Where's the Cheese?

Ya know how you reach the end of summer and then ask yourself "what have I done this summer?" and then get this desire to go on a trip? That was us this weekend. We haven't seen Dave's sister Kristin and her family pretty much the whole summer so we went with them and Tracee to Tillamook on Saturday. It was fun although I had problems with the drive because my back still hurts. We went first to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Did you know it takes 10 pounds of milk to make a block of cheese? It is kind of fascinating watching all the factory workers processing these HUGE blocks of cheese and breaking them down into small blocks. And of course you can't go to the cheese factory without getting some ice cream. Cookies and cream, and strawberry cheesecake...yum!
After we went to the coast and it was sunny for about half the time we were there. Then it got a bit windy and cloudy, but at least we did have some sun and it was still enjoyable! There was this big cliff and at the bottom there was this long dark tunnel you could walk through to get to the other side. It was weird how the weather was very different and a lot more windy on one side than on the other.
It was nice to get one last beach trip in before the end of summer and go with fun people.






Last week we also started some solid foods for Taylor. I think she is going through some growth spurt or something (I mean is that even possible?) because she is wanting to eat at all hours of the night. It is still so funny to see babies eat foods for the first time and how fascinated they are by the spoon! funny kid



On Friday Sammy's cousin Eric came up to play for the day while everyone helped Tracee move to her new abode. It was a fun day going to lunch with Lacey and making sugar cookies! I found some really cute alphabet cookie cutters at a garage sale that are from Williams Sonoma. I told Dave we have finally made it because we now own something from Williams Sonoma, we have moved to middle class! :)

All in all it was a fun weekend! And, my soccer team won the championship this season! woo hoo!

Oi! My back

This week has been fun...but very painful. I have realized that I am an old lady because last week I threw my back out! And a few hours later played a double header with my co-ed soccer team! Looking back I probably shouldn't have done that. I took the two girls to a parade last Saturday and went to pick up Taylor...and zing! Wow I have a really bad back, although have you seen the size of that baby lately?! It's no wonder I threw my back out. So this week I have been so sore and in a lot of pain, but have still been trying to keep moving. I think I need a couple of really good days to rest my back.
I still tried to do some fun things with the girls this week. I took the girls to the zoo the other day because it was the baby elephants birthday! We were sitting down for the bird show they were putting on, and they have the birds fly across the audience to a podium. Well this one big hawk missed his mark and went into a tree, where a lady was sitting under and was about to eat her lunch. Right as she is about to take a bite, plop! The hawk aimed a deuce all over this lady and her food! It was so sad, but I could not stop laughing!! poor lady.


The next day we went to a fun lunch with some ladies in the ward. We hung out eating, while all the kiddos ran around playing. It was so much fun and even the babies had a party hanging out together lying on a blanket. There's something so rejuvenating about hanging out with women and jabbering! Fun!



And last week Sammy got a haircut that she was in desperate need of. Now she has a cute little bob!

Goings on!

I feel like we have been really busy doing stuff the last few weeks, or maybe I have just not been able to organize my time enough to blog about it. But have been doing fun things.
A couple of weeks ago we went to downtown Portland on a Friday night and they had the "flicks on the bricks" where they showed "The Three Amigos" on a huge screen right in the middle of the square! It was so much fun and there were tons of people. Of course! It's a classic! We also went to the Washington County Fair, and Sammy was all dressed up in her pink cowboy hat and pink cowboy boots!

We also had these ginormous corn dogs that were delicious! And yes we did eat the whole thing!

Taylor has hit the 4 1/2 months old mark. Wow time is flying by! And she is still as huge as ever, and just as sweet and cuddly. Her favorite place to be is in the baby bjorn sling and she is as happy as can be! And that is probably the easiest place for her to fall asleep too. Last weekend we went to the Bite of Oregon downtown and Dave had her strapped on to his chest. He noticed there was a lady across the way that was secretly taking pictures of her, because she had fallen asleep and looked so cute. Dave caught her eye and she finally came over almost crying saying what a beautiful baby she was! It was a little crazy, and she may have been a little drunk too.


Lately with Sam I have been trying to find a Preschool which has been crazy! One, because she's old enough to be in Preschool, and two, it's hard to find a Preschool that isn't $800 a month! Ridiculous. Unfortunately we are in the bracket of making too much money to get any scholarships or financial assistance, but we don't make enough to afford these outrageous tuition costs! And I'm really not interested in a co-op right now because I have another kid and half the reason I want her in a preschool is to have a little time to get other things done and errands run while she gets to have fun.....sigh....I think I've found a good place though, but it is a little expensive. We'll see.

Nostalgia

The other day I went to a community garage sale with a couple of my friends. I have mentioned this before but I LOVE garage sales! Oregon has great community garage sales every summer and I love going to them and finding great stuff for really cheap. This summer, a bunch of brand new outfits for $1 a piece, many including Janie and Jack brands, a $150 brand new kitchen aid blender for $20, tons of kid books, a big bin of the entire alphabet cookie cutters from Williams Sonoma, and the other day I found a movie that I have always wanted but could never remember the name of it. Growing up as a kid we had many movies recorded onto our VHS blank tapes, and on one such tape we had the Mickey mouse cartoon of Jack and the Beanstalk! I looooovvvveed it! And the other day I found it for $1 brand new in it's package! Apparently the name of the movie is "Fun and Fancy Free!" I was so excited! Okay it was a VHS, but that's all we have is a VHS player because our DVD player is broken. I know, we are so behind the times....we don't even have a flat screen tv! Anyway, when I brought it home I sat down and watched the entire movie sitting in front of the tv with Sam just like a little kid! It made me so happy, and I love the song from the beginning of movie that the lady harp sings "what a beautiful day!" I could wake up everyday to that song! It makes me smile and I hope it makes you smile too!
Now I just need to find "Lambert the Sheepish Lion!"

The Birthday Girl!

Wow has it really been 3 years?! This kid has grown up very quickly! Here she was with her cute self at the beginning of the day, before the messy chocolate cupcakes and ice cream!


This year I tried to be a crafty mom so for her birthday I made her the skirt she is wearing from a cute online tutorial found Here. Then I just appliqued the 3 onto a plain white t-shirt, and lastly I made a hair clippy with tulle and a polka dot button. I thought she looked pretty adorable.
We had a fun birthday. For lunch Dave and I took her to the Burger King by our house where they have a HUGE playplace that she enjoyed for a long time. She received many phone calls from friends and family wishing her Happy Birthday which was very nice. In the evening, we had a party at the park and many of our good friends and family showed up! It was so nice to have so many people come out and support Sammy on her birthday. She loved opening presents, playing with her little friends, and trying to crack open the princess tiara pinata. It was pretty durable! Thanks to everyone for the fabulous presents!

Sam is a wonderful child and I am so grateful to be her mom. Ever since she was born she has been our little miracle, blessing baby. She is fun to be around, and a great big sister. She always gives Taylor kisses, tells her stories, and sings to her when she is upset. I look forward to another fabulous year with her!



The embroidered apron I made for her!

Family Pictures

Well there was one day where we were all, for the most part, pretty cleaned up looking nice, so we thought we'd better take full advantage of it by taking some family pictures, mostly with Grandparents. I mean c'mon, when you're at the cabin you're roughing it. There's one bathroom to share between EVERYONE! Natalie and I were talking and figured both of us took 3 showers each in the week and one day that we were at the cabin! ahhh....Greasy!
Since having Taylor, we haven't had a family picture yet, and I figured I would take one even if it was just me and the girls. Eventually I will get one taken with Dave too, since he is a pretty important part of the fam, but for now at least I was able to get one okay pic with the girls and Sam not doing her fake smile.

Princess Belle Tea Party

Every year since I can remember that we have been going to the cabin, we also make the trip into West Yellowstone to see a play at the PlayMill, which is a very popular place. Some of the plays I have enjoyed there over the years have included "Oklahoma" "7 Brides for 7 Brothers" "Joseph" "Into the Woods" and a personal favorite "The Robber Bridegroom":) and many others. This year they did "Beauty and The Beast" which they have never done before. Wow! It was great! My Dad especially loved it because he said "In the 39 years I've been coming to the Playmill, this is their best performance!" That is saying a lot for my dad! It really was a great show.
Since we all have smaller children, it makes it hard to take everyone to a play together without a few people spending most of the time in the hallway, so this year we split it up a bit. Natalie and I took Annie and Sam to the early show while Mom and Dad watched the other kids. I knew Sammy liked it because she actually stayed in her seat the entire show, which has never happened before, however since we were in the front row, she did get very nervous and a little scared each time the Beast came to our side of the stage, or the wolves that would attack Belle. They were a little scary! The costumes were awesome, the performances were fabulous, and what a fun girls night out with the girls!
What made it even more fun was before the play started, they had a Princess Belle Tea Party you could go to, and of course Natalie and I had to take Sam and Annie. The had Belle dressed in her beautiful yellow dress welcoming all the girls. She wanted to get to know everyone so they stood in a circle and passed a flower around. When the music stopped, whoever had the flower was supposed to say their name, where their kingdom was, and their favorite color. Well the first person it stopped on was of course Sam (she was by far the youngest girl there). And Belle asks her name and she says "Red!" Well everyone starts giggling because it was so cute, but she got so embarrassed and started crying. I pretty much had to stay by her for the rest of the party. But she still enjoyed it. The girls got to sit at a little table, and were served cupcakes and lemonade by Belle's assistants, and Belle serendaded the girls with a song. At the end, she gave each "princess" a crown and took pictures.
It was so fun and girly, and I think Annie and Sam both enjoyed it a lot! The few weeks leading up to it Sam would ask everyday "When are we going to have the Princess Belle tea Party with Annie?" It was some fun.