To be like Daddy

It all started with Nora playing in our closet.  The next thing we knew, she was coming out into the living room with his shirts and ties on.  Of course the other two girls had to join in and they had a blast just playing around in their dad's duds.  Just what Sunday afternoons are for!

Shedding a Winter's Worth of Hair

 Mauly was in need of a major spa treatment last week.  She looked scraggly and dirty, so she got the royal treatment from the girls.  They brushed her til the cows came home.  They were so proud of all the hair they brushed out of her, they kept it in a cup until the cup was over flowing.  You can see most of the hair they brushed out in Lily's hand.  There was lots floating around the yard for a few days too.  Needless to say, Mauly looked great and actually looked a few pounds lighter by and by.

Quite a Haul!!

After a GREAT spring of antler hunting, here is what it all boils down to -- a truck full of antlers a friend of Matt's buys to make beautiful antler handled knives.  What do we get?  $1600 for our new addition.  A great deal if you ask me!

A Half Caught Fish

  

Can you only catch a fish half way?  Nora can!

The girls and the fish

Here are all the fish the girls caught.  Mori had a friend, Braylie Spratling with her and Braylie caught the biggest fish.  Each of the girls caught at least three fish and some got away before we could get them on the bank, otherwise we would have had more fish to fry.  It was a fun day for us all and we will definitely be doing it again soon!

Daddy-Daughter Fun

After a week at outdoor school, the girls and I met Matt at the Kiwanas Cabins to do a bit of fishing in the newly stocked pond.  We did it last year and had so much fun, we decided to do it again this year.  Nora hasn't been fishing much that she remembers, so this was a memorable experience for her.  She held her first fish (mind you, she had to touch the ones in the bucket first a few times to make sure it was all going to be okay) and caught quite a few too.  She is usually a mama's girls, but when it came to someone casting the pole or helping her reel in the fish, daddy was her one and only side-kick.  She even snagged one on its tummy and brought it in.  We have been told that is illegal, but I am not convinced she did it maliciously, so we are not going to turn her in (ha-ha).  She and her daddy make a pretty good fishing team.  We just can't wait for the next fishing trip!

Lily just finished her first "Round-Up City Racers" track season.  She had a lot of fun.  She loves the field events more than the running.  She always chose to do the shot-put, the javelin and the long jump.  When she made the 4x100 relay she loved that too, but she was a 7 year-old in a 7 & 8 year old group, so she was usually beat out of the relay by the 8 year-olds.  When she couldn't do the relay, she did the 50 meter dash.  I think she will chose to do it this next year, but she is also interested in trying softball.  In her final track meet, she did well and had a lot of fun.  It was a regional track meet against all the city league track teams in Umatilla county.  She was one of 350 participants and just had a fun time!

Who's that pitching? or is she on third base?

That's Mori on third base and pitching.  She is playing her second year of softball and is having the time of her life.  She started pitching on a whim, thinking it would be fun to try and we are now considering pitching lessons during the summer if we can fit it in.  Mori actually had a game tonight and she played very well.  She hit 3 times and got on each time.  She also pitched an inning and then played first base the rest of the game.  Her team won 12-11.  They have actually only lost one game so far.  They are a fairly young team, but work well together.  Mori will definitely continue to play as she gets older.  We actually can't get her to stop practicing her pitching technique, no matter where we go -- in the store, on walks, in the house, pretty much everywhere she goes.

Farmers in the making

We planted our garden a week and a half ago.  We are SO excited to have all the yummy foods from it.  We planted 3 types of tomatoes, 2 types of zucchini, bush beans, peas, carrots, beets, cilantro, pumpkins, and a few other things.  We will also have a nice stock or raspberries to eat.  The girls love to plant the garden and to help tend it.  All three girls are such good helpers with pulling weeds and watering the garden.  They also LOVE to get dirty in the mud.  With the big hole in our backyard and the garden spot, we have LOTS of dirt to worry about tracking in the house now.  We will share our spoils with anyone interested in coming to get it too.  We would love visitors this summer!!!

Baby Update -- Week 38ish

Well, I have 2 weeks and 2 days til I am due but I am crossing my fingers for sooner!  This baby is a mover and I think my ribs have been stretched to capacity enough for now.  I am not sleeping well.  Everyone says the baby is training me for when he/she is born, but I just think it is my stressed out mind going over my end of the year at school, our new house construction and whether we are having a boy or a girl.  We still haven't figured out a name.  We have always gone to the hospital with a definite name for both sexes and this time we can't decide on a single one.

I am still dilated to a 2 1/2 and am 50% effaced -- no change whatsoever.  I was a bit bummed, but I am thinking Heavenly Father has a time line and I need to stick to it and not my own.  So I will hopefully learn a bit of patience in the process and get everything ready for my sub in my classroom.  But cross your fingers -- I wouldn't mind sooner than later!

Learning to Swim

The girls love to swim!  They have been taking swimming lessons from a girl at the Round-Up Athletic Club.  They just finished for the time being but will start again at the end of June.  They have all come a long ways this year.  Mori has learned all the strokes, Lily has learned two strokes and Nora will finally put her face in the water consistently.  They will be missing swimming for the next few weeks, but I need a break.  We are going non-stop right now with end of the school year stuff.  What a relief to have another thing off the list!

1st day of construction ... Before and After

This is a before and after shot out our back door.  The top one is at about 7:30 this morning.  Matt is back in the back left corner clearing a way for the big truck and backhoe to get through.  We have nice neighbors who have been kind enough to let us use their lot as a pathway to ours.
The second picture is from about 3:30 this afternoon.  Straight back is the huge stump that was in the middle of the first picture.  We also found an old oil heat barrel right out our back door.   Thankfully it was filled with gravel and was easy for the backhoe to extricate.  Things are moving forward.  They will be back tomorrow morning to hopefully finish the digging.  Then next week ... onto the foundation.

Friendly Baby Shower

My very good friends and "staffmates" gave me a baby shower yesterday.  They decided, since I had three other children, I probably had most everything I needed - especially if this baby is a girl.  But with our house construction, they found that I would need things to fill new spaces.  I haven't ever had a place all for baby, and now I will.  They were SO kind!  They gave me present after present -- all in nice greens and yellows so that I could use them no matter what.  

The glider rocker was from 6 ladies and the diaper "cake" as from another 6 ladies.  The diaper layers were made of a few packages of diapers, each layer also containing booties, hats, washcloths, baby shampoo, etc.  It was so cute!  I also received many other packages of diapers and baby wipes, fun little toys and cute cowboy "shoes" for the little one, and a baby monitor which I haven't ever needed before, but will now that our house will be bigger.

The cake was made by a lady named Connie that used to work with Matt up at the middle school and now works with me at Lincoln.  She is a fantastic cake maker and added "Baby Yoshi" at the bottom to finish it off. 

The girls helped hand me the presents and Nora actually helped open a few.  I am so grateful to have such a great support system inside and outside of school.  I am truly blessed.

Pregnancy Update

I am now a mere 3 1/2 weeks from D-day.  I went to the doctor today and I am dialated to 2.5 centimeters and am 50% effaced.  I am getting uncomfortable and have heat flashes all to often.  I don't want the baby to come too early, but early would be nice.  We really aren't sure about a name -- we aren't sure at all actually.  We don't know if it is a girl or a boy, but we are open to suggestions (unless you run in the same circles as my brother Seth -- his names are downright scary).  But things are looking good.  I am ready to have my ribs not ache and my fingers not to be swollen and to wear some real shoes (I wear open-toed shoes mostly because my feet get too hot).  We will keep you posted as we know more.

Facial Hair

Matt is often times intrigued by the idea of having facial hair.  Unfortunately for all of us who kiss him, it is pretty uncomfortable.  It is NOT soft in any way so it makes being close to him kind of prickly.  While we were gone over spring break, he grew out his goatee for 9 days (he actually started before we left) and when we came back, it was longer than we had ever seen it.  He wore it to school and all the kids in the middle school asked him about it.  He got tired of the attention and the lack of kisses from us and shaved it soon after.  But kudos to him for making it so long.

A Twisted Three Billy Goats Gruff

Mori's class wrote their own version of The Three Billy Goats Gruff.  Her teacher Mrs. Morgan-Bloch, said it kept changing.  From the original version to a "hawaiian" version to a "no bullies" version.  We went to watch it and it was very fun.  They sang lots of different popular songs that they fit into the plot.  Mori has 27 kids in her class and all but 2 showed for the evening showing.  Mori was a Hawaiian back-up singer and she did a great job.  She loves to sing and dance and have fun, even in front of an audience.  What a ham!

Flunked a test for the first time in a long time

Last Tuesday I went in for my regular checkup with my OB and flunked my glucose screening.  They took 4 vials of blood that day and left a nasty bruise to prove it.  SO, I had to miss school on Friday to go do a 4 hour screening where I had to fast for 12 hours before then go have them take my blood 4 times to see how I reacted to a really nasty glucose drink.  Thankfully I passed and don't have to worry about gestational diabetes, but I will say I was worried.  I think I need to lay off the cookies and candy for a while so I don't create a problem for the baby or myself.  I am already gaining more weight than "necessary" so the flunking of the test helped get me turned around -- at least for now.  Matt did buy me a bag of gummy bears that night just in case it was the last candy I got to enjoy until after the baby was born.  I am not sure if I should be grateful or if I should be worried that my hubby didn't quite understand the tenor of the situation.........

Hiccups

Our little baby is growing bigger each day -- I bought some new clothes this weekend because I am running out of items that fit -- and last Thursday night, at a church meeting, he/she go the hiccups for the first time.  I was so excited.  I really am feeling him/her move all the time, but hiccups are always fun because they last for few minutes.  It is always nice to know things are okay in there!

A trip to the photobooth

I love my new macbook that Matt got me for Christmas.  I use it much more than I think he ever thought possible.  One fun program that comes with the computer is called Photo Booth.  You can do all kinds of fun things with the little build in camera.  One day last week while Nora was sleeping, I took the time to play around a bit.  I have to say, I laughed at myself for a LONG time!  I then shared with my family and we laughed even more.  Here are a few examples of my fun...

(photo 1 - me, photo 2 - Nora, photo 3 - my mom, photo 4 - Lily, photo 5 - Mori, photo 6 - my Dad)

Easter Humbug?

At this time of year, people start getting ready for the Easter Bunny.  I was just talking to my husband about this last night.  I want to not be home on Easter to go travel with my mom and he said that was fine.  I said, "don't you want to be there when your girls find their baskets from the Easter Bunny?"  His response -- and let me tell you, I was shocked.  After 11 1/2 years of marriage we had NEVER had this discussion -- was that when he was growing up, the Easter Bunny never visited him.  His family always decorated eggs for FHE the Monday before and on Easter, he got a chocolate bunny and some jelly beans from his mom and dad, but not basket from the Easter Bunny.  He said that he always thought that my family's tradition with the Easter Bunny was weird.  We usually got candy and a new church outfit or something like that.  We always had the same baskets, year after year, and we LOVED it.  I have to say I laughed for a LONG TIME, seeing as after 11 Easters together, he had never said anything before.  I guess now is the time to decide what we will do for the next 20 years or so for our kids.  Any thoughts?  

A Taste of Empty-nesters

Tomorrow is President's Day.  Matt and I have inservice all day and the girls needed a place to go, so what better place than grandma and grandpa's house.  We called Saturday to see if grandma wanted helpers on her day off (mom always has mondays off) and she said she would love it.  We had planned on taking them over to La Grande this afternoon after church, but grandma and grandpa decided to pick them up yesterday afternoon so they could stay 2 nights instead.  Now to most parents, this seems like the perfect plan.  Kids gone, no one to worry about.  We even thought that too.  But Matt had meetings in Walla Walla last night and we have both been sick with this sinus crud that is everywhere and we have just laid around the house and felt sorry for ourselves.  We even called to see if the girls missed us and they really didn't.  Dad took them to see Tajar (my dad's horse) and they have eaten ice cream and who knows what else.  When I was talking to my mom earlier, Lily and Nora were snuggling on grandpa's lap and Mori was channel surfing to find a good show to watch.  They didn't even ask to talk to me.  I am not sure if I should be hurt or just realize that grandpa and grandma are pretty special and the girls have found it in their hearts to make them feel really special for 48 hours.  Matt and I have decided that we can wait for the inevitable empty nest.  I am sure it will be here before we will be ready -- and maybe we will be more ready when the girls hit their teenage years.  For right now though, we like them just as they are!

Breezy Day Picnic

My girls love to picnic.  Yesterday they headed out into the 42 degree weather and made a place to sit, put an umbrella to block the sun (and cold breeze) and sat down and waited for me to bring them their picnic food.  They moved around quite a bit, trying to get the perfect spot to eat.  Finally they settled down in the side yard and ate their food (cheese quesadilla, yogurt, apple slices, cheetos & juice boxes).  Notice their coats and the blankets covering them.  I have found that just as long as the sun is out and mom is willing to fix the grub, my girls are up for an outside picnic!

24 weeks and counting

I have now hit the 24 week mark in my pregnancy.  We had the ultrasound two weeks ago.  The girls went with us and were able to hear the heartbeat and see the baby move on screen.  We are so blessed to already have 3 beautiful children!  We thank Heavenly Father everyday for this.  We are excited to add #4 to the Yoshioka team.  Everyone we talk to says, "It has to be a boy.  The odds are against you."  Matt is not convinced.  He believes it is another little girl.  We compared the pictures from the ultrasound with Nora's ultrasound pictures and we know one thing -- they have almost identical noses.  I am not sure if all babies look the same at this point in development, so that does not necessarily mean anything, but we are excited none the less.  A boy would be exciting too.  I am not sure what we would do with him as we are very practiced at having girls, but we would manage.  We don't really care what we have, just as long as he or she is healthy!

The girls have also felt the baby kick and are constantly asking questions about it's size and weight and how much longer.  I keep telling them that it will be here before we know it.  I will keep you posted too!

Preparing for a bigger house

Matt and I have been planning on adding onto our house for a couple of years now.  It is currently a whopping 1080 sq. feet with 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom and not a lot of space for elbow room.  We just received our plans from an architect here in Pendleton and are talking with banks for loans, etc.  We are SO excited.  With baby #4 on the way and the girls already stepping on each other every time they turn around, we are ready to begin construction.  We will actually start towards mid-April, early May with the foundation and then move on from there.  The addition will be 2 stories, with 3 bedrooms a bathroom and a family room.  Our existing house will not change at all (at least not for a few years).  The new part will be built on the back of our existing house.  It is exciting to think that we will have more space to be in soon.  We will keep you posted as things progress.

We do have to cut down 2 trees out of our yard to make room for the construction.  We are a bit bummed, but we plan on planting 3 or 4 trees in the back yard to help shade the house and beautify our yard.  We just wish we could transplant the existing trees...

Kia

The girls are holding Kia, the neighbor's last puppy (they have sold the other two).  They have been wanting to see her forever, but they always ask when it is time to go somewhere else (like bed or the store or it is time for dinner).  Kia will be going to her new home soon, so the neighbors brought her over for us to see.  Lily fell in love IMMEDIATELY and would have kept her if we had $600 extra dollars to spare.  She loved her and loved her some more.   Nora still doesn't have the greatest "puppy grip" and I was afraid she might hurt her (Kia is 11 weeks old and weighs what our puppies weighed at three weeks this past summer) so Lily did most of the cuddling and she was more than okay with that.

Spring Fever

Matt's job has found him stressed and wanting to be outdoors instead of in his office disciplining the same kids every day.  We had a nice saturday last weekend and he decided he would go for a hike up on the hill to look for some antlers.  It looked good -- not a lot of snow from where we could see.  So he set off around 7 a.m. with our chocolate lab, Mauly, and went for a hike.  When he got up there, he found much more snow than he had bargained for, but also found a couple of small antlers that satiated his need for finding antlers until the snow is really all gone.  It was cold so he came home, changed clothes and went to the river to fish for steelhead.  Unfortunately the melting snow made the water muddy and he didn't catch anthing, but he still had a nice, relaxing day.

Mori as MVP

Mori was voted MVP of her basketball team -- the Cardinals.  She was very excited about it.  She is a great team player and the coach said she was the one he could count on to do whatever he asked,  no matter what.  She was called M.J. (Mori Jordan) by parents on the team because she always stuck her tongue out when she dribbled down the court and when she shot the ball.  We are very proud of her and she looks forward to playing again next year.

More Snow

We had another snowfall (but haven't had one since).  It was beautiful and the girls loved it.  We played in it and drank more hot chocolate.  Pendleton just doesn't get this much snow!  This is our pine tree on the southwest side of the house.  This was a good gauge of the amount of snow.  Just gorgeous!

Apology

I have been out of the loop the past few weeks.  We have been busy.  I will update photos and news now.  I hope all has been well with all of you.