Independence Day Celebrations

We joined some friends on Sunday evening to watch the Emerald Downs fireworks in Auburn. They saved us a spot in a nice grassy area by the city airport – a definitely improvement from watching it along the street or railroad tracks in years past. While we waited for the show to start we visited, played a little Catch Phrase, and the kids ran around playing tag.

The show was nice and the company was great.

It made for a late night though – we didn’t get home til nearly 11:30pm. Then it was up early the next morning to join Justin’s parents at their ward breakfast in Maple Valley.

I posted a picture of our family for my picture of the day on Monday, but I also thought this picture of the kids was cute. Katie was waving at all the cars as they arrived.

This year we took scooters and bikes so the kids could ride along side the old firetruck in the parade.

However, when it came for the actual parade the kids wanted to ride on the back of the fire engine instead.

The three big kids are somewhere on the back of the truck

We went straight from breakfast to our neighborhood summer picnic in Snoqualmie.

Being new in the neighborhood we didn’t know quite what to expect. We were blown away when we saw the setup of the event.

As you can see there were many activities and rides for the kids to enjoy (several more that aren’t pictured). Immediately after we arrived we saw a bungee/jumping ride that the kids wanted to ride. The line was long though – while we waited (over an hour) we snacked on free cotton candy, popcorn, and soda and the kids snuck off every so often to do an activity with a shorter line while we saved their spot.

Finally it was our turn…

Abigail was a little more timid than I expected

Carly did a flip right off the bat

The girls were on opposite ends – here you can see them both the girls jumping at the same time

You had to be at least 45 pounds to participate – we weren’t sure how much Jason weighs, but he was willing so we had them strap him in

He loved it!

Justin helped give him a little extra bounce

By the time we were done jumping the entire event was winding down so the kids were able to play on as many inflatables as they wanted. We ran into a few families from church so the kids did race after race in the obstacle inflatables.

We knew the kids were exhausted, especially after being out so late the night before so we came home and had them all take naps so we’d be rested for the fireworks later that evening.

We were invited to join several families from church for fireworks that night.

Before the main show began the kids played with the little stuff. Carly probably did 30+ sparklers during the evening and was quite fearless – unfortunately, she also learned that fireworks can be dangerous when she was grazed on the cheek.

Snoqualmie doesn’t have any restrictions on fireworks. We moved from an area that enforced a “if it goes up or blows up it’s illegal” – which pretty much limits anything cool. We were amazed at the incredible show our friends put on. Adding even more enjoyment to the evening was that all the streets, blocks, and neighborhoods around us were putting on equally amazing displays. These were HUGE fireworks that you’d see at city sponsored events and we were surrounded by them. It. Was. Amazing! Needless to say I doubt we will ever attend the Emerald Downs fireworks show again. We will likely never even leave our neighborhood again on the 4th of July.

07.05.11 – birthday balloons

Grateful today for the little cluster of balloons Carly taped to the mantle for my birthday

“M-O-M” with a little handwritten note on each balloon

07.04.11 – happy 4th of july!

Already a full day of fun

Kids all napping before the festivities continue tonight

07.03.11 – napping house

In preparation for several late nights this week the Fletchers have implemented a mandatory afternoon of napping

Five down, One to go

07.02.11 – muffins

The girls earned blueberry muffins this morning by taking care of Katie so I could sleep in.

A little explanation why these muffins have the ability to buy me an extra hour of sleep:

Having children with food allergies can be challenging. Unfortunately for them, I've never been very good about finding ways to work around cooking without eggs and nuts. Instead I'd typically cook what sounds good and if they can't eat it, they go without. People always feel horrible when Abigail and Jason can't eat a dessert or treat, but sadly they are used to be excluded and doing without. It's all they've known. As part of my recent increase in cooking I've also found some good egg-free recipes. I tried an egg-free blueberry muffin when my brother and his family were visiting and it was a hit. In fact Abigail wouldn't stop asking about them all day. My brother commented that usually he'd be begging his kids to eat the last few muffins and I could hardly hold Abigail off from devouring the whole batch. I guess if you're unable to eat something for nine years then suddenly it's allowed it makes it a bit more special. Thus the power of a muffin.

07.01.11 – a picture a day

Does the name Becky Higgins mean anything to anybody besides me? I’ve followed her work for over ten years when she started her career contributing to Creating Keepsakes (a scrapbook magazine). I loved her clean simple lines and mimicked her layouts in my own albums. She’s a wife, mother, church member, decorator, etc.... she’s inspiring. One of those people you just want to be friends with. Over the past few years she’s developed a product called Project Life. I love the idea. Simplified scrapbooking with a focus on the everyday moments.

In July I am going to attempt what Becky has been doing for years now. Taking a picture each day. She makes no exceptions. To keep myself motivated I’ll be posting them on the blog. I can’t promise they will be of interest to anyone, but interesting or not they should be a glimpse into our everyday.

I took a few pictures today, but my favorite is this:

Tonight it was just me and my girls

We ate Parmesan Cheese Pasta Roni for dinner

Then we worked together to clean the kitchen and family room

We watched a little Cake Boss

and ate the last of yesterdays cookies

and homemade creamy fruit freeze

After Katie went to bed we played a game of Ticket to Ride

We didn't finish til nearly ten

I promised them blueberry muffins in the morning

But only if I get to sleep in

High-C

Each spring schools across the country test their students to ensure they have learned the curriculum expected of them. In some school districts a handful of students are issued additional testing to determine eligibility for gifted programs. These students are selected by teacher recommendation, prior high scores on standard tests, or by the request of the child’s parents. Abigail was one of the students at her previous school selected to be tested for their STEP = (student teacher enrichment program) class. The way it worked is that based on these special tests the top 25 third grade students in the district (14 elementary schools) would attend 4th and 5th grade together. These students would be bussed each day to the school where the program is sponsored. The program sounds great in that it provides a challenging environment for these students, but the drawback (in my opinion) was that they would be completely removed from their peers. Shortly after we moved we were contacted by our previous school counselor with Abigail’s test scores and were told that she would have been one of the few students in the district selected for the gifted program. Of course we were proud (but let’s be honest, not surprised). The counselor advised us to send Abigail’s scores to our new school district where they too have a gifted program they refer to as High-C (highly capable). I called the gal over the program and she unofficially told me Abigail was a shoe-in and explained how their program is structured. The students are pulled out of their regular classes once a week for 90-minutes. So while it’s not nearly as much time as STEP would have been I feel that it may be just the right balance between providing additional opportunities to excel while also remaining quite normal and mainstream.

This week we received official notification of Abigail’s acceptance into the High-C program – she didn’t know anything about it so it was exciting news for her. The teacher included an outline of the program and it sounds really awesome – the students get to go on extra field trips and are taught some really fun and challenging curriculum.

Great job Abigail!

4 years, 435 posts

It was early 2007 when a friend explained to me what a “blog” was and how she was using it to document the lives of her family and keep in touch with friends and family throughout the world. I’ve always felt it important to document my life and the growth and experiences of my children; yet, scrapbooking had become more difficult to keep up with and I needed something to help me stay on top of recording our life experiences. Being the some-what private person I am, putting any of our personal information on the world-wide-web for strangers to read wasn’t (and still isn’t) something I was comfortable with. With reservation I created a blog of our own and to keep it semi-private we asked that our blog address not be posted online. That first post was four years ago today.

Life has changed a bit since then.

At ages 5 and 3, these two little girls weren’t even old enough for school yet

Now they are entering 4th and 2nd grade

The arrival of this little guy was much anticipated

He’s turning four next month

And this baby girl wasn’t even on our radar

I am SO GRATEFUL for our little fragment of the web. My kids love to look through the pictures and watch the little video clips. It allows our family and friends to get a glimpse into our lives and though distance often separates us they can still feel connected to us. I still haven’t scrapbooked much, but when I do it will be so much easier because the journaling and stories are already written. Who knows, maybe I’ll still be blogging four years from now… what will our lives will be like then?

Visitors!

We’ve been looking forward to my brother and his family visiting for months (at least it seems like it’s been months). He was drawn up here by a concert-of-sorts. Whatever the reason we were excited to have visitors. The last of my siblings to visit was four years ago… so it was a visit long overdue. This was the first time my brother’s wife Cammy and their two kids had ever been to Seattle. They were only here for three days – arriving early Thursday morning and leaving Saturday night (Cammy is superwoman and drove from Utah through the night).

The cousins meshed perfectly and had lots of time at the house to play games, do crafts, and play at the park. Cammy was also nice enough to paint the girls toenails, do their hair, and make special egg-free cupcakes with Abigail (I told you she was superwoman).

We’ve lived in Snoqualmie now for almost three months and I think it had been over six years since I’d visited Snoqualmie Falls. Shameful! It is gorgeous and only minutes from our house.

Unfortunately, the trail to the bottom of the falls is undergoing construction until 2013 so we couldn’t get any closer. So glad we decided to go anyhow.

Justin was able to take Friday off so we spent the entire day in Seattle. Our first stop was the Locks. When we arrived there were some beautiful boats heading out to sea. Oh, how I wished they would have offered us a little spin around the ocean. The tide was high so we couldn’t see the fish actually jumping the ladders, but there were plenty to watch through the windows below. Katie was very excited and stood by the windows squealing with delight. Based on her reaction we’re thinking we need to take her to the zoo soon.

We ate lunch near Pikes Place Market and walked around a bit. I was surprised how crowded it was and with six kiddos to keep track of we didn’t stay very long.

The produce is beautiful

Cammy bought some delicious peaches to share with us (I was surprised to find out the peaches weren’t locally grown)

Below is my sad attempt at getting a group shot. I blame it on my subjects that didn’t catch on that I had crossed the street, changed my lens, and was attempting to get them to gather closer for a snapshot.

After the market we walked along the pier. I brought along some bread so we could feed the seagulls. Jason was in heaven and loved throwing the bread at the birds.

This might be the first time we have had company and haven’t eaten at Ivars (poor Justin)

The birds can be quite aggressive. One bit Cammy and another swiped Abigail’s entire piece of bread from her hand. They just sit along the rail intimidating all those brave enough to eat outside.

The traffic getting out of downtown was crazy and it started to rain, but we stuck with our plan to visit Alki Beach anyhow. Thankfully, by the time we got there the rain had let up.

Raymond, Cammy, Savanna and Jayden

Jason and Jayden enjoyed throwing anything and everything into the water.

On the way home Jason kept commenting about how much fun it was. We really need to get that boy to Hawaii!

Saturday was a pretty relaxing day. The kids were having so much fun that doing a big day trip wasn’t necessary. We did a few little hikes nearby, played games, and ate yummy food.

I was hoping Ray’s kids would be able to see some of our deer while they were here. An added bonus was seeing one of the new baby fawns.

The kids followed the deer and fawn until they jumped out of sight. Katie was strapped in her stroller, but was also very excited.

The kids were sad to see our visitors leave. We had such a great time and hope Ray stands by what he said and comes again soon!

Father's Day

I had an awesome Father’s Day. That doesn’t sound quite how it’s supposed to, does it? The potential for a stressful day was there. The previous week was full of stressful situations – old house drama, new house drama, last week of school busyness, etc… We woke up late Sunday morning giving us only 45 minutes to wake the kids up and get out the door for 9am church. I came home from church with a terrible headache and Justin’s requested Father’s Day menu required 4+ hours in the kitchen. But somehow the day was great.

We still made it to church 10 minutes before the meeting began.

Katie was content enough to allow me to sit through most of the lessons at church. In Relief Society the teacher had the following quote written on the board from F. Burton Howard:

“If you want something to last forever, you treat it differently... it becomes special because you made it so”

Her lesson was a reminder of the importance of family togetherness.

At home and in between dinner preparations, I creamed Justin and the girls in a game of Phase 10 Twist.

Proving my love for the father of my kiddos I cooked my first pork tenderloin. While dinner was time-consuming it all turned out great (or so I’m told – I don’t eat pork and I opted for more potatoes instead of salad). Justin was impressed enough with the entire spread that he insisted we take a picture of it before digging in.

We invited Justin’s parents over for dinner. They stayed for several hours afterward and we enjoyed having them here. We are a game playing family. Abigail challenged (and defeated) Grandpa in a game of checkers and the kids played games with their grandparents while Justin and I cleaned up the kitchen.

Justin didn’t take the day off claiming it as his special day – he was always nearby asking what he could do to help out and as usual helped with all the dishes and cleanup. I’m a lucky girl.

Even after only taking an hour nap after church instead of the usual two naps of 2-3 hours each Katie was happy enough that she was able to stay up with the rest of the kiddos until nearly 9pm.

We are grateful that we could spend Father’s day with Justin’s Dad. He’s an awesome Grandpa and has always been so generous – I’m especially grateful for how generous he is with his compliments. During dinner he told Carly that she has gorgeous eyes (she lit up with joy). As Abigail was playing the piano he complimented her on the beautiful young woman she’s becoming. We are blessed to have him so close by.

I thought it would be a fun tradition to take a picture of Justin and the kids each Father’s Day, but I still haven’t got around to it. Instead here’s a picture of the young man I married just a few months after this picture was taken.

We’re blessed to have him.

Firsts

Where were my friends and family when Jason was a year old and looked like this?

Cute as he may be - someone should have told us to cut his hair LONG before this.

Which is basically what Justin did on Sunday when he suggested “we” (meaning yours truly) should start doing something with Miss Katie’s hair.

There isn’t much there - just enough to gather her little rooster tail into a teeny-tiny ponytail.

Our Pianists

The girls had their piano recital last night at a little Methodist Chapel in town. Carly just started taking lessons last month and I’m so proud of her for already being brave enough to perform in a recital setting. Abigail has been taking lessons now for just over a year and surprised many with how well she plays in such a short time. They both love to play the piano and we love having our home filled with their music.

The girls playing their duet of “Mary had a little lamb” – Oh, and they were told they had to wear a flower in their hair… above is the best I can do

Below is the video of their performance for their grandparents and Dad (who at the last minute ended up staying home to deal with a defiant son). I asked the young girl sitting in front of me to videotape their performances so I could take pictures – so it’s a little wobbly in places. Abigail and Carly did a great job – if you’ve got an ear for music you’ll notice a few little spots they hesitated, but for only having a few weeks to practice I was a very proud Mom.

It’s a little lengthy, but the entire recital was over an hour and a half so you’re lucky to be viewing the best without all the rest :)

Who would have thought Justin and I could produce children with musical talent!

Bike Rodeo

Yesterday afternoon we attended “The Tanner Jeans Memorial Bike Safety Rodeo” created & sponsored by a local family whose child was killed when he was hit by a car while riding his bike. Apparently this is the seventh year the event has been held. We contemplated riding our bikes to the event (seeing as how it was a “biking” event), but we weren’t sure we’d be able to pedal ourselves back up our hill to get home afterward.

We did bring our helmets though so our local police department could inspect them. Both Jason and Carly received outstanding praise for wearing their helmet snug and proper. I have been known to be a “car seat Nazi” and I’m just as strict about bike/scooter safety. Abigail’s helmet had a small crack in it so she was offered a new one of her choosing.

We hope to get back into doing more family bike rides now that Katie is old enough to sit in the bike trailer. They gave us the cutest little helmet for Katie.

Next year we’ll definitely bring our bikes with us. The police set up a large course to teach kids how to ride their bikes safely. They had crosswalks and roundabouts painted on the ground and stop signs at pretend intersections. The police took the kids through each scenario and taught them one-on-one how to ride safely. I was really impressed.

The entire event was free – including hot dogs, drinks, chips, and treats for lunch. Even the helmets were free - getting two nice, new helmets (and eating plenty of hot dogs and chips) prompted us to make a donation.

The kids each got t-shirts too.

While we were there the kids were also able to get their faces painted. The girls have had their face painted before but never like this. These gals (all dressed as clowns) were supreme face painters – the best of the best. The line was long but definitely worth the wait.

Abigail picked out one of the full-face designs

She looked awesome!

Carly went for something much more dainty, but also cute.

Jason was reluctant at first, but a super nice clown-painter sold him on the dinosaur design.

Jason sat very still while she worked her magic

She asked him what color he wanted the dinosaur and to our surprise he choose pink.

He was so happy with it that I think next year we’ll be able to convince him to get his full face done.

Our last activity before we left to get our exhausted baby (and Jason... and Daddy) down for a nap was the bouncy toys.

Awesome afternoon – we’re already looking forward to next year!

Happy Feet

We’ve met several couples lately that have chosen not to have children. Sure I can see the appeal of successful careers and the freedom that comes from not having anyone to care for besides oneself, but man are they missing out. I love being a Mom and there’s nothing I’d rather be doing. My kiddos bring JOY and LOVE into my life I don’t think can be experienced otherwise.

Miss Katie has been such a giggly girl lately and will often just walk around the house cracking herself up.

She has also become steady enough on her feet to start training her for soccer greatness.

The Eight Year Gap

I have a sister that has four kids – just like me. To get her four children she was only pregnant for 72 weeks while I had to endure 156 weeks to get mine (that’s an additional YEAR and almost 8 months). You see, her first, second, and third children share the same birthday. She got a 3 for 1 deal.

My sister and I both had our first child when we were 24 years old, her fourth was born when she was just 26 – my fourth was born just shy of my 33rd birthday. (And let me tell you being pregnant and having a baby at 33 was a lot tougher than being pregnant at 24.)

I like to give her a hard time, but to be honest triplets would likely have sent me to the loony bin. Thankfully we have a Heavenly Father that only sends us what we can handle. My sister is superwoman though and besides that she was blessed with the sweetest most well behaved trio.

How these babies could be entering junior high this fall blows my mind!

No doubt there are advantages and disadvantages to both scenarios. I certainly don’t wish for a different scenario than I’ve been blessed with. I LOVE that I still have a chubby baby toddling around the house and if I could freeze time I would – I’m in no hurry to see any of my children grow beyond the stage they are in now.

With that said though my sister does have a few advantages – for example her four children are only 26 months apart so their abilities and interests are pretty similar. This past week she took her four kids to Disneyland on her own. My oldest two are also only 26 months apart, but there is over 8 years between Abigail and Katie. This makes it a little more difficult to find enjoyable activities that appeal to each of our children.

Last night we decided to appeal to the younger kids and went to a nearby Children’s Museum offering free admission. The girls were a bit too old for a lot of the activities, but thankfully they found enjoyment in helping their younger siblings have a great time.

Afterward we redeemed a few free kid’s meals at Red Robin and topped off the evening at Krispy Kreme for a free donut of our choosing – in celebration of National Donut Day. Now that’s an activity that appeals to all ages! Yum, yum!

unSETTLEing

We’ve been in our new house for 2 months. TWO MONTHS and we still have boxes throughout the house.

Yesterday Justin got the rest of our stuff out of storage. Stuff we haven’t seen in over 6 months. Stuff we really haven’t missed. Now we have even more boxes to unpack.

I don’t understand why it is taking us so long to get settled. It really doesn’t feel like two months, two weeks - yes, two months - certainly not, for surely after two months your home wouldn’t look like this:

Katie however was quite pleased this morning to discover a shopping cart amongst the cardboard towers.