Working Mamas

To all of you working mama's out there, have I got a lot of respect for you. Over the past three weeks I have been working full time during the days at school, then 4 nights a week of volleyball, plus full weekends of volleyball starting at 7:30 and going until at least 4...which all adds up to one busy mama! I have felt the stress and the impact on myself, but also on my family. I am the kind of person who likes to be busy and active and doing things, but this is just too much!

As I've shared with most of you in the past few days, I always thought I would rather be teaching then home because I thought it would be easier...haha. After this experience, I have pulled my application from part time work for next year and realized that I want to be home with my boys! I love being able to fill our days how I want them to be filled, hanging out with friends, taking special trips, and going to the gym. I can't wait for our pool to be open so we can spend the days swimming in the sun and relaxing as a family. Now when I am home, all I want to do is sleep...which isn't fun for the rest of my family. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE teaching and am so glad that's what I decided to do...just not yet.

So here's to you, you working mama's, you stay-at-home mama's, you mama's who find ways to make working at home a reality. We have a hard job no matter which way you look at it! It's a hard balance, and I think that what's important is that you make the choice for what works best for you and your family. We all are different and have different situations, but have to take care of our families...no matter what that looks like for you. I wish all of you the best on YOUR journey with your family and hope that life brings you all the joy you want and deserve from it! Remember to take care of yourself too...it means a happier, healthier family. Find/make time for you to work on having that "whole" body: strong mind, body, spirit, and relationships.

For me, I'm ready for a break and to be home and enjoy my family...that's 4 more days for me! In the meantime, I'm sorry for a boring blog lately...I'll get on pictures and more updates starting next week!

Tulip Festival

I finally had a day off (teacher work day) where I got to spend time with my boys! I had been looking forward to today for a while, we went to the tulip festival with some of our friends from church and the club while Andrew played golf as a part of his "celebration of me!" haha.

We journeyed out to the tulip festival in Woodburn where we used to go all the time growing up. It's funny how all the things I didn't want to go do with my family are now things that I want to do with mine...hopefully it will be a while before they don't want to hang out with us:) The kids all had a great time playing at the different activities...though my kid's favorite was the ducky race where you pump water from an old fashioned pump and the water pushes your duck down a ramp...Jacob just liked to get wet.


Serena, Keeley, and Tyson
Jacob was in awe of the flowers, he did so good just pointing and not grabbing the flowers. I couldn't get a good picture of Noah.
It was so fun getting to spend some time together again with my boys and with some friends in God's beautiful creation!

Last Day

Tomorrow is Andrew's LAST DAY of school! I am so proud of him and all the hard work he has put in over the past few years. He got to relax tonight with a two hour massage...he deserved it! It's hard to balance being a husband, father, student, employee, friend, and everything else he needs to juggle, but he's done a great job! I can't wait to see what this next chapter in life brings us! Way to go, Drew!

Working...

So I'm working full time this week and the next two, and have officially decided (though I may need a reminder) that it's not for me. I always thought it was because being at work is easier than taking care of two little kids, but as it turns out, I still have to do all the stuff for the boys and house, and work full time, and all my volleyball stuff:) Which means I'm working about 65 hours a week outside of the home...and working out, Bible study, church, and somewhere in there making time for my family. Ok, now I'm complaining, but atleast I have great friends who came over tonight for our meal co-op! Now I don't have to worry about dinners this week, thanks guys!

Oh, and by the way, my hubby graduates in one week from today!!! Yay! I'm so proud of you Andrew!

He is Risen!

We had a special Easter today with our family. The highlight was Noah telling the Easter Story with our Resurrection Eggs. He's been reading the story a lot with Nana and Papa, and today was so interested and excited to "re-inact" it for us all. We had a great church service that we attended last night...we really love our church...we feel like we are in such a good place and making such great friends and getting to connect with your community. A lot of our friends from church also work out at the gym, which is great too.

The boys had a great morning hunting for their Easter baskets from Grammy and Pops! They were perfect! What a great day to celebrate our Risen Lord!
Nana and Papa and the boys with Auntie Cole below!
My handsome husband!
The lamby cake...a family tradition! Only real men wear pink...and we have real men:)
Opening Easter baskets this morning.
The boys found their in the coat closet after following their "map"
Noah did Easter eggs Larry & Bob style:)

Easter Egg Hunt

This morning I took the boys to an Easter Egg hunt at the school right down the street. There were lots of kids, but it was fun to get to participate! Both boys had fun gathering eggs, Jacob just picked them up and tried to stick them in his mouth, but boy was he excited about it! Noah loved filling his basket and really gets it this year. It was fun to do together and celebrate this side of Easter. We are excited about celebrating Jesus's Resurrection tomorrow and are so grateful for God's gift to us! Noah has been walking around the house singing, "Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest!"
I love this succession of pictures...this is how things work around our house:)

100th Post!

This is my 100th post! I don't really have anything great to write about, but I have loved blogging this past year just to share all the pictures with all of our family and friends we don't get to see all the time, especially Andrew's parents so they can enjoy the boys:)

We just got back from the gym as a family and both got our butts kicked, Jacob is taking his nap, then we are off for a family hike in the Gorge! We are really trying to get out with our boys and explore the beautiful area we live in. Tonight I'm going scrappin'...maybe I'll post the pictures of some of my favorite pages later...we'll see if I get motivated. Have a great weekend...make the most of your time with the ones you love and have a great Easter!

I'm Yours....

We were driving home tonight from Jessica & Issac's for our meal co-op, which was so yummy Jessica, thanks! The music playing of course, and I'm not the kind of mom who plays kid music, I listen to music I like (most of the time...there's an occasional Thomas song that plays, but for the most part it's regular good music). I was so surprised to hear Noah start singing quite a few words of Jason Mraz! I got so excited and then of course he started singing louder and more...so funny. Jason Mraz isn't exactly an easy person to sing along with either, so I was impressed! Next up was Rascal Flatts, and he was right there singing that too! Of course Jacob had to get in on the action too so was "singing" too:) How funny! I guess that means it's time for a new mix if my two year old has it memorized:)

Downtown

We journeyed downtown today since every time we drive through it to get to the Zoo or Children's Museum, Noah gets so excited to see the bridges and the water. We brought Noah's scooter and he scooted while we walked the waterfront. It was so cool to see so many active people down there exercising and spending time with friends. We stopped at the fountain and let the boys play for a while, then headed back to the car. It was fun to take a day off of work (I actually said no to a job to spend a family day together...big deal for me as this is normally one of my work days). I got to work out twice (a strength class and yoga with friends), Andrew got to play golf for 6 hours, and the boys had a great day with our whole family! We all got to enjoy the sun, and will be sad to see it leave us for a while, but we are hiking this weekend in the gorge together which will be fun too! Hope you got to have a good day in this beautiful weather too!
Daddy helping Noah in the fountain.
Noah riding on the scooter with Mt. Hood in the background.
Jacob and I looking at the boats and birds in the water...he's obsessed!

We LOVE Portland and it was fun to be able to experience it with our boys!

Community Garden

This is a picture of our work day at our Community Garden this past weekend, isn't it pretty? We are excited to be a part of starting this process with our community this year. We worked Saturday to put up all the fence posts and are getting ready to finish up all the work that goes along with starting up a community garden! Andrew and I both ruined our shoes because we forgot to wear boots:) It was so fun to see all the different types of people, all ages, all churches, all races, all backgrounds, and all the good that is going to come from this project! There are refuges, a preschool, and a retirement home all taking part in this, as well as different families from the community and churches. We each get a 20'x10' plot, so it will be fun to get the boys involved and see what becomes of it!

Sun!

What a difference a few sunny days makes on people's attitudes! It's great! I had an awesome day today, working a 1/2 day in the morning, then spending the afternoon with friends sitting on the patio, getting my first burn of the season:) All the kids were playing below us in a huge grassy yard running around. Noah and Jacob both stunk by the end of the day just from being outside and sweaty all day...I think it's a sign of what's to come. I took Noah's crocs off today and couldn't believe how stinky his feet were! I found Noah got into the preschool we wanted...yay! Then I went to the gym and got a good cross-fit workout in with a friend, came home and had dinner with the boys, then off to volleyball. Noah is obsessed with volleyball, and Jacob started his obsession tonight. He must have walked under the net a million times just grinning from ear to ear! Every day I am realizing just how much I love my boys and the stage that we are at...they are so fun to be around!

Tomorrow I am doing a strength class with a friend, going downtown to walk around with Andrew and the boys, coaching volleyball, dinner, yoga with another friend, then hanging out with Andrew! That's one nice thing about subbing is we can have a family day whenever we want! We are planning on soaking up the sun while we have it, sunburn and all:) I'm the only one in my family who burns...I'm missing the Puerto Rician blood...enjoy the nice weather!

Jacob's First Birthday Party!

We had a fun party with our family friends today for Jacob! We ended up doing a last minute change to have it at our house instead of at the school gym nearby because we didn't have very many people who could come. We were going to play volleyball and have the play structure for the kids, but it worked out great having it at our house too...though a little tight:) Thanks to all who came today, we felt so loved and supported, and we missed all of you who couldn't make it! I think Noah had more fun then Jacob because he knew more of what was going on, but it was so fun to see all the kids playing together! Everyone is growing up!

Paul and Jacob. Paul's wife came a little later and we forgot to take another picture!
Blowing out his candles.

Everyone eating our delicious meal!
Nana who helped make today a success! Thanks!
Our dear friends the Jansens.
Nate and Anne, a couple from our small group!
Luke, Tyler, and Keeley...we missed you Serena!
Hanging out watching all the kids play
Ben and Karen brought Noah a Thomas ball, so nice! Noah loved it!
Andrew's 2nd Mom, Rennie.