Random pictures and stories of the kiddos

Kiera and Mason were trying on hats at Target with me one day. The kitten hat was Mason's choice - I promise!

Mason likes to sleep in funny positions on his bed, I'm so glad his mattress is on the floor because of the number of times I find him on the floor - I can't imagine if he was falling out of bed each time. Typically he sleeps with his feet off the mattress and the top half of his body on top of the mattress, but this day he was opposite with his head hanging off. It was too cute and awkward to not be captured.

Selah with a pretzel stuck in her mouth. Enough said.

The moving truck when it arrived and a few matresses were removed. I was just amazed at the puzzle and packing! Thank you to everyone who helped us pack up the house and truck, those that helped us along the way and those who helped us unpack the truck into 2 very full storage units. We never could have done it alone.

Base Tour

I thought I would give you all a tour of the base that we live on. I don't really know why it is called a "base", I do know that each YWAM location is called a base and our location is an old Air Force base, but why YWAM calls all their locations bases, I do not know... The first picture is of the front of the cafeteria where we eat 3 times a day during the week and breakfast and dinner on the weekends. We eat at 7:00a, 12:00p and 5:00p - whether we are hungry or not, because we know there won't be any more food until the next set time :-) I'm not always hungry at 5:00p, but if I don't eat then, I will DEFINITELY be hungry a few hours later. The meals are pretty good, the kids don't usually like them, but they didn't like what I cooked either. Breakfast is always the same menu and, thankfully, it is something they like: Scrambled Eggs, Oatmeal, Cheerios, Yogurt and Orange Slices. The kiddos eat a lot at breakfast to make up for not eating the night before.

This picture was from breakfast - Selah, Lane, Kiera, Melody and Mason (Mason has found a kindred spirt in Melody and they often eat meals together).

The building in the distance is the administration building and 100 Fold Studio is in the second floor. I am standing in front of the cafeteria taking this picture.

This is a picture of the sports field that sits next to our dorm. On the far edge is a creek that the kids like to wade in and throw rocks in. There are also benches and seats by the water for a quiet place to read. I think Selah will join in the base kids soccer season - Fridays from 4p-5p, you have to be 6 years old to play. She doesn't know about it yet, but I'm pretty sure she will be excited :-) I'm not sure if they will keep playing once the snow starts... This is also the hill used for sledding in the winter. I know you can't see the hill, the biggest thing to note is that it is RIGHT NEXT to our dorm - super fun location!

This building is our dorm. I took this picture standing in front of the cafeteria also. Can you tell that the base isn't that big? well, there is more to it, but everything I need and use is located in a very small proximity. It is great because the kids can ride in this street / parking lot and I can see them in whichever direction they go (which is usually each in a different direction). The back part of the building juts out a bit, that is our lecture room. I told you I don't go far for anything :-)

Playing Outside

Here are a few pictures from last weekend. We took the kids out to explore, play on a new playground, climb trees and play on the rocks in the river. The rocks were by far the most fun part. (Selah was there, she just didn't make it in the pictures. This is sad because she LOVED it and was like a frog jumping from rock to rock with agility and strategy, it was quite impressive. Kiera was more like me - she saw a rock she wanted to get to and she just went straight through the water, sometimes slipping in the water, but determined to get there. Mason mostly stayed on one rock and liked to throw the smaller rocks in the water.)

Sunday, Eliza babysat the kids so that Ross and I could go on a bike ride. There is a bike path that runs from Kalispel almost all the way to Lakeside. It was perfect weather, perfect scenery and the company was great too! It was our first date in too long. Here is a picture from the ride, we stopped along the lake to take this one.

Update on the kiddos

The kids are doing amazing! They get to play outside all the time, there is a playground 100 feet away, a soccer field just down the hill from us and a safe street right outside our dorm for them to ride bikes and scooters - it is a dream if you are 2, 4 or 6 years old :-) Everything is so close that they could each be doing something different and I could see them all. They have each found friends at school, on the base and on our dorm hall. There is Eoghen ("owen", age 4), Finn (age 20m), Samu (girl, age 4 - she and Kiera get along well), Oshea (boy, age 2.5) just on our hall. Then there are girls on the base that are usually around for meal times and to play on the playground with.

We've had a busy few weeks. Selah started school 2 weeks ago - Here is her first day of school picture:

And a picture with Kiera and Mason:

Here is a picture of the playground at Selah's school:

The following Monday, Kiera had her first day of preschool (I'm sorry to say that I did not get a picture that day - yes, what "they" say is true, less pictures of the second and third.) Kiera goes to preschool Monday-Friday from 9-12 on the base, just a few minutes walk from our house.

Other fun things that happened this week:

• Selah lost the second tooth on the bottom, so she is currently minus 6 teeth, but I think one of the bottom ones is already coming in!
• Kiera learned to ride her bike without training wheels!!! She can only go in a straight line at this point, but that is mostly because we haven't had much time to practice. She loves it, being a big girl who goes to school and all :-)
• Mason - there isn't one new thing with him, mostly I'm just constantly amazed at how well he is speaking. This morning he was talking to me about an event that happened yesterday. I think that is the first time he has communicated that he remembers something from the past. He loves to play with his train tracks / trains, ride bikes - he can now ride/pedal on the 3-wheel tricycle, ride his 3-wheel scooter...

The kids have a nanny during DTS for the time that we are in class and they aren't in school (mostly Mason and Kiera a little in the afternoon), her name is Eliza and the kids LOVE her! They can't get enough of Eliza. I'll post a picture of her as soon as I get one. She is joyful and playful and patient and kind. They can tell that she is genuinely interested in them.

Ross' Progress

So...  Many of you have asked how Ross is recovering from his bike/car accident. Well, the simple answer is that he is doing really, really well. He gets up early each morning to do his exercises that help keep his knee and ankle flexible, strengthen them and also work on the stabilizer muscles. He has been out for a few bike rides, but the true test was running... He decided that he wouldn't shave until he could run again. I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story:

What Ross looked like today:

What he looked like after the first "cut":

And then the second "cut":

For those of you worried, he didn't stop at the second cut, there was a third and he is now back to normal :)

yes, he went for a run tonight! Hallelujah!!!

Deer Deer Everywhere, Everywhere are Deer!

I'm sure this will not come as a surprise to most of you, but there are deer everywhere! Please hear me, I am NOT complaining. We LOVE it! Tonight Ross and I went on a short bike ride just to stretch our legs and look around and we saw 2-5 deer in most fields and yards, up the street, over in the horse pasture (they must of jumped the fence to get into the pasture - I wish I had seen that!). There are deer at the edge of the soccer field, at the edge of the dorm green, in everyone's front yards along the mountain. Ross said one crossed the road in front of them on the way to school this morning. The kids are all getting really good at spotting them at the window.

People tell me that you get tired of them eventually, but I don't think so. They are so beautiful and graceful and agile. I love living this close to the wild!

The moment when it all changes

You know that moment with your little one - the moment it all changes. One day you are walking down the street and they are holding your finger because their hand is so little, the next day they are able to fully hold your hand. What happened? How did their hand get so big? Their legs so long and their arms so strong and good at hugging? Well, I can't say that has happened to Mason yet... but I'm holding my breath waiting for the day when he takes my hand, fully takes my hand, not just my finger and I know that he is on his way to growing up. I've been thinking about this concept a lot, probably because he is my baby and he is getting bigger - physically, but also his vocabulary is growing, his agility is developing and he doesn't even need that much help at the dinner table.

No, this doesn't make me want another baby :-) But it does make me want to slow down and enjoy him. Hope that my memory will be able to capture this very special time and lock it away for when he is leaving for college and I don't have my little boy to cuddle with me anymore.

Okay... enough of this sentimental stuff.