5th Annual Guenther Oktoberfest

We left Dufur to head to the Guenther family Oktoberfest. Everybody had fun and the weather was especially kind as it held the rain back. There were a couple of games and contests going on at all times which mixed things up a little. Every year there is more and more and Maisey always spends much of her time at the kids craft table. You can come mingle, eat German food (i.e, brats, pretzels, German salads, dessert), dance, or play games. This year Maisey and Ruby both tied the kids "Yodelling" contest... I didn't think she would do it but she does love the stage and any microphone she can get her hands on!I did such a horrible job remembering to take pictures! This year we didn't get any group photos of the Guenther family. Being out there with Ryley-boy changed things up a little since I left the party to feed him and meet his needs, but at least I got a couple pictures of the kids.

Here is a video of Maisey warming up before the crowd got out there to dance. As the night goes on, more and more people dance.

We had another great year and we hope the family understood that we were on "baby" time. We weren't much help (or any) and we came as guests.

The Sorenson's

This past weekend before settling in Hood River we passed on through to Dufur to spend a night with our best family friends, The Sorenson's. We hardly get to see each other these days with our busy schedules and the 2+ hour drive, but we sure enjoy hanging out when we do. The kids sure grow a lot between visits and so it makes our visits seem even more spread out. However, through blogging, e-mail and cheap long distance rates, we can still talk daily (which our schedules don't hardly permit anymore) and time never feels like it is passing by as quickly as it really is.

We had a great time eating all of the fresh food from their garden, or Paul's garden. Since they moved out to the country Paul has become more and more "Organic". He grows many, many things in their BIG, big garden. He made us calzones for dinner after making his own pizza sauce (all from the garden), we stuffed them with their fresh basil, broccoli, tomatoes, cilantro, green onions, and who knows what else. While we were there he also canned peach preserves and I can't wait to make them on my own next time.

Thanks for the fun visit Sorenson's! We can never get enough of you!!!

Who's Fault?

Who's fault is it really? Is it the caregivers fault who feeds the baby or the baby's when baby food manages to "travel" over every centimeter of skin and clothing? I try to be so careful and "clean-up" as I go, but this little boy still has to be changed after each feeding, even with a bib! I've had enough of the mess and I made a vow with myself to 'strip' him down before each feast in order to save on laundry and in the long run, time. Hopefully he won't become a nudest because from now on he's eating naked!

"Hair Fun"

I just discovered (thanks to Jamie) that there are many hair blogs out there in the cyber world. This past week Maisey and I (mostly me) have had some fun discovering them. Here are a couple of things we've tried so far.

Four Braids Crossed. This picture doesn't do justice to this style because after taking the picture we pinned the top ponies down. If she had longer hair we were suppose to curl the hair that wasn't braided or straighten it. It later looked like this:

*This is not Maisey though!

Two french braids pulled back into a pony.

"Patience Braids" with 4 French Braids on the side.

After the "patience braids". This was a fun style for soccer (when braided) and very practical because we didn't have to do her hair for 2 1/2 days.

She's Off!

On Saturday we took Maisey to the church parking lot to teach her to ride her bike (I actually cheered and Dad did the initial pushing). We were so surprised when she rode on her own after the first push and we wish that we'd tried earlier this summer. She was (and still is) so proud of herself (as are we), and watching her took me back to when I first learned to ride a bike. My dad followed me around our cul-de-sac until I really got the hang of it. It was so sweet to watch Chad do the same with Maisey and she was especially "lovey" (appreciative) afterwards.

She is such a sweet girl and she has such a loving, playful daddy.
This picture was actually "take 2" because the first time she tilted her head and it looked a little "x" rated. She said she wanted it to be romantic. Where in the world do kids get this stuff? Certainly not in our house.

Take 1: Listen for the shrieks near the end... It was pretty humorous.

Take 2: She's getting the feel of it!

Momma and Baby

Last weekend we were crazy enough to go to the zoo on a Saturday (we always go on weekdays). However, it wasn't too bad since we were there around 9:30 am. The kids did so good while we waited in line 35 minutes to see the newborn baby elephant. We agreed it was worth it and we are glad we made it there as a family before it's no longer a baby (Chad hadn't been in some time).We were so close, if only it weren't for the big pane of glass. Maisey had a great time using her new zoo key that we finally paid 2.25 for. She would turn the info boxes on in English, then Spanish, and again in English. Was she actually listening though? I'm still not sure but I am sure she had fun.We did more walking this particular day than usual, sort of in circles (I mean more circles than the regular route), but the weather was cool and comfy for my liking, so we stayed much longer than usual. Afterwards we would have liked to relax (similar to what this Polar Bear is doing) but it was off to a birthday party, the grocery store, and other Saturday duties!

They Did It!

The makers of Pantene really did do it! Have you noticed my hair lately? I don't mean when it is pulled back and crazy but when it's down. Well, when I'm not using salon formula, color preserving shampoo, I alternate with "over-the-counter" stuff. And there is a great new shampoo on the market, that really helps with frizz (I don't even have to use any product before I straighten-though I probably still should)!Just look for the new Aqua Current Science.

If Only...

If only I had time to take a 45 minute bubble bath whenever I wanted!

A Day of Firsts

Yesterday was Maisey's first day of kindergarten. She thought she would be shy (which means she was planning on it because sometimes she is and the majority of the time she's not), but when she sat at her name tag a familiar face from our pool was her table mate. Once she made the connection, (which was immediate) she asked me if I could leave. Today, as we walked in the school she was giving me a little "coaching" and asked me once again (this time before we even entered the class) if I could leave quickly. I guess we don't have to worry about any insecurities at this time, and she always amazes me at her adaptability in each thing she does. 1st DayMaisey picked out her outfit (which is always our battle- even down to the hair bows). Today I proposed that we take turns every other day, but I may still need to use a little persuasion on her days (today she wore a pink skirt, pink shirt, white church shoes, and blue tights- not to school though)!

I just finished this digital scrapbook and it arrived in the mail the day before school started. I wasn't really sad that she was beginning school (I hadn't even really thought about it as anything other than exciting- until I read the book I wrote to her that was). It made me realize how quickly the last 5 years went and how she will (hopefully) be in school for at least the next 17 years, etc,... Babies grow up so quickly!

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The same day Maisey started school Ryley "started" baby food. He is 5 months now and we don't intend to feed him food regularly for awhile, but I was eager to see what he thought of it since he's always watching us when we eat and grabbing at our food. We don't want to fill him with grain yet since he still has a sensitive GI Tract, so we went for staining-orange carrots.

The anticipation.

During.

Household Duties

I use to love to iron believe it or not- that was until I had a husband whose wardrobe was mostly easily-wrinkled cotton! Now, I have a "little man" whose wardrobe also consists of button-ups, many of which have cuffed sleeves! I guess I need to find a love for a new kind of fashion or teach a class in the home on ironing!

*I know Ryley's shirts are small (some are pictured above), but I can just see the future. There's a price for fashion, manual labor- and I mean literally!

Little Helper

The other day I decided to re-organize my closet and Ryley was fascinated with all the hangers (at one time he even buried himself in a big pile that he kept grabbing at). Although he tried putting every different curve in his mouth without much luck, he still had fun and managed to "help me" get the job done through laughing!

Note: I really do make my bed but in all the pictures I take it appears otherwise... These down comforters are just so fluffy!

Crawling- Part One

As I was cooking dinner last night, Chad yelled, "Honey come look at this!" as he does often when I'm cooking dinner. That seems to be the time when everything "Big" happens, i.e. when Ryley started rolling, etc,... Ryley is now making an attempt to crawl... It was quite entertaining and after several bouts of laughing, I remembered my camera (for Family entertainment)! Maisey never crawled (she walked before 9 months and crawled once, the day after walking), so we are excited and amused to watch such a developmental milestone. From our experience, (mind you we don't have any), we aren't sure how long the process generally takes. In the meantime, we will continue to cheer Ryley on, and help him out as we did after taking the clip, by removing the blanket from under him.

Synchronized Swimming

As the Olympics rolled around I pulled up and watched some Synchronized Swimming on the web. Maisey watched too and fell in love with it. We watched some interviews and in one of them a swimmer said she started training at 6. Since then, Maisey keeps talking about practicing so she can take lessons when she is 6! I keep telling her that I don't think they have Synchronized swimming around here, but she is determined to find an instructor. Until then however, I have to be her partner! And boy do we look good together! Unfortunately for you, I could not record myself (can you feel the sarcasm?) but I was able to get a clip of Maisey.

Our Future Olympian!

Fall Soccer

We were so thrilled to hear that our Stake has an enormous soccer "organization". Its not really that organized- or formal, but tons of kids from all over the stake (and elsewhere), are involved in it. Maisey has soccer practice/games two times a week through October 9th. There are 9 4-5 year old teams and two kids from our ward are on her team. She is use to playing in a full size gym, and the area here is much smaller, but none-the-less she is finally outside rather than indoors like all of last year!

Team meeting.

Maisey "coaching" the team.

Maisey "comforting" Ana at their first practice. Ana just turned 4 the day before practice began and Maisey is so excited that she has a friend on the team- and a girl! She is use to being one of the few, and sometimes the only girl on many of her soccer and basketball teams.

The Last Bit of Sun

We aren't sure how many warm sunny days are left of summer, so whenever we feel the heat we hit the water. On Monday my Niece Peyton and Nephew Colby stayed over for a "back to school" sleepover and the kids were able to enjoy some pool time. Ryley opted not to swim this round but he sure enjoyed talking to and watching the kids.

Maisey wasn't able to attend a couple of birthday parties this week (after months, and months, of no birthday parties) so we celebrated by having our own birthday cake!

During the sleepover we made a yummy snack of frozen treats (pictured inside of the cookie cutters on the tray-not yet frozen) that were perfect for a warm day. A simple recipe: 2 cups of prepared chocolate pudding and 1 1/4 cup of thawed Cool Whip. Mix the two together, place inside of cookie cutters, and freeze. You can even decorate/embellish your frozen treat by adding candy- though we did not.

Quatama and The Oregonian

On Friday we toured Maisey's new school, Quatama. She is excited to be one of the first kids to ever attend this school and we are eager for Kindergarten to begin on September 4th.

There is a funny story to this afternoon... I admit to being very picky about Maisey's clothing- even too picky at times. *But, I do let her choose what she wears almost every day and we also compromise and agree most of the time. Anyway, this day we went shopping at the mall and she used some of her birthday money to get a Hannah Montana t-shirt. First of all, I don't care for t-shirts, and secondly, I don't care for licensed clothing. I thought it could be a night shirt, but afterwards she begged and begged me to wear it. I told her she could put it on and she changed in the car. After getting home, and after some whining, I told her she could just wear it to her school tour. As we walked in the doors in to the center of a large group of people, a lady approached us and asked if she could follow us, photograph us, and interview us for the Oregonian. Just our luck, she took off her cute dress and was wearing a big over sized licensed t-shirt. Oh well, she drove the journalist crazy by posing for every picture, and I had to explain to Maisey several times that she needed to act "natural". She's cute no matter what she wears and she was very happy!

Quatama is 80,000 sq. ft. and it can accommodate 600 students (they are starting will 500 in Sept. '08)

It's definitely more industrial looking than Orenco (the fairly new school she was going to attend before the construction of this one) but we feel so lucky to have all the "extras" new construction offers.

*Check out Thursday's Oregonian (one of the inner sections) to see pictures of us on the tour!

Dessert Anyone?

On Saturday we had a game night and enjoyed some desserts. We had a fun night and thank those who attended. It was a busy weekend since there aren't many left until summer ends, but we had 9 couples which was a good number for playing. Key Lime (Maisey's Preference) Chocolate Cake with Marbled Cream Cheese (Chad's Preference)White Brides Cake ( White Cake w/Raspberry filling and White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting- My Preference)

Bedtime Stories

Ryley was actually really interested in the bedtime stories we read tonight and it was hilarious watching his excitement. I guess we should have taken a video clip because his muscles were tense and moving, and he reacted differently with each page.

I hope he likes to read. Maisey continually tells me she needs a "break" from the library. Until recently we went every week (since she was 18 months or so) and now she doesn't show much interest. I'm sure things will change over the next year as she learns to read all on her own.

FHE

Yeah, I got an FHE sign! I've been wanting one for some time and just as I was getting ready to make my own, I found this never used one at a garage sale. Although I was sad for the family that didn't use it, I was sure excited to pay the $5.

I don't really have anywhere to put it but someday when our kids can read, we will write our names on the tags and find it the right home. It may just have to hang in our room out of sight for the time being.

Cabbage Patch Kids

Maisey shares a love for CPK's just as I did when I was little. However, I only had one. She (as you can see in the picture, not including some at Grandma's) has several. A couple of days ago we rented some episodes of the Cabbage Patch Kids and they really took me back. Chad and I laughed constantly as she sang to songs to us (and all her CPK's, over, and over, and over)!

Maisey got the whole CPK gang together for the viewing.
These were mine when I was little and last week I turned them over to Maisey. I wonder how much these things are worth now... To me they are priceless. OK, I won't be that dramatic but it is neat to see your kids share an interest in the same things you once did.