Trying to Find the Eternal Flame

it seems like i am forever playing "catch-up" on this blog! a while ago we went to see the eternal flame, and as we were getting all bug sprayed up for the hike, a lovely monarch butterfly stopped by! a small story here: we never made it to that actual flame, because one must follow the directions at the trailhead for that to happen. we ended up going on a pioneer worthy trek up a huge steep hill, with our double stroller being our personal handcart! it was a great hike!


this precious little fluttery thing flew around all of us and landed on glenn, then quickly flew to the tall weeds growing nearby. my shots are nothing compared to my awesome sister angie's, who photos anything beautifully, but at least i am trying with my sad specimen of a camera! although, since that was donated to us, it is much better than anything we could afford! however, none of the shots with actual people turned out. i need lessons i suppose.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GLENN!

this year our fabulous glenny got an awesome bday gift: a TRAMPOLINE!! we picked it up from a neighbor who was getting rid of it, and although it is old (the gman is still younger!) it's in practically perfect shape (and very sturdy).



since glenn grew up with a tramp he has some great skills, but the whole thing still makes me nervous!


our boys are masters on the tramp now, and ciela has a new love for the outdoors thanks to the bouncey magic!


for glenn's bday we went to another party for a little cutie girl ella (no pic's sorry!). it was a fantastic circus theme, and haven adored the cuppy cakes--as did toran who stole several--and the bouncey house the family had up in the yard. it was a great day for everyone. later that night, a sitter came over and the g-man and i went to the new indy movie for his annual movie gift. i think he was ready to exchange it for something else, but it was great to get out sans kiddos for awhile! i think his fave was the post movie red robin excursion--yay burgers!

Toughing it at Tifft's

we recently went to a local nature preserve: tifft's nature preserve, as a family. and after making several attempts at following mapquest and rand mcnally, we finally arrived! there were tons of these willowy stalks growing all over the place, especially in the water where they were over 9 feet tall!



as soon as we pulled in, it started to sprinkle, and i had forgotten to pack anything for chilly weather! my excuse is that i didn't check the weather, but really i didn't even think about it, and i almost always drag an extra layer for everyone whenever we head out! very quick into our walk, it was pouring. it felt nice, because it was pretty warm out, but then it got a little windy, and things just started going awry! check out the poor duck!



after trying to tough it out, we headed back in to this little shelter area to wait it out. toran was so cold, we wrapped him in our emergency mexican car blanket like a little burrito-boy!



most of us were having a good time. i mean come on...it's rain and we are from the pacific north west, we can totally do this! haven and cabes were nice and toasty in the little "house" stroller, and haven loved watching the ducks and geese that would walk by.


here is the beginning of some major tantrum throwing. ciela, since being told that we were going to walk in the rain, right after being told i didn't have a jacket for her, had been on serious pout patrol. she didn't walk with us, and of course hated the camera. she is now heading back out into the rain--to prove some point i'm sure, but i don't know what it is--and then started RUNNING across the boardwalk! toran of course started to chase after her, which is never a good plan. eventually, everyone made it back to the car and we opted to head home and grill some rib-eye's and down some hot cocoa!

Red Stripe Earned!

a few weeks ago ciela tested for her red stripe in tae kwon do. each level always gets more difficult and this time the kick she had to learn for board breaking was ciela's biggest challenge. as you can see though, she executed the kick and broke her board!


here is ciela after she has received her new belt. she has ceremoniously removed the blue belt (which they do at each level of receiving belts) and tied on her newly earned red-stripe. she is about half way to black belt, and the next belt level--red--is fairly difficult and time consuming to earn. she will be at this level at least 3 months, and possibly up to 6, depending on how quick she is able to master her new routines. we have upped her attendance from 2 days a week to at least 3, but mostly 4 days. she could go 5, but that seems to be pretty difficult with all of the other things we have to do too.

Haven Marion Aileen

haven is growing and growing. for her birthday we had her fave eats: butternut squash risotto and oranges!



haven turned 2 in march, and of course we celebrated, but it was very low key. haven loves ice cream and so we had a variety of our favorite ben & jerry's for the occasion.


haven got some pretty new dresses and a matching one for her baby (cheesy yes, but SOO cute!) haven loves her babies, and dresses too! she also got some great new books: a magnet one with farm animals and harold and the purple crayon (baby #4 and we are finally owning that book!)


here is haven with 2 new birthday babies one from grandma and grandpa (kissing that one) and another from ciela. that baby she carries around nude, and in a teeny tiny backpack! i love the 2's and i think it will be a super fun year with our haven! she is talking more like an actual toddler and climbs on everything the law allows (not my law, the monkey brothers). she has the funniest fake laugh and my favorite word she says right now "si-yee" (silly). she says it a lot! she knows most of her shapes, all of her vowels and a few consonants, various colors and loves to find birds out the window. we love HAVEN!

Haven-Pie!

because haven is around all the time, i seem to have a lot of pictures of her. and ciela and the boys love to take pictures of her too! here is the cuddly princess with daddy!


glenn was taking shots of haven while she watched dora, during an evening of not wanting to go to bed on time. she made this funny, grumpy face which she makes a lot when she is thinking!


haven loves to be outside, and loves loves her cherry boots! she wears them inside and outside, which means i get to get them clean all the time.


haven and caleb are a special team. they are sweet together and silly together, and look how cabes is deftly stealing from her!

Mentos Avec Soda Equals Fun!

for fhe last week, we did something that toran has been BEGGING us to do since the fall. i know this is not new and cool to everyone, but it is the first time we have ever performed the trick ourselves. as part of a take-home goodie bag from a party, toran received an actual mentos tube to insert into a bottle of diet soda. pretty cool party favor!


so check out that geyser-o-soda! pretty sweet. we had to wait until it wasn't actually freezing outside to dispatch said trick, that took awhile here in the land of the cold.


afterwards, glenn let the kids take a swig of candified soda, and then we each ate a soda infused mentos. ummm....gross!

Little Miss Ciela

as of late, little miss ciela has been stealing the camera...A LOT! when i go to download my weekly pictures there are at least 10 of and by ciela! she is begging for her own blog, but until we say yes to that i thought i would spotlight some of her recent work!



this is on the way to her 3rd grade musical last week. she was part of the chorus and a dancer, and she loved it! it is hard to get ciela motivated to perform or do ANYTHING in front of people, but once she starts she does such a marvelous job!


this is a great shot! sometimes she gets everything just perfect for her silly model shots! i love this one! i found some random cars and stuffed animals in here, but honestly i have no use for them at this moment...i will save them though!

Easter Snow-again!

so of course easter was several weeks ago, but late is better then never right? we decided to have the egg hunt be a part of monday fhe, and that was a sterling way to celebrate!
haven, was a master this year. it was great watching her search out the "edds" and convincing her to wait until we went inside to open them up!



the boys decided we would have the egg hunt outside this year (ciela was not excited, poor summer girl!) and honestly it was super fun to have the snow part of the escapade. glenn, of course, did the hiding and did a fabulous job.


cabes and toran were running around like chickens-with-the-heads-cut-off! they had no plan, just GO! they missed a lot with that method, but eventually we guided them to the proper locations. i think that snow and easter were awesome this year!

We Need You!

sorry, this is not an actual ash fam posting here, although that will be happening in a few days i promise! i just thought i would mention to any of you who haven't checked out the lizzie and me site-we need you! we are getting quite a bit of hits each day, but lower numbers of comments, so so sad! this week we are having our first ever "tip off" and giving away a cool prize (cool if you need it for ANY body that can use it!) so get on over to the tip spot and fire away! and please tell everyone else that you haven't told yet! we are having such a great time over there!

Summer In the Snow!

many-o-moon ago, our mall held an indoor sand themed play day. there was plenty of sand and sand toys and some games where the kids could win more "sun" themed gadgets.


haven, who loves going to the "real" beach, did not care for this indoor version! can't you just hear her?


poor haves! she's picking sand out of her toes! so glenn did the sand thing single-dad style, as i had a plethora of returns and exchanges to do. i felt a little bit guilty leaving them all behind, but they seemed so excited when i left!


now this toran is very happy, but caleb received a shovel-full of sand in the eye from a neighboring child, and that led to the early removal of the children from sandland. oh, i forgot to mention that i took all of the shoes with me, and the stroller because the area for those items were packed! so, now glenn texts "i need you" while i'm waiting at gap. i think, in a few minutes kind of situation, not real life emergency. so, the lady who is helping me is having some difficulty with my mixture of online purchased returns, in-store purchase returns, exchanges, and price adjustments, all while she is helping another customer on the phone, and has sent 2 other slightly bored employees away! i don't know what to do. so i do nothing. then text back "7 minutes?" the question mark is more for me than glenn, as i have no idea when my transaction will actually be completed. this is when glenn walks in. haven, caleb and toran, all scraggly with sandy parts, and no shoes! caleb is crying. and i dressed them in grubby attire because they were just going to play in the dirty sand, not venture into the world of retail snobbery. glenn was seriously chastised by the mall cop, for having no shoes on the kids. it turned out ok.

First, the Bad News...Then the Good News!

hello, all! i am sad to announce that really i will give up on trying to keep up with my personal cooking blog. "What?" you say. "How can this be?" i know it's been over 6 months since my last posting on astumblingblockorasteppingstone.blogspot.com, but i have been imagining all the new recipes and tips, and it just wasn't happening quite the way i wanted it to. so, i will be joining in sweetteeth.blogspot.com a spot with a few dental wife friends and their recipes, so if you haven't been, then check us out, although i have nothing on there as of yet!

also, even greater news. my sister liz started a way cool blog, and i begged to join, and she lovingly accepted me! so while we are in the newly workings of thetipspot.blogspot.com, visit us regularly for excellent ideas on all aspects of home and kids and family, on a shoestring budget! we are excited, and looking for lots of readers, so pass out the word!

CALEB RYAN SCOTT!

monday our little man caleb, turned 5! crazy. we had a little family party for him, and he got some great books from ciela, toran and haven. this shirt is his favorite! green with other "boy" colors and a car that looks like bumblebee (transformer).


some other gifts from glenn and i. cabes is in transformer mode right now. in fact he thinks he is a transformer. it's an excellent work-out...


caleb's favorite present: a "pop-up" bumble-bee. you press on the head, and then he transforms back into a car, and speeds away on the floor.


i moved the candles to a "better" location, and then couldn't find them! the cupcakes are covered in ganache, and were quite tasty.


we are excited that caleb is 5. when he showed up, that's when i feel i actually became a mom. ciela and toran had been really so easy to figure out, and i rarely had a moment of worry or panic. ummm...with cabes i was in a constant state of "code red" for his entire first year. and honestly i was relieved that we all made it to his 1st birthday! each year since has gotten a bit less intense, and more enjoyable. caleb is such a sweet boy, and so smart, but he is maybe the most stubborn person i have ever met. he is the best big brother to haven, she adores him! and he lives for moments he has with ciela. toran and him are a bit difficult, but when they do get along (more and more now) they are so adorable. cabes has been a daddy-boy since he was a tiny infant, and still loves any attention and time he has with glenn. caleb is becoming more of a big boy all the time. and he is quite patient with so many of his little buddies, and so understanding of them. i must admit those recent qualities have shocked me some. i am very curious to see this little person continue growing. oh, how we love caleb!

Vampire Addicts Rejoice!

ok, so you might be aware that i am a "twilight" addict. now given that knowledge i must announce that "BREAKING DAWN" WILL BE RELEASED ON AUGUST 2ND! i know that it is still the dead of crazy winter, but the last i had read, was that the 4th book would not be available until the end of august or maybe not til the start of september (cry!), but never fear edward will arrive soon to save the day! i sound like a complete freak, i need a bella costume i guess...and a convention center. oh, and to make this news even more delicious... the "twilight" movie will be released on december 12th, i am going with or without my regular date night partner!

Forgotten, But Not Gone

i realized that a few pictures i thought i had posted never made it on! here is haven playing out in the yard when it was weird and warm a few weeks ago!


haven "riding" one of her 2 bikes. this day she finally mastered keeping her feet on the pedals while i pushed. she is getting so big! by the way, don't you love my landlords truck garden in the back there?


i don't know where this picture has been hiding! this is my niece afton, & ciela & toran in our house in portland. ummm....that was atleast 18 months ago. as you can see, we had green walls in more than one house! those ones were striped! difficult to see, because it's all the same color but different levels of glossiness. i loved this room!


caleb took some packaging from something that came in the mail and made himself a "worm hole". funny boy.


here's the boys the way we like "em: sweet and happy and getting along!


haven joined caleb in the "worm hole" for some great fun. she laughs the hardest with caleb!


the kids playing in the oddly warm weather! it was actually a nice break for a couple of days, but really i'd like the winter to just be winter and then LEAVE when it is actually spring. so you know the kids can wear real easter clothes to church instead of their christmas attire!


ciela next to our house, and in front of the garage we are not allowed to use. besides playing, the kids and i removed all the big branches that had blown down from the previous storms. funny, because the next day a HUGE storm blew into town, and since then our lawn has been strewn with even more huge branches! i guess i know what to do when the next thaw shows up.

A bit of Haven...

little haven is such a great helper! she loves to clean-up! here she is picking up trains off of caleb's floor. she will find toys around the house (not much is where it should be!) and deliver them to their rightful owner, or room if the owner is unavailable! love it!!


haven loves to climb! i thought we would be all done with monkeys when she showed up, but i of course, was wrong! haven climbs up and down caleb's ladder several times a day, even in tights, and hasn't slipped in quite some time!


haven heard one of the boys yelling and proceeded into her mommy/dora stance: "stop it", is heard from her more than i would like, and so that means fixing what I say, and hopefully taming the boys a bit more so there is nothing to say!