My Little Entrepreneur

Seriously cute!

We had a garage sale, and Makylie decided she should work too.

Kevin was in Bellevue helping his parents with a project, and Tyler went with him, so it was all Makylie.

At first she was so quite and wouldn't talk to anyone...but once she warmed up, and realized people were actually going to GIVE her money....she opened like a little blossoming flower!

She helped make the sign, and wrote lemonade all by herself...

Lemonade was 25 cents. Most people gave her more.

Some older couples just wanted to talk to her, and make jokes with her, and then gave her money...but didn't want lemonade.

She loved that because it reminded her of her grandpa.

She looked so cute.

She was so hot, and tired, and actually pretty bored in between customers, but she kept at it.

She did most things alone, but isn't quite big enough to handle the lemonade, so I helped her pour.

Seems that I should have put out a whole bake sale for her because people were just buying left and right. We went through almost all of the lemonade that we had.

Everytime she got another quarter, or dollar or anything...she would whisper to me...

Mommy, how much does that make do you think?

She just melts me.

All told, she made $14.83. (We don't quite know how that happened)

She shared a little with her brother, which was adorable...

and then stuffed the rest in her piggy bank!

Love my little Entrepreneur!

One Gigantic Cookie

I made this AMAZING....GINORMOUS COOKIE

It was as big as a pizza! It cooks perfectly!
I have tried to make big cookie before...and they are always over done on the edges and undone in the middle. But this recipe....let me just tell you...sooooooo good! So perfect!

I made them as gifts...and they were so perfect and LOVED by everyone!
They fit perfectly on 12" cake rounds that you can buy at Michaels...and then you wrap them up. I am telling you...I will make these every single year for teachers and if there is an event where I need to bring an item!
It is the talk of the table if you do.
***Add a pizza cutter and you just have an AMAZING gift for someone!
Plus, it really is easy to make!
Try it out....you won't be disappointed!!!

This is the recipe that I found HERE

Recipe makes one Giant Cookie

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter (melted and then cooled)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
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1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 butterscotch chips (optional)
You could also add nuts, or m&ms, or anything else you wanted
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, cream together the sugars and the butter. Add the egg and vanilla and cream again. Add the dry ingredients and mix well. Fold in the chocolate chips.
Line a large baking pan with foil and press the cookie into about a 9 inch circle...it will spread to 12 inches as it bakes.

Bake for 13-16 until the cookie is lightly golden brown. The trick is to NOT overbake.
Let the cookie cool completely on the baking pan so it can have time to stabilize and set up.
Once cool, gently use the foil to lift off of the pan.


Raelyn

Introspection...

I have been re-evaluating things lately.
More then I think anyone around me realizes.

I have been in kind of a "funk" and have been trying to figure out what is wrong, or what needs to be fixed in order to come out of it.
I still don't think I really know...but one thing is for sure today, as it has been for years...I am not happy with my body.
I worked so hard, for so long and did really well. I had great results.
THEN...I started losing very little if any and it got very self-defeating. So I slowly started moving back toward my old ways, my bad habits...and
it seems that now...those old habits, have become new again.

So I am getting back on the horse.
I am setting some new goals.
I am quite mad at myself, because now I have to RE-lose some of what I already lost..
but I am going to do it!




It is funny...with the few pounds that I have put back on...how different I feel. Mentally, and physically.
Before, I felt like I could take on the world...

Now I have lost confidence again, I feel like everyone is staring at me, and mentally, that I am starting from absolute scratch.
And, it is literally a few pounds.

Definately a big part of my "funk" that I know I am in.

Just summer....

Ahhhhh....summer.
It is a beautiful thing.

As much as I am actually NOT a fan of the heat...and not a sun lover (because it does contribute to my migraines)....when summer does finally hit the Seattle area, it really is nice.

There is a different feeling when the sun wakes you in the morning.
I have a bit more energy...I am happier...I am eager to get outside with the kids.

But seriously...
if there were NOTHING else...

Summer would thrill me for this reason alone....

HANDS DOWN.....
This says summer to me!

Just so you know....best cantaloupe EVER!

Some thoughts.

So....
I seem to have developed a bit of a love/hate relationship with blogging.

I love...and mean a lot...having a memoir, if you will. Having a physical journal to look back on. The idea of getting my years published and being able to look at them forever.
Having a place that my kids can see the funny things they said or did, and remember milestones....forever.

I also love, having an outlet.
Back in the day, I used to write. I used to write A LOT!
I have MANY journals from when I was young.
I was in every AP English class I could take.
I have notebook after notebook of poems that I created, or stories that I wrote.
Then I had kids.
Everything changed. It seemed as though I couldn't put two intellectual thoughts together anymore, let alone get it on paper for preservation purposes.
I quit writing. Almost completely.

Over time, I turned to scrapbooking...that became my outlet.
HOWEVER,
Over time, it also became too time consuming and exhausting, and it too, took a backseat to life.
As much as I want too, I still can't even figure out digital scrapbooking, so I was at a loss.

So, I came upon blogging because of a friend.
I love it!
I love the idea of it.
I love the reality of it.
I love to write. I love to contemplate. I love to compose thoughts into a working process.
Somedays, as a mom and a wife...I just feel so underappreciated, so undervalued...but doing this kind of makes me feel like I am contributing something into the adult world. It makes my mind "work", and forces me to have to churn the often, mumbles in my head into something a bit more pliable.

And again, I love having this "scrapbook".

However, a few months ago I started another blog. An outlet for my crafts, recipes and ideas which are the other half of the mess that is going on in my head.

Now starts the hate part.

It takes up so much time.
I don't even mean the physical time it takes...I think about it constantly.
Lately, I have been thinking that I really need to catch up on BOTH blogs...but then...I just don't.
It seems like I am not, on purpose. Like a rebelious teenager. It is daunting, and frustrating, and time consuming...so I just don't.

I kept thinking and saying, that come summer, with the lack of routine, I could catch up on everything in blogland.
I haven't.

I could give all of my excuses....
Sports and swim lessons.
My mom was in town, staying with us.
My sister and nephew were in town for two weeks staying with us.
We did a little "staycation".
We went camping.
My niece stayed with us.
etc...etc...

Yes, life has been trucking along around here....and instead of documenting any of it, with the MILLION pictures that I take...I have just watched the clock tick by, saying that I should.

I have seen a lot of talk about being present in the day and soaking every minute of the summer as the bonding time that it is meant to be. Spending days blissfully routineless, counting smiles instead of minutes....making memories instead of order. Taking in the saturation of innocent love that kids have to offer...Letting time be a part of lives instead of dictating our lives.
I agree.
Fully.
At this moment, now, today...My kids deserve to have me...in the present...doting on their every word.

I do however, get very sad...when I have done all of these super cute, and fun things with the kids, and our little trips, and my family's visits...and there is absolutely NO written memory of it. I want to preserve it because unfortunately...memories, that we think will always be as sharp as they are now, do fade...

I want to remember how I feel today...
Why things made me laugh...who the kids are...who I am...
I really don't know how I got so lucky, to get all that I have. I do the best that I can...I do the best that I know. And I sure have gotten smarter over the years! But in no way do I think I have it all together and figured out. Most days...I just try to put one foot in front of the other like everyone else. I know I am a good mom! I do my best to be a good wife. I just sometimes get caught in the feeling that I need to be more. I don't really know what that means....but it is how I sometimes feel.

So, for our family...I am going to be catching up. I will have to back pedal, but that is OK. I have to be OK with that. That is where I tend to end up where I am...I get too overwhelmed with all that needs to be done, so I end up doing NOTHING!
I am going to post about my sisters visit...and camping...and our "staycation"...and berry picking...and....
I will post currently, but in the post put the actual timeline.
I will try to do most all of this, at night, when my kids are in bed, so that I don't feel guilty.

I also have a lot to do on my other blog. I don't so much need to catch up as allow myself to move forward.
With missing so much time on that site, which I designed to get other people to read it...I kept feeling like I should go backward and fill in the dates...that is too overwhelming...
So, I will just move forward.

So there it is.
I am hoping for a love/love relationship again.

My goal is to order my first book in December for this year and last year....sooooooooooooo!!!!!!

Super duper sorry for the VERY wordy post!
Sweet hubby took the kiddos on a bike ride, and I am alone...and once I started...it just FLOODED!!!

Camping...the Goodtimes way

As Every year...this one was no different.
Camp Goodtimes commenced and we ferried over to Vashon.
This year had a little bit of a different feel for us. It would be Karman's last year at her cancer camp.
She has gone, every single year, since she was 9.
It was kind of a strange feeling knowing that we wouldn't be heading back the next year.

But we did. We trekked along the path just like the nine years before.

Loving the ferry ride...and enjoying the crisp but beautiful air.

The little kids have never NOT gone on this trip. Every year that they have been alive we have headed to the island. In fact, Tyler's first trip he was only 3 days old...

The camp atmosphere is something I could never truly convey to people.
It is happy and loud and obnoxious in a way that leaves you feeling so completely lost in the magic that you almost forget you are leaving your kids there. Those who are, forget they are sick. They are able to put chemo and hospitals behind them...and for one week...live like they should be able to. Parents walk away feeling OK about those kids. Knowing that for this week, they can act like little kids, and laugh and sing and dance without a care in the the world. They are taken care of, and and completely accepted, no matter what!

It is a place that is surrounded by cancer...and/or the idea of cancer and yet it is a place for kids and parents alike, to just forget all about it.

This years theme was MYSTERY.....
So her cabin's name was the Whoodunits.
Cute.

Setting up her Bunk...

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One of the really fun things for both Karman and us is that halfway through their week at camp they get to go on an Argosy Cruise.
While on their trip, every single year, they pull into the Red Robin on the water in Seattle. They park the boat and SING VERY LOUDLY...and make a bunch of noise...and try to temp the diners to throw french fries at them.

Again, I truly can not explain the situation. You would need to hear the noise level.
Over the years, people have learned of this tradition and they come to the docks of Red Robin to meet the boat.
Us included.
Every year we are out there...waiting to hear the impending sound of 300 kids singing YMCA. I don't know why that is always the song of choice...but it is.

All of the kids are on the front of the boat just waiting for the audience to get involved...and every year they do.
I take a good hundred pictures...and with my fancy zoom lens I can actually get up close and personal with Karman...even though she is quite far away.
Here she just after catching a french fry that was thrown at them.

It is a fun memory to have every year.
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Inevitably...camp comes to a close.
On the last day there is always a show. Each cabin puts on a little skit for the parent program.

This was something that was kind of cool...and new this year. It is a sail that has all of the kids pictures on it. Karman is down on the bottom left.

So Karman's last year was a good year. I think there was a little teenage drama involved...but bottom line is...that the week ends, and you come back to the "real world"...so you may as well have a good time while you are there.

In all of the years that we have attended Camp Goodtimes...the thing I've gathered that is so amazing about it, is that for 5 days...these kids are enveloped in a love, and a camaraderie that is so unique that they are able to float on a level of magic that the real world could never provide.
Considering some of their stories...they deserve a week like that!

TEN YEARS!!!

Ten years ago today, I married my best friend.
I don't say that lightly either.
I am a stronger person because of him.
We are stronger because of each other.

Last night...I sat, like I do so many nights, and starred at this man who made my life so amazing, while he slept. He didn't even know he was making my life better as we trucked along together...but over the years he has.

(He proposed to me in Stanley Park in Vancouver BC, 1999.)

(And this, is the peacock that chased us right afterward.)

Looking back, we were just kids. (no really, look at us). We are so different now. Our cores are the same of course...the things that made us fall in love...but we are so much stronger...so much better now. We have grown so much, matured so much.
(June 25, 2000)

Ten years seems like nothing now. I have noticed that as we have gotten older, the distance of time has changed. What used to seem like a lifetime, now feels like the blink of an eye. Seriously...

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So Kevin and I met in high school...doing drama. I fell for him, as it didn't take long for me to realize that he was reliable and trustworthy, smart and very hard working.

(This is us in 1995)

We started dating when I was just a junior.

We have been together now, for 16 years.

I am 33...so we have almost been together for as long as we weren't.

Yet it feels like it was all just yesterday! I mean it really does.

Our vows were 10 years ago...but it feels like it all just happened. And yet, at the same time, it feels as though we have been together forever. Does that make any sense???

I sometimes don't know, how we have gotten from point A to point B.

There have been so many obstacles...some that at the time, seemed so unsurmountable...but we persevered...we will always perseverve.

We went through the typical youthful relationship issues.

Not having enough money...trying so hard to make ends meet...

In the end, looking back...it made us better. All of it. It was hard, but it made us the people...the couple that we are today.

I know people say all of the time that their spouse is their best friend...

Mine truly is.

I honestly do not know what I would be without him.
I just adore him.

I love that we have come to the point where things are just not so serious anymore. There is an unspoken trust and bond.

I am proud we are married...that we communicate and touch, laugh and smile, disagree and work through those disagreements...that at the end of the day, I can still say he is my favorite person to talk to, to laugh with, to watch tv with...anything.

I know a lot of people who are not so fortunate.

He just gets me.

I get him.

He is my safe place.

Happy Tenth Babe...can't wait for the next!

A Ballerina...

Makylie just loved doing Ballet.

She loves to dance.

She dances all of the time...and sings. She is always singing or humming and spinning around.

Even during dinner she hums...IF she isn't rambling away!

I can tell you....having a child that didn't speak almost at all until she was THREE sure does leave for a child with A LOT TO SAY!

I think she spent the first three years, just soaking in everything that she heard.

Now, she may still have a speech impedament, but oh lord...can the girl talk!

Anyway,

She enjoyed ballet.

It was very light-hearted...and simply taught the basic moves without a lot of rules. They ARE, infact, only 4.

She had her recital on Saturday, and it was REALLY REALLY cute!

They got to wear whatever pretty outfit they wanted to...

It was chaotic...

They were completely all over the place...

and had no idea what they were doing...

but it was DARLING!

She was so proud.

I think we may try doing some jazz or tap or something else next time...because while she really enjoyed dancing...I think she would really like to move more. She just shakes her hips to music, and has really really good rhythm...so I think she would like a little faster pace.

We are so proud of her...

She is just such a cool little girl.

Seriously...

She really is.

I am honored to be her mommy!

Tylers Birthday Party

This year, for Tyler's 7th birthday, he decided to have an ALL-STAR sports party!

He is so into sports.
He loves them ALL. He plays baseball, basketball, soccer...football with anyone who will play with him...and he LOVES to run and swim as well!
He is just all around, all about sports.
SO...the party was very fitting!

We invited all of his friends.
For the first time ever he got to have his party on his ACTUAL birthday.
He was SO excited!
I made the sign for a ball toss game, and for the pictures.
I took a picture of each of the kids behind it to give to them after the party!

Here are his goodie bags.
They were filled with ALL things, sports.
From Baby Ruth bars to game "clappers" and soccer whistles.
There were a lot of fun things inside, and the kids loved them!

We did dinner, as the party was from 3-6.
We BBQ'd hot dogs...had all the fixin's and lots of yummy sides.
This was the FIRST year that I didn't make his cake...but it just got to the point where there was so much to do...I needed to have one thing that wasn't on me to complete...so we broke down and bought a Costco cake.

The day was cloudy, windy and it just screamed rain ALL DAY!!!
It was designed to be an outdoor party...and I just prayed all day that it would hold out for us!

So, in our front yard, the kids came and started on the art project...
We had them decorating pennats.
I had all of the supplies out and the kids had a good time. It was just a little windy and chilly at that point.
We decorated with all of Ty's trophies, and pennats from his room.
One of my favorite things that I don't have a picture of, is that we hung a "clothes line" out along the top of the fence...so when the kids were done decorating we hung their masterpiece to dry...but they also became a decoration!
It was fun.
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We also did a "egg" hunt. Back at Easter I bought a TON of sports eggs to fill up and use at his party. So some got filled with candy and some got money.
After the craft, I opened the gate, gave the kids empty lunch sacks, and they went on their hunt.
It was a HIT...the kids loved it. It occupied a lot of time, because we knew there were more out there that weren't found...so the kids would just keep searching.
After they were done...they all counted their balls and shared accordingly, so that everyone had close to equal amounts.
They did that WITHOUT being asked.
I love these kids! We just had such a great group of friends!
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We played with balloons.
The kids had to try to keep their balloon from hitting the ground.
Proved a challenge in the wind!

There was "Target Practice"....whiffle balls were to be thrown through the hole...

"Basketball"

This was actually foxtail little footballs. The kids had to stand behind a line and try to get as many as they could in the bucket.

"Frisbee Toss"

They had to toss the frisbees through the hula hoop.

"Goal-Stop"

Of course we did an obstacle-course soccer game. They ran through the cones and had to make goals. -----------------------------------------------

After we had played all of the games, the kids could go back on their own and play whatever games that they enjoyed. They ended up doing a lot of challenges with each other.

Eventually they wound down on the swing set.

I decided NOT to do prizes this year.

I just didn't know how to keep it fair..and plus they had their bags full of scavenger hunt finds.

They didn't even notice.

Here we openend presents.

I always take pictures of my kids and the "gift-giver" together to give out with the thank you cards.

While the kids were winding down and presents were being opened, Kevin BBQ'd the hotdogs.

Then they all had dinner.

During dinner, they played "telephone". It was pretty cute listening to 6/7 year olds play that game. :)

Then it was cake and ice cream time.

As usual, I pre-scooped the ice cream into muffin tins for easy distribution.

I can never say enough times, what a time saver that is!

It was a great day.

Tyler had so much fun...

and I just soak in every minute of the people these kids are becoming. Not just my own either...I have watched all of these kids grow since the first day of Kindergarten.

I truly enjoy seeing them play and interact with one another.

Our teachers have said many times that this is a "very special" group of kids.

Tyler's first grade teacher, Mrs. Pratt, who has taught for over 30 years, told me that "a group like this, MAYBE, comes around once every 10 years."

She wasn't kidding...there is something special about them.

I hope they all stay friends...and that when they are seniors in high school, they are able to sit around and say to one another...."remember Kindergarten" or "remember that one birthday party..."

Happy Birthday Tyler.

We love you!