Away from my arms...

My kid can fly.

He enjoys it.
Topher also enjoys this.

Bekah would kick you in the eye repeatedly if you tried to do this to her.

Looking at this picture right here, makes me understand why.
In other news that makes a mom cringe...

I am leaving for girls camp for a week bright and early in the morning.

I am going to not be able to cuddle my babies for 6 days.

I might go insane.

Stay tuned next week for more scary pictures....me covered from head to toe in dirt, and mosquito bites helping a bunch of teenage drama queens modge podge some frames, and paint some blocks.

I know you're jealous.

Portland-tastic

We were in Portland this last weekend for a couple days.
On Friday we took Zachary to Harry Potter for his birthday and then we went on a little trip to Target.
2 things-
First: I miss and love you Target! You smell like dreams! (Only a select few might get that reference....)
Second: Has anyone else seen the recent installment of Harry Potter, a little dark for a PG rating no? Is it just me?Then that night my mom took all of us to a nickel arcade and Bekah and Ryeleigh cleaned out the place.
Ryeleigh won the jackpot on that ticket thing they have at all the Chuck E Cheese type places.
Then Bekah has a hidden talent I never knew about...she rocks at the claw! She was able to win herself 3 stuffed animals and a ball. She is a rock star!
Then we all went and saw Monsters vs Aliens in their cheap theatre.
That was a funny movie, and none of us had seen it yet-so that was a bonus.
Saturday morning we took the kids to the airport and it was bittersweet. It's always sad to see them go, but they were really excited to get home to see their mom, and pretty soon their new baby sister, she will be born any day now.Then Chad and Tyler went to the movie (again) while my mom, Tabitha, the kids and I went to IKEA. Yeah! Always the highlight for me.
This time there was a damper on my high though.
Topher was so excited about going in the play area, and since he is 3 and potty trained and all, I was all for letting him go play so I could enjoy my shopping that much more.
Well I get him and Bekah all signed in, they are all excited and then the lady has him stand against this ruler.
Then she tells me he is too short.
What is there some dangerous kind of ride in there?
Nope-them is just the rules.
Topher is short for his age-heck he is short for a 2 year olds age.
I thought it was completely discriminatory that just because he is short he can't play.
So then I had to bring both of them with me, which was fine, they did fine, but they were upset, and I could have had a lot more fun shopping with them actually happy about being there.
Anyway so that's my IKEA rant.
I still heart you IKEA and your fantastic prices on all the wonderful goodness you supply...but please don't discriminate against short kids. It's not their fault-it's in their genes!That night we had a salmon bbq with some of my moms friends and had a lot of fun conversation, and then I had to get to work on school stuff. I'm in the last week of my first two classes! Time flies doesn't it?Sunday we made our way to the rhododendron gardens before we headed out to feed the ducks and the geese. That is where all these pictures are from. It was really beautiful and being able to spend a little extra time with my family was great. One thing Chad and I realized though while we were there is, there is no place like home.
One time our home was Portland, and we loved it there, and still hold a special place for it in our hearts-the zoo, OMSI, IKEA, all the beautiful Targets, all the fun shopping, Sunny Hans, all the other fun and wonderful restaurants, and our friends and family that are there.
We know though, that Klamath Falls is where we are supposed to be, at least right now.
We love it, and wouldn't trade all of our wide open spaces for the nicest house in the little crammed in neighborhood, that used to be the neighborhood of our dreams.
Funny how perspective changes, depending on where you are in your lives, huh?

They're leavin on a jet plane

Well they are officially gone. We drove the kids to Portland this weekend and dropped them off at the airport. Zachary is now old enough, that we didn't even have to escort them to the gate. They are getting so grown up!
Since we weren't going to the gate, (and so I didn't have to lug my big old camera and Porter around) we took these pictures by the car.

This summer was a lot of fun with them here. There was rarely a day that we weren't swimming at the pool or the lake or playing at a park or the library.

The kids are getting to the ages where they are actually fun to play games with and have (sometimes) more grown up conversation.

We were able to joke around more with one another and enjoy ourselves more than in the past.

They didn't fight with one another hardly at all, (as for Ryeleigh fighting with Bekah...that's a different story).

I think it was a success! We miss you guys already, and can't wait till next year!

wet & WILD

My new friend Amy invited a bunch of people over to her house to let the kids play on this fun water slide and have lunch.
The slide was really cool and the kids loved it...well all of those kids but mine.
It might have had something to do with the million of other kids jumping over them, (but I think my kids are just pansies sometimes).
Thanks Amy it was fun!

Sweet Sweet Stella

Chad's brother and his wife recently welcomed one of the
prettiest baby girls ever to be born on this planet.
They named her Stella Emi.
She is seriously beautiful.
See?I made her some fun little baby girl stuff...I need another baby girl-so much fun!
A newborn tutu...I tried it on my friend's newborn to make sure it fit...soooo cute!
Here it is spread out...
I knitted her a little headband with a button closure, I have made these for myself and Bekah and I love them, I am curious to see how they work on a baby-I think they are really cute.
I also made these little cute booties all by hand, they are super tiny and soft.
She is so cute, I just want to make stuff for her all day long...unfortunatley I have 5 kids nipping on my heels here at home, plus a ton of school work-so this will have to do...for now.

Working on the title

So by the looks of his adorable face, and his playful attitude, you would think that he might be working on the world's funnest baby title...some days that may be the case... But in all reality, he is working on the "Bad Baby" title.
Our little friend Paxton Appah who is two currently holds the title, but Porter is nipping at his heels.
The terrible two's don't hold a candle to the temper tantrums this kid has learned to throw.
Oh and the messes this kid can make in the flash of an eye...
Would make you weak...
And your floors dirty.
Here he is at cupboard number 1.He can empty it in about 20 seconds.
Then as I am scrambling to clean up all my containers and mixing bowls....
My dishtowels are thrown, not placed, not even tossed, but thrown every which way.
I grab "bad baby" and put him in a time out while I clean up the next mess.
Ha!
Here comes the temper tantrum...or the next mess, or messes...ripped books, emptied shoe baskets, Internet disconnected, things that are not movies stuck into the vcr....
Oh yes, he is working hard for the title.

With Pinecones as Big as your Head!

We went camping this weekend with the Appah's up at Hyatt Lake and had so much fun! (Even if the lake and beach were covered in goose poop...we made our way to Lake of the Woods on Saturday to make up for the lack of swimming at the campsite).

It is so nice to have such good and really cool friends all close to our kids' ages (and their parents are okay too).

Toot Toot (as in my own horn)

I forgot how much I really love to draw.
Especially people.
I did this for school, we were supposed to draw a face of one of our friends or family members.
I chose Porter since it was his birthday, I thought it would be a nice keepsake.
I love how it turned out.

If anyone would like me to do one of these for their kids or grandkids,
I would be willing to do some commision work.
Email me if you are interested.
tiffhewlett at yahoo dot com

Edit:***
Some people have asked to see the picture that I drew this from, I just concentrated on the face.
Here is the link http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/oo119/tiffhewlett/img_1467.jpg

Black hole of despair

She is too young to be losing teeth.
Right?
Uggh!
I am not ready for her to grow up.
Not at all.

Teen Angst

Don't you hate it when you think you have candles...and you don't. Zachary turned 13 yesterday.
13.
A teenager.
That is crazy.
He was Bekah's age when I met him.
5.
Time flies.
He is now a big, dopey, technology obsessed, silly, flirting, dirt biking, young man.
Wierd.
Happy Birthday Zachary Taylor!

One-derful

Yes my baby is one.

Yes I took a lot of pictures.

Over 150.

I narrowed it down to 20, to tell the story of the day sweet Porter turned one.

Porter wakes up to being one!He woke up with a big grin on his face. He was so excited to see all the balloons, he squealed and laughed and clapped his hands. The day was off to a great start!

Porter has his birthday breakfast!

Couldn't be happier than to eat a big stack of whole wheat pancakes with sprinkles on top. He ate 3 of those people-that kid can eat!

Porter gets his photo taken!

He likes to get his picture taken, he's used to it by now.

That's not saying he doesn't get frustrated at times...

Porter sees his present mom and dad made him!

We made him this teepee the night before-if and when I make another one, I will do some things different, like make it bigger, and sew the poles into the canvas...but the kids all love it...now if only Porter could fit inside!
Porter's Cake!

This is the cake that Porter got to eat...all...by...himself.
This is what the rest of us gobbled up...
He was really excited to finally get his hands on this-he had been wanting too all day.He started off by eating some candy off of it.

Then he took his fork and got down to business.
Here he is all done...wait where is the cake?
Classic Porter. When he is done, he shares with the carpet.
Lucky carpet.

Happy Birthday little P-Sam diddy! We love you!