nest and return the bird. We could see the daddy bird staying near by singing. At one point I held the baby bird up and he flew and hovered near us to see the baby. When Elwood came home he got a ladder and put a little nest as far up as he could in a nearby tree. The dady bird fed him almost immediatly. From our bird book we figured they were Western Tanagers. That night we had lightning/thunder storm -not normal for here). I was quite happy to scale the ladder and see my little bird alive Saturday morning. This morning, however, I was worried I didn't hear him peeping. When I got to the top of the ladder I was shocked to see an empty nest. I guess our little guy figured out how to fly.

Who ate all the blue berries?

2010-07-24T19:39:00.000-07:00

No, we didn't eat all the blue berries. Its pretty funny that they can be totally unaware of the food all over their faces when their done eating. Hands they notice but you have to drag them in front of a mirror to convince them there is something on their face.
Tomorrow night we get to go pick up daddy at the airport. The girls are very excited. We get to squeeze in 4 days of summer with the complete family.

confidence and attitude

2010-07-20T13:53:00.001-07:00

My girls don't run low on either confidence or attitude. As you can tell from the photo Billi is picking up some posing techniques from Joshi.

....fair con't

2010-07-15T10:36:00.000-07:00

This was the only thing we actually purchased there. Although there were tons of vendors. Its just not possible to shop with kids. Unless Joshi spots a new pink fancy outfit. She can muster the energy required to behave in a shop.

Parachute games with a bunch of hippies. Note: the the little bare butted child on the right in the photo above. long hair, purple fairy wings. Also you can't see, glittery princess make- up and penis showing. indentity crisis at 2 yrs old?

There were several stages set up in various spots. It was a sprawling village in the forest. We mainly saw music performances. Also a pretty funny juggling show.

Oregon Country Fair

2010-07-15T09:02:00.000-07:00

I took the girls to the Oregon Country Fair last week end.

Here they are at a booth set up to make hats, a free activity. As you can tell they had a great time doing this. The time put into this activity was really impressive. Quality papers died, they let the kids(and adults) use oil pastels to draw their designs, and then fit every hat to their heads. Cut a hole in the top for Joshi's pony tail to come thru :0) They could make as many as they wanted.

Joshi's first sleep over

2010-07-11T21:16:00.000-07:00

Joshi had her first sleep over at Baileys house. She had a blast. For the full editorial and photo spread you have to click to go to their family blog A glimpse of our everyday adventures

The Nature Girls

2010-07-08T21:48:00.000-07:00

Joshi's group of girls went hiking today. Everyone had a great time. It was a hot day for a hike but its always about ten degrees cooler in the woods. Everyone packed a lunch. The girls played tag in the woods after lunch. Then they cooled off in the super cold river on the hike back. There was a super bummer at the end though. Someone had broke into 3 cars at the trail head. And one of the cars belonged to someone in our group. The moms purse was taken, window broken, etc. Unfortunately, not an uncommon happening. It happened to me at a different trail 5 years ago.

Hike at Wildwood

2010-07-06T22:10:00.000-07:00

picking out their favorite rocks

yippee, we finally hiked the boardwalk educational trail. I never realized it was there.

Happy 4th of July

2010-07-04T08:53:00.000-07:00

On Friday, We went to a 4th BBQ at Mikels house. Typical Oregon weather didn't stop the festivities. Joshi and Biili had fun with their friends and got to wear the patriotic shirts MiMi and Pap Pap sent them. (Thank you Mimi and Pap Pap) Luckily, kids don't mind playing in the rain and everyone was pretty muddy on the ride home.

This is Joshi showing off the spoiled American girl attitude she's perfected. The look she's giving me because I dared to pick this outfit out for her and she was "nervous" going to a party not wearing a dress.

more photos

2010-07-02T12:43:00.000-07:00

This is a photo of billi's first tattoo. She earned this for pooping on the potty. This use to be a normal occurrence. I thought she would be getting potty trained over the spring but instead she retreated into being a baby again.

Now, heres the weirdest cat I ever met. When the girls were taking a bath the other day the kitten actually jumped in with them. She jumped right out. But instead of high tailing it out of there :o) she stayed around and continued to jump in and out. I think she went in 4 times in all.

Here are a couple more photos from the other day. The was also a carousel where they held the On World festival in Salem, OR. I have to try to catch up on my photos since the summers about to swing into high.

One World Festival

2010-06-27T09:00:00.001-07:00

Joshi got a new parasol to match her dress and protect herself from the sun

drumming in the Africa section

buying this large basket made of river reeds for $25 will feed a child for 6 weeks in Uganda

I took the girls to Salem, OR Saturday to the One World Festival. It was very impressive- really big. We saw Dragon dances, cloggers, Russian dancers. OK, I just asked Joshi what we did there. She said we got to taste some different noodles (from the Filipino stand) and we saw clowns ( ? I think she is talking about the men in the native american dress) The girls were exhausted by the end. Just enough energy to ride the carasel before going home. The ride home would have been perfect nap length ( 1hr 35mins) had I not missed my exit (making it closer to 2 hrs. and 35 mins.) Thats thats the problem with the fact that I'm usually taking the nap too. I don't function well on long days out at the mid day point.

Good Hair Day

2010-06-23T09:36:00.000-07:00

Ok photographic proof that for about 25 minutes, once a week, Billi has pretty knot free controlled curls. And for the rest of the time its an increasing crazy mess. Once a week while she's in the shower with me, I put a ton of deep conditioner in it, leave it in for at least 15 minutes and then run my fingers thru the knots while she screams bloody murder. I always thinks she's going to hold this process against me and love me less at the end of it. It seems pretty traumatic. But so far our relationship had survived :0) But the good hair doesn't last long, especially since she likes to rub leaves and dirt in it as soon as she gets outside to play.

The Zoo

2010-06-18T18:58:00.000-07:00

Today was suppose to be a trip to the zoo with friends but we never did run into them. Never the less, we spent almost 5 hours at the zoo and only saw a fraction of the exhibits. We did see the robotic dinosaur exhibit thats new. The T rex at the end was pretty big and scary but I think we enjoyed the spitting dinosaurs the best. The girls sat in a life size bald eagles nest. Put their hand prints on the walls where the new primates exhibit is being built. All things we never did at the zoo before. So it was fun.

Oink, We did it again!

2010-06-16T15:54:00.000-07:00

Joshi came up with the name for this dinner. PIGS IN THE HAY.

This is how you eat pigs in the hay.

I just really love the cheap simplistic way you can shove spaghetti into hot dogs and call it dinner. Ok not nutritional but fun and the kids can do it. Joshi cut the dogs with a butter knife and helped with the spaghetti. Billi managed to eat three hot dogs while she supervised.

Camping

2010-06-14T07:09:00.000-07:00

We had a surprise camping trip. You can do that when you basically live in a camp ground. Barbara's family called on their way to the camp ground and said they were staying the weekend. We definitely wanted to make the most of the sunny weekend. So we cooked out Friday night with them and actually managed to spend the entire night Saturday night. Despite the fact that Joshi puked in the tent. I think from too many Doritos and excitement. It was quite fun!

The Evil Smile

2010-06-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

There are no stools in the bathrooms anymore, as to slow her ascent. But she can still scale the cabinets pretty quickly. In the photo she's on the bathroom counter with a bottle of windex and the liquid hand soap making a potion. With her crazy morning 'fro and the background of all our crosses she kind of looks like an old voodoo witch doctor :0) Alright, maybe politically incorrect but a great photo of her mischievous evil smile

Pre-School Graduation

2010-06-08T14:48:00.000-07:00

Rain Rain go away. Its been raining a lot lately and I'm not just saying that because its Oregon. Its really been raining more than usual. Everyones been getting pretty cranky about the weather. By now its usual spring like, with summer on the way. But none the less the kids had a blast at graduation. I can't believe my little baby Joshi is going to Kindergarden this year. She's so ready to take on the BIG school. As she will quickly point out, she'll have more boys to choose from :o)

pink sand

2010-06-06T15:49:00.000-07:00

What will they think of next? Saturday morning Elwood was back to work and I had a couple of sad girls on my hands. Luckily Wal*mart is on the way back from the airport and when I'm picking up groceries I can usually pick up some small bribery types toys to cheer them up. The sun actually came out too, so we got a bag of pink sand to fill their sand box back up for summer. Unfortunately, our check out woman neglected to give me an entire bag of my groceries. I didn't remember until I was all the way home ( an hr. away) I've remembered $20 worth of items so far! Kind of defeats the purpose of shopping there for bargains.

Daddys home

2010-06-03T21:55:00.000-07:00

After being away at work for almost 2 months Elwood got to spend the week at home. Well six days anyway. All 3 of us girls were very glad to have hime home. It rained pretty much the entire time. So there was lots of hanging out and relaxing at home. Elwood will miss Joshi's graduation from pre-school by one day. That big event happens Sunday. You can tell by the photos my hair has changed colors again :0)

Muffaqui Junior II

2010-06-01T08:23:00.001-07:00

Well, Almost 4 weeks ago Muffaqui went out on an adventure and never came back. He was close to 16 years old. He was by far the most cuddlely lovable cat I ever had. We now only have one cat left of the pride we moved here from Texas with. Dumbkin is the last cat standing. He looks pretty old compared to all this new blood around. We named the new kitten Mufffaqui Junior the II as an homage to Muffaqui. Hopefully, he'll be half the love bug. As you can tell by the photos Joshi is super happy to have a new kitten. It was the only thing to stop the weeks of mourning. She can really pour out the emotions.

Billi's 1st moviee theater experience

2010-05-22T08:33:00.000-07:00

Friday we went to the opening of Shrek IIII. Billis first time in a movie theater. The experience started with Mikel locking her keys in her car so we car pooled in my car. That might have been the best part for billi. She got to sit on the regular seat with the big girls and we managed to fit 4 kids in my back seat. ( gets ya thinking, doesn't it Elwood. No? ok) The kids ate their lunch out of Ziplock bags and Joshi led the group in songs.

The 2nd photo is Billi running to catch up as we go into the theater. She's old enough to go to the movie theater but she's not leaving her blankie in the car. The movie was in 3-D. Billi couldn't wear the glasses. She paid attention for the first 15-20 minutes. Then she paid attention to the enormous amount of candy and popcorn we had. I only had to take her out of the theater towrds the very end. All in all, I think all the kids that went had a good time.

Playground in Sandy

2010-05-20T09:27:00.000-07:00

Billi looks so big in this pic. Surveying her kingdom =0)

There has been quite a bit of rain (as usual) this spring. So trips to the play ground are super exciting. This year Billi can do pretty much anything Joshi can on the playground equipment. The playground in Sandy is great, I wish it was our local one.

Snake Hunting

2010-05-16T21:29:00.000-07:00

Joshi's cat Daphnee is a hunting machine. We were outside yesterday (I finally fixed the trampoline) and Daphnee ran by with a mole in her mouth, than a snake, than a bird. This was all with in an hour. The snake was injured but still alive, so we investigated it for a while. I picked it up with a stick and Joshi put him in the insect playground the easter bunny left her. These are the types of things I thought I'd get away without doing by adopting girls.

Play date with Lenea

2010-05-08T11:07:00.001-07:00

Stamping

2010-05-02T17:22:00.000-07:00

There's stamping and there's looking good stamping. Joshi can't help but give me one of her fashion model poses. Even when stamping.

Cheese Thief

2010-04-29T08:51:00.000-07:00

So this is how my 2 year old looks after I've told her she's had enough of the cheese. (complete with tears) Billi really likes to eat cheese!
This is how she looks when she's snuck behind my back, climbed up on a stool grabbed the block of cheese off the cutting board and taken a few bites.
Its serious business being a cheese thief. She's learned everything she's she's knows from Dumbkin the cat, "Original Cheese Thief"
Being two can be very satisfying.
Until your 5 year old sister comes along!

Day two couch and movies

2010-04-27T14:39:00.000-07:00

Sickness and movie-athon go hand and hand. We've spent two day moping around not feeling too great but I think were on the mend. Hopefully tomorrow we'll actually go out and do something. We bathed tonight in anticipation of just that. Now if the sun would just come out and my trampoline would magically fix itself, I could start my spring.

Nature Vs. Trampoline

2010-04-21T07:43:00.000-07:00

Dead tree down. These are the photos after Mikell and I got most of the tree remains off our trampoline. Not too much damage was done but jumping has been temporarily suspended. It happened yesterday morning. I think I'll just have to order one part. Right now I'm more worried about the fact that I'm about to leave to get in a pool with 10 pre-schoolers. I unknowingly volunteered for joshi's class on swim lesson day ;0)

30 fingers painting

2010-04-18T08:08:00.000-07:00

Spring cleaning is going VERY slowing. I organized the kids craft closet this week. So we used up the finger paint that Joshi got when she was a baby. Joshi asked me to join in. And finger painting really is fun. Once you get over the fact that you hands are submerged in a slimey substance, its quite freeing. So note: to any family members that may need to commit me some day, choose a facility with art therapy.

Face Painting

2010-04-15T19:31:00.000-07:00

I really don't let Billi do nearly as many creative things as I did with Joshi. I don't have as much time or as much tolerance for mess. When Joshi was a pre-school this week I got out the face paint. I figured I owed it to Billi to do a project just for her. It became obvious quickly that to obtain maximum fun she had to have total creative control. She painted my face little too.

NoiZe

2010-04-12T19:28:00.000-07:00

Here's the dialogue to this jam session. " NO! Billi. Don't Step on

that pedal. Thats mine."

Joshi's Diamonds

2010-04-09T16:56:00.000-07:00

Well really they're cubic zirconias. But none the less, Joshi braved the piercing gun. (actually she cried hysterically) It definitely felt like a rite of passage. Now for the 3 times a day ritual cleaning and turning.

Easter Festivities

2010-04-05T10:41:00.001-07:00

Here are the girls dressed in their Easter dresses getting ready for church. And Joshi showing the bug carnival the Easter bunny left her. We'll have lots of fun catching unsuspecting insects this spring.

Easter morning Mikel had a bunch of kids over to have an Easter egg hunt in their back yard. They all had a blast. They have the perfect backyard for an egg hunt. It was like an Easter jungle. Then we got to come to their house that night for dinner. They really make it feel like we have family in Welches.

Saturdays Egg hunt at the golf course was a little chilly. Billi was a little apprehensive. Elwood took Joshi to her age groups hunt. He said she totally froze up. She was a little upset she didn't get too many eggs. But then after everyone got a prize.

Trampoline Fun

2010-04-02T14:16:00.000-07:00

The trampoline was just as much fun as I remember. We had to move some heavy rocks and dig a little to actually fit the 15ft trampoline in. Elwood says this is going to be like a babysitter in a cage.

Coloring Easter Eggs

2010-04-01T18:08:00.001-07:00

We had fun dying Easter eggs today. Our little friends Bailey, Caleb, and Helen came over. Then after the eggs we got to test out the trampoline. I'll upload those pics next.