4 years old

 Mara and Corrina

 Present opening

Ashley, Mike, Summer

Giant art pad!

Thank you, Summer!

Happy Birthday to you!

A 4 year old wish!

I presented Saylor a crown after she had (on her own) dressed up as a princess. She was so excited.

and still is excited!This is the next morning.








Wow, what an awesome weekend! Saylor's party was on Saturday and it was spectacular! A lot of kids showed up, and a lot of fun was had. After the party died down, our close friends Mike, Ashley, Jamie, and Summer had a bon fire with Joe and I. It was a great relaxed evening to a long, exciting day. Today is Saylor's actual birthday. I told her this morning, the story of her birth (in very simple terms) and she was so intrigued. She would say 'tell me more!' every time I finished a sentence. I asked her 'what are you most excited about this year, since you'll be 4?' and her response was 'turning 5!!!' She has often mentioned that she can't WAIT to be a grown up. While it's endearing, I can very much remember feeling that way when I was a kid, and I grew up WAY too fast. So, I try my best to tell her that being a kid is AWESOME and that she should get the most of it that she possibly can. I told her no matter what, she WILL be a grown up one day, and she should enjoy this youngster time to the fullest. But... my parents and friends told me the same thing, and I guess to some extent, we just are who we are!

Joe and I will be taking her to Papa's Pizza tonight after gymnastics. They have a big indoor playground (and pizza!) But Joe and I already decided on salad bars... We are junk food-ed OUT after this weekend. (We had another birthday party to go to on Sunday, and we will have 2 more next weekend!!!) There are still a few more gifts from family that she hasn't gotten... so we will hand those to her to open at Papa's Pizza. Joe and I went to Goodwill and found a great desk for her, that she can use to make art! She is always making something!

Well I'm off to laundromat and grocery. Happy Monday everyone. Happy Birthday Saylor!!!!!!!

Our Easter at Silver Falls

Summer invited Saylor, Joe, and I to go with her to Silver Falls on Easter Sunday. The weather obliged, and it was a wonderful day. We got to go behind two big waterfalls, and enjoy a couple miles of trails. We ended at a delicious "mod" restaurant in Salem called Venti. Joe got a vegan pita, while I got a sesame ginger tofu/rice/veggie mix. Delish. 

In other news, I've been getting a little more integrated at the youth shelter. I had my FINAL mentor interview, and now am days away from being matched with a mentee. In the meantime, I've cooked at the shelter 3 times, and am scheduled for one more in a couple weeks. I am really starting to feel like a little part of the 'group'. The youth at the shelter are so nice, and funny to boot. I mean, they genuinely crack me up!!! Every meal we eat, we go around the table and tell our highs and lows of the day, and then have some other topic of interest like- if you could have a super power, what would it be? Or like last night, 'if you could have any attribute from an animal, what would it be?' I'm SO looking forward to getting matched with a mentee!!! 

Work is going really well. The principal seems interested in giving me a daily extra hour next year, which will be WONDERFUL! He is SUCH an amazing boss. The first thing he asked when he told me he was interested in having me work three hours a day is 'how will that affect your life outside of work? because in my experience as a manager over the years, if things at home aren't working out, things at work won't either.' I thought that was so wise, and progressive!! I feel so lucky to be a part of the Muddy Creek team! 

Warm weather has been bestowed upon us the past 5 days, and not only does the sunshine warm the outdoors, it warms everyone's attitudes in Oregon!!! Everyone seems to smile more, and have an extra hop in the step. We're looking at 4 days of rain though, starting today. But at least we're getting patches of sun, which is better than nothing. 

Saylor started gymnastics on Monday. It is run through the school, and so the teachers are student teachers. Not to be a downer, but it wasn't at ALL what Joe and I were expecting. Saylor was by far the oldest kid, and.... the teacher was a tad.... eccentric? But none of that mattered, because by the end, Saylor was SOOOO happy and went on and on about how much she LOVED gymnastics. So all in all, that's all that matters. 

Joe and I have been enjoying watching 'COSMOS' by Carl Sagan! Man oh man, that guy is AWESOME. It's so much fun. Joe is SO knowledgeable about space. It's a great way to gain insight, and also spark conversations between us about this amazing topic. We'll watch about 10 minutes, and then we'll pause it and I'll just blabber off a bunch of questions, and then Joe answers them for me. It's so much fun! I love being married to him. Last night he asked me 'are you really enjoying this, or are you watching it just to humor me?' and I said, shocked 'what?!? you think i would sit here and ask all these questions just to humor you??" and he rubbed his hands together, like he does when he's excited and said, 'i just wanted to make sure it wasn't too good to be true'. haha.