Scooter time!

A quick video of Matt and Alissa trying out Bethany's new scooter she got for her birthday. :) Jonathan got a ride too.. but hopped off after .2 seconds. Oh well. Alissa had a blast!!!!!

A day at the Dentist.

Alissa goes to see Dr. Dow.. Getting her fluoride treatment. Does she seem traumatized or what?? Hehe.. can you tell the dentist is one of her favorite places to go?? She got a pirate balloon and a princess toothbrush out of the deal too.. could life be any better?

Just so you don't think I'm too lucky with this whole thing for those mom's out there with kids who hate the dentist - Jonathan's turn was after Alissa. I would post a picture.. but I was too busy holding his arms as he screamed and clenched his jaw and tried to wriggle away from the dentist. Ya. Enough said I suppose.

Bethany's Birthday

For Bethany's birthday we went out to eat at Applebee's. The food was yummy and the kids had fun. Bethany of course was in heaven. She made friends with the waitress and enjoyed opening all of her gifts.

I had to post this picture - the look on Grandma's face is priceless.

During dinner Jonathan discovered that Caesar salad is his new favorite. He scarfed down pretty much all of Bethany's salad. What an awesome aunt he has!!
Happy 24th Beth!!!

Hello Sunshine.

Can you guess what's happening in the above picture? Probably not. This is me taking a picture while riding Alissa's bike with her on the back. Umm...ya.. this bike --> Alissa said "Mommy!! You look like a clown!!" Thanks baby! Now don't hold back! Hehe. We had a day full of sunshine last week and took full advantage. The kids had a blast.

Why does Jonathan look so happy in this picture? Notice a bit of mischief written on his face? Ya, that would be because when I took this picture he was running at me full speed.. why you ask??? To give me a hug?? Ooohh no.. to whack my with the blue Frisbee. Ahh my sweet two year old boy.

Now I lay me down to sleep..

So I post a lot of the above cute siblings sleeping together posts.. and it occurred to me that some might imagine they do not have their own beds. Hehe.. well let me explain. What you see above is what I find most mornings because the kiddos always sneak into my bed some time in the AM for some cuddle time. One on each side of me. When I get up.. they tend to roll towards where I was and BINGO we have siblings sleeping side by side and cute pictures for my blog. Just to prove they do sleep in their own beds every now and again :) I took these pictures the other night. Jonathan manages to be "cool" even when asleep. Cuddle my stuffed ball? Never!

And Alissa always buries herself under her horses and what you can't see is her pink doggy and her kitty that she is hugging tight.

I love my kids. More than words could express. And I love to watch them sleep.. so peaceful. The closest thing anyone will ever see to angels on earth.

Valentine's Day

I am behind..again.. so I am going to do a few separate posts. First off - Valentine's Day!! This year was an extra special Valentine's Day for Matt and I because we won a contest!! YIPPEE! It was on a radio station and my assignment was this: Write an email explaining why you think you and your Valentine deserve this prize package. And I wrote the following: "Hello! I am a twenty-eight year old mother of two. I have been married to Matt, the love of my life, for six years. Matt and I are true high school sweethearts. Not many couples can put their prom and honeymoon pictures side by side (see attached). Valentine's Day has always been a very special day for us to celebrate our love and friendship. The last few years have been hard on our family financially because it had been my dream and life's ambition to be my kids mom and stay home to raise them. Matt has worked long and hard hours to make this happen for our family. Matt is in law enforcement. His job is very trying on him physically and emotionally but he does it every day to provide for our family without complaint. Because of the nature of law enforcement and the grueling hours involved, Matt has missed a lot of holidays with the family including our special day - Valentine's Day. He makes me feel like the luckiest woman alive and I am so proud of all he does for me and his kids. I was supposed to write about why I believed we deserved this wonderful Valentine's Day gift, but truly I am writing this for him. He is my hero and my heart. His sacrifices for family and his community are endless and this prize would be such a welcome relief for my Valentine. Thank you so much. " - The day before Valentine's Day I told Matt to turn on the radio and we needed to hear something because I entered a contest - it was the first I had mentioned it to him. Well, much to our surprise it was announced that we WON!! :) When I called and talked to the DJ he said that they received a TON of entries and a lot of them were heart-wrenching stories (tragedy, loss of kidneys, death, etc etc) and they decided to pick our story for a couple of reasons - first off they were impressed that I attached the pictures of honeymoon/prom and second because it was so "real" and just a cute story. COOL! Oh, guess you are wondering what we won?? Hehe.. We won dinner for two at the Willamette Valley Grill, a his and hers massage, and a plane ride over the city!! We still haven't cashed in on our prizes because.. surprise surprise Matt had to work.. but are SO excited! We are scheduled to fly on March 1st - I will take pics and post! :)

Library Sleepover!

So Friday night we arrived at the library at 6:30 and were told we could sleep wherever we wanted so we hurried to the children's section upstairs and found a spot - this isle was all ours!! It was Alissa, Jonathan, myself, Kendra, Porter, and the Sinks family -- too cool! They had crafts set up all over the library for kids to do - most to do with airplanes/flight. First thing was first though, Alissa and I rushed to get our faces painted! Ali insisted we match. Jonathan refused any paint on his face..no way man! After crafts and fun we headed to the big auditorium where a professional story teller awaited us. We had a BLAST! Jonathan (my budding photographer) walked around snapping random pictures of people it was hilarious. Here is the picture he took of me and Bethany. After the story teller and a snack of pretzels and juice provided by the library we headed to set up camp and pick out some library books for the night. Oh, forgot.. after the stories there was a raffle, and all of the kids got to pick a prize - we got a couple books and two tickets to the Oregon aquarium. After getting our pj's on, brushing our teeth, and settling in the lights were turned out in the library. We brought out our flashlights and read stories together - For Ali it was a kids monster story hehe and for Jon Yertle the Turtle by Dr. Seuss. Jonathan fought sleep with all his might but eventually surrendered to exhaustion. That's when I hid under the blanket with a flashlight and got a few precious quiet moments alone with my book and my flashlight. There was a wake up call over the intercom at 7am and lights when on at 7:05. I woke up the kids at 7:30 and we packed up and headed downstairs for juice, coffee, and muffins. It was a fantastic adventure and we plan on returning every year. If I didn't mention it before - the whole sleepover was a reward for the kids keeping the TV off for a week. So great! We were able to make wonderful memories and hang out with friends. Life is good.