The last few years have been a struggle as we tried to find an outside activity that fit Josiah's personality and our family's schedule. I'm very strict about only doing one thing at a time with my kids. I hate running around. That is why I never really liked soccer, but I did it for two summers anyway, even though Josiah didn't seem to be a big fan of it either. He wanted to do football this year, but I told him he had to show us he could have a good attitude in soccer first, so we signed him up this year. 
Hailey looks so cute in her uniform. Aikido has been good for teaching both kids even better listening skills. If they aren't listening, they lose their turn.
There is another little red-head in Hailey's class. They have to separate them a lot because they love to chat with each other. It really helped a lot for Hailey to have a friend in that class (Ren's mom and I are MOPS friends).
Hailey, learning to hop on one foot, a very long way. They do a lot of right/left brain coordination activities, too.
The batteries in my camera were going dead that day, so some of these pictures are a little blurry. I still wanted to post it so you could see JUST how much fun she having :)
Josiah, waiting his turn.
He is learning to sit still on the blue line and not talk. This is a huge accomplishment alone. He knew a couple of kids from Lego club and AWANAS, so he had some instant friends in his class.
Kids from the class above, often help out with lower classes. The kids can test to get different colored belts.
This is Josiah's favorite game called "Color Dodge" . The teacher calls out a color, and the people on the sides quickly toss that colored-ball at you. They can be throwing up to 3 balls at you at one time, so it really teaches you to be quick on your feet. 
Here is a picture of my Mocha Almond Fudge raw ice cream.
One of my dear homeschool moms put together a fabulous field trip on the Safety Train that only comes into town every now and then. We had nearly 200 people from our local homeschool group attend. It was on a Saturday, so we were extra blessed to have many dads along. 
Michael got these shirts for Hailey and Josiah for Christmas this year. Of course our family always has to be dressed in theme for everything, this field trip was no exception. We were waiting in the station for the Safety Train to arrive. We rarely get passenger trains through our area, so this was a BIG deal for our community.
See the dome in the second passenger car? Josiah made a bee-line for it, and I'm so glad he did. We had the best seats on the train. Wow!
I snapped this picture through the train window as we were sitting at the station. Love the way the lantern is actually on. So pretty. We have a beautiful train station and it is a shame that it isn't used for passengers anymore.
I have a thing about old signs on buildings.
Many of our friends were on the train with us. Those nice rounded window provided some breath-taking views. Man, we sure live in a beautiful valley! I loved seeing it from a different perspective.
Taking it all in.
Due to the enormous amount of rain we've been getting, there are parts of the valley that are flooding. 
Here is a road that is completely flooded out.
More flooding along the foot slopes of the valley.
Picture of the train as it rounded a bend. We were pretty much following parts of the old Oregon Trail, which always gives me goose bumps.
Hailey was pretty tired by the end. The gentle rocking of the train definitely made you sleepy. Especially since we were basking in the sunshine we've so rarely been getting.
What can I say? I caught the photography bug. I absolutely love playing around with my new camera settings. I'm learning so much and having fun doing it. The only thing I don't like is when I post my pictures on Blogger, they look grainy to me. Anyone know how to fix that? These first couple pictures are of the roses Michael gave me for my birthday. Michael loves black roses and tulips, so even though these weren't black, I used the setting that filters out all color except green. I thought it looked cool.
Using the same setting, I allowed it to filter in only yellow and green. I love the affect! 
Here are some of my beautiful tulips. I took this picture using the "vivid color" setting. Plus, I wanted to show you all our latest furniture addition. My grandma blessed us with this beautiful hutch. It is simple, but elegant, which I think goes great in our new addition.
My friend actually took this picture with my camera. I was holding her new baby son and I think she captured his sweet softness just beautifully.
I love pasta and this dish is no exception! I triple this recipe and freeze the sauce by itself for those days when I need a quick meal. I even cook extra spaghetti and freeze it.
Hailey and I were able have a girls' date and go to the Fairy Tea. This is the first year for us and I think we just started a new tradition. Josiah took these first two pictures just before Hailey and I went to the Fairy Tea Party. 
This dress was given to us when Hailey was born and she is finally old enough to wear it. She especially likes the "twirl factor" this dress has.
They gave each girl a crown and a scepter with a pair of wings.
Looks like all those tea parties at home paid off, because she had really good manners. I didn't hear one slurp! I was very proud of her.
Of course I had to play around a little with my camera while we were there.
The "Fairy Godmother" read them all a story. I continue to be amazed at the difference between girls and boys. It was so quiet in there! Everyone was listening so nice and sitting still. 
Hailey saw a lot of her friends from our MOPS group there. She's sitting next to her friend, Becca, here.
Hailey had fun touching the butterflies on the wall with her scepter. This kept her entertained for quite awhile. I was able to hold my friends baby almost the whole time. What a joy and privilege to hold another red-headed baby boy. His temperament reminded me so much of both my kids when they were babies. It sure brought back a lot of memories. 
Standing in front of the castle in all her finery. She looks like a little cupcake. I'm surprised how well the color peach goes with her hair. I'll have to try to find more clothes this color while yard saling this summer.
Hailey and the Fairy Godmother.
The other day, Hailey and Josiah begged me to put on my wedding dress and veil. I realized, I'd never shown it to them, so I swallowed my pride and tried it on. After 2 kids and 15 lbs (= 15 years), there was no way I was zippin' that baby up. Luckily, they didn't care and thought I looked beautiful anyway. Of course Hailey wanted to try it on, too. 
Josiah saw all the beading and his entrepreneur mind wanted to know if they were real pearls and how much they were worth. Hailey, on the other hand, just wanted to wear it. 
I carefully "dropped" her into the gown. She looked so tiny in it!  |
| My Mother's Day training is finally paying off! This morning I received breakfast in bed, complete with chocolate chip pancakes served on the "God Made Me Special" plate, a card, dozen roses and the new Narnia movie I wanted. They gave me more flowers at church and are taking me out to dinner tonight because I already warned them at the beginning of the weekend that I wasn't cooking at all on Mother's Day. |
The movie was even wrapped in princess paper. We had just enough time to watch it before church started. Love the spiritual truths in "Voyage of the Dawn Treader".
My two precious blessings. I'm so grateful to be their mom. I thank God for entrusting me with their lives. While it seems an enormous, impossible responsibility at times, I'm so happy that I don't have to raise these kids by myself. God has provided me with a wonderful husband and father to these kids. God also gives me the strength and direction I need every time I ask for it, as issues too big for me to handle crop up. I can't image doing this incredibly important job on my own. My own mothers have helped shaped me into the mother I've become and I pray God will use me to do the same for my children. 
There was so much to see at the Heritage Station Museum in Pendleton. One of the kids' favorite parts of the outdoor tour, was this caboose. I didn't realize that this is where the conductor lived.  |
| Josiah's good friend, Jake, liked to "steer" the caboose. |
Part of the living quarters inside the caboose. Cowboy on a cellphone. Crackin' me up!
Cooking stove with one burner. It must have been pretty cold in there during the winter.
I kind of think this picture of the bathroom looks cool in a weird sort of way.
Local windmill that was used to pump water for steam engines.
The kids had fun with the water pump.
What county museum would be complete without an old fire engine?
The kids got to make 9 patch quilt blocks on a piece of paper using glue and wall paper swatches. They had a ball with this!
The gal who helped the kids with their "quilt" squares, showed them her wedding quilt made by her MIL. She told us some of the stories behind the pieces of fabric. It was fascinating!
The quilt shot in vivid color. All hand-quilted of course.
Hailey with her nine patch. I can hardly wait to start quilting with my kids. One of these days I'm hoping to have time.
This is a bag where they would put wool. It would hold 50 to 60 lbs of wool, depending on how good of a stomper the guy was inside the bag. What a job! Yuck! I can't imagine doing that in the heat of the summer.
Little Jake with a bag of real wool. He's just too stinkin' cute in that hat and his wild rag. He is the twin brother of the little girl, Hannah, who is turned around in her desk to look at me in the previous post. What a couple of cuties. Nice kids, too. 
