Trip to Prineville

We recently took a weekend trip to Prineville to see Mick and Chris' completed "cabin". The amount of work and craftsmanship that went into this home is absolutely astounding. We had such a nice time relaxing and enjoying each others company. Doug and Mick went for a quick round of golf on Saturday while the boys played with the trucks and pile of gravel. We all had such a nice time, including Gus, as I’m sure you can tell from his photo.

Jack Turns Two!

My baby is two today. As I type my eyes well up and I’m amazed at how fast the time has gone by. Jack is such an active and busy guy he doesn’t even give me a chance to dwell on the past. Most impressive thing he’s doing? Talking in sentences – usually four words and occasionally five. If I correct the way he says something, he’ll usually try and say it correctly. He’s silly, such a clown and such a joy. Usually he’s fearless and interested in new surroundings. Running everywhere as if walking were underrated. He loves Will and wants to be wherever he is, however he’s starting to fight for his toys and doesn’t give things up very easily. He says “do it myself” when it comes to putting on socks, shoes, undressing for bed or brushing his teeth. Loves to be read to and rocked before going to sleep. Sleeps with his fuzzy blue blanket called “Blanket” and his stuffed duck named “Duck” (the lack of original names is totally my fault). He is such a fun child. The other night I was putting him to bed and I asked “are you a baby or a big boy?” He smiled and said, “baby” I asked if he was sure and he said, “baby”. He knows being the baby is a good thing.

Pictures above are from a recent get together with the Hovdes and Knights.

Love of Books

We have two young book lovers on our hands. I have to think that reading to both Will and Jack everyday has helped steer them in this direction. We have tons of books in our house TONS! I have to remember to keep rotating them just for my own sanity. The pictures are of an early book reading session as well as a picture of Will taken WAY past his bed time.

Other news...looks like we've sold the White House, phew! We received a very good offer on Friday which looks great. There will be a house inspection later this week, I cannot imagine anything bad coming up and we'll be closing the end of the month. As for the LO house our neighbor is interested in it for his mom. Since he doesn't have an agent and we'd love to sell it to him, we're letting him have an inspector come by this week (I would never recommend this to a client, not without an offer!). Doug and I are very curious to see exactly how much work needs to be done and if it will be a deal breaker, so we're keeping our fingers crossed!

Doug leaves for Whitefish on April 17 and starts work on the 19th. He thinks he's found the place he wants to stay and has worked out a deal with his new employer to cover some of the costs. If both houses close by the end of the month AND we're able to purchase and close a house in Whitefish I can see myself and the boys moving hopefully by mid May.

St. Patrick's Day - Family Style

Evelyne K., Jack, Will & Luke H. (Gilbert K. not pictured)

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day this year with the Knights and Hovdes. We all met at the Kennedy School for an early dinner and festive Irish music. As a group we're 13 (soon to be 14, baby Hovde will be here any day). How things have changed in just three years! The Kennedy school was crazy! But the perfect place for families, there were kids and parents everywhere. It took a while to get seated, but when we did we were outside in the courtyard which is so great, the kids could run around and not be disruptive. We had such a great time, and the boys were really good. We're getting to that stage where we can enjoy going out to dinner with them.

Before & After

Here are just a couple of before and after pictures from the White House. I wish we had these on display during our house party last week, but I didn't have time to make prints. We've had more interest regarding the house and are hoping for an offer this weekend.

I'm sure everyone has given up on our blog, since it has been over two months since the last entry. We've been busy (just like everyone else). We put the White House (the investment property we've been working on) on the market about 10 days ago. It's almost complete, Doug and I are finishing up all the last minute details. We're hoping for a quick sale.

Also, most of you already know, but we are moving to the big sky country (Montana). Whitefish to be exact. Doug starts his new job April 19th. The boys and I probably won't join him until May. I plan to stay in Oregon until our house in Lake Oswego sells. So with all the changes and projects we've been tying to keep everything together.

The boys are doing great, both talk constantly, and are enjoying school and their friends. They are such great boys and bring us so much joy. I hope to get some updated pictures on the blog soon. Corey is now in Honduras until June, so I'm sure she'd like to see them.

Will Turns 3! (12.12.06)

We celebrated Will's birthday this year with family. The McAuliffes and Uncle Steve were there. Will received so many nice gifts. Here he is with his Spiderman cake and "chips" (that's what he calls sprinkles). Will has grown so much in the last year. His speech is amazing and he continues to have quite a lot to say. He loves talking on there phone. He's been learning to use the toilet, dress himself and thinks showers are the best. He's a total daddy's boy, and wants to do everything Doug does. Will is usually very good with Jack and aside from the regular side tackle they play nicely together. Will weighs 34 pounds and is 38 inches tall.

Here are some pictures from the party (Cousin Matt is in the red shirt):

Holiday Train (12.4.06)

Chris and Mick treated us all to a evening, holiday train ride. Will is very much into trains (does Thomas ring a bell?) so it was very exciting. The outside and inside of the train was decorated for the holidays and Santa even made an apperance. The train left from Oaks Park and traveled along the Willamette River. We had so much fun!

So Much to be Thankful For

Happy Thanksgiving - this year both Doug's family and my mom and sisters were out of town. So we celebrated at my aunt and uncle's home along with my dad, Papa and the rest of the McAuliffe group. We had such a nice time. Matt and Will played so nicely and kept each other entertained for hours. Jack was even a trooper and stayed up until 9p (way past his bed time). Dinner was amazing and it was nice to be with family. As you can see we took a family picture (aren't the boys getting big?) and attempted to take one of the boys, this is the best one I have.

So, we have a lot going on the next few weeks. I'll be going to New York this weekend with a bunch of girlfriends to celebrate Sarah Spindle's 30th birthday. Then we have my dad's birthday and Will's birthday, not to mention numerous other fun holiday activites. Isn't it funny how even though Thanksgiving is considered a major holiday the moment it's over we feel that Christmas is right around the corner? I'm trying extra hard this year not to become overwelmed or stressed by the season. I enjoy it too much and it happens only once a year. Plus, I already feel ahead of schedule - I put up our Christmas lights yesterday and we went and picked out our Christmas tree this afternoon.

Doug's Birthday & Other Happenings

Doug turned 33 on November 9th and he doesn't look a day older than 23! We celebrated with family, eating dinner and opening presents. The weekend before Doug and I met my cousin and his fiancee at Bandon Dunes. The weather was wet and windy, but Eric and Doug did get a day of golf in. Lindsay and I toured the small town of Bandon, had massages at the Lodge and had a very relaxing weekend.

Other exciting news, our dear friends the Knights welcomed their second child Gilbert Kelley on October 25th. I had a chance to meet him in person on Friday. He is absolutely beautiful and has a full head of dark hair. It still amazes me how quickly they grow. Also, my cousin just had her third baby on November 8th, a girl named Delaney Rose. I know so many people right now who are expecting, six to be exact.

The boys are doing great, enjoying school and spending time with family. Work has slowed down for me a bit which may be a good thing. We're moving onto the second phase of our project house which means I'll need to be much more involved. We're planning to have the home completed the end of January. Doug has spent the entire weekend demoing all the unwanted interior (removing sheetrock, tile, doors, etc.). I'll be traveling to NYC the first weekend in December for my friend Sarah Spindle's 30th birthday. I'm so excited to go and this will be my first time there. The next few weeks are going to be busy!!

"Do You Know You're Dressed Like a Chicken?"

Cock-a-doddle-doo! Yes, I've dressed the boys up as chicken/roosters this year for Halloween. Of course I chose their costumes, especially since I've figured this is the last time Will will let me make the decision. They've been told they were going to be chickens for the past couple of weeks, but the other day when Will was asked what he was going to be for Halloween he said, "a policeman". No idea where that came from, and it was the first I had heard about being a policeman, but once again I was reminded that my child has a mind of his own. We're planning to meet up this evening with Cousin Matt, Aunt Marcie and Uncle Dennis. We'll try out this trick or treat thing in their neighborhood - I'll let you know how it goes.

Will's First Field Trip

Pumpkins, bunnies and a house filled with nuts - what more could you ask for?! I had the pleasure of participating in Will's first field trip last Wednesday. Destination - pumpkin patch. We had such a nice time. It was a bit chilly, but the sun was out and it warmed up. We went for a tractor ride, picked out our pumpkins (I learned that Will prefers the green ones), met and fed animals, walked/rolled around in the nut house (similar to the play areas with all the balls) and had a nice picnic lunch. What a great time we had! At one point during the day I was teary-eyed with appreciation that I get to do things like this. I think one of the greatest parental pleasures is getting to experience everyday activities, but through my child's eyes. What a great day!

Project Update

So many people have been interested in the progress of our project house. I've included a "before" and "now" picture. I'm excited to say the exterior portion of the project is close to being done. The house is being painted this week. Once that is completed we'll be able to start focusing on landscaping and them move inside and start work in there. As for the exterior major work included trimming back the large trees, removing existing landscaping, all new windows, installing a second story dormer, new roof, some new siding and painting. We're optimistic that the whole house will be completed by February and ready to sell.

Weekend at the Farm

This weekend Doug and I were in Seattle for our annual MSU reunion. We had such a nice time visiting with all our friends. We lucked out and were able to see Ellie and Jordan's amazing and beautiful new home which has a stunning 180 degree view of Lake Washington. We stayed in downtown Seattle with Mat and Danielle and saw the Seahawks lose to the Vikings on Sunday. The perfect ending to such a fun weekend.

And as you can see from the pictures, the boys were busy this weekend as well. Tractor rides and decorating Grandpa's birthday cake. The boys helped Grandma feed the horses and sheep or so Will tells me. They had such a great visit!

Safety First

For those of you who do not have children, my goodness the amount of comic relief they provide at times is astounding. Jack LOVES Will's bike helmet - plain and simple. Anytime he sees it he drops whatever he's doing and runs over to put it on. Then realizes he hasn't yet figured out how to make the clasp work so he'll find someone to secure it for him and will be on his way. Running after Will, sitting on the sofa, even posing for pictures - which I thought I'd go ahead and share.

More Pictures

I especially like the series of kid photos, of course we were trying to get a group photo, but the group had other ideas!

Pumpkins

Today we had the greatest day! This morning we met the Hovdes and Knights out out The Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island. The rain held off while we took a hay ride out to the patch, then searched for the perfect pumpkin. I think we may need to get Will out into nature a bit more. He can be a bit cautious about new situations and he wasn't very thrilled about having to manuver around all the pumpkin vines. We've never been there before and it was beautiful, I felt refreshed just being out there. I've include a couple of pictures of us at the patch and then the boys after we returned home.

So Big!

Here are some recent pictures of the boys. I see them everyday and I think they're looking so different, but after looking at these pictures they also look so old! Jack's starting to catch up to Will (size-wise), though he's still a head shorter. The boys are playing together much more. Basically anything Will does, Jack is right behind him.

PS Jack has learned to say "cheese" for the camera.