Summer is here!

We have officially kicked off the summer. Rick is taking a week-long sabbatical out at Grayland, WA at Twin Harbors State Park. He is camping for a week by himself, and I look forward to hearing how his time away was. Nothing like being in natural alone for a week...

The kids and I have been making the most of the days! Taylor is really loving being outside this year. He is always wanting to ride his bike, his razor scooter, go swimming, play basketball. He is turning into a lover of the sun!



Maddie, of course, doesn't even remember we live inside once the sun comes out! She is like a fish - she is always in the water! She loves to socialize. The owners of our house are in town, and she can't seem to stop talking to them when she sees them. She wears swimsuits more than anything else now, and she is ready for the water slides... she reminds me of them EVERY DAY!
The lack of structure from the school year does seem to be making life a little difficult, but mostly, we are just SO glad the weather is beautiful and we can enjoy playing.

We are off to Olympia tomorrow for the rest of the week. There will surely be more to report later...

100th Post Celebration!

Wow... I didn't realize it had been that long, but apparently it has. December 1, 2006, I took the blogger plunge. I still don't think I am very good at it. However, I really love sharing the stories and pictures of my family, even if no one looks at my blog! So... whatever. I like it.

I guess, I thought for my 100th blog, I would share with you some of my favorite past blogs. If you feel so inclined to go down memory lane with me... click on the links!

• An Honorable Experience - a blog about sharing a man's last day with him, and sharing in his death
• Seester Time - a weekend get away with my sister, Christine. I don't get a lot time with her, so any chance I get (especially for more than a couple hours) is a prize!
• Pray for the Injured - "before" the surgery...
• We are home and How do you spell relief? - and after the surgery
• Grand Canyon - the hike of my life!
• Anyone looking for a hair dresser? - Maddie took matters into her own hands
• Today is THE day - Ahhh... nursing school. I was so excited... if I'd only known... :-)
• Lake Padden Triathlon - my other major feat of the year...
• Chicago... finally! - my reunion trip with my friends from college (the first time around!)
• I am so proud - Maddie's milestone
• Maddie N. Norris, Kindergartener - her other milestone
• First day of preschool - Taylor's milestone
• Survival... - This was my blog after my first week of nursing school. As I read it now, I am LAUGHING!! What a joke that was... I had it SO easy then. I really am amazed I survived the first YEAR. God is to thank for that! I cried out SO many times in desperation. He answered every one. My husband is also a big reason I made it. His patience and understanding is incredible. Lastly, I have the most amazing study group - without my girls, I KNOW I would not have made it through. Thank you to everyone who prayed for me this year. One down, one to go!
• Twenty-first century Mozart - Taylor's talents shining through
• What are you thankful for - Just a insight of my son's personality
• I love family days - a blog about what I love doing the most - being with my family!
• Pajama Ride - a new family tradition
• A cow's WHAT? - just in case you missed it the first time, this one is worth reading!
• It must be tough being a boy and The next day - Taylor's adventures at the ER. Can you hear me grumbling...
• Graduating Class of 2020 - onward and upward!

Whew! There you go... thank you for reading!

This is how summer should be

So... I have been late in blogging, and I really have NO excuse. School is out for summer (cue Alice Cooper...)!! I have been soaking up the freedom like rum on cake! I love being free. There is so much life to experience and celebrate. I love being able to play with my kids, watch a movie, fall asleep in the sun, spend time with my husband on the deck.... ALL things I found nearly impossible to do during this year of school.

However, now that I am free for 3 whole months, I will be taking full advantage. To celebrate this new-found freedom, my friends from school, Rick and I all went camping at Deception Pass State Park. What a gorgeous place to be.
It was not the most warm camping experience (whew, it was windy), but glorious nonetheless.
I call this picture, "Hey, Hey, we're the Monkees." That's Rick, Jenny, and Kasie.
Jenny and Kasie, two of my best friends, and a new friend, Kelsey (on right), all came with us. We had our big three room tent, plus we stayed in the lap of luxury inside Jim and Joanne's (Rick's parents) trailer. It was a perfect set up.
The sun was out the entire weekend! It was so wonderful just to relax. Actually, it was so wonderful to sit and not be studying! We kept looking dumbfounded at each other. We didn't know what to do with ourselves. One of the days, Kasie, Jenny and I went on a little hike, found the perfect hillside above the water, and fell asleep. It was amazing.
The campfires were great. S'mores, stories, jokes, cigars, drinks... fun was had by all!
I am looking forward to more of this ALL SUMMER!

Graduating Class of 2020

Where does the time go?
Maddie graduated from Kindergarten today. I have no way to explain what I feel. Rick laughs at me (albeit lovingly) for being such a cry baby, but for some reason, I am having a hard time with it. Every time I think about it, I get weepy. I remember her first day of school like it was yesterday... wasn't it?
This was her on her first day:This is her Kindergarten school picture:I am so proud of her for all her accomplishments this year. She has excelled at reading, writing, math, music, social studies, and science! She says her favorite subject this year was learning all about the dinosaurs. Every day, Maddie loved to go to school. She was so excited to see her friends, to learn, to grow at everything she tried.
This is her teacher, Tammy. She has been such an incredible Godly woman to have in her life. She has loved her like we do, instilled in her God's love, and shown her how to be an amazing woman of God. Thank you Teacher Tammy. We will be forever grateful.One thing Maddie was really good at was making friends. She was friends with everyone in her class. They were all really sad to say goodbye to each other. Luckily, three of them will be at her new school next year.

After a sleepover at the church where they had school, we picked them up this morning, and this is what we saw:

I, of course, was crying like a baby. Again, I don't know why... I just did.The graduating class of 2020!!Maddie N. Norris, 1st Grader!!

Saying goodbye is never easy... even for a six-year-old...

We finished off the morning with a trip to Rocket Donuts.... thanks Daddy!
Maddie girl, we are so proud of you!! We can't wait to watch you grow.... just not so fast!

My little girl

What can I say... Lately I have been overwhelmed with how amazing God is. I see Him in everything, but who I have seen Him in a lot recently is my Maddie.
She has such a genuine heart. She really loves people, loves her family, and really loves God. She talks about Him everyday. She loves to sing songs about him (see video below), she tells stories about Jesus, she recites verses that she's learned in Kindergarten. She is truly coming to understand God's love by learning through her actions towards others.

My mom volunteers and heads up a homeless ministry in Olympia. One of her many responsibilities is delivering food baskets from their collective food bank to people who are in need. Maddie has gone on many of the deliveries with her, and everytime she comes home, the first thing she tells me how wonderful it was to give to people who needed help.
When someone is hurt or sad, Maddie will be the first one there to comfort them. When Taylor cut open his forehead, my sister brought her to the hospital to see him, and she nearly cried for him. She wanted to be sure to tell him she was sorry for him, and that she wanted to give him a kiss.

One of the things I love the most about Maddie is her keen awareness of the Lord's presence with us on a daily basis. She loves reading her bible, and she prays with fervor. This is the chalk art that she drew today:

"Jesus 'dide' (died - she's learning about the silent e...) He lives" Amen!

Watch the video below... it is a little hard to hear, but today, she was riding around on her razor with my iPod attached to her hip, singing her worship songs. She didn't know the exact words, and after listening to her, I thought it was adorable. The words are supposed to be "Oh God, you are my God, and I will ever praise you" Listen closely...



"I will never praise you." Hilarious. She'd be really upset if she actually listened to what she was saying... I think we all have some songs from our childhood that we sang words that didn't make sense, no?

Maddie is growing up to be a beautiful girl. I am so thankful the Lord has blessed me such a wonderful baby girl.

Happy Birthday Maddie...

I am SOOOO late in blogging this, but tis the season of busyness!

April 17, my baby girl turned SIX! What is going on?! First Taylor, now Maddie?! Guess that's the way it goes...

Maddie is the most empathetic and sweet child. She genuinely cares for others, hurts when others hurt, and loves to laugh. She loves the days that her brother chooses to say "I love you, Maddie." She beams with joy! She loves her friends at school and can barely wait to get out of the car to say hi to them. She also loves God. At night when she prays, so is so passionate about her love for Him. Some of her key phrases: "GOD! You are the Holy Spirit!" "God, please help all the people to love You," and "God, We just love you." Then she finished up with a resounding "Amen!" and "Mom, I was on FIRE tonight!" Pastor's kid...

She had a wonderful birthday this year. She got to enjoy a party at school, some family time at Appleby's, and finally, a party at Rocket Donuts with all her friends!

Maddie's class all sang "Happy Birthday to you, (cha-cha-cha)" while she stood on a stool in front of the class... She was a bit embarrassed, but I am sure secretly loved it!

Dinner with the family at Appleby's...

This was the party of the year! ROCKET DONUTS!!

The spread was amazing. Rocket Donuts is this great hometown business in Bellingham that makes the BEST donuts (sorry all you LaFeen's lovers...). I found out they just started hosting birthday parties... they decorate, they clean up, they make the birthday "cake"... it was fantastic. They gave each child two/three donuts a piece, the frosting and sprinkles to decorate, and voila - birthday cake, entertainment, and distractions all in one!

Taylor's donut was BY FAR the best! Check out that PILE of sprinkles...

Our friend Brandon and Rick may have enjoyed the donuts more than the kids...

On second thought, I think they enjoyed them more!

Happy Birthday, Maddie girl... looking forward to a wonderful year of watching you grow!

The next day...

Well... today seems to be a better day. Taylor seems back to his normal self. His cut looks good, and the stitches are lop-sided... What do you expect when the kid was thrashing around? I have come to realize today that the Nurse Practioner who dealt with him never gave him the anesthetic she was supposed to. She put some topical Lidocaine on when we first go there, but nothing after that. She said she would, but didn't. I didn't realize it until later, so I couldn't ask about it. Can you imagine? Getting four stitches while being held down WITHOUT medication? Does the word "barbaric" come to mind?

I am still having a hard time today... it all seems surreal, until I see that cut on his head...

It must be tough being a boy...

Every Monday, Rick and Taylor come to my school to have lunch with me and the other "nurses." We sit in the cafeteria, and hang out for an hour before they go off to get Maddie... Today turned out a bit different than the rest.

Taylor, being the boy he is, was playing around, turning circles, getting dizzy, etc... except he fell into the concrete wall and gashed his forehead open - again! The first time was a couple years ago on our brick fireplace - right side of the forehead (7 stitches).

Today, LEFT side of the forehead, 4 stitches...
You wouldn't know he was hurt by looking at these pictures. That is because Tylenol works wonders... He was fine hanging out with us in the waiting room. He looks so funny with that big gauze holding him together!
This was our almost 3 hour wait in the ER before he even got seen... boo!
This picture was after the most traumatic event known to my son, and possibly me. First of all, the ER nurse said it was hospital policy that only ONE person could accompany the patient. When I questioned that announcement in astonishment that we were his parents, she said blankly, it's hospital policy. You can imagine that didn't go over well with us.

He screamed more than I've ever known him to scream. The Nurse Practioner was not very thoughtful, nor did she listen to my requests for a conscious sedation for the procedure. She all but insisted we wrap him up in a blanket and hold him down. He kept crying/screaming that it hurt, but she kept saying he wasn't in pain, just angry that he was being held down. I wanted to scream at her, "don't tell me what my son is or isn't feeling!" I have to tell you it was awful. I am not pleased with my local ER today, and I think a letter of complaint will soon be drafted... It is a very sad day for me, knowing that these kind of insensitive medical personnel exist - a profession I hold in such high regards, obviously.

Word to the wise - advocate for your child/self when/ if you have to go to the ER. MAKE them listen to you and your wishes... a lesson very hard learned for me today.

Let the sun begin!

The sun was glorious today!! We spent the day out at a friend's house who lives on Lake Samish. The kids were in heaven!! Running around in swimsuits, making a "water city," kayaking on the sand... what more could we ask for. Too bad I had to study all day...

A Cow's WHAT?

When our kids little started using words, we decided when it came to the "privates" and "potty" we would use the real words to describe them. Seems like a silly thing to decide, but all parents must decide at some point, because the questions are BOUND to come...

Bring us forward to present time. As Maddie and Taylor start school and are around other children, there is a lot of "talk" in our house about privates, who can look, who can't, why we don't talk about them with our friends, etc. Most of this discussion is with Maddie. She is right at the age where it is all so interesting... yeah, I know. (big sigh...)

Recently, they have begun to ask why they don't get to take baths together anymore. I have to explain that they aren't allowed to see each others privates, teach modesty, etc. So in discussions with her, when talking about privates, we use the V-word. I should have known someone else was listening...

Yesterday at breakfast, while Rick was mid-bite of cereal, Taylor exclaimed: "Hey Mom. That's the cow's v.... (insert the word)..." WHAT? I looked at Rick, clearly about to choke, then turned and asked my sweet son to kindly repeat what he'd just said (lest I heard incorrectly)... to which he gladly repeated, "That's the cow's v...." Please take a close look at the spoon and the cow...
I had no idea I would be discussing a woman's anatomy with my four year old son. I had to explain that wasn't what he thought it was. I continued that that was where the milk came from... oh boy.