20 week preggie pics

On the left is me now, 20 weeks pregnant with baby #4. On the right is me 20 weeks pregnant with the twins--not counting the 10 extra pounds I had when I started this pregnancy!

Halloween 2009 costumes Done!

Here's James in his Halloween costume. He LOVES it!! I had to find something with wings so he wouldn't try to steal his sister's fairy wings. He is so adorable it in. I actually got a smile for the camera!!!

Just some cute pictures!

Ok, so after a day like today I need some reminders that really my kids can be adorable. Today I decided to try out story time at the library. Hum. Kate was in the storyteller's chair and out the backdoor twice, Clara was face down on the floor (not idea why), and James was spinning around and screaming. That was the first 5 minutes. When I looked up and realized more kids and adults were watching my trio than the story teller, I decided we needed to make a quick exit. Gotta make a mom feel great when you not only have the worst, but the first, second, and third worst kids at story time!! ;) To their credit, they actually LOVE reading and spend quite a bit of time everyday reading/fighting over books. So, here are some cute photos to remind me of how sweet they are.

Clara playing hide-and-seek in the cabinets.

I don't remember why, but James decided all three of them needed to be in timeout.

I don't think the girls get the idea of time out.

Here my mom is, doing the tedious work I have ignored because I wanted to be sewing fairy princess costumes, not making new covers for couches . . . She got a few helpers along the way!

3 Little Monkeys

What's wrong with this video??? What's wrong is that it was taken at 8:10 at night. 30 minutes PAST bedtime! Way too much energy for this momma!

twins garden fairy costumes

I Love Having LITTLE GIRLS!!! I have had so much fun making the girls' Halloween costumes this year. Kate especially likes wearing the tutu and wings. Clara's not so sure about the headband. The real problem is keeping James out of the costumes. I've decided to make him a bumble bee for Halloween so he can have his own set of wings and I'll make a yellow and black tutu for him to wear.

Garden Fairy Clara

Garden Fairy Kate
Garden Gnome James

15 week belly shot

For Ashley: So I never really posted about this surprise baby #4. We are so excited for this little boy, and more than a little overwhelmed. Because of a very specific revelation I had in the temple last spring, we knew that another baby would be coming our way sooner than we had originally planned. However, we didn't know it was going to be QUITE so soon. Never-the-less, little boy Jochim is on his way! Here are my 15 week belly shots. Next month I'll do a side-by-side comparision with my twin pregnancy belly shots, but for right now there's not a ton of difference. :)

Sometimes there IS a way to make everyone happy

Ok, so after an afternoon of intense biting, pushing, pulling, squashing, and wailing over the red car, the kids found a way for everyone to be happy and to share in a way. Ahhhh, remember the moment Jessica, it may be a long time until another one like comes along. ;)

Cedar Creek Grist Mill

Here are some pics from our outing to the Cedar Creek Grist Mill. An absolutely beautiful place for a picnic. We watched them grind flour and corn and then enjoyed a walk up the creek.

R.I.P. snake-worm friend

Some relationships burn slow and steady over decades. Some blaze hot and intense for an afternoon. Such was the dear friendship between James and snake-worm friend. For an afternoon James treated his snake-worm with the kindest, best attention a friend could hope for; he fed it dirt, gave it rides in the wheelbarrow, laid it down for a nap on a brick bed and lay down with it, he made it a sofa for it to sit on, a petted it . . . basically loved it as no worm has been loved before.
Alas, friendships between a 3 year old and a worm are not meant to last. Snake-worm has been laid to rest--in several pieces--next to last week's best friend--ladybug, who was also laid to rest in several pieces. A moment of silence for snake worm . . .

Summary of my life right now . . .

And I still had 5 bottles I didn't get it. ;)

Florence, Oregon

Here are some pics from our Athay family trip to florence, Oregon last week. We had a great time at the beach. We totally recommend the adventure sand dune tours in the bus size dune buggy. Aweome! We stopped by the Newport Aquarium on the way down and all the kids loved seeing the fish. Kate couldn't stop pointing at them!

Playground Rant . . .

Ok, I just need to get this off my chest.
There are certain rules for the playground. Obviously, SOME PEOPLE just don't know them, or they choose to ignore them. If you have your 3 year old in the baby swings, and there are regular swings open, it would be kind to move your 3 YEAR OLD to the big swing so the lady with 2 babies could use one of the baby swings. I mean, for cryin' out loud--I put BOTH girls in one swing, so really I don't take up more than my share of play equipment.

If for some reason your 3 YEAR OLD (who was physically capable of riding their trike to the playground) can't go in the big swing, then take your 5 minute turn in the baby swing and then let someone else go--you know, someone like the lady with twins giving you the evil eye as she tries to take both babies down the slide because she can't send one down ahead and she can't leave one behind.
I mean really. Don't people know what playground etiquette is?

OMSI . . .A.K.A. . . .The Germ Factory

Well, 2 weeks ago we met my cousins Kristy (+kiddos), Natalie, Aunt Karen, & Grandma Athay at Omsi. I was pondering getting a membership thinking it would be a fun excape in a few months when the winter doldrums hit. After 3 kids w/ 3 colds= OMSI membership not happening this year. Maybe when my girls are old enough to not put EVERY LAST THING in their mouths. Ah, well. It was fun while it lasted. Until I caught an 8 year old pushing Clara over--HARD. What's the most dangerous animal in the wild???? A mad momma bear. Let's just saying I did some yelling at that kid and then made him take me to his mom. It took me awhile to calm down. NOBODY PUSHES MY BABY AROUND! ;) We all survived.

I became one of "those" moms

Ok, so this is just a little note I had to record for myself. Today I realized that I had become one of "those" moms. You know, the kind that only allow their kids to play with one toy at a time, and must put it back before they can get another one out; the kind who's kids wear bibs until they're 5 (kate gosselyn--How do you get a 5 year old to wear a bib? my 14 month old won't); the kind that have white furniture--and it's still white . . . You know a "clean house mom". Having grown up in a family that revered creative messiness . . .to the EXTREME. Only those of you who remember my mother's car as the "jelly mobile"--the texture of the seats when you sat down--will really understand what I mean by extreme. But, in my adulthood, I have come to realize that I am much more at home in order. I understand the idea of putting away toys as you play, having concrete curbing, and white couches (as long as they're slip covers that can be bleached!) But still, I inadvertently put myself in the creative-messy category out of habit.

But today, I realized I had become a "clean house" mom. I hadn't allowed my kids to play downstairs in weeks simply because I couldn't STAND the thought of having to pick up the toys. Understand, downstairs is the place where the IKEA bins filled with itsy-bitsy toys are kept--AND, James' favorite activity it to sit in the middle and dump EVERY SINGLE BIN OUT. So, without realizing it, I had moved the kids upstairs to play everyday. Now, I'm not really a clean house mom. I barely do enough to keep the status quo. But I aspire to be a clean house mom. Maybe we should just call this whole avoidance of mess a survival mechanism by a desperate mom.

Our little family get-away

So, once again I loaded the photos in reverse order. Oops!

Here's a little synopsis of our family get-away to the cabin. Although it was a bit hot when we first got there, it weather turned out beautifully, and we enjoyed hiking, swimming, playing games, and all sorts of outdoor fun.

Kate--For the Love of Oreos!

At our secret spot on the Lewis River. We should have know that if you take a 3 year old near water, they WILL get in. Shoulda' just put him in a swimsuit at the beginning!
Clara is testing out the rocks. So far they all taste like . . .rocks.

Kate finds the perfect perch.

The Ape Caves. So how do you do a 42 degree hike in the dark with 3 kids under three? Simple, you drive 20 minutes, take 20 minutes to prep up, walk in for 10 minutes and walk back out. The rule is simple, if 2 out of 3 are crying it's time to go. ;) Or, if your feet are on fire.

James and mommy checking out the trail of 2 forests--or the lava tubes. James was very upset we couldn't go hide in the tube. Justin was back at the car with a sleeping Kate, so it just wasn't going to work. I don't think Clara would have liked me crawling down a dark lava tube while she was on my back. ;)

Sunday morning chocolate milks with Daddy

Swimming at the lake with mommy. Thanks to whoever left the cute floaties at the cabin for us to use!

Hiking Big Creek Falls trail with daddy.

Um, where did my babies go?

So, I was just doing dishes and turned my back for a moment and the girls were gone. The mystery deepens . . .

Some Random Stuff for the record

Ok, so what do you do with a biter?? This afternoon Kate and Clara were playing NICELY in the living room. Suddenly I hear Clara screaming like she fell off the couch. I check on her, and she is just standing in front of her toy. Not on her head. No blood. What was the problem? I surmised it was the vampire child I spawned-i.e. Kate-- had struck again, but I didn't find the four little bite marks on Clara's thigh until later. Poor Clara. . . . Don't worry too much, Clara's sharpening her fangs for revenge.

Ok, this is just for bribery when he's 16. Just for the record HE insisted on wearing the pink bib and using the pink pacifier.
Here are some pics from our trip to Seaside last Saturday with my side of the fam. Has somebody already patented a diet detox involved sand?? Because Kate has demonstrated quite aptly that eating significant amounts of sand does wonders cleaning out the bowels. Mixed with blueberries . . . I"ll let your imagination take over here.

Ok, so anyone taking babies to the beach, here's a tip: Keep at least one sippy cup or bottle in the car so you have something not covered with sand for the drive home!

And what is it with people who want to have conversation you while you're pushing a twin stroller with two lawn chairs and a cooler balanced on top, with two beach bags over your shoulders, and a toddler who insisted on holding your hand? "Yes, mam, I can see that I have a flat tire, in fact two flat tires, can't do much about it now can I? OH, thank you for pointing out how far we parked from the beach. I wasn't quite sure. Let me run back to my car and drive around in a few more circles to end up in the same spot. No, no, PLEASE go around us, Honestly. I INSIST. Yes, they are twins. Thank you, they are cute. That's my son there, he's cute as well. Yes, my hands are full. Yep, I'm a busy mom. Please, I INSIST, you can pass us. Please?!"

Here's the kiddos first carousel ride. As you can see we had mixed results. Kate did pretty well, James liked it for awhile but then started to freak out once he realized that we moved. Clara didn't even want to give it a try.

Mt. St. Helens Climb 2009

My Uncle Stan put together a climb up Mt. St. Helens. As a native of S.W. Washington, and someone who remembers the blast, I thought it was a crime that I had never made it to the top! So I joined the group, and man did that climb kick my patootie. We hiked 2 miles up to the tree line and slept there. Stan had us up at 5:30 am and we were on the road by 6:00. It's 3 miles to the summit. A very hard, rocky, dusty, rocky, hot, rocky 3 miles. But the view from the top is AMAZING. I'm so glad I did it, and have no plans to do it again for a long time! I was definitely out of my comfort zone sitting on the rim with an 800 foot drop to the bottom!

Nephews Jacob & Alex

Me at the summit. This photo has Mt. Adams in the background. From the top we could see Mt. Rainer, Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood, & Mt. Jefferson.
Here's the climbing group. Alex (#63), Gracie (green shirt), Laurie? (white cap), Stan (red shirt), Casey(kid in front), Me, Jacob (eating), Joanie (in pink)

Posing in the first light of the day.

Bright and early on the day of the hike.

12:34:56 07/08/09

Here is a little documentary of what I was doing at 12:34:56 on 07/08/09. Thanks to Aunt Debbie--James, Kate, and I remembered to capture the moment (Clara was napping--yes it was one of those dreaded days when the twins wouldn't nap at the same time. No break for mommy. I spent the day making 8 pizzas, 3 lasagnas, 5 freezer jams, & 2 chicken & wild rice casseroles. I still have to clean ;(

Using spoons . . .or your face.

Here is what happens when you decide to give your twins "using a spoon" lesson and they don't play along.