Happy Halloween!

The crew was quite a collection this year! We have Vitruvius (from the Lego Movie), Elsa (like at least 50% of the little girls we saw around!), a Stormtrooper, a construction worker (or as Nevyn says "struction site wor-er"), and a baby mummy. I think this picture captured the kids' personalities a lot better than some of the more "perfect" shots with neat smiles and everyone looking at the camera. Efrym was not impressed with any of it, as he has a bit of a cold. Babies with colds are some of the most miserable creatures. He only wants to sleep being held. He slept in the Boba (baby carrier) most of the hour we trick or treated.

So I do this thing...

I always swear I am going to get better about blogging here. And then I don't. What can you do?

A quick catch up. We moved. Twice. We also added a 7th member to the family just weeks before moving the second time. Meet Efrym:

August 28th, 2:07 am, 8lb 13oz, 21.5 inches. He's a snuggly love and Nevyn is just smitten.

And life marches on! I've been homeschooling, which is quite a trick with 3 school age kids, a preschooler and a newborn plus moving!

Here's to more content in the future and hoping I quit neglecting it so much!

Slacking again!

Tho this time I think I have a good excuse:


Nevyn joined our family on July 29th at 5:53pm after 2 very intense hours of labor. He was 8lbs and 20 inches long. He's an absolute joy and a wonderful addition to our family.



Gyven and Kyra started school last week and are very excited about it. They are enjoying everything from riding the bus to playing on the playground and going to the library. They were both definitely ready for the new year to start. The only part they don't seem to like is the new strictness of bedtime and what time they have to get up!

I Have Been A Terrible Slacker

It has been so BUSY the last few months! In March we put in our notice to the house we were renting, as we were preparing to buy our first home! The last day of March I turned in the keys and the kids and I stayed in a hotel that night, and the next morning we picked up Patrick from the airport and began the drive from WA to OK! When we got to OK we were staying in a hotel until we closed on the house. We were supposed to close about two weeks later. That didn't happen, and the rescheduled closing date fell during a two week training class for Patrick in TX! When the closing date was rescheduled, the kids and I drove down to TX to spend some time with Patrick and see my dad and his wife. The week we were supposed to drive to my dad's and then back to OK, my van broke down! We had it repaired, and I drove it to my dad's without incident. But on the drive back to OK, the van broke down again, and this time it was all over. The repair estimate is more than the worth of the vehicle, so we called it a loss, Patrick and my dad came to rescue us from the little town in the middle of nowhere in TX where we spent the night and after we got back to OK, we rented me a vehicle to carry us through the next weekend to the again rescheduled closing date and while we got the things we needed to set up the house before we could really live there. We finally closed on the house (the picture is from that day, when we first got to the house after it was ours!), and then just a week ago we purchased a new-to-us Chevy Express van. It's been an expensive and very busy few months! And in just a couple more months we will welcome baby Nevyn, so we're trying very hard to get things unpacked and in order before he decides to make his appearance.

I've really not posted since Christmas?

Sorry, I'm really sorry.

Have some adorable pictures of the kids during our trip to Portland last week (we spent 4 days there while Patrick was attending a conference) to make up for it.











Ok, this one isn't from our trip, but it fits the 'adorable' requirement:

Merry Christmas!

Neglecting this again!

Gyven turned 6, and we had the first snowfall of the year since the last time I posted! The kids have been FASCINATED by the snow. Gyven and Kyra keep asking if the snow means it's Christmas, or at least time to put up the tree (the answer to both questions is a very solid 'no'). Sidney is both fascinated with, amused by and terrified of the snow. We took him and Kyra outside today while Gyven was in school, and Sidney would laugh and run around, having a great time, until he actually touched the snow. Then he was absolutely horrified. "Wet!!!!!!" He doesn't yet say 'cold' or I assume he would have said that, instead! Instead of pulling himself up when he fell in it, he just laid there and cried "Wet!" until Patrick or I would pick him up and brush him off, and then he wanted nothing more than to go inside. Then as soon as he warmed up, he was desperate to go back outside. So much so, that when Patrick opened the door, Sidney dashed out with his jacket and gear still off, and promptly fell into the snow again, with yet more wails of "Wet!"