Free Range on Fairview

Check out Lincoln's craziest do yet. He's got this great hair that many women (and possibly men) would kill for. It really started getting scraggly in the back so I snipped off about 1/2" from just the very back bottom to clean it up a little. Luckily that hair still curls even though people said it might make it straight. Now he looks slightly less hooliganish.  Side View Kissy face while playing peek-a-boo with me Caught the baby blues and the frizz I had to buy detangler for him Sweet smile, looks a lot like Dylan in this picture

Shane made this shirt for me Three years now I have been happily married to my best friend. He may not be what I imagined my other half to be when I was younger, but he suits me to a t. Together we are raising three kids, one of which we actually decided together to create and now cultivate into a perfect combination of the two of us (or maybe he got either of our unsavory characteristics but luckily he is so darn adorable). We have made a motley crew into a family. We have paid off our credit card debt which shot up extremely when Shane broke (and sprained) his hand a month before the wedding and couldn't work for 6 weeks. We have made our house a home. We have survived losses of family members and have seen other relationships dissolve, all while trying to find what works for us. I have finally learned how to give him space when he first comes home and when he works for hours on a project to get it right isn't him avoiding me, it's how he shows love. He is definite...

Back to School. Having actually had both kids in school last year, this is the first time they are going back to school. I did get a little bit smarter this year, and I also learned some things for next year (though Danielle will be graduated so that will change some things). I took two different approaches with our two different kids in school.  For Dylan we started early. We've been lucky enough to know several people who give Dylan their kids' outgrown clothes so he didn't need too much this year. I bought a big lot of clothes from an online kids store called Crazy 8. Really cute stuff and really cheap on clearance. He couldn't try it on and I bought a little big because he grows so fast (so some of his pants might be a bit baggy for a while) but it will work out. After about half his budget was gone there we shopped the consignment store in town Hand-Me-Down where we found a great NorthFace jacket knock off for $5, Goodwill and Garage Sales for most of the remaind...

And who left me this toddler? Yikes, my little Lincoln, who is now almost 15 months, just barely over a year, is a walkin' talkin' crazy machine. I give credit to having an older brother and sister to watch and play with and I know he wants to be just like when he gets older. Dylan was much more cautious and laid back from what I remember of him at this age. Yes, he was in daycare about 10 hours a day :( but I still knew the little guy. Anyway Lincoln can play dinosaurs and make them growl at each other (please excuse the Mario Wii, dog sniffing and toys all over the floor. My house is always picture perfect remember?). The last two days he has slept in until after 7:30 (Praise the Lord, even if it is right before we have to get back on a school schedule). He can climb onto the couch, rocking chair, coffee table, kitchen table, and basically any stationary object under three feet by himself, or by moving a toy to stand on. He repeated "stay" and a little butt swat to ...

Dylan has been throughly disappointed that he hasn't lost any teeth yet and it seems like everyone else in his class has. Luckily he will be starting First Grade in a few weeks with a gnarly gap in his seemingly perfect smile. He and Danielle we were wrestling and participating in a wedgie free for all when the said tooth got knocked loose. He jumped to the bathroom and wiggled the tooth free in a matter of seconds. Everyone was so excited! Dylan even went to bed early (for him... in the summer...) so he would be asleep when the tooth fairy came. Even though I knew it was coming I still hadn't made it to the bank to get a golden dollar like I really wanted to (I can just imagine explaining that the tooth fairy knows how to make gold!) but fortunately did have a dollar bill in my wallet at the time (lucky occurrence these last few weeks) so it all worked out. He did mention hopefully that his friend got 5 bucks for his tooth a few months ago... too bad he doesn't live in tha...

Dylan got to go fishing with Grandma and Grandpa Sadler the other day and I expected him to have fun out on the boat but not much more. In the few years I bought my own fishing license I haven't caught anything so fishing to me has sort of changed definitions. Low and behold they actually had a successful fishing trip. His fish (some sort of trout I have have been told) was gigantic and when he reluctantly held it up for pictures, Dylan said he could feel all of the teeth trying to poke him. Grandpa caught one too but Dylan thought it was hilarious that his was bigger. Luckily this trip will probably give him drive to keep wanting to get out on the water. Danielle was bummed she didn't get to hang out on the big boat (she thought it was going to be their aluminum paddle boat, not the big one) but we had fun having a girl day down town.  Shane and Danielle checking out the fish Getting ready to take hold "Just slip your fingers right in here" ...

Because of our late registration to the campsites in Idaho we didn't have a full week of fun available so we decided to try out the Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound, WA. Yes it was pricy for a hotel room, but the cost included the beautiful huge room, entrance to the waterpark, and tons of fun stuff to do around the hotel. The hotel is like it's own city. We had a great time with each of the kids finding something different they really liked and overall had a great experience.  Trying out the timer on the camera  The prices for food there is much like any theme park but the room comes with a mini fridge so I recommend bringing snacks, just don't shop at the minimart next door, it's just as expensive! Danielle with her new favorite boots before dinner. Waiting at the door to surprise friends meeting us for dinner There they are, Jason and Seriny and Holden (sans Cameron who is Dylan's age) Jason and Shane were best friends in high school and...

Kids eat free at Appleby's on Tuesdays... we're so there! Getting ready to enjoy some ice cream Yum Chocolate! The aftermath of Mommy's ice cream cone Swinging in Bayview, ID Playing at the park Playing in the rocks at our campsite Brother hugs Passed out Danielle took this one of Lincoln sleeping on the way home The weather wasn't as nice as it had been in the past so our plans of lounging at the lake for days got replaced with hanging out at the trailer, taking walks together and a little big city shopping.