Tropical Storm Irene Day. . .

We spent all day Saturday trying to get as prepared as possible in case we were without power for numerous days, had flooding in our home, trees fallen on our house. . . etc.  Fortunately very little of our preparation was necessary since we only lost power for eleven hours.  It's a little stretch to put "ONLY", because when you're spoiled with electricity 24-7, 11 hours feels like a LONG time, especially on a dark day with three kiddos. 
Without knowing what to expect our mantra was 'better safe, than sorry'.  So, not knowing how early the storm would hit we decided to sleep downstairs Saturday night.  It was an adventure for the kids, and a little too much like camping out for Will & I.  We've become accustomed to our new mattress so Will especially had a very sore back after sleeping on our old mattress in our old bed again.  We woke up to worse weather than we expected, no rain but SERIOUS wind. 

 Westyn tried to sneak into bed with the girls a couple of times and more than once we saw him reach up for their feet and say, "tickle, tickle" then giggle.    Now the basement is 1500 sq. ft. so there was no crowding or lack of space which was nice.  The kids were able to run around everywhere and found toys they hadn't seen in awhile so there's was no problem keeping them entertained.

We decided to take advantage of having power and Will did some work while the kids & I did a project.  (We made caterpillars out of puffs).  It ended up I was doing most of the work sewing them together (I haven't been able to find my glue gun since the move & the kids wanted something they could play with immediately thus sewing. . . .)    : )

  It was during our craft that the lights went out at which time the kids ran and grabbed their new flashlights and ran under the stairs to the darkest place in the basement.

They spent a good 45 minutes doing a loop that started at Westyn's bed, went under the stairs where Ethne's pillow is in the top pic & then crawled out from the other side in a little doorway I left for them.  It must have worn Westyn out because as soon as his head hit the pillow at nap time he was out.  Will thought he should set a good example & was out as quickly as Westyn.  : )  I let the girls stay up since I figured we'd be going to bed earlier than usual with sunset being at 7:30pm.   I love how prepared Westyn looks in this pic, "flashlight. . . check!"

Below is a pic of our downed tree.  I'm not exactly sure how we're going to cut it down, but I'll let Will figure that one out.  Dan, who I mention later in this post, offered his help & his chainsaw to come help us cut down the SUPER tall tree that's in our front yard & leaning toward our house.  I'm hoping the HOA, which I don't think exists yet, won't have a problem with us cutting down that hazard. : )

After nap time  the kids were so busy playing Will & I actually got to play a couple games of Scrabble.  He dominated the first game & I dominated the second.  It was too dark for us to play a third so Will worked on some dinner for the kids while I filled the stair nook with glow-in-the-dark stars.  It's unbelievable that yesterday was the first time I, Wendy use-to-be Craig, put glow-in-the dark stars up in a house in at least a decade!  Once those were up we gathered the kids up and got them ready for bed.  While we were upstairs brushing teeth, Dan from Will's work drove up with a generator in tow.  He & Will set it up on the back porch & plugged in the fridge.  We were only going to leave it plugged in for 45 minutes since we didn't want any carbon monoxide problems.  As fate would have it just a couple minutes before we went back upstairs to turn it off the power came back on.   

The kids were bummed & kept saying how they didn't want it to come back on.  Will & I were relieved and immediately put everything back in the fridge/freezer from the cooler.  We slept downstairs again, mostly because the kids wanted to so badly but there were also still some pretty strong gusts of wind.  The last picture above could be misleading.  I took the picture this morning & told the girls that it was only 4 more days till we get to see Grandma, Ethne erupted in applause.  : )  Just thought I'd get another pic of where we were playing yesterday.  We seriously were camped out on that rug most of the day since it was the brightest place in the basement.

Thank you to all of you who said prayers for our safety.  I still don't know how that tree ended up falling away from our house instead of on it but I know I picture angels pushing it that way.  : )  Wouldn't be the first time God sent His angels to very obviously keep us safe!  : )
Here's hoping that that was the first and last time we will be that close to a hurricane. . . .  Love you all!

4/5 Family Pic

 Here they are, my precious family.  Sunday we got back from church and sat the kids down for some quick pics before lunch.    Of course either Will or I had to take the pic so until Mom get's here in a couple of weeks this is as good as it gets. . .    Fortunately,  I have finally figured out the trick to get the kids to look at the camera & smileall at the same time since it was already raining.  The day was full of sever thunderstorm warnings so we spent the day in the basement getting the treadmill set up & organizing the different areas.
  You haven't heard from me in awhile because I've become addicted, (original thanks to cousin Katie) to Pinterest. . . .  It's a website full of ideas for just about everything.  I was feeling so overwhelmed & uninspired by what to do decor wise.  No longer, there are a myriad of brilliant ideas on Pinterest & now it's just a matter of narrowing down what to do!  Oh, and money to pay for it all of course! : )  Oh, wait, and time too, time would help!  Speaking of time, time to go wake the kids up!  Hope you all have a blessed day!

Nail Technicians/ Bakers/ Grave Diggers (8/12)

On Friday we were out front all day long.  The kids played in the sand as always but we made sure to paint our nails before Daddy got home.  The smell of nail polish gives Daddy a headache, Grandma too, now that I think of it.  : )  I let the girls paint the top coat on my nails for practice.  Lilyanah did a pretty good job, Ethne dripped it all over my toes but both did great considering it was their first time.  I love how intensely they were concentrating on doing a good job.

Their favorite thing to do in the sand is bury their little prince (ss) dolls in the sand.  In a distant second place is making sand cupcakes and cakes.  Bakers, or grave diggers, hmmm. . . .  Seriously, this picture is what we do about every day we don't have rain.  As I sat on their slide watching them play, looking around, I was acutely aware of how immensely I've been blessed.  It is a little disconserting living in a sand box, I am often reminded of the song, 'don't build your house on the sandy land.  . .'  It didn't work so well for the foolish man.  : )  But the beauty here is reminiscent of Oregon.  I truly hope that you will all be able to visit us here sometime.  What would you ladies think of a Butcher cousins NY  get together. . .  Seriously, Mom, (my most faithful reader), you could come up to be with the kiddos and we ladies could spend a few days upstate maybe go to Lake Placid, shop in downtown Saratoga Springs. . . .  Then take the train down to the city for a couple night's. . . time it for a fantastic broadway show. . . .  I'm dreaming aren't I!?  Okay, back to Friday. . .

 I just loved this pic of Ethne. . .  This morning Lilyanah accidentally smashed Ethne's little finger in the closet door.  Which we know means Mommy got a lot of cuddle time.  I started missing when she was small and wanted to cuddle all the time.  Now she's wiggly when we cuddle unless she's hurt & then she just buries her head into me & is still.  The sweetest part though was that without me asking Lilyanah went and got Ethne a cup of cold water to put her finger in to make her feel better.  Made Mommies heart smile.

I usually let Westyn run around in just his diaper with sunscreen on.  He's quite the coppertone baby!  I pretty much have our clean up routine down now.  The first clean up step to every 'play in the sand' day is searching all the sand for their dolls.  It's like Easter all over again.  : )  Grave robbers. . . nice.  In the kids defense I have never heard them pretending like the dolls are dead, just hiding.  : )  I'm just so thankful to have so much free entertainment right in our front yard.

Toofless AGAIN, as of 8/16!

During lunch on the 16th Lilyanah said, "Mommy, I can't find my tooth!" I ran over and saw her tooth was missing then checked her burrito, nothing. ..   Yep, 4th lost tooth & 1st one swallowed.  Ugh!  I assured her the tooth fairy could still tell she'd lost a tooth and would be by that night.  Turns out she brought her gift early. .  The door bell rang and Lilyanah found a note that said she'd found the tooth under the table and to go look under her pillow.  She ran down the stairs yelling, "It's GI JOE!!!"  No money this time. . . this time it was a GI JOE movie.   Good thing the toothfairy brought it early so we could watch it together that night.  : )  Daddy's idea.

Don't Give Up. . .

Ethne running in the grass for the first time, a before so you an see how ridiculously long it was!  And below an after. . . .

Sunday after lunch Will was all ready to go out  and mow the lawn while the kids were down for their nap but I actually really wanted an excuse to get outside and accomplish something.  Isn't it nice sometimes after having so many responsibilities inside to get outside and work?  For some reason I've always enjoyed mowing the lawn, I think it's seeing the immediate difference in something, same as painting, which is another 'thing' I enjoy.  The SUPER bonus was that while I was outside getting a miniature workout Will was inside cleaning the kitchen.  : )  Such a beautiful thing & a blessing to me!
  It was a race to beat the impending rain and unfortunately for me the grass was already wet from the 4am auto sprinkler shower that hadn't dried by 3pm.  : )  I tell you this because our lawn which requires just a little over a gallon of gas to mow  took me around 2 1/2 hours to complete because the wet grass made me stop twice as much to empty the bag of clippings!  Fortunately, God had my back & held back the rain until I was finished and Will had spread the fertilizer and sprinkled some seed in some of the sparse areas.
Lilyanah woke up while I was working out back and stood on the patio while I mowed, giving me a thumbs up every time I looked over at her.  Always the encourager!  Once I got to the front everyone was awake & came out to play on their bikes.

  So now we come to our bike dilemna. . . .  I know this picture isn't great but it best displays our situation. We have a small toddler Mickey Mouse "airplane" that can be ridden, a red tricycle, and Lilyanah's bike which you see above (thanks to Grandpa & Grandma!)  Lilyanah has been incredibly resistent to ride her bike and is always taking the tricycle instead which leaves the younger two fighting over M. Mouse.  I'm a little emberassed for not having realized and fixed it sooner, but her issue with the bike was that it was too wobbly so Daddy tightened the training wheel bolts and she was good to go.  Of course at one point while he was fixing them, the point when the bike was the most sturdy, her back wheel was a 1/2" off the ground!  : )  Oops!  Even when he lowered it when she was going up the hill the back wheel had a hard time gripping the road so there's still a little adjustment to be made.

To fully appreciate this video you have to know, this little girl just the day before would NOT ride her bike without me holding onto it because she was too scared.  She ABSOLUTELY would not go down the incline in our cul-de-sac without me slowing the bike down.  So doing it completely by herself was a big deal.  I'm proud of her for not giving up, which she wants to do so badly!  I thank Word World for the episode about Sheep learning to ride her bike where Bear sings, "Don't give up, the more you try, the better you'll get, the better you'll get.  The closer you'll be to doing it right. . . . la la la la la la, don't give up!!! "  I don't remember the last words, but I seriously start singing it to Lilyanah or Ethne when they start getting frustrated.  There have been times when I've heard Lilyanah singing it lowly to herself.  Too adorable!  Of course you get to witness a taste of her frustration at the end of the clip.  Learning is a constant process isn't it!  : )

Bye Bye Baby

Just a quick before and after of Westyn's new 'do.  Isn't it funny how at the age we're at now we get haircuts to hopefully take years off, but when our kiddos get haircuts it makes them look older?  So much irony in this life we live!  : )

I probably should have taken him to a pro but why when Will's clippers were right upstairs!?  I have to say it was a little hard seeing those beautiful blond locks falling to the ground but doesn't he look sharp? : )

And to end this quick post here was my sweet love letter from my husband last night who was sleeping away soundly when I crawled into bed.  Love that he made sure to tell me he loves me before he crashed, in the non-destructive way).  Love you all!

Kitchen

I am VERY slowly hanging things on the walls.  I've decided the first thing I want to do in the great room is choose fabric for curtains.  Then I'll address what to hang on the walls & where. . .  : )  The kitchen was easy because there's nowhere else I would have hung the items that are above the cabinets.

There's so much counter space I hardly know what to do with it!  Don't get me wrong, when I'm cooking I take advantage of nearly all of it!  At the edge of the counter by the pantry door is my very large cutting board that I LOVE!  I find myself cutting a lot of vegetables these days so it's nice to have a board that accomodates me.  Now I just need a knife sharpener.  Just yesterday I cut up a bunch of tomatoes, a jalapeno, cilantro & onion for some quick salsa to serve over cream cheese.  (Thank you Nicole for introducing me to this deliciousness at bunco!)  : )  Oh, and that yellow squash in the bowl is spaghetti squash.  It tastes AMAZING & is such a great alternative to pasta with some yummy marinara and zucchini.  Just puncture it all over with a skewer and put it in the oven @ 375F for an  hour.  My homemade marinara was a little too spicy for the kiddos but with a mild marinara and some mozzarella even they ate it!  : )

Lilyanah has decided under the counter is a perfect place for her to display her art, I have to say I agree.  I'm half tempted to paint it with chalkboard paint so the kids can draw down there but that's too big of a committment and not very realistic.

If you look in the picture above there's a blank wall to the right of the fridge in the kitchen.  I'd like to get one of those vinyl decals that's a chalkboard and put it there.  The dishwasher is a little further away from the sink than I would prefer but I'm not complaining because at least I have a dishwasher!  : )  Eventually we would like to do some sort of backsplash and add crown moulding to the tops of the cabinets, but that isn't the most pressing home improvement at the moment.

So there is a glimpse of where I spend quite a lot of my time.  It's such a blessing to live in this house, I'm just anxious to have friends and family visit so it feels more like a home.  I almost forgot, you are looking at the two items we  upgraded on in the house.  I chose to have a pull down spray faucet (black) and got a little deeper, little longer sink than what came standard.  It's crazy how many dishes fit in that sink.  Westyn's even had a bath in there once.  He didn't like it, but with all the sand we have at our house it's like living at the beach and I didn't want all the sand he had on his body upstairs!  : )  Now to go spend some more time in this lovely room preparing yet another meal!  : )  Any healthy suggestions that kids love?  Love you all!

Mission Accomplished!

On Sunday, (July 31st) Will & I set up the kids water toys out front so they could play while we worked.  They spent the first half of the day in the pool and the second half down in the sand at the base of our driveway.  They planted some oranges and bananas, but our real money maker is the pinata they're growing out there.   It took all day after church to get the sanding and painting done so it wasn't until late Monday night after the girl's finished cleaning their room that we set it up.  Which means, as of Monday night there were no more floor sleepers in our home!!!!

  Such an accomplishment, and it's amazing how much room we now have in our garage without the bed in there!  I was literally outside painting until the sun went down & what a beautiful sunset it was!  I wanted you to see too what a little kid looks like CAKED in sand but you can't tell from this pic.  He looked a few shades darker from the layer of sand on his skin & he had dumped sand on his head.  He was a mess & he loved every minute of it.  Well, every minute until it was time to clean up, that he could have done without!

I think I figured out where our camera is so hopefully I can start geting some better pictures.  Something to look forward to if I can ever get Will to bring it home!  I'll do my best to get pics of the kitchen and the girls completed room posted.  Love you all!

Lilyanah's Heart

August 2nd) I was cuddling with the girls in their bed and the song we sang was 'tears of the Lamb' a song they're just learning.  Only this time after the song was over this was the conversation we had,

Lilyanah, "Why does it say tears of the Lamb?"
Me, "Well, it's talking about Jesus when He was up on the cross."
Lilyanah, "Why was He crying?"
Me, "Jesus had been hit and was hurt and He was covered in sin which God can't be around sin, so He was lonely and very sad."
Lilyanah, "Did He do something wrong?"
Me, "Jesus never did anything wrong. . .   He went through getting hurt and being lonely up on the cross for all the things that we've done and will do wrong.  He did it so we can be forgiven and live in Heaven with Him and God someday. . . ."
The thought of Jesus lonely really touched her tender little heart and with tears in her precious little eyes she said, "Can we pray again to tell God and Jesus thank you?"

So we prayed and thanked both God and Jesus for what They did for us.   We started to broach the Holy Spirit, but I'm having a hard time trying to figure out how to explain the Holy Spirit to her.  Any ideas?

I just love seeing her precious little heart & how it is already seeking to understand God and His ways.   I have to admit I'm already having a really hard time with her 'all-to-quickly-approaching' first day of kindergarten, but am so thankful that God has given each new stage it's own joys.  Like the joy of having a partner-in-crime when it comes to planning get-togethers!  She's decided that we need to start having theme parties to invite friends to.  For example, a Noah party where everyone brings one set of 2 animals and we make rainbow cookies and set up a fort like an arc. . .  She is SO my daughter!  Oh and the picture above is of Lilyanah's new haircut.  It had to be done so last night after getting permission from Daddy I cut about 4 inches off.  She LOVES it & kept saying, "I look SO beautiful!"  : )

Friday we loaded up and registered her for kindergarten!  She loved it, I held back tears.  She was at least 50 feet away in this pic being assessed by one of the teachers.  I can only imagine what she was saying making the face she is & holding up her hands. . .  I'm pretty confident, "I don't know" was in there somewhere. . . : )  Everything is good to go, we should find out who her teacher is in a couple of weeks and at the end of the month they have an open house where she meets her teacher, fellow classmates & even gets to go for a ride on the bus.  Then, just 6 short days later she has her first day of school.  Life will never be the same.  Is it normal to picture her as a little baby every time I think of her being gone for the day? 

This last picture was Ethne tracing Westyn's hand while we waited for Lilyanah.  All the teachers fell in love with him.  They aren't use to seeing the small kiddos.  : )  The extra little heart wrench was that next year we'll be there again with Ethne, just a couple blinks away I'm sure!

Westyn's Love Letter

The other night after tucking the kids in I found this on my side of the bed, my love letter from Westyn.  It made me smile like when I'd find knick knacks Lilyanah hid in my shoes when she was a baby.  : )  Westyn still loves his letters.  Last night he was cuddling with Daddy, writing on his drawing board and actually drew "R P W"  then pointed and said the letters to Will.  He's growing up SO fast!  Lately one of my favorite things he's saying is, "I got this."  He still says, "Help, I'm stuck!" when he's somewhere he doesn't want to be, though not nearly as much as he use to.    When he's hungry he goes to the fridge and asks me to , "Open door" and gets giddy when he sees fruit, especially berries.  He calls strawberries, 'stawbehee cake'.  (Chalk it up to having sisters who watch strawberry shortcake on occasion.)  Right now it seems like that's all he wants to eat, I think he's in his 'anti-meat' phase.

 

On Saturday he decided to design his own workout which included carrying this chair around on his back.  Guess he's trying to develop muscles like his daddy!  He loves getting under things. . . boxes, laundry baskets, you name it.  As I'm typing he's at the end of the bed laying under a laundry basket.  I love it when the kids are easily entertained!

Yesterday we had a playdate playing in a pool with friends.  When we got home Westyn crawled up in our bed and was playing with a clock Meme brought on her last visit.  I listened to him play while I fed the girls a little snack (he didn't want to come down to eat),  and then there was silence.  This is what I found when I got up to our room & Ethne wanted to be in the pic.  (The clock is between his knees.)  I don't even remember the last time Westyn fell asleep in the middle of playing out of sheer exhaustion!  So precious to me!  (Wish it happened more often!)  And now, to carpe diem!