A 3rd Birthday with Cousins!

This entire past week my kids have been in absolute HEAVEN having their cousins in town! My sweet sister-in-law Mindie drove up from Utah with her four incredible boys and we've been having just the best time. The kids have all played so effortlessly together, and although I swore they would all crash mid-afternoon from the heat, their love for each other kept them here until well after the sun had gone day each day. Saying goodbye each night has been so hard for my kids, and especially Jude. These boys are the brothers he's always wanted and we wish so much that we lived closer.
Thanks for coming, Min! 

We were thrilled they would be here to celebrate Scout's birthday and so we celebrated with an impromptu cousin party! The love this girl must have felt that day from all of your family was surely unreal. You really have the best kids, Mindie! 

She has so much love exploding from her little body that at times I have to tell her, "Easy, Lenny," when she makes this face. 

Nana made us all buttermilk fried chicken, homemade mac and cheese (Scout's favorite), and biscuits! 

Even though it was hot and those piggies started to melt, Nana's "Pigs in a Mud Bath" cake was a huge success!   

These boys are just the sweetest older cousins. They each were so kind and gentle to the little ones.  

Her reaction to that Peppa Pig camper! 

Also, that pooping kitty is ALLLL the rage right now. 

And then, I mean, who wouldn't want to give six children 500 water balloons to throw at each other?? 

We just love all of these guys! Thanks for coming and playing and making this week just the best time ever!

And to my sweet Scout Imogene: You are my wild and crazy daughter. You are fearless in your love for life and others. You say "hi" to everyone you see, are quick to hug random strangers and kiss your family members. You are my little singing song bird. You love to put on lipstick and nail polish because "it makes me so pretty", but I think you are so beautiful as just you are. You are my mini-me, you are our joy, and we love you with our whole hearts. I can't wait to spend another year with you. I love you, Scouty!

Summer Days with my crew

We're already into our third week of summer and I'm already feeling like fall will be here before I know it! Gosh, I love the sun and warm grass so much--why can't I just enjoy it and not feel like it's only going to inevitably come to a very dark, very cold end?
Our days mostly consist of park days, grilling, eating dinner in the grass, swimming in our filthy wading pool, being bath-worthy daily, the occasional (okay, once) Mariner's game, and watching Miss Piper grow up big and beautiful right before our very eyes. 

Ever have one of those moments when your near 3 year old, while watching her older brother zoom around on his big-boy bike, turns to you and says, "Mom, I need a Scout bike", and you realize, "Oh, crap, you don't have a bike!"? So over the weekend, Craigslist bestowed her with just about the cutest little pink bike a girl could hope for. 

This last picture is a big deal. HUGE. If I could turn the sound in this picture, the explosion of self-accomplishing joy and confidence resulting in Jude screaming at the top of his lungs--"Woo-hoo! I can do this!!"--in celebration of being able to finally swing all by himself--it was one of those parenting moments you dream of. 

Nothing brings siblings closer together than swimming in each other's pee and drool. 

Day 1 of art class with daddy! On a stress scale from 0-10, Adam was probably a Monica, but I think they had a good time. Jude learned how to use less paint and smaller brush strokes, and Adam learned that watching your children's uncontrollable curiousity with acrylic paint won't destroy anything except maybe his hairline. 

Those faces post hot dog, nachos, ice cream and something called a "tiger brownie." Our faces in the morning were less cheery. 

She's already 10 months old! And Scouty turns three next month! *tears*

Hope you're all enjoy your summers so far! 

Fourth of July '17!

This past Fourth was a beautiful day in the PNW! 
We Stevens were feeling more like our normal selves, and instead of hunkering down and basically doing nothing until dinner-time, we decided to make the day as much of a good ole' American time as possible. 
After our ward's 8AM pancake breakfast and flag ceremony, we headed over to the Bothell Parade, which was just about the best small-time parade I've ever been to. Jude was especially blown away by the parade of Corvettes, and he even worked up the courage to beat out some of the other (greedy) children for the candy being thrown at them. My Jude is so sweet and doesn't like to push and shove, but that day this mama told him it was okay for the sake of sugar. Scout was afraid of the whole situation for most of the time, but warmed up at the end to the idea of people throwing Skittles at at her. 

Those Corvettes, man. 

Oh, Scouty, the 4th if just not your holiday. It's okay, you can have
Halloween. There's way more candy anyway. 

After the parade we maneuvered our way around the other 50 parades going on nearby to try to get to a freaking Jimmy Johns (ended up going 10 miles out of our way, but WORTH IT), and then parked it over at Waverly Beach Park for the afternoon, which if you east-siders haven't been to, we highly recommend. I figured that since the high was only in the mid-70's that swimming would be a stretch, but Jude and Nana were completely unfazed and had a great time in the water together while Scout played on the playscape and Piper pillaged everyone's food. For how much that girl eats, the babe is not chubby enough. Definitely doesn't get those genes from me. 

Just look at that handsome little water bug.

Everyone took quick little naps on the way home, and then we ate fried chicken and mac & cheese for dinner and played with our new snails. I'm a firm believer that pets are fantastic for children, but gosh, the snail infatuation needs to be over. Can't tell you how many extremely slow snails have somehow gone missing in my house and then reappeared still alive a week later. And Jude insists on taking them everywhere. But it is pretty cute when they come of out their shells and he takes them for rides on his pull-back cars. Probably gives them the thrill of their short little lives. 

We then finished the day by staying up late and blowing up whatever we could find. Scout was terrified this year of the fireworks, and coped by snuggling with grandpa on the couch and watching Sarah and Duck to drown out the war zone going on in our neighborhood--can't tell you how many car alarms went off--and by the way, if your kids haven't seen that show yet, we highly recommend it. Sadly, Jude got so into the fireworks that he forgot to put his shoes back on and ended up stepping on one that was still hot and got a second-degree burn. But otherwise, it was a top-notch day.

I love our country and those in my family and those not who've sacrificed so much to protect our freedoms. 
America, you're just the best. 

Portland '15

Just getting around to looking through some of our favorite moments from our trip to Portland. We were lucky enough to have dovetailed part of our trip with that of some good friends who had the brilliant idea of dancing a night away on a cruise ship blasting 80's music. Seriously, a night to remember and NEVER to be forgotten. These are the pictures our kids will look at and realize their parents and their parent's friends were total nerds. 
Otherwise, here are just some little moments that made our trip sweet. 

Oh, Papa Haydn, how we adore you. 

Back in the city where we have so many incredible memories with these two. 

My little handsome man is getting so big! He is every bit the sweet boy I've always dreamed of having. 

We even took a trip up to Seattle to see Adam's Grandma and Jim! Scout and that magnifying glass cracked me up--every time I'd try and take a photo she'd stick it over her face and ruin it. Classic. 

The PNW was so beautiful and green--not-to-mention not 100 degrees. The weather was perfect all week. 

This is my favorite picture though!

Scout completely unable to stand still for 5 seconds and Jude blowing spit bubbles. Perfectly sums up the stages they're both in right now. 

We hope to take many more family vacations together!