Fathers Day

We had a fun Fathers Day! We had a nice relaxing morning just hanging out, and then Dave's brother Brian and his kids came over for a BBQ! So fun...Happy Fathers Day Dave...We love you!!

Wow- they stood still for one picture!

...and then they're back to being silly!

Brian, Bella and Finn

Running some races...

Hangin with the Hughes clan

The first weekend in June we drove down to Redmond and spent the weekend with Dave's brothers! So fun, the kids all have a blast together!

Eating Lunch at the Old Mill District

The kids got to make their own pizzas!

Brady! He's getting so big!

Walking along the river...

On the way home we drove up to Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood. It was beautiful and the kids loved it...they got to see snow in June :)

Inside the lodge...REDRUM...REDRUM.. (haha...for those of you who have seen the Shining!)

I think the altitude wore them out!

Face meets concrete...poor guy...

Check Please...

About once a month Dave and I get what I can only describe as a severe mental block or a case of selective amnesia. We make a decision that invariably comes back to haunt us almost every single time. We look at each other and say, "Wouldn't it be a great idea to go out to eat tonight?"

Sounds innocent and fun, I know.. We buy into the idea every time. We tell the kids. They get excited. The house becomes a flurry of activity getting shoes on, hair brushed, diaper bag packed. No cooking tonight! It's gonna be an easy night for us- Do you see how naive we are?? We should know better by now....

A typical "Lets go out to eat family night" usually goes like this for us.. Our kids look like angels as we wait to be seated. Katie is toddling around smiling at people, Ben is enjoying the atmosphere and Emma is reading the specials out loud to us. Dave and I smile at each other and think what wonderful kids we have. We're seated at our table and the first 5 minutes are spent passing out crayons, looking at the menu and giving Kate some crackers..

By the time the waiter comes to take our drink order I have already gone through everything in my purse that might possibly entertain Katie.. she has thrown every crayon on the floor and spilled my water across the table. Emma is whining because she wanted to sit by the window, and Ben is nowhere to be seen because he dropped his fork under the table for the 10th time already. The waiter is polite, but pities us already..I just know it.

Emma has to go to the bathroom, so off we go. When I get back I see Kate trying to stand up in her high chair, Dave scrambling to find something, anything, for her to play with. Ben has now broken most of the crayons and is STARVING...so hungry he just can't wait any longer! I pull Katie onto my lap and just when our food gets here Ben announces he has to go #2. Yes, believe it or not, this happens at least 80% of the time. I hand Katie over to Dave because the look on his face says, "I will give you $1000 right now if you take him. So, off to the bathroom I go again.

Emma, Ben and Kate will eat there food and be done and bored in about 6.8 minutes. I will get about halfway into my meal and realize I have ketchup, ranch and french fry grease all over my shirt, and at least one of the kids will gag at some point, so I usually just push my plate away- doesn't look as appetizing anymore. It usually occurs to me about this point that the fork Ben dropped under the table 10 times is the one he's used to eat his food. I cringe at that thought but realize its too late now. I feel beads of sweat running down my forehead from pure mental exhaustion. Emma usually hasn't stopped talking and Katie's yelling is starting to cause people to stare at us. Hmmm...Dave's face starts to show signs of frustration, it's time for the check please. One of us usually takes the kids out while the other one sits in peace to pay the check (Think Paper Rock Scissors). That person is also in charge of attempting to clean up the mini tornado that has touched down on our table and pick up half eaten french fries off the floor.

We buckle kids into the car and pull out onto the road. It is usually very quiet for a good 5 minutes. Niether of us says anything. Then one of us will reach out and grab the other person's hand. "We are never going to take the kids out to eat again. Let's remember this night and how we felt when we want to do this again". "We won't go out to eat until Kate is 3 years old". These are the things we say to each other. We mean them, we really do. We will stick to our guns, at least for another 29 days. Then the amnesia will set in again..........it always does..

And sorry Red Robin for the mini tornado that hit there last Saturday night.....



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Easter Picture of the kiddos....

Ok, so these next two posts happened awhile ago but I figured I'd put them on here anyway..Easter and Memorial Day weekend. Here are the kids on Easter- I only got one good pic!

Photo shoot with Auntie Alicia :)

We usually try and go down to Dallas Memorial weekend. My dad's flag is always up with hundreds (maybe thousands) of others at the cemetary. The kids call it Papa Don's park, and its always beautiful up there on Memorial Weekend. This time we had a little time and my sister Alicia took some much needed pics of Kate.. of course Emma got in on the action too, but Ben wanted nothing to do with it :) Haha..here are some of the pics she got! Thanks Alicia!

Here we are....at a daffodil farm in Dallas....

Nana and Kate

Katherine! My friend Becky passed this dress down to us from her girls- I love it!

Running with the Big dogs :)

Charlie and Katie- I think he's whispering to her "When is this gonna be over?"

Kate having fun...

Emma- almost second grader!

Oldest Bodine side cousins Austin and Emma

Crystal and her handsome boys! They're getting so big!

Emma pushing Kate on the swing....

Ben at the hospital :(

Well, never a dull moment in our house- thats for sure... Monday night Benjamin started wheezing a little. By 3 am he was in our room wheezing really bad and struggling to breathe. We gave him some puffs of an inhaler and he fell back asleep. After that Dave and I took turns checking on him and he just seemed to be getting worse. At 5am he said he couldn't breathe, and he could hardly say a sentence without getting winded. So, I scooped him up and off to the ER we went. We arrived about 6am and they took him right back. His oxygen was really low, so they gave him a breathing treatment right away. After his 2nd treatment, they sent him for some chest X-rays. His lungs showed signs of chronic asthma, so they decided to admit him for the day to monitor his breathing. He got a total of 7 breathing treatments, and some steroids to open his airways. They finally sent us home that night at 8pm. We felt so bad for him, and knowing that he's been struggling with this for awhile breaks my heart. BUT, now we know and we can get him feeling better! Once he could breathe he loved all the attention (riding in wheelchairs, popcicles, food in bed and all the movies he wanted to watch :) Scary day but everyone was so helpful.. thanks to everyone for praying for ben, and to Stephanie and Anika for coming to be with the girls! Here are some pictures of his day in the hospital...

This is soon after we got to the ER and was getting the first breathing treatment. Poor little guy...

2nd treatment..starting to look a little better

On his way to get chest x-rays...he was so brave!

Getting ready to head upstairs to a different room- and daddy got there, so he's smiling!

Yay! He can breathe again! A room with a window, TV and macaroni and cheese :) What more could you want??