Annual 3rd of July Party!

The next time I'm asked what my favorite holiday is I'll be answering with the 3rd of July! There is something about waking up on this day that fills me with joy and an excitement that almost feels like Christmas as a kid. I can't explain it exactly, but I do know that it's my favorite day of the year in the Harbor!

This year, the neighborhood thought it would be fun to begin a new tradition- with a bike parade.

I'm not going to lie here....I KNOW I had way more fun decorating the bikes then the girls did. In fact, they were off slip-n-sliding within 5 minutes of starting this activity. They did have a blast going to the dollar store to pick out all the items that they wanted to put on their bikes though! And just for the record....Martha Stewart even has ideas on how to decorate your bike on the 4th of July!

Taylor is ready to head to the bike parade!

Here's Maddie! In Maddie like fashion, she refused to wear the cute red skirt and matching 4th of July shirt I had bought her to wear to the festivities....but on the plus side, she did get her hair done!

I love these new pictures of the girls with their daddy-boy! We were killing time before the party began!

Maddie and Daddy!

Taylor took this picture of Dave and I- not bad if you ask me! I'm not sure what I was doing with my shoulder....

The party was a success! So much fun with our friends! These 3 are super close! They spent the evening together running every which way! Macie, Maddie and Abigail

And these 2 were glued to the hip from the minute Molly arrived!

My friends! So thankful that they are in my life! L-R- Jen G., me, Jen L., Chrissy, Krista and Lorraine.

The girls waiting for the fireworks to start!

Still waiting!

Mindy and I!

They felt the need to do a bit of wrestling while they waited for the fireworks.....

Love this picture! Maddie, Krista and Macie!

Father's Day!

When I asked what Dave wanted to do for Father's Day he responded with: "Nothing". I looked at him, and he said, no really, nothing. We've been going non-stop and I want to do nothing. So, guess what we did? Absolutely nothing! And you know what? it was perfect!

I love the look on Taylor's face as she gave her daddy the gift she had made him at school (a yard stick holder).

Again....I love it!

This year, the girls made Dave a kitchen themed gift. He has wanted a new trivet for next to the stove for quite some time so we did a little bit of modge podge (ing) and made him 2 new trivets.

Then, the girls made him a new apron to go with them (my favorite? the O instead of the A in Daddy....Maddie insisted on making the A, then forgot and put an O- I didn't have the heart to fix it!)

After the girls gave Dave his gifts he claimed that we all needed to shut our eyes as he had decided that since it was Father's Day that he could give presents to people that he loved. We all sat dutifully on the couch for what felt like 10 minutes with our eyes closed. At one point, I thought that maybe he had gotten a real dog as he had claimed on his way out to the garage that no one could be mad at him on Father's Day! As it turned out, he gave the girls these gigantic bears from Costco (he knew these would make me mad as well!). You should have heard the squeals of excitement! I even got a gift- thankfully not a bear, goodies from Victoria Secret:)

Meet Rosie Bad Girl! No idea where she came up with that name but it's a keeper! Check out Maddie's nose- a war wound from the Mariners game the night before- it's all healed up now but it was pretty ugly for a bit.

And here is Mrs. Beary (Beary's mom) eating lunch with Taylor! Talk about jumping a foot and a half when entering the room and seeing that thing at the bar!

David Michael- You are one of a kind. An amazing father. An amazing husband. We are lucky to have you as ours! We love you!

Our Kindergartner!

It's official! We've got an up and coming Kindergartner in our house! We celebrated the end of Maddie's career as a Pre- K girl last Friday with a sing-a-long and ice cream social at her school.

Our shy and timid girl (in the blue dress) was all smiles as she walked in and sang and did sign language with her classmates. I had to smile at her outfit- it was a huge day that she wore a dress WITH leggings and shoes that matched! My favorite part though was that she had obviously gone to the bathroom before hand and had part of her dress stuck in her leggings. Makes me smile!

Mrs. Koehler led the kids in their daily Seahawk cheer one last time!

Maddie's class with their pencils and awards!

Again...you have to smile and laugh at this picture. I was so excited to get her picture with her friends, her teacher, etc and this is the ONLY one I got- she was clearly not in the mood.

Maddie is quite excited to be heading to Boston Harbor with her big sis next year! Watch out BHE! Two Myers girls in the house next year!!

Visiting.....

We have been doing a lot of visiting lately....up and down the I-5 corridor; to Everett and Bothell to be with my mom and my sister. On our last visit the sun was out and not a cloud in the sky so we did a little bit of visiting at Forest Park. All I can say is I made a mental note to NOT go to Forest Park on the first sunny day that Washington has seen in a really long time! Yikes! Despite having to park in a bottom lot and walking up a huge grassy hill, fighting to get a bare piece of grass to put our blanket down and elbowing to get in line for the swings we all had a very fun time!

There was swinging...there is something about swinging in your bathing suit that makes it just that much better. I'm really trying (unsuccessfully, I feel like) to take different types of pictures with my camera. I'm getting the itch to take a photography class. Anyone have any suggestions of where I might be able to do that at?

I had to laugh at this picture. When I downloaded these I found some that I had taken last year at Forest Park. Maddie was in this same area of the park and in the SAME suit. It's still her favorite- it's going on 3 summers now!

Taylor's new obsession are the monkey bars! Anytime we go to a park (or she's at recess!) she sticks to the monkey bars like glue! She is getting very good at them, too! She has also recently developed some very nice calluses on her palms!

A trip to the park with cousins is always a must! I love this picture because Emilie is looking at Taylor in her usual admiring way!

And as for my mom. She is doing well. She is in amazing spirits! She has recovered nicely from her hysterectomy and is gearing up for getting her port put in (on Thursday) and starting her first round of Chemo on Monday. Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive and loving during this time. Your prayers, kind words and notes are much appreciated!

She's 7!

It's hard to believe that Taylor turned 7 over Memorial Day Weekend! She has grown up so much over the course of this year. Dave and I look at each other in pure wonder at the beauty, wit and pure smarts this girl has got going for her. She is our sensitive, caring and artistic girl. We couldn't be any more proud of her! In typical Myers fashion, we celebrated her big day on more than one occasion....

With friends and family at the Black Hills Family Center.....

Where everyone was all smiles....

And were able to run, jump, skip, hop (you name it!) about freely.....

and even create a very large parachute together.

And of course, there were favorite meals shared....chicken wings, green beans with bacon and fettucine from Grandma Kathy (and let's not forget a house decorated for her big day!) and on her real birthday, homemade pizza!

And what's a birthday without presents? She was very excited to see a new bike waiting for her when she got up in the morning!

And even more surprised to see a special gift from Papa and Grandma Lynette! Rebecca (and Taylor) is loving her new outfits!

And you have to have your favorite dessert on your birthday! Nuddy Buddies were her choice this year!

And you always have to end your big day with a game right? She is quite good at pictionary!

Taylor- we all love you SO much! We are blessed to have you in our lives! Happy Birthday!

Tea Party

Dave and I were invited to attend a Tea Party at Taylor's school last Friday.

It was a year end celebration to congratulate the kids on how far their writing had come throughout the school year. Taylor had written and illustrated 5 books. My favorite? The book titled Sometimes. It reads..."Sometimes I am mad because of my sister. She just tries to make me mad a lot on purpose. She steps on me, but always says she didn't see me there. Sometimes I am sad because of my sister. She argues with me about anything. Sometimes I feel very, very happy because of my sister. She plays and pretends lot with me. It is really fun! My sister is my favorite friend. She is on the top of my list. She is my best, best, best, best, best, best, best, best sister. I love my sister! Sometimes my mom makes me clean my room. I love my mom. Sometimes my dad let's me eat candy. I love my dad. Sometimes I am really, really, really happy. That's why I love my family. The End." By Taylor Myers

Taylor read to us from her journal that she had been keeping all year.

Daddy was able to sneak away from work to join in on the fun.

Taylor informed me that when we drank from our tea cup that our pinkies were to be facing out!

It was a great day to celebrate Taylor as a writer! We are so proud of her!

Faith

Having been raised in a church for most of my life, I naturally think of Faith in relation to God and to how having faith helps get you through tough times. Our families tough times just got a tad bit tougher this week as my mom got her results back from her mass that was removed. Unfortunately, the mass was indeed malignant and it know has an icky label; Ovarian Cancer. As I sat with my mom and listened to the doctor tell us about his recommendation for her (this would include 6 treatments of Chemo) I couldn't help to start thinking about that word faith. Yes, faith is definately associated with religion and how we as people have that undying faith in God and that he has a plan for all things but I couldn't help thinking that I not only had to continue my faith in God, but that I also needed to remember to have faith in the doctors that have been working with my mom and to trust that what they say is true and that things really will be okay, that faith needed to be had with my husband- in that he's here for me, that I can cry and scream with him AND that he'll pick up my mommy duties for me (packing lunches, getting clothes ready at night, helping write insect reports....) and that I need to have faith in my family- that we are all in this together and that by picking up the pieces for one another that we will all come out of this that much stronger.

I found this picture tonight and couldn't resist posting it. It's horrible of all of us but I laughed out loud when I saw it. I remember this day vividly- we were headed to Leavenworth for my mom's birthday weekend to snow shoe and cross country ski. It was an amazing weekend filled with lots of laughter and love. This picture also made me cry- it's been a long couple of weeks and through it all by my side, has been all of these amazing woman. For that, I'm thankful. For that, I have faith.

**I PROMISE to post something a bit more cheery (how does a girl who turned 7 and a tea party sound?) soon!