Just for you, Grandma Millie

This one is for you Grandma, enjoy!

Ezra Michael Haines

Well everyone, if you haven;t already discovered.... I am an auntie again!! On August 28th my nephew Ezra Michael Haines was born!! It has been a real treat to be able to help Sophie and Grant out while they navigate the early waters of having two kids, these are some very lucky boys :)

Enjoy!

Right now he is asleep, big surprise there! He has eaten and is now taking another nap. Now that's the life :) Praise God for healthy babies and a family that cares!

XOXO

Wide Awake!

Baby Ezra!

Grandma Millie, here he is!! I will post more pictures soon, enjoy!

Look!!

She can go under the water now!! What a big girl!

Sitting in the Garden :)

Water Park Fun!

Water Park!!

10 things I need to tell you.

I have tried almost 3 times to blog about what's been on my mind lately and have come up short. I find it difficult in the most frustrating of times to convey my words in a manner that is both classy and eloquent. My thoughts are  jumbled, my writing is stagnant and I end up stopping the blog post because I have writers block. So, bullet points it is.

1. The Casey Anthony trial has me all kinds of dissapointed. I am dissapointed that the verdict the jury arrived at can be called justice. How can the jury convict her of lieing and then validate her claims that she didn't kill her child? The verdict made me sick and I am worried about the presidence it sets for future murder trials where the victim is beyond recognition. Furthermore, it really ticks me off that she thinks she has fooled the entire country. Believe me girl, we all know you did it.

2. I am sick of being on the blaming end of the stick when it comes to my children. Let me say this NOW. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to people that think I am a horribly selfish mother. I have done everything within my being to make sure that Isabel and Todd have everything they need and mostly what they want. I don't care if you think my parenting is blindly naive or seriously misled. My kids are walking proof that I will do whatever is necessary to take care of them. My faith in God is what guides me, not anyone else's uninformed judgements on my parenting. To those of you that would try and test my abilities as a mother, I say "I dare you."

3. The death of Shannon Ross brings to light some very real feelings of shock and loss. SHE WAS JUST HERE! Although the last time I saw her she was sitting quietly in the break room eating the soup of the day. I didn't say anything to her because I was sooo wrapped up in some kind of work stress that I didn't hardly notice she was there. Sad to say, but true. Anytime I see or use a pedometer, I will think of Shannon Ross. She would wear one at work and every day show me how many steps she had taken during the breakfast rush. Shannon loved ALL of the residents and always tried to make the aids jobs easier. I will miss seeing you Shannon and will think of you often.

4. The new season of the bachelorette is so irritating. My brother Jason loves it and tried to get me sucked in, but it never works! Her voice makes me want to change the channel.

5. I just want to be a make up artist already. I am in the process of going back to school for my estetician certification, but i just want to make people feel gorgeous! It has been a dream of mine forever and now I am finally doing it! Please be in prayer....

6. I really wish money grew on trees sometimes.

7. Being tanned during the summer really is wonderful. I wear less make up and don't care about leaving the house without mascara on. Now it's just fill in the brows and off I go!

8. Isabel's new hair cut is so much easier to deal with in the mornings! She no longer cries while I brush out tangles! What a praise report!

9. I miss my dad. Bottom line. There will be days, even weeks that go by when I don't think too long about him and then BAM! Like an unexpected ton of bricks, he is ever present in my mind. Todd Rhoadarmer would have loved my kids! Some people would treat their fathers as though they were no more than the man that helped create them, while there are others of us that long for just a glimpse of their father. What has the world come to when people thank their MOTHERS on FATHER's Day, when their father's have been everything they could ask for... and more?! Are you really so selfish??

10. I know it sounds like I am whining (and I am) but I had to get this out! I know that there are people that will read this and think I am horribly opinionated and I don't care right now. Disagree with me. I'm sure you have a ton to say about these things as well.

XOXO

* * HoMe Of ThE bRaVe * *

Happy 4th of July everyone!!

Wishing all Americans a very happy and safe 4th of July! 

"Bleesed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled."

Mathew 5:6

A beautiful day in the neighborhood :)

Isabel and I have today off, so we are off to Target to register for Sophie's baby shower. Haha, she doesn't have enough time before I send out the invites.... so Isabel and I are going to take care of it today!

I found this video when I was uploading the pictures from vacation! How sweet is he?!

Blog more later today!

XOXO

ZoO PiCs!!

XOXO

Vacation Recap Part 2!!

Ok, so here we go again.

We left off with the kids and I in the drive through at Starbucks....

Two boxed chocolate milks and an Iced Venti Hazelnut White Mocha later, we were on our way!

We met my younger sister Jessica there and the weather was fab-oosh! I will say that the prices for the zoo are a bit on the steep side, but the kids had an absolutely wonderful time. We went on the carousel, ate lunch in the park area, had popsicles and enjoyed all the animals! The Woodland Park Zoo actually has some sort of new dinosaur exhibit which we would have loved to have seen but they charge and extra 16 dollars a person to go through! Yikes!

This we all thought was odd, but creative.......

Hahahaha

So this brings us to days 6 and 7 of vacation.....

Day 6 we spent just relaxing! We had been on the go for 6 days and were ready for a break. Plus the weather had gone completely rainy, so we were all glad for some much needed rest. It was Friday by then and we had Conner's 3rd Birthday party to go to! How exciting! It was Spiderman themed and everyone got the awesome masks to wear.... Unfortunately my digital camera is STILL at Sophie's house...... SO those pics will be on the FB page sooner or later. 

Earlier that day, Isabel had her nails done!

Lime Green with Sparkles!! That's my girl :))

Other than ALL that, the kdis and I have spent the weekend shopping at the outlet mall and relaxing at home. 

What a wonderful break it has been from work and all things non-kid related! Isabel's dance recital is on the 25th and we are SO VERY excited!! She got her dance recital dress last week!! I won't ruin the surprise for those that will be attending the show, but the dress is all things fabulous!! Think - green, black and lots of sequence! 

XOXO 

Vacation Recap Part 1!

So I have been on vacation for exactly 5 days now and it has been a blast! The weather has held up every day long enough for us to do just about anything we wanted outside before it started raining. Phew!

The first few days were spent local and practically free! We went for a LONG walk around town and were able to see some horses along the way. Isabel loves horses! It was breezy and cold, but I bundled them up and away we went.

If you haven't learned yet, Todd NEVER goes anywhere without Thomas. :)

Isabel later asked why they looked hungry...... I told her they were just cold.....

Later that day we had hot chocolate and colored on a massive piece of white paper. We had to come up with fun things that were free that day and the kids seemed totally content just being at home.  So I went with it. I am very pleased to say that we have successfully taken a nap every day this week with the exception of today as we were at the zoo all day. This baytation has been sooooo awesome!

Anywhoooo....... Days 3 and 4

Day 3 was spent prepping and planning my moms birthday dinner. My mom is now 29!!...... Hahahahaha, rounding down. Far down. It was great, but in typical my mom fashion she asked that I not take pictures. Much less blog about her, so there is not a single picture from her birthday dinner :(

Thanks to everyone who came over for a very welcomed surprise for my mom! She loved having the dinner be about her and not having to be the hostess! Amen!

Day 4 the kids and I found ourselves at the beach in Mukilteo :)

By the time we hit the beach, the sun had come out!

.....She didn't to touch it for fear it might bite her, but we had a good look.

Again, Thomas in hand. :)

The Mukilteo beach has changed quite a bit from when I was in school. Yes, the Diamond Knot brewery is still within walking distance from the Ivars and the ice cream shop, but they added a HUGE play area where a grassy field used to be! It so great! Covered picnic tables and it's right next to the train tracks..... which means.... yep. You guessed it. My little man didn't want to move a muscle when a train went by!!

See the clouds rolling in behind her?!

Didn't want to swing, just wanted to watch the train go by :)

Ok, ok, So the beach was wonderful! The kids were in total kid heaven! Running around, feeding birds, splashing in the water and playing on a very nice playground! 

Day 5 took us to the Woodland Park Zoo!!

 Yipee!

It's always nice to take the kids somewhere farther from home, yes, even just to Seattle. I think if the drive were any farther, they might have started down the "what of" and the "when are we there" paths and that never makes for a pleasant ride to anywhere! So we got up this morning, had breakfast and got ready for a fab day at the zoo with Auntie Jessica :)

Again, we got up and the weather looked like it was going to be gloomy, but once we got to the zoo the sun had come out and it was hot out! Thank the sweet Lord! Isabel was set on seeing the tigers and Todd wanted to see the pigs and dinosaurs.... hahahaha, need less to say we started with the penguins.

Scratch that, we started at the drive through Starbucks in Everett. Hahaha

To be continued...........

XOXO

Us Lately

So, the kids and I have been very busy this last week and I have the pictures to prove it!

We made it to the kids museum!! Todd LOVED the trains and Isabel had fun with everything else. Especially driving the city bus!

The one sunny day we've had lately and we had a picnic outside with the dogs and grabbed Cold Stone with Alyssa and Gabey :)

We had the fam bam over for Todd's birthday dinner. He loved all the presents, especially all the Thomas the Engine stuff! Thanks!

Todd got a Lightening McQueen big boy bike from Mom and Isable, an awesome helmet from grandma and grandpa and an entire season of Thomas the Engine DVD's (in the bag of the bike in the first picture) from his great grandparents :)

I also had the opportunity to be the model for my friend Danielle at The Northwest Hair Academy! I have been talking about this for a while and if you're my friend on Facebook, you have already seen these pictures. Sorry :) Unfortunatly I cannot post the pictures directly here, but I can post the link to the photographers Facebook where she has posted them. Emily Benoit Photographics :) And of coarse, I had to document the transformation with my cell phone.....

Danielle Zollar and I :)

It took Danielle an hour to curl my hair! She has great patience! It looked beautiful and I love the color!

XOXO