Carolyn ran in her school's fundraiser and did 9 laps that were 1/8 of a mile long in 20 minutes. She had so much fun. And thank you to everyone who sponsored her. It made her day. She was telling everyone, "I ran nine laps, and Mom told people I would only run eight."

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Blake helped assemble his bottom bunk of the new bunk beds that made their way to our house a few weeks ago. The kids are now sharing a room, and I am still wondering if it was a good idea.

Pumpkins

Two kids excited to carve pumpkins

One who dove right in to all the goo and guts...

and one who bailed at the first touch of pumpkin innards to go make cookies with his aunt.

And no pictures of the finished products. I should be fired as family photographer.

Happy Halloween!

From Thomas and a cheerleader for a defunct team--but we had all the pieces to make the costume. That was my number 1 priority this year.

First day of school

Why is it so hard to get a normal picture?

I was all prepared to send Carolyn on the bus yesterday for her first day, but, first, we were given the wrong pick-up time by ten minutes, so we missed the bus to school. I drove her and got her in class in the nick of time. Then, the bus came to drop her off, but she wasn't on it. I had about two panicky minutes where I freaked out about where she could be before I got a call from the school office saying her teacher made a mistake and Carolyn was still at school.

Let's hope today goes smoother.

Carolyn's big day

Carolyn had two exciting events yesterday. She went to meet her kindergarten teacher and had a mini day of class. It was a big success, and she is super excited to go back on Thursday for her first real day of class. No pictures of that though! I justify it by saying Thursday is the real day, and I will try to remember then.

But I got pictures of our evening activities because they will never happen again.

We started out by going to dinner, just me and Carolyn.

It is so relaxing to eat with a five-year-old, opposed to a 2.5-year-old boy who thinks making messes and being loud is just fine entertainment.

Then we walked over to our main entertainment for the night...

Carolyn heard about this concert from a conversation I had with Jeremy regarding my sister's propensity to win tickets from radio stations. She hadn't won tickets yet, but was planning on trying. Carolyn loves Taylor Swift. We've spent the last year in the car listening to her Fearless CD. Carolyn can sing every song. While I enjoy her music, there have been multiple times I have wished to never hear another song because of the sheer volume of it we listen to. Once Carolyn knew she was coming to town, she asked me to win tickets and take her.

Angel and I decided to give it a shot. After a week of trying to win one particular game, we did it and had two tickets. Angel graciously said that I could take Carolyn. We spent the next week and half trying to win a second pair, but never even got a ring into the station.


These little earplugs were our lifesaver. Carolyn asked to put them in while we were outside the stadium looking for our seats. It was incredibly loud. I have been to concerts where the bass was so loud you couldn't hear the artist sing, but I had not been to a concert where the people were singing and screaming so loud you couldn't hear the artist. There were a couple songs, I don't think Taylor Swift even had to sing because the stadium had it covered.
We had great seats and Carolyn could see everything happening on stage no problem. Taylor Swift doesn't just sing her songs, she puts on a show for every single one. That really helped with Carolyn's attention span. I figured she would get antsy, and we might leave early, but she wanted to stay.

Although, when Taylor Swift decided to sit under a tree and talk for a long time, we took a mini-break to get water and stretch our legs. It was a good break. We didn't miss any songs Carolyn was familiar with.

Carolyn did start to act tired toward the end. I said we could leave, but she really wanted to hear "Fifteen" and "Love Story." Those were the two encore songs. So we stayed until the glittery end. Did you know Taylor Swift likes glitter?

It was totally worth it. For "Love Story," she rides in this balcony all around the stadium. She went right over us and Carolyn was waving like crazy, so excited to see her up close.

Did I mention that before we went she asked me if Taylor Swift was a real person? It blew her mind when I said yes. She then told me she liked Taylor Swift more than Hannah Montana. Me too.

A family member gets a facelift

Our precious doll-doll was really starting to show her age.

Her hair fell out.

As did all the stuffing in the feet.

She lost her "tail" (the tag on the back).

And slowly, from all the washing, her stuffing was getting lumpy and flat. Plus the washings were getting few and far between because we were worried she would just disintegrate in the wash. So on top of it, she was dirty and smelled bad.

Who wants a family member like that?

Not Blake. He started dropping hints about a month ago: "My hope for Chwistmas, my get a new doll-doll." "My dolly bwoken, dad, my need a new one."

I guess these weren't so much hints as a plea for help.

But where do you buy a doll that was sold in Toys R Us five years ago? Only on ebay.

So today Blake left this upstairs...


and came down to find this on the counter...
The comparison is really much sadder side by side. I certainly forgot how lovely dolly once was.

Coast

We headed out to Cannon Beach to enjoy some of the beautiful weather that finally arrived in Oregon. It's about time summer started. Usually my kids like to just play in the sand and maybe get their feet a little wet...

...this time, they decided to just go jump in the ocean. I wish we had come prepared. Next time, we bring swimsuits!


Aunt Bean and Uncle Wayne came along for the ride. This is how they started out playing frisbee. About six feet apart. Pathetic.

Eventually they moved far enough away from each other that they didn't fit in the same frame.


We enjoyed burying Carolyn to her neck in sand.
Blake helped.

Blake wanted to have a turn too. We didn't bury him to his neck because I was worried he would freak out. Instead, we just went up to his armpits. We took video after Blake got buried. His voice is so quiet that it is hard to hear, but you can get the jist of it by watching. Click here for cuteness.

This is just a quick preview of the video.We left the beach for lunch, and then headed down the coast to collect salt water taffy and Tillamook ice cream. We planned on stopping for dinner, but not a single person was hungry after a giant lunch, so we just headed home.

After the long, hot day, the kids fell asleep on the way home.

All of the kids.


Although taking pictures with a flash makes one of them smiles like this briefly before falling back asleep. I am glad she fell back asleep because we got to deal with post-nap grumpiness at home instead of in a car with miles to go.

We ended up feeding our kids instant breakfast shakes out of sippy cups in the bath as we cleaned them because we knew the meltdowns wouldn't hold off if we tried to feed them a meal at the table. We quickly put them both in bed before crashing onto the couch ourselves.

When cousins come to stay...

We build forts...


and all pile onto one bed.

We had my niece and nephew for a few days while their mom had a baby. Carolyn has been anticipating this for weeks...

Carolyn: When is Chandler coming for a sleepover?
Keren: I'm not sure. When his mom has the baby.
Carolyn: but whennnn is thaaaaaaat? I waaaaaaant hiiiiiiiiim to cooooooooome.

It got repetitive. Very quickly. But we had fun with them here. Now we can't wait for Carolyn to get over her second cold of the summer so we can go love and squish the new baby.

Before the sickness

In early July, we went to a swim park to celebrate my nephew's tenth birthday. Carolyn had so much fun running around with Chandler.




This is from a brief break where they refueled before jumping back in the pool.

Blake got out early asking for Jeremy to hold him. We skipped his nap in order to make it to the party, so we assumed he was just tired. But this was our first hint that Blake was sick. By the next morning, Blake was quite sick and I wasn't feeling well either. We spent most of the month of July with someone in our house battling this nasty cold that would not go away. It really put a cramp in our summer.

These were my last picture for a month. Apparently, I got super lazy with the camera.

Happy Independence Day!

We had high hopes for the day and while not everything went as planned, Carolyn, at least, had the best day ever. She told me so. Blake and Jeremy, not so much. Blake and Jeremy got sick Saturday night. I did too, but it seems my version was much less miserable. So this morning, I packed Carolyn up to go to a breakfast and then ride on an old firetruck for the Hillsboro parade. We were invited by some friends to help throw candy. We hoped the whole family could go, but, this morning, Blake's cough was even worse. Jeremy was supposed to go with Carolyn, but he was feeling lousy, so we switched jobs.

Carolyn had tons of fun throwing candy out to all the kids. The parade right goes right by my sister's in-laws' house, so Carolyn kept asking every five minutes if we could see Aunt Bean yet. We also saw some of her little buddies out in the crowd and that helped her get through the long route. We ran out of candy early and her attention dissipated after that.

We declined a barbecue invitation because the boys were sick. After dinner, we did baths and got the kids in bed. Jeremy and I were relaxing with some Friday Night Lights when Carolyn came downstairs and said she wanted to see the fireworks.

Our kids go to bed at seven. There has never been firework viewing with our kids. So, since sometimes I am a sucker, I called our friends and asked if the offer was still good to watch some fireworks in their backyard. I packed up Carolyn in her too-small pajamas an hour after bedtime and went out.

Here she is throwing those snap things at a piece of plywood. This is how we amused ourselves until it got dark.


This is what happens when you give a box to a two-year-old: all the snaps are unpopped. The older kids were more than happy to help pop them.

This is Carolyn's face when she heard her first big boom!

We watched lots of fireworks go off and even had to make some detours to get home because of all the people in the road lighting up their displays. She did tell me in a quiet moment that "today was the best day ever!"Doesn't this face just explain it all?

Anniversary date

Jeremy and I ditched the kids on Saturday to take an all-day pre-anniversary date. I really wanted to go on a real hike. We went out to Multnomah Falls. Never been there before. It's a zoo!! We started out at Wahkeena Falls and did a 5.5 mile loop. It was so pretty. This is before we got too sweaty.


This is the good stuff though. It was so pretty once you got up quite a bit on the ridge.
This was on our way back down. It's hard to believe we haven't been up here in the five years since we've been to Portland. But really, it isn't once you consider being pregnant and sick or trying to do this with kids.

This is the BIG waterfall where all the people are. So. Many. People. I was glad we started out at the other falls because there wasn't anyone on our hike until the last mile. By then, I was done anyway.
My camera doesn't have a lens where I could get a shot of the whole thing. I couldn't get far enough back.

After our hike, we went and got a milkshake and then drove back home. Later in the afternoon we went out to dinner and a movie. Both enjoyable, except the restaurant we went to dropped the only vegetarian option on the menu. So we left and picked a different restaurant that was so tasty. Jeremy's calzone was as big as his head, so he was happy. That might be the first time he's taken home a doggy bag though.

Thanks to my sister for taking the kids...especially since Blake is potty training. She must love me a lot. Or him. It's probably him. He's pretty darn cute.

Happy birthday, Carolyn!

December started with some of Carolyn's friends turning five. Since then, a steady stream of kids in preschool had their birthdays and Carolyn was content to know hers would be later. And then, Chandler, the favorite cousin, turned five in April. Since then, I have listened to a constant stream of "how long until June 15th?" Ten days ago I gave her the countdown and she's kept track for herself since then.

Today, we had her party. I got a little adventurous with the food when my friend sent me a link on how to make this:


We continued with the watermelon with these:



I didn't banish my daughter to candles in a tub of ice cream like last year. But only because I saw this in a magazine and thought they were super cute. It was much easier last year, but Carolyn actually ate one of these. Probably first birthday cake I've made for her that she has eaten.

Can I just say that those musical cards are perfect for a brand-new five-year-old?!

Now on a sentimental note, Jeremy and I had our 9th wedding anniversary yesterday. We celebrated early because of his work schedule and my party preparations. But yesterday as I was sitting on the carpet next to Carolyn, I thought back to what I was doing for my fourth wedding anniversary. Jeremy and I had Quizno's for lunch as we gathered stuff to go to the hospital for an unscheduled induction eight days past my due date. Then we spent the rest of the evening waiting for Carolyn to make her arrival. I will admit to asking the nurses how quickly they thought she'd come when they started the pitocin around 4:30. I really didn't want her to be born on our anniversary. I wanted that day for me and Jeremy. Little did I know that with her coming on the next day, I would be spending my anniversary decorating cakes and planning parties each year. But yesterday as I sat with her, I realized I really didn't mind.

Preschool Graduation

The last day of preschool has come and gone. Carolyn had a bubble extravaganza at the high school.


I can't believe Carolyn is done with preschool. I know it is so cliche to be all emotional about it. I didn't think I would be. It took me by surprise as I was watched her get her binder with all of her work from the past two years.

But just these two pictures show so much growth for her. Last year, she wouldn't go to the front of the room without her cousin holding her hand. This is the toddler who cried at Costco if the check out person talked to her, or sometimes just looked at her. This program has been wonderful for her. I couldn't be prouder of my little girl.

Rest of trip

This is some freak of a tree named the octopus tree.
It looks like it has a lot of comfy places for reading a book, but you aren't allowed to touch it. It's apparently really old.


Cape Meares lighthouse.


No trip to the coast is complete without hanging around the Tillamook cheese factory, especially when you can drive your very own cheese bus.

Movie time!

Watching Tangled with Grandma.