A LONG time coming!!!!!!!!

So....when we bought our house...it was two different shades of purple....

When I say purple I don't mean purple, like a man couldn't live here...but eggplant and a light, "whitish" tinted mauvey kind of a color...

It also had the swiss look, with the diagonal cross bars as "design".

We NEVER liked it...

Not just the swiss design, and the color, but the fact that the original owner just quit painting where it got hard...so we had sections of trim that were simply, NOT painted....

So here is the before....Not a great picture...but all I could find at the moment...Keep in mind, a couple of years ago, we took down the GIANT tree, on the left, that is blocking half of the house in the picture...

So we wanted to get rid of the swiss-like trim and that was step one...

So...this spring, Kevin went and removed all of those lines...THEN...

He and added some BEAUTIFUL 3 inch cedar siding to two accent points on the front of the house. The cedar came from Kevin's grandparents house, before it was demolished to make room for their new house....so it was sentimental as well...which is kind of nice to have that be a part of our house!

Then he added siding to the areas that had that LOVELY "Swiss" look, so that they would look "normal"...

Then we primed....(and our good friends, Mark and Erin came and helped...Mark painted our window...he is always super appreciated! :))

And that is how is stayed...

from late last summer, to....

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LAST WEEKEND!!!

THEN......

it was a little of this....

And a little of that....

UNTIL....

FINALLY.......

WE HAD THIS......

YEAH....it has been a long time coming, and we are so so happy! It looks amazing, and as usual, the pictures do not do it justice!

It is a nice creamy, iced latte color (the pictures make it look a little lighter then it is)...and then the accents are a milk chocolate color...then the trim is a cream. BEAUTIFUL!

Next step will be the front door...which will be a deep red, or a deep turquoise...that has yet to be decided...Then Kevin is going to put on a fancier trim around the windows above the garage, and finishing the "look", will be large clay pots that will match the door color and hold our beautiful Clematis that is in between the garage doors, and our other favorites.

We are very happy that our purple house is no longer...

SO BIG!!!

So we finally made the move. I know I am late. She is three, and just now in her "little" big girl bed. (actually, this was 3 weeks ago...but I am so behind on my posts)

People who don't know her in person...don't realize from pictures...she is SO little. She is three, yet wearing 24 month clothes. She doesn't talk much at all, and much of what she says has to be translated...and is being SO stubborn in the potty training department~~so for me...it was a hard move to make. I just didn't feel like she was ready.

Of course, in reality, I also couldn't imagine having all of my kids free to meander about the house, and get up whenever they felt like it at any hor of the night, and I dreaded that naps would come to a screaming hault. I liked still having the control of knowing where at least one of the kids was, for sure. Knowing that if I needed to ignore the aimless ramblings through the door, to go get cereal in a bowl and ready to go...that she would still be in her crib when I returned...

Yes, I was having a hard time letting that go....

So we made the bed all up ADORABLE!!!! and put her favorite things on it, and packed her in for her very first night.

Just a few warnings about not getting out of bed...and to call "mommy" if she needs me. That mommy would get her up in the morning....blah blah blah....

SHE WAS SOOOOOO HAPPY!!!!!

We read some books, sang her goodnight song...and tucked her in.

She sang for a little while...but within about 15 minutes...she was out cold....

As an update...since this was a couple weeks ago. She has done SOOOOO well! She stays in her bed....and doesn't get out...she just talks and sings until I come and get her. She has amazed me! She is so patient!

As a side note....I said earlier in the post that she was stubborn with potty training...well since going her new bed...at least for this last week....she is DIAPER FREE (not at night yet). Not one accident! I am so proud of her!

Maybe she just needed a big girl bed all along. :)

SERIOUSLY!!!

No, seriously.

I don't ever have to wonder very hard as to why my heart skips a beat when this little man is around. Why he has me so wrapped around his finger. Why sometimes, my mommy threats sit idle on any given day.

He so has a piece of me...that piece deep down that will never be touched by anyone, anything, ever. He is the nicest little boy, the sweetest little soul. I have never seen a boy so patient and kind to his little sister, teaching her everything he can think to teach, and helping, even when he doesn't really want to. Playing dolls, or teaching her to play baseball...he doesn't care, he just wants to play.

He just lights up every room he enters...and even though he is known to be shy at first in any given situation...once he warms up...he will melt anyone!

I CAN NOT believe he is graduating Kindergarten in three weeks, and turning six the day after. When I think about that, I can't help but be thrilled about the little person that is emerging from the last six years of work that we have put in...but still so overwhelmed, and DEEPLY saddened by the fact that I feel, everyday, a little tiny bit, less needed.

About to turn six...maybe, but he is still a work in progress, and being the sponge that he is, he takes with him, everything we give. The lessons we teach, the love that we show, the fun that we have...
At almost six...he is an exact example of what reminds me everyday...why I need to continually, constantly work to be a better mommy, a better woman, a better person...to still find ways to make the world, somehow, better because I am here.

All-in-all, I sure do want him to be as proud of me someday, as I am of him!

Tyler started tee-ball and he is IN LOVE with it. He adores playing first base, as he gets all of the balls thrown to him...and is great at hitting the ball even though he has essentially never played before. It is coach-pitch tee-ball. They get three coach pitch throws, and if they still haven't hit it, they get the tee.

He just played his first game Saturday...and it was so much fun to watch him run, smile, laugh and play with his team!

And he is just so cute in his gear!

My new lens...

So, I got a new lens. I got the extremely budget friendly Tamron 75-300. I thought, it was far too good a price to be good, but I needed to try it, because it was either that or continue to ONLY have my kit lens, which just can't get close enough sometimes.
For being what it is...it is a GREAT LENS! For my purposes, it is perfect. It is NOT image stabilized but I haven't had any problems.
It really has been a nice lens! My only complaint is simply a hindsight one...having not used any other lens besides the kit...I simply didn't understand the distances etc...so this new lens, just sometimes, can't get wide enough. I want to get the whole basebal field and I can't...it is too close up.... hmmmmmmmm... the dilemmas... I wish I had gotten the 28-200 or 300 really...but they are pricier.

For face shots or close ups during sports...it is GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pictures to come!

A day full of Tulips

Sorry that I have ben a little blog neglectful...Last week was a VERY long week for me as it was teacher appreciation week...and I worked very hard...so I needed a little break-time!

On Mother's Day, Kevin and the kids took me up to the Tulip festival in Mt Vernon. It was a slightly cloudy day, but warm"ish". PERFECT for picture taking.

It was such a beautiful day...not the weather, but the day in general. We headed up before lunch-time and went to the Farmhouse, which is famous in the area. Then up to the fields. It has been many years since I was there, I think the last time was with my friends Karla and Lisa, and that was before either Lisa or I had little kids. It has been at least 7 years. That said, I was SO looking forward to going. We definitely went at the end of the season, but it was still so gorgeous. We got some amazing pictures!! I am so impressed with how good they came out.

Here are some samples!

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This is my very favorite of the kids!

Love this one!

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On this Mother's Day...I am so happy to be where I am. I love my kids with every fiber of my being. I sometimes wonder how I got so lucky...because whatever I did....it must have been really amazing! In fact, I NEVER knew I could love anyone so purely...so COMPLETELY unconditionally. I wake up every morning with these innocent beautiful faces FULL of smiles, and I am reminded of why I so wanted to be a mommy....then at the end of the day, when I am stressed from all of the activity, and the screaming, and the chaos that simply is the evening...and I hear, "Of all of the Mommy's in all of the world, how did I get so lucky to get the best one? Goodnight mommy, I love you." I, yet again, remember why I love being a mommy.

This job of motherhood...we are in a class that I don't think ANYONE can possibly understand unless they they are also in it. No one really understands the relentless hours that we put in, the back-breaking work or the emotional strain that we are caused; except another mom. No one really understands how little sleep we truly get or how many jobs we fulfill during any given day, except another mommy. No one really understands how one tear can crush us or one smile can overwhelm us with an INdescribable happiness, except another mother. No one truly understands how we can wipe a nose with our bare hands or still kiss and coddle our feverish sick child, and literally think NOTHING of it, unless they are a mom. No one can really comprehend that we love our BABIES forever, the same as we did when they were in fact, babies, except a mommy--

Our job, unlike ANY other, absolutely never stops, NEVER ends...not ever. Yes, we are in a class that so many others do not understand...until they too, become mothers. Then, they just, get "it".

For the record, I think husbands are amazing too, and they try...they really do, and I think that they "get" us mommies better...I think that they do love like crazy and relentlessly try to provide stable homes with security, love, honor and fun , and that they unconditionally cherish these little creatures (all of these things being overly important!)...but, I think, they still don't REALLY get it. Plus, it isn't daddy's day...it is mommy's day!!!!! :)

To ALL of the mommy's I know and love...I hope you all had a beautifully wonderful Mother's Day!

A little late birthday

Grandma and Great Aunt Susan came to visit from Spokane, and with them they brought birthday presents for Makylie...

As you can see...it was a very Hello Kitty kind of a birthday...

She was so excited to get so many "girly" kitty things...and has more-or-less, not put them down since she got them.

This wasn't all either...with these things, came three hello kitty outfits...

Oh what is a girl to do???

They sure love grandma, and love when she comes and visits....

It is fun to watch their eyes light up when the car pulls in the driveway. The unconditional and boundless happiness and love that just come pouring from their tiny little bodies...and from grandma's.

It is an energy that you help but get pulled into, such a fun thing to be a part of...

For the record, my Aunt Susan, was here to have a major surgery with a world renowned surgeon at Harborview Medical. She came through it beautifully, and was released early as she was doing SO well. They are still here, because she needed to stay in town until her stitches were removed...BUT we are SO, so happy that she is doing AMAZINGLY well! Thank GOD!!!