Pumpkin Carving

Our VA visitors took the day yesterday to go explore the Oregon coast. While they were gone, we took some time to knock out some of our Halloween traditions; like carving pumpkins  and watching Charlie Brown!! Colin was allowed to carve some of his pumpkin this year. He has been waiting for years to have this privilege. Will ended up helping a bit with the actual face part.

We also roasted pumpkin seeds. I used a ranch seasoning for one batch and cinnamon and brown sugar for the other. Delicious!!

Colin's is the leader pumpkin with dad's goofy sidekick!

                                                         ~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~
                                                                   The B Family

A New Look

I have been talking about cutting my hair short for over two years now. I wanted to wait until I reached my weight goal. Getting closer but taking longer than I thought. Last week, I finally decided enough with the excuses, I just needed to do it. So, I chopped it off...myself. I know, probably not smart to do it myself, but my hair is extremely curly and if it is not exactly even no one would notice. Well, once I let my hairdresser touch it she would, but no one else. I ended up cutting more than 10.5 inches!! I kept it longer than I thought I wanted (knowing it would need a little TLC from from dear hairdresser) and I did not worry about a shape or style. The goal was just to keep it straight as possible.

Before

I thought it turned out really cute. I did not like it all of the way down since it was just straight across. As long as I had one side kind of pulled up, I loved it!

First Cut

A couple of days ago, I had my hairdresser fix it up. Now it is even shorter! I was surprised by how much hair was on the floor. To some, my hair probably still looks kind of longer, but to me it is GONE!I love the new cut and style. Curly it is really short and cute...but I think I may straighten it more often. Especially, since it is so quick to do now!

Second cut

I love how different an easy change like cutting your hair can give you. I feel like a new me!

Family day - Pumpkin Patch

This week was very long and busy. So, Will took today off for a family day! I was ready for Friday...Work was busy for Will, we had soccer and school conferences, and we offered to watch a friend's two girls for three days. I am tired!!! That last part had our kiddos very excited! The girls were very well-behaved, but with four kids I was exhausted. It was funny going to the store with the two youngest (Meli & Aubrey - both 4). The one that was not my child kept being mistaken for mine. She has brown, curly hair and big eyes. They were very surprised when I responded that the blonde was mine.

This morning we had a nice family breakfast. Then headed to a pumpkin patch. Meli is ecstatic about Halloween this year. Oh my! She went ballistic when I put up the decorations. She kept thanking me. She keeps saying "Halloween is soon! Then snow too!". 

We had a horse-drawn carriage take us to the patch. The kids love this part. It was Will's first time. We ended up getting a fairly big pumpkin and two smaller ones the kids picked out. We also have a few from my garden this year!! (Pictures to come).

I am so glad I have been inspired with taking pictures again. I had a good time snapping a few today.

Meli grabbed a pumpkin that may have been a little too big for her. I love her face in this picture. 

We let the kids do a maze and play on the playground before heading to a Halloween store to look at costumes. 

Colin decided on Teen Titan's version of Robin and Meli will be Rainbow Dash. Bith outfits are adorable.

Colin had his first sleepover tonight. He went to a local high school football game with a friend, then is staying the night. Meli was sad without Colin, so we headed to DQ for a little sister treat! She of course had to wear part of her costume. 

I probably should proofread this in the AM...Will and I are enjoying mimosas tonight:) 

Renewed Inspiration

Taken with my iphone

Anyone that knows me fairly well, knows that I love taking photos. Since moving back to Oregon, I have put it on the back burner. I was focused on rekindling all sorts of old hobbies that I forgot of my new found ones. 

Last week, a friend of mine wanted to go take photos. I am so glad I went. It was exactly what I needed to awaken my inner creative goddess!

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The top pictures were taken while hanging out with my friend at a place known as Turtle Pond. The pictures below are from my garden the next morning. 

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Until next time...

B Family Road Trip

On Sunday, we decided that we needed a family road trip. So, we woke the kids up bright and early,  got everyone dressed and packed with day trip necessities, and were on our way. We thought it would be best not to get to carried away with putting the pavement behind us (being a Sunday), so we headed to Tillamook Cheese Factory. Colin is very interested in the different ways that animals give us food (minus the meat aspect - I will not be surprised if he takes after me and becomes a vegetarian at some point). Will provided a hint to see if the kids could guess where we were going. Meli kept saying "chocolate bunnies store" (she is obsessed), but Colin guessed that it was a dairy of some sort.

Surprisingly, I had never been to Tillamook. Will went years ago during his first Oregon stint.  I think it is one of his favorite places from his minimal exploration efforts of Oregon (we are working on that).

I was not sure how much Meli would enjoy the place, but she loved it! She really liked watching the cheese blocks on the conveyor belt. They both (well all of us) really enjoyed the tasting area. I think we all agreed that we really liked the squeaky cheese the best. I also loved the smoked black pepper and habanero. I should have bought more of the black pepper.

We enjoyed a light lunch of pepperoni, cheese and crackers. Then we had to have some Tillamook ice cream. Meli stuck with her vanilla (of course), but she really liked Will's Espresso Mocha.  Colin had Orange Sherbet. He is the most adventurous of us when it comes to ice cream. I am a picky ice cream eater. I sampled white chocolate raspberry, which was delicious but a little rich. I could tell I would not be able to eat more than a few bites. So, I went with one of my go to flavors, Rocky Road.

After we were done with the factory, we thought it would be nice to visit the coast and let the kids play in the sand. We headed to Lincoln City, since the kids and Will had not been there before (and I have always enjoyed it). I really wanted to go to the Wizard Hat rock formation, but I thought it would be better when Meli was a little better at walking on big rocks and cave areas. So we will save it for another adventure.

The beach access we used was on 34th street. I think it is referred to as Grace Hammond Access. It was a little tricky to find but it was a great spot. The kids had a blast! Will was a little cold (as usual), he has not quite adapted to the Oregon Coast weather or appeal. It was actually fairly warm. I think it was in the high 60's to low 70's, but it was pretty windy (which I love). I really enjoyed our beach time!!  I love running in the water with the kids. We were pretending we were birds and letting the wind take us away. 

Such a beautiful and peaceful day.

                                                        ~   Love, Hugs & Kisses ~
                                                                    The B Family

The Hub's Birthday

Will's birthday was two weeks ago. He was a little down about stepping over the mid-thirty mark, but I explained to him that most guys getting better looking as they get older, and he was entering the prime age range for men. 

He mostly wanted items for his drum set. We obliged his request, but threw in a few surprise gifts that had nothing to do with music. One of them was the board game, Labyrinth. We have played a few times during family night and love it! He also got a PS4, which he is ecstatic about. 

For dinner I made this delicious enchilada dish, http://pearls-handcuffs-happyhour.blogspot.com/search/label/mexican?updated-max=2010-11-09T16:17:00-08:00&max-results=20&m=1. It was seriously so good!

 I tried something different for dessert, a peanut butter chocolate tiramisu. http://www.theslowroasteditalian.com/2013/12/peanut-butter-chocolate-tiramisu-recipe.html?m=1

I sent the below pic to Will on his day. I thought it was so perfect for him.

His birthday morning was filled with excitement...as we were heading out the door to drop the kids off at a friend's  house (so we could go on a breakfast date), Colin closed the door before we had grabbed the keys. I cannot believe this was the first time it has happened. We have tested fate too many times with not having a spare out. Luckily, Will had left a window unlocked on the first floor. The only one I knew of was on the top floor and very high up. Colin was our hero by climbing a ladder and going thru the window! Meli wanted to try too!

The past year or two, I have been realizing more and more how blessed I am to have Will as my best friend and partner. He is such an intelligent, funny and incredibly talented man. I love him so much!

We ended the day by going to the movie night at the fire station. The kids had so much fun seeing the life flight helicopter, walking thru a a demo smoke-filled room, and seeing the jaws of life demo

It was a good day!

Marc Broussard in Concert

As part of Will's birthday weekend (more on that to come), we were able to go see one of our favorite musicians, Marc Broussard, in concert. He is such a fantastic songwriter and performer. I think he has one of the best male voices out there. This was our second time seeing him, the first was at the Birchmere in Virginia. The concert was awesome! 

To make it even more awesome, we got to meet him afterwards!! I was seriously so nervous. I usually am not a person that would get "meeting a celebrity" nerves, but he is my musical crush...so my heart was beating fast. Will thought it was so funny. It meant a lot to talk to him. His music has special meaning to Will and I. When Will and I first started dating, Marc's CD, Carencro, was our love put into words. He was singing what we both felt about the other perfectly. 

Definitely a night that I will remember.

We were standing in the front row. The picture above is without zooming. I could literally reach out and touch him. No worries, I restrained myself :)

Such a fun night. 

Meli Anne - An Abundance of Personality

Little miss Meli's personality just keeps blossoming as the months go by. She is pretty witty and clever. So, here are a few of Mae's recent funny moments. I am writing this quickly and there are way too many to share in this post though.

She has been more curious about what mommy does to get ready for the day. She loves my make-up. A little too much. After I took the picture below, she told me  "Mom! That's my phone. I am the mom! Because I have your ring and this." *Points to lips that are covered in lipstick. She kept making pretend calls all morning. It was hilarious...and disturbing if that is what she thinks I look like!

She also told me that I have horsey hair. Horsey brown hair. She is just full of compliments. I should point out that she said that because my hair was in a ponytail and straight. My hair is actually soft. I promise!

She was looking at her belly button a while ago (she is usually in her underwear) and she looks at me, then at her Elsa doll (a big one) and says, "there are no bows in my button!". 

Colin came home for school with a new joke. A weird one, but Meli thought it was funny.

C: *holding his hands like a gate* "Open the gate."

     " Who do you hate?" (I know - weird) Then waits for an answer. Will and I were like "eh...what?"        I think I finally said the mud or something.

       "That's your date"

Meli just starts laughing. So, she wants to try.

M to me:  "hit gate"

          me:  "huh"

 M:             "who you want to hit?"

         me:  "me?"

 M:            "OK!"

So, Colin says:  "no,no,no"Then proceeds to repeat how it goes. Meli tries again.

M to dad: "Open gate"

                  "Who you hate?"

W:               "eh"....Colin says "dogs!"

M:                "OK! Your date!

Meli loves my sewing board. Such a bother.

The other day, Meli wore her shin guards all day with her dress and hat. We went to several stores and the post office with her like that. She starts soccer soon and is very excited. She is big like Colin now!

Meli also is a mischievous stinker! She was on my phone playing a game (supposedly), but she had gone into facebook and changed some of my settings! WTF?!? How did she know to do that? I still need to check my other stuff. She also changed my phone to not disturb. No wonder I was not getting calls!