Kado's New Glasses

April 4, 2014

Kaden had an eye appointment and needed a slightly increased prescription.  These are the new frames he picked out.  ---Although, the next day after he came home from school he was really upset and wanted to take his glasses back.  He broke out in tears as he explained that all the kids were making fun of how big they were and kept commenting on them.  He instantly wanted to take them back.  It was so sad to hear.  After we talked to him about it, he felt a lot better and decided to wear them a few more days before calling the eye doctor to see about exchanging them.  The next day the kids barely said anything and Kaden decided he wanted to keep them after all.

Our Local Aquarium

 March 31, 2014 - Portland Aquarium

We went to the aquarium with friends to celebrate Marion's birthday.

 Touching a star fish.

Top Left: Marion - Top Right: A bird on my head.

Lower Left: Liv and her niece - Lower Right: Pax

 Becki and Marion looking at sting rays.

 L to R: Marion, Kiku, Ire, Liv, Cleopatra and Pax

 Daya with Emmie and Riley

Trying to pet the fish.

Frances with Liv.

Thanks for inviting us Becki.

Happy Birthday Marion!  We had so much fun.

How to By Paxton

Paxton working at the house back on February 28th.

Great Wolf 2014

March 27, 2014

Over the boys spring break we made a family trip up to the Great Wolf Lodge in Washington.  The boys loved it!  Kaden said he'd like to just live there.

We enjoyed swimming, although I still say if the water could be just 10 degrees warmer, it would be perfect.

The wave pool: a favorite.

Well the only one who didn't try out the water slide this time was Versii.  Josh convinced me to go down a slide with him.  I've never been a fan of water slides ever since I was a kid and I fell off my inner tube and scraped up my back as it hit all the seams on the way down.  ---Anyway, I tried it once, I basically screamed all the way down.  And I opted out of going down another time, once was plenty for me.

The boys opted to spend time in the arcade, instead of going on a quest.  They had a great time running from game to game.

Kaden desperately wishing for all this cool Minecraft stuff.

Hanging out.

Josh and Kaden went to go down the big water slide while Versii, Paxton and I went to story time at the clock tower.

Paxton with Violet and Versii with Wiley Wolf.

The boys each received a pair of wolf ears during our trip.  Kaden wore them to bed every night for a week after we came home.  Although he called them "fox ears" --As he is a big fan of the song, "What Does the Fox Say?"

Our Money Pit

In February we bought a house in Camas, Washington.  

Build in 1910, our new home, or should I say "really old home", is in desperate need of updating.  So we find ourselves in the midst of yet another remodel.  Only this time, we don't have to live in it while we work.  We have decided not to post any "before" photos until after our big house warming party near the end of summer.  At that time, I'll officially post "before & after" photos.  We're making some big changes and a ton of much needed improvements.  

Our old floor is like an onion, one layer after another.  I uncovered five layers of flooring.  

I discovered this article about the big bubble gum upset of 1946...preserved in the layers of our floor.

 Our future kitchen...after a bit of demolition.

 Putting in a french drain system...one of our many unforeseen projects.  Adding to the reason why Dad is now calling our home "the money pit".  It was an extensive project that caused a lot of trouble.  The wet weather caused the ground to cave in after they started digging, so they had to build these big shores to get the drain put in without caving in on them.  The ground nearly caved in on Josh while he was in the ditch and he was badly bruised up for awhile.  We were blessed that he wasn't hurt worse.  Digging deep ditches can be dangerous.

 The boys each taking a turn digging.

 Demolition and clean-up.  We've made several trips to the dump.  I'm missing the dump in Utah, as it was $5 per load.  Here it's $87 per ton.  We've spent a small fortune in disposal fees.

The beautiful views and scenery at our new home makes all the bumps, bruises, and hard work worth it.  It's going to be great when we're all finished.

Spring Update

 March 13, 2014 - Spring Conferences at school.

"Michael" AKA Kaden wants to be an artist when he is older. 

He is really starting to enjoy drawing.

Versii's class has been learning about oceanographers.  This is his latest artwork.

Business Card Designer

 In February, I was asked to re-design the business cards for Josh's work, my second paid job as a designer.  They actually showed me three different versions of their old cards and they were all equally un-impressive.  They sent me over their logos and the information they wanted and this is what I came up with.  I love the new more colorful design.  And they are excited to have some great new business cards.  We had them printed through Vistaprint and we were happy with the cost and the professional look of the completed cards.

My first paid job was redesigning the business cards and creating letterhead for SkinScience.  I don't have a picture of the old cards, but just imagine a giant two-toned green SkinScience logo taking up half the card and a bunch of tiny black print on the side, they were sad and hard to read.  Their new cards are so much more visually pleasing.

***

If you know anyone in need of improved or new business cards, I'd be happy to talk to them.
I also routinely design fliers and posters on request.

(Feel free to email at: oybe1@yahoo.com or leave contact info in the comments.)

February "Firsts"

A few random "first's" from February...

 

February 14, 2014

The boys received their first custom made Valentine shirts from their Mimi.

February 21, 2014

Paxton's first time on a forklift...at Josh's work. 

February 27, 2014

He won't be thrilled to find out that I've blogged about this, but Kaden getting older and got his first big zit...and he tried to pop it himself, which of course made it worse.  Luckily for him, it happened to be on the bridge of his nose and partially hidden under the frame of his glasses. He refused to smile during my documentation of this moment.