We Love Washington... Berries!

Surprisingly, I have been very let down in the apples here in Washington.

That was the last thing that I thought would be sub-par here.

However, their berries have totally sold me on this state!

I have taken many more pics of our reapings since taking these.

 But, in order to get something on the blog, here are pics of our very first locally-harvested sweets.

I now have almost 5 gallon bags of frozen berries ready to be enjoyed in our freezer!

This berry that can be found EVERYWHERE here: The Marionberry (a kind of blackberry).

This is a very small example.

Tacoma also has a HUGE and FREE blueberry park! 

We picked this much in 20 minutes a couple weeks ago.

Now they are very ripe and our harvests have been MUCH greater.

Running to the berry bushes!

Love, Us.

Catholic Family Weekend in Anacortes

I providentially saw an advertisement for a Catholic Family Weekend here 

in the Northwest in our first few weeks here.

On a whim, we signed up and went without knowing another soul who would be there.

It was awesome!

We camped, we prayed, we played, we ate, we relaxed, we met great families...

We will definitely return in future years!

Here is a quick video that someone made about the weekend.

There are a LOT of cute Librande cameos!

Love, Us.

Saints and VBS Singers

Today is a bit of a combo for you.

First, I so often forget to take pictures of the baby blankets that I (and sometimes T) 

make before sending them off to the wee ones. 

We remembered this time, though, and it was so cute!

This is for our new Godson, William BOSCO Anthony!

And...the three big kids and I spent a week at VBS in mid-July.

Everyone had a great time, and I snagged pictures of them singing and dancing on the last day,

 just for the record books.

Love, Us.

When You are an Army Family...

...it is just a normal day when you go to the beach/park and the peninsula is flanked by Chinooks 

and soldiers running air to water (and back) operations.

My big kids literally looked for a moment and then ran for the slide.

Just another day for them, I guess. 

I thought it was pretty awesome!

Love, Us.

Special "Mommy Time"

I've started doing something regularly that I have dreamed of doing for years.

I am taking a couple hours every week alone with one of my "big kids".

Just them and me. Nothing fancy. It has been awesome!

"Mommy time" so far has consisted of 2 basic things: 

1: Time with mom doing whatever they desire (playing tag, talking, playing games, reading stories) 

and 2: a special treat (ice cream, hot chocolate, etc.).

Here are some treasured shots from past "Mommy Times".

A gift from David on our last "date".

A current favorite location for "Mommy Time": The big SLIDES!

Yup. Even P is big enough for his own "Mommy Time".

Seriously, this has been the most transformative thing I have done as a mom in a long time.

I (and they) love it SOOO much!

Love, Us.

Fun Straws!

Life is so much better with colorful straws from the library program!

Love, Us.

Fun with Evangeline at the Park

For today, here are some pics of the big kids showing E the ropes at our neighborhood park.

Love, Us.

A Good 'ol Game of Spies

Good times are often had at the Librandi house...

All you need is some imagination, a great hat, and willing siblings to play along!

Love, Us.