Out with the old, in with the new

Emily is so excited! She lost her first tooth! We were at Grandma and Grandpa's in Idaho when she lost it so the Washington Tooth fairy didn't visit until she was sleeping at home in her bed. Its been loose for awhile and Ryan wanted to pull it out for her but she wouldn't let him touch it. It fell out when she was eating one day and now she has a lovely gap in her bottom teeth.

Take 35

When you have a large family it's very challenging to take a good family picture. Traditionally we always take a family pic at Christmas so we have one to send out with our Christmas letters. This year we took a total of 35 family pictures at different times and in different settings hoping for just one where we were all smiling or at least all looking at the camera. Needless to say the kids are good at their fake smiles and "Cheese"s now. Thought I'd share a couple that just didn't make the cut. This was taken in the evening and Rylan just wasn't his happy self. Lila also looks like she can't believe we would ask her to do such a thing as smile at this time in her life. The next one shows Rylan feeling the same way and Lila going into shock that yes, we are taking ANOTHER picture. This next one you will notice Lila is distracted by the fact that Rylan is holding her cell phone. At least she is smiling. I also look like I am going to fall asleep because we took this shot at about 7:30 a.m. before Emily had to go out to catch the school bus.

Swing Hogs

Just call us the swing hogs. You may be joyfully playing at the park with your little one and see us coming in the distance. That's when you know the fun is over. Might as well just leave. Here is a pic of our kids playing at the park. They take up all the swings! What a bunch of bullies - hogging the swings from all those other little kids! Actually when I took this picture we were the only ones at the playground. There was a dad and his little boy there when we first showed up, but they left pretty quick when they saw us!

Ready, Set, WALK!

Exactly 15 months after the day he was born Rylan started walking. He has been so close for so long and he finally got up the courage to try it and realize yes, he could do it! Now he is ambling all over the house. Ryan and I couldn't help but think he was behind since all three of the girls walked at or before 11 months. We've been told by others that boys are usually slower to accomplish things. Whether that is true or not, its just so amazing to see our little boy walking around!

First Snow

The first winter snow fell this morning. The girls had to go outside and catch some on their tongues as soon as they noticed it out the window. It was pretty fun to watch them running around celebrating God's wonderful creation of SNOW! There wasn't any accumulation on the ground after the little storm, but we are hoping God will send more soon and we will have enough to make a snowman.

Bundle Up and Stay Warm

It was time to get out the scarves, hats and mittens this week. The temperatures dropped to freezing but we stayed warm inside with the wood stove going. John, Amy, and Grace came for Thanksgiving Day and overheated. Sorry about that - guess we've gotten used to having it warm. That wood stove really puts out the heat! We ventured outside Friday night to hang Christmas lights so the girls all were bundled up in their winter wear. Then today we walked over to the neighbors yard to cut down our Christmas tree. Don't worry we had permission from him to take one of the cute noble firs growing over there. The girls also were hoping to go ice skating on the pond. It froze over, but it wasn't quite thick enough to hold them. Maybe later in the season. Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!

Raise Your Hand if You're Sure

Rylan is growing up quickly. He is already combing his own hair and wearing deodorant. Actually these pictures show him getting ready for church as Daddy combs his hair and he plays with all the toiletries in our bathroom. He keeps us smiling!

Portland Children's Museum

We took a trip to Portland today with Aunt Tami and Grandma Far Away. The last time we were at the Children's Museum, I was pregnant with Lila. All the kids had fun getting their hands (and sleeves) wet in the waterworks, playing with clay, seeing the Arthur exhibit and lots of other fun stuff. Lunch at Red Robin ended our exciting day. That's something we don't get to do very often living out here in the back woods of Cathlamet. Thanks Tami and Grandma for the fun day!

Oreo Face

Rylan discovered Oreos today. Aunt Tami and Grandma Far Away came for a visit and brought us lots of snacks. All the kids think its great because its not very often that we buy stuff like that. It was very messy to say the least!

Happy Birthday Alaina!

Today was Alaina's big day! She turned 5 years old! Her long-awaited party consisted of: lots of spaghetti, butterfly birthday cake, ice cream, and ripping into presents (most importantly the one Emily picked out and could hardly keep a secret for 2 nights)!

Trick-or-Treat!

Minnie Mouse, a friendly tiger, a headless lion, and a caterpillar were spotted tonight prowling the streets in search of candy. Rylan wasn't too enthused about the whole costume idea. He wouldn't wear the hood part of his costume at all. As soon as it was put on his head he would rip it off. He was adorable anyway. Here is a BEFORE candy shot of Rylan:
Here is an AFTER candy shot of Rylan: He did enjoy himself!
The kids have taken inventory of their booty and all agree they made out quite well!

8 little pumpkins sitting on the porch

Soccer Stars

Ryan and I volunteered to coach little kids soccer this year. We had lots of fun trying to teach preschool to 1st grade kids some soccer skills. Today was our last game so I had to get some shots of our soccer stars in their gear. They are already talking about playing again next year. GO GREEN TEAM!

The Ups and Downs of Toddlerhood

The life of a two-year old is so hard! Lila lets me know that all the time. The good thing about toddlerhood is that the tears are often very quickly followed by great moments of joy. From tears to big smiles.

Green Green Grass

We mananged to get grass seed in before September ended and now we look outside and see lots of little blades of grass coming up in what was once a mud prairie. That's our back patio and you can see the beautiful green coming in quite nicely! The girls are looking forward to being able to run through the yard barefoot this summer.

Down by the Sea

John, Amy and Grace came for a visit earlier this week. We had fun hanging out with them and catching up. Tuesday morning before they had to go we took a quick trip to Seaside for Grace's first visit to the ocean. Alaina and Lila got to do some swinging on the beach. Thanks for coming for a visit J, A, and G! It was fun!

Mmmmm! Me want Brownies!

Rylan loves to pull himself up on the front of the oven and watch what is cooking!

Garden Beauties

Well, our garden is about at its end. We harvested a couple more veggies and lots of sunflowers. All that is still growing is our pumpkins. Here are some shots of the girls with some of the harvest.

Happy Birthday Rylan!

Rylan turned one today! This first picture shows his confused/shocked look when we all sang "Happy Birthday" to him. I don't think he moved the whole time. His dazed look was gone when he realized we were holding out a cake to him and he could touch it! Eating the cake and then ice cream was - from what we could tell - his favorite part. Opening and playing with the presents came a close second - even though most of the toys he received were quickly taken over by his big sisters.

First Day of First Grade!

Today was Emily's first day of school. She has been counting down the days for a while now and was quite excited to meet her new teacher and see her friends. She was excited to have her own desk, her own lunch box and get to ride the bus home for the first time!

Hikin' and Berry Pickin'

The last days of summer have been beautiful here in Cathlamet. We took a walk the other night on the wildlife reserve and had to take some pictures of God's beautiful creation. Today we took the youth group out to the beach for some swimming and tubing out on the river. The girls were quite enthused to find blackberries growing on the beach we were at. They spent at least an hour picking as many berries as they could reach. They ate quite a few as well. We didn't have anything to put the berries in so we used some paper plates left over from our lunch. We did have a few casualties on the boat ride back but I think enough survived to make some jam and maybe even a pie!