SIPRESS SCOOP

Tyler has been on day shift for the last two weeks.  We have enjoyed the change across the board. Now we eat dinner as a family, go on evening walks together & even enjoy bedtime at the same time.  Tyler is at work before the kids & I ever wake up. The extra bonus is that when Tyler worked night shift, come Friday he was so tired it was a waste of a day. We only ever felt like he had one day off each week.  Now come Saturday and Sunday he wakes up with me & the kids and makes us breakfast.  The weekdays go by quickly & I try to take the kids on an adventure or two during the week.  The library is good to get books, but Issac got us kicked out of his first story time for misbehaving & we were asked to leave.  The park is great, its free & I just pack up some PB &J's and go but what will I do when the weather turns cold? I guess our Science Center membership will be put to good use.  I have also found out that there is a "Fi...

Issac thinks anytime you have cake then it must be a party. Makes perfect sense to me.  Ever since his birthday, anytime we've had cake with every bite he smiles and says, "its a party".  The first weekend of August we went to lake goodwin to celebrate a friend's 4th birthday.  The beach area is perfect for young kids because you can walk a good 30 feet out & still be in shallow water.  In all the excitement of the day, Issac fell twice. Once was a bad fall that scraped his knee, elbow & back on the cement area surrounding the picnic table.  When we arrived home, we cleaned up the areas good & Issac got his 1st bandaids, with baloons on them. He still shows us his"hurt spot" but any sign of a scab is completly gone.  The 12th we headed north to Ferndale to spend some time with Grandma Melanie.  Friday night we BBQ'd some steaks before we left the kids with grandma to enjoy a few drinks with friends.  Saturd...

Independence Day fell on a Monday this year but we enjoyed a weekend of fun and sun.  On Friday, the 1st I took Tyler and Issac out in the back yard & shaved their heads! This was Issac's first haircut so of course I kept his hair in a sandwich bag.  Shaving off his curls has made him look like such a big boy.  He loves it & keeps rubbing his head and saying, "like daddy".  On Saturday we adventured to Owen Beach to enjoy a BBQ with some of my fellow Urbanists or Urban Studies buddies for a farewell to Felix who has since returned home to Hong Kong.  Issac LOVES the beach, he enjoys playing in the sand and water with his bucket & shovels. To celebrate Independence day we went to our friends the Wagesters for a BBQ.  The food was great, the company was fabulous & the fireworks AWESOME. During the hot sunshine, the kids played in the pool, on the swing set & enjoyed some water balloons.  Once it was dark, the fireworks beg...

After years of dreaming & hard work, on Friday June 10th, 2011, I earned my Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies.  It was a great day. Tyler, the kids, my Mom, my Uncle Greg, cousins Emma & Jacob plus my Grandpa's wife Barb cheered me on inside the Tacoma Dome. 2011 has gone by so quickly.  Since Josie's birth completing my homework has been tough. Some days i just wanted to stay home & hold my baby. But I knew that she was safe at home with her father while I attended class.  I look back and I am so grateful for Tyler who has always believed in me & never kicked me while I was down.  Our plan to have children while I attended school was one of the best decisions we could have made for our family.  Everyone keeps asking so many questions!!! "When will you get a job?" "Where will you work?" 'what will you do with the kids?"  All kinds of personal questions. Tyler & I have been waiting to hear if he will return to work or not be...

June 13th Josie started to crawl.  It is crazy how fast she gets around, from the living room to the kitchen or into play with the cars in Issac's room.  Last week we went to the lake to enjoy the sunshine & I couldn't keep her on the blanket, she loved the feeling of the sand between her fingers. She tries to pull herself to stand but her chunky legs are not strong enough yet.      June 14th, we took the kids in for their well-child check-ups.  Josie is 6 months, 15 lbs and 25.75 inches tall.  Issac is 2 years, 30.5 lbs & 37 inches. Issac is in the 96 percentile for height, gonna be over 6 feet tall!!!  Took the kids in get their pictures done, as usual they turned out great.  Here are a few shots. They both cooperated so well, it was hard to choose which pictures to order so we bought the cd with all 64 original pictures.  I hope picture cd's don't go out of use anytime soon!    ...

We had a busy few day surrounding Issac's Birthday. Thursday we woke up to a beautiful day so we took our family to NW Trek Wildlife Park with Cousin Robbie & Cousin Hannah. It was a wonderful time & the park wasn't too busy because it was a weekday.  The kids LOVED the animals & being able to run freely. Friday we went to Tacoma to participate in "Play in Peace Day". It was a fabulous day to celebrate the memory of a lil girl & hold a peace march, then we went home to BBQ & have some relaxing family time.  Saturday was Issac's Party at Pacific Science Center.  We did a dinosaur theme with cup cakes & lava muds (chocolate pudding, oreo crumbs & gummy worms) for the kids.  Issac got some clothes, a BBQ, a tool bench, cars & dinosaurs: all his favorites. He was so cute running around saying, "I two" & "party". Unwrapping presents could have taken all day if I had let Issac do it his way- he wants to ...

May is a super busy month for us. May 5th Tyler & I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary.  Tyler got me a dozen roses & a card.  We had a busy day at home as we packed the car and headed north to Bellingham for the weekend.  We arrived at my Mom's house in Ferndale Thursday night.  Friday, I went into Bellingham to join my fellow UW Tacoma classmates on the CIVITAS annual trip.  We had a busy afternoon that started with a presentation from city planning officials on their "urban Villages" concept.  Then we walked to meet with a habitat restoration specialist who discussed a beautiful project along Whatcom Creek.  Finally we walked down to the old GP Paper mill site for a couple of meetings with Port representatives.  First the economic advisor discussed the impact of the border. Then we were given a tour of the old GP site. It was fascinating to see these old brick buildings being gutted and take a close look at the huge p...