It's football time in....Lynden!!

Kali and Daisy- Jake's sisters enjoying a little football and each other!!
Jake and Taiji at halftime...they don't looked to thrilled! I think it was because the score was not in their favor!!
Jake getting ready to go back at it!!
He just loves it!!
Taiji looking on!
Where's the action?

This wasn't our best showing, but the boys still had a great time. The weather held and the game went fast! Next weeks adventure starts at 8:00am....if you read the previous post you will know that I'm not a morning person...the stands will probably be glad since I seem to be the loudest mom out there!! Anybody surprised??

Tagged!!

Ok I've been tagged by my friend Laurie.
Here are the rules:
1. You have to post these rules before you give the facts.
2. You must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
3. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag.
JEAN
J- Juggler- When you have four kids three of which are in every sport imaginable you become an expert at juggling!!

E- Eclectic- I enjoy a very wide variety of styles, flavors and entertainment. I could be at a Seahawks game one weekend eating hot dogs and wearing jeans and a sweatshirt and then the very next week, be at a play or musical sipping wine in my black cocktail dress.

A- Animated- The other night out with a couple of friends and they were all laughing at me while I was telling a story because they wished that they could have a picture of the 20 different faces I made while telling the story!! Animated...dramatic, whatever!!

N- Nocturnal- Of the night is what the dictionary said!! I am a night owl, I rarely see my bed till midnight sometimes later!! Of course this does explain my morning demeanor!!

Ok I hope you learned something new and exciting about me....now it's your turn!! I tag, Emily (sorry Em I know you have a long middle name...just shorten it to Sue), Tanya, Becky, & Sara (Jean...Jane which one are you??).

Bathing Beauty!!

It's been a busy, but slow news week for the VanDalens!! The boys continue to enjoy school...but it is only the 3rd week!! Football is underway in a big way and I hope to post some pictures soon of the grid iron boys...that's if I can remember to bring my camera!! Kali is adjusting to life without boys but I miss the entertainment that they provided for her!! I'm sure there will be something to report soon and I hope to have a new recipe in the next day or so, but until then I hope all are well!! We'd love to hear from you!! --Us

Family Picture Adventure!!

Four little monkey's sitting in a tree!! A couple of weeks ago we headed out to the country for a morning of family pictures. The day was beautiful, the photographer great, and the kids looked so cute!! I'm posting a few of my favorites...but you will have to wait for the family picture it will be our Christmas card....somethings are still fun as a surprise!!
Mommy's girl!
On site pictures are always an adventure...keeping the kids dry was impossible!!
Kali and Tessa are 7 months apart! They already have a little love hate relationship going...one second they are best friends and the next they are fighting over a crayon!! Here is one of the sweeter moments!!
She couldn't get enough of the water!!
Kali Faith 2 years 4 months
Truman John 13
Taiji Lee - 9
Jake P- 9

My beautiful Children!!

New Idea!

I love cooking and new recipes. So I thought it might be fun to post a new recipe a week. I would love it if you fellow bloggers would do the same and then we could liven up our weekly menus with some tried and true good eats!! I will do it even if you don't...but it could be fun!! I challenge you!!

Amy's marinade

1/4 cup Soy Sauce

1/4 cup White Wine Vinegar

1/4 cup Olive Oil

1/4 cup Ketchup

4 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

3 Tbls Brown Sugar

3 Cloves Minced Garlic

This recipe is great for Chicken breasts- Grilled, Chicken tenders (marinate then skewer and grill for chicken on a stick. My boys love this.) White fish like Mahi-Mahi, pork chops or party wings. For the party wings let the chicken marinate for 3-4 hours then bake at 325 for 1 1/2 hours turning every 30 minutes...this one's great for watching a little football!!

Call us impulsive!!

After a long weekend in Houston, Shane and I landed in Seattle at Noon, got our car and headed to Lynden. We arrived at 3:30 and by 5:30 we packed the kids and all their stuff and piled in the car and headed to the Evergreen State fair in Monroe to watch Ben derby!! No this wasn't planned but we had a blast!! Here are a few pictures of our latest adventure!! Watching and waiting for Ben to derby!
Ben Rocks!! He took 2nd!
A little pool fun with the kiddos!! Kali and Truman doing bumps!!
Cannon balllllll!!
My general rule is, 'my blog, no ugly pictures of me' But this is an exception...cuz I was tired but still having fun with my girl!!

Hanging in Houston!!

What a great weekend away!! Shane had business down in Houston so for a little pre- anniversary fun we headed down to Houston!! The best part is that both Shane and I have cousins living down there! We had a blast hanging out, shopping, eating, swimming, cooking, story telling and of course there was a lot of laughing!! Thanks to our Houston Families for the great time!! A special thanks to LD for letting us stay at his super cool pad!!

First Day of School!!

Pretty flowers...Pretty Girl!!

Kali and I had a little photo shoot the other day and I thought I would share some of the little cutie with you. She loves Abbey's garden, maybe she can sense her or maybe it's all the flowers and the water...whatever it is I love it!! Here's her new cheesy grin when the camera is pointed at her!
Everything is about running...this one will keep me on my toes!!
Just a little bo-cane-no (abbeyism) from my Dalia garden!
My sweety!!
Yeah...she's not supposed to be up there...but she can't keep her hands out of the fountain!!

Mariner Mania! A day at the Mariner's Game!

A family Af-fair!!

Derby Day 2007!!

The month of August brings the NW Washington Fair and with that the Demolition Derby!! Shane has been derbying for 22 years so this is a very big day for us as a Family! It starts months earlier with buying the car tearing it apart and then building back! We have a lot of help with a great crew of guys! This year Shane was voted the Sheriff in the Dukes of Hazard. We thought that it would make him a target but instead he ended up winning his heat. That put him directly in the main event. It only took 5 guys and 5 hours to get the car ready to derby again. After getting beat up a bit in the main event he ended up getting stuck in a corner and took 7th place. I had over a 100 pictures of the day and had to narrow it down to 10! All in all it was a great day for derby crew 35!!

NBC Basketball Camp

This past week Truman and four of his friends (Dak, Josh, John, & Zach) headed over to Spokane WA and Whitworth College for and intense week of Basketball. They started there day at 7am with ball handling and breakfast and continued throughout the day with defense, offense, drills, games, devotions and meetings. It is a Christian based camp and the boys had a great time. Shane and I went over the pick them up on Thursday and were able to watch some games and the closing ceremony. Out of over 300 campers all 5 of the Lynden boys walked a way with an award!! It was a very proud moment. Truman received the shadow award, for the best defense in this group (he didn't get that from me....all of you that know me and/or played basketball with me know that I LOVED to shoot, but defense wasn't my strong suit!!)

Here are the boys with their awards!!

Zach, Truman, Josh, Dak, John

Sacked out!!

This is what happens when the little monkey has a busy day and she decides that napping at her usual time isn't working for her!! Little stinker!! Well I wanted to post a picture of the new couches and recliner anyway!! So here is the new recliner!! We moved all the upstairs furniture downstairs and put the new ones up stairs. All the couches recline as well!
Just too cute!!
Gotta love the eyes cracked open and her little snaggle tooth and tongue hanging out!!

Swimming Lessons!!

I love swimming lessons...the boys get to swim, wear themselves out and cool off on a hot day!! This year was no different, other then the fact that I had a really hard time remembering to take them!! Old age I'm afraid!! Here are a few pics of my cute lil' nines!! Last day of swimming is always a favorite....sharks and minnows!!
Future heart breaker I'm afraid!!
My nines!!
Don't worry, he didn't hit his head....he's actually very good at the flip...got it from Truman!!
Hey Mom watch....Ok, what you basically walked to the end the the diving board and jumped it...no it's a pencil dive!! Nice!