happy birthday to me

I got to open gifts from my guys before going to work...we just have too hard of a time waiting around here. Finn was so excited for my birthday. It was very sweet. He was almost as excited as I was! ;)

In fact, he spilled the beans the night before by whispering, "We got you garden shoes!" while Kenton was out of sight. :P I told him not to tell me what gifts they got for me & he said, "Don't tell Dad!" Stinker! I told Kenton anyway & I still had to wait until the morning to open my garden shoes!

They also gave me a fancy running watch that measures my heart rate & distance & such. It's quite complicated & will take me awhile to figure out, but it's cool. Kenton's motivated to help me learn to use it, so that will be great. Now I just have to keep up the jogging! :)

Carolyn was filling in with child care while Kenton's parents were in Finland & she offered to stay later so that I could go to lunch with Kenton. We ate at Sweet Basil, because I'm always jealous when Kenton goes there for lunch. It was very tasty & close to the Farmer's Market...we picked up some strawberries for my birthday dessert.

I went home for the afternoon, then took the boys to my parent's house so that Kenton & I could go to dinner. No cooking for me, on my birthday! ;)

We ate at Cafe Zenon & really enjoyed our meal.

Kenton decided to be brave & order a bottle of wine (their wine bottles are half off on Tuesdays!). We've never ordered a bottle of wine at a restaurant before, so we were quite thrown off by the little ceremony that followed. Kenton didn't know that he was supposed to taste the wine while the waiter was still there...so we felt like big dorks, but whatever! It was tasty wine.

I even drank a glass & I never drink wine! :)

After dinner, we met my family along with Carolyn & Jesse for dessert at our house - strawberry shortcake, of course! Kenton made the cakes & whipped cream & Finn helped me cut up the strawberries.

He also helped me blow out the candles - a "2" + 9 candles = 29! Eek!

Cedar made the rounds & helped everyone eat their dessert!

My audience for the opening of gifts. :P

Such lovely gifts: flowers, pretty clothes, garden cart, garden table...

...garden hat, a rooster tray
(in honor of Stella: our hen that turned out to be a rooster, whom we then ate) :\
I felt very spoiled!

I loved spending my birthday with family & friends. At the end of the day, Finn said, "I love Mama's birthday!" I have such sweet boys.

in the garden

The veggies have been loving the warmer weather!

My pumpkin seems to be doing the best, of the squash type vegetables...though I haven't seen any actual pumpkins forming yet. I've been training the vines to wrap in a circle, to keep it from over taking the lettuce before it's done. Not sure if that's ok, but I suppose I'll find out. The pitiful melon is growing (top left), though much slower. I seem to have trouble with squash/melon/cucumbers.

For example: my two tiny cucumbers have hardly grown since they sprouted! They keep changing from yellow to crispy. I can't get the watering correct. I finally planted some new seeds & those have sprouted. What did I do wrong with the first ones?? So strange!

But our tomatoes are giving us hope! We were so excited to find several tiny Brandywine tomatoes forming! Can't wait for those...

This is the only tomato plant that I started from seed that has shown any promise. It is still tiny, but is finally growing in its own pot of soil from our compost pile. I think I'll try seeds again next year, but will make sure I grow them in a warmer spot than the garage. Hopefully, I'll have more luck with starting my own tomatoes next year...

Lots of green beans too! Finn loves helping my find the long ones. He even ate some! He's been doing so well with eating all of the vegetables we've grown in our garden. Yay!

And for a touch of color, the dahlias are blooming!

More dahlias. Love them!


***Check out An Oregon Cottage for more garden inspiration!***

sadie's 7th birthday

We celebrated Sadie's 7th birthday at the National Academy of Artistic Gymnastics!

Cedar was just mobile enough to enjoy some of the equipment!

Some of the kids participating in an obstacle course.

Finn found his own obstacle course!

Cedar loved the trampoline. When Kenton stopped bouncing him, Cedar started flopping his body around like a fish out of water to keep the bouncing going. So funny!

Sadie's cake request - white cake!

Sweaty boy.

Birthday girl!

Reading our card.

A summer dress!

Sweet preschoolers, watching Sadie open her gifts.

Griffin running towards the big foam pad!

Cedar's turn!

Finn's big jump!

Kenton freaking me (& probably Mummi) out! ;) Cedar held on tight & Kenton didn't let him drop. Not funny, though! :P

Our boys were so tired after the party - such fun! Thanks for inviting us Sadie. Hope you had a great birthday!

visit from the millers!

Our dear friends Sandy, Nicole & Adalie came down to Eugene for a visit. We got to host a bbq lunch on Saturday, July 17th with the Greens & Gibsons, too- so much fun!

Sandy & Addi

Emma watching Finn enjoy his cookie.

All the kids - we started our small group without any kids...now look at them! ;)
Finn, Cedar, Macey, Ethan, Emma & Adalie

The big kids enjoying the (freezing) bigger pool!

Cedar

The blondies playing together

Goofy face!

The whole group!
We've missed the Millers so much & it was so great to spend the afternoon with them! :)

summer fun

At the beginning of July, we watched the Ruddick boys so that Josh & Gretchen could go to a birthday dinner for a friend. It was a hot day, so we had the tiny pool filled with water. The boys played really well together & had a great time!

This picture cracks me up - censored for Cedar's sake. :) All 3 big boys patiently waiting their turn as the naked toddler takes his time his time on the slide. At least the big boys seem amused. ;)

Goofing around is so much fun! We've since acquired a slightly larger pool, which would accommodate the cousins a bit better. :)

Finn has also been learning to ride a bike with training wheels. Our neighbor, Dave, dug this bike out of a dumpster with Finn in mind. :P Our kind of friend! We love a great find, for free!

Wandering around while big brother rides his bike.

It's a girl's bike...but that's ok! Finn doesn't know the difference. :)

Cedar's doing great with the whole walking thing...still takes lots of tumbles & often has a bump, bruise or scrape on his face. :( All part of the learning process... He's trying to run, so I'm sure the tumbles are far from over. :| Cedar's a good sport, though!