The Recent Festivites

My parents and my sister Molly visited from California to celebrate

my mom's birthday,

Easter,

and Max's birthday. 

My mom brought her super awesome camera, which takes much better pictures than mine. 

(This post has a combo of her pics and my pics.) 

I officially have a piggy bank designated to save up money for a fancy camera. :)

It may take a few years!

 

Here are a few of the things that we all did together-

Mom's Birthday

 It was best weather that we have had all year! 

We took an evening ferry ride from Seattle to Bainbridge Island,

where we had dinner and ice cream,

and then rode the ferry back at night when the city was lit up. 

Max has been talking about the "boat" and the "wah-der" ever since.

Easter

morning...

afternoon (at Devon's freezing cold and rainy softball game)...

and evening (Molly pinned in hair extensions for me and Lucy)...

Max was unsure of the new hair.

"Scary, mama?"

Max's Birthday

the expired tabs incident

Seattle Children's Museum

Lucy and Max's "Maformance" on the museum's stage

(Max isn't completely committed to the performance)



the birthday boy with his Tutu and his Grandma :)

(he was way happier than he appears in the picture!)

The End!

An Unexpected Turn of Events

Sometimes life gives you a swift kick in the crotch, which I've heard is very painful.

You didn't even see it coming.

And as you are doubled over on the floor, writhing in pain, your future becomes unclear, as though someone shook it like an Etch-a-Sketch and erased the pretty picture that you'd created.
Your spirit is crushed and your heart feels broken.

And you aren't sure what all of this means or how it will all play out or if everything will be okay.

But you remember your faith- your faith that sustains you through all of life's peaks and valleys- and you tell yourself that surely God is in this mess somewhere.  Surely God is putting something in motion that will come together to create one of those Aha! Moments that Oprah is always talking about.  Surely something better is around the corner. 

And you think of quotes you've heard like, "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans!"  And you nod and think Yes, yes, God's plans are always better than my own.  And you recall Bible verses such as Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. And you feel encouraged.  But then in the middle of the night you find yourself wide awake shaking your fists at the sky and wondering What the hell was wrong with my plans?!

You try to look on the proverbial bright side.  You pray and you play with your kids and you spend the weekend with family and you go to church on Easter.  You eat when you feel like you aren't going to vomit.  You cry when the kids aren't looking.  And you move forward.

So, that is what this last week has been like.

If I've ever given the impression that we've got our act together, we don't.  We have our fair share of challenges, and for 96 long hours we were afraid that unemployment was going to be one of them.  But, alas, Devon is still employed, yet he is moving to a different role within the company.  Change can be so terrifying. 

Please keep us in your thoughts as we make some adjustments 'round here!

God is in the mess somewhere, and once we find Him, I hope that we'll discover that this isn't really a mess at all.

2nd Birthday, 3rd Child Style

Today is Max's birthday, and, yes, I've been a bit sad about my baby turning two years old.  All day long I've been thinking about how in the past two years my little Lover Boy has gone from this

to this

to this

to this

Why oh why do babies have to grow so fast?

Because Max is only 2, and therefore has very few expectations regarding his birthday,

and because Max is our 3rd child, and therefore we are pretty tired once his birthday rolls around,

we planned nothing.

Nope, nothin'.

We decided to spend the day at the Children's Museum in Seattle,

and then tonight we pulled together a Toy Story themed family party,

and overall, I think that the birthday boy was very pleased.

The low point of the day:

As we left our house this morning, heading to Seattle, we passed a police car in our neighborhood.

Devon: I think I forgot my wallet.  I am driving without a license.

Me: Also, our vehicle tabs expired a couple of months ago and I keep forgetting to renew them.

Devon:  Annie!  That is really bad!

Me:  Well, sorry!  I just forgot.

Devon:  Well, now he is behind me and we are being pulled over!

Officer:  I've pulled you over because your tabs are expired.

Devon:  Yes, so I've heard.

Officer:  May I see your license and registration and insurance?

Devon:  Funny story- I forgot my license at home.  We were just about to turn around and go get it.

Me:  Here is our insurance card, but it is expired.  The new card is on the counter at home, next to Devon's license.

Devon:  Seriously?  You don't have a current insurance card? 

Officer:  How about a registration?

Me: Here you go. Oh wait, that is from '09.  Here.  Oh wait, that is from '08.  Here, this one is from last year.

(officer walks back to his car)

Me: I haven't paid this month's car payment.  Maybe he'll just confiscate the whole vehicle.

Devon: What is wrong with you?

Me:  I don't know. 

(Laughter from the backseat.  My mom and Molly are here visiting, and they think that this scenario is pretty darn funny, and my mom takes a picture to commemorate the occasion)

Officer: I didn't site you for not carrying your license or a current insurance card, but here is a violation for expired tabs.

Devon:  Thank you officer.  We'll get that taken care of right away.

The fine was $124,

which is more than the cost to renew the tabs :(

The moral of the story-

Renew your vehicle tabs before they expire!

By the way, at this exact moment two years ago, I was pushing.
I was only 10 minutes away from meeting my little man face to face.
That was a great night!

He is Risen!

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 3:20 & 21

The Mama Vacation

I have often talked about taking a mama vacation.  I've learned that for moms, a "family vacation" is really just a "trip", because though the kids and daddy are enjoying a significant variation from their regular daily routine, a mama is still a mama, busy doing mama things.  I love trips- don't get me wrong- but I've longed for a vacation- a real break from my own routine. 

And I nearly missed out on my first-ever mama vacation.  Less than 48 hours before I was to be on a plane headed to sunnier places, I came down with the stomach flu and was curled up on the floor of the bathroom at the throne of the toilet bowl.  Sadly, the flu bug spread, and when Devon dropped me off at the airport on Friday morning, with Lucy in the backseat barfing into a plastic bag, he promised me that he could handle everything.  He told me that I needed to get on my flight and try my best not to worry.  So, with a baggy of Saltine crackers and with tears in my eyes, I walked away from my ill little family...  AND HAD THE BEST WEEKEND EVER!

I arrived in San Diego to find warm sun and blue skies and I remembered oh yeah, people actually live like this!  I must have taken half a dozen pictures of the cloudless sky, as if it was an endangered species.  And each time that we sat down to eat at a restaurant, I remembered oh yeah, I don't have to order food for the kids that they probably wouldn't eat anyway.  And as we window shopped in downtown La Jolla or at the Fashion Valley mall, I remembered oh yeah, I don't have a stroller to maneuver through the doorways or aisles and I don't have to be mindful of when the next exhaustion induced toddler meltdown should occur.

I like vacation. :)

Just as I'd hoped, Allison, Andrea and I- "The A Team" as we like to call ourselves- picked up right where we left off as if no time has passed since we were roommates in Santa Barbara ten years ago, except that now we have stretch marks and wedding rings.  We spent our time together doing just what I'd expected- talking, shopping, walking, eating, drinking, laughing, and when we absolutely had to, we'd sleep. 

Even though we stayed busy as tourists, this trip was very relaxing and low-key.  One of my favorite parts of the trip was a walk to the beach by our hotel in La Jolla.  I loved walking in the sand and listening to the water and just savoring my time with these girls.  I hope it isn't another three and a half years before we are all together again!

It was really tough to say goodbye to such a fabulous weekend, but it was, of course, nice to be reunited with Devon and the kids.  True to his word, Devon took care of all the sickies and was an A+ daddy. 

Thanks Dev! 

And thanks A & A!

I'm Baaaaack!

I am home from a wonderful weekend away with my girlfriends, and while my to-do list is a mile long and my children are biting at my heels for attention, I only have a few moments to check into blogworld and say hello.  Hello!

San Diego was even better than I could have imagined. Details are coming soon, but here is a glimpse of some sunshine, blue ocean, and three happy mamas! 

Anticipation

Something fantastic is going to happen this week.

I am going to board a plane by myself. 

I am going to fly to sunny San Diego, California.  Did you catch that?  Sunny!

I am going to find my girlfriends at the airport as if I am on a scavenger hunt, or like I'm on the Amazing Race and the finish line is the three-way hug between me and Andrea and Allison.  A million dollar hug, indeed.

We are going to kick it all weekend long.  We are going to kick it like we used to kick it way back when cool people said "kick it." 

We are going to walk on the beach (omg the beach!).

We are going to shop and eat and drink and relax and talk and talk and miss our babies, of course.

Oh, how I'm going to miss these babies!

I am going to call home to check in, and I will secretly hope that Devon will sound exhausted from taking care of our children and will say something along the lines of I just don't know how you do it all, honey!  But I will be relieved and happy when he tells me that everything is going great and that I shouldn't worry at all and that I should go buy myself an expensive gift, like a Michael Kors handbag or something.  (hehe!)

I will take a nice deep breath of salty air and recognize that it is okay to occasionally step away from my role as a mama in order to remember who I am as an individual- a person without three extra appendages named Joe, Lucy and Max.

I will take delight in the comfort of the friendship that I share with my girlfriends- a friendship that has formed to such a nice fit, contouring to each of us and our personalities, likes and dislikes, fears and silly quirks.  I know these girls well, and I love that they know me well too.  So comfortable.

And along with the comfort, I will look for newness.  Surely we have all changed.  We've each had a baby since our last visit, and there have been job changes and moves and 30th birthdays.  We are the same but also different.  I am so looking forward to seeing how our friendship takes shape around the new parts of each of us.

And I will return home refreshed and grateful.

I cannot wait!

Santa Barbara 2002



Great Wolf Lodge!

On Thursday morning, Devon and I told the kids, "Get your swimsuits and your pajamas- we are going to the Great Wolf Lodge!"

The Great Wolf Lodge is a hotel/water park that is just over an hour away from where we live.  We've never been there before, so we weren't sure what to expect, but I'm happy to report that our overnight adventure was a complete success!

The water park is indoors and is kept nice and warm around 86 degrees, which was such a treat since spring is running late in the Pacific Northwest!  Joe and Lucy got into the water and down the slides as fast as they could, but Max took a bit longer to adjust to the random splashes and sprays.  At first, he was a bit of a party pooper. 

Our party pooper is actually, um, pooping.  Too much info?

I didn't take many pictures in the water park- I was too busy (and wet) for much picture taking!

The hotel is really nice and lodge-y.  It is more like a giant slumber-party than a hotel- why stay in your room when there is so much to do in the lodge?  Families were hanging out in their jammies, eating ice cream, playing in the arcade...  good old fashioned family fun!

There is a scavenger hunt-type game called MagiQuest that Joe played with a special wand that we bought for him (the wands are all the rage), so he was running all over the first 5 floors of the hotel, and Lucy would follow behind with her own wand, pointing it at pictures on the wall or statues or treasure chests, all of which would somehow respond to her magic wand. 

Instead of a wand, we saved a few bucks and bought Max this colorful substitute, and we had him fooled for a little while!  But once he realized that his wand was yummy, his wizard days were over.

I was really hoping for a great updated family photo.  After several attempts, here are a couple of the better ones, plus a silly one where we pretend to be asleep but Max wouldn't cooperate so we only got his foot in the shot!

Oh well.  We tried!

We are already looking forward to our next visit to the Great Wolf Lodge!

We were a bit sad to leave (some of us more than others!).

Guess What Chicken Butt

That is the phrase that pays 'round here.

Lucy says it over and over, throwing her head back in fits of laughter.  Max follows her lead, laughing as if it is the funniest thing he has ever heard.

Guess what chicken butt!  hahahahahahahahahahahaha!

And then I get annoyed and say Okay, Lucy, that is enough.

And Joe stays suspiciously quiet.  I'm pretty sure that he is the guilty party who taught this silly rhyme to Lucy.

Anyway, guess what.

It is spring break, and we've been busy doing fun stuff to fill the time. 

Today we ventured down to the Point Defiance Zoo with my friend (Devon's cousin) Sarah and her kids Ainsley and Liam.  We brought along Joe's friend Dylan for a grand total of 6 kids and 2 mamas.  We had a really great time, and my personal favorite part of the day was the shark exhibit- the sharks were huge and amazing (and freakin' scary!). 

Joe has pretty much had non-stop hang-out time with some of his favorite friends, including a couple of sleepovers, and he even got to go on a little "man date" with Devon to see the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie.  I am making sure that he really enjoys this week off from school because we are now approaching the final 2 months of the school year and he is going to have to give his best effort to balance baseball and school and wrap it all up in June and then he can take a deep breath and he will be our big 7th grader!!!  Whoa!  He had an orthodontist appointment yesterday, and he no longer has to wear his retainer!  I'm not sure who was more excited about this news, me or him.  I can now cross off Joe might lose his retainer from my list of things to worry about each day. :) 

I got a chance to go out with some girlfriends last night, which is always good for the soul, you know??  It is so nice to laugh and cry and cover every conversation topic possible before we realize that we are tired mamas who are out past bedtime.

So, overall, we are all having a pretty great week.

Although, would you believe that it is snowing here right now???  Spring break just isn't what it used to be!

Devon and I do have something special planned for the next couple of days, but we are being vague and non-committal when we talk to the kids about our plan. They (Joe and Lu) pretty much have it figured out, but it is still fun for us to say I don't know what we are going to do! I guess you'll have to wait and see! Max isn't really in on the fun of the "mystery plan". He just wakes up everyday and asks, "Merry's house?"

Hopefully our plan will be a great adventure for all, and I'll be sure to report back!

It is time for me to press the "publish post" button and then cuddle up next to Devon.  Survivor is waiting on our DVR, and my husband is waiting patiently to press play!

Chicken butt!