Making time fly

Thursday, February 25, 2010

With the time before Jake comes home quickly growing smaller, I have been doing as many things as possible to keep us all busy. I can't believe that it is already Friday and we are just one weekend away from Jake being here with us for two weeks. Now this being my first deployment I've found myself thinking about how weird it is that I haven't seen my husband for six months. I mean other than a fuzzy picture on skype. (huge plug for skype entered here)
So, what have I been doing?

Working on sewing projects, to be revealed at a later time...

Recovering our dining room chairs-I'm not sure who decided white would be a good seat color for chairs you eat on.

Taking some pictures with the camera

And enjoying our sunny days with some walks, practicing baseball with Manuel and working on some outside jobs.

Keeping the kids under control...sure my methods might be controversial...

Oh yeah, and cleaning the mess of a house in order to fool Jake into thinking that I can do it all AND keep the house clean!

You say Fat Tuesday...

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

We say PANCAKE TUESDAY!!!!

If you are really wanting to know the history of Pancake Tuesday you can check it out here . All I know is that as a kid we ate lots of pancakes and had pancake races during the morning. I had already planned on making pancakes for dinner but my sister convinced me that I should also have a pancake race for them. So, Annelorre...This one's for you.

You want us to do what?

The Sixth Love Language

Sunday, February 14, 2010

While I enjoy Gary Chapman's Love Language Books I have discovered that my kids definitely have a sixth love language that is not mentioned. The love for food. So, what better gift for Valentine's day than a day full of food, especially lots of sugar.

Strawberry Pies for breakfast! They look nothing like the fancy ones on the Williams-Sonoma box that the pie shape came out of. Still tasted good though. Followed by an incredibly sugar-filled lunch of chocolate fondue and all the fixings. The kids could not believe I was going to let them eat marshmallows and brownies dipped in chocolate for an actual meal. I even had a bowl of cheerios for Boyce, but he preferred the apples.

Gage only ate marshmallows!

Boyce didn't really know what to think of the chocolate. I think he actually just smeared it all over himself and his tray.

I think Gage was concerned that I was actually going to make him try and eat that banana. I have to admit that I cringed a little seeing the marshmallow bowl disappear and the plate of bananas untouched. But, I made it and I don't think they'll ever forget that lunch. Our final love meal of the night was homemade pizza with stuffed crust. (with a side of fruit and yogurt...and no dessert!) Thanks Babe, for the pretty flowers that are in the background.

Leaven-worth it!

Saturday, February 13, 2010

So, my friend and I have been planning a trip to Leavenworth, WA for a while now. When we woke on Fri. morning (my kids had another no school day) we dismissed the downpour and decided to go anyways. So we piled in the five kids and drove the three hours in constant rain and we're not disappointed. Leavenworth was a cute German town which reminds me a lot of Bertchesgaden in Southern Germany. We enjoyed some great Brats, walked around in the rain, and soaked in the scenery. We stopped on the way home on one of the passes to play in the snow. By the way, Gage and Boyce don't take after me, they hate snow. Note the tears in all of the pictures! So, I'll probably post more pics to facebook for those of you who want to see more because there were just too many good ones.

The cloudy mountains. We decided we would come back in summer!

There were lots of cute stores that we kept the five kids out of!

Bertchesgaden Germany, meet Leavenworth, WA.

We stopped at a bakery and Gage was pretty stoked about his train cookie.

Back in the van we headed to the deeper snow. I should have known when just putting on the snow suit brought tears. Don't worry, I only tortured them long enough to get cute pictures.

Point Defiance

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Point Defiance sounds like something we encounter every day in our house but it is actually one of my favorite spots around here. We have been experiencing some crazy, nice weather while the rest of the world is being snowed on (a little bitter sweet for me, I have to admit...I love snow!). So, today we spent the afternoon with some friends down at the waterside at Point Defiance. Of course, our drama queen, Gage, decided that the water was "cary" and wouldn't go anywhere near it. (We have been to the water a few dozen times in the summer but something has changed since then I guess!) Boyce wanted to try every rock on the beach in case one of them might actually be food. Karmen was the only one brave enough to dip her feet in the freezing water and only for a few seconds. Manuel spent the day taking pictures when I would give up the camera. I included some of them for you to see. Don't worry I'll give him credit for those! There were way too many pictures, so I'll add just a few and post the rest of on facebook for those of you that are eager to see the whole bunch!

Our view!

Manuel is pretty proud of this bird shot, actually I think the rest of these photos were actually his. I was pretty busy wrestling the two boys!

Beecers

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

What kind of blogging mom would I be if I didn't pay homage to my kid on his first birthday. One year ago...Feb. 3, sometime before 4:00 pm Boyce Keller Snodgrass weighing 7lbs 15 oz and somewhere around 19 inches (man, I have a good memory!) Lots of black hair that continued to grow into a monk-like mullet until I recently cut it.

Beece...you truly are a happy baby. You always have a smile on your face and you take life in stride. Your smile is contagious and you make many others happy as well. You kind of get the rough end of the deal with your big brother sometimes but we all know you are the tougher one and Gage is going to have to look out for you someday.

I love that you always have your tongue out and you snort like a little pig. I'm sorry you have an incessantly runny nose and know the dr. will figure it out eventually!

You are such a quick learner and are always eager to try something new. You are a little guy with big aspirations. Whether it is finding the closest domino to chew on or destroying your brother's train tracks you are always on the move. I love your love for books. You love to just look at them and squeal at the pages. I love that you are beginning to talk. "Da-da" "Quack" "All-Done" and "again" are about all we have gotten so far but you're getting there. Mom's going to be next right?

I love that you were eager to walk. You took your falls with stride and turned them into a game. You then just looked through your legs playing peek-a-boo as if it was what you intended all along. It didn't take you long to figure it out and now you run around the house thinking you are two. You already try to climb up slides, stairs, boxes and anything else. I have a feeling I'm in for a crazy year!

Sweet Boyce, I can't believe you're one. You are already are showing it to the world! You grew up too fast. I love you so much and pray you will grow to be a godly man whose faith will be as contagious as your smile. Happy Birthday buddy.