It can snow here...

And schools can totally close themselves.  People in the East and Midwest and North are probably mocking us relentlessly.

But that's ok.  

I forgive them.

:)

I could totally cram a bunch of pictures here in an attempt to sort of catch up on my totally neglected blog. Yeah.

Oh.  Back to school?  And so soon?  

Addy took on first grade like "that!".

Kendall spent her first couple of days of preschool making note of all of her classmates' weaknesses and tells.  :)

Kendall:  You all shall bow to me while feeling very fortunate and lucky to be my minions.

Addy has taken a break from gymnastics to explore a future in soccer.  This was her first game and she and her team did fanTAStic!!  They have a great coach too.  See him?  Yelling there in the background?  Word is that he moonlights as Addy's daddy.  :)

Wow.  A little face time for Dad and Mom.  Only because this friendly tourist was pretty trustworthy-looking and we decided to ask him to take our picture.

And we figured if he took off with our camera, we would just wrestle it back from him in the car on the way home.  Thanks Grandpa.  :)

I have all kinds of photos to share from the last 3 months.  Hopefully I can be back to sharing a bit more frequently now that we are getting used to our new routine.  :)  

Notice.  No new kitchen pictures.  Yeah.  That is coming in due time, friends, due time.  

We can totally tear down walls in one weekend.

We Reeds don't much care for being confined to small spaces.

And these walls?  They kind of got in the way.

And made a couple of small spaces.

Therefore...

Saturday morning, we called in reinforcements.  

Because you also know that we Reeds have to have SOMETHING torn apart and under construction in our home.  And why do it alone?  When you can have free labor?

And by the power invested in these kids, with a little help from the Daddies...

We tore those suckers down!!

Dining room walls?

See you later!

Kitchen walls?

Child's play.

New open, less confining space!  Yay!  :)

Out with the old lights, in with some new can lights for a brighter space.  A few more dry wall patches, primer, and new paint will finish this beginning portion.  Then we are doing some new floors.  Next up?

Gutting the kitchen and putting in something I can REALLY cook in!  :)

But alas...  That is a bit out into our future.  

Hmm...

Or *is* it...?

To be continued...  

:)

I could totally start my blog entry with a picture of a wine bottle.

I know.  I have started this entry off with a bottle of wine.

But it was a good bottle of wine.

Karen!  This is for you!  :)  I think you would have totally dug it.  Sweeter than I usually drink, but refreshingly fruity.  And served pretty cold?  Out on your back patio with some of Big Dave's Salsa??  (oh.  wait.  the salsa's for me)

Yummo.

Now on to other things...

(No lavender pics yet, as I didn't have them on my camera.  Rod and Erin have them and will be sending me some...)

Rod...  Erin...?

Consider yourself reminded!  :)

Driver's Ed:

Courtesy of Mario Kart...

Hanging out wearing Uncle Steve's cap...  

Oh yeah.  Style.  

Or something maybe closely related to style...?

Remotely...?

Distantly...?

I should totally post pictures from Yamhill's Lavender Festival. But I won't. Yet.

It is fact universally known that when Paige has out-of-town visitors, she is slow posting on the family blog.

:)

We have had our dear friends, the Myers family, in town for a few days, and have been a bit crazy around here.  4 kids?  Maybe "crazy" is a bit of an understatement!  :) 

Rod, Erin, Evan, and Aidan Rose are headed up to Cannon Beach today to camp for the week and then will be headed back down to AZ.  I do have pics from their visit and our day at the Yamhill Lavender Festival and will post them in a bit.  I just have to get them loaded.  Easier said than done at times, I know!

But for now I leave you with this:

Tillamook Dairy and all things yummy to be found at Tillamook Dairy, like Mountain Strawberry Tillamook Ice Cream, send their love.

Gillian needs to totally get back to OR.

So while Gillian and her kids are in AZ, I am left to deal with these lunatics.  

They dwell, quite a lot of the time, on the deck.  Beer and darts in hand.

Shocking!  I know!

And with my sister and fellow wineaux in AZ, soaking up rays and such MILD temperatures, I am forced to expand beyond wine a bit more than the occasional Guinness and drink stuff like this (because it is what the lunatics come home with).  Stumptown Tart.

Actually quite tasty.  Enough so that I would partake again.  :)

NO WAY.

way.

And now for a quick snap of our Addy-girl.  Learning, herself, how to take quick snaps of all that is Deck Dwelling in front of her.

:)

She is honing her sleuthy-super-spy-secret-agent-nancy-drew-meets-roxy-hunter-I-can-totally-solve-that-mystery-in-my-gingham-halter-dress-and-my-cute-denim-capris-and-not-displace-a-single-hair skills.

She did tell  me just the other day, 

"Mom.  I work alone."

And she does it so well.

:)

Red wagons are totally the best toy ever invented and everyone should have both a red wagon AND an intrepid gardener.

Having a little bit of a slope to our driveway offers all kinds of good times for our girls.

(And because most of those good times involve wheeled objects, Addy and Kendall bust out the helmets.  Aren't they cool?  Pink, you know.  The latest color in head protection.)

Anyway!  The wheeled object for the day was Addy's little red wagon.  This thing has got to be one of the best toys.  And they love it!  

Addy and Kend at the top of the drive (Addy gets to steer as she is the oldest...  That's her argument anyway.  If Kend were to steer, all pedestrians on the sidewalk would be in dire straits.  And the carnage, I assure you, would be great):

Super fast.

Lightning.

Don't blink, you'll miss 'em...

They made it through turn 1...

and Turn 2...

How do YOU roll?

Kendall rolls like this.  And she really seems to like it.

Shocking.

What you don't see going on in the yard behind me is David, the intrepid gardener, thatching the grass.  That wasn't nearly as fun, so I didn't take pictures of that.  But I did take pictures of some of the mystery flowers blooming around the yard!

Those were much prettier than my gardener.  Although he IS pretty cute.  :)

I totally think I will keep him.

I could totally send my husband and Steve to Market of Choice for more bratwurst. Totally. And I will.

Mayhem had a VERRRRRY happy 4th of July morning.

And she chose to celebrate with a delightful breakfast of 5 Johnsonville Bratwurst sausages we had defrosting on the counter.

I had a delightful discovery of this in our family room:

(Notice the Mayhem-sized bite mark on the corner...  I wonder where THAT piece went...)

And while I am unloading the iPhone pictures, I shall share these...  :)

This was the wine we had a couple of nights ago, when Steve had us over for a yummy bbq and raspberry harvest in the backyard.  (Thanks Steve!-- whatever...)

The wine is a Desert Wind Cabernet Sauvignon.

VERY tasty AND refreshing.  Which surprised me because when I think refreshing wine for Summer, I don't typically think to go "Cab".  But this?  This was nice a easy going with a fruity black cherry touch at the end.  Nummy!  Props to Steve for picking it out!  And he didn't even consult a somalier (or whatever the heck they are called.  I like to call mine "Stephanie".  Well, that's because that's her name...  :) )

Don't you always wear a dress and/or beads to Home Depot?  

Then play with the hose reels..?

Don't you?

Hey Jen!  Notice the cuuuuute flippies...

Well that's it for the iPhone photo dump and Mayhem's 4th of July celebration.

Have a Happy 4th of July everyone!

I could totally take a picture of a snake.

You know.  I don't think I could really get sick of pretty Cape Meares Pictures.  You?  Maybe...

Me?  Not so much.  So!  Here are just a few more.  :)

David, Addison and Kendall.  Addy looks like she is about to spring on something...

Pretty sure it wasn't this:

(I totally owned this snake.  He was like, "No pictures, lady.  I'm trying to lie low here." and I was like, "I could get a MINT for this pic!  Go me!")

whatever...

This is Lucy the Banana Slug.  Everyone should experience one of these in their lifetime.

I know I shall never be the same.

Ah!  At last!  Cuteness!  

Save the best for last. That's my motto.  Along with "Hey!  I could eat that!"...

:)

Anyway...  I digress.

My girls.  They wanted hot rollered curlies and who was I to object?  So I spent an hour rolling and spraying and fluffing.

They spent 2 minutes out back playing in water.

Motherhood is a thankless job sometimes.

But they sure looked gorgeous.  And I do have the pictures for proof.

I could totally hug this tree!

This is Big Spruce and quite possibly the biggest tree I have ever seen, in person at least.  I mean there is that tree you can DRIVE through somewhere in California.  But this one?  This one is way better.  And I'd like to see some suv drive through this puppy.

:)

It was like something out of a really cool movie.  Not scary like the creepy one in Poltergeist.  So don't even go there.  This one was all cuddly and lovable.  :)  And there were blackberries all around the base of it!  But we left those for all of Big Spruce's tenants.  

Unbelievable.  Can you imagine the lucky person who got to be the first person to ever SEE this thing?  Talk about stumbling across something really fanTAStic in the forest.  

I only stumbled into a couple of banana slugs I decided to name "Ricky and Lucy" and a snake.  I didn't name him.

:)

Reed Girls.

Oh.  And more foggy goodness!

Next time we go, we will plan to explore even more, and then take the drive home that DOESN'T take us through scary backwoods gypsy camps...

We could totally hang at the coast alllll day...

We got up on Sunday and decided we needed to go West!

As in just a little West, out to the coast.

Destination?

Cape Meares...  With a brief stopover at Tillamook for Ice Cream, don't you know...

Addy here wishing she could spot a whale...

Kendall here, wishing she could reach high enough to spot a whale...

Pure Gorgeousness...

Goonies forever...

We live here!  Well...  Not "here" as in "there" on that huge rock-thing, but "here" as in Oregon as in we could drive "here" and not cross state lines all in an hour and 20 minutes or so! 

sweeeeet...

 

I'm going to post a few more pics from our day, but I'll do it in another post.  I guess I can only post 5 or so at once.

Hm.

:)

Addy can totally manipulate...

I have had these "Manipulatives" around for years.  And Addy has found them.  Earlier this morning, she and Kendall got them out and made a HUGE mess, this only being a very small sampling...  My girls always go big.  :)

Ooo...  Addy always loves a good manipulation first thing in the morning.  Especially while in jammies with uncombed hair...  That is when she is most dangerous.

Mayhem needs her coffee.  And like Addy, a wrestling match with a hair brush...

:)