Bbrroooooom! Bbrrooooooom!





Dave finally took possession of his Mustang this weekend! So it had to be celebrated with a family drive...the boys had a blast, but thought it was a little loud! Still you could not keep the smiles of all 3 boys faces....boys and their cars!

The Greatest Show on Earth....
Family trip to the Circus!

While driving around the other day we noticed a special looking train stopped in a siding. The Circus train...whoo hooo! The Circus is in town, I don't think the boys have ever been! So that night I went home and booked tickets.

The next day over our Sunday morn breakfast at IHOP we told the boys that we are going to the circus tomorrow! We then had to explain what we would see as Thomas didn't really know what the circus is, but Harry was so excited! We even got a "Oh yeah! Oh yeah!" that's when you know he is truly excited.

We arrived an hour and a half early to the Circus, we wanted to make the most of "meeting the animals" and the "Clown School" which was included in the whole experience.

I had never been so close to Elephants before, especially Elephants that only had a small piece of string as a fence...a little nerve raking! We also got to see the tigers (thank goodness they were behind more than a string fence and in nice strong cages) there were also Zebra's, ponies and dancing dogs. The kids loved meeting the animals.

Then it was time to go in, Clown School here we come! I was a little hesitant to say the least, I have quite the clown phobia but these clowns were great! more like hobo's and not so much the typical clown looking clowns, ie scary clowns. Harry had an absolute ball watching the clown act, I thought he would explode with laughter at one point. We got to see Elephants paint with their trunks and poodles dance. The dog act wanted some crowd participation and Thomas was selected, this was truly the highlight of the show, watching Thomas play dog trainer with the hoop for them to jump through....see video! Priceless!!!

We then took our seats and the lights went dim, bang bang with some fireworks and the show was all go! See the pics.....

All in all we had a good time, the kids however where over it faster than we thought so we really had to keep them interested in what was happening. I think my fav's were the dare devil acts, like being shot from a canon and the gravity hoops. The 10+ elephants all sitting in a row and 12x tigers jumping through hoops were amazing too!

They had quite a few old school circus magic acts, like cutting a person in half, shooting someone from a canon, making an elephant vanish in thin air, turning a clown into a tiger and a few other magic tricks...My favorite Harry quote of the day "Wow! Magic really is real!" Don't you love seeing the Circus with kids!

This was quite unlike any Circus I had been too before, sure beats The Wringling Bros Circus back home.

My name is Julia and I'm a Blog-a-holic!!!

How many is too many? 13 maybe that is too many...lol! OK so I probably will cut some of them out, but I keep finding new things I want to blog about and therefore new blogs I want to create!

Am I having creative overload? Or is it that I like the control of starting something new and not having my kids get into it? It's safe here in my laptop....lol! Not like some of my other hobbies...ie, painting my house (can we say crayon's) or my love of house magazines (the boys thought they were much better used cut up for transformer game/cave)....grrr!

Anyway, if you are interested in checking out any of my other blogs just click on my profile and I am pretty sure it will give you the list there. This one will still be the main family blog, with all our daily happenings and there are a few blogs that are invite only, due to sensitive topics.

I love blogging and a LOVE for writing, it really has become the way I love to end my day!

Its Official...We have a first grader!!!

I can remember the nerve's of going back to school after summer break! A new class, a new teacher, will your friends be in your class? What is first grade like? is it different to Kindergarten? so many unknown's to figure out. I had the adrenalin pumping through me today too.

7:20am - Time to wake up, first day of school! First day of school! Sorry totally have Nemo in my head! Summer break is over!

Harry is signed up to ride the bus, but as I suspected he really wanted me to take him today (which by the way I was going to anyway!) He is becoming so independent, wanting to do things on his own, not needing his mom around so much. Am I nearly out of a job?

While this morning was all about Harry, getting him off to school with as little stress as possible, making the transition smooth and achievable, it was hard not to feel emotions and think about my roll as him mom. My job description is changing, he really can do so much on his own now!
"Mom, I'm such a big boy now, aren't I ?" he said as he walked out the front door with his new big boy school bag and his confident first grade smile!
Fighting back the tears, I said "Yes, you are, one amazing big boy!" In the back of my head, I had the thoughts of, what if this is it, he doesn't want the hugs anymore or to hold my hand? He is a big boy after all, heading off to first grade....

We arrived at school to see a million cars, people, buses and general unorganized craziness! Completely overwhelming! But he took it all in stride and just kept calm and told me how excited he was to be back at school! We found a park just outside the school grounds on the street, so we had a ways to walk to his classroom.
We got out of the car and started walking...the next thing I know, he was holding my hand! Gosh that was the best mommy feeling. I held a little tighter today, treasuring the moment!

We got to his new classroom, so many people buzzing around the entrance to his room that he showed a little sign of hesitation, he was a little unsure of what to do. He didn't say anything, no hugs, no waves, just a big step through the door and off he goes!

I watched him find his seat, a little teary eyed as he is so independent. He's so happy to be with his friends again. And already getting on with what he needs to be doing. I was about to head off too, but just had to watch a moment more, I so badly wanted a hug, but I guess that is not the big thing to do. Thank god he looked back and gave me a wonderful smile, it said so many things...but mostly I felt the I love you mom!

Harry have a wonderful year in first grade, discovering and being confident with who you are!

First Grade...here we come!

Already working hard at his big school boy desk

Tonight was welcome back night at Bryn Mawr Elementary. We met Harry's new first grade Teacher, Mrs. B (still not to sure how to say her name let alone spell it, very German) But she is wonderful, friendly, warm and very sweet. Her classroom is beautiful, bright and open. Not over stimulating and distracting like his Kindy class was. It really did have the most wonderful feel for a classroom, almost tranquil, Mrs. B also seemed very calm and organized, just the environment that Harry needs. I think this will be a good match.
The kids have small desks to work at with their names already designated to a desk. Harry was beyond excited to see his name on the desk near his buddy Jayden. I'm so happy that he has a friend already in his class, but he was separated from all his other friends, they all seemed to have been split up this year...bummer! Hopefully the will get to catch up on the playground at lunch.

Its hard to believe my little guy is moving into the first grade! He is growing up so fast, its hard to let go! I hope this year doesn't go by to fast, I want to hold on to my little man just a little longer and really enjoy every moment with him!

My boys are so Corny....
Fresh corn on the cob, fresh picked that morning!
Driving home from our fun day trip to the Museum og Glass, we decided to drive home the back way, avoiding the freeways and just enjoying the drive home. As we passed through Puyallup we passed a beat up old school chevy truck on the side of the road, loaded with fresh corn...mmm!
7 cobs for $2, you can't beat that.




The boys had a great time shucking the corn and helping prepare and cook. What a fun family meal! Harry ate two while Thomas tried it, not a fan. I think this will become a Sunday tradition, fresh farm veggies for our family dinner prepared by the kids...fun!

Family weekend adventures.....
Glass museum and the Tacoma water front


When we told the boys that we were heading to the museum of glass, Harry's response was just gorgeous..."Mommy, do we get to wear cool glasses when we are there?" Sorry Harry its not that kind of "Glass" museum...lol! "Is it were we look at our drinking glasses?" Well, lets get ready so we can go check it out! Oh the excitement from a 6yr old...woo hoo!

How fun to see glass blown! The kids thought it fascinating to see the forming of a bowl, from a glob of glass to the finished product. The Glass museum turned out to be quite a hit with the boys. They loved watching the live demonstration and then wondering around looking at the exhibits, although I think their favorite thing to do was scare mom and dad when they went to touch something...agh! They had the security guard on his toes too...lol! A number of times he would come and comment that they needed to stay back from the exhibits. But all in all they enjoyed it...ahhh, our little bulls in a china shop, so relaxing! NOT! But in some strange way the place had a very serene and peaceful feeling about it, we all left feeling wonderful!

One of the things on offer for the kids is a an art studio. They can make a set craft, this week they had small cardboard boxes to assemble to make and decorate like a native american dream box. The boys loved this, they colored in native art to stick on the side and they called it their mailbox. The other activity for the kids is a drawing compititon, where the kids do a drawing and they are entered for the chance to have their drawing made into a work of glass, very cool! Harry drew a car with me and him in it, he titled his work "Going down the road" very creative. Thomas drew what seemed to be a face with an apple in the middle? He called it "apple head" oh my creative boys. I would have loved to of taken a pic of these but we both left our cameras at home =( Hopefully one will be selected to made out of glass!

After the glass museum we headed to the Tacoma waterfront, which is mainly industrial. We found a beautiful little park with a rock beach. Yes, rocks had to be thrown! So we parked the car so we could throw rocks in the water. What fun! After a few mins we noticed a huge boat heading our way, it was a pirate ship...seriously! It had the masts, cannons and a deck full of pirates. You should of seen the boys jump up and down with excitement, especially when they saw a second pirate ship coming, what a treat!

What a wonderful family day!

My new do!

I love love love my new hairdresser! Who would have thought Renton would ever get such a fun and trendy salon and just down the street...yay!

I'll be going back to Elements for sure!
Am more than happy with my new do, its a little shorter than I asked for, but then I did ask her to do what she thought would suit me. Such a change from long hair, I think Misty must have cut off over a foot. Perfect for summer! And Blond....fun!

The passing of a beautiful life!
Gwen Palmer 1914 - 2009

Today is my Grandma's funeral, the day I never thought would come. Honestly I felt she would outlive us! OK, hoped she would. This day was one I never wanted to see and now that it is here it is filling my mind with beautiful memories of time spent together. Oh how I am missing her!

I did not make it home for her funeral and am missing the love and support of my family. So today I will be celebrating her life in my own way, out at the beach with my babies and my man. Flying a kite she gave Thomas for his birthday only last week.

My brother will be speaking at the funeral today on behalf of the Marshall grandchildren, We are all adding parts to it.....
http://tresbeautifullife.blogspot.com/

Love you Grandma and know you are with me everyday....hugs

Playtime in the sunshine....

Nana and Grandad gaveThomas a slip and slide for his birthday, perfect, its been so hot! What a fun way to stay cool. Only one problem though, we have the flattest backyard. The boys did not know how to use it with it being so flat. Not much fun. So Dave and I decided to put it on the slide, instant weeeeee factor!!!

Long Beach summer getaway!

A week spent with Best Friends, sunny skies, beach explorations and FUN!

Plus hundreds of photo's....
Here are the first, Thomas enjoying his new kite from Gwanny. Gosh it was a beautiful day, sun was shinning, kids were happy...perfect day!

Lets EAT Birthday cake!
But first we have to make it....

This year Thomas wanted a Transformer cake, I thought that I would just buy one. But did I really want to spend so much money on a slab cake, that really was not that exciting??? So I got the idea in my head to make it...agh!

After looking at lots of different cakes online, I decided to base it on the car and not someone else cake. The Bumble Bee charger cake....cool!
The cake was made from THREE 9x13 funfetti sheet cakes and 5 tubs of frosting. Three layers of yumminess, Costing a total of $10 which I think beats the $28 one from the store....

I guess they liked it!







Cute cake story...
When Thomas saw the cake he was so excited! He blew the candles out and immediately took a bite out of the front of it, just stuck his mouth in for a chomp and then gave us all a cheeky look, so cute! Video of this to come...

Thomas Turns 4 Today!
My baby is not so much of a baby anymore...

The sign of a happy boy...cake face, transformer and birthday crown!

" I love my baby! Who is my baby? You are my baby!"
I have sung this to Thomas ever since he was tiny, laying in bed at night and snuggling with him while he twirls my hair through his little fingers, falling asleep.

Tonight I sang it in his ear and he says..."No mommy I'm your big boy now!" sob sob sob. My baby is no longer a baby but my big boy!

Well my big boy had a big boy party today to celebrate turning the FOUR!
He has been asking me for weeks for a transformer birthday cake, its been motivating him with his potty training and he has been doing really well.

Anyway, today is party day!

Yesterday the weather was in the high 80's and sunny, while this morning was overcast and quite cool...agh! It was meant to be sunny and hot! So much for our splash and play pool party...oh well. Time for plan b.

We played with play-dough and matchbox cars, decorated novelty bags with cool car stickers, whacked at a car pinata, lots of playtime outside in the yard, party food, birthday cake and presents...Few, what a FUN day!

The best part of the day were the smiles and hugs from my little man, they were so memorable.

Happy Birthday Baby Thomas!

Hello from Canada!

Here are some pics of our trip so far. I will blog all the fun things we have been up to as well as the silly story of my crazy boys and lots more photos. Check back in a few days when we get home...

Hiking through ancient Redwoods.....

Taking in the Rockies....Climbing a huge Glacier....

Can't wait to share more with you...

The BIG Boy talk...
Gosh he is growing up!

Its funny how as a mom you want to hold on to that little baby for as long as you can! Its a hard thing to let your little baby grow up, especially when they may be your last, maybe? You want them to stay little and snuggly forever!
But when do you put that aside and take the step to help them grow into the "Big Boy" they need to be?
It was so different with Harry, I think being our first, we knew we wanted another baby so it was easier to accept his growing up. He was so independent too. When Harry was little, he would pretty much decide for himself when he would do things, like giving up his paci or finally deciding to use the potty. You couldn't talk him into it, he had to "get it" on his own time.

Thomas on the other hand is so different....

Tonight we could not find "bop bop" for those of you that don't know, that is what we call his pacifier...and yes he still has one to sleep with! Well, not now! As he is nearly 4yrs old and we could not find it, what a perfect oppurtunity to take the "Big Boy" step and have a talk.

At first he insisted that he was still a baby and wanted his bop bop. But once I told him that he is a big boy and that he is turning 4 in 2 weeks and that means a birthday party, he started coming around! I asked him who he wanted to come, what type of cake he would like and games we could play. He was so excited to have a "Big Boy" Birthday party with trucks and transformers.

Thomas (as he puts his head on his pillow) - "Mommy I'm a big boy, see I'm sleeping with no bop bop. I want a transformer party!" ahh the motivation, but what ever it takes, right!

He is so excited to be a big boy, going potty, sleeping like a big boy....he's growing up!

Happy 4th of July!
Backyard volleyball Hot dogs Beer Hot summer day Cheeky little naked bottom Neighborhood Fireworks bare feet in the grass Running under the Sprinkler Laughing Relaxing in the backyard

Flower Art...
I have a love/hate relationship with my Roses!





I had fun today taking pics of the beautiful flowers that are blooming in my garden this week.
So many breath taking colors! But today my favorite find is my rose bush out the back. Only 4mths ago I was cursing this plant, hacking it back to remove it, saying how much I hate rose's. But now look at it! Its like it thrives on my abuse and neglect, my type of plant!
They really are a thorn in myside....hahaha! I HATE cutting back rose bushes. Our last house in Kennydale sealed that for me, I had over 80 plants to cut back every year...yikes! My hands have never been the same since as evident from the gardening war wounds from the thorns.
I swore I would never have a rose bush in the next garden I have. Well despite all my effort to rid my garden of these thorny beasts, they thrive and honestly I think I am falling in love....