Spring in Oregon...

It may look a little "leggy," but this is my favorite right now. It is a deciduous azalea. I LOVE the orange blooms -- I have always been a sucker for orange.

The couple we bought the house from LOVED rhodies. This is just one of about 10 we have on the property.

This rhodie is out front, and was the first to bloom. I love the variegation of color. It used to be down to the ground, but Kyle trimmed it up to be more of a tree and to our surprise we found a great rock under it to show off.

We have two of these azaleas outside of the front door. They also are part deciduous, so the leaves are just now coming back. The blooms are an amazing purple color that make me smile. It is some color to look at.

I have come to really cherish the Spring in Oregon. We have been here for two Springs now, and they are great. They are really long with the blooms on plants lasting forever, and the budding of trees happening so magically as you look outside every day. One sign that it is Spring is that there are more days with some great sunshine. We still get plenty of rain, but the rain is different. It is more of a drizzle than raindrops, and it may only last a couple of minutes and then it is gone and the sun is brilliantly shining on you -- of course, the rain may come back again in an hour or so. So go days right now. We have a remarkably cool Spring. Today was only 50 degrees, but I have enjoyed it. Of all the states I have lived in over the short course of my life, Oregon, hands down, has the best Spring -- and I realize I LOVE Spring. I think in part because one can marvel at all God did when he planned the world. It is also fun to watch the kids discover the signs of Spring. I have included some pictures of our "blooming" garden. We have really enjoyed and watched in awe as these flowers have come around. The pictures do not due the real beauty justice, but thought you might enjoy the color and beauty. Enjoy...

The kids are still sleeping...

...and it is 4:20pm. I am not going to write long, because I do have to go wake up Jack, but it is those unexpected days when you are going to get a really good break that you don't realize you needed the break. I was feeling very busy and overwhelmed this morning. I need them to take a good nap, but this is unbelieveable and very welcomed. God knew I needed to have good sleepers. Thank you Lord. And yes, I do cherish these days of napping before they end! By the way, I put them down for a nap at 1:45pm.

My nieces...

I love them! They are so cute, and they take great pictures. These are there matching Easter dresses that Molly also has one of from our Oma. I hope they don't mind being on Aunt Gretchen's blog site.

Climbing in the Rhodies...

Our Rhodies are quite old. They have been here for ages. When we moved in, Kyle trimmed them up for us so that they are more trees than shrubs. We love them that way! The kids have discovered that they are strong enough to climb, which is great because they can feel like they are really climbing without me having to worry about them falling so far to the ground. Jack loves it! He has discovered his inner monkey.

We love our Oma & Opa...

A picture of my beloved grandparents when they were out here visiting in November. I thought they should get some attention as well!

We love our Grammy & Pops...

My mom just sent me a bunch of pictures, and this wonderful one was one of them. I thought that they should get a little bit of the lime light from the kids, so here are my amazing parents in a picture from November 2007. Enjoy! A little game...Who do you think I look like?

A follow-up to Jack's haircut...

It took us 6 hair washings to get out the "product" that they put in Jack's hair the other day. I called a friend who I remembered had a son that put Vaseline in his hair one time to ask what she used to finally get it out. She said she had to use her kitchen grease cutting soap. I was about to try when finally it came out. No more "product" for my son for a few different reasons, but mainly I don't want to have to work that hard to get it out!

Molly, the fairy ballerina princess...

Today we had some friends come over for a little play time, and the little girl (Naomi, 6 years old) was able to convince Molly to finally wear her wings, tutu, and boa for a good amount of time. I knew right away that I HAD to capture the moment, because it may not come around again for some time. Since Molly received these items, she really has not been interested in them. She has really become enamored with the idea of princesses and such, but I can't get her to dress up. She will only wear her princess shoes - and I think that is because they make so much gosh darn noise on the wood floor. Anyway, I thought she looked so cute with her striped pants under the tutu. Of course, she couldn't be all girl because when the tools came out she was right there ready to hammer away in her outfit.

Jack, the man...

Jack was in dire need of a haircut. So after Molly and I picked him up from school this morning, I ran to the barber to get them haircuts. The usual lady was cutting Jack's hair. She does a good job and Jack is used to having her cut it. Well at the end, she started to put some "product" in his hair. He didn't mind, but I thought it really made him look old. I was thinking to myself...where did my little boy go? I have to say it made him look handsome, but I don't think we are ready to have "product" enter into our daily routine. We have enough years ahead of us with that stuff that I will pull out the strong arm and say no right now! Also as a side note...she used this wax stuff and it made his hair feel disgusting. I still like to mess with his head throughout the day with affection, but with that stuff in it I would not touch it. Of course I made the mistake of making my feelings known to him, and when he went down for a nap he was crying because his hair was going to make his pillowcase dirty. I had to assure him that I would change the pillowcase after the nap and that he would indeed have a bath with a good head washing tonight for bedtime. So...he may look grown-up but really his is still four at heart and emotions!

Like mother, like daughter...

...so tonight we were getting in the car to come home. Kyle was putting Molly in her car seat, and I was helping Jack get into the car on his side. He is in a booster seat now, and requires little help. I just opened the door and then closed it. He can do the rest. In fact, most of the time he climbs in on Molly's side and walks across. Well, I have always been aware that I need to be careful closing the door because you never know when there might be some little fingers where they do not belong. Yet, nothing has happened to those little fingers. That is until tonight...as I closed the door Jack's fingers were still in the door jam. I closed the door on my son's fingers! After I closed the door, I walked around the car to get into my seat. I thought I heard some crying as I rounded the corner but was unsure. I then heard Kyle saying something to Jack, and then telling me to go back that his hand was in the door. Needless to say there was not blood or cutting of skin, no broken bones...only a few tears. In fact, he did not cry nearly as much as I thought he would. He just kept saying that it really hurt in a way that sounded as though I did not believe him it hurt. Of course, I apologized to him and he said he knew it was an accident...but I still felt guilty.
Now, why do I say like mother, like daughter....because my own mother shut my hand in the car door as well when I was little. I think I was older than Jack. We were getting some gas in the car. She did not see my hand, of course, and shut the door. I don't remember much else except the hugs and kisses and comforting words that she gave me after she realized what had happened.

A little explanation....

What follows is a lot of stuff. I did not mean to put so much on at once, but my computer has been out of commission the last several days. It is funny how tied to the computer and the internet I am since I am not on it very often and still and look at the screen wondering where to go and what to look at. I hope that you enjoy the pictures, and hopefully as spring continues to come our way I will have more pictures and stories to share with all of you. (Winter is a bleak and rainy season here that not much happens except the daily chores of the house - yeah for spring and parks!)

Happy Birthday, Kyle...

I wanted to celebrate Kyle's birthday on the blog with pictures of him with his two wonderful children on their day of birth. These two pictures are some of my favorites of Kyle because one can see the love he already has in his heart for Jack and Molly - and we didn't even know their really great and funny personalities yet! Kyle and Jack in the hospital - November 2003
Kyle and Molly in the hospital - November 2005 Kyle - Jack, Molly, and I love you very much. We are so glad that on March 28th of every year we get to celebrate you being here with us!

Dr. Seuss would love our trees...

We "had" 2 Holly trees in the corner of our property. Neither Kyle or I really liked them. The red berries are pretty, and great at the holiday season. We had plenty for a few hundred wreaths. However, the leaves are really prickly...and well, we just did not like them. Now I know there are some in my family that would have left them alone, but we wanted them gone. One tree did not look really healthy, and the other one was leaning against the fence and hanging over our neighbor's garage. Kyle decided this day to get after cutting them down. He did not have a chainsaw, so we just used the big lopers to cut as high as we could until we can cut the trunks down. I thought they looked really funny just out there in the open. With the few branches at the top, they reminded me of a tree that you would see in a Dr. Seuss book. The birds were a bit shocked to see the trees go. They hung onto the top cluster of leaves and berries for the next few days. Now...we just have to get a chainsaw and complete the task of getting the trunks cut down. A little side note...Jack loved to climb on the little footholds the limbs left as Kyle cut them off. He was a little climber that day...too bad I did not have the camera to capture it.

Molly in her new dress...

Molly had a new Easter dress and sweater this year. The dress was made by her Oma (great-grandmother)! It was so adorable, and she loved it. She got up the next morning and put it back on to wear it another day.
Molly loves her sunglasses. She loves to wear them upside down, and when one points out that they are upside down she responds with..."me know it!" (We are still working and hoping the idea of using the pronoun "I" comes along soon)
Molly has always loved the phone. She got a rare special treat to talk to on a real phone. She was talking with Granma (Kyle's mom) in this picture to wish her a Happy Easter. By the way, she does not call it a phone she calls it a "hello."

The way to get an Easter picture is...

bribe them with jelly beans!


We had a great Easter. It was a wonderful service at church, and we had a visit from Grammy to make it extra special. I know my pictures are a bit late, but I thought they were pretty darn cute of the kids.

Early Easter egg hunt...

We have some friends that hosted an easter egg hunt for the kids. It was a lot of fun, however, it was not a beautiful spring day. Oh well...at least it did not rain.