SIPRESS SCOOP

In August, my family and extended family gathered to celebrate my Great-Aunt Sharon’s birthday.   It was a huge success and minus two of my cousins and their family units, everyone was there.   Except my Grandma.   But I could feel her there with us, keeping the peace through a nice warm Summer breeze.   The party went just as I remember family gatherings as a child and teen.   The children ran around playing with each other, as everyone socialized and caught up on life’s events and challenges. There was some food, okay, there was a ton of scrumptious food dishes.   And there was my family. Tyler & the kids on the ferry ride over to Whidbey Island. Everything gearing up to the party was stressful.   The first challenge was getting a ton of people who generally avoid each other like the plague to all smile and be at the same place at the same time.   The second was to get those people to all agree to come. But blood is thicker than water and everyone showed. A whole other i

Something AMAZING has happened at our house this Summer. Issac has become a big kid, and in more ways than one.   It’s ABSOLUTELY true when every old person you come in contact with says, “cherish this time, they grow up fast’. In June I was changing two sets of poopies and placing Issac in time out every ten minutes for being mean to his sister. I was near my wits end & begging Tyler each afternoon for a few minutes of alone time.   Tyler & I recognized the problems, did a little research, a lot of discussing and together we located our inner-parenting-zen-zone. (YES, I completely just made that up).   Sometime this summer between playing cars on the floor, running around the back yard and playing at the park; both our kids experienced some major childhood developments and behavioral changes that have begun to make life more enjoyable for the entire family.   Josie has begun to really talk, talk, talk her lil mouth off.   Last month she noticed that when she says

WOW, it is October.  We were so busy enjoying the fabulous weather of July, August & September that I never published a single one of the nine blog posts I started to write over the summer. So I'm going to cut and paste to catch our digital scrapbook up to date.    It was completely true this year; Summer started on July first.   The weather for July and August was beautiful and cooperative for a ton of outside fun and adventures. Issac & Josie love being outside; wither they are digging in the dirt in the back yard, making sand castles at the beach or simply going on a walk around the neighborhood.   Most weeks we would take 3-4 adventures out of the house while Tyler was at work.     I have realized that some days, I just need to get out of the house and during these warm summer months there is an endless possibilities of FREE adventure locations.  We are so blessed to live in south King County where there are a plethora of communities that plan provide and maintai