Only one day until the Rotary Auction preview…then the big day! I’m always excited about it, sure hoping to find a playhouse for the boys (although I think my mom got us the Yeomalt Log Cabin Playhouse but we won’t know until August) and Dee needs some hoses and PVC pipe. I’m always into getting clothes for the guys, too and some t-shirts for us.

We decided to grab salads and a sandwich for the boys at Safway tonight. It was actually a pleasant meal sitting outside. We stopped over at the Kruse’s new place, too and it’s AMAZING. It’s basically my dream house (minus a pool) and we went down to their beach and the boys found shells and waded into the water. They had a great time and didn’t want to come home. It was tough getting them to sleep but I think they will sleep hard, they’re beat.

I’m off to finish my trashy Danielle Steel novel (crap, I know, but a quick mindless read!) and get some sleep. This starts a busy weekend with the auction and all. G’night!

What a day! First took the boys to see Robots, there are free movies in Poulsbo on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. They loved it! Then went to pizza at Central Market and home for naps (yeah right). I got the lawn mowed so it’s all looking nice for the 4th, Dee came home for a little while and then headed out for work again after dinner. She’s swamped these days.

My folks came over to eat, we christened the new grill with some yummy salmon and then grandma and grandpa stayed after Dee left for work and read to the boys and put them to bed. They are really tired and didn’t fight it much.

Tomorrow we are going to see Curious George and then come home for naps and head out to the beach with my mom. That should be really fun for the boys. They are loving the weather and just being able to be outside all the time. I can’t complain either, it’s great!

Off to bed…it’s late and tomorrow comes early.

Here’s our proud little gymnast! Camp is over (bummer) and he had so much fun. He got a t-shirt and a medal and couldn’t have been more proud.

We survived the weekend, had a garage sale on Saturday and made $230 so that was good. It was nice to sit out in the sunshine and just chat with Suzanne and Caroline. The Rotary came and picked up all that didn’t sell so we didn’t even have to haul it away, what a deal.

Saturday night we had a foster parent group meeting which was cool because we got to hang out with Jodi and her family (they had Trey for the week before he came to live with us). They are a very cool family and have two beautiful girls. We also got to meet Julio’s week old sister, Isabella. She’s adorable and just so, so tiny.

Today we went into Silverale and got a new gas grill. Should be great to fire up for the 4th. It’s big, but it was cheaper than the smaller one and we have the space. It looks good on the porch and Dee’s happy…good enough for me.

Had a nice dinner with my folks tonight to celebrate my Dad’s birthday. We didn’t have to lift a finger, my mom put on a great meal and we ate outside on the front lawn. It was beautiful. Afterward, we played a game of Sorry! I forget how fun board games are and it was a really close game where it came down to the wire. Dee won!

Tomorrow starts the Raab Park kid’s clinics on Mondays so I’m jazzed about that. I think they are making handprints in cement or something, we’ll see when we get there. It’s a great program, it’s only $1 per kid and they get to do an art project to take home.

Been a busy, busy week….I’m off to bed!

So I’m here watching Oprah while the babies are napping…the secret life of mothers. This one mom is a compulsive shoplifter, another a drug user, secret affairs, secret stippers, etc. I’m feeling pretty boring but happy in my boring life!

Levi went to gymnastics again today (ba-nastics as Alice and he call it) and had a great time again. They sure keep them busy for 2 hours. He came home and crashed but he was all smiles when I picked him up! Tomorrow is their performance, should be fun.

I took the little guys to their WIC appt, got more milk, cheese and formula coupons. Carlos has only gained 1 ounce since last December, yikes. He’s just a small guy and he eats well but his size is still a concern since he doesn’t seem to be gaining weight. Since he doesn’t do milk products (and those are the things they always suggest to bulk up calories with) it’s tough to get the calories in. Surprisingly, she said we should start deep frying foods for him (yuck) and getting him more calories. Doesn’t sound real healthy to me, but I’ll chat with Dr. Margaret about that one first. We’ve been trying to have the boys eat healthy but we will do what we need to do, maybe our idea of healthy and what they need is different.

Off to Silverdale….

Today was the first day of Preschool Gymnastics for Levi and Alice…they had a great time! There were lots of activities and they came home with a construction paper fish, sunglasses and a new t-shirt. They were very proud. It’s funny, there is a parent recital at 10:40am on Thursday and this is the first thing like this that we are going to get to do with the boys. How fun with that be. I’m sure we’ll be one of the 20 dorky parents with the video camera getting it all on film. Someday when he’s a famous gymnast we can sell the footage!

Carlos has Faith over playing today so he’s been very occupied. He was upset when the big kids left, but he got over it and he and Faith trashed the living room. That’s my next job, then laundry (again) and then trying to get things ready for the garage sale.

Dee and I pulled a lot of stuff from the cabinets upstairs to sell, and I went through the toys upstairs and am going to go through the ones in the living room. There are so many they really don’t play with them all and I can ditch the ones that don’t get the usage.

Hoping Joy stops by to see us today…fingers are crossed….I better get to work so I can take a break at that point to chat!

I can’t believe it’s Sunday night already…where did the weekend go? We worked our butts off this weekend in the garden, but it’s really looking nice. Dee’s got the soaker hoses all set out and we just have to splice together some runs to put them all together and watering the raised beds will be as easy and turning on the hose. Ahhh. Got lots of weeding done as well and the peas strung up. I can’t wait until it really starts producing. With the veggie garden and the fruit trees going nuts, we’ll have to learn how to can so it doesn’t all go to waste.

I got a Britax carseat at a sale this weekend…for those of you without kids, Britax is the Cadillac of carseats. The safest, coziest and best and I got this one for $5 (well, really $4.5o since I found 50 cents while I was cleaning it out). So I got all inspired to clean the seats we have, took them all apart and then put back together. They do look nice, they were pretty nasty.

Now the living room is piled with boxes, things to go through to get ready for a garage sale. I sure hope we can pull things together and have a good one. We have tons of baby stuff, should be good for someone.

Well…off to sort and get some shut eye. Busy week this week, Levi and Alice are going to Gymnastics Camp!

Here’s the link to the pictures…

http://www.picturepeople.com/viewsharedalbum.aspx?SharedPictureGroupID=1075727&ShareKey=42845d533d3341f3a1b7c336122e06a5

They turned out great! We only got a few, surprise, surprise with 4 kids I’m amazed we got any in at all. Enjoy!

Ah, naptime again…early today since the wee-beasties were all fighting and tired. They went down with no issues so I’m patting myself on the back for the good call. I got the front and back lawn mowed (and for those of you who know…the front lawn HAS to be push mowed per Dee so that was a labor of love) and an appt set up to take all the kids to Picture People and get a photo done. I think it’ll be nice to get one with all 4 kids in it, the boys and Alice (their “sister”). Last time we were there we got one with Levi and Alice and the photographer asked Levi if she was his girlfriend…he said, “that’s my sister” and looked at her oddly. It was great. We’ll see how today’s photo shoot goes, it’s always hit or miss but usually we get at least one keeper.

Got the laundry going, hoping to get some cleaning and stuff done today so that we can just have the weekend to relax with the boys. Thinking about taking them to see “Cars” tomorrow, they really do love going to the movies. It’s amazing it can hold their attention, but it usually does. The key is FOOD. If they have their juice and treats they are good to sit for awhile.

Got a cool surprise yesterday, a clothing voucher from DSHS for Levi for $300! So, I went shopping at Fred Meyers and got him tons of back to school clothes as well as a few things for the summer. It was really tough for me to spend that big a chunk of money on kid’s clothes all at one time, though since I NEVER do anything like that.

Well, the kids are slowing getting up here, so I gotta get ready to get pictures done. Wish me luck!

So we get the mail yesterday and in it was a credit card application for CARLOS STEPHEN FIELD-BENNETT. Amazing, they really try to start them young, huh? Needlesstosay, we didn’t apply for the card. Life’s sure interesting.

We’re getting ready to have a garage sale in a couple weeks (anyone who wants to join us feel free!). We have lot of things the boys have outgrown, and toys they don’t play with anymore so hoping they go to a good home.

Also getting ready for 4th of July…all are welcome to join us for our annual BBQ and to watch the Seattle fireworks from our backyard. Should be mellow and fun, everyone brings something to throw on the grill, whatever they want to drink and something to share….we kick back and eat and drink and play foosball until it gets dark. There’s always a ton of fireworks going off at the beach, too. It’s fun!

SO…we’re back from vacation and there is a ton to do. Laundry, putting bags and clothes away, putting groceries away, etc. Didn’t get to it today, I went to Silverdale to see about getting a portable nebulizer for Levi (didn’t happen) and then came home and went to a preschool meeting. Levi’s going to Wilkes next year, the bus is going to come and get him even. He’s really excited about it.

Came home and got all the boy’s shoes out, apparently Levi is now in a size 8, Carlos is in a 6 and Trey’s also in a 6. Hard to believe how fast they grow. So, it’s off to Ebay to find Levi some new shoes.

Trey wasn’t feeling up to par so Dee stayed home with him while I took the big boys out to watch some of the Little League playoffs. I was bummed out to see the Diamondbacks lose (we know a couple of kids on the team). The boys had so much fun playing around the field and getting a lollipop for a treat. Maybe someday we’ll bury the hatchet about little league and the boys will play. As of now, that’s still a fresh wound.

Oh…but speaking of sports, Levi and Alice are signed up for a gymnastics camp next week. How fun will that be!?