Washington Oregon Trip

During May Gary had a business conference in Portland, Oregon. I flew out and met him and we spent 6 kid-less days exploring. We spent a day on the coast of Oregon driving from Tillamook to Seaside (in the rain) but it was still beautiful. Day 2 we drove north to Astoria and crossed the bridge into Washinton and drove up the western coast. We stopped at several state parks and saw some cool lighthouses and scenery. That night we made our way into Seattle. We stayed for 2 nights and toured most of the popular sites. We also took time to drive by the house where we lived in Kirkland and checked out the neighborhood. Not exactly like I remembered it from 30 years ago.... Day4 we drove to Mt Rainier from Seattle. It was the only day it did NOT rain on us, we had clear beautiful skies. We drove around the mountain counter-clockwise and had to go 1 1/2 hours out of our way on the south side as Steven's Pass still was not opened due to snow. We stayed the night on top of the mountain at Paradise Inn. It was a cool hotel built during the Depression and had just reopened after being refurbished for the past 2 years. Our room was the size of a closet and it had no phone or TV but it was still a really cool place and they still had so much snow it was hard to believe. Day 5 we drove back to Oregon and traveled along the Columbia Gorge. It was so beautiful, there was just waterfall after beautiful waterfall. We stopped at all the scenic views and took little hikes and I took lots of pictures. Our last stop was Multnomah Falls, we hiked all the way to the top and it was a hike...UP!! Then we at the restraunt at the Falls. The next day we got up early, turned in our rental car and spent an entire day flying back to Michigan and our dear lovely children! Kyle says we are never to leave him again! Even so the kids had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa Handley and are now wondering when they are coming to stay again?!?!?

You can click on the title if you would like to see my photo album of this trip, but be prepared it contains lots of pictures!

Kindergarten Class Picnic

Justin is still in school until June 16th. Today was his final party. We had a picnic outside on the playground. The kids had a blast. Click on the title to this post "Kindergarten Class Picnic" at the top to follow the link to see all the pictures.

Preschool Graduation Pictures

Megan's last day of preschool was June 6th and we had a big party outside at her school. The kids had a blast playing in the little pools and sprinklers. The preschool is located at our church. One of the things the kids get at the end of the year is a certificate telling which Fruit of the Spirit they display the most...Megan's was PATIENCE. Obviously she behaves differently at school than at home :)

About a month ago my External Hard Drive crashed and died which has been causing me a lot of delays in keeping up on my computer. I have only just started digital scrapbooking again as it has taken me quite some time to reconstruct my files to my satisfaction. Anyway here are some pictures with more to follow, just click on the link. http://s284.photobucket.com/albums/ll32/danigary/Megans%20KCP%20graduation%20June%202008/?albumview=slideshow

Touchdown!!!!

Justin joined a flag football team this spring. This is his first experience with football and so far it has been a good experience. He has discovered a good use for his ability to run and run fast!!! He scored 2 touchdowns for his team last Saturday at their first game. This picture is proof that Kyle does indeed get into EVERYTHING!!! I asked him what he was doing and he told me "I am being a monkey momma!!" These are progressive photos of the same play, ending with Justin's touchdown.

Trampoline Fun

Gary and the kids have been making good use of the nice weather we were having. Hard to believe it went from 70 degrees to 2 days later having snow and the low 30's!!

Elmo the Killer Fish

We were cruising through the pet store looking for a special collar for our dog's ear. She has been battling an infection turned into an abcess and just a mess we have been trying to clear up with the vet for about 6 weeks now. Currently she wears an inflated tube around her neck 24/7 to keep her from scratching her ear. The tube is much better than the E-collar she was wearing before, we went through 3 of them because they break so easily and it was just large and really awkward. She now hates going to the vet and cries because she knows they are going to work on her ear again and it hurts!!! Here is her picture

Any, while we were there we ran across this Sesame Street fish tank on clearance and let the kids convince us to get a new pet. We ended up getting a red Beta fish. The kids kept after us to get more fish and I explained that the Beta's are aggressive and would kill any other fish we added to the tank. Next thing I know everywhere we go, Justin is telling everyone we got a new fish tank and our fish, Elmo, is a Killer Fish!!!

Bike Fun

The kids are having a great time getting outside now that the weather is warming up.

Smile

Bath Time Fun!!

April updates...

Here are the layouts from the Easter Egg hunt on Easter morning. As you can see, a good time was had by all.

We are having a cold and rainy day today. Wednesday we took Justin and his friend, Carter to the Tigers game. It was 50 and sunny, but today is just dreary!

Kyle and I both have colds again!! YUCK!! It has only been 2 weeks since our last colds.......

We plan on just hanging out and resting up this weekend. We hope you have a good weekend!!!

Megan's Birthday Dress

Here is a picture of Megan in one of the dresses she picked out during her birthday shopping excursions. She told me she liked this page because she looked pretty and I assured her she was correct! Nothing like a new clothes to make a gal feel good!!!

Egg Decorating

The kids (even Kyle got to participate this year!) had a great time decorating eggs. We didn't do anything fancy with them, just color and stickers. We happened to decorate the eggs on St. Patrick's Day....can you tell....except Megan she had a "good" shirt on and I made her change into an old shirt her cousins gave her. Maybe next year we will try some fanicer stuff.

Another Lost Tooth

Hello! Justin lost tooth #5 this morning, it has been loose for days and I am relieve to have it safely out! We are off school for spring break all week. Today we met some of Justin's kindergarten friends and siblings at a Bounce House and the kids had a great time burning off some energy. I noticed Justin's face looks scratched up in the this picture.....apparently they were roughing it up as well. We also joined the group at Mc Donald's for lunch....Mommy was exhausted when we got home.

We had told Kyle when we got home from Chicago that we had to send all his binkies off to the new babies who now need them more than he does and we were true to our word. Last night Kyle didn't even raise much of a fuss about not having it at bedtime. However, nap time on day #2 was not so easy. I almost gave in....but managed to hold firm when I thought of his dentist and his firm reminder that the binkie has to go. A little sad, but mostly glad to be rid of the germ carrying instrument my son would like to have in his mouth 24/7.

Our dog, Jenna, has had a rough month. First she developed an ear infection that we had trouble treating and one ear then developed an abscess...so the ear infection was gone but now she had an infection on the outer inside part of her ear. And it would not heal. So one day she got anesthesics and they really cleaned the ear out and started cortisone and different ear ointment. We think she is allergic to the ear ointment as it just made things worse and the steriods ended up making our dog incontinent.....she absolutely did not know she was going wee. Our 110 lb dog is a big baby and has never spent more than a brief period of her days anywhere but in the house with us and the cold temperatures outside were not allowing us to put her outside . We tried pads and doggie diapers...none of which work very well. Fortunately, the vet figured out the problem and we weaned her off the steriods and incontinence problem solved. Now the poor dog is still wearing the E collar around her neck to prevent her from scratching her ear and I am still holding me breath daily that it slowly seems to be healing.....very slowly....by using nothing!!!! Thats right stop cleaning and using antibiotics and then it starts to heal....go figure!!!! I think poor Jenna thought we really hated her last week and was quite humiliated by diapers, an e collar and being banished to the non-carpeted portions of the house. I am sooo thankful she is getting better as I couldn't take the mess any longer. Since we got home I have been scrubbing EVERYTHING and now feel we are a pee-free none again.

Here is a group picture of the kids taken at Ryan and Lisa's house after the egg hunt. The kids were much more interested in their goodies and playing than having their picture taken, so I feel fortunate to have one where their eyes are looking toward the camera......unfortunately it is not the picture where they are smiling......in that picture they are looking elsewhere. Oh well!!
We had a nice weekend in Chicago with the Handley side of the family. We were a day late traveling due to some nasty snowy weather, but we arrived safely, so we are not complaining. However, I do want to mention that my kids keep asking me....."it is spring isn't it mom????" and when I answer "yes" they want to know "when is it going to get warmer???" Good Question kids.....soon I hope!!!!
Anyway, back to our visit, we had a nice time and great food during our stay. The kids love playing with their cousin Matthew!! I have lots more pictures I am sure you will see soon in some Easter layouts....but no time for that now.

Megan's 5th Birthday Layouts

I have previously posted some of Megan's birthday photos, but here is the 2 page layout that will go in her book.

St Patrick's Day

The journaling says "Justin built a Leprechaun trap at school and then had to do some remodeling after Kyle tried to play with it. Justin filled the cup with water and put out some lettuce to lure the Leprechaun to the trap. Justin assured me that Leprechauns love all green foods. Later Justin discovered the bait had disappeared! In the trap he discovered a shiney gold dollar, but no Leprechaun!!

Click on the picture to make it larger and you will see a smiley Justin holding his dollar coin and on the counter is his empty Leprechaun trap. He wanted to save it for next year, but I assured him that he would need to build a new one, as the Leprechaun was too smart to fall into the same trap twice!!

Megan's Birthday Shopping

Grandma Betty, Mommy and Megan went shopping and out for lunch today. We had a nice time...although Megan was a bit ornery..... She was able to get several outfits today. These photos show ALL of the new items she got for her birthday this year. Since she has outgrown most of her clothes (spring and summer) these will be very helpful as it starts to warm up outside. I love her smile when she feels "pretty" in her new clothes.

I posted these photos especially for Papa Randall who couldn't be with us and gave money for Megan to use for these new clothes. We thought he would want to see what Megan picked out. If you want to see a picture in a larger size, just click on it.

Megan's 5th Birthday

Megan had a great 5th birthday!! Grandma Betty came to town on Wednesday to help us celebrate. Megan picked out the cake and Grandma Betty decorated it. (Megan selected the colors and design of the dress!) Megan started her day off by going to pre-school. Mommy, Kyle and Grandma Betty joined her at the end of school for a cupcake party. Megan was excited to help the teacher pass all the cupcakes out to her friends. Grandma Betty took us all to McDonald's for lunch and we brought a round of Happy Meals home.....a big treat because Mommy only gets Happy Meals on special occasions!!

It was a pleasent 50 degree day and the kids spent the afternoon outside playing in our soggy and muddy backyard...but they had a great time. Megan choose Princess Pasta for supper...the adults had adult pasta :) Then Grandma and Grandpa Clippard, Uncle Glenn, Aunt Brenda, Rachel and Becky joined us for present opening and cake & ice cream.

Megan received lots of great presents. Earlier in the week she had gone shopping with Grandma Clippard and picked out her Littlest Pet Shop additions and some pretty clothes. Today we will go shopping with Grandma Betty and Megan will get to pick out some summer clothes....and she got a special gift certificate from Aunt Brenda to take her shopping soon!!!! What a lucky girl with all her shopping. Soon Megan will be as addicted to shopping as her mother:) Megan also recieved a pretty swim suit, cover up and glitter flip flops from Aunt Lisa, Uncle Ryan and Matthew! From Mommy and Daddy (and Justin and Kyle) Megan recieved a puppy that grows (and shrinks), it also talks and sings to you. She really wanted it and it thrilled. We also got her several book sets to go with her Leap Pad, a Detroit Tigers hat, hair accessories and some crafts. Rachel & Becky also gave Megan a Barbie computer, a Barbie computer game and a purse full of little goodies. Grandma Clippard also gave Megan the 5th train for her Precious Moments birthday train. She was quite a lucky girl and very grateful for all the great presents.

The last of the photos for 2007. All the layouts are completed for the entire year!!! Now if only I can stay caught up again for 2008 and catch up some previous years! :)

The last of the photos for 2007. All the layouts are completed for the entire year!!! Now if only I can stay caught up again for 2008 and catch up some previous years! :)