It's Been a Decade!

Can you believe that it's been a decade since I graduated from highschool? Crazy, I know. Where did the time go? 2 years of school, 5 years of working CRAZY hours, and Wayne is now 3 years old. I guess that's it in a nutshell. I can remember those last days of "school" in June of 1999. I was finishing up my associates degree at Whatcom Community College, but I was also graduating from highschool. A lot of mixed feelings. I can remember looking around at everyone, most of whom I'd grown up with and gone to school with since kindergarten (except for 3rd grade, I went to Lynden Christian that year.) How would I ever forget these names or faces? Wouldn't it be weird if Amanda Jones was someday Amanda DeHoog? I could never get used to that! I would never be like my mom, saying, "You know so and so? Her maiden names was ____________!" Oh my, how the chickens have come home to roost! Some married, some did not, some had kids, and some were no different than they were back then. All in all, I think our committee did a great job, and we had 37 people show up. Good enough!

Amanda and her photocopying ways... she copied pages of our annual onto 11x17 paper, then strung ribbon and clipped them up... too cute and FUNNY!Tyler and Tom, scoping out the food. It was a mongolian buffet, where you added all of your own vegetables and meat, chose your sauce, and then the cooks sauteed it for you. There was also mashed potatoes, chicken, ribs, rolls, corn, soup, a salad bar, and a dessert bar. Pretty good deal!
Our cute and simple AND easy centerpieces for the tables... If you ever need to throw a party, invite Amanda to help you! She's all about the details!

Our committee... Me, Gidget, Amanda and Katie. We met at the Wood's for our planning sessions, which never lasted more than an hour. We're all business!
My favorite.... Amanda made the name tags, and she scanned each of our senior pictures and printed them. What a nice touch, and so funny to see what we looked like 10 years ago. Again, some looked the same, and some were not recognizable.
I took a "prom" like picture of everyone. Most posed side by side, but Tom was all over the "typical" highschool dance pose. I love this picture. They were good together in highschool, but I must say, they are GREAT together now. And that they are the parents of Grace, one of our boys' favorite playmates doesn't sway my opinion at all! ;-)

new faces on the blog... from Iowa!

Just in case you all think the only thing I ever photography are my handsome, good looking, precious and adorable children, or even my amazing nieces and nephews, here are a few new folks! Aunt Thelma came to visit from Iowa (did you know I have Iowa relatives? In a nut shell... they are all very TALL! I think my cousin Tim is 6' 7"!) She brought Uncle Gene with her, and Tiffany and her husband Greg, and Jayden too. Julia and her husband, and Trevor couldn't make it this time around. We all got together last Saturday night at Aunt Barb's for crab and dinner. Mmmm and fuN!

Here's Tiffany and Greg. Both are nurses (and Tara is a nurse, and my cousin Grant's wife Andrea is also a nurse. How weird is that?)Wayne and Weston loved playing with all of Aunt Barb's little cars. Almost all of her grandkids are boys, so her toys were all perfect for us!
Uncle Gene (if I spelled that wrong, I'm sorry. All my spellings are looking funky to me tonight, so have mercy on your favorite blogger!)
Aren't they sweet?

The "outsiders." Too much socializing going on inside, so they retreated to the outdoors and ate their crab in peace! :-) (except for me taking their picture, that is. Tim told me that some indians believe that photographing them takes away a piece of their soul. I told him it was a good thing he wasn't indian, then snapped 5 pictures of him in a row! :-) Ornery, I know!

The other funny thing... When I pulled up to Aunt Barb's house, I had all three boys and Tyler was still working. I was trying to figure out how to negotiate all of our "stuff" and kids into the house, when Andrea comes flying out the door to help. I don't think I've seen her since her wedding one year ago (they live in eastern Washington.) When I told her thank you soooo much for the help, her response was, "I feel like I know you, I read the blog all the time!" Too funny!!! Thanks again Andrea, now you're "famous" on the blog! :-)

the night life

Now, our night life may not be anything close to your night life, and I can probably bet that your "night life" doesn't occur between the hours of 5pm and 8pm, but around here, those are busy hours, and even fun hours at times! :-) I am NOT a fan of the 5pm to 6pm hour. That hour is hectic! It contains dinner and baths for the big boys, and a feeding for Wyatt, which all equals chaos if you ask me. Let's start with dinner. Most nights, I cook. We rarely order in pizza or mexican, most of the time I cook. And, most of the time it's a meat and veggies sort of meal. Common dinners around here are various forms of BBQ'd chicken and beef, and crockpot meals, along with different vegetables either sauteed on the stove top or BBQ'd. I try to have a roll of some sort for the boys, and a nice fresh salad for Tyler and I. That's the framework. We all eat at the dinner table usually, although in the past week Tyler and I have opted to eat on the couch because we're tired! Usually though, it's the dinner table, and we all hold hands while we pray. The next 15 minutes is a blur of getting the boys fed: they eat really well, but usually need more juice, bread, chicken or SOMETHING. Wyatt usually starts out like this,but most often by the end of dinner he's in my arms. His "fussy" time is about this time of night, but as long as I hold him, he usually doesn't fuss too much.

Here's the "we're having corn" celebration. Yeah!!!
Wayne can't let Dad and Weston have something special on their own, he has to jump in too! And no, he is not drinking a Diet Pepsi. He is having a swig of mine. When I was growing up, my mom drank a Diet Coke as her "special treat" and would let me have a swig. Nothing ever tasted so good as HER diet coke. Now, when we go out, Mom takes a swig of my Diet Pepsi, and says it tastes the best too! :-) Oh, the traditions we pass along to our kids, aren't they special!?!
Weston *LIKES* corn. What's not to love?
Does your dinner table look like this? It always looks like a tornado came through. You can see the salad bowl, the chicken, the bread, and who knows what else! After dinner, we divide and conquer. One of us takes the big boys to the bathtub, while the other cleans up the dining room and kitchen, and loads the dishwasher.
Wyatt usually hangs out in his swing, happy that he was fed (I squeeze in his feeding at some point!) I like to call it his very own little "milk coma."
And it's time to get dressed! We grab the boys' pajamas and head to the living room to get them dressed. They take turns being first.
And now that our tummies are full, and our work is done, it's time to WRESTLE! This is strictly a tradition they have with their Dad, I'm not interested! :-) They get pretty wild, and it's one big dog-pile on Dad by the time it's all over with. Weston is usually rubbing his tired eyes and yawning at this point. At 7pm, he comes to give me kisses, and then Tyler carries him to bed. Wayne is usually up until around 8pm reading books, playing trains, or computer games.
After Weston goes down, Tyler heads outside to water the plants and feed the dogs. I fold at least 2 loads of laundry and sometimes bathe Wyatt. By 9pm, our work is done, and we sit and watch a show or two before going to bed by 9:30/10pm ourselves. What a night life, don't you think?

Look what Wayne built!

Wayne was playing so nicely one evening, and when I told him that it was time for bed, he said this:

"Mom, you take a picture of me and my trains for the computer?"

And of course, I said, OF COURSE!

About a fish and a cook:

About a fish:
Tyler went fishing on Tuesday down south (near Anacortes) and came home in the late afternoon with 2 "pinks". I believe that's salmon, but I don't really know. Anyway, Wayne was pretty excited to have him home. He'd been walking around all day saying, "my Dad is fishing. He catches me fish. I miss him." We were waiting on the front porch when he pulled in, and Wayne was ecstatic to see the two fish. He didn't seem to mind that they were covered in blood. After a quick coffee, Tyler took Wayne and Weston outside with him to play, while he cleaned and filleted the fish. Wayne took off playing, and when he came back, he gave Tyler an earful! "Dad, the fish need their heads. Put them back! Put the heads back on the fish!" He wasn't scared or grossed out or anything, he just wanted the fish to have their heads back. Good one Dad! :-)

And a cook:
You might not know, but I have a real obsession with the Food Network. I love to watch cooking shows, and I learn a ton! The Barefoot Contessa, $10 Dinners, Iron Chef, Challenge, The Next Food Network Star, The Neely's, these are all frequent "guests" in our living room. Weston has apparently been watching, because I caught him "cooking" the other day. He had a long comb, and was "stirring" it in a bowl, proud as punch of himself. Seriously, he was grinning from ear to ear, and squeeling as he stirred that comb around and around the bowl. Did I mention it was the toilet bowl?

oh Weston Peston...

That boy... I know my usual line is "he's busy" but tonight, let's add, "what a goober!" He went to bed before 7pm, but woke up 45 minutes later. Wayne went to bed, and Tyler brought Weston down. He watched, "Make it or Break it" an ABCfamily show that we've been watching and are hooked on with us. It's about gymnastics, and there was a lot of cheering as it was the "Nationals" episode. He was clapping and waving his hands above his head, completely enthralled with the show. He sat on my lap and snuggled almost the entire hour-long-minus-commercials show, except at the end when he realized that Wayne's V-Smile game was on the floor, and Wayne was nowhere to be found. He scurried over there so fast and turned it on and started playing. He was soooo excited and proud of himself! Tyler and I had to pause our show frequently, just to check out what Weston was doing. Such a funny little dude! When Tyler told him it was time for bed, he grabbed his blankie and binkie and ran for the stairs. Weston, you may be the middle child, but you certainly are not forgotten. You rock our world! :-)

Had to share what we did at the fair!

*Note: this is a long post! Read at risk of your own time!

Friday was our day to hit the Fair. Wayne had been talking about all of the animals he would see all week, and the anticipation was HIGH! That's the whole point, right? What's the fun of a special treat, without anticipating it? Tyler took the day off, so it was 2 vs. 3 for the whole day, yay! We woke up on time, got ready, and were out the door by 8:30am. After a quick stop at Master's Blend in Everson (yes I can make my own coffee, but yes it's nice to have someone make it for me, and their coffee is STRONG!) where the boys did a quick hat adjustment (hmm.. where'd they learn that from? Straight and low, that's the name of the Silves game!) Anyway, we then headed to Lynden to pick up our tickets and stop by the bank, and we were OFF TO THE FAIR!It was a delightful day, with only a few minor speedbumps along the way. They boys were so good, and we had the perfect equipment along for the job! Weston and Wyatt rode in the double stroller, and we talked an umbrella stroller down below as a back up, just in case Wayne had a meltdown (let's be real... not if... WHEN! He's 3, at the Fair, excited and would eventually become more exhausted than ever before in his life... he was going to have a meltdown! That's okay, we were prepared.) The diaper bag and camera strapped to the handles of the stroller (no digging down below in the cargo holder!) I just loved, loved, loved the looks on their faces as they touched or experienced something new... sheer joy and wonder and excitement, all rolled into one big cheesy grin. This picture of Weston reminded me of that popular one, with the saying, "You been farming long?" Weston jumped on the stool like he knew what he was doing!!!

Seriously, if this doesn't crack you up, you are having a BAD day and really need to lighten up! :-)

Animals on the inside of the rails, Wayne on the outside. I'm sure Fair organizers think these panels are to protect Wayne from the cows, horses, etc. but it is far more realistic to think that they are there to protect the animals from Wayne!
We all loved the petting zoo that was set up this year... too fun! I'm sure those animals are traumatized for life after being there all week, but they spared many other animals from being mauled (remember Wayne? You already got to pet a horse!)
Gotta love those Beld's! Madison took Grand Champion Reserved (second) in her class, and Taylor and Brenna did really well too. Wayne was pretty excited to see their cows.

And this is how we rolled... Doesn't Tyler look thrilled that I am taking a picture? History honey, it's for the historical value.
The rides.. oh the rides! They are getting expensive!!! Like that's news to any of you. Anyhow... Thankfully my work did an all staff/family summer BBQ at the Fair and provided passes in to the Fair for everyone, and ride passes for all of the kids, and ice cream for your whole family, and a really good BBQ dinner catered on the Fair grounds! Don't you wish you worked with me? If you're interested in an accounting job, let me know! :-) Anyhow, because they paid for the ride passes, we let the boys go on the rides. Weston could only go on a few (he was 34 inches tall) and really just wanted to go on the carousel over, and over, and over. But Wayne, at 43" tall was actually too tall for a few of the rides, and loved all of them! He especially liked the Dragon roller coaster (I never even got a picture! He only went on it when it was just him and Tyler and I had the other two boys for diaper and feeding duties!) and I had the camera. Oh well. Wayne didn't really understand or want to understand the concept of "wait in line" but with Tyler's help, he managed only to cut in line just a few times. I guess he did do a header into the plexiglass of the fun house at one point, but Tyler said it was just funny, and he didn't bruise. Nice.

This is the ride that brought tears to my eyes. It wasn't really a ride, but a climbing thing with slides. He had gone on it with only Tyler watching the first time, and then he did it with me and I just looked at Tyler like he was nuts. He let our baby do this? That high in the air? All by himself? Outside of my reach? Where I couldn't get him if he got scared or hurt? WHAT!?!?!? Of course, Wayne whipped through it, over and over again, proving that he was more than ready. It's just me that isn't.
The wild man on the carousel. I even video'd him shreaking and gigglig.
Time for ice cream! A friend of mine has kids the same age, and she actually gave them cones. I'm not that brave!
My favorite picture of all...

Little Wyatt was a very good boy all day. He never even really got fussy! He did great, sleeping and eating and trying to see everything with his wide eyes and limited vision ;-). I am very, very grateful to the Birthing Center for organizing the nursing room. It's private, with only four chairs and a great place to quietly feed and change without feeling rushed. Of course, I did get a few odd looks from women who were nursing when I got there, and were still nursing after I'd nursed Wyatt and changed both Wyatt's and Weston's diapers. What can I say? We're fast!
He gets more precious every day... what will tomorrow bring?
In awe of yet another something. He was so fun and so excited all day!
And this is the end. 8pm and it was time to go.. or as my friend says, "He was D-U-N done!" We expected the meltdown, and were prepared. He went for a ride in the umbrella stroller all the way back to the Jeep!
When we got home, it was a whirlwind. It was one of those examples where having three kids is different than 2. With two, you can still play one on one defense. Three means you've got to switch to zone, which is difficult when they are all exhausted, and one is hungry and can only be fed by mom! We dunked the older boys in the tub, because they were FILTHY and there was no way I was letting them get into their beds like that, fed Wyatt, cleaned up ourselves, and WENT TO BED.

Today is just a day at home with no less than 6 loads of laundry to do (all BIG loads) and dishes to do, and a salad to make for tonight's gathering at my Aunt's to visit with the Iowan relatives. Should be fun!

Wyatt John - 1 month old

A little less talk and a lot more... PICTURES for this post. Enjoy!