5 Years in a Blink of an Eye...

  It happened, Austyn turned "5". She thinks that being 5 years old is the coolest thing. Where do I even begin with her Birthday post?! I'll start off with her Birthday morning. Jordan and I crate papered her door and put balloons behind it so when she opened her door the balloons would fall on her and she would have to break through the paper. It was so cute. She didn't want to take the paper down, so we crawled under it all day. 

She requested waffles, eggs, and sausage for her Birthday breakfast. So we decorated her chair and ate off of Birthday plates. We tried to make it fun and special. 

After breakfast we stopped by the coffee shop for hot chocolates before school. She got to take treats to school to celebrate there as well. After school I let her choose wherever she wanted to go for lunch. Of course she chose "Old MacDonalds". From there we did naps and she asked if Quade could sleep with her and I obliged (they did sleep). Soccer practice was next and we finished the night off with dinner at Abby's. It was a wonderful Birthday, I had a blast and it wasnt even my Birthday. I made a point to make it a "yes" day. Try not to tell her "no" about anything unreasonable. It definitely brought to my attention how much I tell the kids "no". Maybe I'll work on that a bit😁

Her Birthday gift from my parents. She loved her Wedding dress. 

Right now Austyn is playing soccer. She is doing so much better than I had expected. She had her first game and did amazing. She got knocked down numerous times and jumped right up and kept going. She is really enjoying it. I love it when she is interested in something. 

She also had been dying to do ballet. So for her Birthday we got her dance classes and the whole outfit (there is a lot to a full fledged ballet outfit). She was so excited about it. I'm not sure I've ever seen her that excited. And then she cried the whole class. I don't know what there is to cry about ballet, but apparently she found a reason to cry. She hated it. So we returned the ballet stuff and now we are into soccer. 

My kind of girl! We recently sold her pony. And she was very very happy about that. Since the fiasco at the 4th of July parade she has been terrified of Chocolate Chip. So we decided to stop torturing her and let Chocolate Chip go to a family that would enjoy her. It was a sad day for me, but I'm glad she is being used. She was too good of a pony to waste away in our pasture. Maybe someday she will like to ride. Kindergarten is a hit! Austyn thinks that having her own desk at school and her own school supplies is the coolest thing since sliced bread. She totally takes after me. I got more excited to get her school supplies than she did. There are 13 kids in her class and we are good family friends with most of them. It's going to be a great year for her. 

I can't wait to she how far she's come at the end of the year. Right now Austyn is into anything and everything girly, makeup, hair, nail polish, dress up, purses. I am impressed sometimes with her knowledge at her age. She will tell me how she wants her hair in the mornings and it will be something I've never done before and it looks so cute. She definitely didn't get that from watching me. She is so kind and thoughtful. She will help me out with Quade without me asking. Example: Quade won't eat (surprise surprise, right?), and she takes a bite of her food and tells him how yummy it is. Then magically he eats. She amazes me. I could go on for days about the amazing things she does. 

We are so lucky to have such an amazing, sweet, and caring daughter. I look forward to having a very close relationship with her and watching her experience life. I hope she lets me be a huge part of it. 

  

Fall Has Arrive . . .

  My my my, I'm quite overdo for a new post. I bet some of you are getting a bit impatient with me. So sorry 😁 Just busy wrapping summer up I guess. I left off with pictures of my darling children and husband during the Fesival this summer. They had a blast dressing up and dancing for those quick few days. I have to say I'm still blown away at how well Mr. Quade did through the whole thing. He danced twice a day and did perfectly. We were all so impressed. I don't know where that came from. I told Jordan that maybe dancing is his calling. Jordan did not like the thought of that. 

  We left the Festival and went on our horse camping trip with Jordan's whole family. So much fun! Weather was perfect, water was too cold for me, and the company was amazing. Can't wait for next year! 

Aunt Jessica making her famous and most delicious pie with the nieces and nephews

  We came home for a few days to restock the trailer and then we were off to the annual crab trip with Jordan's fire department. We stayed for 6 days this time and still could have stayed longer. Truely best camping place ever. Besides the fact that there was a fire ban during our stay and the Yellowjackets were bad. It was a major bummer. 

  We also made one last day trip of the summer up to the zoo. It was so fun. The kids loved everything and it was another perfect day in the books. 

Kids on the train at the zoo

  Austyn started kindergarten this year. She is going to a private Christian school in Junction City for this year and then move her back to Territorial next year. She is loving the new school and her teacher. I am so excited for her to have this great opportunity with this amazing teacher. I can't wait to see what she learns this year. She is signed up for soccer this fall. She has been dying to do ballet so we got her dance classes and the whole outfit for her Birthday! She's going to be so excited!! And she is also excited that we sold her pony. Sounds funny, I know, but she was terrified of her and had no interest in her at all. I couldn't stand watching her waste away, when I knew another little kid could be enjoying her. So we found a good home for her and everyone is happy. 

Austyn and Quade decided it would be a good idea to try Muttin Bustin. They loved it. 

First day of Kindergarten. 

  Quade has become quite the little story teller chatter box these days. She is nonstop talking and telling his tall tales of hunting. He is absolutely amazing. The most entertaining child I've ever been around. He is continuing to get better about controlling himself. He's pretty easy to talk out of his little tantrums now too. He still has his days, but so does everyone else. I will continue to thank him for teaching me patience. He has changed me so much as a mother and person all in good ways. I'm beginning to appreciate his really really really really rough stage. Like my Mom always says, "something good always comes out of something bad".

Quade getting ready to ride his wild sheep

  Jordan had the opportunity to hike the South Sisters with a few fire department friends. He went up the night before and stayed in a tent and then hiked all the next day. He loves stuff like that. They didn't luck out on the weather though, it was too cloudy to see anything when they got to the top. But he still enjoyed it. More recently, he injured his back at work and has been completely down and out for a week now. I've been having to put his socks on and off and pants too. He had an MRI and we will know the results on Monday. He has felt some relief from taking Prednisone for the inflammation in his back. But he's been absolutely miserable. We hope for continued relief and a good MRI reading. Cross your fingers. 

  Nothing new with me. I'm just getting ready for the Holidays! I love this time of year. I've got my Fall decorations out. And looking forward to letting the kids get a pumpkin everytime we go to Lone Pine. By the end of Fall our place is overflowing with pumpkins. I love it! Can't believe summer is over. It felt like a long summer (in a good way). But I'm ready for some cooler weather for sure. The kids are getting so big and changing by the minute. Every year gets better and better during the Holidays. The Christmas magic is so fun with the kids right now. I've started making Halloween costumes already and I finally learned after three years to NOT get the glittery tulle for Austyns costume. She is going to be a Witch this year and Quade will be a Firefighter. Pretty simple this year. Like always I'm off and on with exercising. But I guess some is better than none. Right? 

  Hope everyone had an amazing summer like us and continue to have a great Fall!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Scandi Pictures for Aunt Ronda and Nana and Grandpa . . .

  We missed you guys. We were so bummed. Thought you were coming on Saturday. So here are some pictures and I'll do a full post when we get back from camping. Love ya!

Summer Summer Summer . . .

 It's been a wonderful summer so far. We have been able to stay home and slow things down a bit. Something I thought I would never be able to say. We've been doing A LOT of tent camping in the backyard. We sleep in the tent more than we sleep in the house. It's all about making memories! Austyn loves it. It's a girls only thing so Jordan and Quade have to stay in the house. Jordan is not upset with that deal. 

Here is our accommodations

  Our last goat finally had her babies. She had triplets. Two girls and a little boy. Austyn named the girls sparkle and sparkle glitter. And Quade named the boy cougar. The mama had them all by herself and everything went smooth. A huge thanks to my Grandma for keeping such a good watch on them. While they were up in the pen the barn Owls were scoping them out for their next meal. We had to put a net over the pen to keep the Owls from having a free meal. 

These two goats were given to us because previous owners couldn't keep them. They definitely know how to use those horns. They won't be staying long. The kids call them the "horny" goats. It's hilarious. And if you ever see Quade ask him about getting horned by the goat. He is so dramatic and animated. I love his stories. 

Here are the triplets. Adorable. 

  Austyn enjoyed her last week of school. She had outdoor school out at camp lutherwood. It was so much fun. I helped every day and we did all sorts of activities. It was such a great experience. Can't wait for the next time. (Every other year)

I always like to take a picture on the first and last day of school in the same outfit to see how much see has grown. On the left is the first day and the right side is the last day of school. She got taller!

  The kids have been doing swim lessons and doing great. They both loved them. Quade was the bravest in his class and really enjoyed himself. Austyn improved so much by the end that her teacher asked to move her up a class for an additional two weeks. So we did an extra two weeks with Austyn. She really improved her technique and skills the second two weeks, but it was a really tough class. She lost a bit of confidence because it was a little hard and scary. But we can get that back throughout the summer in the river. Austyn was so passionate about swimming. I haven't seen her like something so much. It was really neat to see her do so well and love it. 

Her running leap of the diving board with a huge smile. 

Quade was the only one that could/would swim on his own without the teacher so she would hold the rest of the kids and he would follow the pack around the pool. It was really cute. 

  Jordan was off for the 4th of July this year and we decided to take the kids and the horse in the Harrisburg parade. Long story short it was a disaster. Chocolate Chip was terrible and out of control. Scared Austyn to death. So she was much more comfortable in the back of the truck throwing candy and Quade thought he was hot stuff on Chocolate Chip all by himself. Needless to say, Chocolate Chip will be having a nice "come to Jesus" meeting with me. We went back to Harrisburg to watch the fireworks at night. Kids had a blast. 

  Our newest addition are our field hogs. We got 4 baby piggies. They are the cutest things. They are suppose to not root and are specifically bred to be raised on pasture. They will be ready to butcher in the fall. We will see how big of a fiasco this ends up being. But they are awful cute. 

  We went to Fern Ridge the other day and went fishing, BBQing, rode bikes, and played on the playground. The kids and Jordan swam while I cooked burgers. So fun besides the fact it was the coldest day of summer, extremely windy, and it was raining. Good effort on our part, but we will have to try again for a nicer day. 

  We went to the Philomath Frolic Rodeo this weekend. I love small rodeos. It was so fun and down to Earth. There was a carnival for the kids too. They had a blast. 

We went with some good friends and their adorable little Cowboys. We have the cutest kids around. 

Jordan and the kids on the "Scrambler". It went so fast Jordan couldn't even keep his eyes open. The kids are in love with rides. 

Our road tripin kids. They went over 400 miles in two days which included a play date at an awesome pool, BBQ, Portland trip and Rodeo. They are amazing kids. Such little troopers. 

  Our latest idea was to make Austyns Lemonade stand mobile. We missed the HWY 36 garage sale this year and the kids have been dying to do their lemonade stand so we thought we would change it up a bit. 

We visited GG, our neighbor, Aunt Diane and Uncle Brice, ChaCha, a couple family and friends in town, and ended up at alone Pine. Kids loved it! It was a hit. 

  

We are getting ready for the Scandinavian festival. Austyn grew out of her outfits from last year so we are getting to utilize the extremely talented "Aunt Ronda"! Jordan's aunt is the best seamstress ever. So happy to have someone to rely on when my beginner skills fail. 

So Quade wanted to do it too. Everything Austyn does he has to do it as well. He did really good the first practice but this last one both kids just decided it was more fun to wrestle and fight. Yep, I had "THOSE" kids. Might not let Quade actually dance, but I'll dress him up anyways so he feels apart of it. 

  

So thanks to my Mother we we given a rooster because an older couple could no longer have it. Kind of like the two goats. You would think I'd learn my lesson. Anyways it lasted less than 24 hours. 5:00 am was not going to work for me. I hit the snooze button on the rooster. 

 Austyn is extremely excited for her new school in a couple months. She will be going to Kindergarten. She is such a precious angle. She is so kind, funny, smart, she has the best memory.  Practically perfect in every way. She is starting to go through a stage where she is pushing her limits a bit .But even at that it's amazing how good she is. So I had mentioned the fiasco at the parade with her horse and the challenging swim class earlier. My goal with her for the rest of the summer is to get her confidence back with both horse and swimming. She is so sensitive and requires so much praise and positive verbal reinforcement that it is quite the chore for her to get brave enough to try something. 

  Quade, oh Quade. He is so amazing in practically every way. Notice I did t say perfect. His energy level continues to develop and GROW😁 He will run around in circles and yell "Zoom Zoom". He is eating much better and storing less in his cheeks. He is understanding boundaries better now and is much more controllable when he throws his fits. He still throws his fits, but they are much better. I CAN SEE THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL!!!!! So refreshing to know he's getting better. He is a crazy man on the quad. My parents got him his own little quad in his favorite color, Green. He can drive it by himself (with us on the back of course). He still needs to get a little stronger to be able to stear but he's got it down. 

  Jordan has had the best schedule this summer. He has had several different stents of 5 days off. It has been Heaven. We have just stayed home and done projects around the house and done fun things with the kids. We had a wood stacking party and got all our wood stacked. We got over 11 cords. Enough for 3-4 years. Jordan pressure washed the house and playhouse, and all the patio furniture. Which I'm working on sanding and then restraining now. He also was able to be on the Civic Stadium fire. It was absolutely amazing to see the videos and pictures, and hear the stories. He is an amazing man and amazing at his job. He was on a high for about a week after the fire. He got a promotion to the water rescue team he had been trying for a few years now. He was super pumped. And he is still preparing to go through his officer development program soon. 

He was in the paper. 

  And as for me, I'm just living the dream! Couldn't be any happier. This summer is truely amazing. Kids are amazing! How in the world did I get so lucky to have these kids. I thank God everyday for the blessing in my life. Our health, the opportunities that we've had, our family and friends, and especially all the bumps along the way. They make me stronger and wiser. I've continued to slowly lose weight and I'm feeling pretty good. My back went out for the longest time yet, so that put a damper in my progress. And my progress is nothing like my Mom and Aunts. Together they have lost over 100 pounds. I'm so proud of them. Their dedication is inspiring. 

McArthur girls at the Reno wedding this summer. Looking hot ladies!

Papa and Quade fighting a rippin fire. The manure pile reignited after a few weeks and it had some big flames. Second generation in training. 

  We have two camping trips left this summer. Horse camping with Jordan's family and the annual Crab trip with the fire station. We will continue to camp out in the back yard, swim everyday, fish, BBQ, ride little quad in our undies (not me though😉), eat ice cream at 9:30 pm, sleep in, and enjoy our little life. I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer. Until next time!