Free Range on Fairview

I have really been trying to make a effort to not look so crappy lately. I stay home and play with kids all day. I am finally done nursing the youngest so I don't have to wear such easy access shirts anymore and I've also lost the last of the baby weight but I still just play on the carpet, slave in the kitchen and force the kids to do their homework. On the slight chance that I might see someone besides a neighbor or those previously mentioned kids I will put make up on and try to find an "outfit." Below are two pictures where I felt like I looked pretty good. Why shouldn't I look put together? Especially since I have been married for three whole years now and still want to impress my husband every now and then. In Seattle on our Anniversary Trip At the Ellensburg Fair with cowboy Dylan And then I go grocery shopping the first time since school has started and I am feeling pretty confidant in my look when I leave the house. Only half way through my trip I...

Today marks the ten year anniversary when the US suffered it's single largest terrorist attack when two planes crashed into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon as well. Ten years have past and just watching clips still makes me cry. This morning Dylan and I watched a show called 102 Minutes That Changed America where they pieced together home and professional video clips to show minute by minute what happened in New York after the first plane crashed into the buildings. It was heart breaking to have to explain to Dylan how some bad people decided that they would try to kill as many people as possible. It gave us chances to talk about how people were so confused and hurt but worked together to try to take care of the people around them. We talked about terrorism. This is something I would normally not want to talk to a six year old about. We also talked about heroism and patriotism and what we can do to remember those who died. I don't have a personal connection to 9/...

Fort Central  Dylan and his buddy built a giant fort in our living room where Lincoln promptly figured out a way to build his own sky light. Boys in the Bath Action Squirting Shot  "I want that"  Dylan got his face painted at the Farmer's Market a few weeks ago and Lincoln helped him decide on what to get. Watch out Mike Tyson  Dylan decided to get a tribal type tattoo which is probably one of my favorites he's ever received. Yellow Watermelon  Word to the wise, if you buy a watermelon from the farmer's market in town, make sure you like surprises, when you are expecting a normal pink/red colored seedless melon and you cut in to find this it is quite a shock. Luckily it was super sweet and yummy. Relaxing Lincoln was quiet for a few minutes and I knew something must be going on so I walked ran into the living room and found him quietly watching tv with a drink in hand. Oh my. Brother Love Can you just feel the love in this pictu...

It is bittersweet. Both of the older kids started school today. Lincoln is napping and I feel like I've lost a whole year of time. Where did that time go? A senior and a first grader, man life just keeps going. The days leading up to today have been crazy and hectic and wacky but fun. Today is the first day I can try and get back into a routine with Lincoln and also get back into getting things done for myself. My list of goals has sat nearly untouched over the summer just because I was trying to spend time with everyone and keep the masses happy. This year I am not taking any classes or doing much outside of the family. I will be involved in MOPS again, help with the kids school stuff and I think I am going to start going to the women's Bible study near the end of the month. Other than that I will just be honing my homemaking skills and playing with Lincoln. Yesterday after we said goodbye to our out of town guests (my mom's aunt and uncle who live in California) we loung...

Lincoln is quite the little handy man. He likes to investigate how everything works... and then break it. Here he is playing with a leaf/stem from a nice plant we had in the "fancy" room. So far the plant has lost about 5 branches. Luckily he is so darn cute.

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...