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My hardworking men...building our first picnic table just in time for the birthday party!

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The finished product...a great addition to the backyard and just in time for BBQ season!

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                                               Sigh...special memories...

 
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                  Brother Buddies


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Sharing ice cream...I love how grace is dipping her spoon into brother's bowl and he's letting her...=)

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Grace crawled into Josiah's top bunk and fell asleep...
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                 My trio
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Since Grace and Josiah share their June 4th birthday, we are planning on making it a giant fun celebration ONCE a year.  This year the party was fun and exhausting for us all, as we set the stage in our own backyard. Thankfully the day was perfect;  sunny and warm, and the kids had a ball...smiling, fighting, playing, eating and all.

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"Don't mess with my flourless chocolate cupcake with strawberry cream cheese frosting"....yes, there is sugar, but no white flour!!!  It blows the blueberry flax muffin that Josiah got for his first birthday out of the water....(poor kid).
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The picture was taken at such an angle so you couldn't see the strawberries sliding off my cake...the icing was too thin...but it looked pretty for a few minutes!
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Notice the "eyes glazed over" look...
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The blue birthday bike...
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Posing for a photo with Nana and Papa...was a little difficult by this time...one was crazy tired and the other was just plain crazy...
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I'll have you know that I didn't take a single photo that day, and all would have been lost had we not delegated that responsibility to a capable friend.  I also was starting to feel dizzy towards the end, and got to rest while our amazing group of friends and family cleaned up the yard, organized, and did my dishes!!!! Wow....they speak my language...
Where was baby in all of this???...my sweet boy bounced away in his chair, snuggled with relatives, snuck in some cuddly moments with mama, and fell asleep in the arms of a friend. What a day...
 

- enjoying the first fresh local strawberries of the year...can't wait to go picking!
- happy to have our friend Ryan living with us for a while...
- getting ready for our double birthday party this Sunday...
- having fun with the new bunk beds that Brent built!
- looking forward to the picnic table that he's going to make next =)
- loving playing with our smiley baby and trying to make him giggle!
- thankful for the freezer full of homemade burritos for lunches....Thanks for the fun cooking day, Amy!
- annoyed at the slugs eating our marigolds...
- still glowing red from the sunburns we got from our camping/fishing trip last weekend in Eastern Washington...
- struggling with parenting/disciplining the kids...these are tough ages for our older two!! It's constant...trying to get to the heart of the matter and not just manage behavior...so exhausting at times (most of the time!).
- needing  to water and fertilize my indoor plants...
- relieved that the pregnancy test I took this morning was negative...not quite mentally ready for number 4
- tickled at all the breast milk that we've been given from generous friends (THANK YOU!!!!!...a whole cooler full!)
- ready for our family vacation to Netarts Bay in July
- feeling so full...hearts overflowing at this special phase of life with young kids...it will be gone before we know it.

Here's a music video of the song that makes me cry every time....
Sorry if you don't like country music, but the words are worth it!