working on my summer bucket list

I lost my summer bucket list that I made at the beginning of summer but I think I have done about half the things I wanted to do. I know one of the main things I wanted to do we are failing at. I wanted to get all 3 kids riding their bikes without training wheels. This would have required actually getting out and trying which we have not done. Here is what we have done so far off my list...

* went camping

* went swimming( kind of cheating putting this on the list since my parents live on a lake..but we have gone above and beyond I think. :) swimming almost every day above 75 degrees.

* redid the girls closet. Laila used to have all of her clothes in the closet with Lydia's in an armoire. I decided to put both girls clothes in one closet and use the armoire for their american girl stuff/ other doll stuff. This meant that we had to raise the bar and add another one. They each have a side of the closet with their shirts, sweater, jackets on top and their pants, skirts on bottom.

* today I made raspberry jam and have raspberry fruit leather in the oven right now.

I am leaving for San Diego on Wednesday to meet my nephew Finn. This will be the longest I have ever been away from my children. I am worried but know it will go all too fast anyway. Soon after I get back I will be getting ready for back to school. My parents are both teachers and will be headed back to their classrooms to get ready. I cannot believe I am sending my boy to kindergarten and my baby to preschool this year. I need to start planning what I want to get done with the last bit of summer when I get home.

Here fishy fishy

This summer, any day over over 75 degrees we have spent at my parents house on Spencer lake. My kids have always showed interest in fishing but this year was the first time they have sat for longer than 20 minutes and actually are using real bate. The last 2 days they have been catching little fish left and right. They have been catching sun fish, perch and small bass. Between Laila and Landon they caught about 30 today. Unfortunately, none of these fish are keepers. This actually works out quite perfectly for them. They are able to pull them in themselves and Laila is starting to unhook them and throw them back in herself. They get so excited each time they get one. I have had so much fun watching them fish and see their excitement over and over. Below are some pictures of our day.

Tomorrow morning Brad and I are going to wake them up bright and early(I am thinking 6 am...we'll see if I can get Brad out of bed) to go fish for bigger fish that we could keep. My dad says he has seen some really big bass under their dock but they are out in the early morning. I hope we get a big one!

Finnleif Audun Silveira White

Finnleif Audun Silveira White was born July 28th at 10:30 am in San Diego, CA. He weighed 6 lbs 11 oz.  and was 19 inches long. He is beautiful and perfect in every way. I adore him already and can't wait to hold him and spoil him for the rest of his life. He was very long awaited and it is almost surreal that he is finally here, not to mention that he came about 10 days early. 

                                              Ben and Marianne holding their little bundle.

 Marianne definitely earned her warrior title pushing for over 3 hours with this guy. Notice the bruising on his head, he was born face up rather than face down.

 I think he looks just like Lydia did in the hospital in this picture...I should find one to compare

                                                           At home resting with dad

camping-Manchester state park

Mariners game

Last friday night Brad and I met up with some of my friends from college and their hubbies for a mariners game. It seems to be turning into a yearly tradition. My group of friends from PLU and I all lead pretty busy lives so it is a nice way to make sure we get together at least once during the summer. We typically have been getting together for other important events such as weddings, birthdays, etc. Our friend Emily is having her first baby this November so we will be getting together for her baby shower in the next couple of months.

I am not a big baseball fan. I especially do not like to play it. I am afraid of the ball. I blame this fear on being hit in the mouth too many times playing catch with my dad growing up who did not take it easy on his little girl. However, I have always been a fan of sports and competition so it doesn't take me too long to get into any sort of game if it has any sort of intensity. Also, Mariners games for me are really just about being at a special event and enjoying being out with friends.

We had a lot of fun. It was kind of sad how many open seats there were. Fortunately, for us that meant Brad and I could move down and sit in front of our friends so I could actually talk to them. We got to see our first runner onto the field. He was tackled in 5 seconds and escorted off the field. After the game we talked to a security guy who told us he would be in jail all weekend and would be facing about 10,000 dollars worth of fines. The girls and I were just hoping he wasn't married.

                                           Brad, Me, Matt, Emily, Dan, Nissa and Jocelyn

                                               A rare picture of Brad smiling for the camera

A Day in the life of me

 My days can vary a lot...this is just a typical monday

5:30 am~ alarm goes off, I jump out of bed because I know if I sit for any more than 1 minute I will not be getting out of that bed. I pee and get my running "get up" on and get a sip of water before heading out the door for my run.



 6:15-6:30 am~ I get home from my run..Aren't my shoes pretty?? They are only 2 weeks old. I hope I will wear them out like my last pair.

6:30-7:00 am~ I eat my breakfast in peace...kind of...most mornings I am telling the kids to go back to their rooms a few times. Lately I am obsessed with cliff bars and any kind of berry. Right now I have raspberries and blueberries. I also have my morning cup of coffee before I head into the shower.

7:00-8:15~ All In one hour and fifteen minutes I shower, get dressed, do my hair, get makeup on, feed kids bfast, make sure they are dressed, make Laila's lunch, do girls hair and kiss the hubby goodbye.


8:15-8:45~ head out of the house to drop Landon off at preschool which starts at 8:30, then we head to mt. view and drop Laila off. where she gets to play on the playground until her school's bell rings at 9.

8:45-9:15~ most mornings I have some sort of errand to run and yes I consider driving down town to Uracca to get a caramel mind freeze an errand. Today Lydia and I just had to stop and get gas and buy milk at fred meyer.


9:15~ We got home and I needed to take the chicken out of the fridge that was defrosting and start marinading it.

I also needed to have a snack already. Today I had an apple(my favorite are pink lady) and decided to join Lydia in having a glass of chocolate milk. I read recently in runner's world magazine that chocolate milk is the perfect post workout drink...something about it having the perfect balance of protein and carbs I think.

9:15-10:35~ Lydia and I get time just the two of us every mon, wed, fri from 8:30-11 and I like to let her pick what we are going to do together for part of the time. Today she wanted to watch Beauty and the Beast. We snuggled together for about half the movie and the other half of it I tackled a pile of laundry that was bigger than this picture.

10:35-11:15~ Lydia and I finished our movie and headed out of the house to pick up Landon from school. We typically get home about 11:15


11:30-12:30~ I start making lunch for us when we get home. Today I want to get rid of the 6 little dinosaur chicken nuggets so the gingers each get 3 and I make them a salad with sunflower seeds and carrots. I make myself a salad as well. I stopped eating ranch on my salads a long time ago and have found a new love; Vidalias sweet onion. It is heaven with just about anything I put with my romaine.

Landon doesn't normally wear pj's during lunch time...he pajama day at school today:)

12:30-2~ nap time/ quiet time/ leave mom alone time. Lydia and Landon both stopped taking naps a long time ago. However, I insist they go to their rooms and let me pretend they are sleeping. On occasion they do fall asleep and those are usually the times they are grumpy for the rest of the day...go figure.

2-3:15~ I let them play and do whatever they want. Landon played games on the computer and Lydia had me read her a few books and played with my hair. I cleaned the bathrooms which is on my schedule as the monday chore.

3:15-3:35~ Pick up Laila from school.

3:35-4:35~ I talk to Laila about her day and she shows me papers she brought home. I let the kids watch cartoons while I finish getting stuff ready for dinner. Today I made pesto pasta (which is AMAZING) to go with our chicken.

4:45~ Brad gets home from work and I have him start up the grill for our chicken. I sit at the table reading the newest runners world magazine, worship music playing in the background mixed with children whining about dinner; being ready and the fact that it isn't waffles.

5:15-6~ Dinner as a family

6:00-6:30~ I read a chapter of little women to Laila on my kindle while Landon and Lydia are getting jammies on and brushing their teeth and hanging out with dad.

6:30~Brad leaves for bible study and I sit and chit chat with the kiddos

7:00~ The kids and I pray together and I send them to bed. Bed time varies a lot depending on what we are up to that evening. They usually go to bed between 7 and 8 though.

7:00-8~ baking cookies( ahem..heating frozen cookies in the oven) for mops tomorrow. I also worked on this lovely blog post.

8:00-9:30 or 10:00~ I will finish up the cookies, clean up the kitchen and wait for Brad to get home.

Junior jog

 This weekend is forest festival weekend in town. Before the parade every year they do a junior jog where kids of all ages run down railroad(the main street down town). This year was Laila's 3rd year running it, Landon's second and Lydia's first year. My kids love this race. They each got a paul bunyan book and a medal for their efforts. I just love to see how proud of themselves they are. I am proud too! I also think my 3 year old daughter running her little heart out is the cutest thing ever!! I have always thought it would be great if at least one of my kids took after their mama and became a runner but I just hope they find something they love.

                                                                             before

                                                                      Laila finally using her arms

                                                              Landon running fast

                                     Lydia starting to look around when she realized people were cheering

                                                After the run holding their medals and books