Busy, but Fun

We've had a busy couple of weeks. April is always a pretty crazy month, but full of good things. We had the kid's birthday party at Pump It Up this year, and our kids loved it. They talked about it for weeks as the big day approached! Then had the best time jumping and sliding with all of their friends and family. After the party they came home excitedly talking about the party. Then they got to spend the afternoon/evening playing with their new toys. Thank you to everyone who made it such a special day. We love each and every one of you so much. The only thing I would've changed about the party, would have been to just spend more time getting to talk to each of you!
I've edited the jumping/sliding photos, but not the party/cake/presents photos yet, so here's all I really have to share from their party so far. :) And I would post the fun pictures of everyone going down the slides, but I think they may kill me for publicly posting them, so I'll just share this. :)


The weekend after the kid's party I got to go to the beach for a few days with 3 really special photographer friends. Stephanie & Amber flew over from Idaho, and Jamie drove up from Eugene. I'll post more in depth about our weekend on my photography blog, but let me just say it was one incredible weekend, full of inspiration and encouragement! Just amazing. What a gift these girls are!


Jamie took these two beautiful house photos below. Aren't they lovely? This is Cornelius House. One of my Dad and step-mom Janet's vacation rentals. I LOVE staying there.


Amber snapped these two pics of me that weekend:

We girls talked, cooked, laughed SO hard, shared information, tried new camera tricks, played with old film cameras, explored, talked about our precious husbands and children and balancing that with businesses, soaked up sunshine and salt air, ate out, slept in... simply wonderful.
And after that long weekend away, I was so excited to come home to these precious faces!


How I missed them! We bbq'ed and soaked up the kids when I got home. And we hit the ground running again Monday morning. :)

Jude had sensory therapy this week and did great. The kids had swim lessons. Jude started speech therapy today, which I can tell is going to be great! I'm excited for that. I got to meet with a wonderful bride and groom for coffee tonight and I'm excited to shoot their wedding this summer. The kids did great in school today...



I'm not sure I've shared this update yet, but the kids are going to go to a little Christian school next year. I'm really excited for them. Jude will be in Kindergarten (specifically because of his size and the medical issues he's had, we knew that would be the best decision for him) and Selah will be in preschool, but it's all one school. We'll continue to loosely work on our Kindergarten curriculum this summer so that the kids are ready for school in the fall. I feel so great about how it all came together. Selah is such a social person that I think a small classroom will be great for her. And we'll continue to figure out school a year at a time.


Benjamin continues to climb on everything. He figured out how to get up to the top of the dining table today. Wow. Neither of our other kids were ever climbers, so it's pretty funny to me to see this other world.

One other funny thing about Benjamin is this sudden development in him (he's 16 months old), where he suddenly REALLY wants his way. If he doesn't get it he'll lay on the floor and kick his legs while looking at me to see what my reaction is, which is usually to ignore him. Then he usually just gets up and goes and plays with something else. But if he's really mad he'll go find something and throw it and then see what my reaction is. Which then usually results in a 1 min. time out. He thinks that's pretty fun/funny. He likes to sit on the step and wait for the beeper and smiles when it beeps and give me a hug. I can't help but scoop up that sweet boy and love on him. He's learning. He's very aware.
Today I said, "let's change your diaper, Benj!" and he ran for cover behind the chairs, and then smiled so big because he wanted me to chase him. :) I tried to get that sweet smiley face, but just got this before he was running again:

Benjamin loves to stir up a little mischief here and there too... and it's somehow all with a smile. :) Sometimes I feel like he's a tornado, flying through the house. I clean up one mess to turn around and find the next one! This morning he turned on the faucet to the bath tub and then threw the tv remote into the tub. He loves to pull all of the kid's books off of their bookshelves, color on floors and furniture with any crayon remnant found who knows where, to empty dish towels and bowls from drawers and and to throw all of his food off of his high chair tray, swipe toys that the big kids are playing with and take off running... yep, the kid has a little naughty streak. :) But I know this also just comes with this age. And really, mischief aside, :) he's such a good boy. He loves to be my helper, plays wonderfully with the big kids, and is such a content, happy boy! I love seeing his mind at work. I couldn't love that boy more!

Tonight some friends came over to play, and the kids did great all playing together. They piled into the castle, played a video game all together, circled around the dinner table, played race cars on the floor... good kid time.


And lastly, the quiet spot in my day that keeps me going: tea, devotional & Bible. My mom gave me this really wonderful devotional a couple months ago called Jesus Calling and I love it! It's been so wonderful! If you're looking for a great devotional, I'd encourage you to pick this one up. (They even sell the Jesus Calling app, which I think is cool.) :)

I hope you've all had a wonderful week!!
xo
Bethany

Easter Sunday

We had a nice Easter. What a gorgeous day it was too!

After 3 full weeks of our family being sick (started with Selah's weird eye infection, then Jude got a cold and eye infection, then Selah and Benj got colds and Ben got an eye infection, then Josh got sick, and I seriously thought I was going to avoid it all and it got me at the very end and I lost my voice too, boo!) we were all FINALLY well by Easter! I was so thankful! We were all excited to make it to church again, and it was a wonderful service.

This Easter season I've been in love with this song mix of "In Christ Alone" & "On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand":


After church we went down to my mom's. The kids were really looking forward to the egg hunt and talked about it on the drive down. My mom and Wayne had a surprise birthday present for the kids first before the egg hunt. I had no idea what it was, and my younger brother Caleb asked if it could be a pet and I said, "no way", then Josh joked that maybe it was a horse. :) But I was thinking it must be some sort of big toy. Then we all went out by the garage and when the door opened out walked a pony! Jude and Selah were SO surprised! We all were!




Her name is Ruby Jewel, and the kids first fed her a carrot and said hello. Then my mom ran her out in a little pasture for a minute before putting kids on her. Selah loved watching her.

Ruby kept wanting to eat, so my mom made her walk on the gravel with the kids to keep her from being preoccupied with grazing. The kids loved riding her.

Benjamin was not as excited as the big kids to ride her. :) He's happier with two feet on the ground.

I LOVED horses as a little girl. We had horses growing up and I loved riding them in the field by our house. I was fearless on the them, sliding down their heads to dismount and riding bareback. But when I was about 13 I went to Sunriver with a friend and we did a trail ride and I got some crazy horse that took off with me and jumped a fallen tree and it seriously freaked me out. I no longer trusted horses. :( And as an adult I'm positive they smell my fear! :) My mom got me on one of her horses last summer in the ring and I did great one her, but I'm not sure she could get me out in a field yet. Anyway, I really took to little Ruby and I think she's the sweetest thing. And I love that she's little. I think we're going to be friends! :) Thank you Mom & Wayne for such a special gift!

After meeting Ruby we did the Easter egg hunt. I had to post this quick shot (left) from earlier that morning. The kids woke up to little eggs that led from their bedrooms to their baskets, and in Selah's basket we put this necklace & bracelet that she had noticed twice at the store and had asked for. She was pretty excited about it. :)





I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!
xo, Bethany

Sunny Days

It was really nice to have a few sunny days recently! The rain started back up today, but we got some sun this morning, which was great. We met Mauria, Rowen and Everly at the park this morning for a quick play date (Jonas was at school), then we came home for lunch, then went to sensory therapy where Jude did a great job, back home for "first dinner", then to swim lessons, back home for "second dinner" and bedtime. It's funny how the kids have NO weekly commitments but therapy and swim lessons, and they fall on the same day. So they sleep extra well one night of the week. ;)

Yesterday we went to the park with Sheri and her boys. So much is in bloom that it looked picturesque around the little lake there. I wish I would've actually snapped some shots of it! But I DID photograph the kids! Selah likes to pick daisies and dandelions. I'm looking forward to planting flowers with her this year, because she loves them as much as I do!

Benjamin was cracking us up, reclining here by this stone bench. He's been such a flirt lately, doing this eyelash batting type thing with his eyes. :) It's terribly cute.

Jude, Isaac and Evan were really fun to watch while they played on the slide. They were giggling and playing like rough boys for the longest time! They'd climb up and go down the slide in a bit of a pile. Laughter, laughter and more laughter.


When we all walked around the lake we saw ducks, geese, a snake, and trees that were chewed by beavers. I love slow time outdoors with the kids to look at the little things.

Friends. :)

We wrapped up our time at the park playing on the other playground until Selah got a blister and Benj needed a nap. Good day.

Jude's 6th Birthday

Tonight we had a little family party for Jude, just the five of us. Jude and Selah will have a party with friends and family this month, so we decided to do something special for them on their individual days. Tonight after Josh got home from work, we had dinner and made a cake. Jude decorated it with 6 blue candles, and he got to open his present from us. Jude wanted just one thing for his birthday, and he's been diligently asking for it for months!! He was over the moon excited to unwrap The Heli Cage! :) We all watched him fly it around the house this evening before bed. The excitement didn't end. At bedtime, when I sometimes make up stories for the kids, Jude asked if he could tell the story instead. I said sure! His story was about a birthday boy named Jude, and he recounted our fun evening, detail by detail! :) It was really precious.

Happy Birthday Handsome Jude! You are LOVED!!! xoxo


Opening a card he got in the mail today from his great grandparents... with a little cash gift inside that he was so excited about!

Unwrapping the beloved Heli Cage!



Six candles!

Selah is such a great helper...

Someone has quick fingers!

Happy about cake!



Benjamin stood there squealing as Josh handed out cake! He just couldn't wait for another taste!

I wish I had used the timer to get a shot of Jude with both Josh and me, but thank you Josh for snapping these! Fun night!