The Birthday Boy

Erik has finally crossed over into the exciting world of the 30 and over club. Remember when 30 seemed soooo old? Not so much anymore.

I think the kids were the most excited about Erik's big day. We had to get presents and a chocolate cake. Chocolate is a must. Don't be trying to bring rainbow chip in here. Chocolate.

Here is the chocolate cake the took me FOREVER to make.....and if you believe that than you and I need to become better friends because obviously you don't know me that well. This cake was made by the wonderful bakers at Costco. And it was/is really good! And no wise cracks about the 30 I taped on the candles. That actually did take forever for me to do!


The boys picked this card out just for Dad.


The ball that Makayla picked out for him. That's her hand reaching out for it.


The Reses Pieces that Bryce picked out especially for Dad. He knows Dad likes those "peanut butter candies".


Diet Mt. Dew from Preston. Apparently the boys wanted to get food for Erik's lunch and no lunch is good without candy and pop.


Told you that cake was good!

I was thinking about this epic 30th birthday and I was drawn back into my memories of his first birthday when we were engaged. He turned 23 and we were just a couple weeks shy of getting hitched. I remember getting him a Nikon camera (I think it was Nikon) that costs me $200 which took all my money and then some. But he had been looking at it for soooo long and I knew he would love it. And I made him a rainbow chip birthday cake that we would have to eat until we left school because I bought him the camera and we were out of money. Oh I love memory lane! You know what I got him for his birthday this year?.....

A cookbook. And trust me, it wasn't $200. In 7 years, this is where it's come to. A cookbook. The thing about it, he was just as excited about the cookbook as he was about the camera. Well, maybe he wasn't as excited but he'd been trying to find this particular cookbook for a reasonable price for a loooooong time. Better watch it, at the rate we're going in 5 years I'll be getting you toilet paper for your birthday! At least the cake was better...

Happy Birthday Erik! You are loved by a lot of people but four people in particular are loving you with everything they have. And you don't look a day over 35!:)

Easter Fun

We started out our Easter festivities with an easter egg hunt in our neighborhood. It was the most organized easter egg hunt that Erik and I have ever seen. Each family was to bring 20 eggs to hide then all the kids and families were counted. We were told each child could walk away with 10 eggs. What ever happened to survival of the fittest? I guess it worked out pretty good for the little kids but the boys were pretty bummed when I told them that they had 11 or 12 eggs and had to put some back.

Getting ready for the hunt.

Cutie!


And they're off!


She wasn't as excited but still had fun with Dad!

Now for Easter day. Leave to us to not do any easter shopping until the week of Easter. It was craziness everywhere we went and everything was GONE! Fortunately the Easter Bunny stopped by a garage sale on the way home from work and found these leapster systems for a steal.

The boys played with these ALL DAY!

Preston's books are a bit more challenging for him so he needs a little help with them.

Now I wanted to get pictures of the kids with all their Easter clothes on but by the time everyone was ready for church, we were late. So I thought after church we'd get the pictures. Makayla was so tired she went right to sleep in her dress and the boys stripped out of their church clothes as soon as we got home. So we got a couple pictures of the little miss when she got up.

That hat didn't stay on her head long.

I bought this dress back in October for $7! I love finding a good deal. But of course I had to make it modest by putting a shirt underneath it. It's my new favorite dress for her.

Now we're all struggling with stomachaches from the candy and tons of leftover ham....but it was all worth it!

FYI: By the end of May our cell phone contracts are up and we are getting rid of our cell phones. We now have a home phone and the number is 503-575-1920.

Our Grass

We are still renting. We would love to buy a house someday but it's just not in the budget as of yet. So we rent. This is the first place that we've had a yard. Albeit a small yard but non the less, a yard...with a deck that takes us half the yard.

I don't care. I love it, Erik loves it, the kids love it....it's PERFECT!

Well....except for the grass. Not so perfect. The previous tenants did nothing with the yard. And it showed. Part of the lease gives the responsibility of yard care to the tenant.

Us.

This will be our first lesson in yard care/management for our future purchase of a house. We will try new things and if we fail, oh well. We're just renting.

So first we start off with the problem. Our grass is actually moss. It's prevalent in the Pacific Northwest and really frustrating. Here is what our yard looked like after the moss killer was applied.

As you can see, not much grass is left.


Here's Erik stomping the seeds into the ground. He shoveled all the existing grass out, broke through some branches coming out of the ground, tilled the dirt with a rake (the one broken on the deck), put the seeds on the dirt, and proceeded to stomp on the seeds. I think next time we'll try and get the right equipment for the job.

So now we wait. Somethings gotta grow, right? Well, if it weren't for all the dang birds eating our seeds we'd have a lot more grass but I think it's turning out really well.

We even have some daffodils (I think?) growing.

I love our tree. And if your'e wondering what the kids are doing, we have a pond in our backyard. I am not a fan of the pond. It gives me one more thing to worry about while the kids are outside and I won't let Makayla out without me there with her. It was drained but Erik and the boys were intent on putting water and fish in it. So now it has water in it. No fish yet but it is a good spot now for suicidal mice since we've found some dead mice in it. But don't worry, what diseases could there possibly be in there with dead mice?

I finally think our yard is coming together all thanks to Erik's good work and my picture taking skills! Now we can finally have a yard for the kids to play in.

Early Morning Visitors

We have had WONDERFUL weather the past few days. I mean absolutely gorgeous. Kids-playing-outside-all-day-they-go-to-sleep-early weather. This morning was just as beautiful and as I was enjoying the beauty that is sunshine with no clouds, I noticed a cat climbing up our fence.

This is not unusual. There are several neighbors with cats and they all kind of roam around and go under our deck, which is not great but not a huge deal. But I sat there thinking "That is one huge, fat cat!".

Then his "friend" walked by.

Nope. Not a cat.

Raccoon.

Now I don't know why this shocked me. I've seen several raccoons in my life but I guess I just didn't expect to see them in my backyard early in the morning. And now I'm freaking out thinking that raccoons are hiding under our deck! I guess we need to spray for bugs and raccoons. :)

Not Feeling Blogger(y)

I don't think bloggery is a word but it should be a word because that's how I feel. Honestly, nothing is going on with us. The rainy season of the Pacific Northwest has begun so we are getting lots of rain which means we've been confined for a while. Not to mention that I am car-less since Erik has been taking my car to work while he puts a new exhaust system in his car. Another reason we're confined.

But I'm okay with this. I've been reading lots of books, playing lots of games, and the kids are being incredibly good. Although you'd think with all this time to spend the house would be cleaner but not so much. I think it's worse if that's possible!

We do have some upcoming events that will most likely be blogged about so look out for:

1.) Erik will be saying goodbye to his crazy time in his 20's and saying hello to stability and settling down in his 30's. (if you don't understand that, cause I hardly understand it, he turns 30 soon)

2.) We will be leaving our children for 4 days for the first time EVER and heading to Houston, TX for Dane and Laura's wedding. (Erik's brother for those who don't know) I'm really excited about this and sooo looking forward to finally setting foot on a warm beach. It better be warm dangit!

3.) 7 year anniversary coming up. We can still consider ourselves newlyweds, right?

4.) Mother's day but that's usually forgotten about so I'll just try and block it now. I don't want to go through the whole "but your not my mom" thing with Erik this year. I've learned to pick my battles and some things you just have to let go. (Love you Erik!)

Just know we're here and kickin'... just not blogging.