KelleysNW

Do-Re-Mi

2010-05-19T19:43:00.000-07:00

Tonight Ian had his Spring concert for school.

This is the second concert of the year but we missed the Winter concert since we were busy enjoying sunny Florida. :)

I cannot tell you how much my heart stutters and soars as I realize how big he is getting. Here are some shots from tonight.

The kids sang Edelweiss and Do-Re-Mi from the Sound of Music. They did such a great job and Ian even surprised us by keeping a secret about one of the songs.

Just watch this and try not to throw up from adorableness.. :)

Aliens and BBQ's

2010-05-16T21:23:00.000-07:00

This weekend the weather has really spoiled us. Summer is so close we can almost taste it but sadly looking at the forecast the rain is headed back out way.

On Saturday while I was at work Todd took the kids to the annual Alien Fest Parade here in Mac. The kids were a little tired but hey it featured Star Wars characters so Ian was in heaven!

And once I got home we decided to further take advantage of the weather and have our first BBQ of the year. Nothing like chicken on the barbie!

Bella Noche

2010-05-15T20:59:00.000-07:00

Bri has told us that she had no interest in going to prom. Shoot it took us all kinds of convincing to get her to go to Winter Formal her freshman year!

Well, the beginning of the week she told us she had changed her mind. She was able to score tickets to her prom for free so she decided to go. After persuading her friend Marcos to go with her we just needed to wait for the big day to arrive.

Believe it or not her dress was free! It's a bit of a story but her Aunt is really the person to thank for that.

She asked me to do her hair and after a trial run decided that she wanted all ringlets.

This was about 70 minutes in. My feet and back hurt!

Meg came over for pizza and to help with make-up.

Again it took so long to do Bri's hair Meg had some time to play Super Mario with Ian.

Hair and make-up all done.

This little girl was just happy to be in the mix.

There she is.

She was absolutely gorgeous!

I have to say that even though my back hurt for a couple days from curling her hair it was so worth it. Bri was so excited that I don't think she quite talking the entire time I was doing her hair and if she wasn't talking she as giggling.

Another first..

2010-03-24T18:42:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know I'm still behind but I figure in order to not get behind any further I'm going to try to put recent stuff on here..

Last night Ainsley attended her first sleepover.

Ainsley's good friend K invited her over for a fun girls slumber party. I have to admit, I was a bit hesitant. Not because she was going to stay the night, but for my friend Jo who was not only going have Ainsley over but also another little friend for her daughter E. That's 4 girls people! Under the age of 7!

I told Ainsley yesterday morning and she immediately started to "pack" her stuff. After 10 minutes she had enough to fill a large suitcase. After we got that weeded down to her stuffed dog and pig she was ready to go! Ian was able to go over to spend the night with his older cousin so he was ready to go too.

She was gearing up for her big night!
When we got to Jo's I woke her up and whispered, "We're here." I've never seen her little eyes pop open so quick and she was quick to assure me that she was ready! She hopped out of the truck and was off to the front door without even a hug or kiss.

I did get a kiss and hug once we were inside.

As I left I was excited for the next day when I would pick her up and get to hear all about it.

And really how could she not have fun when she gets to eat this great looking cupcakes!

When I picked her up this afternoon I could tell she was tired but I could also see how much fun she had had. Once we were in the car she told me all about the fun she had. Playing at the park, eating chicken nuggets for dinner, then the cupcakes, then playing some more outside, and finally roasting marshmallows over a fire. Then this morning she got to have pancakes with M & M's in them!

In all actuality I was a little jealous that I didn't get to stay the night! :)

Thanks Jo' for a great time for my little girl!

Behind again..

2009-10-21T13:15:00.000-07:00

I've got a lot of catching up to do again! UGH!

Things have been keeping me busy over at Mad Hatter Mom. I never thought that my little blog would provide me with the opportunity to develop a relationship with a local PR company and afford my family some awesome perks. (Went to the circus in August and are headed to Disney on Ice this weekend! All comp'd!)

Anyway, until I can catch up on posts here I thought I would post a couple video's that I put together for reviews I've done.

Enjoy!

Running away to the Circus

2009-09-20T18:54:00.000-07:00

After our afternoon with Asia, Ivan, Todd, Larry and Alex we were a little bummed that we weren't going to be able to attend the show itself. There was just no way we could fit it in our budget since with 5 of us it would be over $100!

Imagine our surprise when after mentioning that we wouldn't be able to go over on Mad Hatter Mom R-West PR, who invited us to the first event, called me up and said they wanted our family to be their guest to the show!!

We showed up a little early so we could head down to the floor and meet some of the performers. Todd and the kids tried on some clown clothes. You can see below that the kids weren't exactly thrilled by that.

Our seats were amazing! We were in the 2nd row from the floor and right under the high wire.

Once the show started the kids were in a zone. It was a bit for them to keep track of everything that was going on but that was the longest stretch of time they have ever been quiet!

Zing Zang Zoom actually has a funny plot. There is a bad guy with his bad clowns that want to take over the circus but they get thwarted at every turn.

Again, we were right underneath the high wire. Our necks were a little stiff from watching this but boy was it cool!

Cotton candy and a hat $10.

I don't think I would want to be in the cage with all of these guys. They were growling and swatting at the guy non stop.

The finale of the show! A little elephant cha-cha!

The Elephant in the room.. or area..

2009-09-16T18:34:00.000-07:00

As my blog Mad Hatter Mom becomes more successful, I have been given more opportunities that I can enjoy with the kids and our entire family.

This month I was invited to have a Pedicure with a Pachyderm! The Ringling Bros & Barnum and Bailey circus is in town and the PR company that promotes them asked myself and several other Oregon bloggers to come out to the Rose Quarter in Portland and enjoy a pedicure courtesy of Pink & White Nail Salon. We were encouraged to bring our kids and a few days before they told me to bring a friend as well.

I was able to share the experience with my BFF Jo and her kids. It was such an amazing treat!

As we were getting our pedicures, the trainers for the circus brought out their star elephant Asia to get a pedicure too! The kids were able to learn about the care and feeding of the animals and were encouraged to ask whatever questions they wanted.

The particular show that was in town was called Zing, Zang, Zoom. It's filled with magical and clownery. We got to meet 3 of the top clows (left to right) Ivan, Todd, and Larry not to mention the Zingmaster Alex.

It was so unbelievably awesome to be within 3 feet of such a magnificent animal.

We learned that Asia LOVES watermelon.

So the kids were as excited about this photo op as I was but oh well!

New School Year

2009-09-02T16:23:00.000-07:00

Ian started a new school this year. He's still in preschool but we decided that it would be more beneficial for him to be in a class with kids that were the same age and close to the same level since this is the year before he enters kindergarten. (His class last year was a mixture of 3 and 4 year olds.)

He is going to a Catholic school, the same school that his cousin went to. Because it is a private school they don't follow the same calendar as the school district. This means that Ian started school the last part of August instead of after Labor Day.

Sadly, Ian was sick and missed the actual first day of school but he was raring to go the second day!

Morning breakfast of marshmallow cereal.

His cheesey smile. My how he has grown!

Learning how to put away all his gear.

Next we looked for his name tag at a table. He got to play with blocks while waiting for the rest of the class to show up.

Waiting for my boy to come out.

There he is!

He had a lot of fun. He knew a couple of the kids in his class, which is always a good thing, and loves going to P.E. There are 18 kids total in his class with 2 teachers and I love that he learns about his Heavenly Father every day!

Sands of Time

2009-08-17T19:47:00.000-07:00

So this was to make good on the promise I made to the kids.

We packed up and headed out early to Pacific City. Set up a little camp on the sand and the kids played for almost 3 hours! This was also Bri's big experience with photography. Many of the pictures are hers, she has quite a budding talent!

Ok, I'm taking credit for this one. I just LOVE this pic of Ainsley!

Gol'Fun

2009-08-13T19:43:00.000-07:00

We celebrated my dad's 66th birthday by taking him out golfing, just him and his kids! I can't even remember the last we all went golfing and I'm pretty sure it's only been one time.

Since I wasn't feeling up to par, (pun intended) my dad was gracious enough to let me play from the red tees. :)

I started off pretty good but my energy drained fast. I still had a great time laughing with my dad and siblings. It's easy to forget how well we get along when we are away from eachother. It was a great day and one that I hope to repeat again sooner than later!

My bro..

My sis..years of softball have given her that swing.

My daddy-o. The man who taught me to love the game.

I couldn't resist. The look on her face pretty much says it all.. HA!

If you look closely..really closely, you may see a resemblance. However, at this angle you might only be able to see my brain up my nose.

My buddy. He was keeping watch over my ball.

Blowin' in the Wind

2009-08-12T19:41:00.000-07:00

One of the things we really wanted to do while my brother and his family were here is take them to the beach.

They have seen the gulf but never the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, the day we decided to head down the Lincoln City the weather took a turn and it was raining off and on. We weren't going to stop but changed our minds.

Tikimi and Araceli ventured out on the sand and once my kids saw that they wanted to get out too. My sister and brother stayed in the car.. WUSS!
Even though it was drizzling and a bit chilly, the kids had a great time running through the waves and I had to promise to take them back before school started.

The Texas 2

2009-08-09T19:38:00.000-07:00

We had been waiting for August to get here ALL year!

My brother, his girlfriend and their 3 daughters came to visit for a week. This is the first time I have been able to meet any of them.

The day after they got here we were extremely blessed to have the youngest girls baptized. Todd and I along with my sister and brother in law were asked to be the godparents for the twins. I don't have any pictures of that but the next day we all met up for a BBQ at the Heidts.

It was so much fun seeing all of the kids outside playing, something we have never had the opportunity to do before this summer.

As you can see they all had a great time, including Grandma..

The twins. Left: Kourtney Right: Hannah (I'm pretty sure..)

The twins taking Ainsley for a ride.

In my words..

2009-08-07T14:29:00.000-07:00

On my sister blog I posted my story of this sad day.

I want to thank all my family and friends who have offered endless support and love.
This is my attempt at therapy, but not closure. That unfortunately won't come any time soon.

Say "AHHHHH"

2009-08-04T19:35:00.000-07:00

It was that time again...

Dentist check-ups for the kids. The difference; Ainsley would take a turn in the chair this time. Sadly, I missed the visit but thankfully Todd took some really great photos to recap the day.

Looking cool with protective eyewear.

Waiting patiently for her turn.

Everything is looking good!

And now she isn't too sure about this.

Nevertheless, she did everything the doctor asked and all was right in the land of her mouth.

And now the best part!..The prize room!

Ainsley got some cool shades to go along with her goodie bag filled with toothbrushes, paste and floss. Ian chose a pinwheel, however when we got home we discovered that he had actually chosen more than that but had hidden it in his bag. :)

Our Garden..

2009-07-23T11:01:00.000-07:00

Our garden isn't doing too well this year. I think it is partly to blame on the weird weather we have been having. The extremely hot and then rain, it's truly been a strange summer.

Our tomatoes are not looking too good. We have one out of the three plants that seems to be healthy. We lost one cucumber plant early on but the rest have blossomed back. We planted two different pumpkin plants. One a "Giant" pumpkin and the other was a seed that Ian actually started growing in school. He brought it home and we planted it. They have both taken over the garden! The Giant pumpkin a little more than Ian's but his is still growing quite a bit.

This is our first pumpkin.. It's on the Giant plant, Ian's has several buds on it though so he should have one growing any time now.

The first cucumber of the season! This is a lemon cucumber. They are so good! It's our first year growing them.

This is our sad watermelon plant. It started out in a dixie cup in the windowsill. We transplanted it but it doesn't seem to be growing. I don't think we will have any watermelons this year. :(

Camp Rosenbaum '09

2009-07-22T19:12:00.000-07:00

Todd is away at Camp Rosenbaum this week.

If I haven't already said.. Rosenbaum is a camp put on by the Portland Police Bureau and the Air National Guard..(amongst other public safety agencies.) The camp is for kids who live in low income housing. Each year about 160 kids go to camp in Seaside.

It's a super cool program and this is Todd's 2nd year being a Fire Dawg (he is part of the Fire Dept. Team for the camp.)

The kids and I started out early this morning to head up there. The weather wasn't quite what we hoped but it didn't bother Ian or Ainsley. Ian actually remembered going last year and kept talking about what he did then compared to now.

Here are some pics of our visit.

Ian and Ainsley waiting to be rescued by a team of possible future recruit fire fighters.

Being pulled to safety along with Daddy.

Ian making his kite. These things fly really well!

See! There really wasn't much wind which is surprising for the Oregon coast but Ian didn't care. It flew for about 2 minutes before coming back down.

I think next year the kids and I will end up staying the night in Seaside instead of driving the 2 hours home late in the afternoon.

They were really excited to see their dad since he has been gone since last Friday. Todd will be home on Saturday and we can't wait!

Catching Up..

2009-07-22T19:03:00.001-07:00

Ok.. Yes I know I'm behind.. A LOT!..

I'm going to do a post that is current and then slowly do some back posts to fill in the rest.. It's been crazy since Ian got out of school.. Who am I kidding?!? It's ALWAYS crazy!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

2009-07-21T10:53:00.000-07:00

It seems like it has been so much longer that 8 years since Todd and I got married. And I mean that in the best possible way. The last year has brought some struggles but our love for eachother and our family pulled us through..

I LOVE YOU!!

Treasure hunting...

2009-07-21T10:44:00.000-07:00

This was take 2 of our tangleboxing adventure.

If you don't know what tangleboxing is, it's a cool program put on by our County Parks and Rec dept. every year. They hide boxes in several parks throughout the county, then you buy a passport that tells you which parks to go to and clues to find the box.

This particular box was at Locks Park in Lafayette. Jolina and the girls had gone with us the first time we tried to find it. After spending about an hour walking around this tiny park we had no luck.

That night Jo took her hubby back out there to help. They looked around for a bit with no luck either. There was another family looking and the dad located it. Ironically, when we had been there earlier in the day we had been right next to the box I don't even know how many times, we just didn't think they would hide it under a piece of concrete!

Anyway, the kids and I went back out so they could find the treasure. Ainsley was the brave one to go in the little cave made of bushed and look under the rock.

Our next trip is Discovery Meadows here in town. I'm hoping it will be a bit easier!

4th of July!

2009-07-05T10:24:00.000-07:00

We had our annual BBQ and fireworks over at my parents' house.

The Brandon-Sanchez family joined us again. It was pretty darn hot but the kids make the most of it. My mom took them all in the backyard to play Red Rover. It was pretty cute watching the kids run back and forth not really knowing what they were supposed to be doing.

Of course my mom didn't want to be left out.. LOL.. don't worry, she took it pretty easy on the kids.

From my their house we can see fireworks from Mac, St. Paul Rodeo and there was even a pretty good show from a winery outside of Lafayette.

We had a good time but hopefully next year it's a little cooler!

Thought I would leave you with this video.. the focus goes in and out since it was taken with our digital camera but it's funny none the less!

HMM...Cake!

2009-06-15T20:19:00.000-07:00

What is a birthday without cake!?!

Todd got his own cake this year. German Chocolate. He is the only one in the house that likes it so it was all his. The rest of us got different goodies to eat with him.

It was a great day!

Birthday Lunch

2009-06-15T19:56:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Todd's birthday by meeting him for lunch at Rockin' Rogers. Many of his work mates joined us too.

The place is pretty cute. It's all themed in the 50's. We got the entire back room to ourselves which was good with 2 rambunctious kids to corral.

While waiting for our food Ainsley tried apple butter for the first time. She liked it so much that she decided it was a good dip for her fried once they arrived. Yes, I had to curb my gag reflex on that one! YUCK!

"What Mom? It's good!"

This kid would have fit in perfectly in the 50's!

Todd's work crew. I can't name them so don't ask! Ha HA!

Of course I made Bri come along too!

Yum...soda!

I think I like the other hat better.. Ahh.. who am I kidding?!? He's cute either way..

Last day of school..

2009-06-04T21:07:00.000-07:00

Ian celebrated his last day of school with an ice cream party.

Ainsley and I were able to go, and we met up with Ian as he and his class were outside for recess. I found out that Ian loves playing in the sandpit. He is in there almost everyday! Ainsley got to join in on the fun and then it was time to head back to class.

The kids performed a couple of songs for us during circle time. It was so funny to see how much Ian got into it. He was dancing in his seat and doing all the hand gestures that went along.

He was very happy it was his last day but I know after a few weeks he will begin missing it.

After school we headed to the park for a picnic lunch and to play in the fountain!

Honey-do's

2009-06-02T20:59:00.000-07:00

There have been some projects around the house that we have been putting off until the weather has gotten better. The first on the list was to replace some of the hardiplank siding on the back of the house.

The builders didn't install it correctly and about 10 of them were cracked. Todd and a friend were able to replace all the boards in one day and then Todd was left with the task of caulking all the openings back up.

Looking at these pictures you realize how high the back of our house is, and of course none of the boards could be close to the ground!

Next on our list is a big garage sale in July with some friends. We are getting rid of a lot of the stuff that has accumulated in our garage and attic. Once that's done We will start painting inside the house to spiff it up a bit.

Chores, glorious chores

2009-05-30T20:51:00.000-07:00

The kids love to help out with any chores that we do. It's nice sometimes but then there are the times when they are more of a hinderance than a help.

Still, we always try to let them help out when we can. It makes them feel good and they have fun doing it.

Today was no different. Todd headed out to wash the Ford, Nissan and motorcycle and the kids followed him outside and you could hear them saying, "My turn!"

They had a blast spraying the soap off the car and like scrubbing the tires. If only this love for chores would last through high school.

Backyard fun

2009-05-28T20:41:00.000-07:00

The great weather has allowed the kids to enjoy the backyard already.

I'm really excited because Ian is starting to like the water more and more. Last year he would get in Jo's pool but that was about it. He doesn't like getting water on his face. However; I noticed when we set up the sprinkler in the yard he ran through it as opposed to around it which is what he did the whole time last year.

We have also been having fun with water guns and spray bottles. Ian is good at sneaking up on you to spray you, Ainsley though come right up next to you and puts the spray bottle right up to your leg then sprays it. She thinks its the funniest thing ever!

Memorial Weekend..

2009-05-26T14:02:00.000-07:00

We had a great memorial day. For the first time in many years we had absolutely beautiful weather.

The morning was spent doing chores around the house. Todd's big project has been to clean out the den and put in bookcases and to clean up/out the garage. He was able to get a bookcase built and put up in the den to replace the wire shelves we had in there. We plan on getting a corner unit and then 1-2 more bookcases.

We are counting down the days to Todd's new job in Salem at the Air National Guard Headquarters. It's a great opportunity for him and he will have less of a commute time wise. Plus, I'm looking forward to being able to take the kids and meeting him for lunch periodically. Not that we couldn't do that before but it was such a long drive it didn't happen often.

Anyway, this Memorial Day I started thinking more and more about what Todd does. We have been blessed that he hasn't been required to go on any deployments but what he does is still important. He had dedicated his life to protecting not just our family, but all Oregonians/Americans. It's a truly selfless act to sign up for the military and I am honored that my husband is among them.

The kids don't really understand what Daddy does or how important it really is. Todd and I discussed it and have decided to Adopt a Soldier. We don't know if we will just go through the USO , (you make a $25 dollar donation and they will send a care package to a soldier with a note inside,) or if we will go through Adopt a US Soldier. AAUS actually assigns you a solider. You get his name and general info and they you are responsible for sending care packages, letters or cards. There are pro's and con's to both but either will be a great experience. I just want my kids to be a part of it and use it as a way to show them how important it is.

Ok, that being said, after naps we headed over to my parent's house for a BBQ and just to hang out. The kids played golf in the backyard and ran laps around the house. We had some awesome chicken and pork tenderloin from Gartner's Russian Meat Market in Portland. I can't even describe how good it was! The pork tenderloin was so juicy, I kept going back for nibbles. We headed home pretty early since Mom had to work and Ian had school today. Todd got one more day off. He is spending it in Dallas playing golf with my dad and his buddy from work.

Here are just a few pics off our fun!

A day for Mom..

2009-05-10T22:28:00.000-07:00

This year marks my 5th Mother's Day.

In actuality I don't expect alot to be done for me on this day. Todd is a great dad and husband. He treats me to breakfast in bed anytime that he can and is always doing things for me.

So since Ian was 2 they have suprised me with a freshly planted pot of flowers for the front porch.

This year was the first year that Ainsley could join in. It just so happened than Ian didn't feel like going outside and working on the flowers to Ain was able to do it all by herself. (With the help of Daddy.)

She had an absolute blast! Daddy would get the plants ready and then Ain would help smoosh them into the pot.

It's cracked me up to see all the faces she made during the process. She had all kinds of questions and wasn't quite sure if she liked getting her hands dirty. She has quite expressive eyebrows, poor thing waxing will be her friend.

My favorite is the bottom right. I get that look quite often when ever I ask her to do something that she doesn't necessarily want to do.

In the end she and Daddy created 3 pots of flowers! Large, medium, and small. There are a variety of plants in them and they are more beautiful than any pots that you buy pre-made.

Ain was quite proud of herself and her dirty hand. After the last flower was planted it was into the bath and off to bed.

Thank you G&G Kelley!!

2009-05-08T21:01:00.000-07:00

For each of their birthdays the kids were given money from their Grandpa and Grandma Kelley. I was just going to put it in their piggy banks but then decided that that wasn't really fair. So on the way home from Chuck E. Cheese we stopped off at Target and the kids got to pick out their birthday presents.

Ian did this last year and he really liked being able to do it. He remembered and mentioned it to me in the store, so it shows that it had an impact on him.

Thanks to his cousin Colton, Ian is really getting into StarWars. He L-O-V-E-S playing Lego StarWars on the Wii and he got some action figures from Todd and I this year. So he picked out several more figures to play with!

It's pretty cool actually. It came with Hans Solo, Luke, Chewbacca, 2 Storm Troopers, and some really weird animal creature that they can ride on. He's been having a lot of fun playing with them after he gets done with Lego StarWars on the Wii. He recreates the things he has played, pretty funny!

Ainsley is such a girl! When I asked her what she wanted to pick out she didn't hesitate, "Baby!" We tracked down the baby aisle and boy were we there FOREVER! The girl couldn't make up her mind. She wanted a baby that actually crawled but it just creeped me out too much. Her brother was trying to help her out but she wouldn't listen to anything he had to say. Finally, after about 15 minutes she settled on this baby. She came with her own carrier and sippy cup, and of course she makes all kinds of noise! But she is softer than the other babies that Ainsley has that make noise so I don't worry about her bruising herself when she takes it to bed.

The baby has been packed around everywhere! She loves putting her in and taking her out of the carrier; and she likes checked the babies diaper.. LOL..

And I just HAD to throw in this picture! The kids had such a great time and they were so wore out that Ainsley was asleep before we even left the parking lot of Target. When I glanced back to check on her this is what I saw. I laughed so hard!

Thanks again Grandpa and Grandma Kelley!

It was the best end to a great day!

No School day...

2009-05-07T20:21:00.000-07:00

What do you do with a kid who is out of school for the week and the weather isn't cooperating?

Go to Chuck E. Cheese of course!

The kids and I met up with a couple of friends in Beaverton and the kids pretty much had the run of the place. With school in session everywhere else there were only about 10 kids total in the whole place.

It was so nice to be able to sit and relax while the kids could play. There is an employee at the door who check everyone in and then doesn't let any child leave without checking for matching number on our hands.

The kids played games, won tickets, and even danced a bit with Chuck himself!

You will notice that most of these pictures of of Ainsley. Well, Ian was running around so much that I would try to take a picture and it would turn out blurry.

So instead I give you a video of Ian and his best friend Eva dancing on the main stage.. Eva's got moves I've never seen before.. :) And Ian has been watching too much "So you think you can dance" because he has started Kumping..

ENJOY!

Red Light/Green Light from Tina Kelley on Vimeo.

Party like it's your birthday!

2009-04-27T20:32:00.000-07:00

Can't just celebrate a 4th birthday with cupcakes at school!!

Heck no! We rent out our favorite place Scotty's Playhouse and invite all our friends!

The Kelley Kids..

Our friends and cake!

Present time!

This year since Ian is in preschool he was able to invite friends from school to celebrate his birthday with him. We were excited that 5 of his school friends were able to make it and Ian enjoyed showing them around Scotty's, even though they had all been there before!

He had a great time and received some really great gifts that he's been playing with every day since!

Let's see.. that makes him 1461...

2009-04-23T20:40:00.000-07:00

..days old that is!

Our boy Ian turned 4, I know, I'm there with you; I can't believe it either!

Ian had school so after we got dressed we headed to the grocery store to pick up a treat to share with his class.

Top left: Just woken up. Bottom left: "Moooom!!" Top right: He didn't like the way I did his hair. Bottom right: Apparently he likes the smooth look.

Our trip to the store to pick out treats. Ian chose chocolate cupcakes, dipped in chocolate, with chocolate frosting!

Here's my boy after school!

As you can see from the chocolate mouth and cah-razy eyes, he is on a wicked sugar rush! But I got to hand it to him. He was given the choice to eat where ever he wanted for lunch and he chose to go home and have peanut butter and jelly. I added some grapes and veggies to counter act all that chocolate. Shortly after lunch he crashed HARD! I ended up having to wake him up after 2 and a half hours which is unheard of but I must say since I had to work that night it was awesome to be able to sleep!

Here's to another 365!

A new to me and a hand-me-down..

2009-04-20T19:55:00.000-07:00

We have been so blessed lately! We have had several days of sunny warm weather which isn't that normal for Oregon in April.
Last winter Ian was given a bike from a co-worker of Todd's. Her son had gotten too big for it and luckily it's just about Ian's size. The added bonus, it's a Superman bike!

Both kids got new helmets a couple weeks ago so we strapped them on and headed up the hill where it was flat and let the kids have a ball!

They had such a good time and Ainsley is so close to figuring out how to pedal. Her legs just need to grow a tiny bit more and she'll be able to do it.

Sunny Day in Or-e-gone

2009-04-06T19:32:00.000-07:00

It was one of those rare sunny April days. Todd wanted to make the most of it so he and the kids headed outside to get the garden ready for vegetables.

There is nothing that says Spring more than a boy and his stick with his little sister in tow.

We are so ready for summer!

A promotion, a road trip and snow, OH MY!

2009-03-22T19:23:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness! Where has the month of March gone?!?

And I have yet to make a single post thus far.

Well I will start with this one and hopefully add to it. I could make this 3 separate posts but since it all happened in the same weekend we will just stick with one.

At the beginning of the month the kids and I set out on an adventure.
It started with me waking up and 4am in order to prettify myself and then woke the kids up at 5:30 to be on the road by 6.
You may be asking yourself, "Why on earth would you get yourself AND your kids up at such an irritatingly early hour?"
The answer is quite simple. PRIDE!
The kids and I headed up to the airbase in order to see Todd promoted from Staff Sergeant to Tech Sergeant. In his defense he kept trying to get us to stay home, I heard things like, "not important," and "too early." But in truth this IS a big deal. Todd has only been in the hanger for 3 short months and in that time his Major saw all the wonderful things Todd has been doing and how hard he works and decided to recognize him for that.

The Major read off a list of Todd's accomplishments and then presented him with a certificate and his new stripe.

Since the kids and I were the only civilians there he let us out before they started with the rest of their drill business. Todd walked us out and then the kids and I hit the road to drive over the mountains to Central Oregon.

Our next stop was a birthday party in Redmond for my cousin Kasey's daughter, Hannah. They have been able to come to parties for both Ian and Ainsley so it was time for us to repay the favor.

When we finally made it over Mt. Hood we were greeted with beautiful, although chilly, weather.

We made it in about 3 hours so we were a bit early for the party. We stopped at McDonalds and ate and then it was off to Kasey's to party!

The bottom 2 pictures show the kids taking a break from all the playing they were doing and eating something. If the picture were bigger you would be able to see how sweaty Ian is.

Anyway, after eating, presents were opened. Hannah is wearing the Fairy costume that we got her, she was pretty fairy'd out now!

After saying our goodbye's the kids and I headed over to a hotel to stay the night. We were going to drive back but after being up at 4am I was not in any condition to drive the almost 4 hours home.

We stopped and picked up some KFC laptop meals for the kids and we settled in and watched TV for a while. This was the kids' first time staying in a hotel and Ian enjoyed it so much he asked if we could live there!

As you can see our room had a pretty sweet flat screen TV that swiveled so we watched TV as we ate in the sitting area.

After that we hit the pool and hot tub for about 20 minutes and then it was back to the room and in bed for all of us.

The next morning we were up and bathed and then went to the lobby where we had a really good continental breakfast with eggs, bacon and Belgium waffles!

Before we hit the road we checked out the driving conditions and wouldn't ya know it had snowed again! The passes had almost 4 inches and of course I didn't have any chains. Thankfully Central Oregon has a Dept. of Transportation Channel that cycles through cameras on various hwy's and passes.

After seeing the pictures I decided the best way was the way we came over. Unfortunately that meant it would take us probably 5 hours to get home because of the weather but I really wanted to get home so we loaded up the portable DVD player and headed out.

This is the only picture I got of the weather we faced. I was too busy white knuckling it the rest of the way to worry about picture taking.

This was at the base of the Mt. Hood. The snow accumulation increased as we got higher.

We made it home safely in less than 5 hours and that included a stop in Sherwood to eat and let the kids stretch their legs.

And so ends our LONG weekend full of adventure and fun.

A day of beauty..

2009-02-26T20:11:00.000-08:00

Ainsley's birthday was an excuse to get her pampered like all girls love to be!

She was in deperate need for a haircut. She had so many layers and I just wanted it to be one length and then grow some more. We went to Little Clippers in Lake Oswego with Jo and the girls. She has taken both girls there before and had nothing but good things to say about them.

It's a really cool place. The waiting area is just one big playground and instead of chairs they have cars, motorcycles or even a horse that the kids sit in/on when they are getting their hair cut. Then while they are sitting there they get to watch a movie!

As you can see Ainsley chose the horse and watched Veggie Tales. She did so good. A little too good! I couldn't get a smile out of her no matter what I did.

In the end she got about 2 inches cut off with a little under cut so it flips out. VERY CUTE!!

Our next stop was at the mall. I had been waiting until she turned 2 to get her ears pierced. Todd wanted to wait until 3 but I'm stubborn and did it anyway.. LOL

She did so good, just like at the hair place. It took a while for the pain to set in. She did cry but I was so proud of her and she is just beautiful!

Ainsley Turns 2!!

2009-02-25T20:12:00.001-08:00

Can you believe it?!?

I sure can't! It seems like yesterday we brought her home wrapped up in pink with a full head of fuzzy hair. Now she is this little lady who is quite opinionated, a drama mama, and just the light of my eye.

Our morning started out with a wake up call around 7am. After brushing our teeth it was time to get dressed to take big brother to school.

After dropping Ian off we headed to the store to pick out a cake and some goodies to share with friends. We met our friend Kiara, Chase, and James at Tiny Tots to play until it was time to pick up Ian. After that we went to lunch at Jo's and then headed home for much needed recharging of the batteries.

For dinner we had Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo with blue kool-aid. It was really yummy which is evident by it being all over my face.

Finally it was time for CAKE!! Sorry no pictures blowing out the candles, that is all on video. The cake was yummy, with lots of frosting and oreo cookies! We took our bath immediately following and then after the sugar rush was over we crashed for the night.

A Kelley Valentine..

2009-02-14T23:11:00.000-08:00

Our Valentines was filled with lots of rest and relaxation.

Todd, Ian, Ainsley, and I didn't do much at all. Todd and Ian ventured out just before lunchtime and when they came home I was given flowers and a boy with a fresh haircut.. YAY!

We ate lunch together and then all took a nap. Oh wait all of us but Ian! Ian laid in bed for a while but never did fall asleep. Todd finally got up with him and let Ainsley and I sleep for a bit longer.

We had $5 footlongs from Subway for dinner! How romantic is that?!? The kids took a late bath and then went straight to bed. Todd and I cuddled up in our bed and watched "Wanted." It was met with mixed reviews. It was far fetched for me and Todd thought there was a tad too much cursing. We agreed that the ending kinda sucked.

Enough about that. On Friday the kids and I did a really great outreach activity with our MOPS group. We went to Hillside Manor which is an assisted living facility here in town.

Ian and Ainsley handed out Valentines to some of the residents. We hung out for about an hour talking and playing with them. It was so amazing to see the looks on the faces of the men and women we were visiting. They were so excited to have us there and I really liked watching the kids with them.

When it was time to leave my beautiful girl walked about and said bye to each person, she also shook all their hands. I hope we get an opportunity to do this again.

One last hurrah...

2009-02-11T18:54:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to post these for over a week and am now getting around to it.

The Friday before Todd came home from Reno I thought it would be a nice little day trip for the kids and I to go to OMSI.

I invited my friend Kelly and her two boys along as well. Kelly hadn't been since middle school and this was her boys' first time. Ian was really excited about being able to show Chase and James all the cool stuff there is.

Our first stop was the ball room. It's just so much darn fun in there! Ian had a blast having the balls hit him in the head. Don't ask me, but he thought it was funny.

Next up was the water area where you can make sailboats and rubber band propeller boats. All the kids LOVED this area. I was surprised to see that it was a bigger hit than the ball room. I'm thinking it was just the opportunity to get wet.

Last stop for the day the reptile room. There was a volunteer that took several of the snakes out for the kids to look at and touch. Ian wouldn't go near it. James, Kelly's youngest, worked up enough nerve to pet the snake after his mommy did. Ainsley watched at a distant and then right before we were getting ready to leave she stuck her little hand out and touched it.

It was a great day and a lot of fun. We are planning another trip the beginning of March when they open the new Leonardo da Vinci exhibit.

Todd made it home safely the following day and we were all excited to see him! It was so nice to be together again.

Entering night 4..

2009-01-28T15:11:00.001-08:00

Only 2 nights to go!!

And we have survived so far. It's been rough let me tell you. I think it would have been easier if I hadn't worked graveyard Monday night. I felt like crud all day yesterday, but after a much needed night of sleep I'm better today.

Ian ended up staying home today. He was sick last week and still have a residual cough, which kept him up last night. I felt bad because I was so tired that actually didn't hear him cough for most of it, he finally came into our room and woke me up to ask for medicine. He got it and then I let him crawl into our bed. All of us slept in until about 9am which is not unheard of for me to do if Todd's home but for the kids it's really unusual. We have had a really relaxing day. Watching movies and playing. The kids actually helped me clean the living room up which was badly needed from all the toys.

Since I don't have any pics from today, I'll share some more from Monday night. Ainsley has a tub of babies and baby stuff that her Auntie Cole got her for Christmas. The kids love to empty it out and play with the tub.

After our tub play it was time for the kids to get PJ's on before I took them to stay the night with Papa and Grandma McCaslin. This is what happens when you let your soon-to-be 2 year old put on her own footie pajamas..

Have a great day!

Pearly Whites...

2009-01-27T20:19:00.000-08:00

Ian had his first dentist appointment yesterday. Actually, he wasn't supposed to go until March but they had a cancellation and we were the lucky ones to get the call. I was pretty nervous because the appointment was at 4:30 and Ian is slowly phasing out his naps. Around that time he is starting to get a little cranky and doesn't listen much.

He went to a kids dentist here in town. I wanted him to go to someone who is used to working with little kids and even though our dentist would probably have done great, I didn't want Ian to refuse to go again; thankfully Todd agreed.

Anyway, I just fell in love with the guy and his staff. I actually asked if I could start going there because, hello?!? they have a prize room!

Dr. Noyes was really great. He showed Ian all the tools that he would be using during the exam, let Ian hold them all and then let him see what they would feel like by practicing on his thumb nail.

I was so proud of Ian. He listened and did everything that was asked of him. He didn't move around and most importantly he didn't freak out.

Here are just a few pics.. I could have taken so many more but I was anxious for Ian.

See his shoes? Unfortunately they don't make kid sized chairs.

Ian picked out a tooth brush, paste, and floss. Then he got to head over to the prize room and pick something out.

Ainsley was ready to climb up into the chair after Ian and had I thought about it I would have checked to see if she could have an appointment too. So when Ian goes next in August, Ainsley will have her first visit as well. In the mean time the staff was nice enough to give her a Princess tooth brush.

Dr. Noyes had us meet in his office and we got to see Ian's x-rays. It was so funny to see his permanent teeth! They were so big. He said that he thinks Ian will get his first permanent teeth early, like within the next year!! I think it's funny that Ian has such a big gap in his front teeth but Dr. Noyes said that it's actually perfect because it will allow his big teeth to come in easier.

Ian didn't have any cavities, his teeth looked great and we'll be back in 6 months!

No I haven't forgotten about you...

2009-01-25T16:37:00.000-08:00

Hello family and friends.

It's been a while since I have updated the good ol' family blog. You will notice I did pre-date some activities from the last 10 days. I apologize for somewhat neglecting this site. I have been working extra hours and been sidetracked with the other project I have going on, which is my other blog and being asked to write for an online magazine.

Anyway, on another note, tonight marks the first of 6 nights that Todd will be gone. He is on a training deployment in Reno until Saturday so it will just be me and the kids this week. I have to say THANK GOD for family! Usually we know well in advance before Todd travels and I make sure I am not scheduled to work during. This time we had a month notice and since I get my schedules 2-3 months in advance I was already scheduled to work. Luckily is not many hours and my parents have agreed to let the kids stay the night at their house one night and then just watch the kids for 4 hours on the other 2.

It will be an interesting week. It's always a little tense when Todd is gone. It really makes me grateful for the breaks that he gives me in the evenings and makes me appreciate all the things he does around the house even more.

Please pray for us this week; especially Ian. He has been very attached to his Daddy the last several weeks and he is already showing some anxiety knowing that he won't be home for a while. I just ask for strength and as much patience as I can handle!

Computer Lab

2009-01-20T16:24:00.000-08:00

Today when Ian came home from school there was a note in his backpack that he had been able to play on the computer at school. When I asked him about it, Ian was very excited and told me all about the game he played which involved chomping letters or numbers.

So after dinner I thought it was be a good way for Ian to wind down before bath time. We logged onto Nickjr.com and he got to pick games from his favorite shows. They are all educationally themed and Ian did really well. He loved playing a Diego Safari game where he got to rescue animals.

There were even some games tailored for Ainsley's age. Todd let her use his computer. Her favorite game was with these furry little animals. She played peek-a-boo and hide-and-seek where she used the keyboard to find them. She laughed so hard and would shrug her shoulders and say, "Where go?". Too cute!

The kids had so much fun that they now get computer time almost every night. We have a timer that we set and when it goes off it's time for bath.

New Quilts

2009-01-17T15:56:00.000-08:00

We got these quilts a couple months ago and have been really bad about taking pictures of the kids with them.
Todd's Grandma, the kids' Great-Grandma Kelley, made them and they are great. Once we opened the box the kids gravitated to the one they liked the most and have been sleeping with them.

THANKS GREAT-GRANDMA!!

And this is Ian's way of telling you he's done taking pictures. =0)

HAPPY BLOGOVERSAY!!

2009-01-14T09:00:00.000-08:00

What a cool day!

It was 1 year today that I started this humble blog to keep our family and friends updated on the goings on of the Kelley Family.

I hope you all have enjoyed the last year, we've certainly been though some great times and it was a real blessing to be able to share them with you all.

This year will include some exciting adventures. Todd will be promoted soon to Tech Sergeant, Megan will be graduating, Bri will be doing more leadership activities at her school, Ian will finish his first year of preschool, and Ainsley will become more of a diva.. LOL

As for me, I will be starting a new adventure. I've been asked to be a contributor for an online mom's magazine called Blissfully Domestic. I will be writing for a channel called Blissfully Blended , which is all about blended families, with 9 other moms. It is a really great opportunity and will help me gain exposure to my other blog Madhatter Mom.

That's what you have to look toward from this end. We hope you'll continue to join us on our journey.

Here's to another fabulous year!

Christmas Day

2009-01-07T20:04:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning came WAY too early for me. I was able to drag myself out of bed at about 8am, took a shower and held the kids off in order to make it down the stairs before them. They couldn't wait to come downstairs and see what was waiting for them.

And once I saw this, staying up until 3am was all worth it and then some.

The kids opened their stockings next.

After those were out of the way, the real present opening began!

As our family gift, we got Guitar Hero 3 for the Wii. They girls couldn't wait to break it out and play.

And Todd was just where I like him, in the kitchen cooking breakfast! HA HA!

We had a great day but I'm more than happy that it's over and the kids are back in school. With the weird weather we had 3 weeks was more than enough being at home!

Hardworking Elf..

2009-01-07T01:19:00.000-08:00

I have to admit that one of my favorite things about during Christmas is staying up to set up all the presents.

This year I really tried to scale back and for the most part I did. I just ended up buying a couple of things that had to be put together.

Actually, let me start at the beginning. The Tuesday before Christmas my nephew Colton came over to stay the night. Ian just adores him and I thought it would be a good treat for him. Plus, with all the snow we had Colton was getting cabin fever from being home so much so it was good for him too.

The kids had a good time playing and being boys. The bonus for me was that Colton was going to hang out downstairs with the kids Wednesday while I tried to get all the presents wrapped. So this is what I had to look forward to.

I could have gotten through it pretty quickly, but I was procrastinating. I ended up finishing while all the kids were taking a nap and I was really sick of wrapping by that point.

Well, you already know what else we did Christmas Eve so I won't go into that. Around 10:30pm once all the kids (and Todd) had gone to bed I headed down stairs to set up all the Santa toys and such.

Santa had dropped off a work bench and scooter for Ian. It took me about 20 minutes to get it all together.

I was pretty excited and thinking to myself that I would be snug in bed before midnite. My hopes were squashed once I opened this box.

Inside was the vast cavern of plastic parts. I was naive enought to think that it would be just a couple of parts that snaps together. Instead I had this.

All I can say is thank goodness that AMC was having a holiday movie marathon. After watching 2 movies and Todd coming down twice to check on me and tell me just to leave the box and we would put it together in the morning, I was done. I fell into bed at 3am with the satisfaction that this was waiting for Ainsley!

Christmas Eve

2009-01-07T01:10:00.001-08:00

After baking cookies the kids got to open their 1 Christmas present. The older girls were with their mom so they missed out on the action.

Ian and Ainsley were so excited. They provided lots of laughs for us and I hope you get some chuckles as well.

And here are the nuggets in the new PJ's! How cute are they?!?

Cookies for Santa

2009-01-07T01:02:00.000-08:00

Alright I know!! I promised this a week ago, but hey! Better late than never!

Anyway, it's a tradition now that we bake cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve. This year we chose chocolate chip in lieu of last year's peanut butter.
The kids were pretty excited and I have to admit, it's much more fun now that Ainsley is older.

Remarkably, there was no dough lost! But each of the kids got to eat one of the cookies for snack.

Here is a video of the fun!

Another year gone..

2008-12-31T17:41:00.001-08:00

Well the end of 2008 is rapidly approaching.

With 4 kids in the house things are never boring and I anticipate much of the same for 2009.

I promise to get some Christmas pics up tomorrow, but in the mean time..

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Oh Ruts…

2008-12-24T20:38:00.001-08:00

No not nuts, “ruts” that is the topic of this conversation. All of the recent snow has deposited quite a mess on our roads. Something that I was quite use to while living back east… now some twenty years removed, not so much.

in California, I did not see much snow; only on vacations… and that was an adventure. Colorado weather was quite a hand full, but was here today and gone the next day. I remember one-day playing basketball one nice 56-degree day in December only to wake up the next morning to find some twelve inches of powder covering my rig. It was an easy drive into work that day, and was melted by lunch.

Oregon is a cookie of a different flavor… I have lived here for many years and I have grown fond of our seven months of rain at 45 degrees. You know, a Northwest style winter.

I remember the first trip across town, we haven’t seen the sun in a few weeks; it was early in the morning and I was approaching a stop sign. I applied my brakes, only to slide right through the intersection (I was lucky the streets were deserted).

I pulled over, got out to look at the black ice. No luck, I looked and kicked the asphalt but could only find moss and a green slime. Wow, this was a story to tell my family back east… I slid across the street on something resembling a slug trail… now only if I can properly describe an Oregon slug trail =^)

Back to my story, in Oregon the snow has been hit and miss for the better part of a decade. The last few years, we have been lucky to have what I would call “Proper Winter Weather.”

Wednesday, on the way home from work, I suffered forty-five miles of Oregon Ruts. You know, the trenches drivers leave as they cut paths in the slop. On the highway ODOT flexed their power by holding rolling roadblocks so that the plows can knock down the gutters formed over the last few days. But there was no such relief on the side streets, and that is the majority of my route.

I have a “glass is half full” comment this day: I was released early from work, and have a five-day weekend, to celebrate Jesus birth with my family and friends. I just hope the “normal” Oregon winter weather puts the kibosh on those furrows.

Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas..

2008-12-24T18:03:00.000-08:00

Hello loved ones!!

Just wanted to with you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Jesus!

I hope your loved ones are close around and you spend a joyous evening together..

MUCH LOVE!

The Kelleys NW

And the hits keep coming!!

2008-12-22T12:44:00.000-08:00

So, while we were decorating the tree last night I didn't think I would wake up to find more snow on the ground this morning.. But that's just what happened. We got about another 6 or more inches last night. It's unbelievable! I don't remember ever having this much snow. I tried to take pictures so you can see how tall the snow is. You'll notice that there aren't any of the kids and that's because I needed to keep my eye on Ainsley. She fell once and I couldn't see her!

You'll notice that the snow is pretty level through the front yard.

Poor Todd worked so hard to shovel out the cars. As he was trying to get the Nissan out he got stuck on the snow. I did really good about not laughing at him...until I got in the house!!

The real kicker is as the kids and I sit here and eat lunch it is once again snowing outside. And not just a little snow, big 'ol heavy flakes! Looks like I'm having an officer pick me up for work tonight!

Another year gone..

2008-12-21T21:19:00.000-08:00

Today I turned 30.. Yep that's right 30.

Yesterday Todd surprised me with a little party over at my sister's house. My dear friends the Brandon-Sanchez's and the Sittons were there along with my parents. It meant so much that they braved the icy roads to be there and ring in a new era in my life.

We had a great time eating pizza, chatting, and eating a cake that Jolina made just for me!

I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful family and friends!

Today was a very relaxing day. Our snow turned to freezing rain last night and this morning when we woke up there was about 1/2 inch of ice on top of the snow. We ventured out in the late morning to try to find some snow boots for myself and Ian. We struck out for Ian but I was able to find a pair by the end of the day. After coming home and eating some lunch Ian and I went over to my sisters house so he could play out in the snow with Colton. We told him there was ice but he didn't care.

Afterward we came home for a meal cooked by Meg.

I couldn't have asked for a more peaceful, low key day.

More and more snow...

2008-12-19T20:18:00.000-08:00

This morning we woke up to another 6 inches of snow on the ground.

This is the view of from the front door.

And the sunrise from the backyard.

The kids and I ate breakfast quickly, suited up and headed out into the backyard.

The kids had such a great time. We ventured to the upper part of the backyard which was untouched except for some dog tracks.

Ian thought the snow was just the perfect depth to swim in. He also tried his hand at making a snow angel. It took a few tries but he finally got a good one.

Ainsley didn't like how deep the snow was. She had a hard time walking around in it but she still had fun. She also tried her hand at making a snow angel, for the most part she just laid in the snow.

Snowing the day away from Tina Kelley on Vimeo.

It doesn't snow in Oregon...

2008-12-17T15:09:00.000-08:00

WHATEVER!!

Sunday we got dumped on.. well by Oregon standards we did. Today was no different except our beautiful snow that was falling has now turned to rain. This wouldn't be a problem except that there is no temperature rise in the near future. So all our lovely rain will be ice by tomorrow.
School has been cancelled so far this week and I'm guessing it will end up being cancelled for the next 2 days as well.
Todd has stayed home 2 of the last 3 days. Not because he wanted to, but because the entire base shut down. It worked out great though because today he went out to get the neccessities. Being born and raised in Michigan, this weather is no big deal to him.. Me on the other hand.. I can drive like nobody's business in the rain, but in ice.. I can drive like nobody's business in the rain.. =0)
Anywho, here are a few pics of the kiddlets having some snow fun.. This was Ainsley's first real experience in the snow and of course she loved it! Didn't want to come in even though her fingers had to have been numb.

So we will bundle up good the next couple of days. Good thing for books from the library and the internet!

Topic of conversation..

2008-12-13T22:04:00.001-08:00

So apparently poop is a very popular subject in our house. Don't ask me why and I do really feel for all of you that read this but seriously, I'm still chuckling about it.

Today after Todd changed a stinky for Ainsley, he came upstairs to where I was vegging out on the bed reading a vampire romance, (darn Twilight series!) He laid down next to me leaving the kids downstairs. This is what we heard amongst the Christmas music.

Ainsley: "Mommy!....Daddy!"

Ian: "I think they are upstairs."

Ainsley: "Mommy?!...Daddy?!"

Ian: "I said they are upstairs."

Footsteps approach the foot of the stairs and voices get louder.

Ainsley: "Mommy?...Daddy?"

Ian: "They are upstairs!"

Ainsley: "Why?"

Ian: "I think because you pooped."

Ainsley: "Oh."

In all fairness that is not why we were upstairs but looking back that diaper could easily clear a room.

A new tradition? Perhaps..

2008-12-10T20:44:00.001-08:00

A blank canvas if you will. My friend Jolina and I both had the kids decorate gingerbread houses this year. The only rule was that the kids had to decorate it, not us parents.

Actually, this is our second house. The first one was all kinds of broken and I couldn't fix it so I picked up this one at the grocery store.

Anyway, after dinner the kids sat down at their table to decorate. Todd and I were there to supervise (and help eat some candy.) Ian and Ainsley had a great time doing it and were both a little disappointed when it was all over.

Drum roll please.........

Christmas at the Base..

2008-12-07T19:15:00.000-08:00

This past weekend the kids and I headed up to the air base for a Christmas Party. Todd is now working in the hanger so we got to join in on those festivities.
They brought Santa in on an F-15 jet and then he came in the kids got to visit with him. Of course Ian wasn't as interested in Santa as he was with sitting in a jet so we stopped off there first.

Ian hopped right in and then it was pics all around. Once we took Ian out Ainsley couldn't wait to get her hands on the joystick. The guy who was sitting up there answering questions was cracking up.

After that is was off to visit Santa. Both kids did so great! This is the first year they didn't cry, they didn't smile either but, hey I was happy never the less!

Next up on the to do list is Christmas cards, so be on the lookout.. =0)

Bucket..check...disinfectant..check

2008-12-03T13:11:00.000-08:00

One of the many perks of motherhood..cleaning vomit up off of your brand new sheets..

My poor boy woke up sick this morning. Shortly after Todd left for work Ian came into our room and said that his tummy didn't feel good. He laid down and for the next hour was very restless then he sat up and I needed to clean my sheets.

There has been a stomach bug going around and it was Ian's turn to get it. He's tried to be his normal self because he wanted to go to school but it just wasn't in the cards.

So he's been vegging out all day. It will be full of movies and rest. Now I just have to hope that Ainsley doesn't get it.

Yes that is his "bucket," just in case.

No I haven't been arrested...

2008-12-02T14:46:00.000-08:00

Alright.. so some of you may be getting phone calls from someone at the police department asking all kinds of questions about me.

The reason is, I was asked to volunteer at the police department giving tours and helping out at Neighborhood Watch meetings. I was pretty amazed at the size of the packet I had to fill out just to be a volunteer but I guess they have finally gotten around to going through it.

I find it very funny that they are doing such a thorough background check on me, especially since I already work in the building! Oh well, just the formalities I guess.

A little update..

We had a good Thanksgiving. Todd and the younger kids went to my parents house for dinner. There was only the 6 of us so it was very subdued. However, my Michigan family will be happy to know that Todd and I taught my parents how to play Euchre. So that means that they next time Mom and Dad Kelley come to visit we will be ready for you!! *wink*

Ian went back to school today after what seemed like a year. He really missed to routine of going and was really excited when we headed out this morning.

We've starting talking about Christmas and what it means. We haven't really mentioned the fact that he gets presents but instead tried to focus on telling him the story of Jesus. He asks about Santa quite a bit so we will be trying to track him down so Ian can meet him and hopefully not cry..*fingers crossed*

Todd started a new job at the base today. He is now working in the hanger, which is where he started when he was just a reserve and not active duty. So far so good, it's been busy since they have drill coming up this weekend but he seems to have fit right in.

Megan got a job a couple weeks ago. She is working for our church in the children's department. She is one of a select few of teens who get paid to watch kids in during church services throughout the week. She is also helping out in Scotty's Playhouse chaperoning birthday parties. She likes it quite a bit, it's nice that it's close to the house and she only works at the most 3 days a week so she can still maintain her social life.. *smile*

Bri is for the most part doing well in school. She still loves going to the Christian High School and is very active on the student council. She will be participating in a rock-a-thon in a couple of weeks which she helped facilitate.

Ainsley is a independent little diva. She enjoys getting dressed by herself and picking out shoes. She also knows the value of a hat to finish off an outfit. *sigh* How I got such a girly girl is beyond me.

As for me, I can't complain. I've been keeping under the radar for the last several weeks. I had several issues with my laptop but I'm hoping that those have all been resolved since I just got a replacement. I ventured out on Black Friday with my sister and was able to complete just about all the Christmas shopping. I've added more hours to my work schedule in order to help out with Christmas and give us some extra cash. I'm looking forward to the Christmas and trying to not think about the fact that I turn 30 in a few short weeks..*ugh*

Well now you know where we have been and what we've been up to. We hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving and have worked off all the turkey since Christmas is right around the corner.

Pumpkin Bash

2008-11-15T15:24:00.000-08:00

While I was away all weekend at the Craft Fair, Todd was supportive and handled the duties at home all weekend.

The kids had so much fun being home with Daddy and going different places and of course doing crafts.

We didn't carve pumpkins before Halloween but both kids had one so last weekend was the perfect time to carve them. They are more Harvest pumpkins now though. =0)

Ian has told me that his is the "mean one". However neither of them look that menacing.

Halloween

2008-11-10T12:35:00.000-08:00

Usually for Halloween, we go over to my sisters house and trick-or-treat from there. This year we decided it would be fun to change it up a little.

We invited our good friends the Brandon-Sanchez's (Todd, Jolina, Eva and Kiara), and the Sitton's (Allen, Kelly, Chase and James) over for some pizza and then ventured out into our neighborhood for some trick-or-treating.

Going door to door asking for candy is no big thing for Ian. This IS his 3rd Halloween after all. (Actually his 4th but the first one he was only 7 mos old.) For Ainsley this was the first time she could walk and say trick or treat.

For the big occasion of having both kiddos participating I decided to make both of their costumes. I found the idea online and it was super easy! A no-sew project which I am a big fan of.

The kids were Garden Gnomes. Ainsley was just a walking Gnome and Ian was sitting on a mushroom, even though in some pictures it looks like he just has a hoop skirt on.

We had a lot of fun and got A LOT of exercise.. I'm pretty sure we ended up walking close to 2 miles and the last part (which was uphill!) I carried Ainsley.. All 30+ lbs or her!

The kids got gobs of candy and couldn't wait to go trick-or-treating again, the next day!

While Mom is away...

2008-11-10T11:46:00.001-08:00

The weekend before Halloween I went to the beach with a group of girlfriends for a weekend of relaxation and scrapbooking.

While I was gone the weather was beautiful and Todd decided to take the kids to the pumpkin patch. He met up with our friend Todd (yes, that's right 2 Todd's!) and his girls, Eva and Kiara. Jolina was at the beach with me!

Anyway they visited a patch we had never been to before. There wasn't much there but the kids had a good time traipsing through the field and they picked out a pumpkin for Ainsley since Ian already had one from his field trip.

From the looks of it, even though there weren't a lot of animals and tractor rides, it didn't stop them from enjoying a great day!

Time for a Haircut

2008-11-10T11:03:00.000-08:00

Todd and I made an agreement that after cutting Ian's hair at the beginning of the summer we would let it grow out. Of course when I made said agreement I forgot that Ian would be starting school this year..

Anyway, Ian's hair grew and grew. He has adorable curly hair when it grows out, the only problem is I can't do anything with it! Combing it is a nightmare since it doesn't really sit the way I want it to. I begged Todd to let me cut it but he stuck to our guns and the agreement.

Then one day Ian was playing and he got really mad. His hair kept getting in his eyes and he had had enough. So we were told that he wanted a haircut!

YAY!!

Papa took Ian to Ken's Barbershop to get his haircut and he was so excited. You see Ken gives out suckers to good little boys who sit still in the chair and Ian did just that.

He was quite proud of his new 'do..

BEFORE

AFTER

Checking In

2008-11-05T09:59:00.001-08:00

Hi everyone!

I hope October ended pleasantly for all of you.. Things have been super busy in the Kelley household which is the reason for my hiatus from blogging.

Some of you may know that I am co-coordinating the craft fair that we have at our church. This will be the 19th year of the fair and we are one of the biggest holiday fairs in our county.

It's a huge deal and taking up a HUGE amount of time. Not only during the daylight hours but also at night when I'm laying in bed trying to fall asleep since my mind is racing at all hours.

And the week is finally upon me. Tonight marks the first night of a wickedly long week. I plan on basically living at our church for the rest of the week and I just have to say how blessed I am to have a wonderfully supportive husband and the great best friend I could ever hope for. Jolina has been by my side from the beginning, my rock during this whole process, the one who I vented to when I thought there is no way we were going to pull it off. Well we are pulling it off and when Saturday night comes and the last table is put away we will be able to finally exhale and sleep for 3 straight day.. !! =0)

First Field Trip

2008-10-22T19:09:00.000-07:00

Oy! It's been a long time since I have posted.. Life has been busy and I'm happy to say the computer was the first thing that fell victim. It's actually been really nice not to be on the computer so much. The kids and I have been enjoying some playtime.

Anyway, last week Ian had his first field trip. Ainsley and I were lucky enough to be able to tag along. It was such a beautiful day adn the kids had a blast. Ainsley loved looking at all the animals in the barn and Ian just loved everything.

I'm pretty sure this goat was in love with me. Everytime I came near it, it would stop what it was doing and just stare at me.

Ian's Tuesday morning preschool class.

PANG Family Day

2008-09-19T20:31:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday was family day at the Air Base. The younger kids and I drove up in the morning to meet Todd. They had all kinds of things planned. It was by far the best family day we've been to since Todd has been in the ANG. They had all kinds of kids TV characters walking around, a toddler area, face painting etc.

Our first stop of the day was to see Elmo. Like most characters, Ian get super excited when he sees them but that excitement quickly turns to shyness once he is close to them. Todd was a good sport and went up to him.

After Elmo we checked out some booths that were set up and then ate some lunch. Right next to the the area we were eating lunch they had a cool tent set up that was drapped in netting and had an ATV parked out front. Todd and Ian couldn't wait to go and check it out.. Can you tell why?

Uncle Tim eat your heart out!

Next it was on to the miniture golf course. Now although it was swing a mean golf club, he hasn't quite mastered the finesse it takes when putting. He had a great time regardless. Ainsley even got in on the action.

We couldn't leave without checking out the toddler area and the kids actually had a pretty good time.

As we were heading out who should we see but Bob the Builder! By this time Ian had also seen Diego and given Dora a hug (of course I didn't have my camera out at the time!) So when Bob the Builder came by Ian wasn't the least bit shy. He shook his hand, gave him "5" and posed for a picture with him.

It was a super fun day and both kids were worn out! Ainsley was asleep shortly after we left the lot and it didn't take Ian long either.

In addition to all the stuff they had for the kids, they had a raffle for $20,000 worth of donated items. Today Todd was told that we had acutally won something! I don't want to ruin the surprise but our family and friends will all be seeing a portion of the prize soon!

Playdate

2008-09-19T20:00:00.000-07:00

Before school started my friend Jolina and I agreed that 1 day each week we would alternate watching the younger girls while Ian and Eva were at school. This Tuesday Kiara came over for a visit. It was really Kia's first time to the house by herself. The 2 other times she has come over it was during her nap time and she slept!

Both girls had been teething and Kia still wasn't up to par. It took her about 2 hours before she was comfortable in the house and didn't follow me around. Ainsley was so excited and wanted to show Kia everything around the house.

During snacktime the girls were sitting nicely on the couch so I snuck off the use the restroom. I didn't think I was in there that long but apparently it was long enough for the girls to make quite the mess. After making the mess they must have decided that they needed to clean it up before I made it back in the room because this is what I found.

The look on Kia's face when she realized I was watching them was priceless! Of course my daughter just wanted me to help. Which I did, but I used the vacuum!

Christmas... in September??

2008-09-19T19:29:00.000-07:00

Todd watches this podcast called GeekBrief. It stars this super geeky girl named Cali Lewis, who if Todd had a "list" would be on his top 5.

Anywho, Cali is all things Apple.. She has the iPod, the iPhone, the MacBook.. etc. Todd has drooled over all the cool things that the show highlights and has talked nonstop about his next computer being an iMac.

Well, his talk finally became fact. Our desktop is over 7 years old and is chugging on its last megabytes. It shuts down frequently on its own, usually in the middle of something important, like Todd watching GeekBrief. Since I got my laptop, and have been having issues of my own, I haven't been on the desktop so I didn't know how bad it was. I do have to get on the desktop in order to balance the checkbook so during naptime I went in to make sure we are within our budget and the computer shut down on me not once, twice but 3 times!

That was all it took. I called Todd and told him to find his computer. He was originally going to get a refurbished one but every time he found one that fit his needs it would sell before he could get it. We decided to just buy a brand new one with the things that Todd wanted.

And so began the countdown.

The big day finally arrived on Tuesday the 9th.. (also Ian's first day of school thus the reason this post is late.) Todd called several times that day checking to see if his computer had arrived. Little did I know that he was checking the Internet frequently, tracking the shipment and even was having updates sent to his cell phone!

While I was gone to pick Ian up a shipment arrived. But to add insult to injury it was only the additional software that Todd had ordered. For some reason they had separated the software and computer on 2 different trucks.

Todd got home at 4pm and still no computer. Then at 4:38pm (roughly) I asked.."Is that a Fed-ex truck I hear?" Todd thought I was being sarcastic until there was a knock on the door. Todd was as giddy as a school girl. Seconds went by until he started cracking open the box and setting it up.

To Todd and his new love affair.. =0)

Baby it's cold outside!

2008-09-17T20:27:00.001-07:00

How quickly the heat of summer fades and fall is all to happy to jump in its spot.
It has been so warm here this week but once the sun starts to go down boy does it get chilly.
Today it was in the mid 80's and just beautiful. The house was pleasantly warm but not quite enough t turn the air conditioning on. The kids played outside after dinner while eating their koolaid popsicles. Afterwards, we headed up for bathtime and by the time we got out I realized I need to get the kids some warmer PJ's.

I have to say that their is a side of me that loves that brisk, cool air. It makes everything smell so fresh almost like after the first rain of the season. I'm just not ready for the rain yet!

Ian is in his 2nd week of school. He still enjoys it and is excited to go everyday. I love that his teachers write in his notebook at least once a week which gives me a glimpse of his day.

Ainsley and I have really been enjoying our time by ourselves. Our favorite is playing on the floor together. She like to climb on my stomach while I'm laying on the floor and we just giggle.

Todd also got a new toy last week, something I'm sure everyone knows about now but regardless I'll be posting pictures soon, along with pics from Family Day at the Air Base.

Til then!

Entering the World of Academia

2008-09-11T11:35:00.005-07:00

Tuesday marked another milestone for Ian. A milestone that every young child comes to. For some moms it's a sad time as they realize that their baby is growing up; for others it's a time to thank God and look forward to the few hours a day where there will be no fighting amongst siblings.

I fall into the 2nd category.. =0)

Ian started preschool this week. He was so excited about it. We had gone out and bought a backpack and his school supplies. All of which he wanted to play with during the 2 weeks leading up to his first day.

On the morning of the big day we ate a breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes and then got to put on new clothes and shoes. Ian loves his shoes. They came with a flashlight which he thought was really cool.

We got to the school a little early and as luck would have it, it was the same time that Ian's friend Eva (who he has grown up with) arrived with her Mommy and Daddy. Both kids looked so grown up as they walked to the school with their packs on their backs. Neither of them showed any hesitation which was such a relief.

Ian's teacher, "Teacher Debbie" met the students in the foyer. Ian was shown his cubby; he put his backpack away and then he got a pass to go to the "Motor Room" which is essentially an indoor play area. He ran right in and started playing and then forgot all about me. =0) I watched and took pictures for a few minutes then decided it was time for Ainsley and I to go and enjoy our hours together.

Once home Ainsley and I picked up a bit around the house, had a snack and then played until it was time to go and get Ian at noon.

Afterwards, we joined Eva and her family for lunch at Alf's Ice Cream (famous site of the movie, "Quarterback Princess".) Ian had a great time during his special lunch with friends. He got to peek at Elvis the monkey a few times which was the talk of the day.

Here are the photos of the day in a video montage. (Thanks Jo for the idea!)

ENJOY!

First Day of School from Tina Kelley on Vimeo.

Re-visiting a past entry.

2008-09-09T15:35:00.000-07:00

Hi there!

Wow.. lots of posts going up today.. I still have one more after this one.

Anyway, at the beginning of the summer I posted about the girls getting woken up by Nacho Mama and Diamond Dale. Well, here is the video!

The girls are still pretty embarrased about it but we've gotten several laughs from watching it. Enjoy! (The girls are 2nd.)

Bath Time

2008-09-09T15:24:00.001-07:00

My bathing beauties!

Saturday night the kids were taking a bath as usual. I was just across the hall in our bedroom putting clothes away while the kids played. Suddenly, I heard both Ian and Ainsley laughing hysterically. It was the deep down belly laugh that kids have; the one that when you hear you can't help but smile and laugh yourself.

I peeked in the bathroom and the kids were holding on to the edge of the bath. Ian would fall back and splash in the water after which Ainsley would giggle. It was so darn cute that I ran downstairs and grabbed the camera. I even got some video of it.

City Faire

2008-09-09T14:22:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday was City Faire at Discovery Meadows Park. It's the first year they have had it and it's a big festival showcasing all the city departments. The purpose is to thank all the volunteers that help the city. Volunteer firemen, Reserve police officers, library volunteers and ever private groups who help clean city parks were recognized. They had clowns, stilt walkers and bands throughout the day. There was even a hot air balloon that you could take a ride in. (It was tethered to the ground so you only went so high.)

We didn't go up in the air balloon because the line was so big, but we did partake in some of the other attractions.

WARNING: Picture Heavy!

The first stop was at the fire department booths. Ian went in the back of a fire engine. As you can tell he wasn't too thrilled about the whole thing. Todd gave him a radio to play with hoping it would lighten his mood, but not so much.

Next up was the police department. Ian got fingerprinted for an ID kit. Hopefully we will never have to use it!

They also had a police car that yo could sit in so Todd thought it would be funny for Jo and I to sit in the back and look all depressed. Eva was going to bust us out apparently.

Jailbirds.

The county had their search helicopter there also. Ian was giving his dad the thumbs up.

While we were waiting for them to acknowledge people the kids played in the sand pit at the playground. In the first pic you can see the hot air balloon in the background.

The parks department had one of their big lawn-mowers. I don't know what was so cool about it but Ian didn't want to get out.

We basically made a big circle and ended up back at the fire department where the kids got a ballon before heading home for lunch.

Playing at the Park

2008-09-08T16:29:00.000-07:00

On Friday the kids and I headed to Discovery Meadows for our Stroller Strides playgroup. Well when we got there the only other people there were Patti and her son Spencer. I told the kids that we would go ahead and do the craft that I brought regardless.
I spoke to Patti and she said that Spencer really wanted to do it so we found a picnic table and handed out the stash.
For our craft we did Jello Painting. I had different flavors of Jello and then ice cubes on a stick. The kids sprinkled the Jello powder on their paper then used the ice cube as a paint brush. The water would liquify the powder and make cool designs. When it dried it smelled really good too.

The kids did good for a while until the realized that the powder actually tasted good. So of course Ainsley ate more than she painted.

Me in my mom make-up. Scary I know!

Ian really like Raspberry.

Ainsley orange.

Spencer like every flavor!

After our ice cube fun we headed over to the park itself. We were hoping to play in the fountain since it was so warm but they only have it turned on during the weekend now.

Ian and Ainsley had a lot of fun playing on this teeter totter thing. Ainsley giggled the whole time.

We only spent about 30 minutes and then headed home for lunch.

School is in session

2008-09-04T15:49:00.000-07:00

Both girls started school this week. Sorry no pics but both of them were quite evasive!

Bri is back at the Mac Christian High School. She was elected Secretary/Treasurer of the student body at the end of last year so she has quite a bit ahead her. She will be responsible for budgeting the schools various trips throughout the year and she is hoping to introduce some fun things fo rthe school can do to have more fun.

She came home on Tuesday with quite a bit of homework. There are 2 days of the week that she is in school until 4:10 in order to take Spanish 2. The other days she has the option of coming home at 2:35 but is planning on staying after to get homework done before coming home.

Megan is a senior this year. She only has 2 required classes that she needs to take so she filled the rest of her day with electives. We would have liked for her to take on some college classes and ear some credits before she graduated but she chose to take it easy this year. She is taking another cooking class and clothing workshop. She's hoping to make her own prom dress for this year.

Ian starts preschool next week. He is really excited about it. We have his backpack full of his supplies and its hanging up in the den. When he sees it he then tells me he wants to go to school.

We went and visited his classroom last week and met his teacher. She is really nice and just with the brief interaction Ian had with her, I know they will get a long just fine. He's already pretty darn smart and I can't wait to see him apply the knowledge he has and acquire more.

I'm really looking forward to the one-on-one time I'll be able to have with Ainsley. If feels like she kind of missed out. Ian had me to himself until she came a long and Ainsley has never gotten to experience that. I'm sure she will be a little lost the first few days, wondering where Ian is. The house will be a lot quieter that's for sure!

PUPPIES!!!

2008-09-04T15:01:00.000-07:00

Last week we were able to visit our nabor (and my co-worker) who just had puppies. Kaye shows and breeds Samoyeds, they are the fluffiest dogs ever!

Ian was so excited about seeing them but he was surprised how well they could get around.

The puppies were 6 weeks old and just full of energy. Kaye would take 1 puppy out at a time and they would play, hop and bark all around. It was hard to get pictures of the kids with them because they both moved so fast. Ainsley was a little scared of the puppies but loved on the momma and daddy dogs. Here a just a few of the pictures we were able to get.

Ainsley, Kaye and Pink Girl

Ok, so I don't remember which one I'm holding. Momma and Daddy are next to me.

This is Ian and Kaye's cat. And yes the dogs and cat get a long quite well.

Just as we were walking up my friend Chrissy (who I also work with) and her little girl Annie were leaving. Annie is 9 mos old and looks just like her daddy.. =0)

Family Photo

2008-08-30T20:47:00.001-07:00

I've been meaning to post this all week and now on Friday night I'm able to sit down and focus on it. This was taken last Sunday afternoon; it was after naps all around. Not bad for just setting the timer on the camera and waiting.

The KelleysMI left on Tuesday morning. We were all sad to see them go, the kids especially. Wednesday morning the kids got up and after about an hour Ian asked when Grandma and Grandpa Kelley would be there. Ainsley out of the blue will just say "Papa Kelley" and look around.

I'm so thankful that they were able to come and spend the last week for us. It was so good for the kids and just nice to spend time together.

CityFest

2008-08-25T21:38:00.000-07:00

Our last big outing was on Friday. We went to the Luis Palau City Fest at Waterfront park in Portland.
If you have never been I would really recommend going. We didn't know what to expect but it was pretty neat.

They had a huge kids area where we got to see Ian and Ainsley's favorite cartoon characters; Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber from Veggie Tales.

In addition to seeing Bob and Larry they had all kinds of carnival games, face painting, temporary tattoos, the Xbox bus (where Todd, Bri and I went in and played a racing game...Todd won), puppet shoes, bouncy houses, and a camel!

They had stuff for older kids too, like BMX riders, motocross and skateboarders doing tricks. Plus, there were concerts starting at 5pm. It's all Christian based so you don't have to worry about your kids hearing things you don't want them to. They had people giving testimonies and then there were booths from various Christian based organizations and radio stations.

The best part was everything was free! Well the food and parking wasn't but everything else was.

I would have liked to stay for the Chris Tomlin concert they had that night but the kids were done and we were getting hungry. They did have food there but it was pretty spendy. Mercy Me was playing on Saturday night which would have been good but there was no way we were going to go back.. =0)

Bri and her Grandpa while the rest of us were meeting Bob and Larry.

Ainsley getting her Butterfly.

Ian getting a spider on his knee, complete with eight eyes!

Bri getting her smiley face.

OMSI

2008-08-25T20:03:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday of last week we ventured to OMSI up in Portland. It's been a long time since any of us NW Kelley's have been so we had a really good time. There were some things that have been added like the Ball Room. Todd, Bri, Ian, Ainsley and I had a lot of fun playing while Grandma and Megan were watching a movie at the Omnimax Theater.

Ian was really excited that the exhibit going on was Dinosaurs. They had skeletons and then some that were robotic and moved. Ainsley kept calling them "puppies".

I don't have any pictures of it, but when it was Grandpa, Todd and Bri's turn to go to the Omnimax the rest of us went and watched the Laser Light Show. Ian and Ainsley loved it! Grandma and I loved most of the music they played. The last song was a little long and weird for us but it was neat to watch all the lights.

The second to last stop was the Science Lab which is for preschoolers to play and explore. There were A LOT of kids in there so it wasn't as much fun as it could have been for Ian and Ainsley but they still found some stuff to do.

Our last stop was the gift shop. We had checked it out earlier and Ian fell in love with a foam airplane. It was inexpensive so we told him he could get it before we left. Ainsley also got to pick out a souvenir (well okay so I picked it out for her), she got a red squirrel.

The most surprising event of the day was that Grandma and Grandpa Kelley bought us a membership to OMSI! I can't wait to take the kids back when it isn't so crowded and we can spend more time in the parts that we enjoyed the most. We also get in to the A.C. Gilbert House in Salem. Ian and I went there when he was Ainsley's age so it will be neat to go back now.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!

Phew...

2008-08-22T21:19:00.000-07:00

Things have been so busy!
We have been having a great time visiting with the Kelley's Midwest. I'm playing a bit of catch up (again!) You won't see me in any of the pictures below. This was last Saturday and while the rest of the family went to the beach I snuck away with all my scrapbook gear to my friend Jenny's house and enjoyed some time dedicated to scrapbooking, friends, Olympics and Big Love.. =0)

As I said the rest of the family went to Tillamook to visit the Blue Heron Cheese Farm and also they went to Tillamook Cheese Factory.

They had some beautiful weather so they decided to venture a little south to Pacific City where they planned to play on the beach. As they headed south the beach became more foggy. When they got to Pacific City they discovered that other people had the same idea. It was packed!

They drove a little farther north and found a nice little beach that wasn't as crowded. Ian LOVES playing in the sand so he was really excited and since this is the first time Ainsley has gotten to play she made sure to get really dirty.

Todd and his Dad, Francis

I think this is a great picture of Todd's parents, Francis and Liz.

The Waiting Game..

2008-08-18T16:34:00.000-07:00

What do you do with 2 kids who are wicked excited about their grandparents coming to visit?
Well, if you were my friend Jolina, you would probably have them do some cool craft involving colored puffs, ribbon, and gum wrappers. But since I'm not, and I was wicked tired from getting the house ready the day before we did what anyone would do.
Vegged out and watched TV.
Some of us did at least. Ainsley was asleep by 1pm since she had gotten up so early that morning.

Ian was more excited so I couldn't get him to sleep, instead he lounged on my bed and watched the Olympics with me while looking at the pictures in his Lego Star Wars manual.

As for me... I Googled the internet!

Finally the time came and Todd pulled up with his parents. We all went out to greet them.

Then we all came inside. Liz and Francis relaxed a little from the long day of traveling and Ainsley got to meet her grandparents for the first time!

It didn't take long for Ainsley to warm up to her Papa Kelley. She was all too happy to play cars with him on the dining room table and Ian like showing off everything he could do.

Oregon Spring Tomato

2008-08-09T19:12:00.001-07:00

After moving to Oregon in ’93 I have enjoyed growing vegetables here; tomatoes are my favorite but it is sometimes frustrating with a short season. Two years ago the season ended with the vines saturated with green fruit. Last year we had a bumper crop and my co-workers enjoyed a few overflow baskets.

This year I finally learned the trick to growing tomatoes in Oregon… search for “spring” in the name.

(advertisement)
Oregon Spring Tomato
At last! A tomato that combines earliness with large size and good flavor. Plants are cool weather resistant and its compact determinate vines don't require staking. Oregon Springs earliest fruit are its largest and are mostly seedless. Developed at Oregon State University. Approximately 65 days to maturity from transplant, 75 days where summers are cooler.

They were so right!

Rich taste and large enough to cover your hamburger!!

A warming of the heart..

2008-08-08T15:50:00.000-07:00

Our car radio is always tuned to a Christian Radio station. There are many songs that I sing along with, terribly I might add, often causing Ian to ask me not to sing.

This morning was no different. A particular song came on the radio that I enjoy immensley called "Never Let Go" by David Crowder Band. I was belting out the lyrics and surprisingly the 3 year old Simon Cowell in the backseat didn't say a word...until the chorus.

That's when my free dancing, ground and pounding little boy sang at the top of his lungs with the song. My heart swelled knowing that my little boy is listening and taking in such wonderful inspirational music.

Now I don't have a video of him singing but I do have a video along with the song that I got from YouTube. I hope you find it as soul enriching as I do.

Bridgeport Village Disney Camp

2008-08-06T21:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to the Disney Radio Camp with Jolina and the girls. It was pretty cool but a little overwhelming due to the amount of kids that were there. This week was the Young Chefs Academy. They brought stuff to show the kids how to make their own pasta. Of course it was pretty much over Ian's head but he like watching the dough go through the spaghetti noodle maker.

When we first got there we got in line for face painting and airbrush tattoo's. Ian wanted a tatto of a dinosauer so he and I got in that line while Jolina and all the girls were in the other. Wouldn't ya know that we were about 3 kids away from our turn and the air ran out so they couldn't do anymore. GRRR!

Ian and I got in the line for face painting even though he didn't want to do it. Ainsley went first and since I knew she wouldn't sit still to have her face painted the lady painted a butterfly on her leg.

Ian thought that was pretty cool so he decided on a spider for his leg. He was very careful with it because he didn't want it to come off.

During the whole thing Disney Radio had music playing. Ian just can't sit still when he hears music. He was busting a move right there in the middle of the square. He even got Eva dancing with him!

Here is the best bit. I hope you enjoy the little movie I made. =0)

Fire Department Family Picnic

2008-08-05T23:55:00.000-07:00

As you can tell I'm playing a bit of catch-up. I've been creating a blog for my MOPS group and that has taken quite a bit of my computer time. Thankfully, I'm basically done building it so I should be able to stay more up to date here again.

Anyway, last week was the annual Fire Department picnic. We all meet at Wortman Park for a BBQ and potluck. The little kids love it since they get to play at the park. This year Ian brought his soccer ball so the older girls got in on the action.

Evergreen Aviation Park

2008-08-05T23:47:00.000-07:00

A few weeks back Jolina posted on her blog some pictures from a new park in town. It's by the Evergreen Space Museum which was just recently completed.

The kids and I packed up and headed over there for a visit. Jolina and the girls joined us too which was a lot of fun.

Jolina and our little girls. The slide was too hot for their little tushies so she took one for the team!

Everything in the park is aviation themed. There is a plane, helicopter and this bad boy is the rocket ship. Way up at the top you can see Ian.

Tina Sets The Story Straight

2008-07-31T16:28:00.000-07:00

The other day while Tina was visiting the park with the kids, she had a conversation that made the news.

There was a news crew in McMinnville doing a story on graffiti and the reporter asked Tina a few questions. Later she spotted the camera off in the distance pointed in her direction.

I think she has a future in public relations… what do you think?

Camp Rosenbaum

2008-07-24T23:55:00.001-07:00

Todd has been gone all week to Camp Rosenbaum which is held at Camp Rilea just north of Seaside.
The camp put on by volunteers from the servicing housing authorities, The Oregon Air National Guard, the Portland Police Bureau, as well as several local county, city and state law enforcement and fire protection agencies. The camp is for kids 9 to 11 years old and come from the Housing Authorities of Portland, Salem, Yamhill County, Polk County, Washington County, Clackamas County, Lane County and Vancouver, Washington.
The purpose of the camp is to let kids experience the joy of childhood in a fun and caring environment, while planting the seeds of motivation and empowerment to stay in school and become contributing members of society.

It's a super cool program and Todd has wanted to get involved since he signed on with the guard. This year he was lucky enough to get chosen to join. He was put to work as a "Fire Dawg". Essentially, he's with a group of fireman and they provide the fire protection during the camp and also the entertainment.

Wednesday was visitors day so the little kids and I packed up and drove the 2 hours north. We got to get a glimpse of all the cool things the kids experience during their week there.

Our first stop was to "Cardboard Hill." It's this super steep hill that you ride down on a piece of cardboard. I didn't try it but it was very entertaining to watch Todd take both kids down.

Next we went to "Leather." With Todd's help the kids made leather name-tags with camp names on them since everyone has to have a camp name.

Ian's tag says "Homes" courtesy of Papa McCaslin; and Ainsley's says "Piggy" since she is our little piggy. Plus, she tried to eat the tag everytime we gave it to her. In her defense she is teething. ha ha!

On our way to lunch there was a Chinook helicopter that had landed with some VIP's in the field outside the "chow hall." Luckily, there was a crew member still inside who let us climb in and take a look.

Once we had downed lunch it was outside to check out just what kind of entertainment the "Fire Dawgs" provide. The flatbed truck on the left side of the picture has a huge stereo system on it. The Fire Dawgs blast music and dance around. We got to watch Todd boogie to the Electric Slide.

Ian was really excited because right outside the Chow Hall was a static display of a tank. The kids and Todd climbed right up.

Our next stop was to Arts and Crafts but I didn't get any pictures there since we were all too busy making beaded keychains. =0)

Probably the coolest was at the Science lab. They made all kinds of rockets and were setting them off outside. Ian however got to make a kite. It was pretty simple and worked awesome.

While Ian was flying his kite one of the staff came out with a model fighter jet and flew it around. It was so fast and at one point flew about 3 feet away from Todd and Ian.

Since the Science lab was right next to Cardboard Hill, you know what the kids wanted to do again! This first picture gives you an idea of how big the hill is.

Wouldn't ya know that on our way back to the car there was yet another static display of a tank.

The kids and I said our goodbyes to Daddy one more time and hit the road back south. We made one quick stop at the outlet mall in Seaside to take advantage of the sale at Osh Kosh and then we camp back home.

Todd will be home Saturday morning and let me tell you.. it seems a lifetime away!

Baseball camp this week

2008-07-21T23:16:00.000-07:00

It's a new week and another start to a sports camp.
This week Ian is doing a baseball camp. He had a lot of fun at his soccer camp but was really looking forward to baseball.
To start off the day the kids were supposed to pick a partner and play toss. Ian however didn't want to play with a partner so he proceeded to throw the ball up in the air and catch it himself. He was successful a few times but mostly he missed the ball.

Here he is going for a ball.

Listening to his coaches.

Finally it was time for some batting practice!

The kids are hitting off tees which Ian isn't used to. He does pretty well hitting the ball when it is pitched to him but he's there to learn some fundamentals. His coach Claire didn't have to give him too many directions when he got up to hit the ball. After practicing with his Auntie Nicole he had his stance down.

Everyone loved his follow through. He was the only kid to swing all the way through the ball. It was awesome.

And for your viewing pleasure Ian's last time batting for the day and his run to 1st base.

7 Short Years later...

2008-07-21T15:31:00.001-07:00

That's how long it has been since Todd and I began our life as one. Time really does go by so quickly.

We've had our good times; the births of our kids, Meg & Bri moving in. And we've seen tough times; Todd moving to a job where he is happy but taking a large pay cut, tightening our belts to live on 1 income. But through it all we have never been a closer unit. And that is really how I see us. Todd being the fearless leader and I take on the role of support staff.

When we started out I was young and our communication skills were lacking, now we finish eachother sentences and don't even have to use words to communicate.

I'm still the happiest, luckiest, wife around and each year makes me more thankful of the life that God has layed out for me. A life dedicated to Him with a wonderful partner that I can walk beside as we grow in our faith for Christ and eachother.

Happy Anniversary Todd - I love you!

I SURVIVED!!

2008-07-20T21:58:00.000-07:00

It was a long weekend!

Seven moms left Lafayette on Friday morning and came home Saturday night full of pride and accomplishment.

Todd and the kids dropped me off at my friend Jenny's house, who was the instigator in this little excursion.

In January she told all of us at Stroller Strides that she has always wanted to walk in a relay style race. Several of us thought that it did sound neat so Jenny set off on a information hunt. The Portland to Coast race here in Oregon is super expensive and you have to register fast because it fills up so fast but it just so happened that Washington had the same style of race just on a smaller scale. The Rainier Pacific is a 97 mile race for walkers. It starts near Tenino and ends at Ocean Shores. Six of us signed up with Jenny and the countdown to the big race began.

Seven entirely too short months later the time was here. We all packed into a 15 person van with our gear and Jenny's mom, Lynne, and her friend Jo were our pilots.

left to right: Jenny, Stacee, Crystalin, Dominique, Lynn, Patti, Me

We arrived in Tenino at about 1:30pm and Stacee started the race at 1:50pm. What seemed like an entirely too short amount of time her first leg ended and mine began.

Not the most attractive of angles for me!

I was pretty sure that due to the fact that, unlike my team, I hadn't trained at all, I was going to die! A little over dramatic I know but in all honesty I didn't know if I was going to be able to finish even my first leg let alone the 3 others I had.

A clue perhaps should have been when we passed an ice cream place advertising 24 flavors and I wanted to stop on the way to the race!

Luckily my first leg was nice and flat with long straight stretches. I just had to contend with the wind from semi-trucks that were flying by me. My goal was to walk 15 minute miles and I succeeded which was great. I won't lie though, I was so happy to see Dominique waiting for me at the next leg I almost cried! I forgot all about my blistered feet though when I saw what my girls had gotten me to celebrate the completion of my first leg.

After my night leg I started to get a little sick. The lack of sleep and physical exertion caught up to me and my body didn't like it. But even with this I was able to complete my 3rd leg with 13 minute miles!

Taken shortly before my 3rd leg. I was just teasing!

When it was almost time for my 4th and final leg I thought I was done. My body was not happy with what I was doing to it and began a revolt against me. Patti and Stacee were going to walk my leg for me and then we would all join up with them for the last mile to cross the finish line.

I was so angry with myself for not training and honestly I felt like I was letting my team down. I knew I had done this to myself so I chugged a bottle of water along with some Immodium and told them that I was going to walk my last leg after all. If there was any problem I would just call the van and they would meet me along the route to swap out.

As luck would have it after about mile 2 of my leg I got sick again, however; when I reached for my cell phone I realized that I had left it in the van! God had been with me during this whole trip so it finally dawned on me that I was learning a lesson not only about preparation but also about believing in Him and the strength that He gives me.

I pushed on and a short time later I saw all my girls waiting to join me for that last mile.

Did I mention that my entire last leg was on the beach.

My team and support!

Even though my body is sore and bearing some battle wounds, (the bottoms of both feet are covered in blisters,) I can't even begin to explain how good I feel. These ladies and I will share memories and stories for the rest of our lives. We have completed something that no one can ever take away from us, and the time I spent with them will be in my heart always.

Incidently, there were 30 running/walking teams in the field. We came in first amongst the walking teams (don't ask how many there were), and we even beat 2 of the running teams! Our goal was to finish in less than 24 hours and we actually finished in 22 hours and 49 minutes.

WAY TO GO

"STRIDING MAC MOMS!"

GOOOAAAALLLLL!!!!!

2008-07-15T23:16:00.000-07:00

Ian started his Tiny Hawks soccer camp yesterday.
It's super cute. The camp is only 4 days for 45 minutes a day and he is with other 3 and 4 year olds. He has been looking forward to this camp since I signed him up back in April. I don't think he believed me Sunday night when I told him he would be going the next day.

They started off sitting in a circle and introduced themselves. I think the coaches were expecting a little too much from these kids since only about half even muttered their names.

After breaking into 2 groups the kids started off by dribbling the balls while weaving through some cones. Ian's first time through he did really well going through the cones but at the end he was supposed to pick up the ball, spin around a couple of times, and then dribble the ball back. When he go to the part where he was supposed to spin he froze up. I went and helped him back in line and then the next time I went through it together. He did much better that time.

The next game the kids ran through a chute and had to dodge soccer balls at the coaches kicked them through. Ian loved this as long as I was waiting for him on the other end he had no trouble running back and forth. Onee particular time his coach tried to hit him with the ball and Ian just jumped right over and kept running to the other side. It was awesome!

Today was Ian's 2nd day and he started coming out of his shell. I was able to sit in the shade and enjoy just watching him. Of course I didn't bring my camera today and Ian did so good! They had a drill where the coaches dribbled the ball and the kids were supposed to try to steal the ball from them, if they got the ball then they could dribble it until someone got it from them. Ian was able to get the ball twice! And both times the coaches had to come and get the ball from him in order to go back the other direction. He was also able to try to kick the ball in the net and he did that twice as well. It was so great! I will definitely be taking the camera and video camera tomorrow.

Ainsley couldn't believe how Ian dodged that last ball!

La hanau pa'ina..birthday party

2008-07-15T16:47:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday Ian's good friend Eva celebrated her 3rd birthday. The theme of the party was luau and all the girls got leis and grass skirts. I couldn't resist posting a picture of Ainey.

The kids had a great time playing in their backyard. They had several little pools set up which Ainsley loved playing in. Especially the one with the slide going into it. It took her a few times to learn how to balance right so she didn't go under the water.

The biggest surprise of the day was Ian getting in the "Big" pool. It's about 3 feet deep and he has never wanted to go in it before. Ainsley has floated around but Ian has just watched from the ladder.

All of the other kids were in the pool and Ian decided he wanted to try it out. We put some water wings on him and I lifted him over the edge and into the water. He immediately wanted to get out. I kept talking to him and told him to try to touch the bottom of the pool. He relaxed enough to straighten his legs and when he figured out that he could touch, he was done with me. He stayed in up until it was time for cake!

Ian and Eva

Round and Round

2008-07-14T17:38:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday we met some of our Stroller friends at the carousel in Salem. It's really cool, it's right on the riverfront.

Both kids have been there before but this is the first time Ainsley has been big enough to ride. Since they are both under 42 inches tall I was privileged to be able to ride while standing next to them for free...all 3 times. This may not seem like much to you but after the first trip I wasn't eager to do it again.

Ainsley was a little tentative at first. She actually looked scared out of her wits. Of course when the ride stopped and it was time to get off she got mad and didn't want to leave.

I brought my niece Anika and nephew Colton along as well. They liked it too and Ian loves hanging out with his big cousin Colt.

All in all it was a cheap little excursion since we only ended spending about 20 bucks total with gas.

He is such a handsome boy!

My "Dorky" nephew.

Niece Anika

Mild concern on her face at the start.

Maybe this wasn't a good idea!

Hungry, Hungry....Harry

2008-07-12T22:19:00.000-07:00

Harry is Ian's pet monkey.

He followed us home during a certain shopping excursion to JC Penney in Salem. Harry has been a constant companion in Ian's bed since that day. Sometimes other animals join in on the fun and he gets smooshed up to the rail of the bed but when it comes time to go to bed we don't make it unless Harry is with us.

The other day during lunch Ian invited Harry to join him. Harry, never being one to decline a free meal served to him by an eager subject, accepted. Although, there weren't any bananas on the menu he did partake in some Cheez-It's and apple juice.

To make sure that Harry didn't get too messy Ian was adamant that Harry wear a bib, and unlike Ainsley he kept it on through the meal.

After lunch time we played for a bit and then Harry and Ian trekked up the stairs for their afternoon nap with full belly's and Mom followed with a warm heart.

Biker Dude!

2008-07-09T16:57:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Ian really wanted to ride his bike outside. Usually he rides in the house around and around the little circle that makes our downstairs. So since the weather was so nice I told him that after dinner we would go up the street where it's flat and he could ride his bike.
He loved riding it in a circle. He would go down in the street and then come back on the sidewalk. However, he kept seeing people walking so he asked if he could go for a bike ride. I thought about it and then figured sure so around the block we went. He did a really good job slowing his bike down when we were going downhill and when we made it back around to our street he didn't want to go home!
We started to go a little bit further and got a phone call from Todd saying that he and Ainsley were outside and wanted to see Ian ride so my little tough guy biked up our steep hill all by himself! I couldn't believe it, just goes to show me how big and strong he is getting.

4th of July

2008-07-09T15:57:00.000-07:00

We had a really nice, relaxing 4th..
But before I get to that I should start by saying a big CONGRATULATIONS MEGAN!!

The day before the 4th both girls went in to take their permit tests. This was Bri's 1st attempt and she really wasn't ready for it so she will be taking it again. For Megan...the 3rd time was the charm! She got an 80% and a temporary permit. Her actual card will come in the mail sometime this week. Todd even took her out for her first driving lesson in the Nissan. She's never driven a stick before so her took her to a school parking lot. According to Todd, she did a good job. Only stalled it a few times and didn't crash into anything so that's always a good day!

Anyway, on the 4th we hung out at the house during the morning. It was pretty hot out so I filled the kids' pool that is on the deck with water and let it heat up a little. After lunch we went out and splashed around. It was short lived since it was so hot, we came back in for naps.
The kids both took really long naps. When they were both awake we headed over to my parents house. We invited the Brandons as well and I'm so glad we did. We had a great time and the kids got to play together and keep eachother entertained. We enjoyed some BBQ and a scrumptious dessert that Todd B. made with his own hands! I was quite impressed.

When the sun finally went down we enjoyed the view of the city fireworks from my parents backyard and then rivaled the nabors during our private show. ;0)

Here are just a few shots of our great day!

The Ainsley Chronicles....the last installment

2008-07-05T20:04:00.001-07:00

We woke up on Thursday morning and to our surprise Ainsley was hungry. She ate part of a pancake; not her normal intake of breakfast but anything was an improvement.

She also hadn't had a poopy since we left the doctor's office the night before. These were all wonderful signs. I tried not to get too optimistic though because the true test would be when her test results came back later that day.

Todd decided that Ainsley was getting a little funky so we wrapped up her arm and into the shower she went.

Our follow-up appointment was at 2:30pm. With Ainsley's arm all wrapped up it was hard to dress her in anything since it wouldn't fit through the sleeve holes. I finally found one of her dresses that worked and wouldn't ya know it is one of the cutest ones she has!

We didn't have to wait very long this time but during the short wait Ainsley sat in a chair by herself and sipped on her ice water.

Dr. Miller and Becky were on their day off so we saw Dr. Cadell. It was our first time seeing her but she was really neat. Ainsley liked her and her nurse and had nothing but smiles for the both of them.

They drew more blood and while we were waiting for the results Ainsley had another round of fluids pumped in. She played the entire time and I had to keep her from playing with the pole the IV was hanging on.

By the time the fluids were done her tests were back and it was great news! Although her CO2 levels were still low they had risen drastically over the last 24 hours so Dr. Cadell was confident that they would keep rising. Her blood sugar was also good so she said Ainsley could have the IV out and go home! It was such fantastic news. Ainsley was so happy that she tried to help take her IV out, it was pretty funny to me and the doctor chuckled while I tried to keep Ainsley's hand away from it. Once it was out she got a band aid and a sticker. Nothing better to a 1 year old than a sticker!

We got dressed and Ainsley decided she wanted to walk out of there on her own and once we were home she couldn't make it inside fast enough!

I can't thank our doctors enough. Dr.Miller was fantastic and the fact that she and her nurse stayed after for over 2 hours just to keep Ainsley out of the hospital shows their dedication to kids.

Thanks so everyone for their prayers and well wishes!