There are several of you that I miss and want to keep following but I never come here anymore... does anyone know if I can add your journals to my google reader? Does anyone know if I can make it so my blogger blog updates here too automatically?

Thanks guys and Gals!

Our oldest son has been a soccer kid since he was born, he's played spring and fall every year since he was old enough to play in a league. (4 I think).

This year though he decided he wanted to give football a try. I was excited for him, Mason is not usually adventurous. He doesn't like change at all, so we were absolutely thrilled that he was stepping out of his box.

He's doing well. His soccer skills have benefited him and he's not only a guard but a kicker. He really enjoys kicking and isn't to bad at it either.

To be honest, I think he will go back to soccer, but at least he tried at that is the biggest battle in this life sometimes isn't it?

Here is a link to my ebay auction for the midwifery books. 

EBAY HERE!!  

Send anyone here that you think might be interested. 

So we are finally moving. After 2.5 years of Mike traveling an hour to and from work each day, we finally decided enough is enough. We found a house, and ours is for sale. We move in a month. Mixed in with that we have a trip to Spain planned. (It was planned long before this move was).

I am so excited and giddy about where life is taking me/us/this family.

In an effort to declutter I am getting rid of some things. I have a size newborn/small stash of diapers to sell if anyone on here is interested.

I also have a SHIT ton of midwifery books, WHO handouts etc if someone wants them. They are all in extremely good condition. They include Varneys, helping hands, birthing from within, and about 30 others. Seriously a ton. If anyone is interested let me know and I'll tell you exactly what is there.

Also feel free to pass this along. I'd prefer not to break it up into a ton of packages because frankly i just don't have time for that right now. I'll make you a hell of a deal on the entire packages though.

Love you all and more to come later.

It's only taken me two months, but this is the final installment of my Oregon series.

This installment will be less formal. I'm sure you have all figured out that we had an absolute amazing time. It was so much fun to go exploring with my family. Our kids are still talking about it and I want to go back. Life is so much easier when you get to play instead of work.

I'll leave you with some other fun pictures I took while we were there. Enjoy.

This is one of my favorite taken on the entire trip, Mason and I were hanging out waiting for the sun to set. While we were waiting we started goofing off and ended up taking shadow pictures.



Not all the pictures you see here are my best work. Should it be, maybe, but these are also pictures of my life. I'm not always staging, and posing people. This is a perfect example of just that. Such a tender moment. A crappy picture, yes, but it means so so much to me.




These next two pictures are just some random shots I took.





Sunrise



Sunset





Lucas Lodge also known as where Deliverance was filmed.



Harbor Seals

I was shaken tonight. I've spent the last few hours just trying to come down off of the adrenaline that pulsed through my veins.

Mike and I decided we would take Caide and grab a bite to eat and BW3's tonight. We needed some things from the big city of Valparaiso, so we set off. As we were leaving BW3's we pulled on to the road. Realizing that we needed to go the opposite direction Mike went to pull into a parking lot. We were barely moving, and I say this not to escape blame but because we were moving so slow the next events seem both impossible and only possible because we were maintaining such a snails pace.

Suddenly we heard a thud, a crunch. I looked at Mike and said, "what did we hit?"

He looked over and said, "I just hit a kid." He was completely monotone and looked a bit in shock.

I looked over and only saw a head of hair. We were in the Prius which is a small car.

The next of what happened probably took less than 30 seconds but I felt like everything was in slow motion.

I thought we had just ran over a small child. We're in a Prius and all I see is hair we had to have hit a child. I look out and all around waiting for a mother to come screaming and NO one comes.

I get out of the car and race to the other side of the car. It was a teenager and his bike was under our car. I immediately looked for blood, or an obviously mangled appendage. When I realized that for the most part he looked ok, Mom mode kicked in.

What will probably sound to some like me blaming him wasn't, it was truly the Mom mode, where you think your child should be horribly hurt for something stupid and when he isn't you lose your mind on them for scaring the ever living day lights out of you.

I looked at him and in my sternest Mom voice said, "WHERE did you even come from?"

He looked at me and pointed sort of haphazardly saying he came from "that way", which was really no way at all, I think he pointed up. Then again, maybe he was right, because upon further observation he didn't have a single scratch, not a scrap, not a hair was out of place. All I can think is that God must have picked him up off of his bike and gently set him next to our car. Sparing him, and sacrificing his bike instead.

I asked him if he was ok, a woman came over to check on him. I called 911 desperately trying to explain where I was. I was in shock. I probably sounded like an idiot. Next thing I know the fire department was there and an ambulance, not even thinking I hung up with 911.

I asked him if I could help him up, and he moved. That is when I saw that he wasn't scraped, not anything, and THAT is when I started bawling.

I wasn't hurt but once I realized that I hadn't killed anyone, and how much worse it all could have been I just started shaking and crying. The firefighter took him to check him out. Mike and I stood there not sure what to do. We knew we needed to stay but everyone just disappeared and left us looking at each other.

The woman that had come over was so so kind, she told me everything was ok. She told me she had a small fender bender and was crying and that I was ok. I love that woman and I needed her that moment. I'm so happy she was there and I wish I would have caught her name. I would like to thank her.

The firefighter came back and said that the kid had told him that he was going way to fast and that we had indeed been going slow and that he didn't see us because of a car in the way. Either way, he couldn't have been more than millimeters from this being so much worse.

About 20 minutes later the Valpo PD showed up. He asked if we wanted a report for insurance. We didn't we had a small dent, but nothing worth filing a claim for. He also told the kid he could get one to get his bike replaced. He said no, that it was his fault.

Don't think for one second I don't know how lucky we are that that kid had such character that he took the blame for something he could have EASILY blamed on us, and gotten a lot of money for. By the way, in case your wondering he was 18 so his parents didn't need to be involved.

In that moment, that young man restored my faith in humanity. That not every one is out to make a buck. I was so impressed, and felt so so blessed.

I probably asked him 20 more times if he was SURE that he was ok. We offered him a ride to where ever it was that he was going. He declined.

We told him we were sorry, and then I made him hug me. I was so happy that he was ok and alive. I had to hug him.

When it's all said and done I don't care about the fact that he could have sued us. I don't care that our car has a dent. I don't care about anything except for the fact that this could have turned out so so much worse. Instead of lying in bed right now I could be at a hospital waiting to know if I had taken a life. I could be home knowing I had taken a life, and having to live with the fact that I had taken someone else's child from them.

Even if this wasn't directly our fault, none of that would have mattered if something worse had happened because I would have forever blamed myself.

Mike and I talked on the way home. We still don't know where he came from. Neither one of us, who were both looking out the front window, knows where he came from. We can't figure it out. It was so weird, the position he ended up in.

I cried a few more times tonight, thinking of how precious life is and how quickly it can be swept away. How I was literally one hundredth of a second from leading a very different life right now.

I am blessed. He is lucky, and I have a new found faith in people.

Half way through our vacation we were given the gift of a two night stay at the Oregon Coast. Specifically we spent time in Gold Beach at the Gold Beach Inn.

The town we were staying was about 3 hours from Medford where we spent the majority of our vacation.

In an attempt to give honest reviews of the things we did and the places we stayed, I feel like I should start off by saying that Gold Beach Inn could use a bit of an update in decor. I'm fairly certain we had the same console TV in our house in 1988. In fact I'm pretty sure that was a replica of my childhood home. NOW as I saw this let me also say, the part of the inn where we stayed, which was a very nice sized HOUSE, was very clean, very comfortable, and very very reasonably priced. I would absolutely stay there again. Especially with the option to rent a house for a few nights as opposed to having to get 2 or more rooms. With a family of our size having options like that is really a blessing.

The hotel is ocean front, but there is about a 100 - 150 yard hike to get to the beach. It's not a difficult hike, it's just a small path you follow and voila your there!

Gold Beach seemed like a small town where everyone knew everyone. It was friendly, and slow paced, a good place to spend some time getting away.

Why Gold Beach instead of some other coastal town? Well from what I hear they have less foggy days and less rain than most of the other coastal town because of they way the town is situated on the land. That could be completely false, but this is what I was told while we were there.













The second day we were there we went to play on the beach, and noticed something lying in the sand. As we got closer we saw that it was a baby sea lion. There was a gentleman there that said he had already contacted animal control and that they were coming out to put up a sign instructing people not to touch the baby sea lion. I, being the non-coastal being that I am, was completely intrigued by being able to get so close to this beautiful animal, and not have it be in a zoo. So I sat and waited. Once animal control got there she explained that sea lions drop their young off on the beach and go out to fish, and then later on they come back to pick up their babies. UNLESS, however, someone touches the baby and then she will leave it abandoned.

I sat on the beach for 3 hours shoeing everyone away, but it didn't matter. I'm pretty sure that momma seal just picked the wrong spot to leave her baby, far over populated to keep him out of harms way. As of when we left he was still on the beach and I'm fairly certain was going to die. I actually went to the effort to look for a rescue but there is nothing. As sad as it sounds I was extremely upset and lost sleep over this little guy.







Here are some other shots of the coast. This was not directly in Gold Beach but very close and definitely on the way.







As I mentioned we drove down to the coast from Medford. Normally a 3 hour drive we managed to turn it in to closer to 6 hours by stopping at Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park in California. One way you take to the coast from Medford requires you to make a quick jog into California.

I'm sure by now I sound like a broken record but this is another MUST SEE! Our kids could have played there for days! What's so special? Nothing, ok well it's special but in a very "one with nature" kind of way. No glitz and glam, if that's your idea of vacation go to Vegas, Jedediah Smith Redwood was just quiet, with warm water to wade or swim in. The sunshine was beautiful. The trees enormous. It was a great place to stop and picnic, run off energy, and break up a trip. Mike and I both would like to go back and camp for a few days.

Oh and did I mention there is a gigantic rock to jump off of into a big pool of water. Yay that was fun!







Look at the size of these trees! They are GINORMOUS (yes that's a word).

Yesterday I left you at Crater Lake National Park, remember one of the 1000 places you should see before you die?

Today, let me tell you about some of the cool things to do on your way up there.

Most of you know that we have a daughter named Peyton. Imagine her excitement at getting to cross her very own bridge. If you don't have a daughter or son with the name Peyton then this really means nothing to you at all. I, however, wouldn't miss an opportunity to brag and show more pictures of our Peyton.



Let's talk food, frankly there isn't a whole lot up there. There are a couple restaurants in the park. The one in the lodge that overlooks Crater Lake is FANTASTIC. Expensive, but FANTASTIC! That being said, it's more adult food, and not (imho) very kid friendly.

On the way up however there is Beckie's Restaurant. This quaint little restaurant with seating for 30, at most, is packed every time I've been through the area. After sampling 2 slices of pie and having a fantastic lunch with our family there I understand why.

People come from all over JUST for the pie. Specifically the Huckleberry pie that is only available late August until they run out ... (I know I know but that's the way it works).

When we went for lunch they had a very accommodating kids menu at a reasonable price. I personally had the cheeseburger, and can I say, BEST CHEESEBURGER EVER. It was soooooohooohoooo good.

This place is a must stop, even if you only have the pie. I don't care if they tell you there will be a wait (and there likely will be even at off hours) to be seated, look around the area, and enjoy the wait. You will be rewarded.



A small drive, read 500 feet if that, up the road you'll run into the Upper Rogue Valley Gorge. Here you will find cascading waterfalls, chipmunks galore, a living stump, and a great deal of information about how the entire place was formed.

This stop is something that can be as long as you want to make it. You could spend hours here or a short 30 minutes depending on your schedule. Just be sure you go! I wouldn't recommend it if it wasn't totally worth it.









And.. because I like this picture. Mike took over the toting and had Caide in the carrier.



Enjoy your trip TO Crater Lake as much as you enjoy Crater Lake itself. There is so much to do, you just sometimes have to look!

Mike is puking. Ugh. Peyton was puking yesterday luckily she recovered quickly. Again I pray that I don't get sick, I don't have the time.

There are 1000 places you should see before you die, at least according to Patricia Schultz.

Crater Lake is one of them on that list. After having been there twice now, I absolutely agree with her. This is one of the most BREATHTAKING places I have ever been.

Crater Lake did not come about because Mount Mazama blew it's top, which is widely believed, it collapsed in on itself. As this enormous volume of magma (54-63 km3, or 13-15 mi3) was rapidly removed from the chamber (about 5 km, or 3 mi below Earth's surface) to feed the climactic eruption, it created a huge void underneath the mountain. Leaving no support for this massive dome, the roof of the magma chamber collapsed, forming the bowl-shape depression known as a caldera.

Crater Lake is 1,943 feet (592 meters) makes it the deepest lake in the United States, and the seventh deepest in the world. Its fresh water is some of the clearest found anywhere in the world.

There are numerous trails for hiking and biking. Trails vary greatly in difficulty and length, but for healthy adults and kids you can definitely find a trail to suit your adventure level.

When we went we hiked Garfield trail, which is about 3.5 miles long and about a 1000ft vertical climb. We took out time and enjoyed the multitude of sites from that elevation. The kids did great, and while we did have to watch our step in a few places it was perfectly doable with our whole family

We even stopped to have a snowball fight, with an average snowfall every year of 522 inches, spots of snow can still be seen all year round. What a treat for our kids to get to play in it in July when snow hasn't been seen around here in months.

If your going to Oregon you MUST go here. For 10 dollars you get a week long pass into the park and endless adventures for your entire family.

You can see all the activities, from a boat ride to Wizard Island to Junior Ranger Programs on the Crater Lake National Park website.

As a note, none of these were photoshopped to improve the color of the water it truly is THAT blue. It's absolutely spectacular!

This weekend I was invited to attend my God son's baseball tourney. They were playing in the state finals and I wanted to go and take pictures.

It all started with being invited to take pictures of the team leaving town, state bound, complete with firetruck accompaniment.







I wasn't able to make it to the Friday night game which they lost, but I did make it to the second game on Saturday. WHAT A GAME!! Final score was 9-7, won with a walk off home run, by Zack Griffin.

Final result we ended up 4th in the State! Not to shabby for such a small town. It was a great time and I love these pictures, as you can see from the mass amounts of pictures I took.

I am so elated at the positive response my Oregon posts have been getting. I knew I couldn't possibly be the only person that wanted to take her family on a vacation that had nothing to do with Mickey Mouse.

I'm going to skip around a bit, and talk about one of our day excursions.

The first is our trip into Jacksonville, Oregon just a few miles west of Medford.


It's a lovely little town, not equipped with to much to do but shopping, however I still recommend for it for a low key historical adventure. This town resembles a living museum. There are displays of an old bank, hotel, and water well all amongst people whom live and work here every day. If you enjoy seeing interesting real estate the houses here are quaint and unique. I love to drive/walk through the different neighborhoods.

As for the shopping I mentioned, all of them extraordinarily unique in their offerings, from antiques, and an extensive toy store, to a gourmet food store.

Pictures from our trip into Jacksonville.

Here are a few downtown street shots.













Handle from a historic well that used to supply water to the townspeople.



If you decide that you'd like to stay in Jacksonville, I've heard this place is nice. Judging from the outside it looks like a WONDERFUL place to spend a few days.

The Bybee's Historical Inn

I left you all at the airport if I am correct.

Let's skip over the flying portion where I was tweeting about needing to drink just to make it through. Skipping right over... truth be told the older kids were great, it was the youngest little terror that well terrorized me. So perhaps that is a slight exaggeration, but he's at the age where he wants to move and that just isn't very conducive to being stuck on an airplane for 3.5 hours.

Let's fast forward to the landing and eating lunch at one of my most FAVORITE restaurants Kaleidoscope Pizzeria and Pub.

Specifically I'd like to recommend the Baja Picante Pizza, Chicken Enchilada Pizza, and the Rogue Ranch Salad. All to.die.for. This place is a little hippy, a little eclectic, uniquely designed and OH MY GOODNESS delicious. I haven't had anything bad here. I'd almost consider moving to Oregon just so I could eat there on a regular basis. Seriously it's that good.

I took this picture when we were there in 2008, it's of some of their artwork that they have in the outdoor dining area.



In Oregon we were staying with Mike's Grandmother and Aunt Gayb. However, Mike's uncle Bart also lives in Oregon and he stopped over for a visit one of the first days we were there.

I managed to talk all three siblings, my father-in-law, aunt and uncle-in-law in to getting a picture together. I'm not sure when the last time the three had a photo taken but I'm told it's been a while.



Bart also brought over his dog Dolce, and for never being around small children she was really great with Caide. He made sure to break her in complete with tugging and pulling. Since Bart will be a new Grandpa come November, this isn't exactly a bad thing.





Granny and Gayb also have 3 dogs of their own. I only managed to take a picture of Abby though, affectionately referred to as "the fur pig". She's a sweet sweet golden and she too did well considering the limited exposure to small kids. All of the dogs (even nippy Daphne) did well for that matter. Gunny whom we wanted to dognap and bring home with us would play ball every day with Caide, it was absolutely precious.

ABBY:


Along with numerous cats, 2 horses (Danny and Fancy), some Koi fish and a variety of other animals, there was also a few of these guys that would come out at night to sing to us.



Finally I will leave you with a picture of Mike, my knight in shining armor, with our youngest checking out Danny.




I know this part 2 of our vacation doesn't highlight specific things to do if vacationing in Oregon, but it does show that vacations can be anything. We had just as much fun sitting around talking as we did on the outings that we paid for.

Besides, it's my blog and I can write what I want. ;)

Part 3 to come....

Recently our youngest Caide discovered that he could climb the stairs. He'd scoot up there as fast as a bullet train. Laughing the entire way up.

We have a spiral staircase and finding a gate for it, has proven difficult. Instead we've found that our computer chair fits perfectly and keeps him at bay.

Unless of course his mother moves said chair because she is planning to put him down for a nap, and he sees a second of opportunity, to which he of course takes advantage of.

Needless to say as I see him half way up he catches a glimpse of me, catching him in the act. Being that he is nothing but ornery, he starts to giggle in defiant delight and falls.

I didn't make it in time, I manged to scoop him up within seconds but the damage was done. Our smallest one had broken both bones in his forearm.

He is so so pitiful looking and I hate to say this but dang if he isn't just the cutest thing in his cast.

Taken with a cell phone at the hospital.

Right before they casted him, as you can you'd never know he had a broken arm, look at that grin!



Right after they have him his temporary cast.



These were taken today, he got his permanent cast and after such a busy morning conked out on the couch.

Over the last two weeks I was blessed to be able to take a wonderful family vacation to Oregon.

"Oregon? You mean you didn't go to Disney world?"

No we didn't.

I know it's hard to imagine anyone going on vacation with small children and not going to a overpriced, cliche theme park, but that is just what we did.

"OUCH! Did she just say that?"

Yep I did. Disney world is fine and I've been there but it's NOT the only place to vacation, and frankly it doesn't even make my top 10 for cool stuff to do with your family.

Do I seem bitter? I guess in a way I am. When I started researching our family vacation over a year ago I Googled until my fingers hurt trying to find a fun place to take my family that WASN'T Disney.

Every time I typed a new set of key words I thought my brain would explode when yet ANOTHER Disney ad popped up. Truth of the matter is there is very little information out there about family vacationing. In fact there is so little information that I'm seriously contemplating writing a book, "The Anti-Disney Vacation".

In the end, we opted for a family vacation that included a visit with family and we settled on a trip to Oregon.

I'm going to commit post suicide here, skip to the end of the story and just say WE HAD THE BEST TIME! This vacation was better than I could have ever imagined.

Let's face it with 5 kids 3 adults (oh and did I mention we took along my father in law?) this trip could have ended disastrously. Enough said, any sane person can understand my reluctance to create a fairy tale picture in my head of how this vacation would go. However, even if I had, this vacation was better than any fairy tale I could have dreamt up.

Our vacation started out with us flying out of Indianapolis (IND) and into Medford, OR (MFR). For the purpose of this being informative I am going to stop here, and talk about flying, TSA, airports, etc.

First if you have the option to fly out of Indy vs Ohare or some other airport do it! In November of 2008 Indy opened their brand new airport complete with post 9/11 design. What does that mean exactly? It means TSA wasn't just thrown into some back corner where you have to stand in make shift lines and then go through a haphazard setup.

Let's just say that Indy got it right. Not only do they have several TSA lines, but they are broken up into 3 types of lines. The casual traveler, the experienced traveler, and (drum roll) the FAMILY LINE! The family line ROCKS my SOCKS off. First you go to a table where a TSA agent comes and helps you put your things in bins, there are benches for the kids to sit down and take their shoes off. The TSA agent handles almost everything as far as your baggage goes and your left free to handle helping out the kids. It is as pain free as going through TSA can be. Thank you Indy for making me not want to commit hara kari before my vacation even started.

Before we left I packed each child with a book bag complete with their favorite quiet activities, books, crayons, coloring books, etc. I also packed food, because if all else fails food will keep them content and quiet. It was simple food, trail mix and animal crackers but it worked like a charm. I also packed each child their own pack of gum to help with the pressure change. The bags were a hit! I wouldn't do anything different. They had no idea what I packed so when we got on the plane it was like unveiling a present. They loved it!

This is where I am leaving you today.... More to come.

What?! I have to leave you in suspense. I will however leave you with one picture, unfortunately none from the airport because our point and shoot is missing and I wasn't going to drag out my DSLR.

This is one of the kids at Crater Lake. Such a beautiful place!

Broken or not Caide is no worse for the wear.   He's running around just short an arm.  I still giggle every time I see him. 

... .so guess what happened today.  Caide broke him arm.  He recently discovered the fine art of climbing stairs, and usually I have the stairway blocked. 

Today however I had JUST moved the chair because I was going to put him down for a nap.  I picked up a toy and turned around just in time to catch him half way up the stairs.  He saw me catch him in the act and got so excited that he startled and fell.  

I nursed him and he only fussed for a minute, so I didn't think much of it.  He went down for a nap, and when he woke up he was a little fussy.  He had bonked his head so I gave him a little Motrin because I assumed he had a headache.  About 7 I realized he was really favoring his arm and that he wasn't crawling around at all.  He also wasn't walking because he couldn't figure out how to push himself up with just one arm.  So I decided I should have him checked out.  

He indeed had broken at least one of his arm bones and they think he broke both the ulna and the radius. 

He's 13 months old now, when they are so young there is a certain amount of responsibility you take for their safety and I feel bad that he got hurt. 

If I can figure out how to get it to upload I'll post a picture of his cast later.  



Now I can't figure out how to get my picture rotated, oh well, you get the idea.




 

We just got back from a family vacation to Oregon.   We had so much fun, I wish we were still there.  I have a huge post of pictures to make but that will have to come later. 

I'm finding myself missing LJ more and more.  This is the only place that i can speak my mind about whatever I want and not have to answer to anyone later.  

I've been so busy reading and learning and taking in everything photography, add in kids being home for summer vacation and I just have lost the ability to prioritize.  Perhaps prioritize is the wrong word, more like I've lost the ability to fit everything in. 

More later as I finish up posts about Oregon.  

Last night we started putting up the new swing set that my sil got the kids for christmas!!  The kids are so so excited and so am I!

They were so long overdue on getting a playset.  The one that they had was mine from when I was a kid!

YAY for new swingsets!!

Go check out this chance to win a printer...

http://www.ishouldbefoldinglaundry.com/2009/05/print-prosper-a-giveaway.html/comment-page-3#comment-45121