Miles is 3!

I can hardly believe that Miles, my little baby, is three years old! Time is flying by way too fast. Miles is such a gentle, kind, lovable, and a funny boy.

Elliot was trying to convince him to have a Star Wars birthday just like him, but when asked, Miles insisted on a train birthday.

I found some plastic cups that you can insert a picture into. I printed some train templates, cut them out, and let the kids color them. Each child was able to take their creation home. We also had the back room set up with trains to play with.

Miles was so excited about his birthday. Any time someone said, "Happy Birthday" to him he would grin and then say it back to them. He was asking for his cupcakes all day!!!


He had a great time and enjoyed every minute of it. That night he had at least 5 different presents all snuggled up with him in his bed. So sweet! Happy Birthday, Mr. M!

October 2010

A couple days after Elliot's birthday, Xander left for a 21 day trip to Arizona. He went on a 16 day trip, on the Colorado River, in the Grand Canyon. As you can see from the pictures - he had a great time.

It was a long time for him to be gone and we all missed him dearly, but I am glad he was able to do the trip.

Will he go next year, you ask?

I think I may say, "NO!"

Being at home for 3 weeks with 2 boys (one of whom who was in the ER with a concussion while he was gone) was not easy. I say "No!" now, just like I did last year, but Xander still went....so we will see, I guess.

Xander came up with the idea of us dressing up as "Portland Hipsters" for Halloween. It was a great idea.

We found my wig and our outfits at a re-sale shop and bought tattoo sleeves. What do you think? I still laugh every time I see Xander's picture. He fits the "type" pretty well, doesn't he?
The kids costumes were Star Wars related, of course. Elliot had been asking for months for me to sew him a cloak so he can be Anakin Skywalker & Miles wanted to be Darth Vader. I decided to sew 2 cloaks - one for E and one for M.

Master Elliot is 6 Years Old!

For a couple of months now, Elliot has been requesting a Star Wars/Lego birthday party. When asked what that entailed, he would just reply with "you know, a star wars/lego party." Hmm... So Xander and I began to do some research.

There is a lot of information out there in cyber space, but we went with our own ideas on this one.

The night before Elliot's birthday, he was up until 10 p.m. (when he is usually asleep by 7) and so excited. He was so excited and heard the makings of his party outside of his room and needed to see.

This was the mission itinerary for all the Jedi's.
These were the hand-made gold felt medals (by me) for each Jedi after completing all the tasks. The front had the rebel alliance symbol and the back with the child's first initial. It was a hit!
Xander cutting out the symbols to hide in each asteroid (with a lego guy) and to be placed on a lego bin so each child can build their ship.
The hand-selected lego bins (a marvelous job by Xander) from Elliot's stock of legos. Each child will then build a ship from their bin.
Elliot requested a double-sided light saber as his cake. I came up with this! It was yummy for a gluten free, dairy free, egg free light saber.
The party has begun. Each child has received their mission, found their asteroid, collected their bins and are working on their ships. It was so quiet in the room. We were all amazed at how hard they worked. The only thing we heard were their lil voices humming along with the Star Wars music in the background.
The completed ships. They ALL did a great job!
Next job was to color their X-Wing (after a brief introduction and history from Xander, of course.)
Listening to Xander on how they were to "pin the X-Wing on the Death Star (a.k.a my old yoga ball)"
Elliot in action
More ....

Next it was cup-cake (I mean light saber) eating time with Yoda Soda (lime-aid w/ice cream)

Back to business. Destroying (deflating) the Death Star.

Mission completed and medals dispersed.
Light Saber pose.
A little Star Wars soccer to get some energy out and the party was over. Wow!
Two sleepy lil' boys who love to snuggle in one of their beds. It was a great day. Happy birthday to my sweet 6 year old Elliot!!!! Love you.

The Browns' In White (Salmon, that is...)

Before I write about our White Salmon post, I do have to mention that Elliot has graduated from Pre-K and will be a Kindergartner next school year. I can hardly believe it! Why no graduation pictures, you ask? Well...we were those wonderful parents who forgot their camera and decided not to turn around and get it, because we were running late to graduation and didn't want to miss it. Needless to say, some friends took pictures and made sure they took some of Elliot. The children signed (sign language) to Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" and I don't think there was a dry eye in the crowd. So sweet! Ok....more about that in another post...

Parents of a student I tutor offered their vacation home to us as a "thank you" and we didn't realize what a wonderful gift it was until we got there.

The house is located in White Salmon, WA, about 1.5 hours from Portland.

The house is located on top of a bluff...
...fun yellow swingy things...
...a tire swing...
...wild strawberries...
...killer views of Mt. Hood...
...15 acres of dog roaming (side note: Yakira is almost 14 years old and haven't seen her this happy in a long time!)...
...fields of wild flowers with a picturesque view of the gorge...
...more killer views, but this one of Mt. Adams...
...playing hide-and-seek with the chickens...
...occasional sun beams...
...amazing wild flowers...
...banjo playing...
...and bouquets for mommy.

We spent four wonderful days relaxing and soaking up all that this beautiful place had to offer. Thanks to some very special people who shared their home with us. We feel so honored to have somebody share such a special place with us.

Oddball #7

With two games a week, T-ball continues to be the happening thing in Browntown right now. Elliot is wearing the #7 jersey for Oddball Shoes. At the last game our friend Bryon brought a camera with a sports lens and got some pretty nice shots. Here's a little taste of Monday's big game against the Timmco Insurance squad.

Ear to ear grin...this kid loves to play.

Getting set...

It's a hit.

In scoring position.