It's Party Time!

Well, I have to say to all those moms that I tormented as a child at sleepovers, I'm so very sorry. But I made it through the first of many sleepovers as a parent! It was fun, even though there was not a lot of sleeping that went on. Lexy had a great time. She really enjoyed being with her friends. I can't believe that she is 7 years old now! Here are some pictures of the fun evening that we had with her friends.

This one is at the start of the party. I wasn't quite sure if that swing could hold 5 girls but it hung in there. From left to right we have Sarah, Ilana, Alexis, Madelyn and Caitlin. Natalie was there also but she arrived just after we took this picture.


The big event that took place before dark was a scavenger hunt around the neighborhood. We went to people that we know and this one is with Brad (Matt's coworker), Maci, Carson and Cohen. The girls had to ask for a piece of candy for each of them and, instead of just giving them one piece each, Brad gave each of them a full thing of Starburst. They thought it was pretty special. Thanks guys for making it fun for them!


This next one is with one of the site supervisors here in Sun Meadow. They had to ask for Band-aids. Well, he didn't have any at his house but he knew that he had some in the shack. So they followed him there and then they decided that they needed to put them on their noses. They pretended all the way back to our house that someone had broke their noses. At least they don't know about nose jobs yet! Left to right again, Natalie, Caitlin, Ilana, Madelyn, Alexis, Sarah, and Ismael.


Oh, yes. Next was our dance party after everyone got there PJ's on. They had a blast. I thought they would dance off all there energy but it didn't work.


I think they got tired of dancing, so they just started to run around in circles.


Here we are about to do cake. Alexis wanted an orange flavored cake with real flowers that you can eat. The girls wanted the house dark so they could use their butterfly lanterns. Here Matt is getting ready to light the candles and was asking the girls if he should light the streamers hanging down from the light fixture which happened to be right above the cake. They were all very concerned.


Here's the very happy birthday girl.


Next, let the pillow fight begin! It didn't last very long though. I was concerned about girls getting hit in the head and crying.


Well, I thought it would be bed time after they watched their movie but that didn't happen. It was very interesting fitting all 6 of the girls in our living room.

Now, don't worry about Kendra. She did feel a little left out but she got to go on a special date with Daddy. Matt took her bowling and she got a stike, or an X as she puts it, and then he took her to Dairy Queen for a special treat. She had fun with Daddy.
Landon was up most of the night right along with the girls. He, however, wasn't being giggly and talkative but cranky and crabby. He started to cut his top teeth that night and it lasted for 3 more nights.

~Amanda

Well, Spring Breaks Here!

Spring breaks here and the kids are home. We didn't even make it 3 hours before they started chasing each other around the house yelling at each other. But such is the life of a mom. I love them dearly. Here is a current picture of them all. They were getting ready to go to bed and Lexy had just finished reading a book to them. Yes, even Landon enjoyed listening to the story of Froggy.

With in the last two weeks Lexy has lost both of her top front teeth. It is so funny to see her smile and hear her talk. She whistles when she does. She had Grand Prix at Awana's last week and in honor of her no front teeth she and Daddy made a tooth car. She named it Tooth Fairy. She didn't make it into the top ten for speed but oh well. She did however win a medal for most creative design. She was pretty happy about that. We were proud of her and her car.

Scary picture I know but how else were you going to see her missing teeth. All 4 side teeth are loose and about to come out too. Since it is spring break and her birthday is coming up soon, we are letting Lexy have her first sleepover this week. I can't believe that she is going to be 7 in 1 week! I'll post more on that after it happens.

Let's see what is going on with Kendra!

She's a spit-fire like always! She just finished swimming lessons and loved it. I'm trying to get her in again but the spots fill up so fast. She growing like a weed and is writing her first and last names really well. I'm so impressed with how well she does. And she's on the verge of reading. She has all the pre-reading skills, we just have to work on blending letter sounds now. And boy is she anxious to learn to tie her shoes. We're working on that too. She's excited about her birthday in June because she gets to have a birthday party too and she knows that we get to move into our new house around her birthday.

Landon is growing like a weed too. But what else is he to do! His top teeth are trying to cut through and he was a grouch today. I think it hurt his feelings because I was not able to hold him or be right next to him constantly. Teething is HORRIBLE! Sorry, I don't have a cute picture of him, next time though!

Let's see! What else is going on. Oh, yeah, our new house! They finished the Tuscan texture on all the walls and ceilings and they painted the inside today. Cabinets are going in later this week. I'll post a picture of them as soon as I can. We've started to think about how we want to decorate the house, and what rooms we want to paint special. Of course the kids, except Landon, will get to choose what colors they would like in their rooms. I'm excited about the house getting done and moving in, but a little nervous about our current house not selling in time. But it's all in God's hand and it will happen in his time.

That's all the news that I have for now. I'll update next week with pictures of the house and of Lexy's birthday party. But I'll leave you with this one last picture!

Love to you all,

~Amanda~

Long time coming!

Introducing the new and improved Bend Blogger (version 2.0!) by the Gillette Five!

We apologize to all for the delay on getting updates to the world - both near and far...a family of five is, go figure, 5x more work than taking care of myself. Now for the updates...and by the looks of things, I'm making up for lost time!

The biggest (literally) current event in our lives is the building of our future residence, the "Carson ala Gillette" as I like to call it:

Its 3474 SF of pure genius! Of course I could be a bit biased… The estimated completion date is June 8th and needless to say we can’t wait!

Our other big task and reason we’ve been so busy lately (not that I’m using it as an excuse as to why we haven’t been blogging) is selling our current house, the Vista:




Two years ago when we moved in, it was the perfect size for a starter home - 3 bdrm, 2 bath. But alas, with time comes change and we can't pass on the opportunity to build again in this market. We finally listed it a week ago, last Friday and hope to gain enough from the equity to put 20% down on our new place. Let me tell you, its true what they say...your house looks the best right before you are going to sell it! We had a staging consultant visit and she gave us a few ideas we didn't think of. Let us know if anyone is planning a move to Bend…we’ll cut you a deal!.

As far as my day job goes, business is booming as usual. I still love every moment of it and feel blessed that God has allowed me to have a career in my favorite field of interest. I now hold the position of Lead Designer and supervise the CAD Design team of 2 other members…hopefully a 3rd soon as we are hiring (anyone know of a CAD draftsperson looking for employment?!). I am also continuing to play basketball on Tues. nights with a great group of guys.

Amanda is as busy as usual playing the sometimes-daunting role of housewife – cooking, cleaning, transporting kids, etc. I never can seem to relay how much it is appreciated, no matter how hard I try…thanks Honey! I would write more on her behalf, but its after 9 or 10pm and she is passed out (not from alcohol, she’s still nursing) on the couch as usual come this time of night from her very hectic daily schedule…to my dismay, she’s always needed more sleep than I do.

Next, by way of age/height is Alexis (almost 7), or Lexy, as she is known around here (or Sissy as her younger sibling calls her).

She is excelling in school beyond even our own expectations. Her latest endeavors include working on simple multiplication and reading 100+ page chapter books. She just finished one called “Trouble with Tink” which is part of a new series, “Disney Fairies.” The books teach life lessons such as telling the truth, sharing, dealing with stress, vanity, helping others, compromising, etc. using Tinkerbell and her other Fairy friends. Alexis is also participating in ballet regularly as an extracurricular activity. She participated in the Central Oregon School of Ballet version of The Nutcracker this past Christmas and is currently working on the summer performance, Sleeping Beauty. Monday nights she also attends Awana’s and still finds time to spend with her best friend Ilana from down the street. Lexy is becoming quite the young lady complete with the pre-teen attitude and drama that is starting to surface.

Next is Kendra (4-1/2), our "petite" (as she puts it) little firecracker.

Moody, entertaining, funny, unpredictable, stubborn, cute, energetic - they all could be used to define her. She loves to be the center of attention whether it be saying 'Hi' to strangers while shopping, singing in the car, pouting after being denied her way (she's a pro) or being the last one down from the dinner table every night. She too, is doing well in school, enjoying simple addition and subtraction and beginning to get the itch to learn to read like her big sister. I also picture Kendra being the one who's more into sports since she has as good, if not better hand/eye coordination than her older sister. Kendra is currently participating in swimming lessons and goes to Awana's like her sister on Monday nights.

Finally there's the one most of you haven't met in person, Landon or "little matt" as some of our relatives like to call him.

After a 3rd try we came out with our boy. Can't believe he's just shy of 7 mo. already! Truthfully, I wouldn't have minded a 3rd little princess, contrary to what people think. That said, I'm really looking forward to doing things with him such as shooting hoops, playing catch and throwing the frisbee around - things I remember doing with a certain someone when growing up (Thanks Dad by the way). I know those are things I can do and still do with Alexis and Kendra, but then there are things like ballet...you won't catch me doing any of the 5 positions or cambre-ing or plie-ing around the house (not that there's anything wrong with that). Landon is a definite "Mommy's Boy" and I wouldn't have it any other way right now since he is with her almost every moment of his sunlit life.



Lastly, I wanted to leave you all with a picture of Central Oregon as I see it...



With a Pahlisch Home in the forefront!

Okay, okay, here's a central oregon pic for ya of a REAL sunset, authentic for you to enjoy by way of our digital camera.

Good night all and we promise to blog more often, thus is the oath I give this 12th...well 13th now...day of March in the year of our Lord 2007.

- Matt

The time has come...

Well, we thought that we should get a blog so people can keep an eye on how the kids are growing up. I'll post pictures later when I don't have a wiggle worm on my lap.
- Amanda