The Wood Between the Worlds

School officially ended on Tuesday the 9th of June here in Oregon. Brent has Tuesdays and Wednesdays off. So of course we couldn't help ourselves to our first summer beach camping adventure of the year! We camped at Ft. Stevens State Park in the NW tip of Oregon. It was a lovely campground with bike trails and ponds...a sandy beach, and military historical sights.

The night's sleep was...not so well. Our air mattress had a hole, so Brent and I slept on the boy's thin foam pad. I thought that I would be okay with all my extra pillows...but let's just say that by morning my hips felt like they were crushed. I felt so fragile. It was kind of a test run for Girls Camp, which I will be going to in a few weeks as a Unit leader for second year campers (13 year old girls). Let's just say that I am seriously taking a second look at my sleeping arrangements for camp. I guess it's better now than in a few weeks, huh?

But after a shifty night's sleep (for Brent too) we ended up having a fabulous day exploring the park.

#1 Shipwreck Matey!
Shipwreck on the beach at Ft. Stevens!! This is the grand Peter Iredale shipwrek, which ran ashore on October 25, 1906 en route to the Columbia River. It is one of the most accessible shipwrecks of the Graveyard of the Pacific.


#2Battery Russell is an old military fort ruin on the peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and the Colombia River.

Hey Peeps!
Check out the new song that I put on the side bar "Oxygen" by Willy Mason and let me know what you think. Does it inspire you?

Toby loves to swing...and swing...and swing. And I love to push him. But oh what joy that he has figured out how to pump and can swing...and swing...and swing all on his own! Especially since the baby will be coming in 2 and a half months.

The Marquam shelter is close to the Oregon Health Sciences University Campus on what the locals call 'Pill Hill'. Council Crest is the highest point in the Portland Metro Area...but you can also drive up to the top as well as hike it. You can see everything from up there...Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, and apparently you can even see Mt. Rainier on a really clear day. Portland has a loop of 40-miles of hiking trails, including a State Park within the city limits (and you don't feel like you're in a city at all). Dreamy!

The first grade at Joshua's school had a "Writers' Tea" to celebrate their writing at the end of the school year! All of the families were invited and it was so much fun. Brent, Toby and I were all able to attend.

For the benefit of friends and family who don't get to see my pregnant belly on a daily or weekly basis...

Here you go! 28 weeks down and 12ish to go.
This pregnancy has been treating me pretty good. I'm often tired, but have the energy to do the crucial things like exercise, recreate with the family, shop for girls clothes, work in the house and yard, play with the boys, etc. I am having minimal heartburn (so far). I've been seeing a chiropractor and that's been helping with the comfort level a lot! I am really excited to have this baby at home where I can labor outside of the car and finally avoid an IV. And when it's time to push, I can stay in the tub if I want to! And after the baby is here, there will be no nurse to take him (I mean her) down to the nursery and almost give the hepatitis B vaccination that we signed the waiver not to have. Oopsy! No unnecessary tests or monitors hooked up to us. Just my family, my midwives, my baby and I. Ahh, pure heaven! :-)

It's the new buzzword around our house. (You should try it!)
No seriously...it is only half way through the year already, but I have found our family 'word of the year.' It was a light bulb that went off in my head, an epiphany, inspiration that lead me to this word.

Let me explain...for years now I have had two boys that are like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. They both have this loving side that they they show me and others...where they sincerely show love. But then when it comes to sharing toys, following directions, responding to other's requests, etc. They only do what they want to do. For years they've been this way and for years I've been puzzled why! Why don't they follow my directions when I know they love me? Why don't they share toys when I know they love their friends? I finally figured it out! They did not know what respect was and how to tie their love to their actions through respect. Maybe this seems obvious to some of you out there...and maybe even some of you have been screaming this at me inside your heads for years...I don't know and I don't really care. What I do know and care about is that the boys now understand that if you love someone (and they love everyone, believe me) you respect them, and you show them respect by the way you treat them.

We are now going to talk about respect every day, pray for it in all of our prayers, and everyone in our home will try their hardest to show respect. I've already seen it work tonight as they got their pajamas on the quickest I've ever seen them. Boy howdy am I happy!

I think that the most amazing thing about raising boys (since I grew up in a household of all girls) is realizing that they don't always catch onto things the way that girls do. Girls are so much more conscientious. I guess that is why this took so long to dawn on me.