August? Already? How did that happen?

First of all...some important business. ***Rachael Olson*** I tried emailing you and my email came back. And since you can't make up your mind on facebook...my email address is dawnie3@att.net. Get me on your list. I'm having serious withdrawls!!!

Okay. I can not believe that it is August! And it's almost the middle of August even! Hello! My little baby girl is 6 MONTHS old!! Time...you are not my friend these days. So, the last few days I have been reorganizing my apartment. Isn't that what most women need to do once in a while. Move stuff around. I'm not as crazy as Shauna who not only moves things around, but strips them all and paints them! But, I have been reworking our Education areas. We totally outgrew our little laundry room classroom and have been working in the living room. So, I installed some shelves and moved the desk and did a bunch of stuff like that. It feels good to move stuff around cause then you are forced to clean certain areas that otherwise wouldn't be touched. I'll post photos after it's all done.

Speaking of education...I have also been planning school. Only we are going to try not to call it school. Thomas Jefferson Ed people...at least the people that I have interacted with recently (I need to re-read that book!) call it Home Education. Not Home Schooling. I like the sound of that, and my kids seem to think that it sounds cool too...so, I have been planning this years education. I'm beginning to feel more like I know what I'm doing, but at the same time having a panic attack cause the boys are getting older and also Connor is thrown into the mix this year. BUT...I'll be okay. Like my dad ALWAYS used to ask me...how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Got it! (o:

It's been some weird times lately. The heat threw us all off. Then, Travis worked his first week of over night shifts. They do a week every 5 weeks, I believe. He left home at midnight and returned home at 9am. Then, he locked himself in the bedroom until 7pm and slept. Seven days he did this. Then, he was given 4 days off to try and recover. That's what he did all weekend. Tried to get his head back on straight. So, it's been a strange the past couple of weeks. (but, let me say...over night shift or not....he LOVES working at Walgreens!!!) So, I have lots more to say but not the energy, nor the time to say it, so here are a few pictures because everyone loves pictures!
Little Miss is now sleeping part time in her new crib. She sleeps in it for a couple of hours...wakes up...wants to be held for an hour or so...then goes back in her crib. Repeat. It makes for a long night, but she'll come around eventually and all will be well. (they all did) I'm tired, but I remind myself that she is my last and what is a few months of sleepiness in my long lifetime. It's so worth it when you see this cute little face.

This was during the day. I was putting away laundry and stuck her in here. I couldn't decide which picture to post, so I put them all on.We called her our little Princess when she was born, but she has been promoted to Queen Elizabeth in our house now.

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We took Travis's mom down to Tacoma and Federal Way just for fun on Friday. Went over the Narrows bridge and hit a couple of malls. Here is Travis and Lizbet at the Tacoma Mall. See where she gets her beautiful blue eyes?

Travee said, "My two girls." Awww

Our cute boys having a burger with Grandma D. They love going out with her!

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I know this is fuzzy, but I love it and since it's my blog, I can share it if I want...blurry stuff and all. Isn't she the sweetest?

It's Just Too Hot!

I know! I haven't blogged for a while. You have to admit that the last blog was one of the cutest ever though. It's just been too hot to be sitting at the computer lately. Yesterday we not only smashed the record high, but it was also the hottest day EVER recorded in Western Washington history. And nobody...well VERY few...has air conditioning here. We could have driven around in our van that has a/c BUT it was in the shop being repaired! So, we went to Travis's parents house while we waited for the car to be fixed and played for a while...then ran through the sprinkler and just got very wet. That includes Travis and I!

Here are a couple of pictures to prove what I say is true.

Actually, first of all, here is a picture of the carrots I pulled from our garden. I was thinning them out a bit. These 'baby' carrots were awesome! Peas are gone...they were yummy too. Cucumbers never grew. They grew last year so I'm not sure what I did wrong this year, but it's ok. We'll do better next year.

This is at his folks. That says 103! Plus, in Seattle there's humidity. Not too much, but enough we could feel it.

Spencer spent a lot of his time inside making 'food' for his dogs. Then he took them outside and let them have a picnic. (notice the brown grass)
A close up of the food he made.

Notice the time? That's when the boys are supposed to be in bed. The top # is outside, middle # humidity in the house, and bottom temp # is inside the house. It got down to 86 this morning.

We put all 4 kids on the living room floor with all the fans we own (4) turned onto them. Yep, even Elizabeth slept on the floor. I was on the couch and Travis was at work in the air conditioned bldg. (he has the night shift for the next week) They didn't go to sleep until 1:30am and woke up at 9:30. Well, Elizabeth woke up at 8, which is why she isn't in the picture. I turned off my flash to snap this one, so it's kinda fuzzy, but you get the idea.

So, that's the summary of "adventures in we think we are going to die of heat in Seattle". It's not supposed to get this hot here. Average temp for yesterday was 79. That's what we are used to, so this is big news to us. Thanks for letting me vent and complain and whine. I know all the people in Texas and Nevada think we are whimps, but how many of them have a/c in their homes? I thought so. (o:

Ice Cream Anyone?

Covington Days! 2009

Yesterday I took the kids to Covington Days. (Covington is the next town over...it's where Kohl's and Walmart are) It's a nice little town. Travis was originally planning on coming, but they changed his work schedule on Friday, so he had to go to work instead. But...since we promised a parade...I took 'em myself! They were very well behaved and we had a lot of fun. We watched the parade go by (which comprised of people walking and waving, a couple of clowns, a bunch of tractors, a garbage truck and a fire truck...pretty much) Then we went over to the little fair part...just like last year. The kids thought it was "awesome"! We collected some little prizes from the booths, played on a fire truck, shared an elephant ear, and watched some fancy drummers. It was a really good time. Although, I have learned that paying special attention to my children and slathering them with sunscreen is the right thing to do...just don't forget myself! I hurriedly put some on my arms, but missed my chest and face and now look very lobster-ish.
Waiting for the parade to start. Elizabeth was asleep. I put the blanket over her the entire time so don't worry, she wasn't in the sun.

We'd just arrived and she was looking cute!

Connor, his blanket, and his thumb. This is classic Connor. He really enjoyed the parade.

Joseph likes to pose. He was standing under the great big tree to get some shade. Notice the parade behind him?

After the parade we went to the fair part. Here the boys are meeting Sparky the fire dog. That dude must have been so hot!

Checking out the inside of the truck!

I froze some Roaring Waters Capri Suns the night before, so by the time we got really hot...they were melted to perfection. Spencer ws enjoying our little break in the shade.

Then...last night, the boys were getting ready to go to bed. They stopped to tell Elizabeth good night and ended up playing with her for a while. This made us very happy to see how much they love their little sister!

Dear Mr. Thrift Store Man...

Dear Mr. Thrift Store Inventor Man,

I wanted to write you a note and tell you how much I am in love with you and all that you have done for me and my family. We have gained so much from your invention. I love my new chair...my kids love their new books and toys...Travis loves his new ties. I just wanted you to know that there is a special place in heaven for you...right next to Mr. Inventor of the Epidural.

Thanks again,


A grateful Thrift Store shopper.

(and no...this doesn't count for the Mrs. Yard Sale Inventor woman~yes..she's a woman cause she's just trying to get rid of all the junk in her house right away. Thrift stores are air conditioned and have carts!)

Just had to say it. (o:

Oh, and here are a couple of pictures just because she's too stinkin cute for words.

This is what she looked like for church Sunday.
This is at G & G Nelson's house. I was showing them the hat she wears when I take her on my morning walks. Too cute!

Her first taste of rice cereal. She really liked it and couldn't get enough.

This video is for Mom. (that deep Hi Grandma Teese at the end was Connor Being silly) Love ya!

Fun Stuff!

First of all...Joseph and Spencer are totally into these books...
Joseph isn't the kind of kid that enjoys sitting down and reading a book. BUT, he really enjoys these. We've been snatching them up at the thrift stores. I think we have 12 now. There are 42 in the series so far. We are getting the compnion study guides and are using them as history lessons. We also printed out and put together passports from the website http://magictreehouse.com. They answer questions about the books they've read and then get the stamp for that book. They love it!

Anyway, yesterday we went to the D.I. (it's a thrift store). We had a blast and made out like bandits! Check out what we got!
They were practicing their balancing so I snapped this cause it was just too cute of them all lined up.

Here they are with their loot. We were waiting for Travis to bring the van over to pick us all up. Connor got a vehicle, Joseph got a McDonalds, and Spencer got an ATM machine. They were very happy and it cost us I think $9 for all that.

Lizbet got a Baby Genius book. She loves it!

This was my prize. I got this sweet chair! It swivels. I don't know why, but it reminds me of Grandma Rose. I just love it. It's in mint condition and I got it for practically nothing! SWEET!

Baby girl got a Little People castle. If you look closely, you can see she has a little people person in her right hand. She was up on her elbows playing until I snapped the photo.

That's it for the thrift store pictures, but here are a couple of misc. ones. Spencer has been really interested in weather maps, so we bought him a USA Today and he carried the weather page around the whole day, studying it. I taught him how to read it and what the legends meant and all that good stuff. We bought him another one the next day and he compared them. It was very exciting for his dad who loves loves loves weather.

Of course, no blog entry is complete without cute pictures of Elizabeth. She can sit up on her own now for about 10 seconds or so before falling over. Not bad for a 5 month old. Can you tell it's been a tad cooler lately? Gave me a chance to hurry and put on a couple of long sleeve outfits she has.

I LOVE the lilac and brown!!!!!

The 4th Weekend

This was a pretty fun holiday weekend...even with a sick baby and a husband who had to work. Thursday I took Elizabeth to the doctor. She developed the scariest sounding cough I've ever heard. The doctor said not to worry about the cough, her lungs sounded great, but to worry about her ears...she got her first ear infection. )o: She got some of the pink stuff and lots of Tylenol for the fever and that's the end of that. She is doing very good today. Still has the cough, but it is fading.

Friday night, my friend from high school, Sage Browne, and her boyfriend, Don, came to visit from the Boston area. Sage had a thing down in Portland, so since they were on our coast, they drove up and visited. It didn't go at all how I had hoped it would. I had all these plans to go to the Kubota Gardens with them and do fun stuff...but Elizabeth was sooo sick. So, Friday night they came and I fixed dinner and we just hung out and the kids showed off and acted crazy and scared poor Sage and Don to the point that I'm pretty sure they've decided never to have children. They also stopped by Saturday night and had ice cream and just visited for a couple of hours. The worst part of all that was that Friday and Saturday I was more tired than I can ever remember being. I was so exhausted. (babies with sore throats, ear aches, and fevers only sleep a few minutes at a time) There were so many 'awkward silences' cause it took everything in me to come up with the little conversation that we did have. Now that I'm rested I am thinking of a million questions that I have for both of them. Don is a very nice guy. He seems very interesting and I'm sure I would be a much more engaging hostess had I gotten more than an hour of sleep (not an exaggeration)each night. Anyway...it was really great to see her and meet Don. She seems happy and that makes me happy.

Saturday Travis had to work. He closed, so we took advantage of having him with us the first half of the day. His folks really wanted to go to Denny's for breakfast, so that's what we did. The kids got cool alien cups and we all had a great time. Then we went to his parents house and did a few smokeballs and pop-its and cooked some hot dogs on the grill. After Travis left I let them run through the sprinkler for an hour and then we made smores. They were exhausted that night, but it was great.

Here are a few pictures from this weekend.
She looks cute even when she doesn't feel good. This is one of the hats Aunt Kristina sent. It was perfect for going out in the sun.

Daddy did the small amount of fireworks we got with the boys. (nothing loud)

Good ole sprinkler! Spencer ended up taking his shirt off too. It was close to 90 degrees that day. They had sooo much fun!

I said, "Joseph, how's your day going?" and this was his response.

Here they were roasting their marshmallows for the smores. They were so happy. They kept saying, "We're having fun! We wish Daddy could be here to have fun too!" We really missed him, but are grateful that he was at a job and working to provide for the family. There will be lots of 4ths in the future.

He's gonna kill me, but since they don't have a computer...what he doesn't know wont hurt him...right? This is Travis's dad. He had minor surgery to remove a small piece of skin cancer next to his nose. This is the result. His face is pretty bruised. His eyes were swollen shut a couple of days before, so he's lookin pretty here. (o:

Oh, and a funny little tid bit...No loud fireworks this year meant that Joseph didn't have to wear the big ear plug head phone things. But, Spencer walked around plugging his nose the entire time because he didn't want to get sick from the smell. Funny kids.

Here is Sage and Don on the top of the Space Needle. No, I didn't go with them. Like I said...I was exhausted when they came and wasn't thinking straight...so I took no pictures of them! Hello! This photo was STOLEN from Don's facebook page. (thanks Don) Aren't they cute?

And that's it for now folks. Sunday we went to church, Travis worked that night, and me and the kids hung out and watched cartoons and camped on the living room floor. Just for fun.

Cousins and the Garden

Okay, first of all, may I say that I feel a tad guilty about what I said about Michael Jackson. He did get kind of weird at the end, but after watching some of his old videos that brought me back to my childhood, and then reading about how sad and lonely his life has been, I have changed my tune just a bit. It is too bad that he died, but after all that I read, it may have been a blessing for him. He seemed to be wasting away to nothing.

Now, what I'm really sad about is Billy Mays dying! We loved his show Pitchmen! Even the kids. Joseph just saw this picture and said, "Hey, it's the guy from Pitchmen!" He was one of those true American stories. Worked hard starting at the bottom and became rich and famous. Now, at 50, he's gone. It's just sad.

Anyway...enough about dead celebrities. Here are a few new pictures for your enjoyment. My sister, Bobbie, had her third baby yesterday. A girl named Annie Lynn. I will post more about her as soon as they get on the stick and get me some pictures. (o:

Travis's brother Jeff and his family came by the other day before heading back to California. We lined the kid up for a cousin picture. Olivia is the blond in the front and Amelia is the other one. (o: They are good girls. Growing up so fast! Wish they lived closer. Olivia is 11. She's almost at the age that she could babysit. I really wish she lived closer. (especially since the current charge is $8 an hour for a babysitter now)

The other day we were over at Travis's parents house. We did a little garden weeding and watering and then picked all the peas that were ready. YUMMY! They didn't get cooked. We just brought them home and snacked on them raw. Kids loved them!
Elizabeth with our bounty. Joseph took this picture. I pulled a couple of carrots to thin them out so if you look closely, you can see the tiny carrots. He was concerned that we not leave the carrots out of the picture.

One little sweet pea posing with the peas.

I just thought this was a cute picture of our little girl in her little sister shirt.

Baby girl loves to chew on her big toe. Her feet are such a great new find!