Christmas Staycation

                     

I love my wonderful little family.  

                                          

Evan Thomas Hildesheim

My Babies,

 have grown so much.



To my sweet little man,



I love you, Happy Birthday!



Kids and Eggs

Evan, Evalie and Brenden: The best cupcake makers ever!

Mom: "Evan, it's your turn. Crack the  egg and toss it in!"

Mom: "Uh, OK. Let's try that again."

Evie to the rescue.

  The End.

Sunday Baking

When we returned home from church I told Evalie to change her clothes and then we would bake bannana bread. Apparently, this is what she considers to be appropriate baking attire. :-) She was just so cute that I didn't have the heart to ask her to change.



Apparently, her brother doesn't share the same opinion of what is appropriate baking attire. Captain Underpants here, only assisted with the clean up process. I have a No-Baking-in-the-Kitchen-while-Naked policy.



Playing Cinderella

Only in Rathdrum Idaho you can see guys wearing  flannel shirts and jeans to a wedding reception. Poor Isaac, he was out of his element. The whole night he complained that he should be out duck hunting with our Dad. Despite his disappointment, he still shared a dance or two with my little girl. What a great uncle!

                                       I love these kiddos! Happy Birthday Tan-man!

READY, SET, DRIVE what turned out to be seventeen long hours to Antioch, California! From this pic. you can tell that Shawn wasn't too thrilled about this idea. Me, on the other hand, couldn't have been more giddy about the entire thing. Of course, we'll give Shawn a break, it was five a.m.

To make it through the day, happy and alert, we downed two Red Bull's and two Monster power drinks. Kids, don't try that at home.

We saw so many beautiful landscapes during our drive. This is Mt.Shasta, and um, maybe a smeared bug on the windshield.

Look, it's Patrick!

"Shark-Bait, Ooo-Ha-Ha!" (c'mon you know that movie.)

And, Mr. Crabs!

Nicole: "I wonder what will happen if I step on it....?" :-)

Riding bikes around the Bay was so fantastic! We first tried riding on the streets of San Fransisco, but then decided it wasn't the safest idea. Not only did I lose a shoe while zipping downhill, but I hit two cars. We came to a sudden stop while trying to go up hill, and well, being short-legged, I wasn't able to fully reach the ground at that incline. I immediately tipped over onto the car to my left, and just when I thought I had gained my balance, I fell fully onto a parked car to my right. And you know what, I loved every minute of it.

On Pier 39 there were tons of street performers. The really goofy-looking ones were 'pop and locking' on the street for cash! It was so stinkin' hilarious that I couldn't resist jumping right in for this photo-op. It makes me wonder though, are these guys for real? Or are they under-cover insurance agents who get jiggy-with- it on the weekends?

San Francisco

I am so stinkin' excited right now! In about 32 hrs I will be on my way to Antioch, California to visit our awesome friends, Josh and Nicole Evans. They asked us to drive their U-Haul down and enjoy a fun weekend in San Francisco. I have never been to California, much less anywhere like San Francisco. I'm excited to experience the cultural shock everyone has told me I' m in for. Bring it on!  I am hoping to see the lighthouse at Alcatraz, ( I have a thing for lighthouses,) and the Aquarium of the Bay. I really want to see a shark, something that terrifies and fascinates me. I shared this with one of my co-workers, and she just laughed at me. Apparently I haven't 'lived' much. Whatever. I'm okay with being excited over the little things in life....

I can't wait to post pictures and tell you about my trip . Hopefully the fifteen hour drive down won't be too horrible. :-) I am looking forward to the one-on-one uninterrupted time with Shawn though. We haven't had that much face time in, well maybe since our honey moon six years ago? But, I'm still relieved that we will be flying home!!!

This weekend we are also celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary. Can you believe I've been married that long? It has gone by so quickly. I am so grateful for my amazing husband and my two little monsters. I really am a very lucky lady.

There's No Place Like Home...

OK, so I believe that the Lord will always provide what is best for each family. It may not be on our terms, our time frame, or what we wanted, but it's always what we need. Even if we just haven't figured it out yet. I feel like that has been the nutshell explanation of my life for last six years.

The Lord always provides, given we do our part. This is one of the ways I'm going to do that. I want to get the word out to everyone that my family is searching for a new home. The situation we are in now has been wonderful, but it has come to a scheduled close. We have been living with our friends, the Cysewski family for the past year. We would have loved to keep this arrangement going, but they will soon be headed south to finish up school. I'm really going to miss them and their beautiful daughters!!!

We had a new home arranged, but unfortunately three days after we put down the deposit and signed the paper work, it all fell through. The landlord wanted more money. She assumed we couldn't afford what she wanted, and therefor informed me I wasn't qualified to rent her house. The lamest part of this story is that she is a member of the church. I guess I just expect better from a fellow sister, but I'm relieved that her character came out before we moved into her house.

So, Team Hildesheim is on the hunt. It would be easy to find a decent apartment, but we would like to find a house to call home. Our children have become accustomed to having a big back yard to play in, and the thought of having no yard, flowerbeds and grass just breaks my heart. And to be honest, it is imperative to my sanity to toss the kiddos in the back yard and let them run off their unyielding energy!

So, if you know anyone who has a house that will be coming available at the end of July, please send them my way! We would prefer a three bedroom, but we can make do with two. We need to stay in the Hayden/Coeur d' Alene area so I can be close to my babysitter and my work.

I know the Lord has a plan for us, and I'm looking forward to our family's upcoming adventure. I've always thought that 'word of mouth' was the best way to get something accomplished, so here we go! Words out, please let me know if you can help!

Thanks!

Beautiful Babies and the Miracle of Goldfish

I'll share a fool proof trick with you....Shawn and I rewarded the kids with goldfish crackers after each pose they cooperated together on. I felt like a very successful mom that day by accomplishing two tasks- snack time and family pictures, all at once! Family pictures can be very scary business, you know. The Butterfly wings were Evalie's inspiration. She's a genius, her idea made this truly picture-perfect. If you look closely you will see the necklace she is wearing. It is actually the necklace that I wore on my wedding day. I'm so grateful that she asked to wear it that day because not long after it broke. Tragically, I ran it over with my car. I can't help but giggle a little bit now, even though at the time it really upset me. If you know me well, you won't be surprised that I would do something like that....so typical!

Mommy's Little Man

Happy 2nd Birthday, Evan Thomas! I am so grateful to have you as my son. You will always be my little man, no matter how big and tough you become.

So Chic...and cat-like?

It's gone.

After years and years of having long hair it was time for a change. I am now the proud owner of a short, chic and sassy new do. (Thank you Eleasha!)

Think....business in the front & party in the back.
(Ha-ha; j.k).

One of my male customers told me, "Your hair makes you look like the Cheshire Cat, from Alice in Wonderland. But, your smile is nice, and real. The cat's wasn't."

Confussed? Me too. Some men sure know how to sweet talk a lady. Whatever, Cat Woman is sexy.

Stayed tuned for photos.

Sisters

My little sisters are Superstars. (Bros-I love guys too, but this is about the girls today.) Rachel and Noelle always have my back and step up to help me out. When they babysit, (which is a lot!) all they usually expect in return is free pizza. Sounds fair, right? Considering I used to change their diapers, I think the return on my investment is very profitable.

Because of so many nasty illnessess flying around, last week my usual day care providers started dropping like pigs from the sky. (I know that was lame, but I couldn't resist). Anyway, it goes with out saying that I was a little freaked out about finding someone to watch my kiddos while I went to work.

Guess who saved the day...my sisters!

Thanks girls for dropping everything at the very last minute to help me out. I know you were broken hearted about setting your school work aside for one whole day. I appriciate your commitment to your niece and nephew. They love spending time with you and I'm grateful that they have such wonderful aunties.

And Mom, I know they learned that from your example. Thank you for giving me such wonderful little sisters, even if they were accidents. :-D


I came across these quotes, and just had to post them. It's so true.

"If you don’t understand how a woman could both love her sister dearly and want to wring her neck at the same time, then you were probably an only child.”–Linda Sunshine




"More than Santa Claus, your sister knows if you’ve been bad or good.”–Linda Sunshine


Rachel & Noelle, you are totally not getting coal in your stockings this year!

The Oregon Coast

Shawn, I love you.....










Even when you terrorize our children with dead crab claws.