Moles and Fishing

A story too funny not to be documented and before it is a forgotten memory is the story about the mole. My mole to be precise. Sam and I were both helping to get Rowan to bed. I know I have mentioned it, but we really like Rowan. He is such a fun kid. So, we were laughing and playing with him and having a really good time. Rowan was throwing his hands up in the air and laughing, and then suddenly one more flick of his hands and before I knew it he had actually sliced and diced my mole. The one I am speaking of is the one on my lip. Most people will recall I do have a mole there. It has been there most of life. It is not as if I love this mole, though it may sound like I do, it is just that it in a position that I have never felt so inclined to remove it. So, I excused myself to the bathroom to assess the actual damage while Sam wondered what exactly happened. I realized upon my evaluation that he cleanly sliced it enough that it could flip up and was bleeding. It didn't hurt, but I really was wondering if my whole mole would end up falling off and again it wasn't as if I was worried about not having it, but it really does take up quite a bit of my lip that I can't imagine what that would look like.  Moley Moley Moley. Seriously, what are the chances? This mole must really big- were my funny thoughts. So, I told Sam and showed him, and he could tell right away I was concerned. "Well, do you want us to remove it?" He asked. "Well...no." I answered. Still trying to come up with a solution to my anxiety he asked, "do you want us to reattach your mole??" I burst out and laughed because of how silly it all was. I mean, who reattaches a mole?! Not me! Could he do that?? Needless, about a week later everything was fine. I still have my mole. I am glad I didn't go into Sam's office asking to reattach it. 

In the meantime, one Saturday Sam told me out of the blue that he promised the boys he would take them fishing. Well, I knew we had no gear for fishing and wondered if the plan was really to go and get all the gear and the permits and the bait so he could make good on his promise. It was the plan. It was a pretty rainy day but despite the weather we packed all the boys in the car went to Walmart and picked out their first little ironman and spiderman fishing poles then went to Sportsman Warehouse to get the permits, the tackle box and bait and then went to Shevlin Park. Shevlin Park is one our family has visited a lot. It just has always presented a lot of options. There is the fishing pond, and different trails to explore whether walked or riding your bike, we have climbed up big rocks here, or just walked down to the river to throw rocks. The boys were so excited. We only ended up with one working fishing pole (thanks a lot Walmart) and the boys switched off. Rowan, was in his own world, a world that I was chasing him around in. He would run over to the water, and the bridge, and then finally settled on the bushes near by where he played in pretty well most of the time. That kid. Since then Sam has taken the boys fishing a few times, and they actually really enjoy just practicing their casting in the yard. I am glad that Sam suggested it and I am sure we will go many more times in the years to come.

Kaj Turns 6

lost first tooth day before his birthday

Oh, Kaj bears, my Kaj bears. There are so many things I can say about this boy. He has grown up so much I feel this last year. Cue the picture of him losing his first tooth-yes, I am in the season of losing baby teeth and growing in monster size grown teeth-it is strange. Yeah...I am still the teeth thing, I mean, he has now lost two and I am telling you I am little concerned about how everything is going to fit. But, I digress. Kaj had a great birthday this year. We had our first successful friend party. We went to the Oregon Olympic Athletics which was perfect. They could play on everything they had for an hour and then we got him a Star Wars cake, opened some presents, and we did not have to plan much else at all. Which is exactly what I was looking for to be entirely honest. In the pregnant state (I know the classic pregnancy cop out) I just did not have it in me to any more. But, it was great. He has a wonderful time with his friends and his brothers. Kaj has talked about going to the same place yet again for his next friend birthday party. 

That was on a Saturday and his birthday was on a Monday so after school that day we went and got some donuts and called it good.

great brothers

Kaj is smart, energetic, observant of others feelings, and one goofy kid. He can be a worrier about things he does not know especially if it might result in any kind of pain. For example, his first tooth being pulled out or riding on a 2 wheeler bike after falling down one time. It takes a little convincing that it will all be all right, but hopefully as he grows up he actually see that this is true. Kaj can be an amazing brother. He likes to teach his brothers things, and loves playing with Josh. Kaj is good at being polite, and usually understanding what needs to be done when I ask him. Kaj knows how to solve some math problems, he is very good at numbers, his reading has improved so much, and loves to color.

party goers

Rylan, kaj, and Belle

I really love my Kaj bears so much. Our family would be so different without him. I love being able to spend one on one time with him, and feel it is very important right now so I hope that Sam and I will be able to do that more.

Happy 4 Year Old Joshy

We celebrated Josh's 4 year birthday as a family this year. The sweetest faced kid is truly as sweet as he looks. Josh is one amazing little dude. He is a great brother to both older and younger brother. He is a good example. He is happy and willing to help, he is usually the one to clean up without being asked or will clean efficiently after being asked. He is funny, he is funny without trying too hard to be funny. He is smart. He is always up for a challenge and wants to learn how to do things himself. Josh has loved Joy School this year and has made lots of friends participating in it. He is genuinely excited and happy for others. He is always just as happy to discover his own accomplishments and loves to share what he has learned or enjoys doing. He loves being around friends and family. He enjoys going on walks, exploring the outdoors, riding his bike, building with blocks, magnets, and of course play dough. He currently likes counting and drawing out the numbers. He likes to help make cookies, and other treats. Josh also loves singing right now. Which I adore. He rode his bike along side me the other day singing "I am a Child of God" over and over. He also loves singing "Itsy bitsy spider," "Jesus wants me for a sun beam," and a version of "Popcorn popping" that goes like: "I looked out the window and what did I see? Popcorn popping on the paper cut tree." Yowza! haha! I love his version. 

vampire teeth made of yogurt

I really can go on and on about this boy. I love him so much and I am so happy he is a part of our family. 

Hodgepodge catch up

visit from grandma and grandpa jo

So I am afraid to say I am still very behind on this blog of mine so the array of pictures would show we had family visit us, and then we visited family, and then we returned and there is also a picture of the shush guy- usually the man parts are not included in the shush guy drawings.

Since this is hodgepodge post anyway I will just talk a little about the shush guy. This is a character that Josh made up. We never were clear on where he came from but suddenly he was a feature in pretty much every drawing Josh would make- with crayons or chalk, at church or a home he was draw these shush guys. Well, Sam and I ended up loving these little shush guys. We hope to take one of Josh's drawings and make it into a t-shirt.

shoosh guy man parts included

A true conversation with Josh and Kaj putting them to bed one night.

Kaj: Mom, when you die I can still feel your love

Josh: Mom, when you die the shush guy will give you more hearts. 

??? Good night, boys. 

Rowan turns 2

This little boy of ours..We sure do like him a whole lot. I get pretty attached and emotional about him right now and and feeling like I am going to miss him as my baby. Rowan brings so much joy to our family. He loves playing with his brothers, he loves reading books, and he loves his doggy. Rowan loves getting ready with Sam in the morning and every morning they put on their "feet" together. Sam sprays his feet before going to work in the and as soon as Rowan hears even the sound of the spray he will run from wherever he is saying: "feet feet," over and over. He is great a running and jumping on the trampoline. He loves music. He will sit on the couch and listen to the tunes I put on in the house or if a favorite song comes on in the car I love to look in my rear view mirror and wait for a smile to go across his face. There is twinkle in his eyes always. His favorite little friend is Zig. He is currently seeing a speech therapist to catch him up on his words and he loves having the lady come over. He is starting to say more and more words, and frankly, sometimes, I don't want him to catch up. He also loves sitting in cupboards. It doesn't matter if it is at our house, friends houses, or the doctors office he will open up cupboards to see if there is sufficient space to sit inside them. He enjoys prayer time and is good a folding his arms and then saying: "anen." We really do feel very lucky to have him in our family. And I really will miss him as my baby. He has been such a good baby and now he is my good 2 year old. 

We once had a Dog named Scooby

So...towards the beginning of January Sam had been researching Golden Retrievers for a couple months. I would never say that Sam is rash when it comes to big purchases because he will take months and months researching. However, I have noticed that when he gets into this mode the purchase is inevitable. I remember my first introduction to this is when he bought us our really nice canon camera the first year we were married. He had been researching away and suddenly he told me he had bought the camera. Nowadays I am usually aware of the purchase before it's made. I digress. This time it had been little Golden puppies. He had reached out to someone on Craigslist who had a 6 month, already trained white Golden Retriever in Portland. It really did seem to fit what I want in a dog especially considering that I was pregnant and definitely not want to full on train a puppy. So we made a day of it and took the family down to Portland. We were going to meet the dog but we went to a yummy pizza place and also the OMSI museum. 

We met up with the owner of the puppy who was actually a veterinarian. She seemed like she really loved and cared for the dog. She went on to explain how she had got too puppies at once a lab and this golden and she felt in over her head. She explained that she really preferred Zip-his name to them-but her teenage daughter loved the lab. Honestly, he was nice. He was so nice. I was expecting this dog to jump up on our boys and scare them but he didn't do that at all. He wagged his tail and smiled at them, and far from scared them.

We had a couple more places to run and Sam and I both mulled it over. We talked at IKEA  when we were needing to get back on the road to head considering it was already dark. I could tell Sam was sold. I was hesitant still but he was a sweet dog and we couldn't think of another time to trek back down to Portland. If we did, I would have to make the trip alone with the boys. We met with the family at a gas station so we could get on the road out of town.  The "parents" of Scooby both said goodbye and admittedly I cried watching them say good bye to him. He jumped in our car happily. Sam's eyes lit up and he was in love. We bounced new names off each other because his name was Zip. And we eventually landed on Scooby.

We don't have Scooby anymore. Although he was sweet and great with the boys, and had quite an easy going temperament I could not have a dog at this time. Being pregnant and with the ages of kids I felt like everything he did put me in a really bad mood and made me more frustrated than I wanted to be. I had "dog guilt." I already have "mom guilt." Every time I couldn't walk him or I had to run errands or I had to leave to drop off Kaj, pick up Kaj and I would have to put his in his crate I felt so badly. We didn't have a fence so I couldn't trust to just have him outside and finally Sam got a hold of the previous owner to let them know it may not work out. When the owner had talked to us about selling her dog she said that if there as ever a time we changed our minds or didn't want him to let her know. We had a few weeks to decide because they wouldn't be in the Bend area for a bit of time. But when it came right down to it even though I realized I eventually would be able to really care for him to love him but it would take me years to get there because of the circumstances and I didn't think it was fair for him to wait that long. Truly, he really was such a good dog and if it was a few years down the road and we had happened upon him I would want him in a heart beat. But, the time just wasn't now. I miss him sometimes. I know Sam misses him. I know Rowan missed him a lot at the beginning. But, I know he is with a family who loves him and that he just being his happy self. 

Little Turkeys

This last Thanksgiving we were very excited to have Teresa and Vance and their family come out to Bend. Winter is tricky in Bend-as it is most places with possible snow-and the timing was actually when one of the biggest storms of the winter season hit. Teresa and Vance seemed bound and determined to get to us through the storm but ended up stopping in Burns after driving at the incredible speed of 20 mph. We were so happy to see them when they arrived. The kids all took to each other immediately. It was fun to have so many cousins that could get a long so well. It was pretty dang cold when they were here that venturing out was bundling up to go sledding outside and we strolled around old mill one of the days. I sure was thankful because I felt like we had an amazing feast with the help of Teresa and Vance who both know their way around the kitchen. 

I have always really enjoyed their company. They are very easy people to be around. I was thankful to have the good conversations, the laughs, and company of some of the people we love.