Mancamping (thanks for the title, Mr. Frederick)

Greg here.  This past weekend I took a two day camping trip with Joel, and Kari came for the second night.  The 'goal' of the trip was father-son bonding with other dads and sons from our church, that we might be able to actively teach our sons about the role of a husband/dad.  We had a blast running over bridges, hiking, throwing rocks in the river, catching frogs, making spears, chopping wood, burning wood, eating smores.  You get the picture.  But the true joys for me were the memories we made.  It was truly a great time with both of my kids, and hopefully this can become something of a tradition.

Oh yeah, it was kind of cold at night.  We were up at Lost creek, near Zigzag heading up Mt. Hood.  Thanks to my lovely wife for letting me go (and no, she didn't make me write this).

Gibberish and giggles

Gibberish and giggles from Andrea Moffat on Vimeo.

Outside play

Only a few more weeks until we say good-bye to our big, shaded, green backyard. Whenever I get sad about it, I just remind myself of the big, wonderful house we're moving to, and then I feel better. And really, our new backyard will be nice eventually, just not this summer.

The kids have been outside playing every day, rain or shine. We had the usual rough transition from school time to summer time (ie. all the kids home all day every day and not sure how to get along together), but I think we're through the initial fighting and bickering. Having them all have their own space will help--just have to last a few more weeks! We'll be packing and going on vacation, too, so I think the time is going to fly.

O, Bunny, Where Art Thou?

We have been searching for Aubrey's pink Bunny since Friday. Today is Tuesday. We have looked everywhere we can think of in our house, yard, and van. She just might be gone for good. At least she and Aubrey had one last hurrah, a time of joyous jumping before she went MIA. These photos are evidence that we had her in our possession Thursday at 1:32pm. Sure would be nice if you came back, Bunny. Aubrey misses you terribly when she tired or sad or hurt. "Sunday" Bunny (my attempt at a Bunny replacement a year ago and named by Grandma A as a cleaner, nicer bunny to take to church back when she used to need her there) just isn't quite cutting it.


"It's a little too bright out, Mommy."

If you spot a well-loved version of this Bunny, would you please let us know? She needs to come back to her three-year-old owner. Thanks.

Trading Spaces

I painted over our red walls as a courtesy to our "landlords" (remember, we're renters now) because...we are hoping to move in a month!









We are trading in our cute little house with a big backyard for this nice big house with not a lot of yard, and we are VERY excited about it! Our offer has been accepted, home inspection completed, and the appraisal has been ordered. If all goes well, we'll close mid July!















I love the kitchen and all the extra room we're going have. It's more than twice the size of our current home of 1187 sq.ft. We'll have some unfurnished rooms for a while, but that's ok. We'll slowly fill them up. We're just going to enjoy all the space for now.










I also love the bonus room upstairs that will be a playroom--never had a playroom before!
















We'll have four bedrooms as well as a den/office. Two kids will still share for now (Joel & Aubs now, other duos later), but we've got options if we want to make the den into another bedroom down the road. We currently have Kari, Joel, and Aubrey all in the same tiny room, with night-waker Grant in his own room. People have asked, "How is that working, three kids in one room?" And our response is,"Not very well, but we're making it work." We are very much looking forward to having that extra bedroom!

The house was built in 2007 but has never been occupied, so it's like we're moving into a brand new house. Crazy! The yard has not been landscaped and will take quite a bit of work to get it up to snuff and functional, but there's room for the trampoline, which was the main condition. We'll have room for a patio and garden, too, eventually.

We are in awe of the fact that God is allowing us to buy this beautiful home in the exact area we wanted to live and that we've been able to rent our own house for the last two months while we looked and waited. Kari will get to continue at East Orient (and live in the same neighborhood as lots of school friends), and Joel will join her there for kindergarten in the fall. We are feeling truly blessed.

*I was going to wait to post this because of the blog "jinx" phenomenon, but I just couldn't wait any longer. We're excited!

Naked Mole Rats, Ringtails, and Dinosaurs

We took a family trip to the zoo this weekend. Turns out Rose Parade day is a great day to go to the zoo! Everyone else in town appeared to be at the parade Saturday morning, and we had a fun time without any crowds. Kari decided she wanted to journal about the zoo, so she brought her paper and pencil and wrote down every animal she saw so she could write about it later. :)

The dinosaur exhibit is back for the summer, and the kids were SO excited. Aubrey didn't know about the "spitting" dinosaurs and got hit (but was fine with it), and Greg, who did remember the first one, got sprayed right in the face by the second spitting dino. We all got a good laugh out of that one! [See the two photos in the middle of the second row.]

Not too bad

Tubes are in, icky gooey fluid is out, and now Grant should be an even happier little man. Yeah!

Our night wasn't too bad. I fed him when he woke up at 12:30am, and then we woke him up at 3:30 to feed him again (the anesthesiologist called last night and said he could nurse up until 4am). It worked pretty well. He was cranky for the hour we were waiting for him to go back with the doctors, but we made it. He was REALLY unhappy afterwards but took a nap in the car and ate some food when we got home and felt much better.

Now, no more surgeries, hospitals, or doctor visits for a while, OK, family? Good. Let's enjoy summer!

Thus begins the nightly bath ritual

Grant was lucky to get two baths a week before this, but now he'll need one after almost every meal. My walls, floor, table, and chairs will also need a good cleaning every night. Babies are so messy! He started spitting his baby food back at us and letting us know he's ready for "real people" food. We're taking the not-so-subtle hint and letting him try it. Last night he had his first taste of spaghetti and ate some green beans along with it. We're still waiting for that fourth tooth to pop through. I wish it would hurry up, because he is CRANK-Y! I know he doesn't look like it here, but believe me, he has been pretty bad, for him anyway. If I didn't know he was on antibiotics, I'd say he had another ear infection. Who knows, maybe he does! We'll find out tomorrow--ear tube surgery day. I'm not too worried about the actual procedure, but I am dreading our night tonight. He won't be able to eat or drink past 2:15am, and nursing him is the only way I've been able to soothe him lately. His surgery is scheduled for 8:15am. Could be a long night/morning, or he could surprise us and be fine. We'll see. :)

A beautiful gift from God at the end of a bummer of a day

I had read and prayed with the kids before bed and was about to close their blinds when I saw this. We had just been talking about how we can trust God to keep his promises. It was the perfect visual aid. We went outside and enjoyed the view while it lasted.

The little man

Just in case we needed some extra confirmation that he really, truly does need tubes, Grant went and got another ear infection. The night waking/crying along with the inconsolable crying after a very short afternoon nap tipped me off this time. He goes in a week from tomorrow for the surgery, none too soon, apparently. He will be on antibiotics up until surgery day, so most crankiness between now and then can be attributed to teething, and I won't be wondering if it's his ears. He's doing pretty well, though, and still smiling! He now has three teeth in and the other front tooth about to pop through any day. Last weekend he took his first few steps, too. Everything is happening at once! He loves to push the shopping cart around the house, and the other kids love to help him. He's not quite there yet, but I think we are going to have a 10-month-old walker!  Here's some video of our smiley guy.

Grant cart walking from Andrea Moffat on Vimeo.