Mid Summers Update . . .

  I can't believe it's already the end of July :( We just got back from camping at Thompson Reservior again. But this time we went with Jordan's family and took horses! I was a little nervous about how hot it was going to be, but it was perfect. Our camp spot was under trees and there was a breeze in the late afternoon. Kept it just right! The kids had a ball. Austyn just loves playing with her cousins. We were able to go on a trail ride all of us together. Jordan took Quade in the backpack and I put Austyn behind me. It was so fun. And Austyn decided after she saw her cousin Kate riding by herself that she wanted to too. We were just taking the little kids for a ride around the camp ground and I tied the lead rope around like reins and they loved it. So now she has been riding Chocolate Chip by herself at home. It is so so so fun to see how confident she has gotten. Now we can start some lessons. I'm so excited. 

So a quick explanation of the picture of Jordan with three kids and everyone is crying. Everyone went to the river, but Jackie, Luke, Quade, and I. We stayed back to give the little boys a nap. I guess the kids all jumped in and got swept down the little rapids/waterfall. So Jordan jumped in after them and the rest of the Dad's came a drug them out one by one. No one got hurt, but it was a bit scary from the sounds of it. Good thing they all had lifejackets on. 

  We also were able to go to the St. Paul rodeo this year. It was awesome. My mom kept Quade and we took Austyn. (I think I had more fun just hanging out with her by herself than any part of the rodeo) I loved the atmosphere of everything. Everyone was there for the rodeo, not just to get drunk and rowdy like in Eugene. They had a few different events that were fun too. And it was my first time seeing a round arena at a rodeo. We will definitely be going back. 

  Austyn has gotten a crazy girl streak in her lately. She rides her quad like she's been doing it for years. She is so good it's scary. My mom was riding with her the other day and Austyn was scaring her with the trails she was taking and how fast she was going. It made my heart happy:) And she is so brave with Chocolate Chip lately. I'm so so so lucky to have found a pony like her. You couldn't ask for a better first horse. Last time we rode quads Austyn just kept riding and riding. I finally had to reason with her that it was now 9 o'clock and time for a bath. I loved it, but sometimes I gotta switch back to the mommy role. Austyn has already started whinning about going back to school. I have been secretly whinning as well. I'm trying to talk it up, but I'm not sure I'm too convincing when inside I don't want her to go either. We have been camping out in the back yard in our tent for the last week or so.  I leave Quade in the house and take the monitor out with us and we get to wish on the stars and see shooting stars and best of all snuggle. She digs it. A good friend said that "I'm going to soak it all up now, because they won't think I'm cool forever." And I totally agree. I know she won't always want me to "snuggle buggle" with her, help pick her clothes out, help me do everything, or even just rock her when she doesn't feel good ( maybe not this one, because there have been times that I still want to sit on my moms lap). 

  Quade is such a boy it's unbelievable. Everything lately is a gun. His fork, his finger, any kind of stick. Boom, boom! Boom, boom! ALL DAY LONG! He climbs up everything, finds any kind of dirt or mud, and just loves to tease everyone. Especially his sister! His fits have started getting so much better and he can understand everything we say to him. He talks so good anymore, it amazing. He is still lovey, and will give most people kisses. He has started teething again. He's getting the upper eye teeth. And then we only have the bottom ones left. He is doing better than last time, so it's not as draining on me this time. I finally got Quade down to one nap a day!!!! This probably sounds backwards from most parents, but that two naps a day was crimping our summer time play time. So Austyn and him now nap one time a day at the same time. I'm loving it. 

  Jordan is still paying back trades he took from people for camping trips and hay season. And there is inevitably some sort of project in line for any spare moment he has. Right now he is working on the irrigation for the goat pen. We have to run irrigation this year to keep my grandmas water rights so we are putting it on in the goat pen to hopefully give them some more feed out there. And then he is getting ready for Austyns new play house that she is getting, then mowing and spraying and doing wood, etc. Gotta love country living. I know he loves it, but I'm sure he would probably like to get caught up too. Is there such a thing?

  And as for me, nothing is new. Trying to enjoy the kids as much as possible in every moment they have. I am truely blessed to have the best little family in the world. 

I just took the kids summer pictures and they turned out so good. I think I finally have some good enough ones to hang on the walls!

A Months Worth of Happenings...

  That was a long busy, but very fast month. If that makes any sense. We had a record breaking hay season this year. We got my Grandmas and my Aunts hay done in ONE week. And it went so smooth. Austyn and Quade loved hay season this year. Anything different and fun, they're into it:). We also went camping with good friends to Fall Creek. It was soooo much fun. A perfect place for kids to run free and just be kids. Austyn finished her first year of Preschool! Man were we ready for school to be out! We've still been enjoying Chocolate Chip. We get to take her horse camping with us in a few weeks. Austyn is getting much more confident with her. Austyn started swim lessons and Scandinavian dancing. And we built her a lemonade stand, which was the cutest thing I've ever seen. We took it to the end of my parents driveway during the Highway 36 garage sales. She made a killing. She was so into it the first day, but the second day she was over it. I feel like we definitely packed the month of June full to the brim. I'm hopeing the next few months will be a little slower. But that's what I always say and we end up crazy busy. 

  Jordan has been busy busy at work with overtime and paying back trades. He is itching to do some projects around the house, but we haven't decided which ones we are going to tackle this summer (or where the time will be to do them). We are thinking about enclosing the overhangs in front and back with toung and groove cedar. 

  Austyn is loving summer break. She's already whinning about going back to school in the fall. She is doing great in her swim lessons. She is jumping off the diving board now. Which she is very proud of herself for. She is a little uncoordinated with getting her arms and legs to work at the same time, but she is getting so much better. She also is a crazy girl about riding her quad. I'm blown away at how well she rides at 3 years old. She is still my best little buddy in the world. 

This is Austyn on her first day and last day of pre-school in the same outfit. She grew a little in 9 months!

The lemonade stand. Jordan built it in a trailer so we could move it with the quad. 

This was during hay season. I think she had a constant ice cream going the whole time. 

Austyn being silly on Chocolate Chip

Quade finding any kind of water. Even if it's a leaky hose he is in it. 

Austyn and Colton. First loves. 

Austyn and mema during hay season

  Quade is growing like a weed. His hair is amazing. It grows so fast he needs a hair cut about every 3-4 weeks. He is talking so much lately. It's adorable. He can say: everyone's names, a ton of animals and their sounds, "I did it", poop poo (then runs to the toilet and wants to sit on it), tractor, truck, all motor sounds, and so much more. He still has a very short temper! But has gotten slightly better with controlling it. I'm contemplating packing a spray bottle around for when he throws his little tantrums. :) He is very happy and friendly to those he knows. Otherwise it's touch and go. And the best thing he does is everything Austyn does. He watches her every move and then copies what she did. It's adorable. 

  I am just living the dream. Pretty much living on cloud nine. Between having the best kids ever, an amazing husband, being able to stay home with the kids, our new house, this incredible weather, being able to live so close to family, it can't get much better than this. I started another round of the diet. Been slacking on the workouts a little, but over all I'm still losing weight slowly. And believe it or not, I am starting to get a slight tan on my legs! Yea me! I've spent every nap time since it started getting warm in June laying in the sun. I'm determined to get tan this summer. 

  We have horse camping in Silver Lake on the 17th and then the Crab trip with the Firestation at the end of August. Those are the last camping trips planned. Another fun thing we get to do is go to the Emms baseball game. They have a firefighters night every year and we finally get to go this year. I'm excited. I love baseball! We still have trees down from the ice storm this winter. We have been trying to sell it, but no takers. So $50 a truck load. It almost all oak and there is probably a couple cords. If anyone knows of someone in need of wood for the winter. And it's really easy to get to. Jordan said he would even help load it and cut it into rounds if needed. 

  Have a safe 4th of July! 

The Joys of Teething . . .

  So we are back on the teething train again with Quade. And it's in full force. Quade is now getting his bottom two molars. Same as last time, except I know why he's fussy this time around. He has only been eating breakfast and maybe some sort of fruit or crackers during the evening. I'm sure you know how hard that is for me because I like my kids to eat, eat, eat. But I'm trying to be laid back and patient  about it. It is better knowing why he's acting like this, but holy smokes is it draining. And embarrassing at times too. I'm not one to throw excuses out for my kids if they are acting bad, but I try and slip it in there that he's teething so he's very sensitive;) All he has left are those 4 damn eye teeth. The worst ones! I hope he gets them all at once or maybe he is working on them now with his molars (I'm crossing my fingers). I know, I know, I'm such a whiner about this teething thing. But it's such a snowball effect with the whole family. Quade is extremely cranky for an extended period of time (we're talking weeks), which makes me tired and cranky, which in turn makes me short and impatient with Austyn. So by the time Jordan gets home (this could be days) we are all at each other's throats. 

  And coincidence or not, Austyn has been going through this not listening and "see what I can get away with stage". For her this is very uncharacteristic. She even got two time-outs at school:( I try and remember she is only 3. But I feel like that is a direct reflection on parenting when kids act up at school. So I took it very personal. This is the first undesirable stage Austyn has gone through and I'm trying to figure out a way to get through to her. I'll be honest here and admit that it's hard for me to 100% carry through on a punishment because I can't bear to have her feelings hurt. I am able to do about 80%. So I will put her behavior on my shoulders this time because I have slacked on my end. In my defense she has never really needed repeated discipline for anything, so I was just going along how we usually do instead of curbing it from the start. But now, I have to make up for it and she is the one going to pay for it. It breaks my heart, but if I let it get too out of control it will go south in a hurry.  

  I will tell you I do know how petty my parents dilemmas are and I'm am thankful that this is all I have to worry about. I know Quade will be back to his normal easy peasy self in a week or two, and Austyn will grow out of this stage quickly as well. I do have the worlds best two kids. But it's hard for me to switch from Austyn being my best little buddy to being the Mom and putting my foot down. It's so much more fun being friends and having fun than being the mean mommy who has to set rules and inforce them and the consequences that follow. Thankfully we don't have to deal with this much. 

My Best Four Legged Buddy . . .

  A few months ago I began to notice Koda (our dog) getting slower and stiffer to get up and down, especially if she had been doing something extra that day. I just thought that she was getting older. Then I started noticing Koda getting thinner and her coat looking raggy and she just didn't have her usual energy. So we decided to take her to the vet and get things checked out. We had just had her in for her annual exam in April. We went and she had already lost 3 pounds. The vet wanted to take blood and do a chest X-ray to check her heart. She has always had a heart mermur, so she wanted to make sure the heart wasn't enlarged. Everything came back normal to the vets dismay. She said with a dog of her age (8) and her health record (not good) she doesn't like to see these tests come back normal. She said cancer is usually the culprit in these situations:( She asked to do further testing to see where the cancer is, but we declined. And that was that. As we all know cancer is ....... (I can't even describe it)   The vet said to give it time and when she starts having more symptoms we can bring her back in and decide on some sort of comfort measures. Since the vet doesn't know where the cancer is, she couldn't elaborate on what to expect. 

  I got Koda when I was leaving for Kalamath Falls for college. I took her everywhere with me and she has always been an amazing dog. Yes, she has had quite the stent of health issues in her wonderful dog life, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. She kept me company while I was way from home by myself and I will forever be thankful for that. We spent many nights sleeping (or not) together because we were home sick and our neighbors were loud and scary. I know that she loves me. I will never have another dog that will live up to her. She was my best buddy when I needed it, and I was hers:) She is the most loyal dog I've ever seen. Sadly as we've added to our family she has been rooted out a bit. She now sleeps in the garage in her heated dog house (sometimes with her own special heater on extra cold nights) instead of right by my side in the house. I now feel more guilty than ever for this. 

  So for now we are just holding our breath hopeing and praying that the vet is wrong. But I knew what was going on before I made the appointment. That's why I made it. Mothers intuition I suppose. I'm unprepared and uncertain of the future with her. I'm not sure what to expect 1 year, 4 months, the unknown is very scary for me. And to think we are talking about a dog here. We will just deal with what's thrown at us and hope for the best. Koda has three people in this world that she lives and breaths for, my Dad, Jordan, and myself. She literally could care less about anyone else. And I can tell you that all three of us are heart broken already. I'm not sure I've ever seen Jordan get so emotional when I told him what the vet said. We were both very sad campers:( I can't even imagine what it will be like when "the DAY" comes. 

  I hate writing sad blogs, but for some reason it makes me feel better. Please keep Koda in your thoughts and prayers to help keep her happy and peaceful. 

Memorable Memorial . . .

  I know I probably say this about every coast trip, but this one was by far the best yet. We left for Coos Bay on Thursday and stayed until Sunday about 4ish. Which is different from how we usually do it. We usually get there Friday and leave early Monday morning. I liked this time better, it gave us the whole day Sunday to play and then Monday to be home and unpack. We camped with the regular gang and had such a blast. All of our families mesh so well and the kids are all the same ages, it's just perfect. The three big kids rode their quads so good. It was the cutes thing ever to watch them ride around and try to follow single file on trail rides. It was more like bumper quads. The first one would stop and the next two would both bump into the one in front. Austyn was the only one that crashed. I wasn't there to see it, but I'm told that she was tough and got right back on. I'm sure it helped that I wasn't there. The weather worked out perfectly. Sunny, sunny, sunny the whole time! We usually aren't that lucky on Memorial Day to get such great weather. We went to the beach everyday and it was gorgeous. And of course Austyn couldn't help herself but to run around in her undies all weekend. She was called "underwear girl". She even rode to the beach in her undies and rubber boots. Only my kids! I'm so glad we are able to give our kids such amazing memories ans experiences to take with them forever. I know they are pretty little (especially Quade) to remember this stuff, but we will keep it up so they will remember. 

  Jordan is pumped that this is the first summer we have ever been "free" to do whatever we want. We have never had an open summer before. We were always doing summer term of college, working summer jobs, going through his academy for his job, planning our wedding, me pregnant with a bum back, engineer development program, and then building our house. So he has like 5 or 6 camping trips planned. It feels good that we don't have anything going on. But I know one of those camping trips will be taken up by hay season. But we don't mind, we both really enjoy hay season. Our next adventure is the second weekend in June, we haven't figured out where we are going yet. And then the next weekend we are going to Fall Creek. We have one camping trip in July for sure, possibly two. But the one that is scheduled is going to be new for me. Horse camping! We are going to Thompson Reservior with Jordan's family and taking all the horses to ride around. I'm excited. I hope Chocolate Chip like it. Then in augurs we have our annual Crab trip with Jordan's work. It's going to be a fun summer. 

  I hope everyone enjoyed their Memorial Day weekend like we did. 

Quade with Cha Chas chew can

Our camp

The three amigos ( Hayden, Austyn, and Ty)

Undies and rubber boots. Can't get much better than that. 

The first of many trail rides. 

A Pain in my Backside . . .

  For the last week I have had the worst back attack. I usually know what I've done to cause my back to go out. But I can't figure it out this time. I think it went out because of my level of excitement for getting Austyns pony;) I'm so thankful that I have Jordan and my parents that live so close to help me out with the kids. My poor family! I had to take pain pills for my back and they make me kinda loopy (complete understatement). I went to get flowers for the front of our house and I normally get colors that match or just one color. Oh no, not this time. I was in my happy pain pill place and let Austyn get whatever colors she wanted. She enjoyed the hell out of it. But now we have a rainbow flower mix. And the kids have liked it lately they get whatever snacks and dinner they want. "Oh, you don't want a well balanced meal for dinner? Ok you can have PBJ and fruit snacks!" Good thing my back is better!  My kids were getting away with murder. 

  It so easy to take your health for granted. I'm thankful that my family and myself are very healthy people with no major medical problems. I hate relying on people to help me for a few days here and there when my back acts up, I couldn't imagine needing someone constantly for other issues.  

  On a lighter note, we are going camping at the coast for the weekend. I'm so excited. This is going to be the best camping trip yet. The kids are prefect ages. And the weather is suppose to be great. I hope everyone has a safe Memorial weekend. 

Just Horsin' Around ...

 Ok so we've been doing all things horse lately. I'm loving every second of it and Austyn is actually getting more comfortable with it. We started off entering Austyn in the Junction City pet parade. Austyn dressed up as a fairy and rode a Unicorn! It was so much fun putting the costume together. I was so excited I couldn't sleep the night before. She loves the parade thing. She really gets a kick out of waving at everyone. We got second place! Then we just so happened to stumbled across the perfect pony for Austyn. We went and looked at her several times. We were able to take her for a day and go for a little trail ride with the whole family. She did amazing. We brought her home to our house on Monday!! I'm in love with the pony. Her name is Chocolate Chip she is a registered POA. She is 16 years old, so she has many many years left on her. We were able to fix Grandmas horse barn up for her and keep her there. I can't thank my Grandma enough for giving us the opportunity to keep her at our house. We have been going out in our jammies in the mornings to feed her and play with her. I'm on cloud nine. I didn't realize how much I missed the horse thing. I've never seen Austyn so comfortable around a horse like this one. She's going to like this horse thing one way or another Dang it :) 

 Kids are absolutely amazingly perfect. Austyn is almost done with school. Thank God. I hate her going to school. It didn't bother me too much in the winter, but now that it is nice out I can't stand it. We are "sun sick" quite a bit. There is just not enough hours in the day to play outside. Especially when we have to stop for nap times ( sometimes it's hard being the adult and stop playing to go give naps) :( My heart is so happy with her right now. She decided all of a sudden that she wanted to ride her quad all by herself. So just about every night we ride little quads for hours. She is so good. So between her completely into the quads and getting so so so much more comfortable with the horses. I can't hardly stand myself. I know, I know, I'm a weird mom. 

  Quade is developing into quite the independent little man. He is the most determined young man I've been around. He just does his own thing and is completely happy with that. He is still 100% a mans man. He would much rather be with Jordan, my dad, or my brother over me. He is also getting pretty rough with everyone. He loves to rough house and climb on everything. A good way to describe him is a BOY. He loves getting dirty (and he is very good at it) and anything with water or a motor. He loves working in the garage with Jordan. I was in there the other day and he went over, picked up a screw driver and started "working" on his quad. It was just adorable and he was so proud of himself. He is now 15 months old. He is saying so many words. And mimicking everything. He watches Austyn and then goes and does whatever she just did. It's amazing how much faster the second kid learns to do things. He is just an all around good boy. 

 Jordan has been busy with his normal stuff lately. Working on rigs, quads, doing random projects I throw at him (like getting the barn ready for a horse), normal work aound the house (mowing, spraying, etc.), and his usual overtime at work. He tore our camper completely apart and put new supports throughout and re-sealed everything. So we should be good to go for our camping season coming up. He is incredibley smart at stuff like that. We have a camping trip planned every month this summer. I can't wait. I love camping. And the kids will be so much fun. 

 And as for me, I'm still working out and eating better. I'm pretty impressed with myself that I've kept with it this long. I started in January I think, and I've continued and made so much progress since then. I'm excited to see the results I've gotten. I'm going to keep it up and keep hitting my goals. 

 I'm thinking we are going to have one amazing summer ahead of us. The kids are so fun and we live in the best spot with the river and quads and now a horse. If only we didn't have nap time and we had more hours in the day:) I hope everyone is getting amped up for summer like we are. My one goal for this summer is to get some sort of tan on my pasty white legs. I think they are immune to the sun, but we will see what happens.