Embracing the rain and walks to preschool

It's fall in Oregon and the rains have started!  The first day it rained hard we walked outside and the kids were just bummed.  There was some moaning and groaning and Oscar asked,  "Mami, when is it going to stop?"  My answer was "in march!"

Ha ha.  Anyway, Lucia's preschool is about a 20 minute child's pace walk and we've made it a goal to walk or bike there and back as much as we can.  We have done it all but maybe 2 times.  They got some umbrellas and along with the raincoats and rain pants, they are set.  And before we knew it, it's just part of our day and that's that.

 Lucia picked out matching umbrella, raincoat, and boots.  She's hard to miss!

Some mornings, it's a chore to get them all ready (and me) and out the door.  But, I'm always grateful.  It's a sweet time to just enjoy the outdoors, our neighborhood, and each other.

Scott's birthday and Thanksgiving

Birthday and Thanksgiving all in one week!  The kids were excited it was Scott's birthday.  Lucia asked, "Dad, why aren't your friends coming over?"  We laughed.  He said, "ha ha, I have friends!"  Tee hee.

He had plenty of help blowing out the candles.

On Thanksgiving morning, we joined some other families for a hike and decided it was a great tradition so hope to continue it from now on.

We have also been working on a 'thankful tree'.  The kids drew a tree and then cut out leaves and we write on them things we are thankful for.  So far we have my family, my cats and dog, McKenna (Lucia's buddy), Felix being born, and my bike.  Working on some more but that's a good start.

And then there's Felix, going along for the ride.

Breitenbush with the McSpeert's

Another trip to Breitenbush never fails to bring great times.  Again, with the McSpeert's at the almost exact same time as last year.   This time, with brand new baby boys in tow.  The ladies (Lucia and Elizabeth) had a blast of course and picked up playing together as if no time goes by.

 Kathleen and I had these two ladies in 2008 just 7 months apart in age.

And we've got these boys about 6 weeks apart.

 And then there's this guy in the middle, Mr. Enthusiasm.  He is especially enthusiastic about being a big brother. 

 And here we are, family of 5.  Crazy!

 And here are my boys, cuddling up in the Breitenbush cabin after a soak.  Sweet times!

SUMMER 2012!!!!

Well, I wasn't a very good blogger this summer but I thought I would post a recap.  It was an incredible, memorable, awesome summer of course starting with the birth of Felix.  Scott was able to take 10 weeks off work which made all the difference for us and especially for Oscar and Lucia.  I truly think that the relationships among our 3 children will fluorish more because of it!  So here are some fun pics of us chillaxin' and having fun.

Here's my breastfeeding support group:

 Lucia gets a new tag-a-long and she is pretty gung-ho about it!

Scott took the kids to Oregon Country Fair.  They are still talking about it...

Nana came to visit!

 These silly willys did a lot of blueberry picking, I mean eating.  Us grown ups did most of the picking!
First smiles.....

 The county fair!

 Hiking

 The bathroom!  More on that later!

We went on an awesome camping trip to the coast with 5 families and something like 14 kids!  The weather was epic!  It was our first trip in the van, all 5 of us..

It was also our yearly anniversary trip.  Here we are-- 11 years married.  Lucia already off playing with her friends.  the boys hanging with us!

Then we took a very short, but highly enjoyable camping trip to Silver Falls State Park.  First time there.

Oh yeah, and the Cox's came to visit too!

 Mostly we hung out a lot....getting to know each other.

 Wow, I am so grateful!