Chris brought Jaden, Mackenzie and "M" down this past weekend so we got to spend a couple days showing people around the farm once again. Seems like each time we find something new to explore! Here are some shots of the kids taking advantage of farm life... hunting eggs... playing in the hay... Jaden and I even grabbed a couple owl pellets from the barn and dug out all the mouse bones for a while. Good clean fun:)

Carson had his first “camp” this week - soccer camp through Skyhawks Sports. He was very excited about it right up until about 30 seconds after he took to the pitch on Monday, when he decided he was the only one who didn’t know how to play soccer and we spent the rest of the time in the van just observing (very Carson). Tuesday morning he got up and declared he was ready to try again, and he did great! The rest of the week he was out there, kicking the ball, listening to the coaches, trying to figure out the drills and having a great time. 
It’s given us a lot to talk about: teams, teamwork, the value of trying hard and the importance of not walking away from something new – even if it makes you nervous. Way to stick with it Carson – we’re proud of you!

Probably my favorite project of the entire move so far was letting the boys paint their bedroom doors. The girls that occupied the rooms before them did a great job of personalizing their space to reflect themselves and we wanted to continue the tradition with the boys. The deal was they could do whatever they wanted on the back, as long as they did what Mommy wanted on the front. They seemed to enjoy the deal! And I love looking at them every day... right in the middle of our house.

Our weekend company (Grandpa Burke, Nana and Aunt Karen) weren't afraid of being put to work and after a few hours of fixing up the chicken coop on Saturday we set off on a little adventure on Sunday to get some chickens! I swore as a chicken-egg-checking-child I'd never do it again, but here it goes:)

Despite kids who don't want to sleep (thanks to long summer days and Nolan's new "big boy bed") and a zillion things that need done both in and out of the house, we're finally coming up for air - and starting to get the blog updated!

Rather than putting up one long, drawn-out post with all the things we've been doing over the past few weeks, I'm back-dating the entries... so be sure to scroll down and see what's hiding below the scroll-line over the next few days! Entries will be added in no particular order... just as I manage to find the pictures that go with them:) Enjoy!

What a great day! We started out by getting all dressed up (well, Carson and Mommy at least) and heading up to Portland with Poppy & Nonna to see the Lion King! Carson was completely overwhelmed, but when it was all over and we were headed home said, "Mommy, I want to go see that again." Yes!

After the show we headed to Tom & Cindy's for their annual 4th of July BBQ where we ate great food, hung out with the family and threw water balloons until we headed down to Tom's pond to watch a show put on by a certain family member who shall remain nameless, but who travels to areas where s/he can buy darned good fireworks each year.
 

I still need to post all the pictures from the last few weeks, but at the moment I can't find the cable to download the camera, or the cables to hook up the computer (although technically the internet should be working now!), so for now here's some pictures from my phone of our first walk out to the mailbox last night!

  
 

I'm going to have to wash these clothes, you know...
 

Poor Nolan's birthday sort of got lost in the shuffle of the move, but we did sit down for a pizza dinner (his favorite) and some strawberry shortcake to celebrate. And he'll always be able to say he woke up in the new house for the first time on his 2nd birthday. His birthday present? A "big boy bed" - all his own!

Just a quick note to say – WE’RE IN!!

After spending (literally) every waking minute (even those stretching well past 3am) at the farm this weekend trying to get the kids’ rooms painted we moved bare essentials in and will sleep there tonight! The blog has suffered some neglect with everything going on, but as soon as we have internet access set up out there look for a “Great blog catch-up” post with lots of pictures from a monster truck show, dinosaurs at the zoo and MOVING!

Months ago we promised Carson we would take him to a monster truck show that was coming to McMinnville today.... little did we know it would end up falling into the middle of our moving weekend! But, in the end, we don't get that much done with the kids around anyway, so we might as well go have some fun while they're awake. The rides were free before the show, so Mr. C even got to ride in a truck that did a spin around the course. Mommy and Nolan stayed for a while and then left when the real show started. Daddy reported later that the show was engaging, and a little overwhelming, but the rides set up next door were a big hit:)
 

We made our way up to the zoo this afternoon to see the 'Dinosaurs at the Zoo' exhibit that is there for the summer. Carson LOVED it - Nolan, not so much. "It's scary!!" came out of his mouth multiple times before Scott finally left with him. Hmmm... maybe in a few more years. Afterwards we dined at the Old Spaghetti Factory (which has fabulous dairy-free options on their menu) and a balloon artist even made Carson a spaceship balloon... so his day really couldn't have been any better!