Todd

I picture says a thousand words~ And for me there is so much life in this photo because I know this little man and enjoy his tender spirit and LIFE!!!

Of Babies and Such!!

Well, I am proud to announce.............a new baby coming this March...........

I got to stand on the uphill side so I look so nice and tall in this photo (sorry Care:)

Nope, not me! My sister is having another little girl and I got to go to her baby shower and meet all of her friends and spoil her for a few hours. Anytime now little Bailey Rae. I would LOVE to meet you and hold you before Nate leaves for a week!!!

Great Grandma's House!!

The kids absolutely LOVE going to Great Grandma's house on THE FARM!!

There is SOOOOOO much to see and 'touch'!
Grandma is exceptional at taking time to explain things to the kids and teach them the proper ways to handle certain antiques... the proper etiquette... We really do enjoy our time there!

Andi found a pink hat and a pink piggy suit and a pink umbrella in the Pink Room (kindof sounds like the game clue...)
Todd and Trae went outside to play and explore and came back totally drenched.

"Um.... what happened boys?" Todd, "Well..... we were standing on this red thing and I fell through the lid and into the water, but don't worry, I yelled to Trae to go away because he would drown and he obeyed me. He needs a treat!!" Thank you Lord for your everyday protection.

Longing for snow!

We have Nate M. on the camera for this one of Vance. He really enjoys taking photos and gets super creative with some of his shots.

Can you tell we are a little intense. Even his eyelids and ears are getting into it:
The girls play inside with poly pockets while dressed up as ballerinas:
Halley with the ultimate longing to be outside in the snow. She was so cheerful and got all her school done by 9:30 and enjoyed the rest of the day OUT!
The boys played outside in the snow that they have been WAITING for. It was just enough to make a great snow fort but not too much that we couldn't get to town to run some errands.

Trae has this thing when he sees the camera he smiles and closes his eyes! Those two were the first to get their school done and got to go outside and make the first snow prints.

Feast or Famine!

We had a great visit with Grandpa and Grandma Seppa AGAIN! They stopped by on their way to warmer weather. They gave kids a ride in their trailer slides and joined us for a soccer game that Nate and I have enjoyed playing together with his brother and sister.
What do we do in the evenings when it's dark, cold, rainy and DAD IS HOME???

Have towel snapping wars!!! It's a loud, good, and painful time. The kids have little red marks on their bodies and still come back for more, laughing and trying to snap Dad!!
Even Trae gets into it:
Then we play duck, duck, goose (or any form thereof) until it's time for hot cider and reading before bed.

I know, I know. I either blog several in a day or let a month or two go by without a word. I wish I could say that I'll be more consistent, you'd be wise to believe it when you actually see it.

Beach continued...

"Want to go feel the water with the rest of the kids?"

Darbi, "Noouuuu"!

Poor Nate, he bought this kite several months ago because we live in a bit of a windy spot. Our field is perfect for flying kites and the neighbors don't mind if we wander onto their property too.

There hasn't been even the slightest breeze for months. He goes out into the field and runs as fast as he can, trying to get as much height out of that kite as possible...nothing!!

So, I mentioned to him that it is ALWAYS windy at the beach (at least in the Northwest) and that he should think about bringing his kite.

We get to their and guess what...NO WIND. Not even a breeze. It was the most beautiful January day on the beach. Didn't even need to wear coats and no hats or gloves.

Poor Nate though, he spent the two hours before sundown running on the sand and getting Todd to hold his kite up for him. NOTHING was going to keep him from getting that kite in the sky.

The next morning I let him go down and spend an hour flying his kite because there was the usual WIND. He had a ball out there. I really wanted to leave him there longer but we were too excited to go to THE DAIRY!!!

Grandpa and Grandma Seppa spoiled us with a great lunch and a trip to the farm. The kids rode in the back of Grandpa's cool truck, we go to see a less than 12 hour old calf, we played on a HUGE pile of hay bales, got our boots stuck in the mud... It was a blast!!

We then drove to our cousins and spent the evening their playing, and talking, and drinking coffee, and eating,... We ALWAYS have a grand time with the Marbles. Megan is a dear friend to me and our kids interact well with each other.

We got home around 11pm that night and Nate made it home from his trip around midnight!

Up To TWO!!

*** When Nate was gone on one of his business trips this past January the kids and I decided to take a two day trip to the beach and play in the water, swim in the pools, visit some friends and relatives...

All of these photos are before the 'sneaker' wave. For how quiet the ocean seems at times it is really heard to hear/talk! I seems like the voices get lost...

Trae, Andi, Halley and Todd were all playing out in the waves, chasing and being chased. The water was now over their boots. I was holding the baby and my camera and making sure that Darbi was staying close by. I called to Nate on the walkie to come give me a hand with the kids. While he was running I saw that the waves were holding back and the kids (this being their first time playing in the waves) were following them out farther. They couldn't hear me yelling and I could see the waves getting ready to dump on them. I handed the baby off and took off running into the water.

By this time the wave had covered them. All that was visible were four little bumps of clothes and hair tumbling towards me.

Needless to say we are all still alive and much wiser children in regards to waves and how they work.

Below is a good expression of what it was like at the house when I told the children of our plans to go:
....

on a bit of a side note, we have found a really fun treat place that we seem to drive by often. Yo Cream. It's measured by weight so I can get my little bit of fruit and someone else can get their endless toppings and many different varieties of 'ice cream' and we all enjoy!!
Up Next 'Beach and friends part TWO'...

Up To??

What HAAVVEE we been up too since Christmas and the start of this new year? Well, let us show you in a wave of photos. I may end up doing this in a few posts!

First, we open the first morning of the year with COLORING:

Next we have home made hot chocolate with marshmallows. The boys made a fire outside and us girls made some drinks and we all sat inside actually because it was still too cold even with a fire to stay out there too long.

We have play time at the park. Vance LOVES his daddy!
A little story goes with this photo. We haven't really ever done any fireworks for the New Year, but this year is special. I can't remember if we ever wrote on here our July 4th experience but in short we talked the kids into waiting until the day after the 4th to get their fireworks because we could get more for the $$. Well, we loaded up and went to town on the 5th of July and couldn't find anything that was open. They had just passed a new law... Anyways, Nate and I felt like the WORST parents in the world. So when Christmas came around we felt as if we could redeem ourselves a little with some fun fireworks for the New Year. We had plans to do them with Grandpa and Grandma Carne but honestly...we forgot that night... so we did them the next day.
The kids had soooo much fun with the sparklers. They would start them from the wrong end and watch them burn their way out. they'd start a hand full at a time. They'd have races to see who's would last the longest...

Coming up next is our trip to the beach and the 'sneaker' wave!

4 kids

Halley is my oldest daughter and a huge help to me. She took a day trip with Grandma and there was a hole where she usually is. She's every talking about the Lord with a desire to become more like Him. Her spirit is tender and ever learning. She's my decorator and super creative, putting all sorts of different objects together. Second grade has been fun for her and she's looking foreword next year.

Andi is our most feminine little lady but can do several pull-ups and push-ups. She loves playing poly-pockets and dress-up with the girls! She's been a great help this year with Vance (as she was the one 'in charge' of him when he was super small). He's probably only 10 lbs lighter than her but she carries him around, gets me his clothes, helps feed him, sits by him in the car...
And then we have our Vance! If we had someone to liken this child too it would be Dopey, from Snow White and the Seven 'Little People', (to be politically correct). He gets attacked and knocked over quite often but just gets up and moves on! He's cheerful most of the time and has some great lookin' chompers that he'll grow into soon.
Trae, well what can I say. He's a pretty intense kid in the snow! His verbal skill are pretty amazing and her understands more than I give him credit for. One of his favorite things to do right now is play trucks EVERYWHERE and ANYWHERE, and 'fight' (i.e. karate stance and the correct noise and leg lift). He is an absolute kick to have around and is ALL IN when doing anything!
I was sooooo trying to get a nicer photo of all the kids together looking sweetly... you know how that is? Anyways, this was what we got! I turned around to get something and looked back to this, then they all scattered.