If You Send a Mommy To Vegas...

She will have her picture taken with the biggest celebrity her kids would recognize!

Rank Advancement

The boys had cub scout graduation today. They are now a Webelo and a Wolf! They get new hats & neckerchiefs, and new books to guide their activities. It's going to be a fun year ahead!

Get A Dog!

Bayley is learning about persuasive writing and 5-paragraph essays :) Here was his latest assignment from a prompt (in bold).

“Woof woof!”

“Meow meow!”

What is the sound you want to hear when you open the front door? I think a dog is the best pet to have and this paper will convince you to agree with me.

One advantage is dogs can save you money. Dogs scare off burglars. When you have a dog you do not have to purchase an expensive security system. A burglar will hear your dog bark and they may choose to rob the neighbors instead since they only have a cat and forgot to turn on their expensive security system. See, you just saved more money by not having your thing stolen.

Another advantage is dogs are playful and hilarious. When you are bored, you have a friend to play with that can do things like play fetch, run, do tricks, or play tug-of-war. When your dog is playing it can be so hilarious you could film it, put it on a show like Funniest Home Videos, and possibly win a few thousand dollars. On the other hand, cats just eat, sleep and go to the bathroom in a smelly corner of your house! That is definitely not worth filming.

One last advantage is you can train dogs to do many different things. They can be taught to help you by getting the newspaper on a rainy day so you can stay dry. If you teach your dog enough tricks, they can go in a dog show. Dogs can be trained to sniff our bombs and guns and dangerous things at the airport, aid people by being their seeing eye dog, or be police dogs helping police men get into spaces that they can’t get to but the dogs can, like attics. Cats can be trained to use a litter box, and that’s about it.

Now after reading this paper, I hope that you would like a dog for a pet. Now remember, dogs save money, are playful, and can be trained. So, go get a dog!

Gracie's Water Station

At the last house, the boys has a sand & water table that they loved...but it had seen it's better days so it took a journey into the dumpsters the neighborhood association provided every summer. We loved it, but hated how the sand clogged the stopper, and so made it a slow drip instead of a tub...

So... we decided to get Grace one in honor of her 2nd birthday, and to make it water-only. Who needs sand! These tables have gotten much better since Bayley was 2. Grace's has an umbrella that doubles as a tall-brother deterrent!

The top she is wearing was a baby dress Grandma Bobbie made her, but Aunt Christina had the idea to use it as a swing top! Too cute!

Summer Preview

With the kids off school and the sun shining, it felt like a preview of summer today!



After a lazy morning, Grandma came and took us for a a hike through the Tualatin Hills Nature Park. Grace walked almost the whole way! We used to explore there all the time, and decided that we need to make more of an effort to get out there more. The boys wanted to explore the dirt paths, but this time we stuck to the paved trails. Since Grace was such a great walker, I think next time we can forgo the stroller!



The kids were starving so we went out to lunch at Sweet Tomatoes - another place we used to hit all the time. Grace ate more than either boy, and healthier stuff too!





We headed back home for Grace's nap and the boys played outside with the neighborhood kids. And to top it? They ran through the sprinkler! Good times, really.

The Ice Cream Truck!

An ice cream truck has started driving through our neighborhood every afternoon. Since the boys had the day off, I didn't have the homework excuse to keep them distracted. So...we had a chat. Once a week Mom will spring for the ice cream truck. The rest of the time, they are on their own!

Happy Birthday, Gracious Mae!

Our princess had a lovely birthday! She enjoyed and having everyone sing 'Happy Birthday to You' and playing at home all day. It took her that long to open her presents from Gram-mo!

After a nap and an unfortunate diaper incident, we headed out for dinner at Red Robin. She got a sundae all to herself and truly loved it!!

Mother's Day, Part Two

We headed up to Grandma Bobbie's and Grandpa Bills for Mother's Day dinner and a mini-celebration of Grace's birthday (tomorrow) and mine (next weekend) with Cold Stone ice cream cake! YUM!

Hayden brought home a Star Student poster and needed a family picture...but we don't have any. You may recall what happened when we tried to get one at Christmas. So, we made another attempt, with much the same results.





I left my camera up there, sut Gram-mo got a new camera for mother's day, so I was able to snag a few pics off her SD card :D

Yard, Garden & Patio!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies! My day started beautifully -- after 8 hours of sleep! I kid you not! Pop Pop then took the boys to get Krispy Creme and I got to have a cup of coffee with my girls - Grammo & Grace.

Hayden made me a keychain at school that he colored himself, and Bayley wrote me a poem. Jeff & the kiddos did our Mother's Day tradition and planted a garden for me. Tomatoes & herbs are in the raised bed!

Jeff is putting a hosta & raspberries in the yard, and we got a new patio set and a padded lounge chair for me to sit in and read while the kiddos play outside this summer!

Today they thought the best part of getting new chairs was playing in the boxes they came in.

What a lovely Mother's Day - and tomorrow is Grace's birthday!

The Sale - Done!

Since Tina has been blogging about 'The Sale', I decided I should too. I'm done with the sale prep (entered, printed, hung, tagged, & sorted) - only drop off to go, and that's next weekend!

103 items for $271...which means $189 is the best I can hope for. BUT, that's plenty. Much more than I would have made dropping the box off at Goodwill. Let's just keep our fingers crossed I make more than $40, which is all I got from the fall sale.

Grace's 2nd Birthday Party

Grace enjoyed her 2nd birthday party today at the Children's Museum. It was a fabulous place to have a party for the tiny kiddos -- we didn't have to bother with games, they all just wanted to go play! So it was cupcakes, presents, and back out to play!

Once Grace saw the cupcakes, she wasn't interested in anything else - especially Mommy's desire to have a group photo with her friendlies. But as soon as she saw the cupcake, all was right with the world again,

Daddy helped her blow out her candle and then it was a cupcake free-for-all! She went to town on the icing, then the cake, then the water bottle. Talk about a mess!

Grace really liked all the things to play with at the museum. She really liked going through the tunnels and driving the ambulance.

Bayley and Hayden were more interested in the clay studio...and for Hayden -- the stage!

Hayden has been watching Big Time Rush on the Disney channel and decided he wants to join their band. He's been practicing his singing, and thinks he sings best with the radio turned up loud. At the museum he put on quite a show for us all, including a few renditions of "Oh You're Such A Jerk".

And why is he so dressed up? The boys came down in their usual attire and I told them they needed to wear a shirt with a collar so they looked nice for Grace's party, thinking they'd trade their t-shirts for polo shirts. Bayley tugged on a pullover, which technically had a collar. Hayden comes down with his dress-up outfit and says -- Is this handsome enough? I think I wear it to graves. And weddings.

To be fair, he has only worn it to funerals and weddings, and he needs a new outfit because this one is a size 6 and the boy is an 8...sometimes 10! He did look fantastic, and everyone told him so as they admired his toothless grin :)

And to think...it's another week until her actual birthday. It's never too early to introduce the concept of a birthday month :D