Beach trip

I love good friends! I especially love good friends at the beach. The only thing I don't love is that I left 100 degrees in Portland to needing a jacket and sweatshirts in Lincoln City.

What really made this amazing was when we went to Newport and went crabbing. Of course I forgot my camera (I'll get photos later), but at least you can see what we got to enjoy from our excursion!

I'm not sure if you can imagine what these crab tasted like... but it was the sweetest "bounty from the sea" (as Tony would say).

And... along with his impressive description of our tasty crab... he makes a pretty mean sand castle with stalactites. :D

Primary Party

I only wish I had been as relaxed as the kiddos above look. My primary had another party, and this time it was at my house!! This was a little stressful for me, although I think the ones that came to our party had a pretty good time. Here are a few of the pictures...

We had a story time about Pioneers

We played a stick pull game... and it looks like 3 kids to 1 still couldn't take Mike down!

We made individual Ice Creams in bags. They got to shake their ice cream and eat their labor. This was perfect for a hot sunny day!

This is just one of the fine ladies who helped with the work. I couldn't do this alone, and we have fabulous teachers to teach these precious children. They came and participated when they probably would have rather been with their own families!

We had edible crafts

Played a hula hoop ("Hupa loop" if you ask Trenton) relay game

and Burlap sack races

Now... I'm just relaxing for a bit!

Burned

I got burned today. In more than one way. The first is obvious. Just take a look. So much for yard work on the nicest day this year. I'll make sure to have my sunscreen handy now for sure!

The other "burn" was much more fun!!!
While working in the yard I had a few... "twigs and branches" to burn. I do not do this regularly, but it was necessary this afternoon. I threw in a few logs... a little lighter fluid... and got the fire burning my branches pretty well. After about 30 minutes, I just happen to be taking the garbage out at the same time a big huge fire truck pulls into the driveway. I see 4 firemen walking towards me and immediately my heart stops. They said they were responding to calls about yard debris and garbage being burned. He immediately started talking about the necessary permits and the city burn regulations. This happened pretty quickly as they walked toward my fire pit. The nice fireman looked at the damage and said... "Well.. all I see here are logs. Logs are just fine". I did admit to a few branches and twigs but assured him there was NO GARBAGE. He didn't seem to hear me and he was actually complimentary of our awesome pit, in an open space, with rocks and only asked that I keep the hose nearby.
The boys were pretty excited to have a fire truck come just for them, and of course we got a few junior fireman stickers just for good measure!
I feel a little like a rebel for my burn. At least they didn't come when it was REALLY rocking! I only wish I had the courage to ask them to pose with me for a picture. For now.. here is all they saw by the time they arrived.

Catch up

I'm playing a little catch up here with my photos. Have fun as I summarize where I have been in the last little while.

Golfing...

Painting...

Preschool with our favorite teacher Alisha!!!

Father/Son campouts (with special guest Papa)

And finally making Simon's Baby book. You can preview most of it below. I left a few pages out that were extra special and just not worthy of the blog. :D

SNB by Simon Nino Bonfiglio | Make Your Own Book

Bloggable?

Today I cried to an utter stranger! She might have been an angel, but either way she was unfamiliar to me.

I don't like to cry, so this was rare. Maybe I felt more comfortable because she wasn't someone I knew, although I wish I had seen someone who knew that I wasn't a horrible mother and to give me a sincere hug of empathy.

This was all while at Winco, and my sweet 2 year old had a meltdown that was the likes of no other meltdown in history. He was bonkers! Not for a minute or two... but for like 15. I started out pushing the cart and laughing while I had to get my things. This was funny because there wasn't an option to cry, or punish him. I tried bribing, threatening, hugging, ... everything you can do while in a store.

People were coming around from corners to see if the screaming was inflicted or not. Finally I pulled over in the tissue isle... tried to think of something to do, and a sweet lady came and gave me kind words of encouragement and love. I lost it.. right there.. in the Kleenex isle. This sweet woman gave me tissue and tried to make him laugh. He spit on her, threw the reachable groceries at her, and continued to scream like he was either being kidnapped or tortured... and she never judged him. She kept calling him Sweet!!! Maybe she was crazy, but .. today has been hard. He has a new level of tantrum and I have to figure out how to get threw this.

I just thought I'd blog this and see if it made me feel a little better.

Homemade

Who doesn't love warm rolls? I know I do, and the fact is that until this week, I could NEVER successfully make them. My yeast would never do that thing... where it bubbles. And what's up with the scalded milk? I can scald milk, I can mix, and I can follow recipes, but until my friend actually showed me how... I could never do all of those things together.

Look at what I did today! (you might notice in the picture where they are cooked, I couldn't wait to get the camera ready before I dove into them! )

And this is the boy that helps me eat them.

What a day!

It started with these three magnificent boys!

They woke me up early to hugs and kisses, and shortly after we headed off.
Off to eat! This bistro is just perfect; the atmosphere, the food, and the city in the morning were all pretty fun.

After a perfect breakfast, we went to some shops and then stopped for a little ice skating. This is something Emile and I have NEVER done together... and it might be the last time too. (Please enjoy how dorky we were in the video below).

Our sore feet needed a good massage. So, away we went. I'm pretty sure we were both in a coma after it was all over.

After the coma... we needed to fill our bellies again.
The crab and the sushi almost did us both in!

But to top it all off... we went and enjoyed a movie!
I felt like a teenager... or like we were newly weds... either way, I sure didn't feel 30!

The next night we had a fun party with family IN our house! Yes... I bolded the word IN because we moved furniture out and brought a table in just for the occasion. This has never happened before. It was extra special!

These are a few of the clips from the day.
Hope I'm not too embarrassed that I posted this later.

(BTW... Don't you just love where the video is stopped... right on Emile's rear!)

Untitled from Raina on Vimeo.

OH NO The Big Three-O

If you came here to wish Raina a HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY I've got some bad news for you, she won't be reading your comments today because I have kidnapped her (you can still call her cell phone). Today (4-14) we are going to spend the entire day together, just the two of us. We will be eating at Portland's finest establishments (Mother's Bistro and Todai), go ice skating, get a 1 hour couples massage, go shopping and even go see a romantic comedy; a full day for sure.

So thanks for stopping by to give your best wishes to the most amazing, beautiful woman I know, I'm sure she will appreciate them on Thursday.

Happy Birthday Raina!

-E