Four years ago (yesterday)

I screamed Tobin into the world. And with that scream I became a mother.

It really is amazing that he has grown to four considering his diet of cheese, milk, and peanut butter. (oh and ranch dressing) Tobin's fourth year has got to be fabulous because three was.....well.....challenging. Poor Tobin has had an adjustment year with the arrival of the twins. But with each week his time out chair gets less use. Tobin is a really sweet boy who love to secretly sings, "Brick House" and is already girl crazy! He has a new girlfriend each week with out breaking up with the old. The boy has a lot to juggle with Ashely, Addy, Sawyer and Princess Jasmine. All I have to say is good luck to him.

I love these pictures of him just a few days old. The first says so much. I mean look at the rookie job we did putting him in his car seat for the first time. Thankfully a nurse stopped us before we put him in the car like that.

And then I almost forgot about Tobin's feet when they were born. Huge! So huge that I didn't have room for them and they ended up being bent back toward his shins.

We had a race car party for him starting with these invitations.

Check out the newest "pamcake". My mother-in-law Pam, just does the best cakes.

Matt giving instructions for red light green light

Tobin in the lead.

Daphne devastated that she didn't win the blue ribbon.

Twins after party bottle.

Next day on Tobin's real birthday we went to the State Fair to ride the rides and rot our teeth on cotton candy.

We bribed the kids to get their pictures done at the old time photo booth. All I have to say is it's a good thing their guns weren't loaded.

Sunday Open House

Welcome! Come on in.

This is our entryway. I painted it the coppery red color. It's hard to see the color over the computer. The coat closet has a beveled mirror and the front door is solid mahogany. It even had this peep hole door that reminds me of the gate at the Emerald City in Wizard of Oz.

Love this little phone alcove. It's perfect when the phone is ringing and I am running around the house looking for that @#$(* cordless phone. I always can count on knowing where this phone is.

This is a great kitchen. All modern conveniences including pull out cabinets and this fantastic coffee station.

Stay tuned for more next week.

Flying the Coop

We grew up differently. Isn’t that always the recipe for a balanced marriage? Matt grew up with a horse named Ranger Bill and could ride his BMX to the general store for a coke. I grew up in what can only be described as the ghetto of our town. One morning, in high school, I even woke up to gun shots. That being said Matt and I had a different sense of normal urban life. Our house is on the edge of downtown and our street can be a thorough fair of foot traffic. It really is a terrific place to walk but with the state workers and organic families we also get our share of, (oh how do I say this?) colorful individuals looking for their place in life? Or their home? Tobin is drawn to these people and would like nothing better than to invite them upstairs to play Thomas the train. This displeases me. And it makes Matt want to carry his AK 47 slug over his shoulder all the live long day. Although nothing I see as traumatic has occurred since we’ve dwelled here; we haven been living with the inconvenience of our urban life. Such as, once we awoke to a crackling sound and Matt told me he thought a transient was building himself a fire in-between our house and the church. I asked him if I should call the police and he says, "Becca, I am the police." Silly me. Anyway turns out this person had actually set the church on fire. So we have dealt with arson. My cousin’s car was stolen from the front of our house as was a ladder under our bedroom window and my sister’s shopping bags from her car. But for both of us it was one event that made us start looking at new house plans online. Late one night Matt went to wheel our garbage to the curb when he tripped over a passed out homeless man in our yard. Matt came back in the house and without saying anything to me calls his buddies on patrol to come get the guy.
In case you were thinking that my home might be the perfect home for you and now you wouldn’t even come over for a Mary Kay party.... it was just a teensy weensy fire and the drunk guy in my yard was unarmed and so probably couldn’t do much harm. Class A felon tops. So no biggie. Right????
Most husbands, like mine, is the protector of the home. Matt feels like he is on patrol 24/7. And even though I feel like I could ignore some of the offences our neighborhood has brought me, being a parent and like totally responsible for my children’s well-being....It’s got me thinking in a whole new way. It is impossible for me to let Tobin in our backyard without the reality that an evil world is just a ivy filled fence away. I too want to live in a place where my kids can play outside all day and come in when it gets dark. But I will miss this work of art we live in.
The most important thing is that my husband feels like he has a refuge when he comes home. And my kids don’t feel like their mom is breathing down their neck when they are getting fresh air and using their imagination outside. Rounded door and picture moldings are a far less important. But it’s taken me a while to get to this place. I had the vision that my kids would have the stability of one home all their lives. I thought we were there. But God has a new place for us. And after I am done saying goodby to these walls I will be so excited to show you what piece of heaven we will do the bulk of raising our family. Your comments were right-on. Your home isn’t lumber and oak trees, it’s where your family is.

Open House

Creature Bug ( www.creaturebug.typepad.com )awhile back opened her home to us bloggers room by room every Sunday. I love this idea and I’d like to invite all of you to come on over. To my site that is.
Today I wanted to introduce you to my house. In a word, I think it’s lovely. I know this house I used to gaze at it while walking to church as a young girl with my mother and sister. It’s nestled in our towns historic district. It’s close to everything. Friday mornings my friend Michelle and I put the twins in a stroller and take a quick 15 minuet walk though our capitol grab a Starbucks and shop downtown. For a moment I feel like a New Yorker. Every house on my street is an architectural marvel. I could stare at the details for hours. Gables, pillars, stoops, balconies and inviting front porches, it's my own museum. Our street in lined with 100 year old oak trees that grow together to make a canope and the mail carrier delivers the mail into a little slot that magically shoots right into the houses. We also have the good fortune to live next to our church. They make great neighbors. Tobin attends preschool there and they even come and pick him up and drop him off. (The staff has seen me in all my verity of pajama bottoms with mix match tops) My house is an English tutor cottage. It’s so cute you just want to squeal, pick it up and put it in your pocket.


When I first stepped into in it, I took a deep breath, my shoulders relaxed and I knew I had found my home. It smelled of my grandparents home. It’s the smell of aged wood from the moldings, floors and charming built in's. I knew this was the home in which I would grow babies and a garden. The home I would bake and have jovial parties. The home I would mark my kids height on a door frame that eventually I would chain my grey haired self too as the wrecking ball was threaten its existence. This was the house that I would wait watching out the window for my children to return home from college.
All that being said......


I know it takes my breath away too. This has been such a journey to get to this place. The timing is right but watching Matt pound in this sign that invites strangers to see my home as possibly theirs puts a big giant lump in my throat. I have to let go of the love affair I am having with my nest. So to do this I will be posting every Sunday little corners of my house. For you to enjoy and for me to remember. Next week I’ll also write about how we came to this decision. So until then....tootle loo.

New baby in the family

Wanted my blogging family to meet our newest arrival. My cousin Stacey and her husband Alex became parents for the first time! Maximillian
"Max" Alexander Linke born August 16th @ 4:54 pm, 8 lbs 15 oz. and 21 1/4"
in length. Mom and baby are doing great.

Stacey and I are just months apart. She has been a blast to grow up with. I am just so happy for her as she enters into this new role as mother. Lets give her our best new mom advice. Oh and I am encouraging her to start her own blog. She is wickedly funny.

Cupboard Coverup

Wow you guys went crazy over my pristine baby food cupboard. I was left feeling a bit prideful until I went to my cookbook cupboard and Betty Crocker fell on my head. I am at best inconsistent with my organizational skills. I don't clean just to clean. To be fair I am not a slob but putting rubber gloves on is a monthly occasion. I know how to clean. If we are having dinner guests over the house can shine and twinkle like a new penny. I have areas in my house that you are welcome to peak into at anytime. My babies nursery, the baby food cupboard, my kitchen (90% of the time). On the other hand if you just happen to pop over to my house unexpected and you ring the doorbell; put your ear to the door and you will hear me shout to Matt, "close the bedroom door!". Here's how I think: If God wanted our cupboards to look like the inside of a Tupperware catalog, he wouldn't have given man the idea of cupboard doors.

I leave you with a question. Why does Costco have umbrellas in the food court? Are they uncertain that their roof will keep the northwest rain off of us? Or are they really trying to transform their warehouse full of ginormous buckets of mayonnaise and lifetime supply of napkins into a bistro in Paris? All I have to say is I am grateful that I can feed my family for under ten bucks: a filling, greasy meal of cheesy pizza, lemonade and a dollar chiro to spilt for dessert. Almost worth the hamburger defrosting in your cart. Almost.

Do the Can Can

Reading my friend Sheila's( http://atticusfinchtkm.blogspot.com/2007/08/canning-and-revolving-door.html )blog this week got me thinking and that got me blogging. She wrote lovingly about canning fruits and veggies for her wonderful family. It brought a smile to my mind thinking way back to me as a youngster picking currents from my grandma and grandpas backyard in southeast Portland. My grandma in a hot steamy kitchen boiling jars ready for current jam. My other tantalizing favorites were her canned peaches and applesauce. My mouth is totally watering while I write. Then I looked into my cupboards and found this....

Store bought easy nutrition. It's not ideal but I don't feel bad about my inability to preserve ripe goodness for my family. Dole does an adequate job but what I feel like I may be lacking in my life is the time or energy to tackle a process. I am an instant kind of girl. Matt replaced some of our light bulbs with those eco-friendly ones and I get annoyed that it takes a half a second for the lights to come on. I like cake mixes and dryers and computers and microwaves! I love that God in all his wisdom forces us into processes such as cooking a baby or adolescences and life journeys like finding the right job or husband.
So in an effort to slow down and enjoy a process. . . I will call my grandma and ask if I can join her in canning this season. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

I have the best news

Are you ready for this.....
I found my KEYS!!!!!
I know Oprah may not use my story on her "most incredible miracles" show but I have emailed her to let her know in case she is having a hard time finding human interest topics. This is huge for my day-to-day living and I am thrilled. And with the ever close call there is always a lesson.
1. Even if your baby twins are crying and whining from being in stinky Lowes for too long, DO NOT let them play with your valuable keys.
2. Don't rely on the first or second phone call to Lowes "customer service" desk asking for lost keys. Go in (even six weeks later) and look though their impressive lost and found collection yourself and behold a miracle may proceed.
I praise God for the little things today.