I'm baaaaaaa-aaaack!

Ok here's one thing I am not going to lie about - blogging is hard. It takes some time and energy to write and then edit and then pick pictures and then edit and then post and then edit one more time... Anyway, time and energy was not something I had extra of this summer. I gave it all to the littles in my life. And it was totally worth it.

On another note, I left you last with a just one year old boy (who's now almost 16 months old! *gasp) and a big move looming. Well, I will have you know that we indeed did move... to the country!  We are trying this whole acreage-living. Which really goes well with my life theme of simplicity. Seriously.

So, I will introduce you to our new home. (amateur pictures, or should I say immature? Anyway, I don't claim to be a photographer, but maybe it will appease some curiosity nonetheless). And then I might take you back in time (to the summer I talked about where I gave all my time and energy to the 4 littles) and then we will press on.

Without further ado (about nothing).... here is 4202 E Olmsted - The newest Cochran residency.

Handmade signs, watch out I'm getting all crafty on ya! Hahahahaha

Front yard. PS - Everything is dead because <SURPRISE> it never rains here.

Look close....it's the chicken coop.

Our garden and fun cage!

Garth, the most friendly dog ever (and obedient) he visits EVERY morning

Our lunch guest, Lappa, she eats the plums and apples from our "orchard"

Back deck

Our 1/4 mile driveway to the highway

Big climbing tree. The boys prayed for this! Look how the Lord gives abundantly! :)

Going to the pond

 So there you have it folks. 4202. So far we all enjoy it a lot!! It's nothing fancy but I think we like it that way. It brings us opportunity for lots of adventures and space to PLAY. Which we are all really good at.

Happy home, happy hearts.

oNe!

Titus is one!! We celebrated with some family time last weekend and here are some pictures. It was a little bit windy so we didn't get to do an actual "blow out the candle" extravaganza, don't tell Titus.

Give me the brownie already!

Hey guys, really I just want the brownie...

Nom, nom, nom

Ben, his dad Paul, our brother-in-law Devlin put together a little play house for the kids to use while they are at GG's. It is adorable! They all loved it...this fact surprised me a bit because the boys are 8 and I wasn't sure if they would buy into the whole play-house thing. But they did! And all enjoyed it!

GG with the great-grands and the new play house!

Nathan, Caleb, Sonya, Titus, Dominick, GG and Alena

We are in the midst of moving so I won't write much more now, but posts about new house, etc. to come!

~CC

Growing Up

As the school year comes to a close and we celebrate three birthdays this week, growing up is what is happenin' in our home...

Alena is growing up. She is 5 stinkin' years old! Gracious! And she had her last, last ever, forever last day of preschool. And she is FULLY ready for Kindergarten. I agree it seems like the next logical step but golly gee, I hope she misses me. I know for sure I will miss her. She is excited to go to the same school as the boys though and she will be gone 3 full days/week, so two days I will still enjoy the jibber-jabber and endless questions, but still...Kindergarten??!!? How fast they grow.

Alena and Titus on her last day of school (park day!)

Caleb is growing up. This past year has been a little tough for our boy KB (nickname given and stuck). He misses his Tacoma friends and honestly I think he misses homeschooling a little bit (not his teacher aka ME, but more the flexibility of routine, free time, etc). Anyway we have really been praying for him and hoping he can find a niche. Well this last weekend, his GG gave him a little foresight and he took it ALL THE WAY. Picture to follow. He loves being outside, he loves animals, he really enjoys nature. So, I hope that as we make a move to the country, he will find his place in this big world and by the activities from last weekend...I think this isn't too big of a hope.

He even got a book at the library and knows the name of each butterfly!

Titus is growing up! He turns ONE YEAR OLD tomorrow. I can hardly believe that just one year ago I was lamenting, "Please, oh Lord, please have mercy and let me have this child!!" And what a birth it was! A joy! And now I have a one year old. He is not walking quite yet but that child can M-O-V-E. He's so quick. And he loves the stairs. So often I find him upstairs looking around for his Nonni and Poppi and finding the huge bath tub. Yesterday I found him up at the sliding doors looking out for birds and talking like he knew exactly what he was looking at! Titus is a joy!

Mama look, I moved the door-stop, can we please go out to see the tweet tweets?

Nathan is growing up. He reads books like a crazy boy! I love it! Maybe I have mentioned this before but I love to read. So, as a mom, I hoped that my kids would like to read. But as a former homeschooling mom, there's a bit of self-inflicted pressure that comes with that hope. Like I hope my kids read and that I taught them all the right things..etc etc... So there's this peace and joy with a) knowing I really didn't have to teach him to read in Kindergarten anyway because his 1st grade teacher probably taught him 99.9% of all he knows about reading and b) MY KID READS! And he enjoys it. Anyway, last night about 8:45pm Nate comes running out to the living room and about scares me to death because he went to bed 45 minutes ago and I thought he was asleep long ago... and he exclaims, "I finished my book!" He's been reading it for maybe 2 days and he just HAD to finish it last night! Oh so sweet. I slept well. :)

Sweet Nate.

Ben and I are growing up. We both had birthdays this week and you know what? I am proud of us. We have moved away from what we knew, what was so familiar to us. And we are here making crazy steps to get ourselves out of debt and to give our kids what they need right now. It's not easy. I will admit that it is awesome to be near our families and the sun does shine a bit more over here. But moving away from friends and into a new community and putting your kids into a new school and trying to find a new church has been tough. Yet we have made huge strides in getting our family to a more healthy place and I am proud of us. We have decided to follow Jesus and go where He is telling us to go and to move when He says move. We're growing up and it's good. We are flying and it feels freeing. We are running and the wind in our face is refreshing. We are trying new things and He is cheering us on.

Cheers to growing up ~ CMC

What's your dream?

I had a great day today! And even though it was 80 degrees outside I had to get some errands done. So, I did something, sadly, not normal. I took a shower. Well, I mean I took a shower before the kids got up and was completely ready when they popped their sweet little heads out of bead at 7:01am. I know, shocking. But it felt great because then when Alena, Titus and I dropped the boys off at school we just headed out on our errands. All of this is beside the point I am going to make in this blog, but I decided this was the perfect place to brag about my new way to start the day.

To get on with the point....We ran some books to a friend of mine for book club, we went to a thrift store, we took Titus to get a haircut (!!), we went to Walmart and then we went to Lollipop Lemondrop. Now, you might think this is a candy store or a toy store or maybe even a grocery mart, but it's not. It is a clothing consignment shop. Lollipop Lemondrop is out "North" but that's where I was and I have been wanting to visit this store for a long time. Why, you ask, have I been wanting to visit this store? Well, simply because an old friend of mine opened this store in March and I wanted to check it out in person.

The store was A-MAZ-ING.

Before I get into how awesome it was let me take you on a little walk through my experiences with second hand stores. I like to shop second hand BUT used-clothing stores usually have a distinctive smell and often times I find myself rummaging through tons of clothes to find 3-4 items which then I inspect very closely and by the end I am walking out of the store with 1-2 items because everything else was stained or marked impossibly high...Reality check, when I can get a new shirt for my kid at Wally World for $3, it better be super nice and super cute for me to buy it second hand for $8. You know what I mean? Also, often times the ladies that work in these stores are not the friendliest. I mean at least make me want to buy something from YOU, if not from the stinky, "piled up clothes" store atmosphere. And finally, if you are going to sell women's clothes as well, why do they all have to be maternity? And where are the dressing rooms? I don't really want to try on clothes in the semi-nasty restroom, especially if I AM buying maternity clothes. That's enough ranting...

Lollipop Lemondrop gave me HOPE for the future! It is SO cute inside. I mean chic-decor and the cutest rugs ever. The clothes are all on hangers! And they are hanging with space to move them around and actually look at it without everything on the rack ending up on the floor. Also, in Lollipop Lemondrop there are some vendors that bring in new things, really cute clothes for kids, jewelry, lotions, etc. And the Women's Section.....oh the WOMENS section!!! Finally a place to find some designer clothes and some not designer but CUTE clothes that are reasonably priced. Today I found a cute dress to wear over my swimsuit - $6. A win! Did I mention there is a fun kids play area? Yes! A place where my littles can watch a Disney movie and read a book or play with a ball for a few precious moments while I look without their help. Awesome. To cap it all off the dressing rooms were wonderful! Alena even said the hanger hooks were so cute, which they were; pink flowers, adorable. AND...did I mention that there are ...duh, du, da DA....LOLLIPOPS! Alena chose watermelon. It was a great experience for all and it got me to thinking....

My friend, she's probably 34 years old. She had a dream. She spent 10 years selling clothes out of her home and trading and upgrading and selling on Ebay and Facebook and all those places...And then she decided to open a store. Her boys are both in school and she's going for it. She admitted today that the change to working outside the home has not been easy, but she's doing it! And it was a dream and she pursued it and now she has the cutest little store. She has bigger dreams for it too! But I was just so impressed by her go-for-it attitude and that she thought of ALL the little details to make the store excellent and ...she's doing it! The theme of what I am trying to say is (I know Nike said it first) JUST DO IT!!

So, what's your dream??

This year Ben asked me to write down my goals for the year and my dreams for our life at the beginning of 2012. Even though things like that are sometimes cheesy to me, this year I was struck by how important it is to do. To look at it monthly and ask myself if I am doing the things I wanted to do. Am I taking purposeful steps towards my goals and dreams? Are you?

So inspired today and so proud to be the old-friend-of-the-owner of Lollipop Lemondrop! :)

Ode to Otter Pops

Oh Otter Pops
Blue, orange, green, pink and red
Cool and refreshing
You are the treat that never flops

My kids love you too
Morning, afternoon and evening
Caleb, Nathan, Alena and Titus 
Each could eat 100 of you

We love you Otter Pops!
Even the generic kind
They are so good to the tummy
Our love for you never stops!

His first Otter Pop

Love!

Orange is not my favorite so I am trying to get T to like them :)

It was 84 degrees here today, such a wonderful day. I love the sun and I love treats! Cheers!

Flowers, Jewelry, Chocolate and Kisses

I love being a mom. I love being celebrated. And quite honestly I love a day that I don't have to cook, do dishes, clean, change diapers, etc etc... So I just have a feeling that today is going to be a great day!

I have already been given a few special gifts....

#1 - FLOWERS

Hand picked by Nathan, Caleb and Alena

#2 - JEWELRY

Made by 8-yr old boys

#3 - CHOCOLATE

**Sorry there is no picture for this one, but a cute story... Alena was given a chocolate Hershey kiss and she brought it to me and said, "A kiss for you." Then she sooo sweetly kissed me on the cheek and unwrapped my candy and popped it into my mouth. I devoured the whole thing before a picture could be taken ;)

#4 - KISSES

Titus has started kissing us. Sometimes mouth wide open, sometimes with his lips pressed together to make a smacking noise. Is there a better gift?

Happy Mother's Day!

Spring is here!

Spring in Spokane is really wonderful. I forgot how sunny it is and how it doesn't HAVE to rain everyday for the May flowers to begin to bloom. The tulips and daffodils are going crazy around here and it is amazing what COLOR can do for your spirit. In Spokane everything dies over the winter, it gets too cold and snowy (in Tacoma lots of things stay green year round because it's so wet) and so the blooming of color is a wonderful thing to see.

It has been warm enough for the kids to run through the sprinkler twice now and we've definitely started applying our sunscreen on soccer Saturdays. Even morning runs have begun to be slightly more pleasant - but this could very well be that my lungs have finally realized I am serious about losing this baby weight! When I shove the boys out the door saying I shouldn't drive in my slippers they don't seem to mind as much and walks home from school are enjoyable, Titus in the backpack enjoying his dose of sunshine.

Spring is a wonderful time! It always comes in perfect timing and cheers up the world it seems. Enjoy some pictures of our fun in the sun and Happy Mother's Day to all my mama friends out there!

Alena, Nathan, Titus and Caleb

Could this picture be more perfect??!

Sweet littles

PS - Bonus: It was crazy hair day at school and here's a funny picture of my crazy eight year olds! I love school spirit!! :)