Graduation

So its official at age 36, with 4 kids, I finally (finally) graduated from college. I love U of O, have always been a huge duck fan, so I am more than a little bit excited to say that I am a UO Alum. I really didn't think graduation would be a big deal, but it turns out I enjoyed every minute of it.My parents, Sandi and Clark, my baby brother (next to me) Doug, and of course Rob and Paige came. Although they are mostly Beaver fans (except for Paige) they were invited.
My in-laws, Verda and Craig came as well (also Beaver fans). I am trying really hard to convert everyone over to green and yellow.


It was really fun to have Paige come. Gracie opted out. I can't say that I blame her. Crew and Whitney...well, I wanted Rob to be able to pay attention so they all played Wii with the babysitter.

The Tear Drop Chair

This is a really cool bean bag-like chair we purchased from Rob's pillows, and futons. It was quite the Eugene experience. The store is in a house, its a little chaotic and crazy, but seriously well worth it. I love the bunk bed we got there for the girls, and this chair became a family favorite overnight. It is called the tear drop chair. It is like a bean bag, but way better. First off the stitching is guaranteed for life, you can get a refill on the stuffing whenever you need it, and it is so comfortable I could easily have taken a picture of Rob, I, or even our babysitter asleep in it as well. None of us, though, are quite as cute as Crew.

Gracie's Field Trip

Grace had a field trip up to Salem to the Gilbert House. It was so fun and I was so lucky to be able to go with her. Of course half the fun of the field trip is riding on the bus. The Gilbert House
is a really cute museum. We only wish we would have had more time.

Stuff

I recently purchased a few items. I couldn't quite fit them in with all my kids in the car. My friend Kristy very generously offered to bring my kids home from the gym so I could stop by and pick up some of my stuff. I first went to Cost Plus to pick up a table, bench and some chairs for our back patio. After I got it loaded in the car I thought, "I wonder if I can fit in the bunk bed and bean bag that just came in too?'' Now I am a mom of 4 kids. To be out running errands even with just 15 minutes to spare, without my kids is somewhat of a miracle so I decided I could totally fit it all in. Now you have to imagine as I pulled up to the 2nd store with my Dodge Durango half full already the guy was positive the stuff would not fit. I smiled, laughed out loud really and said, "It will fit...trust me....I am annoying like that, " and guess what? It totally fit. The door closed and everything. I decided to take pictures to prove it to those (my husband mainly) who might not believe that everything taking up all the garage space really did only take me one trip. I love being persistent.

Who's that girl!!!

Recently our 3rd child, Whitney, graduated from preschool. We were excited for her. She like her older 2 sisters had a graduation / singing ensemble. This is her letting us know beforehand that she is ready and can't wait to show us her performance potential. We had no idea.

You see we had no clue that Whitney, our family comedian, was also a professional singer. She has moves we had no idea about. She knew all the words, sang quite loud, had all the moves down (as well as some of her own). She was front and center and let everyone know she was the fantastic. We stared at her our mouths gaping wondering who this child was. It was hilarious. We had so much fun watching her, laughing, and congratulating her along with several other parents afterwards. Like I said, "Who knew"?

Paige's Field Trip to the Fish Hatchery

Paige's 3rd grade class took the last few weeks of school and utilized the opportunity to take 2 field trips. This one Rob was actually able to make it to. They toured a fish hatchery and had a great time.
Paige is now officially a 4th grader, but she fortunately still loves to be silly and have a good time. This is one of her good friends from school. I really don't know how I ended up with a browned eyed girl, with dark brown hair, but she really is mine, really. When she was a baby I actually died my hair dark brown too so people would stop asking me if I was the nanny.

Fish

We were at the Ala Moana doing some shopping in Honolulu and found this great pond of beautiful fish. Crew stared for a very very very long time.