Uncle Tim & the Hoop

Last night, we all drove into Seattle to see Uncle Tim & Honky Erik play some basketball. Seattle Central CC had been remodeled since we were last there, so I called Erik to see where the gym was located. Ummm... yeah, he was still in bed sleeping. Knucklehead. We finally found the gym and settled in to watch the game. Tristan was amazed and said, "Mom, Uncle Tim can jump WAY high!". Props! It was a fast paced game that they ended up winning. I love getting out to see Tim play... he is a STUD!

Ethne spent the whole time twirling.
True cheerleader at heart.

Tristan & Daddy

Gwen determined to keep score.

#10 praying to the basketball God... lol.
#30 was knocked down by his presence.

Gwen's tally. Tim was on the black team.

Gwen cheering for Uncle Tim.

The clearest shot I was able to take.
Lighting in the gym was awful.

Just a Wee Bit Tired

Penny Lane, exhausted from the days activities, is ready to snuggle in her favorite blanket. She is so cute it's just stoopid. ;)

Gwen's Graduation Party @ the Park

Since Wednesday is a short day for school, afterwards Gwen's class got together at the park to celebrate graduating into 1st Grade. Still can't believe Gwen will be in 1st Grade next year... wowski. All the kids played while the parents relaxed and chatted. It was really nice... like a HUGE play date. I recommend we do this weekly... lol. Luckily it didn't rain so the kids were able to play for about 2 hours and had a blast!

Gwen playing with Zoey & Grace.

Using the telescope... which was pretty cool by the way.

Ethne's favorite toy on the park.
She claimed it as hers immediately.

Tristan multi-tasking.

Ethne became quick friends with Kaitlyn. They were
seen flipping their hair together all around the park.
Tristan is "playing it cool" in the background.

Daddy hamming it up...
Looks like he could have been in "Saved by the Bell".

Garden & Roses

We are making progress on our garden! It's about time! Goodness... We now have strawberries and the tomato plants have little itty-bitty green tomatoes. There were three strawberries that could be picked, one for each kid right? Well, apparently Penny Lane had other ideas... She is a sneaky lil' gal... she ran in and nabbed two of them before we could pick them. So, while the girls watered the roses, Tristan got the remaining strawberry - cuz he's my little stud.

The remaining Strawberry.

Itty-Bitty Tomatoes!

Watering away... The roses are blooming so big!

Ethne's favorite for the day.

Afterwards, the kids got their journals out and wrote about our day. Luckily this journal thing is working... Gives me some nice quite time!

Gwen's choice spot.

Tristan finished first, but realized everyone was still working. So, he wrote some more.

Ethne - always ready to go to school. Backpack as usual.

Edmonds Beach

After Gwen's Ice Cream Party, we went down to Edmonds Beach. Here are some pictures of the fun we had...

Ice Cream Party

Today, Gwen's class had and Ice Cream Party and I was able to help out. We set up stations and each child came through with their zip lock baggie to fill it with milk, cream, vanilla, and sugar. We then put those into a larger zip lock baggie and filled the whole thing with ice and rock salt. When everyone was ready we headed out into the school yard and began to shake, shake, shake the bags. In about 25 minutes, each child had made their own ice cream. We went back into the classroom and ate the sweet goodness!

The ice cream shaking parade.

Gwen skipping to shake it up.

Good times, good times.

Ethne's Roses

Yesterday morning, Ethne went out to check her rose bushes and was ecstatic to find that one of them finally bloomed! She has been waiting and waiting - every morning checking the progress of each bush and has been watering them daily. This morning, probably due to our current heat wave, 2 other rose bushes have bloomed as well. Ethne couldn't be happier!

1st bloom - beautiful big yellow roses!

Science Fair

Gwen's class participated in the school Science Fair this year. They learned about the characteristics of wood. The challenge was to see if they could make the wood sink using paperclips and rubber bands. They all got to make predictions and then carry out the experiment.

Close up of her wood project.

Gwen's findings.

Muir Walk-a-Thon

John Muir held a Walk-a-Thon to raise money for the school year. Each class participated and the school ended up raising over $7,000! Gwen's class did laps around the soccer field, and Gwen ran all of those except about 4 laps. My girl can RUN!

Gwendilyn making her laps.

Meanwhile, the twins played on the playground.

At each lap, the kids got a stamp to mark their progress.

Zoey, Gwendilyn & Rachel... Good job girls!!

Need a Car Wash??

The sun comes out and everyone who owns a car is either at the car wash or washing their car in their driveway. With 3 helpers like this, who needs to go to a car wash....

It's the small joys in life... SMILE!


Time for the rinse! GO ETHNE!

Whoo-hoo! Thanks guys, now mommy can go get a coffee... ;)

Washington vs. Oregon at the Safe...

Off to the Safe we go to see the Washington Huskies take on the Oregon Beavers. Gwen couldn't wait to get to the game so she could have cotton candy. We picked up Drew and Cory on the way and it was a funny little caravan... they played video games and sang songs....


It was a beautiful day, sunny and clear skies, so the roof was open and Ethne was ecstatic to see the planes flying over throughout the game. We sat next to the band and the cheerleaders and the kids were having the best time trying to sing along and dance.


We stayed until the top of the 7th inning, as the sun went down and it was FREEZING. Eventhough we brought a bunch of blankets, Tristan lips were blue... so we packed it up, but we did get cotton candy before we left...


Wasington ended up losing, but it was a great night. It was the twin's first game at the Safe!!

Fun Pictures for Today...

Ethne's glamour shot... make-up done by herself.

Tristan's close up of his new STARWARS hat.

Gwen emptied her piggy bank and
went shopping at Toys R Us.

Uncle Tim sent us this picture
of Hailey on their way to school.

Happy 4th Birthday!!

Amazing how time flies! On the 27th the twins turned 4 years old. I still can't believe it. They are getting so tall! The night before, they were asking about when they were born. It was cute reliving the story with them.

In the morning, we dropped Gwen off at school then went to the party store and got decorations. The twins loved being able to pick out stuff for their party. Tristan found a STARWARS hat and Ethne picked out a Hello Kitty princess crown, among other things.

We then went to Fred Meyer to pick out their cakes. Ethne picked a cupcake cake with a rainbow on it and Tristan said he just wanted a plain chocolate cake. We then had the cake lady write 'Happy Birthday' & their names.

Gwen came home around noon and helped me decorate and clean up the living room and playroom. Bri came home early and mowed the lawn, then went and got the pizza.

We threw a party for family and they started showing up around 6pm. Luckily, the sun came back out so everyone was able to play wiffle ball and goof around outside.

We all ate, then did presents... which was a massive fury of flying paper and elated screams. Tristan got enough STARWARS figures to last a while and Ethne is set on Littlest Pet Shoppe toys.

Then came cake time.... Make a wish!

Tristan, who usually doesn't like cake at all, ended up having 3 pieces (small ones, lol). I think the cake smudge on his face says it all!

Thanks to everyone who came, it was a great night, and thank you for all the presents as well.

Happy Birthday!