Winding down...

This won't be very long because I should be cleaning the kitchen and making dinner, but I thought I catch up a little.

Summer is starting to wind down now and we quickly approaching my favorite time of year....fall!

Fall has always been my favorite time of year. I love the cooler weather, the changing colors, wearing jeans and sweaters again, Halloween, my birthday, Grant's birthday, pumpkins, and just all the sights and smells that come with this time of year.

However, this year brings a new reason from me to like fall....back to school. Not so much for me, but for my kids.
Don't get me wrong, I love my boys to the ends of the earth and back, but they have been driving me crazy the last few weeks!
They have been spending way too much time together so they are getting progessively nastier to each other as the summer continues. Not only that, but I think they are just really bored too.

Anyway, school starts in 2 weeks, and I will be so glad to be back in a normal routine; normal bedtimes, normal schedules, and yes, even homework (I know I will be laughing at this when I look back and read it in the spring!)

With Isaac starting school this year too, it gives Grant and I the opportunity to have some time to ourselves 2 or 3 mornings a week which will be great. We haven't had that kind of regular alone time since Andrew was born.

Anyway, we have been keeping busy the last couple of weeks. We took the kids to ride their bikes around the duck pond and even went jet skiing with my sister Amanda and her boyfriend Anthony.

Like I said, it was short and sweet. Enjoy the pics....

10 years and counting...

Yesterday was mine and Grant's 10 year anniversary. It's hard to believe that it's already been that long. Yet looking back, I feel like I've known Grant my whole life. Including the time we dated, we've been together for almost 14 years. Considering that I'm not even 30 yet, that means I've known him almost half my life.

I remember when we got married, and I was only 19, people said things like, "Ya know, something like 50% of teen marriages end in divorce by the age of 25". I don't think anyone was trying to be rude, just letting us know what the odds were. Of course, telling me something like that only makes me want something even more. I wanted to be able to prove everyone wrong, to be the exception to the rule and to be outstanding...and, we are. Not only have we outlasted the statistics, but our marriage has thrived. We love each other and we love to be together. We don't just put up with each other, and Grant truly is my best friend. He knows me better than anyone else (and still loves me anyway!)

I have never regretted marrying Grant. I feel like we did what we thought was right and we made it work. I'm proud of the marriage we have and the way we've made it succeed. We work hard at building a strong marriage and I look back on the last 10 years with nothing but love and happiness.

Here are some pictures from our night out last night. I love you Grant! Here's to the next 10 years and a lifetime beyond that!!

Hello Blogging World!

So here I am, finally a contributing member of the blogging world. I'm not sure what took me so long to get on board, but I figured this would be a good way to keep in touch with everyone all at once. There was a point in my life when I fancied myself a pretty decent writer, but seeing as how I don't spend much time doing it anymore (other than school related projects) my skills may have slipped some. Either way, my hopes are that this will serve as a place where I can not only keep friends and family updated, but chronicle my family's lives. Anyone who is a parent knows how fast time flies when you have kids and my thoughts are that this may be a good way to keep those memories alive.

I suppose I should start out with the basics. For anyone who may have been out of the loop for awhile, here's the stats on our family; There are 4 of us, Isaac (5), Andrew (8), Kristen (reluctantly nearing 30) and Grant (31). Grant and I are nearing our 10th anniversary this month (this Friday to be exact) and if you do the math that means we got married young...really young. But, we're proud of the marriage we have and the fact that we've beaten the ods and made our teenage marriage last this long. Even though it's cliche', I think we are probably more in love with each other today than we were 10 years ago.


Grant makes his living working at Intel. If he were typing this he would give you all the specifics that I don't really know (something like the PTD group.....), but in layman's terms, he works in the R & D area with their next generation products. The stuff he works on now will be available to the public in a couple of years. It's a great company to work for and a good job in terms of stability in an un-stable industry. Grant's grateful to have the job, but a little run down by the monotony of it. Still, we can't overlook the validity of the stability this job is offering us, especially right now.

I am a stay at home mom and a full time student. While I had always planned on being a stay at home mom, a few years ago I decided that I better finish a degree while I still had the desire to do so, so I went back to school. It's been an adventure in learning, scheduling, home work, working around kid's routines, and just plain being worn out. But, I'm glad that I'm doing it and am looking at the downhill slope, finally. I have finished the first part of my journey (Early Childhood Ed. and Family Studies) and have about a year and a half left to finish up my BA in Child and Family Studies and maybe even a BA in Sociology if I can get motivated enough. I've been taking a lot of online classes so I can be at home with the boys, and if that isn't an exercise in self discipline, I don't know what is.

Andrew will be entering 3rd grade in the fall and just celebrated his 8th birthday a couple of weeks ago. He loves anything to do with science, Legos and video games (at the moment he and Isaac are playing a Wii game they saved up to buy). For the most part he is a great big brother to Isaac and amazes me everyday with his patience. We often say "He's a lover, not a fighter" because he has the most tender heart. He loves his family and misses them dearly when he can't see them. He is becoming quiet the little reader, and constantly gets report cards that would make any parent beam.

Isaac is the baby of the family and seems to fit that role to a "t". He has a seemingly endless amount of energy and doesn't sit still for very often. While he does like video games and Legos as well, I think he would say his favorite things are much more physical. He learned how to ride his bike last year and pushes it to the limit every time he gets on. He loves to skid to a stop, ride with no hands or feet, or see how fast he can go. I'm pretty sure he was born with no fear, which makes him the ideal candidate for any extreme activity (lucky me!). He is very opinionated and has his own ideas about everything from what's fair to his own unique sense of style (notice the mohawk that was his idea)! He loves any kind of sport, and after spending the last 3 years in preschool, he is more than ready to go to kindergarten this fall.

Other than that, we have been here in Hillsboro for about 3 and a half years now. We really like living in the Portland area, and if Grant could get past the rainy season, I think we could say we love it here.

In our free time we like to hang out as a family. We like camping (although we don't do it as much as we'd like) and we love to spend time at the beach. Andrew says when he grows up he's going to move to Seaside (one of our favorite towns on the coast). We also enjoy watching the boys play sports. Both boys were in baseball this spring, and Isaac will be playing soccer in the fall. Andrew has opted out of soccer this year and is looking forward to the Mad Science after school program instead.

Well, I guess that about sums us up. Hopefully, I will be good at updating this at some kind of a regular interval. Until next time, enjoy your summer!