How I've been spending my evenings....

Kelsey's been wanting to play basketball for a few years but it overlaped with soccer and by the end of soccer season we (me) were in need of a break. Now that she's older it didn't start until the first of the year so we decided to go for it.First of all please take a moment to look at the various colors of socks these girls are wearing...oh my! Anyway Kelsey's having a great time and loving it. She's playing with all her buddies from her old soccer team and all her buddies from her new soccer team are on the opposing teams.
Now we don't need to talk about the teams record but Kelsey has made a basket or two (: Its a nice change from soccer because its indoors and while it keeps our evenings full its a pretty short season.

Here's Kelsey shooting a basket....I'm really proud of her for trying something new and she's doing a good job of balancing school, sports, church and piano.(not really she's super stressed out all the time...but were working on it.)

Name that Business!

Ok Ladies I need your help.

After a year of trying out the plumbing thing Nates decided he's had enough of toliets and somewhat steady paychecks and is going to start his own business. (ack)

He's going back to his roots (get it) and doing what he did for like 12 years...landscaping.

This is where you come in we need a name.
The criteria is as follows:
He doesn't want our name in the title.
If the name lends itself to a matching logo that is good!
Short and sweet.
If it starts with a letter towards the beginning of the alphabet that is also good for those people looking through the phone book who are too lazy to get to the Z's

To get your creative juices flowing here's what I've come up with:
Mt. Hood Landscape (however its apparently to area specific) ?
Chinnook Landscape (Nate likes this cuz of the fish thing and opportunity to use the fish logo but it doesn't roll off your tongue like I wish it would.)
Custom Lanscape (too boring)
Precision Landscape (whoops ever heard of Precision auto Glass in Gresham?)

Any suggestions you can come up with is greastly appreciated because he's been workin hard to get stuff going but can't get any farther until he has a name.

Why do I feel like I"m naming my 5th child?

Have a great weekend!

What we got for Valentines day.

For Valentines day this year I got a gift from my 10 year old. She walked in my room Sunday morning and said, "Do whatever you want with my hair." I don't remember the last time I got to do whatever I wanted with her hair.

So of course I choose for her to match her little sisters. Pig tails with braided loops topped off with heart bows. Hee Hee

Nathan got his present a day early this year. While I was running around tying to get the kids to primary activities and basketball pictures he was catching his first steelhead in a long time.

He got it on his second cast and was super excited. He could keep smiling about it the rest of the day. Way to go Nate!

We ate it the next night for our Valentines dinner.

Don't worry, Nate and I we went up to Timberline Lodge for a yummy, romantic, dinner for Valentines too!

Walk Away

Apparently I have a thing with taking pictures of my kids from the back..I'm not sure why. IS it that I'm secretly tired of looking at their faces? Or that there's something super sweet about it? Probably the former.The first one was taken last summer while the other was a good 3 or 4 years ago. You can see my inlaws old beachhouse on the hill..I REALLY miss that place.

Anyway Kelsey and Noah for the most part don't really get along but in these pictures their like little buddies sharing a secret moment and I happened to capture it. I love it!


It captivates me and creeps me out a little how the twins are stirking the exact same pose in this picture. Don't ask me to tell you which ones which..I refuse!

Have I mentioned I love the beach? The beauty of it is indescribable. I even love this day when its gray and cloudy. I'm pretending the kids are having this conversation.

Kelsey: Sorry I'm so mean to you all the time.

Noah: Thats ok , sorry I hit you and call you names all the time.

Kelsey: I love you!

Noah: I love you too!
Both: Isn't our mom the best?

With the twins its more about the cute little bums than anything else! Of course I'm sure their having some sort of secret converations too!

Perhaps their conversations go a little like this..

Aubrey: Isn't our mom kinda strange?

Sydney: Yes she is!

BIG sister little sister

As you can imagine the twins think their Big sister is the coolest thing since the Dora saves the crystal kingdom movie.This day their helping me make muffins. Sydney was SUPER excited to help stir and pour into the paper cups.

For the most part Kelsey does a really great job playing with them and including them in what she's doing..because they ALWAYS wanna be right beside her!
Kelsey is 7 years older then they are, my sister who is 3 years older than me didn't want anything to do with me. Of course it may change when Kelsey gets older..but I hope not.

Much to Kelsey's dismay whenever she's trying to practice piano the girls also want to join her. She's a very good sport about it and usually likes to have them with her. Its very sweet!!

Did I mention Kelsey fought me on taking piano lessons for years, until I decided to be a mean mom and make her take it anyway.

NOW she LOVES it, plays ALL the time and is doing REALLY great! One word...VALIDATION.

I'm super grateful for a patient and kind big sister who loves to be around her little sisters as much as they like to be around her!

BUBBLE BOY

Yes my 8 year old still takes bubble baths and he asked me to take these pictures by the way.

Of course he didn't ask me to post them on my blog (:He's an interesting one my boy. He can be so sweet and kind but just as easily turn mean and grumpy. Its tricky for my mothering skills or the lack thereof!

It took a couple tries to get this picture of him tossing bubbles through the air but once I got it he was pretty pleased with himself and me for taking it!

He made a mess all over the floor but it was very entertaining for the twins and I to watch!

He Prides himeself as being the only one that can always make me laugh which is true. What he doesn't know is he makes me cry more than anyone else too!

The answer is...

If you guessed SYDNEY and most of you did...you were right!

No worries to Selena who guessed Aubrey she was the first one and it was a tricky angle.

What a cutie I miss my baby girls!
Wish I could've enjoyed them more but when theres two there's not much time to relish in the cuteness!