Week 12 Done

 We are thankful for another great week!

 We love to meet Daddy at school for lunch. Benn and Josiah get excited when Daddy and his friends are outside playing soccer and often they jump right in and kick around the ball with the big guys.

 The other day I heard the boys outside cracking up. When I went to investigate, this is what I saw, Caleb, face pressed against the back door, watching his brother play outside. I could hardly take the pictures I was laughing so hard.

 For family night this week we painted pumpkins! Nick, one of Dave's study friends, joined in on the fun times.

 On Sunday Mt Adams was out in all its glory!! I wish I could have taken a better picture. It is not Mt McKinley, but it is still beautiful . . . and LOOK! There is termination dust on it!!! :)

 We got up and out and hit the trails in Selah this Sunday afternoon. We took the boys out to Skyline trail. Sadly, we did not make it very far but we had fun trying!

 Look at the friend who greeted us on the trail!!! He was a little guy and moving slowly. This is the first snake we have seen since moving to Yakima. I am happy with that!

 Caleb loves to ride on Daddy's back!! He was singing and talking the whole time just watching the world go by.

 The one thing I love about the Ergobaby is the weight limit. It is recommended for 40lbs but has been tested up to 90lbs. JJ, only weighing in at 33lbs loved riding in the Ergobaby. He only got to ride for a little while, but I wanted to see how I liked the weight and it was AWESOME!!! It was like giving him a supported piggy back ride! I love this thing!!

Having a heart to heart on the trail

 After a long hike the boys took daddy DOWN!!! Wrestling is a common occurrence in our house.

Caleb is 100% on the move, destructive move. I came out of the bedroom to find a mess of books. He is crying in the picture because once he stands up on something, he can't get down. So here he is, mess made and ready to get down and then mommy takes pictures instead of rescuing him. Hee!hee!


Josiah and Benn put on Daddy's glasses and I could not help to take a picture. They look so much like Dave!!!

SO!! Here is to another week in the bag!!! We are thankful for all the blessings of each and every week!! Blessings to all of you!

Apple Cinnamon cupcakes with Rum Frosting

These cute little cup cakes were easy to make and yummy to eat!!
Ingredients: 
Yellow Cake Mix
Cinnamon
Apples, chopped
Butter cream frosting (Your favorite recipe)
Rum Flavoring

Make Yellow cake mix using instructions on box
Add cinnamon to taste
Place chopped apples in the bottom of the cup cakes papers and cover apples with cake mix.
Bake at 350 for 15 mins or until tooth pick comes out clean.
Make up a batch of your favorite butter cream frosting and add rum flavoring to taste.
Frost and enjoy!

Seattle=SHOPPING!

My friend came to see me!!! Carol was in Oregon for a conference and she stopped in Seattle for a couple nights just so we could hang out!!

It was AWESOME! 

IKEA was the very first thing on our TO DO list! This is a bad store for me!! Each time I go in there I see something new or on sale. By the end of the store I have a lot in my cart and I am battling with what to get and what to put back. This shopping trip included a shelf to organize our home school stuff.


It was really rainy in Seattle (no surprise) so after IKEA we headed for the Super Mall in Auburn.

 The boys got to ride on a beautiful carousel and play in a little play area right outside the Christen Book Outlet store. Carol and I took turns watching the kiddos so each of us was able to shop without "Mommy, what is this?"
"Mommy, can I have that?"
"Mommy, I have to pee!"

I love my children, nothing I do is boring or mundane. They make my life exciting.

Psalm 127:3
Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him.

Proverbs 11:14 Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.

 I am continually challenged and encouraged by Carol. She has played a very important mentor role in my life for the last 6 years. She lifts me up when things are rough and encourages me to seek out Christ. She also reminds me to give God the glory when things are going wonderfully and also rough. God brought her to Seattle to see me just at the perfect time. She challenged me to see things that are going on in a different perspective and give it up to God. Thank you Carol for allowing God to use you in my life. I am blessed by our friendship!

 The boys also love their Mrs. Slama. I have to say, it does sound like they are saying Mrs. Lama and it is super cute!!

After our shopping day adventure we headed to Red Robin for dinner. My boys love Red Robin for three reasons, I think.
#1 They love to sing: "Red Robin! YYYUUMM!!"
#2 They get free balloons
#3 They get a song and free Ice cream on their Birthday.

 This trip to Red Robin was better then anytime before because they got super cool Red Robin masks an Old Maid Card game and of course balloons.
Mrs. Slama, enjoyed teaching JJ and BennBenn the game of Old Maid.

The next day we headed out to meet Carols Aunt in West Washington. We were able to check out fun pictures from Carol's moms side of the family. I love family!
Afterward, we ventured to down town Seattle to check out the Seattle Science Center.

I am wearing Caleb in my new Ergobaby. I have worn all of my babies in many different carriers. Kelty, Sherpani, Bjorn, Infantino, Moby Wraps and a piece of fabric I cut to make my own moby. While each one of these were awesome in their own way, the Ergo beats them all. I wore Caleb for two days while in Seattle and I felt great. (Maybe I should start another blog to review baby carriers) This past week Dave tried it for his first time and I asked: "How do you like the Ergobaby" He said: "The What?" It feels wonderful! The weight recommendation is 40lbs but has been tested to up to 90lbs!! It can be worn on either back or the front and I love it!! A big thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Wolf for this amazing gift!!!  (I have Caleb on my back in the Ergo in a picture up top with Carol in front of the Carousel.)

Carol is checking out the whisper cone

Back to the Science Center. 

The boys had a good time checking out all of the cool experiments. If you have followed my blog for a little while you may remember my post about the Science center in Ohio.

I give the Ohio center 5 stars. I give this one 3 stars. 

While the experiments in Seattle were fun, there was not a how or why! 

"How do you do the experiment?" And "Why did the outcome happen?"

The Ohio Science Center was full of the Hows and Whys, Causes and Effects. 

The Seattle Center was a big play area with different stations set up.

We all still had a wonderful time being together. I think we enjoyed the music station the most. The boys danced their hearts out.

Dinner anyone??

Carol taught Benn how to play checkers.

We got to see how much we weigh on the moon and other planets

They also had a dinosaur section that JJ was a little leery about at first, but settle right in after a few :)

Sitting the cockpit of a space shuttle

This is Carol and her cousin Ardis. Ardis invited us to the Science Center and we are very grateful for allowing us to be her guest. Thank you!! 

We had a wonderful time with Carol and we were sad to see her go. We dropped her off at the Airport and said a sad good-bye and started to head for home.

We did not make it very far when I found out they closed Snoqualmie Pass for blasting. My hopes for making it home in the daylight were shot. Thankfully Snogualmie pass is very different this time of year compared to Turnagain Pass in Alaska. The boys and I stopped in Issaquah, WA at a McDonalds with a play place and waited for the pass to open. We did make it home that night and the roads were great. As soon as we pulled in the driveway I sent a text to Carol, who had just landed safely back in Anchorage.