a new day!

Amen for fresh starts! My verse for the day:
"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer." Psalm 19:14

How cute is this picture? Just two weeks ago we didn't have to buckle him in his high chair at all. Last week we started doing the lap buckle because he was twisting around. This morning I broke out the shoulder straps too because he stood all the way up. He seems okay with it though!

one of those days

Today was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Between the three kids and I there was more whining, crying, and yelling than this home has seen in a very long time. It was one of those days where I'm simultaneously glad it's over and wishing for a do-over. It was one of those days that I hope my children will forget. It was one of those days I do not wish to repeat tomorrow. It was one of those days that remind me that I cannot do this job on my own strength. It was just one of those days....

what I loved about this weekend

1. Staying up late Friday night to watch a movie with some girlfriends. So fun to giggle and chat.
2. Enjoying Boulevard Park with my family on Saturday. Beautiful weather - beautiful park.
3. Wonderful neighbors who gave us their leftover gravel so I don't hate my side driveway anymore.
4. Working out in the yard with my husband - just the two of us.
5. Being tipped off by a friend of a great jeans sale at the GAP and then finding 3 pairs! Woo-hoo.

It was a great weekend!

Merry (half) Christmas!

The Oscarson family celebrated our fourth annual half-Christmas today. (If you didn't think we were nuts before - you probably do now!) So how does one celebrate half-Christmas, you might ask? Start with Daddy taking an unexpected day off. Play lots of Christmas music throughout the day. Open a couple of presents. Bake Christmas sugar cookies. Take the day off from chores and schoolwork. Oh - and throw in a concert at Elizabeth Park just for fun (it was bluegrass music - of course we had to be there!). And there you have it! You should try it - it's fun!

no rest for the weary

UGH - I'm tired. My almost one-year-old is not a great sleeper. A good night means he gets up once. A bad night (about half the time - last night being one of them) means he's up 2-3 times and then is up bright and early to start the day. So I'm about to the point where I'm ready to do something about it. I had to do it with the big kids too and it usually involves lots of crying for a few nights and then I marvel at the fact that my child actually CAN sleep all night. But this time is different. With Audrey and Liam I had made that fatal nursing-them-to-sleep error which was causing their wakings. So to fix it I just had to put them to bed awake, let them cry to sleep, and then they slept. But I have never done that with Ethan. He always puts himself to sleep. It's just that he wakes in the night and wants to be nursed - and then is happy to put himself back to sleep again.

So here's what I'm thinking. Starting this weekend when he wakes in the night - I'll have Patrick go in, make sure everything is okay and say goodnight, and then leave. I know it will mean lots of crying for a few nights - but then should get better....right? Does anyone have any other suggestions (because I freely admit I'm not thinking clearly in my exhausted state!)??

soccer and glasses

Liam started soccer today through the YMCA summer program. I enrolled him in the 5/6 year old class and he fits in great both in size and ability! And he loved it. He and Audrey are pretty much the same size so he was able to wear all her gear, and she was happy to share.

After soccer we went and picked up Liam's new glasses. He's had the same ones since he first started wearing glasses almost three years ago! So it was time. He says they feel "weird" and it's a slightly different prescription so that will take some adjustment too. But he seems to be doing fine so far.

Audrey donned a pair of glasses too as a sign of solidarity. Just love my cute silly kids!

happy father's day!

Dear Patrick,
Happy Father's Day! You are an amazing father and husband. Thank you for being the rock of this family. Thank you for always putting us first. Thank you for all the laughter. I love taking this journey with you!
Love, Rachel

almost walking

This poor third child has not received much "air-time" lately. And he is almost walking! He pushes around anything on wheels (including our dining room chairs) and cruises everywhere! Am I ready for this???

dance class

Audrey had her last day of dance class yesterday. She has decided to take next year off from dancing and try gymnastics instead. We are sure going to miss her dance teacher! She is just wonderful! She gave each of the kids a personalized certificate - Audrey received one for Most Enthusiastic dancer!

Liam got to take part in some of the last day parachute activities. He thought that was great!

lasagna

Audrey and I made lasagna together today. What fun! And soooo yummy!

summertime

Summertime is officially here and we have some fun things planned!

1. Soccer for Liam
2. VBS for Audrey
3. Superhero class for Liam
4. Trips to Chelan
5. Darrington Bluegrass Festival
6. Dobbs Family Retreat
7. Patrick's 20th Class Reunion
8. Visit lots of parks
9. Trip to the zoo
10. Concerts in the park

We also have some fun new school things we are doing. We are doing daily Thankful Journals. Each day the kids will write and draw one thing that are thankful for. (I'm going to do it with them - thought it would be a good exercise for me too!) We will continue to do our Brain Quest cards - the kids think they are very fun! We have some fun Summer Bridge workbooks to just keep practicing the things we've learned over the year. And I've created a new job chart that I think will work great (easy for me to keep up with - fun for the kids to see their progress). We are focusing on two key elements of our jobs this summer - Doing it right the FIRST time and Working with a HAPPY heart. Building character and cleaning the house at the same time!! We continue to check out the Families of the World DVD's. The kids just LOVE them! And we will be doing tons of reading and earning prizes through the Summer Reading Program at the B'ham Library.

Busy, fun, productive. Sounds good to me!

ballerina girl

Audrey had her dance recital last night and it was great. She truly enjoys being on stage so it's fun to watch her perform.




Oh - and can I just say that we have four of the most amazing grandparents on the planet! They traveled all the way from Chelan to be here for this weekend. Then they sat through a THREE HOUR recital to watch Audrey's THREE MINUTE performance. Thank you Grandma, Grandpa, Nana and Papa! Our children are BLESSED to have you in their lives.

melt my heart

Audrey had her last craft club today. They made adorable scrapbook address books with lots of pictures and cute typed sayings, like "craft club" and "girlie girls." On the way home she was looking at her sheet of unused ones and asked what "My BFF's" meant. I told her that was for her 'best friends forever'. She thought about it for a minute and then said that when we got home she would add a picture of her brothers and put that caption on it. Ahhhh....

growing up!

The big kids have been begging to take showers instead of baths. Okey-dokey! I figure once I teach them how to do this I'll be out of the bathing process all together.

Working my way out of a job one day at a time!

at-home vacation

So we are in the middle of a beautiful week of at-home vacation. Before we had kids this was an idea that had never occurred to us! Since having kids, we've done it a few times and love it. Not only is there the obvious financial benefit, but everyone sleeps great in their own beds, there is no packing and unpacking to worry about, and you get to enjoy your own town in ways you might not always think of. Now that we're "experts" in the area of at-home vacations, I thought I'd offer a few tips.

1. Start with a clean house. Do the bathrooms and floors and get everything straightened up. It's so much easier to relax in a clean home. Make sure laundry is all caught up too.
2. Let everyone in the family pick some fun activities they want to do. Make a list and then get them on the calendar!
3. For me - vacation means good food. So at-home vacations are the same. Get some yummy treats and cook some delicious meals you might not otherwise have.
4. Regular activities (schoolwork, housework, exercise) are optional for this week!
5. Relax and have FUN!

We got off to a slow start with all the colds in this house - but now we're going strong. We've visited the Rocket Bakery, the library and Lynden Park. Yesterday we headed to Seattle and enjoyed the Pacific Science Center and a nice visit with Luke and Jee Young. We've enjoyed BBQ'd Copper River Salmon and lots of ice cream. Oh - and family games too. Very fun. And the week is only half over!

improving...

Ethan is getting better. Amen! Yesterday we had to do two of the at-home Albuterol treatments, today just one. He still wheezes a fair amount, and breathes faster than usual, but he's improving. The night we took him to the hospital he was breathing 66 breaths per minute (that's a lot - and very scary to watch). Today he was down to 42. Normal for his age is somewhere around 30 so he's getting closer. Thanks for your prayers.

There are times I wish we were closer to family. To call on when we need help, to pitch in when we are at our end. But God has richly blessed us with amazing friends. Who come over in the night. Who bring a meal. Who show us earthly examples of His love and care for us. Thank you friends!

trip to the ER

So ever since Ethan had RSV back in March, his colds can get really bad, really fast. And last night was the worst we had seen. Coughing, wheezing, breathing so fast he couldn't nurse. I was watching him try to sleep last night and he just could not get comfortable or take a full breath. So around 11pm we decide to take him in to the ER. Our amazing neighbor agreed to come over and stay with the sleeping big kids (THANK YOU MISHA!) and off we went. Poor little guy was so tired. He puts so much energy into just breathing it's exhausting for him. We were blessed with a triage nurse who did not make us wait one single minute in the waiting room. They did two treatments of Albuterol and his wheezing did improve. We now have one we can use at home if he gets that bad again. Got home at 3am and crashed!

He seems a little better today. Patrick is now on vacation for the week and I'm so thankful he'll be here. I find it very stressful to be alone with a baby who is not breathing well. Keep us in your prayers.

last day of kindergarten!

Today was our last day of school for the year! It was a bit different that I planned because both Audrey and Ethan have colds and they're miserable - so it was a quiet last day! The kids watched a movie (Parent Trap), played a game (Life), and had a special treat (ice cream sundaes). Audrey worked on a kindergarten scrap book filled with pictures of our year. It was a nice way to end a great year.

However - here was my Facebook status update for today: Two kids with miserable colds + one healthy kid who is bored = one very long day!

That about sums it up.

fun in the sun!

this and that

Ethan is learning to play the ukulele. He fits right into this family for sure!

We finally got a mattress for the top bunk. The kids love it! There's been talk of a slumber party in Liam's room this weekend.

Audrey had her first dress rehearsal for her dance performance this weekend. And I got to take my first stab at a bun. We'll be working on it over the next couple of weeks!


Both kids got new swim suits. I think they're adorable. Can't believe how hard it is to find a modest suit for Audrey already. UGH! But we're both happy with this one!