One Day at a Time

Blessing Day

2010-06-06T22:10:00.000-07:00

Ryan gave Quincy a wonderful blessing today. Quincy was very good for his blessing and didn't cry at all. It was a nice day to celebrate and share our new little man with our families.

What a great group of men surrounding my little man.

Grandpa Craig, Uncle Kenny, Daddy, Uncle Weston, Uncle Steven,

and Grandpa Great Lindsay all participated in blessing Quincy.

After the blessing we went to the high school for a family dinner.

The kids loved playing on Lewie the Longhorn.

Quincy sporting his tux that I finished the night before. (Whoosh!!) Love that smile!!

These are probably my favorite pictures from today. Quincy with his Grandpa Great Lindsay. Grandpa has always had a way with the babies!

It was nice to have Weston, Becky, Holland, and Michael drive out to share the day with us.

Quincy had quite the fan group today.

Grandpa Craig & Grandma Lola. Brenda, Autumn (Tasha's Mom and Niece), Jackson, Tasha, Kenny and Tanner. Steven and Carlyn.

Our not so little family.

My little ray of Sunshine!!

2010-06-06T21:33:00.000-07:00

Quincy came into our family on April 14, 2010. He weighed 7lb 3oz, 21 inches long. He is such a good little baby!! He has given me a new reason to smile.

His brother and sisters love him very much!

Everyone reaching for their new little brother.

It was so fun to let Riley hold Quincy. He has waited for his little brother for a long time.

PIZZA! PIZZA!

2010-02-15T10:11:00.000-08:00

This year for their Cub Scout fundraiser Riley's Pack is selling LITTLE CAESARS pizza kits. Riley is trying really hard to be the top seller in his pack. I thought I would give him a little help. If you are interested leave me a message and I will get you more information. Don't be deterred because you live don't live near us, you can order online.

How can you say no to that cute little face?!

Wednesday

2010-01-06T18:37:00.000-08:00

Mom-- "Carley, What kind of hot cereal would you like?"

Carley-- A dramatic sigh that I thought only teens were capable of, she is 2. "I don't like hot cereal."

Mom-- "Since when?"

Carley-- "Wednesday."

Good thing tomorrow is Thursday, maybe she will like it again.

When does it become worth it??

2009-04-08T21:41:00.000-07:00

The quote goes, "I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it."

Do I have to die first??

We are alive here in Utah. I actually have a tone of pictures to share and stories to tell, however I am currently stuck in the world of dial up. That and I can't find the cable to download the pictures off of my camera. Just one of many things that are MIA. I will try really hard to be more positive the next time I write.
To give you a glimps of what has happened since I last wrote; We went to legoland, the wild animal park, the beach (4 times), the tide pools, BBQ'd with friends, a wild, crazy, and extremily fun last book club, the park, packed up and left.
We got here and the next day it snowed, and snowed, and snowed, we celebrated Hailey's birthday, and it snowed, and snowed, the kids went to their first day of school here, and it snowed and was cold, my grandmother died, and Riley got punched in the mouth at school.
A lot to write about and I will, another day when I can say it in a better way.

Life's Tough Decisions

2009-03-06T03:14:00.000-08:00

I have been putting off writing this post for almost a week now. I think I was trying to come to grips with the life changing decision Ryan and I have made for our family. We have decided it is in our families best interest to move to Utah. Now I always thought that if I got the chance to move "home" I would be so excited...well, I'm not. I think this has been the most difficult decision Ryan and I have had to make for our family so far. There was a lot of fasting, praying, and going to the temple. Although I know and have peace that this is the right decision it doesn't make it any easier. I am going to miss sooooo much!! What I am going to miss the most are the wonderful people who have made themselves a part of my life. They are priceless. I have never had such great friends. I don't even know how to tell them how much I love them and will miss them. There are not words to describe my feelings. sniff, sniff!!

We told the kids on Monday night. I was interested to see what their response would be. Ryan told them that we were moving to Utah and with out pause these were their responses (as I remember them) Riley- Cheering and really excited Hailey- "OH, I am going to miss my friends, can I have a kitty?" Sydney- "Can I have a baby chick?" Carley- Excited because everyone else was. With in five minutes Riley and Hailey were fighting about who gets to feed Grandpa's baby calves, and making plans on how to improve the tree house, and Sydney was making sure she could take her blanky and her animals. They are all so excited.

Every time I get down I go talk to the kids and feed off of their excitement. This will be a great adventure for them. I just need to find joy in the journey. I probably won't be posting much for a while due to frantic packing, and fitting in all our last wishes. When we get settled I will fill you in on the beginning of the next chapter in our lives.

Fun Friday

2009-02-28T00:04:00.000-08:00

I have known for a while that Legoland was free the last hour of operation. You can drive right in and walk right in. Although I have known these things for some reason I have not take advantage of it. Well today that all changed. When I got home from picking Riley up from school I packed up all the kids and we went to Legoland. We had a blast!! We were a little late getting there due to lack of planning. For some reason I am doing things VERY spontaniously this week. We only had half an hour in the park, but that was enough for a lot of fun.

We started out with fairy tale brook. Sydney was loving every minute of it. Carley wasn't so sure. To Hailey and Riley this was old news, but still fun. They are both old enough to remember when we had season passes. Oh the good old days!!

Look at Carley's cute little face. Doesn't it just scream WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME MOM??? Poor little thing.

Next we visited the safari ride. Carley wasn't big enough to go on this one, but I don't think she minded. Riley got to ride it twice, onece for each of his sisters. I love how he takes care of them when we are on an outing like this. I gave him the camera, and we got some pretty fun pictures.

Isn't Riley a great photographer?!!

After that we had time for one more ride. Hailey and Riley both really wanted to go on the dinosaur roller coaster, so we headed over there. I was really hoping that Sydney was going to be tall enough to ride. If she wasn't we were going to have a melt down. She was so excited. The top of her head hit the right bar, and we were in business. Hailey cried the first time she rode this roller coaster because she was scared. I was interested to see how Sydney would react. My little adventurer, snuggled between her older brother and sister couldn't have been happier. Since they were the last ride of the day the operator let them go around one extra time. They all had a lot of fun.

Waiting to go. Sydney was so excited.

Catching them as they zoomed by.

My favorite picture of the week. Sydney getting off the roller coaster and letting me know how much fun she had.

When we got back to the car I said, "Anyone who had a good time say OH YEA!!" I think you could have heard them from where ever you are if you had known to listen. We are defently going to have to do that again. In the words of Sydney, "It was todiwy FUN!!" She todiwy wants to do it again.

After all that we came home and had a picnic dinner. I put an old blanket out on the floor and we had pizza and chips while we watched Alvin and the Chipmonks. It was a very fun Friday!!

Chef Sydney

2009-02-25T18:50:00.001-08:00

Tonight I impulsively decided to have Sydney be in charge of making dinner. She chose what we ate and helped with all of the preparations. We had spaghetti, asparagus, Greek salad, and raspberry lemonade. It was really yummy!! She had a BLAST!! Every time I called her Chef Sydney she would giggle. She especially liked it when everyone thanked her for the yummy dinner. It was a lot of fun. I need to do things like this more often.

Making the noodles.

Putting the salad together

The Juice. I told her to smile, and this is what she came up with. She is SO much like Ryan in her facial expressions. Never a dull moment!!

The final product!! Bravo Chef Sydney!!

Valentines

2009-02-24T00:52:00.000-08:00

We didn't do a whole lot for Love Day this year. Ryan's birthday is so close to it, and with everything else going on we kinda skipped it. The kids didn't skip it though. The Monday before V-Day we used to put together all the kids valentine cards. I thought this would be a quick fun activity. Two hours later when the kids still weren't done and it was bed time, that thought was long gone. When there are at least 32 kids in each class and two to three teachers it takes FOREVER to fill out all those little cards. I was really glad we got a head start. The kids finished up over the next few days and had fun exchanging them with their friends at school. Sydney was really excited. This was her first Love Day in school. She couldn't wait to give her teacher the card she made for her. It was cute. Happy Valentines Day everyone. I know I am a little late, but we are still in February, so it still counts!!!

The Museum of Music

2009-02-24T00:27:00.000-08:00

On Thursday I got to go on a field trip with Riley. I was in charge of a group of six boys and one girl. Ceci, Riley, Jackson, Henry, Christian, Riley D., and Jesus. I know poor girl, but she was a tough cookie and handled it well. I told her she could help me with the boys and be my little bouncer. It was kind of fun. I made sure the boys always let her go first. They didn't think that was too fair, but I thought it was great. I told them that they may thank me for teaching them how to treat a lady someday. We rode a bus to the Carlsbad Museum of Music. After we got there we went into a room with the two other groups from Riley's class and made paper plate tambourines. It got really loud really fast. I was relieved when they collected them before we left the room and told them that they would get them back at the end of the day. The next room we went in had a drum for everyone. Our guide talked to the kids about tempo. She chose a few kids to come up and "conduct" everyone. When they put their hands up we were supposed to go really fast, when they put them down we were supposed to go really slow. Riley and Jackson were chosen from my group. When the kids were done the museum guide asked for an adult to take a turn. I was taking a picture at this point and not paying much attention, but when I heard the other adults coming up with excuses for not going up I had to put an end to it. It was fun taking a turn. I made one side of the room go fast while the other was slow. I know, tricky hun. It takes great skill to do what I do I tell ya. LOL!! After that we went on a lengthy, and slightly boring (don't tell the kids I said that ), tour of the museum. We went through 100 years of music history. The kids learned the charleston, and the swing. When our guide was showing the kids the swing she grabbed a few girls that were in her vicinity and started dancing with them. Riley was the closest boy. Realizing that he was going to be her next partner if he stayed where he was he quickly ran to the other side of the room. I wish I had video of it. I'm sure he broke some kind of record for quickest evasion. After our tour we got back on the bus. It was fun to spend the morning with Riley and meet some of his friends that I had only known by name. Now I have faces, they better watch out.

Blue and Gold

2009-02-23T00:09:00.000-08:00

The first week of February Riley participated in his first Blue and Gold banquet as a scout. As part of our ward Blue and Gold they have each of the boys make a dessert and auction it off. They use the money toward scout camp. Having been in primary for many years I was really excited to work with Riley and make something fun to auction off. When I found out the theme was "The Old West", I started finding fun cakes we could make. Cakes that looked like boots, horses, cows, etc. I was so excited!! One day when Riley got home from school I asked him what kind of cake he thought he would like to make and told him I had some ideas that I had found on the Internet. He informed me that he didn't want to make a cake, he wanted to make dirt. Well, okay. So much for all of my years of planning and excitement. We made dirt. We had a lot of fun with it, and got the whole family involved. Riley and I crushed the cookies while Ryan and the girls mixed up the creamy filling. We put it together in a sand bucket. In each layer we included worms and rocks (chocolate covered cherries), and finished it off with a shovel in the top. It just goes to show that no matter what ideas and plans you have for your kids, they get to make their own choices. Even if it means you get to eat dirt.

Riley with his "Dirt", awards earned, and his painting of a cowboy.
Great painting bud!!

Ryan's Birthday!!

2009-02-20T02:02:00.000-08:00

Ryan's birthday was on the 12th. We started out the morning with a breakfast of bisects and gravy in bed. --I have pictures of this but have been forbidden to share.-- That evening we had Ryan's long time friend Jon over to share a Feta Pita bake dinner with us, Ryan's choice of dinner. Followed by the once a year -once a year because that is how often I make it- cake. The cake is death by chocolate. Gotta love it. There were so many candles on it that the chocolate on the top started to melt. Then the kids and I gave him cards, and they went to bed. Then the fun began, and sadly I don't have any pictures of it. His WII buddies started showing up for game night. --what were you thinking happened??!-- It was a great turn out, and they played to the wee hours of the morning. Happy Birthday Honey!! I hope it was a good one.

Pay It Forward

2009-02-11T18:33:00.000-08:00

My blogging friend flipflopmama, is having a fun little game on her blog. I'm playing along.

So this is how it works..... The first 3 people to leave a comment on this (my) post will receive a hand made gift from me during this year. When and what will be a surprise. There's a small catch...You knew there would be didn't you? Post this on your blog then come back and leave a comment, telling me you're in. Fun, huh? Remember, only the first 3 comments receive the gift.

Difference In Style

2009-02-09T08:14:00.000-08:00

It is said that women use twice as many words a day than men do. Well, it has been brought to my attention that we must write twice as many too. Ryan says my last post was "too wordy." After looking at it again I'm sure he is right. In my defense I don't want to forget anything. Since I kinda use my blog as my journal I am allowed to be as wordy as I want. Right?!!
I thought I would give you a chance to see which style you like the most. My version of our trip to Utah has already been posted. Here is Ryan's version...

We went to Utah.

Let me know which one you like the best.

Quick Trip

2009-02-08T10:07:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Becky and Weston blessed their new little boy Holland. Ryan and I had been planning on making a quick trip for the blessing before Ryan lost his job. After the job loss he didn't feel like it would be possible financially to make the trip. I really wanted to go for a few reasons 1. I felt like it was really important to support Becky and Weston. 2. I knew that Ryan would feel bad for a long time if he didn't go. and 3. Who wants to miss out on holding fun new little babies?! I was pretty resigned to the fact that we wouldn't be going when out of the blue Ryan said, LETS GO!! This was Friday morning, and I thought GREAT, only one problem. I was throwing one of the ladies I VT a baby shower on Saturday morning. We would have to leave after the shower meaning we would have to drive late into the night. Oh well, you do what you gotta do, right?! Well when Ryan got home from taking the kids to school he said the car was acting funny. He quickly took it over to our mechanic and found out that our transmission is starting to go out. GREAT!! Now we couldn't go again. We had gotten every one's hopes up, we told Becky and Weston we were coming, we told the kids we were going, and now we had to let them down. I knew there was going to be a lot of crying and fit throwing. Well Ryan called Becky and told her the sad news. I think she was pretty sad because she called back a little later and told Ryan that they would like to rent us a car so we could come. After a little talking we decided to take them up on their offer and we were ready to hit the road again.
We left our house about 12:45 pm on Saturday and got to Weston and Becky's about 1:15 am. I'm glad Ryan is such a great driver. The kids did pretty good considering they had to sit in the car for 12 hours. We stopped in St. George about 7:30, got the kids ice cream, and let them play in the McDonalds play area for about an hour to wear them out. -- Yes, I let my kids play in a McDonalds play area. I'm sure that I will have to have counseling at some point to help me come to grips with that one. For those of you who don't know, I have a bit of a McDonalds phobia. I did draw the line the next day when Ryan tried to put some of the kids in the same clothes they had worn when they played there. I told him I had to wash them before they could be worn again.-- When we got back in the car they crashed for the rest of the trip. It was pretty nice. I was very grateful that Weston and Becky's church didn't start until 2:30pm. If we didn't have kids we would have been able to sleep in. LOL!!
We did a quick hair job on Becky and got everyone ready. Weston gave Holland a wonderful blessing. The family dinner after was a lot of fun too. It was good to see Ryan's aunts Kathy and Caroline. We hadn't seen them for many years. It is always fun to get together with the Fullers. They are a wonderful family!! My kids love playing with Tamera's kids. I am a little surprised that the clubhouse is still standing after our kids got done with it. They had a lot of fun. I am so grateful we got to be there. We already miss so many things being so far away.
The kids LOVE Holland!! There was more than one fight over who's turn it was to hold him. Carley was especially attached to him. She would cry and get very upset if you tried to take him from her, and if someone else was holding him she was begging for him. Riley was really excited to have another boy cousin.

On Monday morning we left Weston and Becky's mid morning after a wonderful breakfast, --Ryan still raves about it Becky!!-- and headed out to Mountain Home to surprise Brittany. Everyone but her knew we were coming. I like surprises and thought this would be a fun one to pull off. When we got to the Mountain Home turn off I called Brittany and asked her what she was up to. She said she was playing with Tasha and the boys, Tanner and Jackson, (Tasha had gone up to "visit" Brittany so she could be there when we got there, and to give Brittany a reason to get herself and the baby ready). I hid a chuckle and said, "I want to come play." --I knew she wouldn't think anything of it and would play along because we play this game often.-- Brittany, without skipping a beat or suspecting anything, said, "Okay come on over." Again trying really hard not to laugh, I said, "Okay, I'll be there in a minute." She said she would call me when Tasha and the boys left and we got off the phone. I was really excited. When I closed the car door Brittany heard it and started complaining about more people coming to see her and the baby. --She doesn't like a lot of people around her new little one, and who can blame her.-- She looked out the window, looked back at Tasha, who I imagine is about to burst by this time, and said, "You have got to be freaking kidding me!!" She burst out the door and said, "You have got to be kidding me!! What are you doing here?!!" I looked hurt and said, "You said I could come over." It was great!!! I had a lot of fun with it. It was a lot of fun to see them too.
Tessa is SO tiny, and has SO much hair. She has as much hair as Carley does and Carley has been working on hers for almost two years now. Tanner and Jackson have grown a ton. Especially Jackson. All the kids had fun playing. True to form Sydney and Tanner enjoyed their love hate relationship. One minute they are playing great, the next they are fighting and hitting. Maybe someday they will just play nicely. Riley and Hailey had a LOT of fun being able to run outside and play. They don't get to do that here. They hardly fought at all. They would go outside, be gone for hours, and play nicely together. It was great. I hope someday they can have that at their own house. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of them outside because I spent all my time holding Tessa. My Mom made a birthday cake for Ryan so they could share in the celebration of his birthday. It was YUMMY!! That night after all the kids were in bed we stayed up WAY too late playing cards. It was a lot of fun. No one really wanted to go to bed, but we all knew we would be in a lot of trouble if we didn't. We hit the sack about 2:00am and thanks to our kids were back up and moving somewhere between 5-7:30. I'm glad my kids are a little older so I got to sleep in until 7:30. After we raided my Mom's pantry and paid a visit to Grandpa and Grandma Lindsay we hit the road again.
It was good to be able to see everyone even if it was only for a day. It was well worth the time and money we spent on it. We would do it again in a second. Either we will get a job or we won't, we may run out of money at some point, but we will never run out of the memories we made on a quick trip to Utah. Thanks everyone for your help and support!!

Her WOMAN tooth is in!!

2009-01-25T00:27:00.000-08:00

About a week ago Hailey was complaining that her tooth hurt. I looked at it and saw that the gums behind her front bottom teeth were swollen. We had a talk about brushing better, and I got some floss to make sure there wasn't anything stuck in there. When I went to floss her around her tooth I discovered the real problem, her tooth was lose. Why didn't I think of that before?! Well, because she is my little girl and she isn't supposed to be old enough to have a lose tooth.

Over the next week she kept wiggling it, but we didn't worry about it too much. There is no rushing these things, especially when Mom doesn't want it to happen. On Tuesday of this week she asked me to wiggle her tooth for her and see how lose it was. When I went to wiggle it I saw that her WOMAN tooth, that is what our hygienist calls them, had already come in behind her baby teeth. Well that wouldn't do. I told her to wiggle her tooth all day and that it was going to have to come out that night.

That evening we all gathered around to get Hailey's tooth out. I pulled out the pliers and went to work. (I pulled out Riley's first tooth this way too. I think we are going to have to make it a tradition.) She cried more about opening her mouth to let me put the pliers in then she did when I actually pulled the tooth. She didn't even realize it was out. Sydney and Carley, trying to be supportive little sisters, kept opening their mouths trying to convice me they had teeth that needed pulling too. I told Carley that she needed to grow some teeth before I could pull any out.

Hailey was really excited the next morning when she woke me up bright and early, well not so bright, it was too early to be bright, to show me the money the tooth fairy had left for her. My little girl is growing up.

Picking my kids nose

2009-01-25T00:20:00.000-08:00

Yes, I have been picking my kids nose. With tweezers, no less. I guess when they decide to stick a googlie eye up their nose, and you have no desire to visit urgent care on a Saturday afternoon, these are the things you do. I'm really glad I was able to get it out. You are never going to live this down SYDNEY!!! Does that really surprise anyone?!!

First Day of Preschool

2009-01-13T09:20:00.000-08:00

Sydney went to her first day of Preschool with out me today....and she LOVED it. She cried when I picked her up. --Isn't it supposed to be the other way around.-- She loved playing on the swings and seeing her friends again. She can't wait to go back. That is what we like to hear, even if it is for the toys. LOL!!

My PreSchool

2009-01-13T09:15:00.000-08:00

About April of last year I got a letter from Hailey's preschool letting me know that the teacher was going to be retiring and they would no longer be offering a high school preschool. The preschool was set up as an advanced childhood development class for the high school students. Mrs. Bankhead had been teaching for, I think, 23 years and was wonderful!! Each preschool student had a high school student assigned to them as their teacher under the supervision of Mrs. Bankhead. The kids loved it. They loved their teachers, the one on one attention, and a field trip to the wild animal park or the zoo each semester. I loved it. I loved their teachers, I loved that it was only an hour and a half, and I loved that it was only $50.00. You couldn't beat it. It was the best.

I was really sad when I realized that Sydney wasn't going to get this same experience. I looked around at the other preschools in the area and quickly realized a couple things, 1. They all required that she be there for a minimum of three hours. Sydney is a Nov. baby. When she started preschool she would only be two. That felt like a long time for a two year old to be gone. 2. They were all at least triple the price. That just didn't fit into the budget. What to do!? After a little thinking and talking to friends at the park, I decided that I was going to be her preschool teacher. I have done Joy School before, I have worked in primary FOREVER, and I have been a Mom for 8 years. Hopefully through all these experiences I learned a thing or two about teaching 2-4 year olds the basics of a school setting. After making this decision I talked to Mrs. Bankhead and asked for advise, I talked to a kindergarten teacher in my home town, and I talked to my cousin Buffy who had run a preschool for the last five years. With all these words of advise and referrals to many resources I set out to find students and get my lesson plans together. To be quite honest I didn't have to "find" any students. Once you let the word out in a LDS community that you are going to be doing something like this it doesn't take long for people to sign up. When preschool started I had five students. I was so excited and a little nervous about how it would all work. The kids were wonderful. Soon we were up to our elbows, literally, in paint, glue, crayons, markers, and construction paper. We were singing songs about everything from the days of the week to Christmas. We learned how to hold pencils and scissors, how to write from left to right, and our shapes and our colors. Somewhere in the middle of all the chaos and learning I realized I LOVED what I was doing. I was always thinking about My Preschool and how I could make it better, how I could help my students learn better. I loved My Preschoolers too. I loved their cute little faces, the silly things they would bring to share, and how much they loved me back. One of the best days was near the beginning of Dec. when I had the kids do a worksheet where they had to use about four of the skills we had been working on all semester. They had to sit in their seats, they had to listen to directions, they had to find the color of marker I told them to, and they had to color the shape I told them to. All of them could do it. I was so excited I told everyone who would listen about it. I got a lot of strange looks that said, "AND...." It didn't impress too many people, but to me it was AMAZING!!

About the end of November I started to get a feeling that I needed to ask one of the other moms to take over in the new year. I would always push it away. Why would I want to do that?! I loved what I was doing. I had big plans, crafts, and ideas set up for the next semester. The day Ryan came home and let me know he had been laid off I finally saw the WHY. I don't know what is going to happen in the next few months, but I do know that My Preschoolers will be in capable hands and won't have to be jostled around in the middle of the semester. I know that their transition will be easier because they will start out with her after a break and will be excited to learn more. Even though I know the WHY, and know that My Preschoolers will be fine. I am going to miss them a lot. I already miss them. When Sydney first found out I wasn't going to be her teacher anymore, she cried. I wanted to cry too. I LOVE My Preshool, and My Preschoolers! Thank you to the parents for sharing their kids with me. A big thank you to the kids for coming to play. Riley, Annika, Rebecca, Shon, and Sydney.

My Sunbeam and Her First Talk

2009-01-11T15:30:00.000-08:00

December 28, 2008 Last day of nursery for Sydney.

OOH!!

Last Sunday was Sydney's first day in Primary as a Sunbeam!! Sydney was sad all week. She kept telling me she was going to nursery not primary. She did not want to move up from nursery. She was perfectly happy in there with the treats and the toys. I was a little surprised that she wasn't more excited. I never anticipated that this would be such a hard move for her. She is my tough girl who can do anything. She even cried and clung to me when I dropped her off last week. For any of you who know my children very well this is very unusual behavior for our family. Usually they barely wave at me as they run off to play with or sit by their friends. By the end of church she was completely happy and didn't want to leave primary. Our primary leaders are so smart. They give the sunbeams a little beanie baby to hold and keep quiet to help them sit still and be quiet themselves. For Sydney this is the stuff of genius!! She loves babies and stuffed animals. She cried at the end of primary last week because she had to leave her baby lamb there. What a tough day!! It was wonderful this week though. She couldn't wait to get there so she could hold her baby lamb again. Back to my tough girl who can handle anything....

January 4, 2009 First day of Sunbeams for Sydney.

....speaking of handling anything, today Hailey was supposed to give a talk in primary. Admittedly I did not prepare her as much as I usually do. I usually work on it with them so it is in their own words and have them practice it a few times so they are comfortable with it. Well this week I dropped the ball and Ryan did the talk this morning with a little help from Hailey. She didn't get to go over it and was a little nervous about it. I thought it would be fine. This is where mistake number two comes in. I was thinking it would be fine because it wouldn't have phased Riley. Well, Hailey isn't Riley. My first clue that everything may not go as planned was when she refused to sit up front. Instead she wanted me to hold her. When it came time for her to give the talk she clung to me and Ryan had to pull her off and push her up the isle. When they got to the front she planted her feet a few feet away from the podium, folded her arms, and wouldn't move. Ryan tried bribing, coxing, anything he could think of, she wouldn't move. At this point I got a brilliant idea. I walked up to the font and asked her if she wanted Sydney to help her. She said she would do it if Sydney helped. Sydney was happy to help. Good, things seemed to be looking up. Well then Hailey refused to do the talking, she only wanted to hold up the pictures. Sydney my new little sunbeam who cried the week before because she didn't want to go to primary was supposed to give a talk the second week she was there, YEAH RIGHT!! At this point I was willing to try anything so I held Sydney up, she is about 6 inches too short for the podium even with the little step stool, and started whispering in her ear. She did beautifully!! She held onto the mike with one little hand and her beanie baby with the other. Hailey held up the pictures and Sydney gave the talk. What team work, and what a nice little sister to be willing to help her big sister. Who knew Sydney would be giving a talk her second week in primary. I guess it goes to show she really is my girl who can handle anything, as long as she has a beanie baby to hold!!

Sweet Sisters!!

Oh The Things They Say

2009-01-10T20:05:00.001-08:00

Sydney sitting at dinner,
"When I am a mommy I will make my kids ice cream for dinner."
Mom, me, "Oh, really. What will you give them for dessert?"
"Take (cake)"

Ryan, "I can't stop thinking about that job!"
Hailey, "Just shake your head, Daddy, and it will fall out!"

CARLEY

2009-01-08T00:14:00.000-08:00

My Sweet Little Helper

Carley is my sweet little helper. Regardless of what I am doing she always wants to be a part of it. Whenever I say that I have to go do something she always follows me saying, "I hep you Mommy, I hep you." She especially loves to do the laundry. I think this is because she gets to push buttons. I have to put the washer and dryer on child lock after we get them started so she doesn't mess up the cycles. I love having a little shadow so willing to be beside me and be my little helper. I hope she never grows out of it. She melts my heart. Tender moments!!!

Cute Piggies

Sometime during Christmas break, when we were all sick and stuck at home, I decided to see if Carley's hair was long enough to put into piggies. We were REALLY bored!! Well it was long enough and here are the cute picts. to prove it. She was so cute, but oh so sick.

The Best Presents!!

2009-01-03T08:47:00.000-08:00

December was a fun baby month for us.

On Dec. 19 Becky and Weston welcomed their sweet little boy to the world. Holland was born at 12:10 pm he weighed 8 lbs 3 oz and was 20 inches long. He has a little bit of dark hair and is so cute!! We can't wait to meet him. Riley is so excited that he has another BOY cousin.

Becky if I ever have another baby I want to look as gorgeous as you when it is all over!!

On Dec. 31 Brittany and Kreg welcomed their sweet little girl to the world. Tessa was born at 7:12 pm she weighed 7lb 8oz and was 20 inches long. She has a lot of dark hair and is beautiful. We can't wait to meet her. The girls are excited about their new little GIRL cousin (the girls still outnumber the boys).

Brittany I need to know the secret for growing baby hair. My kids have all been baled. Poor Hailey didn't have any hair until she was about 3!

Holland and Tessa were definitely the best presents we got this year!!

Christmas

2008-12-31T19:55:00.000-08:00

For us Christmas starts the first Monday after Thanksgiving when we decorate our Christmas tree for family home evening. It was a lot of fun!

Santa visited our ward Christmas party this year. He even brought his list of good boys and girls for the kids to check and make sure their name was there. My kids were very relieved to see their names. They were all excited to sit on his lap and see if he was going to come visit them. Well, all of them except for Carley. The closer we got to Santa the tighter she held onto me. What is it about a jolly guy in a red suit that makes kids so scared? We usually have a tradition of going and getting a family picture with Santa, but Ryan was laid off before the day we had scheduled to go. So for this year these picts will have to do.

Each year I make matching PJ's for my entire family. Ryan and the kids got home late from G&G Braman's Christmas Eve (Sydney and I stayed home because she was sick.) so I didn't get any pictures Christmas eve. We tried Christmas day and they didn't turn out that great, but oh well. We had a wonderful Christmas and were spoiled by everyone. We even had a few secret Santa's drop some surprises at our door. I don't know who they are, and I probably never will. We appreciate their kindness toward us. On Christmas Eve all I could do was cry. Sydney was very worried. People kept knocking on the door and leaving things that made her mommy cry. Very traumatic for a 3yr old. Kinda funny now that I think about it. I hope that someday we can pay it back by paying it forward.

Hailey and Sydney got bubbles in their stockings and had a lot of fun trying them out. I had to include the pictures because of what Sydney does to Hailey!! I couldn't stop laughing.

Ryan got laid off today

2008-12-16T21:12:00.000-08:00

What more is there to say. :{

The best baby shower favors EVER!

2008-12-08T09:54:00.000-08:00

Brittany, my little sister, is having her first baby in January. This last Saturday my Fabulous sister-in-law Tasha threw her a shower. Since I live in CA and they are in UT I don't get to be a part of any of the fun stuff like this. I usually try to find a way to be there or be a part of it in some way. I really don't like being left out. Anyway, Tasha and my Mom called one day looking for ideas for a party favor. Tasha had a really cute poem, but didn't know what to put it on. My first suggestion was diapers, which would have been cute, but way too easy. The second and much more grand idea was Onsies. I think they turned out really cute. They were supposed to have candy inside of them, but when I went to put the candy inside it split the seams. I ended up putting the candy in a tool bag attached by the bow on the neck. I had also intended to stitch with brown ribbon around the neck line, but I ran out of time. They were a lot of work, but I think they turned out pretty cute. A big thanks to Ryan, who drew my template for me, and Hailey who put on all the cute rhinestones. Too bad they didn't get to the shower, I shipped them too late. Not that it really mattered anyway. After all the hard work Tasha put into the shower only one person showed up. Even the people who had RSVP didn't show. Come on people that is pathetic!!

The blessed end of MOVEMBER!!

2008-12-08T09:14:00.000-08:00

For those of you who don't know, Movember is international mustache month. There are a few websites, google it. Anyway the main idea is not to shave your stash for the month of November. Ryan's friend Spencer recruited him into this great scheme. For the month of November Ryan had a wild thing living above his lip. It was funny to see the responses he got. A lot of funny looks, a few comments, and chuckles. Last Sunday, the last day of November, we had a end of Movember shaving party at our house. Basically Spencer and his family came over for dinner. After dinner they shaved their stashes while Riley took pictures. It was a lot of fun, but overall I am glad it is done.

October Part 3

2008-12-08T08:40:00.000-08:00

Halloween

Okay I am really done going over October when we are in December, but the kids really want their Halloween pictures up. Halloween was really fun. We had Steven here with us which made it the best!! The little girls and I went to the beach with him for a few hours one morning. It wasn't the best beach weather, but the beach is always fun. He helped the kids, especially Sydney, carve their pumpkins. He even helped me get the kids dressed and ready to go trick-or-treating. I don't know if we would have made it out the door without him. I underestimated the amount of time it takes to put make-up on three girls and one boy. Riley was a zombie soccer player, Hailey was Snow White, Sydney was a princess, and Carley was a fairy. We went to our ward trunk-or-treat the first Saturday of the month, then on Halloween our friends invited us to their church's trunk-or-treat. (We had invited them to ours too. We have similar families and have a lot of fun together.) The kids made out like bandits. I think they got enough candy to last them to at least next Halloween. Riley kept tying to bribe Steven to do his chores with his. After a few days I took it away, and we moved on from Halloween. The kids had a lot of fun carving pumpkins with Steven. Having someone visiting always makes things more fun. The kids still ask when Uncle Steven is coming back. They loved having him here. After looking at some of the pictures he took I have to chuckle and wonder why! Some of them look like he was torturing them. I know the loved every minute of it though. Enjoy!!

Ryan Goes to Kindergarten

2008-12-05T21:39:00.000-08:00

Each week Hailey's teacher, Miss Hale, has a "secret reader" come in and read the kids a story. They also get to tell the kids a little about what they do for a living. All week Miss. Hale gives the kids clues to let them see if they can guess who is coming. Well today Ryan got to be the "Secret Reader" for Hailey's class. We kept it a secret from Hailey so she could be surprised and she was. I took the kids to school, Ryan usually takes them, telling them that Ryan had a meeting he had to go to. That way Ryan could get there and set up and I could have an excuse for getting the little girls ready. It was a lot of fun to hear Ryan telling the kids what he does for a living. They were so into it and excited. They would point at the games that he has worked on and say "Hey I have that, or I play that!" It was really cute. He read them a story called Don't Give up Stanely that he wrote and illustrated in high school. Then he had them do a little mad lips thing. He told them that he was going to draw Miss. Hale's class room monster and they had to tell him what it looked like. He would say, "Miss. Hale's class room monster has __ hands." Then he would call on one of the kids to fill in the blank. They couldn't wait to see what the monster was going to look like. They went to computer lab, and when they came back Miss. Hale's class room monster was waiting for them. I was talking to the teachers in the back of the room and they said they were going to have a hard time topping Ryan. I guess the kids are not usually as engaged and excited as they were for Ryan. I think our kids will always win when it is bring your parent to school day. They all had a lot of fun and it was fun to watch. Way to be a great dad Ryan!!

October Part 2

2008-11-28T19:35:00.000-08:00

The Pumpkin Patch.

Every year we take the kids to Bates Nut farm to pick out their pumpkins, see the animals, and have a fun family day. This year was even more fun because Uncle Steven, my brother, was here visiting and got to come with us. Thanks to him we have some great pictures. I desperately need to get a new camera.
The kids each picked out their pumpkins and we went over to the animals. We went on a Monday this year because we didn't have any Saturdays to spare. It turned out to be a lot more fun. There was hardly anyone there, and the animals wanted to be fed since they hadn't been fed by the crouds all day. They were eating right out of our hands. Carley, as we have already seen, is a big climber. She had a great time climbing to the tops of the fences. She would get really mad when we made her get down. After we were done with the animals we went into the cute little country store to see what they had and get everyone a little treat. We ended up getting everyone IBC grape, black cherry, and rood beer soda. Root beer is my favorite and there was only one left. My sweet family let me have it and they split up the other flavors. We got everyone their own except Carley. We didn't think she would be able to drink one on her own and could share with everyone else. She was fine with that until she got a taste of mine. She didn't want anything else after that. I have to admit I have taught her some bad habits, she is a root beer adict. Check out what a little shlup she turned into when she got the bottle to herself. Needless to say, I didn't get anymore. So much for MY root beer. Oh well I gave it up to a cutie.

October Part 1

2008-11-21T14:26:00.000-08:00

October was a little crazy between soccer and the election. Here are the Pict's and stories that I wanted to post, but didn't have the time.

Soccer:

Hailey and Riley both did soccer this year. They both had a lot of fun, and want to do it again next year.

Hailey was on the Bumblebees. She wasn't the most enthusiastic player out there. For the majority of the games she would stand in the middle of the field and watch the other girls go after the ball. At one point the ball was kicked to her. She stood there and looked down at it. The other girls ran up and kicked it around her. She didn't even turn around to watch the ball, she just stood there staring off into space. She did make three goals over the season, unfortunately they were all for the other team. In her defense she was easily one of the smallest girls out there. She didn't like getting pushed around and knocked down. Also in her first practice she got knocked down and another girl fell on her. She hurt her neck so bad that she couldn't move it. We made weekly visits to the chiropractor for almost the entire season. She did perk up during the last two games because her Dad and Uncle Steven told her that they would both pay her 5 dollars if she made a goal for her team. Steven also told her that he would stick around a little longer. She tried a lot harder after that. So I guess the moral of her soccer story is hold out until the money is right, then go for it. She says she wants to play again next year. Her Dad and I will have to think about it.

Riley was on the Swordfish and had a pretty exciting season. This was the first year that Riley was old enough to keep score and have playoffs. It got quite competitive and was a lot of fun. The Swordfish went 9-2 for the season putting them in a great place for the playoffs. They ended up in fourth after a couple last minute heart breakers. It was a lot of fun to watch. Riley has a natural talent for soccer. The coach often pointed him out in practice as someone to follow. He would never give up. If someone took the ball from him he was right on it, and they rarely got far. I think he is also made of springs. Whenever he fell down he was back up again before anyone else had time to take two steps. He was also one of the boys they liked to play at goalie. He felt horrible when a few goals got through him, but he made some amazing saves. Where some of the boys would stop the ball, Riley would go all out and dive for it. There was no fear of sacrificing the body from him. He was on one of the only teams that actually played as a team. They passed to each other, communicated, and worked together. It seamed to me that the other teams had one or two stars that they relied upon to do all the work. The swordfish worked as one. They had some great coaches too. I was very impressed with the coaches and the amount of time they donated to the boys. It was a great team and a great year. Riley got awarded the go getter and one of the goalie awards from his coach. The coach also said that Riley was a big part of the teams success, that he was a good leader and example to the other boys. It was fun to see my son exhibit some of the qualities I hoped he would develop. I hope he continues to be a go getter and give his all for what ever he wants to succeed in. Big thanks to Coach Rick for all the great pictures.

I never go tired of seeing this happen. It was almost funny. Sorry other kid!! : }

You are trying to do what?

2008-11-14T17:02:00.000-08:00

This morning while I was composing my first post for the day, I know I'm on a roll today this is number three, I heard Sydney get into the fridge. I asked her what she was doing. I didn't get a satisfactory answer so I went to investigate. Sydney and Carley were standing in the kitchen looking at a broken egg on the floor. I thought that is weird. I asked Sydney why she got an egg out of the fridge. "I don't know." Okay. I asked her to stay out of the fridge and went to get ready to leave for the day. Again I heard her in the fridge so I came out to investigate. This time I found an empty egg carton on the floor in front of the fridge. I thought that was a little strange, but decided that the broken egg must have been the last in that container. I threw away the container and continued getting ready. Finally I came into the living room where the girls were watching PBS cartoons, yes I plugged them in while I was getting ready, and told Sydney that it was time to do her hair. Now look at this picture and see if you see anything out of place.

Don't see anything unusual, look a little closer.

Okay, if you still don't see it here is the extreme close up.

Yes, she was sitting on three eggs. She was really upset when I took them away too. I asked her why she had them. "Because" I told her that maybe if I understood why she wanted them then we could work it out. She said that something to the effect that she was watching a movie and wanted the eggs. My best guess is that one of the cartoons had something about birds sitting on eggs and baby chicks coming out. If you read the post before this you know that Sydney loves baby animals. So much so that she was willing to put the time in and sit on those eggs until they hatched. I tried to explain to her that it wouldn't work with our eggs. I don't think she got it though. When we were walking out the door she was back to begging for the egg so she could snuggle it and have it be her baby. I love her imagination. I forgot to add that to her birthday blog. Sydney has a very active and vivid imagination. I am also amazed and grateful that she was so gentle with them that they didn't break on my chair. She is probably grateful for that too, even if she doesn't know it.

Sydney is 3!!!

2008-11-14T08:48:00.000-08:00

Sydney turned 3 on Sunday. It was a fun day. She was so excited. She wanted to make sure everyone knew that it was her birthday. She told everyone she came close to that it was her day. She is such a sweet and loving little girl that is full to the brim of vinegar and spice. What else could she be with me being her mother. HEE! HEE!

Our family has a tradition that when it is your birthday you get to choose what we have for dinner. It took Sydney two days to come up with Pizza. I told her if she didn't tell me she was going to end up with cereal, she didn't think that would be too bad.

She was bursting at the seams waiting to open her presents. I love this picture!!

Sydney's favorite presents by far were her little pig and camera. She has taken or tried to take them with her every where.

After cake and ice cream Sydney gave us all a little fashion show. Notice her little pig. The only reason she didn't have the camera is because she was having us take "pictures" of her with it.

She had a lot of fun with her princess cake.

Sydney loves to be the center of attention. She loves to preform.

She has a very outgoing personality. She has no problem going up to perfect strangers, saying hi, and making new friends.

She is protective of her little sister Carley. She has no problem beating Carley, but let anyone else try it and that is another story.

She loves animals. Her birthday wish list consisted of a baby kitty, a baby horse, a baby calf, and a baby pig. I told her she would have to talk to Howdy y'all Grandpa about most of those. (Good luck Dad!)

She is a lot of fun. Our family wouldn't be complete without her. Happy Birthday Sydney!! We love you!

On a side, but related note. We started giving the kids allowances this last week. I am proud to say that Hailey and Riley used their first allowances to buy Sydney birthday presents from them. Tender moments.

Profound Gratitude

2008-11-14T08:28:00.000-08:00

It is hard for me to believe that last week was election week and the end of soccer. Since I have had so much less to do and to pull at my time, it seems that time has moved differently. I feel like last week should have been weeks ago instead of days ago. Maybe that is because so much has happened since then. Things that I have no control over and that I can only stand by and watch in dismayed silence. I am more grateful today than last week that I was able to stand for something so important as restoring the definition of marriage in California. It seems the more opposition there is and the more misunderstanding is shown, the more solid I become in my stance. If that is possible. I am profoundly grateful for the knowledge I have of the Savior and his eternal plan for us. For the knowledge that even though this may be a short won battle in the great war of what is to come that everything will be okay. I am also grateful for the peace of mind that this knowledge brings. I have been overwhelmed and admittedly a little surprised by the amount of peace that I feel. I had a friend call me today and tell me she was afraid for me and my family because we BELONG to The Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints. I told her thanks for the worry, but we are okay, and will be. I know that no matter what opposition comes from this or anything else we will be okay.

VERY BUSY, STILL ALIVE

2008-11-03T14:15:00.000-08:00

I have been very busy lately and have not had much time to sit down and blog. I thought I would take the ten minutes I have before I have to go to let everyone know we are still alive. This month has been one of the craziest months ever. I will have to give you a complete run though later, but here is an over view of the things that have kept me running this month. Hailey and Riley Soccer, Yes on Prop. 8, Riley Scouts, Yes on Prop. 8, Riley Karate, Yes on Prop. 8, My Preschool, Yes on Prop. 8, Halloween costumes and parties, Yes on Prop. 8. As you can see between my kids and campaigning for YES ON PROP. 8 I haven't had a lot of time to sit down at the computer. I have not blogged on Prop. 8 before now because 1. I haven't had time, 2. I don't think that more than a hand full of people read this blog. I left the heavy blogging to those whose blogs are more read and hit the streets. I am pleading with anyone who does read this before tomorrow to please vote YES on Prop. 8. If you still have questions or concerns about this proposition please go to PreservingMarriage.org

Grosgrain: Marie-Thérèse Gown GIVEAWAY!!!!

2008-10-24T11:15:00.000-07:00

This dress is AMAZING!! Check it out. I can't even imagine taking the time to make something as amazing as that. I don't know if I would ever be able to finish it. It would be really fun to see my girls in it though. Hats off to the very creative woman who made it!! Check it out below!!

Grosgrain: Marie-Thérèse Gown GIVEAWAY!!!!

Top Fifteen Reasons we moved.

2008-10-16T15:41:00.000-07:00

15. The sound of Silence.

Our new place is so quiet.

14. An Ocean view!!

Okay it is very far off and very tiny, but it is still there.

13. A working oven.

My oven takes about an hour or more to heat up. It will be nice to have one that can do that in about 15 min.

12.No more laundry outside!!

Hailey didn't even know you could have laundry inside. Oh sad.

11. No more Ants!!

Since the house was tented for termites we have been taken over by ants. They are everywhere. Most of the time I can't even figure out why they are where they are.

10. Definable Space.

Having a Kitchen, Living Room, Dining Room, instead of a livingroomofficedinningroomkitchen.

9. Carpet!!!

We have found you need this for boys to wrestle safely.

8. Better School.

The school the kids are in now is okay, but the one they will be in is the best in the district.

7. No more smoke.

Our neighbors smoke outside to save their kids from second hand smoke, I guess. Unfortunately it is right outside our living room window. The smoke drifts into our house and we get the second hand smoke. Yea for us! (Hear that last statement dripping in sarcasm.) YUCK!!

6. No more BIG SHIRLEY-

Great for exercise really bad for parking, or backing your car out. This picture doesn't quite catch the actual steepness of this hill. One more percentage and they would have had to pave it in cement because asphalt would slide off. YIKES!

5. No more baked Braman all-a-mode.

10:00 am, 5:00 pm, 7:00 pm
Before making dinner. After making dinner.

This will be the first time, since moving to CA 81/2 years ago, that I will have central air!

4. A window for the girls.

This has worried me since we moved in. I have had nightmares about there being a fire and not being able to get my girls out. A window will also help so they don't roast.

3. No more neighbors puking outside our bedroom window at 4:30 am.

This happened on Labor Day. The new neighbors moved in on Thursday and on Monday (Labor Day) had a roaring party that lasted until 4:30 am. It only ended when one of them puked outside our bedroom window. This also happened to be the night before the First Day of School. Although, it was kind of a blessing in disguise. If they hadn't made such fools of themselves we wouldn't have looked for a new place to live.

2. Safety.

In the 19 months that we have lived here I have put my own house on lock down twice for our safety. The police were canvasing the neighborhood on foot, in cars, and from the air. Never a good sign.

1. A better bed to bloom in.

There is a quote, "Bloom where you are planted." Usually I totally agree that you should make the best of where you are. However, I have found that sometimes when the weeds are shutting out the sun, you feel like you are shrinking instead of growing, and there is no way that your beautiful petals will ever be seen, it is time to find a new bed.

Free HandBag!!

2008-09-30T14:39:00.000-07:00

You all know how I like a deal, well here is an awesome one. There is a new online store, Handbag Planet. They launch in about 14 day. They are going to have a 24 hour give away of a bag a hour to celebrate their upcoming launch. It sounds like fun. I checked it out on Snopes and didn't find anything. No strings attached and free. Let me hear the WHOO HOO!!

They look pretty nice! I will be excited to see all of their different designs. Check them out!

http://www.handbagplanet.com

Wish Me luck!!

2008-09-29T09:20:00.000-07:00

I am trying to potty train Carley this week. On Friday she came to me and said "potty." I thought ya right, but why not. So I took her in the bathroom, took off her diaper, and put her on the potty. Much to my surprise and excitement she went!!! I threw a party. We did the potty dance, sang the potty song, had everyone clap and cheer for her, called Daddy at work, an of course gave her a potty treat. She has gone four time since then. This morning we put the panties on and are really excited to be on the verge of no one in diapers.

NO MORE DIAPERS, NO MORE PINS, AND MOMMY IS ALL FULL OF GRINS!!

SNAKE!!!

2008-09-28T21:10:00.000-07:00

Okay just a little one. Even though it was little it still creeped me out. Since they cut down our trees and left the logs all about, Riley has been finding all sorts of things. Mostly beetles and bugs, but the other day he found a little gopher snake. It was probably only about six inches long. Just a little thing. He called us all out to see it. Sydney was in the tub and Carley was still eating. Being the great brother he is Riley really wanted to show all his sisters. I think he was secretly hoping they would be scared of it. I ran into the house, grabbed a Tupperware, (probably the same one we had the centipede in earlier this year), and had Ryan put the snake in it so we could show the girls. I was worried that Riley would try to scare his sisters so I kept control of the container. We brought it to Carley, she wasn't too impressed. While we were showing her I shifted the container in my hands and ended up with one right under the snake. No big deal there was plastic between. Well the snake must not have liked the warmth from my hand because it uncoiled and stared trying to get out of the container. I freaked out, screamed, like one of my little girls, and threw the thing onto the table. Why the table you may ask. Good question. Well while I was screaming and freaking out I thought that if I let the snake go in my house it could be very bad. I was hoping that the table would give someone, not me, enough time to grab it before it got away. Fortunately the snake stayed in the container, probably because I almost knocked him out when I threw him across the room. After that Riley took over the showing off of the snake.

What an awesome Daddy!!

2008-09-25T13:14:00.000-07:00

This morning Hailey asked Ryan if he would do her hair. Ryan asked her if she was sure. She said "Yes, I want you to do it." So off they went to get the comb, and the hair products. I thought it was great that he would do that for her. Really, how many dads wade into the world of girls hair? Way to be a great dad Ryan!! I could just hear the french voice in his head, "Yes, a little more over here, and scrunch it there. Magnific!! I am the master!!" If you know Ryan very well you know what I'm talking about. If you don't, well get to know him. Sorry I didn't get an after photo, but she looked great.

Gotta love it!!

2008-09-24T08:24:00.000-07:00

Every night Riley and Hailey have to read for their homework. I have been telling Riley for a few years now, basically since he could read, that when this time came it would be his job to read to his sister. Now please understand that I am not trying to get out of one of my motherly responsibilities. I love to read to my kids and most nights end up reading to them myself. There is a mission in this madness. I was hoping that (1) this would improve Riley's reading. Riley loves to read and is already a great reader, however when you hear how the words sound and how you say thing while you are reading you improve even more. (2) That Riley and Hailey would find something that they could do together without fighting. I am excited to say that so far it has worked. I think because Riley is a great influence on his sister. He has a great desire to get his homework done each night so he can play 20 min of video games. If homework is done with no fighting this happens. If there is fighting it is a no go. Riley will find Hailey have her pick out a few books and sit down to read. Pretty soon the other girls climb up to listen too. I love that they are doing this together. It is one of those moments that makes you stop and be grateful for the beautiful little blessings they are.

Carley, Carley, Carley

2008-09-23T14:17:00.000-07:00

The other day we were working on a chain to count down the days until we move. Each of the kids had a few strips of paper they were to color. Carley was sitting on my lap coloring, or so I thought, while I was stapling the strips together. Ryan looked up from his strip and said "Look at your daughter!!" I looked down at Carley and saw that she had gotten a black marker and thought it would be better to eat it than to color with it. Good thing it is supposedly non-toxic. As usual she thought she was pretty funny. Our chain turned out pretty cute and now I don't have to continually tell the kids how long it will be until we move.

Bargains Revealed

2008-09-23T13:02:00.000-07:00

Okay Leslie you are officially a bargain shopper!! Your guesses were right on. The Butterflies were .50 each, and the puppets were 1.00 each. I was totally stoked about both. The kids have been having a great time having puppet shows. Hailey and Riley did the story of Queen Esther last night for FHE using the puppets. It was awesome, worth every penny I paid for them. They have created a lot of great entertainment on Sunday afternoons. The butterflies have not been put to use yet, but I know that the girls will love them when they are finished.

This is Riley and Hailey one Sunday afternoon. Riley is the one behind the towel. Sydney loves to play with them too, she just happened to be asleep when I took these pictures.

Bargain Hunting Round 2

2008-09-15T17:11:00.001-07:00

Okay all you smart shoppers lets see who can guess the prices of these items. I was WAY excited, they were great deals. Good luck!!

#1. Cute unfinished butterfly pegs for the girls room.

#2. Adorable hand puppets.

What comes out must go in?

2008-09-15T14:14:00.000-07:00

We thought Carley had finished her new tricks for a while, but she is always full of surprises. The other night we finished scripture reading and were getting ready for family prayers when we realized we were missing one child. Ryan started back to her room to look for her when we heard, "WHEEE!" Ryan called us all back to see. Carley had decided she wanted in her crib and started climbing. She would get up on the mattress and start bouncing. Where did this girl learn to climb??? I don't remember any of my other kids trying to climb into their cribs. She is going to keep me on my toes.

Wasn't it nice of her to reenact the whole thing for us. Carley is all about attention.

I finally figured it out...

2008-09-15T13:56:00.001-07:00

....fall is my favorite time of the year. Yes, I have lived 29 years and I just figured this out. Last week I was feeling especially happy and cheerful. When I stopped and thought about why I realized that the weather had cooled down a little and the breeze felt fresh and cool. I love it when the weather is like that. I really hate being hot, so when fall comes along and things cool down I am in heaven. I always tell people you can always put on more clothes, but you can only take off so many. I love the soggy (as my kids call them) ,also known as foggy, mornings when it takes until 10 or 11 for the marine layer to burn off and it stays in the mid to low 70's the whole day. Okay we are talking about fall in So. Cal. There are no frozen nose hairs or scraping of windshields here. I love the excitement in the air in anticipation of the upcoming holidays. The changing leaves. I love it all! Unfortunately since it is So. Cal it has warmed up this week. I am looking forward to more of those soggy mornings!!

Carley's New Trick

2008-09-06T20:51:00.001-07:00

I have known for a while that if Carley tried she would be able to crawl out of her crib onto the dresser. Knowing this I intended to move her mattress down to the lowest notch. Every morning when I got her out of her crib I would think, "I need to do that today", and every night when I would put her back to bed I would think, "I need to do that tomorrow."

Well on Friday my procrastination caught up with me. I was in my room doing something with the other girls when we heard these funny plopping noises in the girls room. I asked Hailey to quietly go and see what the noise was. Quietly because Carley was supposed to be sleeping. Next thing I know Hailey is screaming that I need to come quick. Thinking something was really wrong I rushed to the room. When I walked in and saw Carley all I could do was shake my head and laugh. Oh, and tell Hailey to run and get the camera. What else was there to do but document Carley's new trick. She was sitting on the dresser looking at books and dropping them on the floor. She was quite pleased with herself too. You would think I would immediately fix the problem and adjust the mattress so she could no longer climb out. If you did, thank you for giving me undeserved credit. It is still where it was. Maybe I'll get to it on Monday. Hee Hee!!

1. "Hi Mommy, Look What I can do!!"
2. "I am SO proud of myself!"

That pretty much says it all.

First Day Of School

2008-09-02T09:39:00.000-07:00

The first day of school is finally here and the kids are so excited!! They had their clothes laid out last night and were ready to go. We woke up a little later than we had planned, (Rough night with noisy neighbors. Maybe more on that later.) so it was a little more rushed than I would have liked.

Check out Hailey's backpack. It wasn't enough to have just a plain purple bag, I had to glam it up. Riley told Hailey that she will have the cutest backpack of all the girls at school. What a good brother!

We got Hailey to school just in time to jump into the end of the line and walk into her classroom. I'm kind of glad it turned out that way. I always get a little sad with them leaving for their first school experience. (The girl behind Hailey was having a hard time, or was it her parents, so it made it impossible to get a picture of Hailey without the whole family.)

Riley had a little more time to hang out and play before his class started. Kindergarten starts 30 min. before the rest of the school does. He was really excited to find out that he had the same teacher he had last year, she moved up to third grade this year, and that one of the boys from his soccer team is in his class.

I think they are both going to have a great year and a lot of fun. Sydney and I have been having a lot of fun so far today. We read a few stories, watched a cartoon, and now she is playing with blocks and animals while I do this. Carley is down for her nap. Although it is tough for me to say good by to the older kids and let them go, I must admit this is pretty nice.

Rain Gutter Regatta

2008-08-29T10:33:00.000-07:00

Last night Riley competed in his scout groups rain gutter regatta. We received the boat kit on Sunday. With the race on Thursday it created a bit of a time dilemma. Monday Ryan and I walked part of our precinct for Prop. 8, Tuesday Riley had a soccer game, leaving Wednesday the only and final day to work on the boat. Ryan and Riley stayed up late sanding, painting, and gluing. When Ryan left for work the next day he left us with a few final instructions to finish off the boat. We were not too optimistic of Riley's chances since it was all so last minute, but you never know what may happen. Riley came out the victor. He only lost one race when his sail fell down for a moment. For winning Riley received a bunch of baseball cards, two baseball pins, a baseball poster, and some free tickets to the Midway Museum for him and his sisters. It was a lot of fun to watch. Way to go Riley!!

Too Easy

2008-08-26T09:29:00.000-07:00

Now I know why I always loose at the bargain guessing game, I make it way too easy. The dress cost 10.00. I am still really excited about the deal though. Thanks to everyone who guessed. A big thank you to the person who guessed 25.00, you made my day!

Bargain Hunting

2008-08-18T12:49:00.000-07:00

I love finding a good bargain. When I find an especially good one I love having people guess what I paid for the item. It is fun to see their surprise when the price is way lower than they expected. Ryan use to be my favorite victim for this. However he has become so good at guessing the price that it isn't fun to ask him any more. Now that I have access to a bigger audience I am going to try it here. If I find a particularly good bargain I will play my little guessing game with you. Good Luck!

Your first challenge is this beautiful dress I found for Hailey. It is a Marmellata. It is fully lined satin with an intricate lace overlay. It has buttons up the back.

LeAnna Ng

2008-08-12T11:40:00.000-07:00

LeAnna Ng

January 20, 1980 - August 4, 2008

LeAnna was my cousin (my mom's twin sisters daughter) and a friend. It came as quite a shock when I was told on the 4th that she had passed away. I hope she knows how much we loved her and will miss her. She was beautiful in so many ways. She had a beautiful voice, was very talented in the arts, drawing, painting, decorating, and she loved people. She was kind to everyone and everything.
The kids and I traveled up to her funeral on Friday. We got a little lost when we got into town and got to the church just as the funeral was starting. I was really sad about this. I really wanted to see her one last time and tell her good by. I know she wasn't really there in her body, it was more of a closure thing for me. My Mom, seeing how upset I was, arranged for us to go over and view her after the family dinner. I was relieved. The funeral was beautiful. Her parents gave the eulogy. Her husband Chuen spoke on the wonderful and simply gorgeous person she was. Finally her stake president, who also happens to be a cousin, Pres. Thompson spoke on the plan of salvation. It was perfect.
After the dinner we headed over to the funeral home. I was a little worried about what the kids would say and think. They had never been to a funeral before. It actually turned out, of all things, fun. She was gorgeous. She looked like a porcelain doll. What made it fun was the kids comments. We all got a good laugh, and I think LeAnna would have too. Maybe she was whispering to them what to say. Here are a few of my favorites;

Sydney- "Mommy pick me up so I can see the princess!" (LeAnna always
referred to herself as a princess).

Sydney- "She's a fairy princess!" (LeAnna also loved fairies.)

Hailey- "Mommy is she The Tooth Fairy?"

Sydney- "Mommy, Shh! You are going to wake her up!"

Riley's questions and comments were more serious opening up some good conversation and teaching opportunities.

LeAnna was a wonderful person! I look forward to seeing her again.

Timber!!

2008-08-10T01:10:00.000-07:00

For the last few days we have been watching the trees by our house be slowly whittled away to stumps. A guy from the phone company decided that the trees had to go because they may fall on the lines. He marked them with a white X so the workers would know which trees to cut.
When that happened both Ryan and I had a good laugh. We just knew that
when they started cutting they were going to release "Hexis"(if you are confused at this point, you need to watch "Fern Gully").

We even had a tree eating machine come that he could take over, but no such excitment was to be had. Now the trees are gone and we didn't even get to see any fairies.

While we are glad that we don't have to worry about them falling on our car anymore, we were a little sad to see the big trees go. They were pretty and provided a lot of shade.

July--It's a blast!!

2008-07-27T20:54:00.000-07:00

It has been one crazy month. It started with Weston and Becky -Ryan's sister and her husband- visiting for the Fourth of July. We tried to spend a lot of time visiting with them. Which included going to the beach three times and having them over for dinner one night. We even went to the beach on the Fourth of July. Yes we are crazy!! It actually turned out okay though. Hailey and Sydney made a cute new little friend, Ryan and Riley got to work on their surfing skills, and Carley and I got to hang out. That night we went to see the fireworks at Aviara golf course. It was a great show, and location. The kids had a blast rolling down the hills, playing in the sand pits, and collecting golf balls while we waited for the fireworks to start. Once the fireworks started it was a different story. Both Sydney and Carley were scared to death. I got Carley to calm down, but Sydney cried through the entire show. --Sorry to everyone around us!!--
We said our goodbye's to Weston and Becky and started getting ready for our trip to Utah. We had not been planning one because of gas prices. However our apartment needed to be tented for termites, so we made a deal with the owners. Instead of putting us up in a hotel, paying for our food, and gas for three days they gave us gas money to drive to Utah. I think it was a great deal for both of us. It made for a quite crazy week getting ready to go. We not only had to pack for the trip, but pack up our entire house. This includes food inside fridges and freezers. It was crazy and a lot of work. I would never have been able to do it without help from my friends The Travis', The Linvilles and The Scotts. -Thanks so much guys!!-
With our entire house completely bagged up and packed away we headed for Utah. Monday and Tuesday we left Carley home with Grandma and took the three older kids on rafting trip down The Green River. We had a lot of fun. Sydney was a little nervous at first and would cry when rapids came. Hailey, trying to help here sister feel better, renamed the rapids "mad Carley's" to make them a little friendlier. It was a very cute attempt to make her sister feel better, but didn't work. Finally Ryan took her and she calmed right down. She just needed her Daddy. When we got into camp Sydney decided the trip wasn't so bad after all. She loved playing and rolling in the dirt. Hailey and Riley were having a great time too. Riley caught his first fish, which we took home and ate-yum-, winning a bet he had made with his dad on who would catch the first fish. The next day Sydney decided the river really wasn't that bad and fell asleep for the last hour and a half. A lot of fun was had by all.
On Thursday we impatiently waited for news from the hospital on when Kenny and Tasha's new baby would enter the world. He finally made it about 5:13. We all rushed over to greet our newest family member. He was so CUTE!! The kids got to see him through the window as Kenny, the proud daddy, held him up. Jackson was very cooperative and looked back at his new cousins wide eyed and alert. After the hospital we went bowling and had a blast.
The next day we shed tears and said good bye, -It was really hard to leave that that adorable new little baby.- and headed out to visit with Weston, Becky, Michael, and Rebecca (Michael's girlfriend). p.s. Michael--Way to go, she is beautiful and sweet!! We met them at Deer Creek and went boating and wakeboarding. It was a lot of fun. The next day everyone went swimming, well Carley and I stayed home so Carley could get a greatly needed nap, and played with Weston's underwater camera . After the swimming party, we had a wonderful lunch and celebrated a belated birthday for Michael. It was a lot of fun. After that there was nothing left to do but drive home.
We made it home Sunday afternoon to our house waiting for us to unpack it and to find that the gas had been turned off. It was beyond frustrating to find out that we had no way to cook dinner or give the exhausted babies a warm bath. It had been turned off for safety during the tenting of our apartment. Not the best end to a great vacation.
We got the gas turned back on on Monday and spent the rest of the week trying to get everything unpacked. I am hoping August will present a calm entrance back into the school year, but with the soccer season warming up and two weeks of swimming lessons around the corner it doesn't look to promising. It's okay, we love every minute of it.

Beauty Sleep

2008-06-23T08:23:00.000-07:00

Last night Carley decided beauty sleep was more important than dinner. I put her in her seat (because she was hanging on my legs) and finished getting dinner on the table. When I started calling everyone in to come eat I looked over at Carley and she had fallen asleep. My first mistake may have been allowing her to keep her blankie with her. The second was probably not realizing that the hanging on the legs was saying, "I'm tired" instead of "I'm hungry". --It got lost in translation.-- Maybe it was her way of trying to get out of eating my cooking. --Is it that bad?-- Well if it is, her ploy didn't work anyway. When everyone else was done eating I woke her up and fed her. Then it was bed time, but Carley (after her 20 min nap) was ready to play. She didn't end up falling asleep until about 9:30. A full hour and a half after bed time. Beauty sleep is over rated after all.

Creepy Crawlies

2008-06-19T20:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we found the nastiest bug in my house. It was a 31/2 inch centipede. Riley found it hanging out where we keep the baby toys. I captured it in a Tupperware so the kids could get a good look and I could show people that we were not making up the creepiness. I looked it up and found out that it is venomous. To adults it is like a bee sting and not dangerous unless you are allergic. However for little kids it can be dangerous. That really freaked me out. At first Ryan wanted to keep it as a pet. Then he joined the "SAVE THE CENTIPEDE" campaign and lobbied to have it released. I was totally against it, I wanted it disposed of, but he won and released it back into the wild. It better not come into my house again. It will not be as lucky next time. Those pincher's on the end were about 1/2 inch long. OOH Gross!!