busy...busy...busy!

I LOVE being a mom, and taking my kids to do fun things, especially with my darling friends and thier cute kids. I would do it everyday...if it wasn't so darn exhausting! We have done something for the last 3 days-BIG truck day-Monday, Zoo-Tuesday, OMSI-today. Cute pictures, fun times, but I need a break.

I'm getting one tomorrow, unfortunately it's not one I would choose! I have to go to an Oregon landlord-tenant law training session. It's from 1-4:30, and I went to one last week too. It wouldn't be that bad, because the lady who is teaching it is actually kind of funny, and the material is interesting, what is annoying about it, is all the landlords that are there. I swear, I would say 90% of them have no common sense, they ask the same questions over and over, or questions that aren't even relative. It's exasperating!

So maybe this weekend I will get a little R&R, it is Labor Day after all. I doubt it though, we are going to the coast, and I don't know if you know this about my kids....they are a little high energy...

I like BIG Trucks and I cannot lie....

We went to BIG Truck day yesterday and had some fun seeing the trucks the county uses. Topher was in heaven! Bekah was alright with the whole thing, but was scared to get in any of the trucks until her little buddies came. We've been going non stop the last couple of days...but hey, that's just how we roll. Bekah in a Firetruck.

Topher could not stop saying "whoa!" at this one, he wouldn't look at me for nothin!

It was super bright, so trying to get a picture here was near impossible.

Get 'er done! Topher did not want to come out of this big rig, he was jammin to the music and bouncin on the seat and "vroom vroomin" with the wheel. Probably the best day of his little life!All these little cuties are some of the buddies in our ward. The gorgeous girls (Taylor & Rilee)belong to the Youngs, and the dashing young men (Aidan & Xander) belong to the Johnstons-(Aidan, couldn't get over all the BIG trucks either as you can see!

If you give a child ten pennies...

...and they pay one to the Bishop-
that makes them full tithe payers!
Our lesson in nursery was on tithing today, so we made little coin pouches and gave all the kids ten pennies. They all put one in their own envelopes to pay to the Bishop and Chad took pictures of them. The rest they got to keep, and they were super excited about that! It turned out really cute I think, and I plan on giving the Bishop a little book or poster or something with all the pictures later on. Have I told you that I love teaching the nursery? Those little kids are sooooo cute, and cuddly and funny and innocent and precious! I LOVE it!

Kiss the Cook

Bekah and I made chocolate chip cookies today, I let Bekah do all the work after I measured it all out. She loves baking with me and Chad, especially when she gets to lick the beaters afterwards, I think she would eat creamed spinach if it was on a beater! Here are just some pictures of my perfectly kissable cook! PS(I know we weren't cooking, we were baking, but that's not how the saying goes, so I'm keeping with the kiss the cook thing OKAY?!?!?)
PSS-Look what this little cutie can do now! Check it out under Our Videos!

Baby Back..yard

We had some playtime in the backyard tonight after dinner-just a few pics of my funny babies. The dog was pretty funny too, he kept looking through the slats on the playground and going down the slide.

Walkin the Dog...and Topher

We took Charlie on a walk today down by Fairview Park. Bekah has been wearing her Easter hat every day lately no matter what she is wearing, it drives me a little crazy, it's cute and all, just getting a little old, but she loves it so whatever. Back to the walking-Bekah walked Charlie and I walked Topher, he kept sitting down on the path and eating rocks, he would throw a fit if I tried to stop him-I swear sometimes that kid makes me so mad-but all he has to do is smile and I forget all about it, Chad told me today that the definition of a child is somebody who makes you more mad than you've ever been, while at the same time loving them more than anyone you've ever loved. That about sums it up.

Word.

Just some little updates-we are dog-sitting Charlie, Tabitha's little daschund, so get ready for either posts of how much I love this funny little puppy or a countdown to when Tab comes to save her dog from me punting it over the fence. (To all of you who know me, or don't-just know that I would never punt a dog over the fence, but I might think about it and smile to myself : ), I actually really like the dog, just don't know how much I will after being it's primary care provider).

Next, Chad started a blog-called the Chronicles of Chad. Check it out, it's pretty cool, and leave him a comment! His first post will explain why he's so happy and positive all the time, (and that's not just a show he puts on for people, he is a genuinely happy person, if you know him at all you will definately know that).

I am still going strong on my Daily Somethings on my scrapbook blog-anyone else want to do the challenge too? It's pretty fun to think about a story to "scrapbook" or document in a creative way each day.

Today I am starting a BOM reading challenge to start and finish the Book of Mormon by the end of the year-posted by my cute friend Jess-anyone else want to take that on? Great blessings are promised (check her blog for the specifics) and I know from the last time that we completed this challenge-great blessings will most definately be received!

That's about it for now!

Hullaboo-ZOO

Another zoo day, we brought Tabby along and had a lot of fun, even though when we left it was chilly, so we wore warm clothes, it turned out to be super hot. Oh well, still fun!

Real Boys Wear Pink

I uploaded this to my scrapbook blog, but I thought it was such a cute pic that I needed to post it here too. Chad hates it, but it was so funny watching him playing in this tutu all night. This was all Christopher!

Weekend Stuff*

Had a good weekend. Tabitha and her puppy Charlie came in on Friday to spend the next little bit with us. Her hubby Trae got deployed to Qatar, which is over by Iraq. He is an aircraft mechanic, so he's not in the war zone, but it is still scary to have him so far away. He wasn't supposed to leave until the end of the month, but they told him on Monday that he would be leaving on Thursday morning. Talk about short notice, eh?
We went to OMSI on Saturday, and had fun as usual there, then the rest of the weekend we just tried to keep busy and entertained. Tab and I got quite a bit of scrapbooking done, and I got my cards done for the next card swap which was fun. Good stuff going on around here! {-the pics are from OMSI-they had a face painting lady there and Bekah wanted to be a cat, a little scary, but she loved it.}

Daily Something

I started doing a new challenge from Ali Edwards to scrapbook my daily life, no matter how mundane it may seem. Every day I scrapbook something, anything from my daily life-just one story-I choose it, then scrapbook it. I am doing really simple digi-pages, because they don't take up the time that traditional ones do. I've only done 2 days worth, but my plan is to print them all out every month, in smaller sizes of course and put them in simple albums as Daily Somethings. It's been fun so far, you can look at them here.

Breathtaking Views and Yummy Food

Chad, one of the great thinkers of Portland...(he's thrilled about this pose!)Well most of you have heard, or read by now that Chad is a college graduate, so we went out and celebrated right last night! We went with my mom and Jim to The Chart House, which is FABULOUS! Not a restaraunt you could probably go every week, but for special occasions, this place is great. It has the most incredible view of downtown Portland and some of the yummiest food I have had, maybe ever!

The bill came to almost $200 for the 4 of us, but we didn't spare any expense, we had appetizers, (Dungeness crab stuffed mushrooms in some creamy white wine cheese sauce), my mom had soup, (lobster bisque-ohhhh my gosh, it was soooo good), the rest of us had salad, (the guys had ceaser salads and I had this incredible spinach salad prepared tableside) and all of us ordered to die for entrees, (seafood sampler plate-my mom, filet mignon-Jim, blackened snapper with crab and asparagus-me, and macadamia nut encrusted halibut with this, oh my word, you could swim in this sweet sauce of pure pleasure-Chad). We then of course ordered 2 molten lava cakes to share, which you have to order when you order dinner, because they bake them fresh for you-so they are warm and gooey and covered in ice cream and homemade chocolatey goodness sauce and crushed toffee on top-it was pretty much bliss.
I love going to places like this, dressing up and the whole bit. The service was great-it had mandatory valet parking, and when you pull up all the valet guys come running to open your door for you and just make you feel like a celebrity. The meals all come out in courses, and you have all these extra servers to bring you fresh water or drinks and silverware for every course-it is worth the money to be waited on like that for a night I think. We will definately go back, and highly recommend it to any one celebrating a birthday or anniversary or a good hair day....whatever! Me and my college graduate-how lucky am I?My awesome step dad and fabulous mom-so much fun to have a night out with just the 4 of us!

Blue Lake Park and Little Stinkers

Yes, that is a picture of a skunk. They were all over at Blue Lake Park on Friday. We went there with the usual group of Clackamas-ites for my step-dad Jim's birthday. (Happy Birthday!)One of our wise old friends (that's you Bill) said that it was actually kind of scary to see skunks out in the daylight, and not just because they might spray stink at ya. I guess because they are nocturnal if you see them wandering around during the day, they might have diseases like rabies or something-I don't know if that's true, but I wasn't going near them anyway-it didn't stop the guys though, they were getting within feet of the little rodents! There were animals all over the place though, not just skunks, rabbits, birds and even a little weiner dog, (Blue Lake park is a no dog park, by the way), my sister and her husband came down for the weekend and brought their new baby Charlie, a little dacshund. Bekah and Topher fell instantly in love, although, I don't think Charlie reciprocated the feelings. They had to keep hiding him from the park officials, and ended up keeping him in his kennel for most of the party, I think more for his own sanity, than for hiding him from the rangers. Bekah and Topher would chase him and giggle and scream and poke at his face when they did end up catching him-I guess he needs to get used to it, since he will be staying with us with us for a couple weeks while Tab is in Utah. It was a lot of fun, Christopher was of course being a bigger stinker than the skunks and was into everything. The men were playing croquet and Topher kept taking apart the course and running away after throwing the stakes and the balls. The guys didn't seem to care too much, just a fun and lazy summer day at the park....Ahhh life is good!

"...All Your Wildest Dreams Will Come True"

WHOOO HOOOO! I am married to a college graduate! (No, not John Heder, I don't have a picture of Chad in college graduating gear, since he didn't have a formal ceremony. The picture above is strictly eye candy). Chad completed his final project today and now has his Associates in Accounting! When I married Chad, he didn't think he'd ever go to college. When we decided to move to Oregon, he decided to go for it while we had a place rent free. He worked so hard-we are all so excited for him. I'm so proud of my hubby, and he's not done gettin' smarter yet! He starts on his Bachelors of Business and Finance on September 4, and we'll see where he goes from there!

Good job babe-may all your wildest dreams come true!

Selling My Mom's Car

Sorry-Not the Jag! She is selling her Taurus Wagon and wanted me to post it on my blog to see if anyone knew anyone who was interested. Here is the info.

2002 FORD TAURUS WAGON $6,750, or best offer. Great family car! Extra clean. 73,000 miles. Very well maintained. Brand new tires and brakes. Never been in an accident. Seats 8. Roof Rack, power doors and windows, cruise control, abs brakes, keyless entry, and much more.

You can contact me through comments or email my mom directly at juliesmith515@yahoo.com. Chad has it, he is driving it right now until it sells, so if any of you around here want to see it, we can show it. If you don't need a car-tell your friends! Thanks!

MyoMed meets Tiger Woods

Not actually Tiger himself, but MyoMed is at the Nike World Campus in the Tiger Woods building! The campus is BEAUTIFUL! It's a must see in Oregon. We are there for a Sports Symposium this weekend, we are having a lot of fun, meeting doctors from all over the world and telling them about MyoMed. Everyone has been very excited about it, as there really is nothing else like it out there. It's really getting the name out there! These are pictures from our booth. Advertising starts this month, we just got samples and the bigger bottle with a pump for clinic use, more and more exciting stuff is coming up-we are so excited to be a part of this awesome business from the start!
(PS. Check out the T-shirts! You can tell men run the company eh? It says 'Get Some' on the front and 'MyoMed' on the back. They are pretty popular though, it seems like everyone wants one. For those of you thinking, "I want one!" I am working on getting some to sell and give away around here!)

Budding Artist or Perhaps Bartender?

Bekah LOVES to paint. I am constantly buying her new paints so that she stays out of mine. I have to admit she's a pretty good little artist! She paints some super cute pictures and sometimes does just a bunch of different colored lines and shapes-but they are still pretty cute.

Well lately Topher wants to do EVERYTHING his sister does. It's pretty cute, they have become a lot closer in playing levels lately. Topher understands most of what Bekah says, and he will play 'pretend' with her for hours-sitting or standing wherever she wants him to. Well it's no different in painting-most of the time I make Bekah wait till Topher is asleep, because he always makes such a mess with the water-(I don't actually give him paint-just water and a brush-I may be a little crazy, but I'm not stupid!).

I let him go to town while I snapped some pics of him, but after awhile of watching him, I thought he might not be interested in the art at all-and more in the aspect of dipping his brush in whatever crumb or trying to get some of the color off bekahs pictures and mixing it into his water.

My suspicions were confirmed when after he had just the right concoction of dirty water-he took a big long gulp. Yuck! Why didn't I stop him? For the picture of course! I took it away, right after I snapped the pic, as he was sputtering dirty water all down his chin, but a kids gotta learn right?

Not my kid! He thought to himself-what this water needs is a little pencil lead and went right to work sticking colored pencils in the water and swirling them around. A nice putrid color of brown/green was worked up and Topher, yup, went for another swig. Don't worry,I took it away this time. After all, last call was hours ago!