Mark took the kids to the beach this morning to show Ellie the ocean. They found hermit crabs (Ellies is in the bottom picture) and leaches and all sorts of 'beach' type things! You can see in the top picture the beautiful mountains of WA state. The second picture shows Ellie and Paige hugging on the beach. All the white shells you see on the beach are oyster shells. This beach is right on a major oyster bed and when the tide goes out the birds go crazy feasting on all the oysters. They grab the oysters and fly up high and then drop them onto the beach to crack them open, eating the 'meat' on the inside and leaving the shells all over the beach. Neat hey? Although, if you read back to last summer, it wasn't so neat when Paige sliced her toe wide open on an oyster shell (they are razor sharp)....but that was an adventure from another day.

Hugs
Mark, Jaye and Gang

Here are a few 'highlights' from Shelbys birthday celebration. The top picture is obviously her cake! As mentioned in an earlier post, it was an Ice-Cream cake..yummers. The second picture was taken just after the last candle was blown out, and for whatever reason, there was quite alot of smoke! I guess that's what happens when you start to get older, too many candles on the cake! :) The last three pictures are of Shelby opening various 'gifts' from the Greene side of the family. She recieved money from Uncle Dan and Auntie Laura, Gramma and Grampa Greene and Great Gramma Ruth. She also recieved 'the worlds longest sodoku puzzle' from her Dad and I along with a Visa gift card for her to go shopping with (it can be used anywhere Visa is accepted, quite a neat alternative to the regular 'store' gift card!). Shelby and her Dad and Ellie want to go shopping at the mall sometime, so perhaps this weekend will see the three of them er, four of them (they won't get away without Paige!) off to shop.

The three girls are having such a wonderful time. And I was right, there definately IS a gigglefest going on in our home!

Of course, Mark is having a wonderful time scaring the girls! He showed them some horse poop and told them it was fresh bear poop! Later on when we were all outside and it was getting dark, he threw a rock into the bush and you could hear three highpitched screams! hehehe.....Once they found out it was him and not a bear they thought it was quite funny! I can tell this is going to be a fun filled week!

As I type this, the house is quiet and everyone is still asleep. We have our party to attend this afternoon and we were wanting to take the kids to the beach. Ellie said she has never seen the ocean, so we need to make sure she not only sees it but touches it!

Hugs to all,

Jaye

TaDa! Shelby and Ellie arrive in WA! This was Ellies first airplane ride, so it was nice for her to have Shelby the seasoned pro flying with her! They said there was a fair amount of turbulance over Montana but they had a fairly good landing (always nice to have a good landing!). Shelby and Ellie and Paige have launched a giggle-a-thon that I imagine will last the next ten days!

We will be celebrating Shelby's birthday this evening as we like to do that when she is out here for spring break (her b'day is March 2). She requested steaks and broccoli for her birthday dinner (we are also making baked potatoes and an Italian salad-tomatoes, fresh basil, fresh mozzarella and proscuitto) and we have an ice-cream cake in Shelbys favorite flavor (Oreo cookies and cream) from Cold Stone Creamery- the worlds BEST place for ice-cream! We have a few gifts from 'us' for Shelby and Gramma and Grampa Greene and Great Gramma Ruth have also sent Shelby a little something for her birthday! We will take and post pictures a little later tonight!

Tomorrow we are going to a boat party and might be going to check out some new little duckies! Sunday is church and then pizza and movie night as we need to save our energy for our vacation to Leavenworth (the town NOT the prison! hahaha) for spring break. We will be taking the laptop on vacation so will be able to post pictures on a daily basis...

Hugs to you all

Mark, Jaye and Gang

Here is Ben at his first T-ball practice. In this picture they were doing their warm up. After this they went through three rotations of batting/hitting practice, running bases and throwing. Then they played a 'mock game' to give the kids a feel of what a real game would be like. If practice is anything like what the real game is going to be like, it should be very entertaining! When the ball was hit ALL the kids ran for it, even if they were on bases. The kids had NO CLUE where the bases were and would randomly run around the field. Of course, all the boys had to 'slide' no matter what it was they were supposed to be doing! All in all it was fun. Ben has two practices a week and we will be sure to take pictures on 'opening day'.

Hugs to you all,
Mark,Jaye and Gang

Ta Da! Here it is! Marks new car! It is a 2007 Saturn Ion 2. It is going to be alot easier on our gas bill compared with his hog of a truck. We are keeping the truck as it is great for taking loads to the dump and hauling stuff from one end of the property to another. Mark really LOVES his car and I thought he'd sleep in it the first night he had it home! :)

We drove the new car to T-ball practice tonight but the list of 'rules for driving in daddy's new car' was a little much, not sure how often we'll do THAT! hahahaha....

We are now dedicated Saturn owners and will trade in our mini van just before we move back to WI for something a little more 'snow weather' friendly!

Hugs to you all

Mark, Jaye and Gang

Well the wisdom teeth are out! And boy, let me tell you, what a nice experience! Seriously...not a minute of pain or discomfort...they put me in this lovely barca lounger type chair, gave me an IV with some lovely drugs and off to sleep I went. I woke up and they gave me flowers (the adult version of getting a sticker when you are a good kid!) and sent me on my way. Mark took the day off and so was there to drive me as I cannot drive for a few days on my 'happy pills' as they are nicknamed around here! So...teeth are out...no pain or swelling...all is good...

Mark is on duty today, so Sam has been pressed into 'mom patrol' which really just means he makes sure I don't fall over when I walk (see the happy pills info above! haha). Some dear friends of ours, Paul and Jodi (you all may recognize the name, they were friends of Mark and Marys when they were married....now they are friends with us. Does this mean he got them in the divorce? ) are bringing dinner over to us tonight so that I don't have to get up and cook.

Tomorrow we will attempt to go to Church. I will be off my meds by then and so I am hoping I am not in pain so that we can go. After church, we are headed to Puyallup to buy Mark a new car! His pickup is just a gas hog and with gas prices the way they are, his commuting back and forth to PSNS is not nice to the pocket book. And of course, now that I am working, buying a new car is more than feasable (that fact combined with the fact that our other two vehicles are paid for helps as well!). We will keep the pick up as every boy needs to have one and there's just something women like about a pick up man (so the country song goes! hehehe) but Mark has choosen a brand new Saturn to buzz around in. He wanted a Porche, but I said that will have to wait until I finish my Law degree and am an attorney. I have this feeling that Mark is going to adjust quite well to being a 'kept man'! I said it doesn't bother me if he stays home and goes fishing every day, just have dinner on the table when I get home! Given that Mark is an awesome cook, I don't see any problems with our long term plans!

Hope you all have a great weekend. I know I will (see the Happy Pills info above!)....
Hugs
Mark, Jaye and Gang