Nate's 30!!! (like over a month ago)

So the big question, what shall I get for the birthday boy? Well, he did some not so subtle hinting that he wanted a banjo.  I, however, was frightened of the idea of picking out a banjo by myself, so I went another route.


My extremely talented caketress of a sister made the above banjo cake.  I know!  It's a cake!  She made it perfectly to scale and did an absolutely superb job.  I tried to convince him that this was his banjo that we got him (I'm not sure if he bought into it).

Then, I handed him a box that I wrapped up with a jacket in it.  He looked a little confused when he opened it, but seemed quite happy with the jacket.  He then noticed the envelopes in the pocket filled with compiled checks from family and the wifey so that he could pick out his very own banjo.

 And here it is! Isn't it a beauty? He's really good at it already and has used it in worship- sounds great! Next on the list is to get Lucy and Will a matching one.  Partridge family here we come!

The new room

As I mentioned a while ago we've been working on a new room/playroom in our house.  We're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel which means that my brain is turning with decorating ideas and paint colors.  So, I think I've come to my conclusion.  But if you know me, sometimes my decorating conclusions change.  For now I've landed on a white lime paint color, with Carnival red accents and black and white stripes mixed in.  Sounds a bit crazy?  I think it does to... a bit, but I think it could look really cool too.  Nate, like usual, says "I can't really picture it. "  That's ok though.  We'll see if we can pull off the many projects going on in our house right now.  And if we do, I'll post some pictures.  I love doing this stuff and get a little obsessive over it.  The Lord's teaching me patience as with the 5 kids I don't quite have the flexibility to become obsessed like I used to and things just take longer... a lot longer!  As for life right now, we're busy.  I know a lot of explanation probably isn't needed, but keeping up with life can be hard.  That said, I haven't been in picture or document mode lately.  In fact, I feel like I haven't hardly picked up my camera lately and am focusing on on the children and when I have a spare moment (not often), projects/decorating.  So, maybe as a break from kid pics, I'll post some things I've been up to.  That, however, is for another post, as I am sensing that my computer time is coming to an end.  

Evening sun and backyard fun

(taking notes on how to wrestle dad)

(I hope it's true that "a picture says a thousand words" because on a scale from 1-10 I am at a "0"for how inspired I have been to write. I'll start writing again... maybe in 5 years or so).

Alki

For Nate's vacation we went down to stay at our generous friend's house. They were gone for a week or two and offered their house in West Seattle to us. We had a wonderful time. Alki is so fun to explore with the kids and we had some reunions here and there as well. Mostly is was just good to be in a new environment.



This was the view from Alki

Here we are meandering through the little ponds when the tide was out

The globe lights in the backyard that essentially represent summer.