rainbow bright

I have to share this little fufu skirt I made Amber. I was pretty happy with it... okay, maybe more so than Amber.

Amber is all about the pretty things right now. As you all know, she loves makeup to a fault.

We went the Brodey's last JV football game of the season tonight, and I had my sparkles on my eyes (since I have no eyeshadow).

So she's sitting on my lap, and reaches up and touches my eyelid. "Makeup?", she said. She then proceeded to wipe the sparkles off my eye and put them on hers. "Oh, it's soooo bootiful mama", she cooed.

(Speaking of football, Sandpoint made it to the playoffs. Go Dawgs!)

She's also obsessed with 'princess heels', 'cinnerella', and her pink boots (pictured).

Right now, she's catching some late night stories with daddy...she's up too late.

We found one called Princess Penelope at the library and I think she has to have it.

I don't know why she loves it.

Probably because it has the word princess in it fifty billion times.

it's a conspiracy

Amber is testing me.
Terrible twos?
Maybe.

I officially do not own eyeshadow (as of this morning).
Why?Because my angel has smooshed it all over her tights, face, and the bathroom floor.

She also decided to pull out her brand new crayons and break off the sharp end of about twenty of them.

Brought her big girl cup on the carpet (big no no) and dumped it all over daddy's chair and the *gasp* carpet. Nick (the landlord) takes particular pride in the carpet. Well, pretty much every part of the house (He was really thrilled about the kitchen faucet. It turns into a sprayer AND pulls out. Fancy schmancy.) Looks like I'll be pulling out the carpet cleaner (awesome investment).

Me: Don't play with the scissors.
Amber: Kay (quietly)
Five minutes later. She reaches slowly, as if she's sneaky.
Me: Don't touch *smacks hand*.
She makes one more try.
Me: AMBER!

I'm really not a complainer, but sometimes, well, Andy puts it so well, "somebody better tell me who put my calculator in jello, or I'M GONNA LOSE MY FREAKIN' MIND!!"

ravioli

Drew fed himself today.

 

 

this morning

Amber: Where daddy?



Me: Daddy's at work, sweetie.

Amber: Daddy in gawad (garage).
He kiwl (kill) elk in dare (there).

So matter of fact... as if she even knew.

Good news though! AJ did, in fact, get an elk. Only his second time out elk hunting!

He was so happy because between school and work, he doesn't have very much time for hunting. 

If you know AJ, you know that is a sacrifice for him.

So... Yay for meat in the freezer.

you are my...

We have been insanely busy for the last couple weeks (hence the lack of posts), and I think I'm going to shut myself in for a couple of days.

I am your parent;
you are my child.
I am your quiet place;
you are my wild.

I am your calm face;
you are my giggle.
I am your wait;
you are my wiggle.

I am your carriage ride;
you are my king.
I am your push;
you are my swing.

I am your audience;
you are my clown.
I am your London Bridge;
you are my falling down.

I am your carrot sticks;
you are my licorice.
I am your dandelion;
you are my wish.

I am your wings;
you are my deep.
I am your open arms;
you are my running leap.

I am your way home;
you are my path.
I am your dry towel;
you are my wet bath.

I am your dinner;
you are my cake.
I am your bedtime;
you are my wide awake.

I am your finish line;
you are my race.
I am your praying hands;
you are my grace.

I am your favorite book;
you are my new lines.
I am your night light;
you are my star shine.

I am your lullaby;
you are my peekaboo.
I am your good night kiss...

you are my I love you.

the great outdoors

AJ asked me if I wanted to go hunting with him the other day and when we got settled in our spot he told me that the main reason he wanted me to come with him was so he could spend some time with me. 

I likey.

Mind you, I had to sit still, but at least we got to have a whisper conversation and he let me take pictures.

OK, so maybe it was just his mom's back property.

It was still nice.

I haven't been able to go hunting with AJ the last couple of years because I either had a brand new baby or I was huge pregnant.

Yeah, you try hiking with a ginormous belly. We went huckleberry picking when I was 7 months preggo with Amber, and I had to hold on to my stomach the whole time we were walking. I won't try to explain it. You'd have to experience it to understand.

Anyway, I love being outdoors. There's something about the quiet of the woods, and the crisp, mountain air.

So, this year, I'm taking full advantage of my opportunities to go. I don't know if I could shoot anything, but I'll go along just for fun.

Hunting stuffs


Grass stuffs.
My movements were very limited.

part 2. vacation and Amber's 2nd birthday

Here's a few more from Oroville.

The whole group before we left.

I saw this on the side of a building while we were going through a small town. This is just a small part of it. The painting was huge!

The view of the lake from the dock.

Kaylen being a silly billy.


One more from the orchard.

...Okay. I hear Amber behind me saying,"Dang it!" She can't get her crayons back in the box. I did not teach her these words, but I'm pretty sure I know who did *cough cough britani cough cough*
Poor Amber was so overwhelmed last night that she started crying while we were singing the birthday song, and she didn't even eat her cake. Here's a play by play.
Me: Oh, Amber look at your pretty cake. Amber: Smiles and sticks her finger in the frosting.
Everybody: *singing* Happy birthday to you... Amber: Makes strange and covers her face.

Everybody: ...happy birthday dear Amber... Amber: Waaaaaaaaa!

part 1. vacation picture overload

We're back from our little trip, and diving into the hectic month of October. We have so much going on that it makes my head spin just thinking about it. 

That being said, I really shouldn't even be doing this. The kids may be sleeping, but I have a birthday cake to make, I have to clean my house, and pay the consequences of a laundry free vacation. Then I have to go to Spokane and get Kaylen and go to Costco. Awe.some. 

We both knowthats not all happening. I'll be lucky if I have the house ready for the party tonight.

Amber turns two tommorrow! How absolutely insane is that?! As much as I enjoy her changing personality and watching her grow, it breaks my heart to see how fast this precious time with her is going by. 

I don't like it. Grrrrr.

Here's some pics of our trip. We went to my Uncle's lake house. It's not only on the lake (to state the obvious), but it's also in the middle of an apple orchard. The owner couldn't find enough pickers, and the trees were overflowing. The ground was covered in wasted apples. I try not to think about how much that would cost if I were to buy that many in the store.

Anyway, we were told to help ourselves, so we had an apple picking day. The girls loved it! I'm going to have to get them outside more, because by the first day they're little cheeks were flushed from the fresh air.

Drew, fresh from a nap, and still a little out of it. Awwww.
He wanted cuddle loves, but instead sat on the ground and watched us pick.
I should have cuddled him.


green, green, green


Kaylen insisted she could do it herself.


Amber swinging with Auntie Meg



Pretending to drive the tractor with Auntie Meg. You'd think they spent their days being completely ignored by the way they climbed all over poor Meg.



sistas



up the ladder after me

Oooh. Hubba, hubba.

Auntie Meg and Amber in the background

mother love

Mother-love is not inevitable.
The mother is a great artist ever
creating beauty out of chaos.

-- Alice Randall

Peace

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.
He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.
The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
Psalm 121



And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.
Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah.
I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.
... Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

Psalm 55:6-8, 22

What a blessing to know, that even in the bad times, God is taking care of me.

The only things I regret in my life are the things I did in rebellion to where the Lord was taking me.

I didn't like it. It hurt.

In the end, what I thought was the worst possible thing, turned into the best possible thing. 

I am exactly where I am supposed to be, and that gives me peace.

Update: Sept 2012. Wowza. I had no clue the depths of this when I wrote it, but I'll tell you what, IT'S TRUTH!

prettys, pretty eyes

Is it fair for a boy to have these ridiculously long eyelashes?

Trying so hard to get his hands on the camera.

Amber showing off her 'prettys'.

Eh?

Drew has had the flu bug since Thursday afternoon, and the poor boy hasn't been able to keep hardly anything down. Fun. While today isn't completely over, we've been 'fluid' free all day *crossing my fingers*. I even got a meal into him.

So I'm praying nobody else gets any bugs cause we have a little get away planned for this weekend. Yay! We're going to see my Canadian family on my mom's side. It's Canadian Thanksgiving. Eh? I'm looking forward to relaxing.

How's about the new template? I just can't leave it alone. I get bored looking at the same thing. So... I'll be changing it.

Ees for fun *nacho libre accent*

Last weekend I got to go bear and grouse hunting with AJ and his brothers. I liked getting out and hiking. It was so refreshing to be up in the mountains. I was a little tired, but not as bad as I thought I would be. Besides, I couldn't let Micah and Brodey know cause I didn't want them showing me up. Ya know? So I sucked it up and pretended to be full of energy.

I thought I was going to get pictures too, but turns out you can't stop whenever you want while you're hiking. Three guys with animals on their minds.

We didn't see any bears, just a cow elk, so we had to shoot a couple times before we packed it up. Some of us (not me) even had idiot marks to show for it. Matching idiot marks.

Lady with a shoddy. Watch out!

can you hear the silence

I can. 

The babies are sleeping sweetly... after a long day of helping my brother move.

A napless day. Normally, this may cause grumpiness, tantrums, and other mindless mama torture. Not today. It's one of those days when the kids are so spent they can do nothing but cuddle.

Drew told me "mamamama" which clearly translates into "I need a bottle". He'd barely had a drink before he was sleeping soundly in my arms... that was 6:45.

Thirty minutes later Amber stared at the floor, sucking her thumb, and looking very deep in thought. "Want up?" I asked her. With a giggle she climbed on my lap and lay her head on my shoulder. I let myself zone out until I felt her little head slide off my shoulder... asleep.

7:20.

Simply amazing.

Oh my goodness. Is this what some people refer to as 'me' time?

I think I like it.

Whatever will I do?

The peace and quiet is overwhelming.

They look so sweet. I think I may melt.

 
 Sweet little sleepy heads.