Tuesday 26 July 2011

Community Property Agreement.

Are you married, own a home & a Washington State resident?

Have you completed & filed a 
'Community Property Agreement' form at your local court house?  

I recently learned of this very important form & thought I would help spread the word to make sure you complete it as well.  In the event that you or your spouse die, this simple form saves you months of headaches, money & time.  This lawyer's site explains the form pretty well.   You can download a free copy online (just Google it but, let me know if you can't find it), have a Notary stamp it, & then file it with your county courthouse... In our case, we had to go downtown & file it with the King Co. Superior Court for a fee of $64.

Wouldn't you think that if you're married & your spouse dies that you would be the rightful owner of your property?  Nope, not until the State determines that....  If you don't fill out one of these forms (EVEN if you have a will!!!) the process STILL has to go through a lengthy, costly probate for the state to determine that you get your property...  One lady I heard about had to wait 14 months!

So, look into it peeps!

Please note:  I think every state has this form so, if you don't live in Washington it would behoove you to research the laws of your state.  

Friday 22 July 2011

Mission Beach.

padovan side of the family. fresh crab. beach. kayak. yummy potluck. cute kids. giggles. salt water. sun. done.

The old ladies & Tami.  :) 





Lai & Kadence
This is the very last clear picture that my blessed purple camera took.  EVER.
It is now completely broken.   After only 1.5 years of use & a ga-jillion pictures, it stopped working.  
This is Laila & I kayaking (& the last pic my camera took)...
I cannot tell you how much I LOVED sharing this with her.  

Thursday 21 July 2011

July so far...

We started the month off by taking L to her first Mariner's game.  She did great & we enjoyed a special date night with our girl that included garlic fries, changing seats 5 times, yelling "Go M's!" & playing at the playground at the stadium...

The rest of the month has gotten away from us & has included, gardening, library time, celebrating birthdays, lots of missing Jeff, outdoor time & trying to teach Ax how to walk...

Baseball:



Dolly:
Birthday cake #1 for L:
This was actually a party for the 4th but, L was sure the cake was for her.
Thank you Jeanne for scrounging up some candles!  
Local 27 picnic at the zoo:



Checking out the flamingos with gramps
Birthday cake #2:

We spent her b-day morning at the aquarium with K, L & R.  

 Just 2 hours is all I ask:


After walking into my kitchen and finding stickers placed all over my floor and turing the corner to find little nibbles taken out of the apples I called my mom in desperation, "Is there anyway you can take the kids during their naps so I can clean this house without ANYONE here?!?  She graciously agreed and even offered to take them for longer!  THANK YOU MOM!!!  Life is good when everyone's healthy & you have a clean house.  Can I get an 'AMEN' mama's?  I can probably count the number of times on my 2 hands when I've been home ALONE since having kids.  This needs to change.  

Birthday cake #3:
Martha's cookie cake out of the July Living (minus the raspberries and candles)
It was a hit!  Happy Birthday L & g-pa!  
L had been begging me for a "walk in the forest" for days ("A hike?" I would say - "No, a walk in the forest"...)  As soon as we had time I threw her in the car, drove 1 mile & we walked.  We soon found ourselves surrounded by beautiful old trees & listening to leaves blowing & birds chirping.  (Don't worry there were no bears or monsters in this forest. )  The highlights for her were peeing outside for the first time & hearing me tell stories of walking those trails with her when she was a baby getting caught in a huge rainstorm... 


Phew!  I'm pooped.  If you've managed to make it through this post... Bless you, good night & good luck.  

(yes, I'm realizing this post is really L heavy... I'll try & get some A pics in soon.  And, no he still is not walking...)  


Tuesday 12 July 2011

Easy as 1, 2, 3.

Happy Birthday to our Laila Ingrid.  She's proven time & time again to be such a joy & brings so much laughter to this house.  She knows all her letters & most of their sounds, she loves singing, she can FINALLY pump when swinging, she'd rather be outside than inside, she'd rather read or swing than anything else in the world & she loves her "best friend", Axel.  Hip, hip for our big 3 year old!