Happy Birthday Mel!

So, today our friend Melanie turned the big 3-0. We went to a party in honor of the occasion at her friend Kiera's house in Seattle. It was lots of fun (Thanks Kiera for hosting!). Friends, family, food...what more could you want? Maybe a birthday present that arrived on time? Yeah, that's right, the birthday present that we got Mel, didn't make it. That however is a whole different post where I rant about my post office, and their incompetence. We'll save that for another day.

If you know Mel, you know what a remarkable woman she is. Melanie and I weren't friends in school, even though we went to Jr High and High School together. It wasn't that we didn't like one another. It was more like we didn't have many of the same interests and shared no classes. We just never had the opportunity to connect. So ten years later, we get an "invite" on myspace to be friends with "the Class of '97 Reunion page." Not knowing who was running it, I offered that Tom and I would be happy to help in any way they needed. Yup--Tom was REAL pleased with me! Very quickly we were asked to be on the committee, and we happily accepted. So began our journey to a FABULOUS reunion!!! Melanie is an event planner for a MAJOR company...you would have to be living under a rock to not know this company. The awesomeness of our reunion is a tribute to her skills at organization and delegation. All of our vendors commented that they had never been to a 10 year reunion that ran so well, and where people had such a good time. Our fearless leader led us through the planning while we battled many obstacles, including three of us (Melanie, Jill, and me) becoming pregnant during planning! It was hilarious seeing the three of us reunion night, in our varying stages of pregnancy. Me--waddling around having contractions, Melanie with a cute little round belly, and Jill barely showing!

Anyway...Mel is the epitome of AWESOME. She has pretty much always been an athlete. She played college basketball at Gonzaga, even! And now, just after she turns 30, she is running her first MARATHON. Yes, a marathon...And this girl works full time, and has two cute little boys and a great hubby at home. She is an inspiration to so many of us. So for her birthday I wanted to get her something SUPER special to commemorate not only her birthday, but her first marathon. I got on ETSY, of course! I started looking around, and found an amazing artist who makes custom jewelry. So, this is what I contracted for her to make for Mel.....

(This is the actual necklace that is waiting at the post office.)

I got on the computer at Kiera's house, and showed her. I am happy to say that she loved it! The artist is my3gemz, and her ETSY shop is: www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=29634. Please go visit her shop!!!

Anyway...I am so lucky to have Melanie in my life now. She is a wonderful, caring, grounded, amazing woman. And she is my friend!! Happy Birthday to You, Mel!! To 30 more wonderful years!

A Day at the Zoo

Today Jackson's class went on a field trip to the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. He asked me if I would be a chaperone...I tried to explain to an 8 year old about not having sick days or vacations days...it was depressing to say the least:P Riding to the rescue was his best pal, Auntie "Ree Ree." Auntie has these awesome things called personal days!! So, she took one and had the experience of her life. Her text messages throughout the day were HILARIOUS! We heard about 40 screaming kids on a bus, heat exhaustion, and ice cream. As tired as she is, I'm sure she will always treasure the memory.

On the famous bus ride..."Save me" her text message said:)

Her charges: Tyler, Jackson and Dylan
(We try to make the boys wear hats when they are going to be in the sun for any length of time. JT has fair skin like me, so better to be safe than sorry. This one is from a defunct uniform of his daddy's.)

Jackson and Dylan
(Yes, Jackson is a cheeseball)

Apparently they had a great time even in the 85 degree weather. They were all tired and hot though, and kept asking to sit in the shade for a while:) Some of the kids didn't have enough to drink apparently...I KNEW I should have loaded my sister's backpack down with bottled water! Thankfully, some of the chaperones had cash on them to get water for the kids they were worried about. THANK YOU Auntie, and all the other chaperones, for making this a GREAT DAY!

Skate Night!

Once a month, Jackson and Logan's PTA hosts a Skate Night at a nearby rollerskating rink. We started taking them a couple of months ago. Just us and the boys, for some special time. Keira has her own date with Grammi and Papa. The boys have a blast! It's fun seeing them enjoy the same stuff we did as kids.
**Sidenote**Apparently inline skates aren't just cool, they're the norm now, as we have to pay EXTRA to rent the traditional skates! What is wrong with the world?!

Tom skates with the boys...he swears that he's going to get me
out there next time...we'll have to see about that:)

Logan's little friend skated with him alot.

I just found this!

So I do a lot of shopping on this site, ETSY.com. It's an "online marketplace for all things handmade." The artists (yes they are artists) do AMAZING work! I will be devoting a whole post to it soon...and I'm thinking of opening my own shop selling my cards...but that's another day. What has me so excited was that I went to one of the shop's I love and saw that she had a blog. So, I decided to check it out. Behold the "Bella Bunny" that she custom made for Keira for Easter!

Isn't it cute?!

It was on her blog...I was so excited! Tom looks over at the computer and says, "Hey that's Keira's bunny!" (This was where I raised one eyebrow in bafflement, and nodded my agreement.)

Her ETSY shop is: www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5236586
And her blog is: www.treasuresunderthewillowtree.blogspot.com

Visit and check out the amazing things she creates! Keira LOVES her "Bella" and drags her around constantly. Hmmm...maybe I should start showcasing my favorite things on ETSY on here...:)

Wow...has it really been that long?

Catching up here with all you:) Below I am posting some pictures from our Easter celebration at church. Yes...I know it's mid-May. I admit it, I stink at this!
The kids had a blast and found lots of yummy goodies and good fellowship!

Keira getting ready for the Nursery Egg Hunt. She did a little dance of excitement with each egg she found!

Logan was the big winner of the day! He found the "Golden Egg" and had a HUGE bag of candy. (Apparently we need to adjust the age groups for next year!)

Jackson was SO close to the prize egg for his age group so many times...but he missed it. But he had a blast anyway!

Easter morning at church services. It is REALLY challenging to get us all looking at the camera without goofy expressions!

My love and hate relationship with technology...

Okay...Sorry that I've been absent. I have SO much to post on here and will get to it soon. We had a slight computer meltdown, but are remedying that posthaste! And somewhere I've managed to lose my memory stick adapter for my camera...So pictures will be posted as soon as I can find it!

PRT ready..."If it hurts then you're doing it right."

So some of you know that Tom and I started running this week. His PRT (physical readiness test) for the Coast Guard is next weekend, and he needed to get in some running before hand. We've been doing a mile and a half, which is what they make him run for the test. I haven't done any running since before Keira was born, and it shows. But I'm happy to say that it went even better today. Our route takes us up and down three hills, two large and one small. Tuesday I walked up all three hills, but today I ran up the small one, and halfway up one of the large. Now I know that's not really impressive...I mean I have friends who are training for full and half marathons...but I'm happy:) Tom and I were talking while we ran (good reason to run with someone, they keep you going) and I mentioned that my legs didn't feel rubbery like they had the last time. I told him that they hurt a little. His reply was, "Good, then you're doing it right." Then he laughed. Gotta love the man...But seriously, he's slowing down to my pace and being very encouraging. It's so much easier having him to do it with. He even was going to give me an out because it was raining, and just go by himself. But I SAID NO! I mean, this is WASHINGTON, if I don't go when it rains, I'll never go:) So while I'm sore, I'm also feeling great. Really happy that I've made this change in my life!