Soccer Season come and gone

      Oliver has finished his first soccer season and it was another reminder of how quickly my little ones are growing. It's inevitable, I get that, but sometimes I want it to slow down just a little bit or at least grant me more hours. I know there are days when I want the days to pass more quickly but when I reflect back in my day sometimes I wish I wasn't so quick to declare bedtime. Anyhow, back to soccer. It was a co-ed team and Oliver got to have cousin Will on the team. Oliver could be a little shy and timid so having a buddy helped him ease in to it. The soccer season was six weeks long with two games a week the last half of the season. In the beginning they were practicing their dribbles and it's quite entertaining to watch 6-7 year old tackle foot-eye coordination. Some were better than others but I loved that the number one rule was to have fun. The soccer games were exhilarating. The Beck crowd was loud and proud and I am proud to say were able to withhold sideline coaching. We cheered as they attempted to score goals and applauded the rare passes. At this point kids tend to huddle around the ball and follow it around the field and occasionally, with some coaching, spread out and actually pass the ball. Oliver enjoyed it and Madeline says she'd like to try it when she's five. We had fun supporting him. At the end of the season they all got a medal and had a parent versus kids exhibition match. Kids had some snazzy moves they pulled on the old fogies and showed them a thing or too. It's a lot easier to coach on the sidelines than actually doing it. HA!

    Oliver said that his favorite part of soccer was blocking the ball from a kid that was bigger than him or just saving the ball from a goal (there were no goalies).  He wasn't the fastest or very coordinated but he had a smile on his face (most of the time) and had a blast with his teammates. He's an awkward kid but he's kind and awesome and definitely follows the beat to his own drum. He has to add his own flair to everything he does. He can't simply do something, he has to dance, screech, or sing some backstory song to his life. It's not always amusing but its him and I love every bit of his weirdness.

Right before they whooped the adults. 

Oliver's first day of soccer practice. He's in the bright orange shorts.

almost 9 months

  No it's not an announcement. A lot has happened between my last post and now and maybe I'll get around to filling in the gaps but for now I'll just do what's fresh in my memory.
     It will be 9 months since our move to Moses Lake, WA and it has been an experience, from buying our first house to our first child in his first organized sport. It's been a roller coaster of emotions but we are adapting and learning that it has its own beauties.
    When we first got here I knew we needed to have a library card because, well, if you have a good library  the kids are happy. A good story can make any day a happy day. I'm satisfied with our library. It may not have the largest selection on hand but its part of the regional library so we can request books from other branches and they have a pretty good selection of online books! We go almost every week. Growing up we didn't have access to a library so I've been making up for lost times.
     Madeline is in preschool now too. She goes twice a week at a gymnastics building soshe gets to play on some of the equipment and the foam pit, which she loves, for recess. I also love to see how Mads and Oliver are so different as students. Oliver takes his time remembering his classmates' names, but Mads can tell you their first and last names! Oliver may not remember their names very well but he gets along and plays with all of them. Surprisingly, Mads is more introverted than I thought and has found one or two friends to play otherwise plays by herself. They're different but they're both thriving and adapting well. Their quirky personalities make for some difficult parenting moments that either end successfully or a great desire for a do-over. Good thing kids are quite forgiving. I'm figuring it out one day at a time and thankfully, I have Weston to tag team it with.
    Oliver is finally making friends and coming out of his shell. It was a little rough in the beginning of the school year but is much improved now. It delights me so much to see him happy. Every now and then Mads and Oliver talk about how they miss NC and our "first house" but it has become few and far between. It definitely helps that cousins are just an 8 minute drive away and they all just adore each other. Oliver and cousin Will are on the same soccer team and they are a couple of goofballs. Their eye foot coordination are clumsy at best but they are having a "ball" (ahaha) so I'm happy.

This was Oliver's first practice. He's in the bright orange shorts. 

 Eleanor is such a spaz and I love her to death. We all adore her and could just squeeze her till her eyes pop out! She wants to be where ever Mads and Oliver are. She will sit by them and do her own thing contentedly as long as they are by her side, otherwise she screeches till you come back or take her with you. She's got the sweetest smile and is a daddy's girl. Her eyes brightens and gets excited when she can hear Weston coming through the doors. We have successfully trained her to sleep in her crib now for maybe about a month. We both needed our own space after a year of co-sleeping. She was ready for her crib! And she walks now! Baby phase goes by too slow and too fast. Sleep deprivation I'm sure doesn't help either. I feel like all the old ladies at the grocery store, but CHERISH them! They grow up so fast! 

  As for the house, it's up and down, literally. Stairs are not my friend or Eleanor's either. Okay, it hasn't been that bad and I don't really mind it but its danger zone for little people who want to dance on it. I do love the kitchen! It's spacious with ample amount of counter space and I love cooking in it. One week I was having a good run of meals and I felt like "Hey, I'm not too shabby." Nothing like a mediocre meal to spoil your mojo. HA! Kids were nice enough to eat it. Luckily my love for eating food and trying new recipes trumps any failed attempts. Just keep cooking, just keep baking! ^_^ Oooo Baking! I wish calories didn't exist!

Overall Moses Lake has been good to us and will be making it home for at least another 3 years and 3 months. 

Eek!

Our Moses Lake trip was a lot of fun. We didn't take as many pictures with cousins as we would have liked alas we got some interesting ones. 

These were from the museum. The deer head is not a real one but is created out of what looks like burlap. There were various other animals too like an elephant head and a sea turtle. The kids thought it was pretty cool. They really wanted to touch it, alas it was not allowed. 

This last picture was probably Oliver's favorite. The mammoth skeleton was created out of scraps of metal. It's sheer size and the use of metal fascinated him. This museum also has free art days once a month.

Now you may wonder why were we at Moses Lake, WA? Well I'll tell you.  Weston had a job interview there and they flew out the whole family so we can see what it's like. They paid for a rental car and would have done so for a hotel but we have family there so didn't need too. It was a lot of fun. If we end up there Weston gets to work in the same health clinic has his brother Cameron.  Weston also has an offer here in Winston-Salem, so there's a chance we could stay. I guess we'll find out in a few days. Eek!

Happy Late St. Patty's Day

      Since Eleanor has been home we've had a lot of help from Lolo and Lola. Lola came first for about a week and it was wonderful. I was still pumping at the time so Lola took care of her for the entire night so all I had to do was pump and go to sleep. Honestly, I don't think I fully realized how helpful it was until Weston and I had to tackle it completely on our own. It's a process to pump, feed, change diapers, rock then finally go to sleep only to repeat it in an hour or two later. My parents are awesome! When Lolo came he took Oliver to school in the morning so I didn't have to worry about it. He took the whole responsibility for two weeks which even benefited our neighbors too because we alternate carpool. Then we he came back, he took Eleanor so I can sleep. I LOVE my parents! 

    And with some tough love from wonderful breastfeeding mentors(?) I had my pump confiscated and dove into exclusive breastfeeding. It was tough, especially since the beginning of that nose dive was during travels on a plane. Nevertheless, if these wonderful women didn't encourage me and have faith in Eleanor and me, I would still be strapped to that awesomely awful pump. My new and improved pump is adorable and squishy and is doing fabulous. She's gaining weight and has had plenty of poopy diapers which gets me excited because then I know she's getting something. Knowing how much she was getting in a bottle has its comforts but I'm so glad that I don't have to deal with it anymore. Now I get to cuddle her while she feeds! 

Now I know I'm a little late with St. Patrick's Day pictures but here she is:

     Oliver and Madeline are the best big brother and big sister this girl could ask for. They constantly watch over her and want to hold her. When Eleanor cries Madeline is always the first to tell me that she's making noise and may need me. Oliver walks into our bedroom in the middle of the night after his potty break and comes in to check on her. He asks sleepily where she is, then rubs her head and cuddles her for a minute then goes back to bed. 

     It was quite an adventure this pregnancy and post delivery; NICU and all. We had a very small glimpse of what some parents go through with premature babies. I admire the strength and sacrifice it takes to go through that journey with your child, whatever the outcome. It is hard to see such a small child fighting for life. I don't always know why things have to happen the way they do but I do know that if we allow our Savior to join us in our life's journey, not only will we be stronger during difficult times, we can also have peace when it feels unbearable. 

Baby Nor Nor

No the baby's name is not Nor Nor, it's her nickname given by the kiddos. Her name is Eleanor. So I guess I should write her birth story. Here we go.

First I should start in November since that's when this pregnancy got interesting. After all the fun with family adventuring in Florida and Thanksgiving, the night before Weston had to drop off his parents to the airport I started to bleed. I was in the bathroom, looked down and first thought was "hmmmm, that can't be good." It actually wasn't a lot at first but it got worse so we went to the hospital and I was contracting every 2-3 minutes BUT it wasn't preterm labor. I had a placental abruption. So after few days of observations and a cancelled flight I got to go home. Gramma and Grampa stayed until they knew when I would be discharged and that everything was okay. Then Lolo (means Grandpa in Tagalog) came to help around the house when I came home and Gramma and Grampa left. It was perfect because it all happened that same day so it was a smooth transition. Lolo stayed about a week and after my follow up appointment he left because I got the green light for normal activity with the obvious precautionary things like don't carry heavy loads like my kids and no, you know.  So this was during November and December uneventful pregnancy wise, but January was proven to be much more interesting. Stephen and Deneka offered to come and stay with me and the kids while Weston was in Washington doing a rotation where Cameron works. Everything was going great. A little over two weeks I decided to be cautious and called the triage nurse, because I had a couple of concerns that I thought warranted a doctor's visit. Poor Madeline came with me and heard that I needed to go to the hospital because I was in preterm labor and 2 cm dilated. When I went to talk to Mads she was teary-eyed with worry and wanted to come with me. She's so sweet but it was best to bring her home. I dropped her off at home and grabbed the essentials; laptop, phone, ipad, a couple of books and the chargers for the electronics. I drove myself and went through the hospital valet. Told him I was in labor and he asked if I would like to be in a wheelchair. I declined, said I was okay and that I would just walk. After saying that I think he was a little bit skeptical about my labor comment. I went up to the L&D floor told them I was in  preterm labor but of course I didn't look like I was in pain so I was sent to the waiting room until a nurse came and got me. Waited a while but when I finally got into a room and hooked up to the monitors I was having contractions every 3-4 minutes. I was back on the magnesium sulfate and other lovely drugs, got my steroid shots for Baby Nori's lungs and was able to prolong deliver for 5 days. They thought I was in the clear and got transferred to the high risk floor, but I didn't last even 24 hours before I had to go back to the L&D floor and had baby Nori. Thank goodness Deneka could at least be there for the delivery. She was there as a support and Ipad holder so Weston could "be there" for the delivery, via facetime, as well.

Within those 5 days at the hospital I got a blessing from Stephen and a friend, Austin. It had brought me strength, peace, and acceptance to God's will and plan for me. When I had relented control over something I had no control over anyway, I was able to be calm and feel that God was aware of me and my fears. I felt His love and a reassurance that everything would be okay. As things continue to unfold after her birth it was clear that He had the bigger picture that I couldn't have known or the doctors. He also knows how to reach out to me through family and friends and I couldn't have done it without support and love shown to me. I also had the best nurses and doctors that were compassionate, funny, and very patient.

Family of 5

    I originally started this post to share our pregnancy news, but sometimes life gets in the way and we don't get to update as quickly as we should. Sometimes it's also due to some laziness on my part. In this case it has been a little bit of both. Yesterday our family has officially grown from four to five! Our little baby girl arrived yesterday at 1:57 pm at 31 weeks and 2 days. A few weeks short of her due date but we will take her with all her eagerness to join the family. I wish I could describe my feelings of all the happened in that moment of inevitability that she would come in spite of our best efforts to keep her baking a little longer. What I do know is that without my knowledge of my Savior and His love for me, and trusting in His plan I would have been a more complete and utter mess. He brought me peace and with all the added prayers from family and friends, I couldn't have been in a better place, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally.
    Since her debut, I have watched her in the NICU awestruck with her calm even with all the prodding and poking. I was watching her get a feeding tube in through her nose and it bothered her a little bit, but didn't cry once. She was so calm! A calm warrior, if that makes any sense. It's only been day two of her arrival and we have many days ahead in the NICU and I know I will learn a lot from her and about myself.

Why not here?

Another late post that has been sitting under my draft section. Preschool has been done since May and we're now in July but preschool has been a blessing so here were my thoughts when it was in session:


Oliver has been in preschool for a few months now and it has been so great for him, and myself truthfully.Not in the way I had imagined but it has been great. I have made such great friends with the moms and the kids' wonderful teacher.  The preschool has also been MOVED. It originally was held in the teacher's home, unfortunately, she had to stop hosting it. So I tell myself "well, why not here in my home." Now every morning when I ask Oliver get ready for school he says, "but it's already here!" He's such a funny kid. Mads just loves having it at home and the kids are all so sweet to her. During circle time the girls love to sit next to her. Melt my heart. Anyhow, I am so grateful for this preschool because I feel that it really is preparing Oliver for kindergarten, even if it is at home. I see him growing more and more each day and I am one proud Mama. He's kind and considerate, and a little spacey at times, but he's a good boy. I wish growing up didn't have to happen so quickly but it is what it is. The friends I have made with these moms shows me that my Heavenly Father is truly aware of me. Being so far from family makes it hard some days and these wonderful ladies help me feel a little closer to home with their silly humor and kindness. I really appreciate them and thank God that we've met.

Happy Halloween

Sad that this has taken me about 8 months to post this up but here it is. Halloween from LAST year. Pics soon to come if I can find any.







Halloween was fantastic. There was a Halloween party for preschool where the kids had a blast. They all get along so well that it was fun to see them play games and crafts together. My favorite was ghost, ghost, witch (like duck duck goose ^_^).  I think there was only one child that really knew how to play but most ended up running in circles. HAHA. I wish I had a video because it was awesome. Oh and we can't have a party without eating doughnuts on a string without hands, of course. Mads just grabbed it then dropped her hands quickly with a mischievous look in her eyes. One of the kids got pretty creative by getting the doughnut to lay on his chest so he can reach it without moving so much. Another was quite dedicated, no hands and last one standing, but she kept at it. Love these kids! After our party, a couple of the moms and I got together so our kids could go trick or treating. Luckily I made both kids take a nap before our candy trek and it was worth it.  We ended up with a pretty good loot. The neighborhood we went trick or treating had a much better Halloween spirit than ours. There was one street with a cul-de-sac that had all the neighbors together in the middle with a bonfire and a gazebo for a chili cook off that trick or treaters could help themselves to. It was really cool. It was hilarious too because one of Oliver's friend was getting really tired but the sound of chili gave her an extra skip in her step to keep on going. She's not willing to keep on trudging for candy, but for chili that's another story. It was really funny to watch. After begging for candy we came home and had some delicious hot apple cider waiting for us in the crockpot. The next day the kids didn't go too crazy with the candy which I was SOoooo grateful for because they can go nuts with just a small amount of sugar. Happy Halloween everybody. It had been a spooktacular night.

Camping

     After Weston's week of uninterrupted study time and a week of finals, he had about a week and a half of vacation time so what do we do? CAMPING!!!! A couple from church had recommended a few places that we could go to and we decided New River Gorge National River. It was a beautiful and magical place, at least to me. On the website it said that it was a primitive campsite so there was no running water but it was free. We were a little nervous that it would all be taken by the time we got there. Luckily we left during the week so we were actually just one of two campers. The campground was completely covered in sand and the kids enjoyed that a lot! The best part was how close we were to the river. If you don't already know this about Madeline, then I should let you know, she LOVES water. She wanted to go to it so badly. After setting up the tent, we went and Mads just had a blast. We knew the river would be close so we had packed our swimsuits but we never got in. The kids didn't have any life vests but I thought "we'll stay close to the kids, it'll be okay. It'll be fun!" but then I got too nervous. We settled for dipping our feet in the river instead. We, of course, had fun with our making of the campfire because it took FOREVER, but we still ended up with a delicious meal that was at least partially cooked. In the morning we went on our hike that was along Glade Creek. Our inclination of course is to go down to it and throw rocks at it, so we did. We kept adventuring through our trail and stopped at a small waterfall with a pool. Before we got there we found ourselves some awesome walking sticks, which came in very handy in our excursion through the rocky pool. We had a couple of fun slippery rocks that humbled our hiking egos, a couple of times. We took the hit, learned, then used the sticks to help.

Preschool

     This is clearly late ,but Oliver started preschool and it must be documented. His class consists of three other kids that he already knew, and I think that definitely helped with the adjustment of preschool.  He goes four times a week, Monday through Thursday from 9 am ttil 12:30pm. At first I was thinking this would be a lot for him all at once but he LOVED it.

     His first day was adorable. He was excited although a little dazed by how early, according to our standards of course, he needed to get up. And I've been learning a lot of who he is, things that I may have missed otherwise. For example, he's a perfectionist in little boy standards. This is probably common among other kids his age I don't know, but he really likes to have things a certain way.

This was from his first day and I was surprised by how clear and deliberate his placements were with his pasta. Who knew? I didn't. He also loves patterns.
     They also practice writing their names, which Oliver already knew how, but only with all caps. Every morning they have to write it properly and it has improved greatly. Before then I would try to help him do it lower case and he just didn't want to do it. I think he just needed someone that wasn't me.

He doesn't always talk about it but when I ask him if he wants to go to school in the morning it almost always with a very enthusiastic yes. I am so grateful for the mom in our ward who wanted to do this and for turning her home into a little preschool. She has been great teacher for him and is very patient with all of them. Couldn't have asked for a better first time experience of sending a child to school.

Pure Sugar Joy

Summer has come and ended but filled with lots of new memories. So over the next few posts I will try to go over all of favorite moments.

    First off lets start with Winston-Salem! Stephen, Deneka and Mama Beck came of visit us for a few days and we got to explore Winston-Salem with them.  We, of course, went to Krispey Kreme. After the kids had their first few bites it seemed as though sugar was directly poured into their system. Madeline and Oliver were smiling from ear to ear. With Madeline's small stature, the sugar hit her hard and fast. She just starts to spin, literally and then ran into a glass door! It was hilarious! We also got to see where Krispey Kreme had its first store and we found the kettle! We walked around Old Salem and tried their famous sugar cake. I don't think we capped our sugar limit yet though. Oliver also had the chance to show off his mad bicycle skills at the park and everyone were quite impressed. Oliver enjoyed have an audience.

Madeline eying the chocolate donut with sprinkles.

Happy child

               Craziness ensuing.

Pure sugar joy.

We found the kettle! Thanks Weston for finding it.

These were some tall corn stalks.

Weston is 30

I've been slacking and I realized that the next birthday in our family is tomorrow so I wanted to get this in before then.


     Weston is 30!! And we had a blast. We made our tradition of german chocolate cake. Originally it was supposed to be a Father's Day cake but Madeline's birthday will be so close to it and sometimes be on the day so we just scooted it down to Weston's birthday.
     So for his birthday I wanted to do a surprise camp out for him at the state park that he wanted but with last minute plans it didn't work out and I eventually needed some input from him. We searched for some close campgrounds close and found one about an hour away called Stone Mountain. It was pretty perfect. The road was called something like Frank parkway and the lot we reserved was 30. We had a blast and the kids just love to camp. We got to see a couple of rabbits scurry into the tall grass. Mads especially enjoyed that part. We set up our tent had ourselves some tinfoil dinners and then off to bed. Sometime during the night it began to dump rain and it didn't let up at all. Morning came and Oliver just had the biggest grin on his face and said, "We're camping outside in the rain!!" He absolutely loved it...because he was dry. Weston and I made the executive decision to go for the hike like we planned and Oliver didn't enjoy that very much. Lucky for him it was a short hike, about a mile long and it lead us to a beautiful waterfall which we didn't take any pictures of because my phone with the waterproof case was dead and we didn't want to take out the nice camera. But now its written down so we can remember. Overall, it was a wonderful pre-birthday celebration since his actually birthday was on a Sunday.
     Oliver, Madeline and I were trying to be sneaky about Weston's presents so they would be a surprise but he asks way too many questions. For his birthday he got a Tanuki, a Japanese figurine of a raccoon dog, i think. It's suppose to bring luck or something. Weston really likes the story behind it. He chose that one himself. I got him so a bike shirt and short for his commute to school so he wouldn't be so stanky. Now he can make friends without being too self conscious. ^_^
    Now for the mushy: Weston is the love of my life and I can't imagine my life without him. Yes it's cliche but it's true. He's kind and thoughtful and the only person that will laugh at my jokes. My jokes aren't that funny but for some reason he gets it. He's perfect! Am I right?  AND he's the best father a woman can ask for. The kids light up every time he comes home. And all the kids in the playground only ever want to play with him when he comes. He's the fun one. Which is fine by me. It's hard work being the fun one. He's a good man. I thank God everyday that he chose me to share the adventures of life.

Weston snickered a little after he took this picture and said, "well it's not the most flattering because of how you stuck out your hip." I couldn't be mad cause it was true. He did hesitate a little before he told me.

Summer + Pool Time = a nice break

Since we've been here the kids and I have been having a lot of fun going to the pools. At first it was hard to convince either Madeline or Oliver to dunk their heads underwater until we got goggles. Oh the magic of goggles. Oliver is a pro at it and he doesn't plug his nose. It might not seem like a big deal but Weston refuses, refuse is a strong word, but he really doesn't enjoy going underwater without plugging his nose. Anyway basically it's awesome that he doesn't plug his nose because then it makes teaching how to swim a little bit easier. We've been watching some youtube videos with astronauts explaining the changes and differences of being in space with the lack of gravity, and so he likes to think he's in space when he goes under and pretends to float. It's really cute. He also dances underwater. I would really like to capture that moment but it's a little difficult to get. Oh well. I'll just have to take a mental picture. Madeline likes to do it too but not nearly as much as Oliver. However, when they are taking a bath she's more apt to doing it. She must feel safer when it's not so deep, smart kid. On the awesome days that we do go swimming, the little people are so exhausted bedtime/naptime is a piece of cake. Then I get to have a nice, quiet, peaceful break. It really is quite nice. We love pools.

This is the only picture I got of them swimming. I need one of Mads.

Cow Appreciation Day

            It was cow appreciation day sometime ago at Chik-fil-A and it was so much fun. We had a friend tell us about it and basically you dress up as a cow and you get a free meal. So when we woke up we were excited to get our little get up together. However, when you procrastinate it's never looks the way you had imagined it in your head. Luckily I don't have harsh critics. They still enjoyed making the masks, dressing like cows and getting a free meal. A great day for cows and sharing it with new friends. MMOOoooOOO!

 Sadly I didn't take a lot of pictures but at least these ones look cute.
     

Little Biker Man

      Over the past few months Oliver has been using his birthday bike as a balance bike. When we first got it we had taken it for a few spins around Philly with the training wheels, unfortunately the training wheels kept coming loose. The sidewalks are not the kindest to the poor wheels and so one minute Oliver felt invincible and the next he would be on the ground frustrated. Our practice path wasn't exactly the safest because of the busy cars so we had taken off the pedals and training wheels and just went down our very long hall. Then he decided to take a hiatus until we moved here in NC. Oliver got the itch to try biking again and so we brought it to the park near our home and I wanted to see if he could just ride down the hills. And he could! I was so shocked and amazed. He had his balance down, for riding straight at least. After at least a week of hurling himself down the grassy hills we decided it was time to put the pedals back on. We started off on the hills then flat ground and now he's biking! Not perfect,  he definitely still takes some spills but he's tough most of the time at least. It hurts to fall. When he starts feeling overly confident about his abilities he falls a little bit more often and it's just so funny to watch.That wasn't very nice of me, but it's true. He also gets this crazy-eyed determination to bike as fast as his legs will take him. I look at him and I just know he's imagining that he's a superhero in some radical superhero contraption he has built himself. This milestone makes me so proud and excited for him but also a little scared, because it means that he really is growing up and there's no stopping it. Mostly, we're just feeling really proud of our little

 biker man. 

Mr. Twinkles, Two, and Corni

      We bought our first family pet, GUPPIES! We got it the day before Madeline's birthday. I was thinking it could be one of her presents but it was our first pet so it should be a family pet. So we had been thinking for a while that we wanted a pet, but we didn't want one that required too much commitment so we would go back and forth between some sort of reptile or something aquatic or a gerbil or something. Just something small. Someday we will have dogs or cats or both, it hasn't been the right time yet. On the Friday before Mad's birthday Weston had a study group so we dropped him off and the kids and I were supposed to run some errands. It was a little before dinner time so the kids were at that odd transition between normal children and inconsolable crazy children. So, of course, the best thing to do, instead of doing an errand they were anticipating, we had an impromptu pit stop at PetSmart. About and hour later we came out with two Guppies, a bowl, gravel, small live water plants, water conditioner, and tropical fish food (*note: notice I did not buy a fish net which will later traumatize my poor boy). (o.0) No we never did our errand, we just went straight home set up our bowl got everything ready and lo and behold our first family pet, two guppies, Mr. Twinkles, named by Oliver, and Two, by Mads.
      The kids adored their two little fishes and Mads could not stop staring and giggling.

Unfortunately, they only stayed with us for six days. I had noticed that Mr. Twinkles started to swim slower and sideways and I knew that he wasn't going to last long. I thought that maybe if I cleaned their bowl it might give him a fighting chance. This is where a fish net would have come in handy of course. I scooped both fish out just fine with the cup. It was putting them back in, for some reason, was a little tricky. Two made it in ok, but Mr. Twinkles fell into the sink. Oliver was watching the whole time and his eyes grew big while I tried to put him back in the bowl. It must have been a lot of trauma for the both of them because Oliver wont let me live it down about not having a net after Mr. Twinkles died the next day. I didn't bring any attention to it until after Mads' birthday so he was floating in the bowl for a couple of days which may have been the reason why Two followed suit. It broke Oliver's heart to see Mr. Twinkles floating and he refused to flush him down the toilet because then he would be in with all the poop and pee. He didn't really want to bury him either, because if we moved to another house we wouldn't be able to bring him with us.

Eventually he decided that we could bury him in the back yard and had a little memorial service. Madeline wasn't too shaken up, she was just worried about Oliver. After the memorial service Oliver says, " So can we get another fishy?" I guess the mourning process for little children are quite short. He moved on as soon as we got our new female Betta fish, Corni (named by Oliver). I'm proud to say we've had her now for more than six days and she seems to be doing well. Yay us!

 

 

Madeline's TWO!

It's July so obviously now is the time to write about Mads' June birthday. We decorated the house and spent some quality time together. We had some chocolate brownie cupcakes that didn't really turn out the way I wanted but the kids loved it so it was just fine. Madeline loved the attention and Oliver just loves birthdays so it was fun seeing them celebrating together. We got some gifts from the grandparents and birthday cards and it made Madeline really happy. I just can't believe she's two already. I am so in love with her and I am so stinkin' blessed to have her. She's caring and sweet and always takes note of other people. Whenever she asks for a Popsicle she never leaves without another for Oliver. She's a sweet, stubborn, fierce, loveable, thoughtful little girl. We have truly been blessed to have her join our little family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADELINE

So far so good

    Weston has completed two weeks of PA school and we have survived. Well it really hasn't been too bad since first week was mostly orientation. This last week, however, has been overwhelming sometimes for Weston, since they have started their anatomy boot camp. Needless to say I think he is doing a great job and it definitely will be an ongoing learning experience after the three weeks are over. We are all buckling down, mostly Weston, to allow some study time and getting used to him not being around as much. It's okay though, it's just for two years then we'll be done. Such an amazing feeling knowing there is an end. On the other hand, for me, I will be going back to school soon. I'm hoping to start some online classes this year after we get a better schedule and routine for the kids. It is yet to be determined what I will be studying, but I just need to get back into the groove of homework and such. Weston will be having his first exam on Monday so throw us good vibes his way, he'll appreciate it.

  

A part of his orientation was held in a nearby park

     The kids are enjoying their increase in running space that at times they don't know what to do with it. We somehow end up being cramped in a small room playing with toys those funny little tikes. When we do go outside I enjoy watching them play and skip and dig. We even had a time when we went outside and saw  our neighbor's outside cat hunching over something. So I went towards it and it had a dead baby rabbit! Oh the circle of life, right in our backyard. It was a good teaching moment. We've been biking to church which only takes us twenty minutes. When we arrived the first time we overheard a child say, 'oh that's dangerous!' Oops. We still do it but we will take the car (this is for the grandparents) if the weather doesn't permit us to do it safely. Overall, we are adjusting and enjoying our new adventures.