The Times Of Our Lives!

Bwahahahahahahaha!

2011-08-31T08:11:00.000-07:00

Just on a fluke I logged on to my blog this morning to try to remember what I had posted the last time I was on here and I have to admit that I laughed!
What hopeful thoughts and feelings went into that last post! Believe it or not, summer is mostly over already. Weather is a bit cooler today and the kids are all back in school in one form or another.
I never posted a thing!

I am truly ashamed of myself! It has been a very busy summer but mostly without pictures, I am afraid. We do have some but I believe I didn't keep the camera in fresh batteries and we didn't really go to too many places but we did do some work on the house we moved into in December and it's just been a weird summer.

When I have a little time I will need to sit down and maybe post a collection of a variety of pictures from things that did happen over the summer, maybe something that will make up for my lack of posting.

My apologies to the one or two people out there who may actually check this blog at some point and time!

I did it again!

2011-05-10T21:23:00.001-07:00

Yup - I did it again! What did I do again, well, absolutely nothing! I meant to start writing on my blog again and I got very distracted . . . again!!!! Maybe when the summer kicks in and I am not schooling the boys I will have a little more time! A lot has happened since the last post. A few birthdays, mowing has started and Hailey got a job!
Busy, busy, busy!

I''ll try harder, soon!

Thanks for stopping by!

Where Have I Been ?

2011-01-03T17:38:00.000-08:00

All I can say is . . . Wow!

It has been months since I have posted anything here and I am surprised by all the things that have happened since then.

Some of the last posts were about Hailey getting accepted into the Medical High School and another post about my computer getting a virus. Well, that computer still has the virus and all my pics are stuck on that except for a few recent ones!

Since my last post the kids have almost finished the first semester of school, Hailey has officially gotten her license and can drive by herself during daylight hours and we have moved into a different house! Yes, there are plenty more things that have happened since the last post. Most do not have pictures because it has just been way too busy but we have now been in the new-to-us-house for 3 weeks and we are starting to settle in just a little bit.

I will have to get some pics taken of the new place.

I do have a new picture of the kids that was taken late summer at the zoo when we had gone to one of Kurt's sound jobs down at Julia Davis Park. I have posted it so you will have something to look at this time!

I'll try to do better at getting on here! Hope you enjoy!

Can I just breathe?

2010-10-02T15:05:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had a time in your life when it feels like there is so much going on you don't even have a chance to breathe?

That is how I am feeling right now!

Sad thing, the computer I usually work on my blog with, the one that holds all the pictures, is acting up and won't let me do anything on it. I fear losing all those wonderful pictures!
I realized that all of this electronic mumbo-jumbo isn't all it's cracked up to be. One little virus and you can lose years of pictures if you haven't planned ahead.

I haven't forgotten to blog, but I just haven't had the time to do it. I have taken pictures but they are still sitting in my camera! I am really hoping that soon things will even out, slow down or something to where I feel like I have a routine again. Then maybe I will post a little more often.

Sorry, no pictures today - just my sad, little rant. . . maybe it will be better next time!

LET SCHOOL BEGIN !

2010-09-09T21:56:00.000-07:00

The day has finally arrived for school to begin. You won't see a happier more nervous bunch I think, then our family.
We finally got Hailey into the Medical Arts Charter High School and are so excited about it but for Hailey this is difficult. New school, new kids, new everything. There are the same amount of Sophomores in this whole school that she had in her guitar class last year at the High School she was in! She knows this curriculum is going to be intense too but I think she is going to do fine!

There is a positive thing . . . her "bestest" friend Alayna happens to go to this school so she will at least know SOMEONE! Actually another friend Elisha also goes to this school - they will take good care of her I am just sure of it!

And we are off!!!! Yes, the homeschooling has started too. That will be one reason you haven't seen a post on here in awhile. The curriculum through this Virtual School is also quite intense. Most of the assignments with Tyler need a hands-on teacher.

Hayden has been almost schooling himself. I am hoping to change that. I am still trying to figure out how to schedule them so they both get some one-on-one time.

This is going to be quite an interesting year! I am sure there will be more posts to come on things we have done through the homeschooling. Just keep your eyes open and your patience on the forefront . . . it might be awhile!

Series of Depressing Photos !

2010-09-09T21:35:00.001-07:00

I knew this day would come but of course, I could have patiently waited a little while longer!

The property owners behind us are finally breaking ground on the acreage behind our house. We have been in this home for almost 5 years and have had the luxury of not having ANYONE living behind us . . . until now.

I can honestly say I am not too happy with the idea that we will now be hearing some kind of construction noise for a long time to come.
First it will be the roads which will take a few months and then will come the home building which, from experience, can last a long time!
This means waking up at 6 o'clock on Saturday morning (or any day of the week for that matter) to the "Beep - Beep - Beep" of the backwards driving vehicles and the cacophony of nail guns, saws, cement trucks, cranes, crew members yelling things to one another and the possibility of music you hoped never to hear!

Gentlemen - we're in for a bumpy ride!

(as said by the Cat Captain on a ship from the movie "Treasure Planet")

Ever have a dream come true?

2010-09-09T21:28:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry but I had to post this. After being without a dishwasher in a household of five for almost a year, I have to admit it feels as though a dream has come true for me. . . .

Kurt fixed my dishwasher!!!

Somethings you just want to shout from the rooftops!

School Daze!

2010-08-19T23:12:00.001-07:00

Well, the day we have been waiting for all summer long has finally arrived . . . the homeschooling supplies have made it to our door! Everyone was very excited!

All of these boxes contained just the things for Tyler!

These items are Tyler's favorites so far . . .

Some of Hayden's things - Hailey is showing no mercy, she is already grilling Hayden from his Algebra book!

Some of Hayden's art supplies.

Tyler will be learning cursive this year among some other great things as you can see!

Tyler is using his new "equipment" to take a moment and check out Willow's fur with the magnifying glass. Willow was very patient with him.

Tyler's chosen elective this year was music. I didn't think I was ready to try to approach a foreign language with him yet! Yeah, that is a tambourine. . .

Tyler's Science . . .

Did I mention the inflatable globe? I don't have the heart to tell Tyler he will not need the safety goggles for all of his subjects. He wore them for most of the rest of the day.

Believe it or not I have to fit all of that stuff into these two carts . . . not so sure about this!

Ta - Da! It fit!

Actually, we did pick up another cart with different sized drawers to keep all of the supplies the kids needed to go with their books and also to hold my teacher guides.

By the way, these are the teacher guides for me! Scary, isn't it! Whose going to school here really?

Needless to say we can't wait to get started. I am getting a little cold in the feet but I am sure once we get going this is going to work really well for us!

Awesome Helpers!

2010-08-19T22:57:00.000-07:00

It's always fun to have help but this time I was very glad for it. We have a weedy patch on the side of our home that seems to multiply overnight! I usually do the weed pullin' myself but Kurt felt the kids should kick in and help!
I'm glad he thought of it!

What would have normally took me probably an hour or so by myself took about 1/2 an hour with everyone plus we had great conversation to-boot!

Thanks guys!

Ye Olde Renaissance Faire . . .

2010-07-14T10:52:00.000-07:00

I have always thought going to a Renaissance Faire would be fun but I never knew of any local fairs until this year. While attending our local Dairy Days Parade there were little slips of paper handed out from people in medieval attire and they were invitations to a Second Annual Fair with FREE admission! I couldn't tell you how excited I was. I decided right then and there that our family was going to this no matter what!
The kids and I have read so many different books about knights and maidens and evil doers, about jousting and battles - good vs. evil. Swords and staves and high towers. We couldn't pass this up!
Sadly Kurt had others plans but my sister Chris and my sister Debra were both interested too. We have boys . . . you just had to go!

The day arrived, July 10, 2010.

We were all excited not knowing exactly what we would find but knowing we were going to see knights and archery, battles with the sword and who knew what. The only hard thing was, we arrived at 11 a.m. and it was already HOT!

This was a neat group. I think they are called "The Guess When" band and they were pretty good. Hailey said she has seen them play at other events.

This was pretty cool. It is a Trebuchet and it was really quite large. It was also for sale and the kids thought it would be fun to fling cats with but, I just couldn't see the CCR's allowing this in the back yard! Tempting, but we had to walk away!

There was also this wonderful company that came from the Puget Sound area that had a lot of knowledge on Pirates. They had a tent full of items you would find on a ship and were having shows outside on black powder weapons and using whips. It was entertaining.

The girls taking a rest . . . did I mention it was HOT?

Hmmmm, just a touch too short to captain a ship yet, Tyler.

Let me take just a minute to mention something here. Do you see those two little black boxes hanging on that pole??? That was part of this groups brand new "speaker system". Being married to a man who works with a sound company really makes things like this tough. I can't think of how many times I tried to picture this with a pair of nice Mackies! The sound system was TERRIBLE. There were so many weird noises coming out of those little speakers and the pirate speaker's voice kept cutting in and out and their wireless mics were picking up all kinds of stuff. I realize now I am "sound spoiled". Thinking of putting out the word to their sponsors next year . . . really.

We are getting ready for the show to start. I think at this point we had all lost about 3 lbs. in sweat alone. Thankfully every now and then a thin covering of clouds would pass by and we would have a small reprieve but mostly you felt like you were going to faint.

As you can imagine this guy had a huge, booming voice. He liked to joke throughout his presentation. You could tell he loved what he was doing.

This is his assistant.

He was explaining how the weaponry of the day was used. How they used rapiers and small pistols and these little spikes they would throw on the deck of the enemy ship.

He explained the challenges of using the rapier, how it would get stuck in rigging and such and how limited your space was to be able to fight. How crowded the ships were during a battle and how unsuccessful some weaponry really was.

He was sharing here about how they had pistols but after they shot once they were literally worthless because you didn't have time to clean it out and reload so they would turn the pistol and use the handle as a bludgeoning tool, that's why a lot of them had metal built into the handle.

He actually attempted to shoot it but it didn't fire properly, he also pointed out about how that happened a lot during battle and gave us an explanation of where the term "Don't go off half-cocked" came from!

Here he is loading a weapon similar to a modern shotgun. I can't remember the name of it but all I can say is . . . LOUD! But awesome!

He also taught us about the use of the cannon. He had some funny stories while introducing us to this. Did I mention that the shotgun was loud? THIS was LOUDER! oh, and awesome!

This is just some pictures of us that I took while we were waiting for the speakers to work right. Here is Hayden and Jonny trying not to die of heat stroke!

Deb's boys: Brodie, Dylan and Ryan.

Tyler and Kimmy. I think Kimmy was coming over to tell us she was hot.

Debra looking remarkably cool, Bryan next to her.

After the show was over, Tyler went and told Mr. Pirate how AWESOME the show was and we asked a few more questions. We decided to wander around more and see what else there was to see.

I was pretty thrilled to get to see some armour. I really wanted to see it on someone but there was a guy standing next to this armour with a wet towel over his head mentioning something to a friend about glad to take it off because he felt like he was going to die in it or something.

It was still cool to look at. The shield was much smaller than I expected them to be.

A lot of wonderful weapons on display. Tyler couldn't understand why he couldn't pick them up. He REALLY wanted to.

I have to admit that when I was looking at these I wondered where the two dents came from on the top ax. I made a comment to Hayden that I hope it wasn't on the neck of some poor soul!

This is the stage for the Queen's Court. We missed the Royal Wedding, The Coronation and Knighting that they held here. We weren't going to be able to hang out all day plus it was so hot a few of the kids were starting to not feel very well.

Of course we couldn't miss this wonderful opportunity to all become a knight just for a few seconds. We couldn't get everyone to participate but it was fun anyway!

Hayden the Mighty!

Tyler the Valiant!

Emma the Noble!

Laura the Honorable!

Chris the Maiden of Hope!

That was a little cheesy but anyway.

Here is a little game for the kids where they could throw darts and try to hit the dragon's heart.

This was a children's art center but when we were there not much was happening because there was a communication glitch and there was no paint supplies . . . we moved on.

There were some really neat wooden items at this table. Hayden really liked the dragon but the prices were a bit high for us. I told him I would try to see if we could find a similar kit and see if he could construct one himself. Tyler did pick up a pretty fancy foam sword for a few dollars here.

This was one of my favorite and a must see. The Stocks! Every home should have one of these! Perfect to get that degree of motivation from your children when you need help with housework!

Will have to look into a box for Tyler!

Hayden's turn.

The tall people would have suffered more I think, Poor Emma!

We gave Hailey a hard time - she wouldn't quit smiling. I don't think she understood this was supposed to be a bad thing. She was worried about her hair :)

I had to try it myself. I tried to imagine what it would be like to be stuck in that for hours or days or weeks. And also having people throwing rotten food and who knows what else at you. Definitely would break the spirit. It must have been awful.

Couldn't have the proper Faire without the Maypole dancing. There girls seemed to be having such a great time. It had to be close to 100 around there and they were all dressed up in their medeival garb. Hats off to their enthusiasm.

The band played a nice tune.

This part was fun too. If you went up to this guy and told them that a certain person had done a wrongdoing he called out that this individual was guilty and needing punishment. They were put in the stocks and then a relative could pull a string and it would fling wet sponges at their face.

Naturally a crowd pleaser!

We tried to get one of the kids to do it but they didn't want to, well, not until we were getting ready to head out and Tyler kind of wanted to but we were all so hot and tired by now we said maybe next time.

It was fun and I really hope that they do it again next year. I am sure it will get bigger and better over time. I want to see some horses in full armour, some jousting, real knights having a fight. We will just have to wait and see!

Awesome Stormy Sunset . . .

2010-06-28T21:27:00.000-07:00

We had a pretty windy storm pass through the valley tonight! It sure kicked up a lot of dust which I was annoyed at because Hailey and I had just washed the windows two weeks ago but I have to say the effects of the dust are awesome!
Once I started taking pictures, I just couldn't stop. The sky looks like it is on fire!

Wow, is that a UFO?

I wished the sky looked like that all the time . . . truly gorgeous!

Good-Bye Neighbors/ Babysitting Balloon Fight!

2010-06-28T14:08:00.000-07:00

I have had this post in draft state for a little while. Haven't had the time to sit and work on it but wanted to get it out there!

Our neighbors of 5 years have moved away and I have to admit, I miss them. They were really good neighbors, you know, the "borrow flour and sugar" kind. I remember times when Christina would call me because she was at the store and remembered something we had talked about and asked if she could pick it up while she was there! She was fun and nice and it felt good knowing she was next door.

The kids also got along most of the time too! :)

They are now in Washington, starting a new chapter in their lives and I hope everything goes really well for them!

Hailey and Christina - Hailey loves Christina. . .

Hayden, Landon, Hayden and Tyler!

I always thought it was remarkable that our neighbors had a son who was named Hayden also and that they had the same birthday!

On to the next group of pictures! These were taken on a Monday night during one of my Monday Night Church baby sittings! It was a hot day out and after a small bible lesson I thought it would be a blast to have a balloon fight, a little trampoline action and some ice cold sno cones!

The kids agreed!

Hailey and Emmett - getting ready!

Let the games begin!

We can't think for the life of us WHY Tyler chose to wear gloves . . . he doesn't really like to get wet. . . still, strange!

I think we ran out of balloons!

War isn't pretty! (well, the colors are nice!)

Now time for the ol' sprinkler under the tramp time.

Hailey and Ingrid trying to fill up more balloons.

Jayden eating his home made sno cone and freezing to death! His teeth were practically chattering but as a true trooper he kept right on eating!

My boys are really into Calvin and Hobbes and Garfield right now. Must be a boy thing! Well, I have to admit I really like Calvin and Hobbes also.

The kids really had a lot of fun. We will have to do this again sometime this summer!

Last Day of School!

2010-06-28T13:23:00.000-07:00

Tyler loved his teacher this year! She was a truly wonderful person and someone that really knew how to read Tyler and help when she needed and step back when Ty needed to learn something on his own. Tyler now says he wants to be a 2nd grade teacher!

Hailey and I went to have lunch with Tyler on the last day of school. Normally I usually take my kids home after the lunch to get a little bit of an early start on summer but Tyler wanted to stay. The teacher had brought in a sno cone machine and had popcorn and all kinds of great things and she really gave them a fun time on their last day.

Here are just a few shots at his school.
Mrs. Knight -

Tyler with our next door neighbor boy, Landon. Landon and his family have since moved to Washington.

This little girl has a horrible crush on Tyler. Her name is Maddie and she is soooo cute. But, I am not ready for the boyfriend/girlfriend drama quite yet!

1/3 of Hailey's face, Landon and Tyler.

This is one of Tyler's best friends . . . Noah.

(Hailey kept messing with Tyler's hat - he doesn't normally wear it like that)

I tried to tell Tyler that the bill of the hat is for a reason . . . why does "being cool" always outweigh logic! Notice the horrible squinting!

This is Tyler's friend Erica - yes, they are the same age but she is really tall. They have been friends since they met each other at kindergarten sign up. She is adorable. Her family lives in the same subdivision as we do but they will be moving to Arizona in July. Her Dad got a job with the Railroad and is being transferred there. Really nice people, we will miss them!

Yup, Maddie again!

One of the last games of Pepsi he will play for awhile. Welcome Summer!

Things will be much different at the start of the next school year. I am trying my hand at home schooling both the boys come this fall. We are all pretty excited about it and hope to learn many new things about ourselves and each other. I am sure you will experience it all along with us on the blog!

Woo Hoo Summer is Finally Here!

Forever Spring !

2010-06-02T08:29:00.001-07:00

The weather lately has just been crazy! Here it is the 2nd of June and it still feels like April with all of the rain and clouds along with cool temperatures. I am actually quite okay with it. Hopefully this year we won't have to hear complaints from all of the weathermen about drought and the grass and trees look absolutely beautiful and green!

I just wanted to share some pictures of flowers that I had bought with a gift card that my Mom-In-Law gave me for my birthday. Aahhhh - love the colors!

This year I found myself strangely pulled in the direction of the daisy family. . .

Mmmmm . . . carnations!

A very interesting type of geranium.

My favorite scarlet red good ol' fashioned hanging geranium!

Hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I do!

Spring Piano Festival

2010-06-02T08:15:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again! Time for the Spring Piano Festival!

Hailey played two long and fairly difficult pieces this year. I can't believe she has only been playing for about 3 years and she really does well on the piano.
Not sure if I mentioned it earlier but she got a "Superior" again at the National Junior Piano Festival again this year. I think that makes her eligible to go for the gold cup next time around.

To finish off the festival this year Hailey and her friend Bethany performed a duet - It was quite a difficult piece also and very powerful.

There was also a competition amongst all the students to try to increase their practice times! Bethany took first place but Hailey was a close second by, I believe, one hour!

Hailey has really enjoyed playing the piano, but the sad thing is that the piano teacher has her house up for sale. We can only hope that she doesn't go too far away so that Hailey can still get instruction from her. She is a good teacher and a very sweet lady.

Moments With Madi !

2010-06-02T07:58:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday was really great! Chris, who usually watches Madison, had some things that she had to do so I had the opportunity to get to watch my niece Erica's little girl. I guess that would make her my great niece? I can never remember how the relative thing all works but, we had a nice time!
She is very cute. She also has this very soft, wispy voice that is fun to listen to.

She loved playing with the Little Tykes car! I think she put gas in it every time she moved two feet. She claimed it got the same gas mileage as her mom's car. Wow - time for mom to look for a new car! :)

After watching an Arthur video and riding in the car we took some time to make Madi's mom a "I Miss You" card. She LOVED using the scissors! After that we had a little R & R and Madison had a popsicle or "popicle" as she calls them.

After that was a little playtime with some Fisher-Price toys and then I thought she might enjoy helping me wash the dishes! She had a lot of fun!

What a sweetheart! We had a good time and I hope in the future she will get to come and spend some more time at Aunt Dora's place!

The Permit Has Been Acquired!

2010-05-27T13:33:00.001-07:00

First of all I would like to apologize that the pictures on this post are so small. For some reason it wouldn't download them bigger. It was like the download was stuck in mode and wouldn't print them onto the post . . . I hope that you can see them well enough.

*************************************************************************************
The day has finally arrived! Hailey has met all of her requirements to obtain her driver's permit. She has gone to all of her classes, passed all of her exams and drove well on her driving days. So naturally she wanted to drive home from her last Driver's Training Class. Kurt had picked her up . . . She is sooooo excited!

Kurt, on the other hand, not so much!!!

Kurt thought this was a great idea! Hailey, not so much. . .

All puns aside, we are very happy for Hailey and know this is a big change in her life where she has opened the door to more opportunities and independence!

Congratulations Hailey!

Where Have I Been?

2010-05-20T23:17:00.000-07:00

I just happened to log on here and found out my last entry was for my Anniversary back in April! Where in the world have I been????
Many things have happened since then, things that even included pictures - it has just been so busy that I haven't taken the time to get on here! For some reason I am in "wait" mode, just waiting for school to get out so that life will slow down a little bit! Well, maybe a little for me but not for Kurt. Things will start revving up for him now with the outdoor music season starting!

So, just a quick note to say sorry. I didn't mean to disappear but life just kept on happening and somehow I have been stuck in the center of it all!

Hopefully some fun and interesting posts will be coming! Thanks for visiting my site!

Terra Cotta . . .

2010-04-16T07:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was mine and Kurt's 22nd Anniversary. According to a card he gave me on our 11th anniversary that is what we were supposed to gift each other this year, Terra Cotta. This card always brings a smile to my face. It is not the traditional schedule of gifts mentioned on typical lists like china, lace, etc., it has things like:

Caulking

Duct Tape

Naugahyde

Spackle

Plexiglass
Soup

Burlap

Wood Grain, etc.

The only traditional ones it kept was at 1 year you give paper, 25 years Silver and 50 years Gold.

I did manage to find Kurt a cute plant pot but where I was shopping it wasn't the typical Terra Cotta so I improvised and filled it with Milky Ways so it would be accepted!

We did take a little time for a late lunch at a nearby restaurant called Ginos. And after we got home we got a great example of Kurt's cat-like reflexes in catching a candy bar

(you would had to have been there to understand it).

The Happiest Kid Ever !!!!

2010-04-13T14:50:00.001-07:00

I can't tell you how long Tyler has been waiting for this day! I think he felt like he was doomed to keep his baby teeth forever, but after A LOT of wiggling, tongue pushing and eating hard foods his little front tooth gave up it's battle and relinquished it's home of around six + years!
I am so glad he lost his tooth before he turned eight. I think that would have been too much for him!

These are fairly hazy and kind of gross but those of us that blog really like to get in the details because we want you, the reader, to experience as much as we do!
His tooth could actually lay flat out across his lip . . .

A clearer shot before the removal.

The aftermath. Now (I think in his mind) he is just one step away from manhood!

Congratulations Tyler - you lost your first tooth

before *Arthur!

*In case you don't understand the Arthur part, to try to comfort him with his worry about never losing his baby teeth, we would remind him that the book character "Arthur" by Marc Brown didn't lose his first tooth until he was eight.

Muscle Man

2010-04-13T14:34:00.000-07:00

I stepped into our bedroom the other day and Tyler had decided to "workout"! This isn't the first time he has done this but it is really cute to watch him. He is so serious.
He usually wears about 5 wristbands too. Not sure why. Must give him unusual strength!

Here he is adjusting the wristbands . . .

Look at that strength!

Stretching technique.

Sad thing was he was almost done when I found him but it is the cutest thing!

The REAL Jedi Training . . .

2010-04-13T14:22:00.000-07:00

This is a well hidden secret in the world of the Jedi. When you are first learning the art of light saber duelling, your first training is with Bubbles!

This was really cute!

Be in awe of the level of concentration that this takes!

I am sure he is an up-and-coming Jedi Master!

First Driver's Training Drive . . .

2010-04-10T11:40:00.000-07:00

Hailey got to drive for Driver's Ed for the first time on Friday. I have to say I am so surprised that they put her on the road! She has never driven a stick shift and they had her out on the road! She didn't run over anyone or hit anything but she did enjoy it.

She did mention that her legs felt pretty shaky when she was done but I am sure that the next drive will go a little better! She also took her first test in class and got 100%!

CONGRATULATIONS HAILEY !!!

Watching Garrett !

2010-04-10T11:30:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago we had another opportunity to watch Garrett! He was so well behaved! The kids love to have him over. He currently is infatuated with motorcycles so that was a large part of his stay!

Looking at motorcycles in Garrett's motorcycle magazine.

Garrett thought he was doing something he wasn't supposed to so he was really excited to do this but when I didn't get all excited he lost interest.

The old standby - pot lids with spoons. Yes, it was loud! But they had fun!

Spring Break - Where?

2010-03-30T13:02:00.000-07:00

All I can say is that so far this hasn't been much of a spring break! Yesterday was overcast with a touch of rain and pretty dreary. Today, downhill from there.
Not only was it dark and dreary when I awoke but it was pouring rain! I have three boys in the house that really need some outdoor time! They did go out but it didn't last too long.
Hayden, Tyler and Jonathan were back in with their light sabers in a matter of minutes. It was quite breezy and the breeze was pretty cold.

Trying to catch a picture of the rain drops.

I don't know why I took a picture of some of my yard creatures but they just looked so cold and sad. The poor kitty is just all hunkered up, probably fighting off a big chill.

The bunny just looks plain frozen to death! He really puffed himself up!

Now things really took a turn for the worse. Believe it or not we started to have a slight BLIZZARD! Yes, you heard me right. It started to snow and blow and howl outside! I almost couldn't believe my eyes. This is a picture out of my kitchen window.

It's hard to pick up the snow but it was coming down. You could see how hazy it appears in the background. For some reason at this moment I was thinking of a wonderful phone call I had earlier in the day when my daughter Hailey called me from Arizona where she is visiting Kurt's brother and his family with Grandma and she had mentioned something about it maybe being in the 90's today where she was . . . also some story about sleeping by the pool for a few hours and getting a tan yesterday. Hmmmmmm.

Yes, that's really snow! You should have seen the size of the flakes - almost quarter size I would guess.

This was the only thing I could do to keep myself from crying . . . nothing like a nice, hot bowl of Tuscan Soup when you're in the middle of a Spring Break Snowstorm!

Award and Surprise!

2010-03-30T12:49:00.001-07:00

Tyler knew he had an award assembly he was going to on Friday the 26th and he knew he was going to receive an award for Caring/Friendship but what he didn't know was that his Aunt Pat jumped through some hoops at work so she could get some time off and surprise him on his big day!
And was he surprised!
Not only did she stay for the assembly but she came with us to his classroom for a little while and then we all had lunch together.
Tyler was very excited!

After having a nice lunch with a small group of very chatty second graders, Tyler entertained us a little with showing us how to play the game Pepsi out on the blacktop.

Here's Tyler with his best friend from school, Noah. This kid is really sweet and can talk the ear off of you if you aren't careful!

Right after that we had to get going because Pat had only gotten a few hours off of work but I think it was worth it for all of us. We all had a great time and made some wonderful memories!

Jenna !

2010-03-30T12:37:00.000-07:00

Tyler and Jenna love to visit with one another! Sad thing is that my brother and his family live 2 1/2 hours away. Not a trip I can readily make but Jenna and family come down when they can and Tyler can't contain his excitement!
Ray, Cheryl and Jenna made the trek down this way a few weekends ago. Sadly Ray became ill and didn't get to visit but Cheryl and Jenna still came and hung out with us for awhile.
It was nice to sit and chat on a beautiful First Day of Spring.
Hailey took some nice pictures of Tyler and Jenna enjoying some time on the trampoline.

I just love the expressions on their faces . . . these are so fun to just look at!

I think Tyler is trying to be one of those Russian dancers!

It was a nice time for everyone!

Just In Case You Wanted To Know . . . .

2010-03-25T16:57:00.000-07:00

This is the letter they send home with your child to give to you when there has been a bomb threat at your child's school.

In case you want to know, no bomb ever did go off.

Juris

2010-03-23T14:52:00.000-07:00

This is on a sad note. There is a gentleman who is a member of the congregation in Tacoma who has been battling cancer. Recently he was given 2 weeks to 6 months to live.
His name is Juris and I have known him for almost 18 years. He was always one of the first people to come up and say Hi when we were having a multi-congregational meeting. I always remembered him because he had a slightly different accent, a hearing aid and I thought his name was so unique. But he always took the time to shake your hand and ask how you were. He is very quiet and very kind.

At one of the Church babysittings I spoke with another babysitter and came up with this idea of making Juris a "paper quilt" with pictures the kids would make. We wanted them to draw things that were bright and cheery so he could hang it on his wall for the days where he was too tired to get out of bed.
The kids really made some great pictures and I hope that it brings him a lot of joy.

Tyler thought this was neat

2010-03-23T14:49:00.001-07:00

Tyler is fascinated my misshapen food.

Watching Shilo :)

2010-03-23T14:41:00.000-07:00

Since I don't have any babies any more I actually find it "fun" to watch babies now. Especially if it is for short periods of time where they are mostly happy, have already been fed and changed and are in the mood to play!

We had the opportunity to watch our friends little girl Shiloh, who is about 7 months old. She enjoyed herself I think. She was surrounded by people who wanted to play with her.

She really had a good time - don't let this picture fool you . . .

The boys love babies! Hailey didn't get to see too much of her because she went somewhere with Kurt but she gave Shiloh a big hug before she went.

We had a lot of fun and I was glad to see her go (tee hee) . . . babies wear you out!

Progress . . .

2010-03-15T19:56:00.000-07:00

I would love to say that I am almost finished with the "Three Generation" quilt that I have been working on but sadly to say, now that I have learned more about quilting, I think the hardest part is yet to come.

I have pieced together all the squares that my Grandmother, Hailey and I have put together. I have finished the top, added the batting and the backing and have created the all popular Quilt Sandwich.
Now what is left is actually doing the quilting design - this is going to be the most time consuming. I am actually in the process of basting the three layers together and that is a work in itself. The only "out of the way" place I could find that would fit this process was my bathroom floor!
I put a few lines of basting in but have many more to go but had to put it up because life got in the way :) .

I hope I will be able to finish it before Hailey is in college!

The colors on it are so beautiful. I just love it. But I am sure when I am finished NO ONE is going to touch it!!!!! I have really developed a deep respect for the women who quilt and it makes me think about the pioneer women who had to make these for their families in the midst of all their other daily work. Wow!

The Winds of Change . . . .

2010-03-12T19:37:00.001-08:00

Have you ever had a time in your life where you just feel that things are changing, shifting in a different direction? It's weird but I have had just that kind of feeling lately. It's almost like when you are single and then you get married . . . big shift. You've been married for awhile and along comes the first baby . . . big shift. I think it is just that family dynamics are changing and it just feels weird.

Hailey is waiting for her acceptance letter for driver's training . . . HUGE shift. We are also waiting for her to be accepted into a different High School, the Meridian Medical Arts Charter High School where she is going to to be making a big step toward her career into the medical field. . . another big shift. She is going with her Grandma to Arizona and she will fly back on an airplane for the first time . . . another big shift. She's growing up!

Hayden has decided he wants to be home schooled next year. This is also not only a big shift for him but also for me but I can see so many possibilities to let him grow in his studies at his pace where he will have the opportunity to get as far ahead as he is able without being held back by class schedules. I am truly excited for him. He is very bright and I think this will open doors for him. He's becoming a young man.

Tyler is going to be eight soon. I am not sure why but it seems to be so different from 7. He is not so tiny any more (actually, he is finally growing!) and he is truly becoming a big boy which is a little hard for me. I don't think I will get away with little nicknames like: my little fluffy muffin and spankalicious any more. He is starting to do that thing where he doesn't want to wear his coat anymore to the bus stop. Big Shift. The apron strings are almost transparent here.

I think what it comes down to is I am getting older and so are my kids. Their needs and mine are changing. . . I think of what it will be like when the kids are grown up and have lives of their own. Will Kurt and I have anything left to talk about without the kids' shenanigans (tee hee hee)?
Only time will tell . . .

You gotta love 'em!

2010-02-20T15:51:00.000-08:00

This was something that Tyler created for me late one Monday afternoon. It came just in the nick of time. It was one of those days that I felt like I was being pulled in different directions helping different kids do different things while I was trying to accomplish something myself!

We had Jonathan over and he and Hayden were working on a model and Hailey was really bored looking for things to do and ended up trying to work on a craft project. Tyler was feeling really left out and somewhat pouty because no one wanted his help and the things I got out for him to do weren't keeping his interest. I was busy trying to catch up on dishes and people kept asking me what they could do or help me with this or with that.

Someone had mentioned these little plastic dominoes for Tyler to play with and that was just the trick. He actually ended up setting them up with Jonathan and it kept them busy for quite awhile. But, even better was the fact that Tyler found out the white dominoes were really glow in the dark dominoes and he immediately took a handful into the closet and created a picture of Jonathan. It was really cute. But then he called me into the closet because he had something to show me. This is what it was . . .

I absolutely loved it! It made my day! Thanks Tyler!

Gingerbreadmania!

2010-02-20T14:41:00.001-08:00

This is a little late in "posting" but things have been busy! About a month ago for a Church babysitting we had a lesson in being different and the differences in people and thought it would be fun for the kids to create their own different people.
Instead of the "paper route" of creation - we chose every kids favorite - FOOD!

I think the kids had a blast! It was fun and tasty!

Things started out fairly simple early on with the decorations but as you will see in the following pictures that they became more elaborate.

Ingrid with Tyler in the background.

Jayden

I think the person who made this wasn't caring so much for style as to maybe getting as many M & M's that they could eat!!!

Here we go . . .

Alayna

Tyler made these. It's supposed to be me and Kurt!

Alayna made this and took the time to take M & M's and crush them into teeny, tiny pieces to make her dress . . . yes, it was messy. But it's art - it's supposed to be messy, right?

That was a lot of fun. We will have to do that again. Oh, just a word of wisdom. When you make the recipe and double it and think it doesn't look like you have enough dough, don't despair. I was so worried that we didn't have enough dough and by the time I was done rolling, cutting and baking we had cookies coming out of our ears (not really). There was A LOT. You know it's at that point where you are offering them to ANYONE who will take them! I could have put them in a box next to the box that says . . . "Free Zucchini" that you find out on the sidewalks in the summer.

Hailey, the Big 1 - 5 !

2010-02-20T12:55:00.001-08:00

Hailey was really excited to turn 15. She wanted to celebrate her birthday with her High School colors for her theme. So, her colors were Purple, Yellow and Black. She had asked everyone to come dressed in at least one of her school colors. It was a cute idea.
I think I had tried to get a closer up picture of the cake but it didn't come out.

Hailey decided just to have some girls her age over - some from school, Church and family.

Here she is at the presents part, her favorite!

Emma, Kelsey, Alayna and Rebecca.

Dana and Tyler. Hayden "got out of Dodge" the night before and went to hang out with Jonathan at his house. He didn't think he could handle the "girl party". Tyler on the other hand really enjoys these. All the girls always think he is cute and they spoil him.

Kurt even came and hung out for a bit.

Kurt checking out a gift Hailey had gotten. This thing is called an Ipod Shuffle (or something like that). I had never heard of it and I actually thought it was a fancy paper clip or something. This thing that is a little bigger and thicker than a postage stamp and can hold up to 1000 songs! I know! I'm still shaking my head.

Tyler checking out the pretty smells.

After presents we played some really fun games. Whatiff, Scattergories and of course Twister (this was after cake).

On to the food. Hailey wanted a cake, Ice Cream, Punch and this very tasty dessert called Crescent Roll Ring. Mmmmmm.

I am mad at the camera for this one. I took a picture of her blowing out the candles and it took too long to click and this is what I got. . .

The girls had fun with Twister too!

This is Dana and Alayna - say that three times fast!

Emma and Kelsey. Ooops! Emma fell.

Hailey and Dana.

One of Hailey's gifts was an awesome picture frame so we made sure to get shots of her with everyone so we could get them printed and put into the frame.

Here is Hailey with Rebecca, her "Big Sister"! We love Rebecca to pieces. She loves to clothes shop and go to the Mall so her and Hailey really get along!

To me the word Mall is synonymous to the word Ugh!

Dana and Hailey.

Cousins Kelsey and Emma.

Hailey and Alayna.

Oh, and here is Tyler lovin' up the attention he is getting from Dana. Dana has a brother the same age as Tyler but has actually mentioned she would like to take Tyler home.

Here are two pictures of the fantastic Crescent Roll Ring. MMMMMM mmmmm MMMMM!
Before we fold over the edges.

After it is folded and baked!

Well, this was another successful birthday! Problem is, Hailey's next birthday is her 16th and she has some crazy notion in her head that it is supposed to be some big event. . . . I guess that at least gives me a year to prepare for it!!!

Another Saturday . . .

2010-02-20T12:44:00.000-08:00

Although this is out of date sequence, it's okay. I just like the pictures.
I think these were actually taken the last Saturday of January.

Hailey has Festival coming up again this February. One of the songs she is playing is absolutely beautiful. It is called "Sea Voyage". You just want to close your eyes while you listen. I really need to take lessons so I can play some of this music too. She doesn't always want to play for you!

Johnny was hanging out with the boys - doing guy things!
You know, light sabers, Wii, Gamecube and RC cars!
Did I mention eating everything you have in the kitchen?

I was glad they got out because the weather has been so cold. We are all looking forward to Spring!

12, Already?

2010-02-20T11:54:00.001-08:00

I think they say that when kids hit the age of about 10 they are now called "tweens" instead of kids. So I had told Hayden since he is turning 12, he is officially a "Senior Tween"! I think he liked that. This is our last year of somewhat normal behavior before he hits the actual teenage time frame where I grip onto something tight and hang on for the ride!

Hayden loves football (still) so for (I think) the third year in a row we have done a football theme. I found these cute little gold foil footballs this year. Made it quite easy to decorate.

Hayden had a small party this year. He just wanted his boy cousins over and Grandma made the trip down to also help him celebrate. I think he had a great time!

Grandma and Brodie

Oh, Chris, Emma and Kelsey hung around for just a little bit after they dropped Jonathan off. We girls love to chat! - Except Kelsey here - she found something interesting on her fingernail I think!

Hayden says he has to wear his Brett Favre football Jersey for these birthdays and if you look back you will see that he has! After seeing it on him though, I told him this would probably be the last birthday to get away with wearing it!

Brodie, Ryan and Dylan - waiting for this party to get started.

We actually bought the game "Twister". I remember playing this when I was a kid and loved it. Nothing better than to get a bunch of teen boys to sweat . . . what was I thinking?

Football stuff . . .

Hayden's other favorite passion . . . Legos, especially Star Wars Legos!

Was pretty excited about this remote control car too!

Let the games begin!

Dylan is very excited!

They also decided to play a "quick" game of Life.

Here he goes - blowing out the candles. This year sure has gone fast!

Even Bryan hung out a bit to chat with Kurt out in the garage.

All in all it was a pretty fun day. Hayden is happy to be 12. He is such a nice, smart wonderful kid! Trying to think of where he gets that?????!!!!!

How long's it been?

2010-02-13T22:17:00.000-08:00

I am just writing a quick little ditty for you all (all three of you) that read my blog to let you know that I haven't forgotten you!

I am not sure how long it has been since I have been on here and posted something. I am sure I can go and look it up . . . I know it has been awhile though because when I went to log on I almost couldn't remember my address and password!!!

I also know it has been a long time because I happened to be looking through the pictures on the camera because we had a birthday party for Hailey today and saw the pictures from Hayden's birthday still on there and some from earlier than that of the kids being lazy on a Saturday!

My deepest apologies! It just seems so busy anymore but I am wondering if it is just that I am getting older and becoming much slower!!!!!!

Enough said . . . it is late tonight so I won't have time to post the things I want to but I will do my best to get you some new material fairly soon!

You do matter to me!

Hailey's First Driving Experience!

2010-01-23T20:52:00.001-08:00

Hailey is supposed to be starting Driver's Training within a few months and I thought it would be a good idea to get her behind the wheel a little bit before she started the course. Sadly enough with my "car issues" I knew I wasn't the one to make the introduction . . . this fell onto Kurt's shoulders. After much suggesting, asking and then flat out telling he agreed to take Hailey out for a quick little drive.

I wanted to take a picture before they left when they wouldn't have bumps, bruising or gashes. Kurt was growing a little impatient with me, if you can tell. I made him take the camera so he could help me blog this experience. The neat thing was that I got to stand and watch the whole thing from my bedroom window. I had a great time!

It's good to see a serious look on her face!

Now she feels the speed . . . . ooooohhhh, she likes it!

These next shots were rather random, not sure what angle Kurt was going for but I included them for your viewing pleasure.

Dashboard.

Either he was showing us the look of the road speeding by or how completely close she was getting to the sidewalk . . . .

She was really bookin' it!

Home safe and sound! She said that was the funnest time of her life EVER!

I should have taken Kurt's picture too, I wonder if he thought that was the funnest time ever?

She's growing up . . . nothing I can do to stop it. Argh.

The Speech Project

2010-01-14T14:57:00.000-08:00

Kids and school projects, it's just the way it is. I can't recall how many school projects I have worked on with my kids. Everything from posters and dioramas to mini books they have written with full color illustrations! I have also been up till all hours of the night the night before these little beauties were due trying to help my child who chose to procrastinate.
This project took off on a whole different direction.

Hailey's assignment was to write an informative speech and do either a power-point presentation or make a poster but it must be able to be seen at the back of the classroom. We don't have power-point and Hailey was very much NOT interested in doing another poster. She emailed her teacher to see if she could do a diorama. He was excited by her ingenuity in thinking up another type of project but reiterated that it must be able to be seen at the back of the room.

Hailey chose the topic of "Light and Sound Technician" - due to the fact that she has worked with her Dad in this and finds it interesting.

My idea was to use a large box and some BBQ skewers wrapped in Aluminum foil to make a front visual of a truss and we would go from there with my craft staples of glue, construction paper and dress shirt cardboard. . . . I asked Kurt to help cut the big box in half because it was too deep . . . this wasn't good enough for Kurt. He had his own ideas. The cool thing about it was, for the first time EVER I didn't have to do a lot! Yippee!
There was going to have to be a complete replica of an actual stage . . . Mind you, this took TWO DAYS to complete!

Kurt is trying to center a shoe box lid for the main part of the stage.

Drilling holes for the dowels for the beginning of the truss system.

I am amazed at how good of a job Hailey did at building these trusses!

I asked her if maybe she still wanted to be an architect after all! She did all the cutting, fitting and gluing. . . quite impressive!

Kurt is out in the garage with these little wooden biscuit things shaping some speakers that are going to hang from the trusses!

Here he is spraying Hailey's truss setup with metallic silver spray paint to look like aluminum. It looked just like it! Even where Hailey used the hot glue on the edges gave it a soldered look.

Here is Hailey painting the speakers that will fly from the truss.

There they finally are! These are probably the only flying speakers that our friend Tanya won't be afraid of!!! Kurt is starting to install the "lights".

Wooden blocks made into Mains.

Lights are on and ready to go!

Here it is finally all finished . . .working lights, canopy, backdrop. Stage and drum riser have fabric skirting. There are toothpick mic stands and little wooden monitors for each musician!

You can't see that they also made a Monitor Board that sits off to the side of the stage.

Now where are those musicians . . . They are never on time!

Sure can't beat that with construction paper and BBQ skewers! It looks great! In case you wanted to know, Hailey and Kurt got an "A" on their project!

Snowtastic, Take 2 - later that day . . .

2010-01-14T14:30:00.000-08:00

This was what happened a little later after the kids got home on that snowy day! They had a lot of fun. If you pay close attention in some of the pictures you can actually see the snowball. And, you will also notice that Tyler doesn't really play. He just eats!

Hailey was trying to build a face on the garage . . . I wasn't too happy with that idea!

There is snow right by Hailey's mouth - this started a whole lotta fun!

Hi Ty . . . whatcha doin'?

Hailey and Hayden are still at it . . . revenge is sweet!

I love this! You can see the trail of snow from the snowball that Hailey is throwing. You have to look really close to see the snowball though.

Tyler with the neighbor . . . probably telling him all about how tasty the snow is.

Just a few shots of the yard as the snow is melting. You can compare these pictures to the shots taken previously in my last post, Snowtastic.

Snowtastic!

2009-12-30T10:09:00.000-08:00

I don't know when my fascination for snow started but I have always loved it!
The weird thing is I don't really like to do things in it I just like to look at it! I don't really ski, don't snowmobile, cross-country,snow shoe, ice skate or even really go sledding. I don't like to get wet or be hit with snowballs but I could just sit and stare at it all day.

Whenever I see snow my mind conjures up scenes of sitting by an all glass bay window while the fireplace is crackling in the background. I am sitting on a cozy chair and covered with an antique quilt holding a cup of steaming hot chocolate while a book rests on my lap waiting to be read!
And when has that actually happened to me . . . um . . . never!
Chances are if I take a look the person in the scene is either not me or is me when I am 80 and my hair is all gray and just off to the side out of the picture is a sleek, steel walker!
Anyway - we had a beautiful snow last night even against Kurt's discouraging comments of how it really was only going to rain and I couldn't help snap a few pictures to share.

I love the contrast of the red twigs of this Dogwood against the freshly fallen snow!

On my Virginia Creeper by the front walk!

Oh to have one of those beautiful spendy professional cameras to get a much closer shot of these beautiful little red, tear-shaped berries on my Rose Glow Barberry. It is really rather stunning close up. . . again, the red and snowy contrast!

The trampoline!

When there was a little bird sitting to the right of the feeder the snow on the left was taller than the little guy. So cute -

My wonderful Honeysuckle that never gives in to the weather. You can always find little birds hiding inside! I am glad I can provide them with some shelter and food!

The butterfly bush that I didn't trim down yet.

Look at how amazing these little puffs of snow are! They are just sitting daintily on the top of these little flower seed heads left over from their profuse flowering this summer. These are a beautiful daisy like flower with a wine red and yellow coloring.

The stark beauty of a leafless tree - amazing how snow can take something so drab and dismal and make it beautiful!

Front yard before wandering pets and kids destroy the peaceful blanket of snow!

Don't ask me why but I found this little snowbound plant to seem so serene!

This tree has so much character - the bark is just gorgeous and it seems so statuesque alongside the porch! I can't wait until a little bird decides to build a nest in it!

Well, if it would be possible it would be wonderful to live up in the mountains during the time of snow! To be surrounded by wildlife, beautiful evergreens and mountain plants all covered in an unbroken blanket of snow, well, until you would need to run to the store for something and it would take you three hours to go a mile!!!

Hope you enjoyed my winter wonderland trip through my yard. It is supposed to rain in two days and all will be changed. At least I can refer back to this and relive the serenity!

When Grandma Comes To Town!!!

2009-12-28T12:49:00.001-08:00

We had a really nice time with Grandma who came to visit last week! We only had her for about 3 1/2 days but we were all glad for the time! I didn't capture pictures of everything we had done (trust me, I wish I had a picture of Grandma and Hayden sitting in the dressing room waiting area at Kohl's while Hailey shopped for jeans) but I will share some of the things that we did!

Hailey and Hayden worked on some duets to play for Grandma to show her how they are progressing with their music! Although Hailey plays piano and violin and Hayden the Cello, they decided to mix it up a bit and play a song with Hailey on the Cello and Hayden the violin!

They also played a duet with Hayden on Cello and Hailey on the piano and then Hayden played some songs he has learned in Orchestra. I believe Grandma enjoyed this a lot.

Tyler wanted his picture taken too!

Kurt actually took time off of work where he didn't even run into the shop!!!!!!! Wow, I was astounded . . . here is Kurt relaxing!

Grandma had brought down some gifts for the kids and they enjoyed them!

Here they are eating some licorice!

Grandma also gave the kids some really great Boise State Stuff! They loved it!

This gift was an answer to a plight. . .

Notice the fear in Willow's eyes! I have a feeling we will not have to be dealing with the dog and her garbage can shenanigans anymore!!!! Woo Hoo, Thanks Grandma!

Friday morning Grandma took the time to teach the kids how to play Pinochle. I was busy in the kitchen trying to clean up breakfast and was listening to all the instruction. . . I think I will just stick to doing dishes! It sounded very complicated but the kids seemed to pick it up.

After the instructional time, Grandma and Hailey, Kurt and Hayden decided to play an actual game.

This looks almost too serious for me . . . game of slapjack anyone?

Well, Saturday morning rolled around too quickly but we decided to have a little photo shoot before Grandma left for home.

Kurt isn't one who likes to pose for pictures much but hey, it's your mom!

After that it was time for pictures with the kids. This was harder than it looks. Trying to get them all to smile and be quiet at the same time.

I don't know if Hailey realizes that we can see what she is doing to her brother . . . and the picture is proof!

Grandma is sure that someone is having gas issues during this photo session. It was hard to control the group after she said something about that!

The kids are also wearing the hats that their Aunt and Uncle had sent down. They loved these, warm and snuggly!

We all had a great time visiting with Grandma. Hope we can do it again soon. Thanks for coming down for a visit and making some memories with us Grandma!

Bye Bye Facebook!

2009-12-28T10:59:00.001-08:00

This is what facebook looks like after you have deactivated your account. What was really weird was the fact it took a bit of effort to actually push the button that asks if you want to deactivate your account!

This was a very weird but necessary decision! As a wife and mother of three growing children the term that always comes to mind is that "there just isn't enough time in the day"! There are so many things that need to get done and things you want to do that days just whiz by with most of your "to do's" not done.
I had an element in my life that I realized was sucking away any precious time that I may have had left over after housework and homework.
I had so many projects that I wanted to do, time I wanted to spend with the kids but I found myself in any moment in between logging on to this place and wasting time doing "nothing important"!

Believe it or not I found myself slightly addicted to a site through facebook called "fishworld"! This is a site where you can have fish tanks and raise virtual fish, earn money to decorate your tanks and buy more fish and move up in "levels" to become somebody virtually important . . . I had such a pattern set up to where I could purchase enough fish during the day(and grow them to maturity to sell) to raise my level once or twice, maybe even three times a day! But I finally got to a point when I realized my "real" people and "real" duties were become my "I'll get to that as soon as I am done with my fish tank"!

I really had to stop and put this all into perspective . . . What is really important to/in this life? Thankfully I have God in my life and the wisdom of the scriptures to help me see what is really important! Faith, Family and Friends!
All these "technological advances" somehow end up making the things that are supposed to be your focus in life your "I'll get to that later"! Things invented to bring you closer a lot of the time push you apart. How many times in our lives when our kids walk up to us to talk to us do we shush them because of a TV show, your on the phone for the fiftieth time that day or you are busy on the computer? Or you are having dinner with your family and you get a phone call? You are talking with someone and a text comes in?

I have to ask . . . are our lives happier? More fulfilled with all this technology?
All I can say is since I have deactivated my facebook like has become just a little bit more simpler, a little less stressful and more involved with my family.

You know what would be great? If all these technological geniuses would get together with some of the other incredible brilliant people maybe they could all come up with a device that would blast cancer off the map . . . Now that's technology we can all live with!
I just hopped down off my soapbox! Have a great day with your family - don't forget though to shut off the ringer on your phone, computer, Ipod, Mp3 player, Wii, Gamecube, X-box, etc!

Warm and Cozy!

2009-12-19T11:46:00.000-08:00

That name actual happens to be an event held in Tyler's 2nd grade classroom this past Friday!
Instead of the typical holiday party in Tyler's classroom his teacher does something different which I think was a lot of fun! It is called a "Warm and Cozy" and all the kids and parents are invited to come and hang out in their pajamas and read books, do crafts, eat a snack and have a book exchange!

I, of course, could never wear pajamas in public and Kurt and I don't want the kids to either but we still had fun in our regular comfy clothes!
We started out the morning with a little snack of Bagels with or without cream cheese, bananas and milk or juice.

Then the kids broke into two groups (girls and boys) and while one group was listening to a story being read, the other group got to work on this really cute craft, a sock snowman! These turned out so adorable I really would like to do them for a church babysitting!

Here is a picture of the whole class with their snowmen and their teacher with hers in the very back in the middle! She is a very energetic and enthusiastic person. The kids really respond to her!

After that they had a book exchange. All the kids were asked to bring in a slightly used book they could exchange with someone else. The teacher wrapped them up and then the kids were to sit in a circle on the floor with their wrapped book in their hands. The teacher then began to read a book and every time she said the word "snow" in the story the kids would have to pass the book once to the right. This was actually quite funny and the kids (and parents) had a lot of fun!

I was only going to stay for the little party but I ended staying and hanging out with Tyler while he ate his lunch and played on the playground.

Both of us had a lot of fun spending some time together at his school. I am most definitely going to go and help in his classroom again! This is what memories are made of!

Winter Concerts . . .

2009-12-17T08:29:00.000-08:00

Well, it's that time of year again - time for the Winter Concerts! This year we were able to attend two different concerts! Hailey's, who has been playing Violin for about 4 years now and Hayden who is playing in a concert for the first time on his Cello!

Both these concerts were held in the same week, just a a few days apart!

Hailey's concert was on Tuesday December 8Th - this was also exciting because they finally got their matching Orchestra Uniforms and they looked quite spiffy!

I don't like the fact this picture is blurry but it gives you an idea of how long the dress is! The top part of the dress has black sparkly bead things and it really is pretty. It sure gave the kids a very polished look.

This was taken right as we were getting ready to leave. Tyler likes to have his picture taken with the "performers"! Someday it will be his turn and if it is up to Grandma he will be sitting behind a drum set! (earplugs anyone?)

This is the only picture we got of Hailey at the Concert itself! This camera takes awful pictures indoors so only the close up ones will show up!

The kids played beautifully!

Now onto the next concert! Hayden's was on December 10Th. . . This was almost a heartbreaking event for us. We were sooooo excited to finally get to see Hayden play!

Here he is before we left for the concert.

We were soooo sad because we had major "technical difficulties" at his concert. Originally we get to the gymnasium early and sit near the top of the bleachers where we can plug in the video camera. When we got there the gym was PACKED!!! It was standing room only!

So we didn't have the use of the video camera :( and then the regular camera doesn't take very good pictures indoors and then it kept saying "low battery" or shutting off. I brought 4 sets of batteries and it did it to all of them! (this is when a mother's tears begin to flow).

Here is a VERY BLURRY picture of Hayden playing. He is second Cello on the left!

This was the most annoying part of the whole evening. Since there was only standing room we chose to stand on the Northwest side of the gym so we could at least see Hayden's face while we played but we had NO IDEA who we chose to stand next to.

This picture is of the majority of the 6Th grade choir and part of the 7Th and 8Th grade choir. This group of kids talked, wiggled and hand gestured the WHOLE ENTIRE TIME! It was soooo frustrating. Even though several of us standing by the wall had told them to Shush it didn't work.

We could barely hear the Orchestra playing across the gym.

After having to stand for over an hour and trying to ignore all the commotion and noise to the side of us, we were still so happy for Hayden though! He said at first he was nervous but once he got going he didn't have any problem at all and he actually said he can't wait to perform again! I think he grew up a bit inside himself that night!!!

After sharing with him the perils of our technology, Hayden was kind enough to let us take a few more shots when we got home!

Here he is pretending his Cello was a Violin! Don't worry Grandma, he was extremely cautious when doing this!

And here is our "Tyler with the Performer" shot! The boys had fun with this one!

It is always wonderful to get to see your kids perform. In another instance it tugs at your heartstrings because it just shows you that they are growing up right before your eyes!

Great job Hailey and Hayden! We can't wait to see you play again! But, this time, we are standing no where near the choir!

Our Son, the published Author!

2009-12-10T09:38:00.000-08:00

Hayden wants to be an Author when he gets older. He devours books at home and there has even been a time when I had to threaten to take away his book if he didn't do his chores!

A wonderful opportunity presented itself through Grandma last summer. She had found out about a writing camp that was being held right there in Twin Falls. She enrolled Hayden!

Every summer the kids individually get to spend a week at Grandma's and she usually finds some summer camp classes for them to take while they are visiting. Hailey has done cooking and theater and this was Hayden's first year to get to go to camp at Grandma's!

This was a very reputable group that put on these classes and the wonderful thing about it too was that they would have their work published into a book in the end!

Here is our official author Hayden. He wrote a wonderful piece called "The Lake" and it is on page 57! I have a feeling this won't be the last!

Congratulations Hayden!

Here I am getting my picture taken with the author - this will probably be worth a lot of money someday! I will have to have him autograph the picture!

Trip to Twin Falls!

2009-12-10T08:32:00.001-08:00

Kurt took the kids to visit family in Twin Falls for Thanksgiving. Kurt's brother Mark, his wife Jenice and their two little girls Lillian and Kate all made the trek up from Arizona to Grandma's in Twin Falls, Idaho. I still have troubles with the ride there but Hailey took pictures in my place. Thanks Hailey!
I was sad to miss seeing everyone but the pictures were fun to look at.
Of course the photographer had to get an image of herself first! Nice picture Hailey!

So, enjoy the pictures!

Aunt Vonnie, Jenice and Baby Kate!

Jenice with Kate, Uncle Mark, Hayden, Kurt and Vonnie playing poker I believe. I wonder if Kate understands the rules yet.

What a cutie!

Mark seems to be taking this very seriously!

Hailey and Kate!

That's Kurt's cousin Sherry's husband Jeff in the background!

Ethan (Jeff and Sherry's boy), he sure is growing up!

I thought this was cute too - wish it wasn't so blurry!

I heard Tyler and Lillian were "thick as thieves" while playing together! That is so sweet!

Lillian sure has grown too!

Tyler, Ethan and Lillian

It was Kate's first birthday! Happy Birthday Kate!

Jeff, Ethan and Sherry!

Well, there is Uncle Jack in the red shirt!

Tyler, Hailey, Lillian and Ethan!

All in all I think the kids had a wonderful time playing with their cousins for the day!

AAAAHHHH Pizza!

2009-12-10T08:16:00.000-08:00

There aren't a whole lot of words that I really need to use for this post. I can't tell you enough how much this family likes pizza! We found something fairly economical and yet fun with pizza. Kurt's Mom introduced us to these little mini pizza doughs already made up at Winco, 5 for $1.99! Not only do the pizzas turn out great because you can put on them whatever you want but it is fun to do!

Here are a few pictures of dinner one night!

Oh, they also sell Cheesy Bread Sticks . . . one package, about 8 pieces for $1.99! These are

de-lish!

They only take about 5-8 minutes to bake . . . .

Be careful not to add too much cheese!

These are yummy!

"MAN LOGIC" !

2009-11-24T16:52:00.000-08:00

Sometimes there are things that happen in life that you just have to share with someone. I have decided that "someone" is my blog audience.

If you have kept up with the blog you will have gotten the idea that we are having issues with our dog getting into the garbage can. She is either shoving the lid up with her nose or just plain knocking the whole thing over so she can "help herself" to the goodies located within.
Our fix to this is to make sure that the door to the pantry (which is where the can is located) is closed. This has created yet another problem . . . now if there is something "aromatic" in the garbage it then creates an interesting aroma in the pantry.

Today when Kurt went into the pantry such an aroma came to him. He decided to open the door to the pantry to air it out. But what to do with the dog? Kurt used his "man logic" to fix that situation!

He did the only reasonable thing a man could do . . . tape it shut with nice heavy duty tape!

I laughed really hard when I saw this! It never occurred to my sweet husband to just take the trash out!

Church Sitting :)

2009-11-24T13:48:00.001-08:00

Almost every Monday I have the joy of getting to babysit while brethren from the Church go out to talk to people about the Bible! Because of location I watch the same family of kids a lot! That is fine with me, they are practically family.

This sitting I decided that I wanted to do a theme on scientific things - things that God made, things man made but how God created the basics of everything down to atoms and such.

I wanted to do things that had chemical reactions and I think the kids had a good time!

First we made some "Gooey Gunk" (I think it is like Gak):

Aren't kids creative!

Jayden's turtle . . .

I think Owen is starting to make a snake . . .

I can't remember what Ingrid made but I also forgot to turn the picture around the right way, sorry Ingrid!

After we played with that for quite awhile we went on to the next one. This stuff is called "Magic Muck" and it is really weird. When you first pick it up and squeeze it you can make a ball out of it and then you open your hand and it turns back into a liquid and drips!

Some kids were reluctant to touch this!

The next thing didn't go as well as I had hoped. I was trying to re-enact a volcano with red food coloring for a fantastic effect. . . . Hmmmm.

I wasn't quick enough with the camera and it overflowed so fast I didn't catch it but the kids really enjoyed it!

Owen, Hayden, Emmett and Tyler!

The kids had a lot of fun . . . I should have made washing the dishes part of the "fun"!

After all that brain work we decided to have a snack. Simple pretzels and popcorn!

Tyler, Uriah and Hayden!

Smile Ingrid!

Emmett ducking away from the camera . . .

Hi Alayna! It was sad because Hailey didn't really get a chance to do this with us because she had a BIG project due the next day and needed Kurt's help with it, so Alayna was the only teen girl!

I would like to do another science based topic again. This was fun. What a great group of kids!

The Trumpet Vine !

2009-11-21T15:19:00.001-08:00

This is what my beautiful back fence looks like in the summer covered with the trumpet-shaped blooms that attract many very cute but quick hummingbirds just as all the garden books predicted . . .

The garden books failed to mention the amount of hornets, wasps or whatever they are that are also attracted to these beautiful blooms or the fact that those vines will look like this come late fall!

Not quite as amazing as before . . . but to keep them under control I have to trim back ALL of the branches to the fence so they will have a fresh (and more controlled) start to their growing season come next spring! I need to trim them back to look like this . . .

I started with this . . .

Over two hours later I had this . . . !

Did I mention I already had to trim the inside of the fence? WHEW! I have to say at times like this I question whether these vines are worth it. Amazing, in the books they don't seem to mention the extent you need to go to take care of these vines.

Good lesson to all - study out what you plant! But, they still are beautiful in the summer!

Tyler's New Suit!

2009-11-12T14:54:00.001-08:00

Grandma had come down for a visit last week and as usual it was great to see her! It has been a long time since she has been able to make it down and the time flew quickly.

While she was visiting she was very kind to get a little something for each kid - She took me and the kids to the store Kohl's. Now, this was my first visit to Kohl's and all I can say is . . . I fell in love! That has got to be the neatest store and the sales were great.

I am determined to get back!

I just have to post this next picture.
Tyler LOVES suits . . . he really enjoys the whole vest and tie thing so Grandma being the generous person she is got a new suit for Tyler.

What a big boy he is getting to be! He looks so handsome!

Hailey's First Concert of the Year!

2009-11-12T14:39:00.000-08:00

(This should have been posted in October)

Hailey's first concert as a member of Rocky Mountain High School's Orchestra!

Hailey has sure come a long way from when she was 11 and just starting out. I love to watch her play and work with others to create beautiful music. She didn't feel confident that they were going to be very good but I thought they sounded great!
This was also the first time that we have gotten to watch her perform in an actual auditorium! Normally all of her performances have been in gyms. The sound is SO MUCH BETTER!

I can't wait to hear them again!

My camera doesn't do too well in a dark environment but here is the picture anyway!

They were finished but I had shut off the flash to see if it would help but when you do that usually it makes things blurry, so here you go - pretend it is a sharp picture!

Our little violinist after her performance!

Tyler - not sure if the picture is blurry because of the flash or it's just that Tyler moves a lot! :)

Hi Tyler!

Got a picture of Hayden when he was getting out of his seat.

I didn't get any of Kurt - but that is okay. He had put his back out a few days ahead of time and wasn't in the best of conditions. I was thankful we were in the auditorium versus the gym because I don't know if Kurt could have handled sitting on bleachers in his condition.

And of course, Kurt and Tyler took a look around to check out the sound system. Now how many parents do you think do that?????

Can you guess the guilty party?

2009-11-09T14:44:00.000-08:00

Hmmmmm . . . .

Anyone want a cute puppy?

The Tie That Binds . . .

2009-11-09T13:51:00.001-08:00

Well, this will be Hayden's first year in Orchestra! In order to be in Orchestra you have to dress the part for concerts. So Hayden will have to wear black dress pants, a white button-up shirt and a black tie.
Hayden does get dressed up every Sunday for Church but he has always preferred to wear a polo-type shirt with his dress pants. Tyler on the other hand LOVES suits and ties. But, the ties have always been clip-ons. I decided that I wanted Hayden to have a REAL tie so we bought him the kind that you must tie yourself. This is where the trouble began because NO ONE in our house knows how to tie a tie.

Really, how hard could it be???

We decided to go straight to the best source for tying a a tie - the Internet!
We found all kinds of instructional things . . . did you know there is more than one way to tie a tie? There is the Full Windsor, Half Windsor, The Four Hand and more! Oh my, what did I get myself into. . .
Here is some shots of ONE of the guys we tried to rely on to help us do this!

We started off okay . . . we figured out how to get it around his neck, this wasn't too difficult.

It went downhill from there, and quickly!

I think we were trying to do a "full Windsor" and this one ended up just a bit short.

I honestly can't tell you what happened here . . .

Well, after looking at different videos we learned that certain styles work for certain shirts and builds . . The full Windsor was for wide collars and stocky necks - definitely not Hayden! We decided to go with the half Windsor and after at LEAST a half of an hour we finally got it mostly right!

They mentioned that you should never leave the tie tied up and just move it open and closed that it will ruin the fabric. They say you should re-tie it every time.

I think I will take my chances with ruining the fabric! I think I actually broke into a sweat while trying to learn this.

Now everytime I see a guy wearing a nice shaped tie, I feel much respect for that man!

Just Say No to Drugs!

2009-11-09T13:33:00.000-08:00

This is one of those things that I wouldn't miss out on trying to help! Hailey and a group of 3 classmates were given an assignment where they had to make a PSA (public service announcement) for their speech class. I believe the theme had to be drug awareness.
Hailey had gotten together with her friends previous to this day to try to film a 30 -60 second spot but the girls didn't quite get that accomplished.
They decided they would get together on another Saturday and finish the filming or slide show or whatever, they were still unsure.
Problem was that two of the girls couldn't make it and it was due in about 4 days!
We came up with an idea and decided to go with it . . . we invited Brodie over to be a "drug dealer" and were going to just do the whole thing ourselves!
It was a lot of fun!

We never ended up using all of the pictures in the final PSA but I thought I would share these with you!

This is Brodie selling "drugs" to Hailey's classmate and friend, Geena.

He is actually selling her a baggie of cornstarch! It looked pretty good but realized we should have used something bigger than one dollar bills!

Another angle!

Hailey is supposed to be representing the drug free girl . . . she is refusing Brodie's cornstarch drugs! Good girl Hailey!

This is supposed to be a picture of how sad and depressing the druggie is . . . this girl did a great job! (she was actually quite a bright, perky, giggly sweet girl, oh, and tall)!

This is supposed to show how happy someone can be without drugs!

We forced Brodie to have his picture taken in the kitchen to prove that he isn't a mean, calloused drug dealer! He was such a trooper. I told Debra that he did such a convincing job that maybe she needed to keep a closer eye on him!!!! Just kidding!

Actually after Kurt, Hailey and I stayed up until 1:30 the morning of the day the PSA was due it turned out fantastic! Hailey and her group got an "A" and the teacher asked if he could keep the disc as an example for his students. He was quite impressed!

We used some music from a group called "The Shook Twins" - we can't really put it out there in the public because we didn't get permission to use it but Hailey and Kurt actually know these young ladies and are going to try to get permission to put it on YouTube! If we do I will make an announcement so you can see it for yourself. It was cool!

I think I figured it out!

2009-11-09T13:08:00.000-08:00

There are things in every ones life that are special memories from their childhood. I have several that when I smell something or see something, just brings them right back to the forefront of my mind. Dad and softballs or a Frisbee (Debra, stop laughing), a Coleman stove and old army auctioned vehicles! :)

But a very strong part of my childhood is certain food dishes that my mom prepared that always bring me back . . . I have several but there have been a couple that have been elusive to me. I still have yet to replicate my Mom's spaghetti sauce. I have tried and tried but nothing quite tastes like it. She always measured the spices in the palm of her hand and so it wasn't on a recipe card and I had asked her many times for it but she never wrote it down. She learned it from an Italian woman from her old neighborhood and that's all I know.

But, I think I may have discovered the recipe for a dish that was always tasty on a cold evening! She called it Chicken Fricassee and even though I looked under that name (at my favorite recipe site "allrecipes.com") I couldn't find anything that resembled what it looked like. Finally I had just typed in "chicken in white sauce" and came up with something they called "Chicken Ala King" - but the ingredients weren't quite right. But, I started reading the comments section and discovered some interesting entries! Several of the people had commented how they had this dish when they were kids and loved it but it didn't have "this and that" and they just replaced it with "this and that" . . .
I was soooo happy because what they described was almost exactly what I remembered as a kid! I jotted it down quickly and decided I had to make it. The only thing I knew I probably wouldn't find was this whole canned chicken my mom used to get. It was really greasy and you had to spend about 1/2 an hour tearing the meat off the bones to add to the sauce!

Mmmmmmmm - here it is cooking on the stove. It smelled almost exactly like it! I couldn't wait to try it!

This is how we always had it . . . a nice piece of toasted white bread with a big scoop (Mom used to use an old ice cream scoop) of white rice and a generous amount of this creamy mixture with peas, carrots and shredded chicken poured over the top!

The two older kids liked it (well, Hayden didn't like the toast getting soggy. He wants it on the side next time) but it gave me a great opportunity to share with them a childhood story and I think it even made it taste better!!! When I tasted it I was pretty happy. It was what I remembered.

Kurt never did try it, he saw the picture and said it looked like someone threw up on the rice and toast. I will not be deterred. . . All I can say is " Kurt, you're missin' out"!

Thanks Mom for the memories - now for the spaghetti sauce recipe . . . . .

Window With a View !

2009-10-14T10:29:00.000-07:00

ANYONE who knows me very well KNOWS that fall is my FAVORITE time of year!!!!

This year fall was brought on very fast, weather went from 90's to 30/40's within a week! This of course is sad because that means the fall will probably be shorter but I want to enjoy it as much as I can!

When I design my landscaping I do keep in mind that flowers and varieties of color in the warmer seasons are important but I have to admit the stronger pull for me is "what color will this plant produce in the fall"?

I think I didn't do too bad of a job with my front yard.

This is the view from my front window - I love it!

A few outdoor shots!

I have to admit I got a little hindered in the back yard. I set it up originally with a lot of color but have lost quite a few plants due to not considering how much shade a few choice trees would create.

I am having to dig things up and move them into sunnier areas. They have either died or haven't grown to their potential due to not enough sun light.

My mums plead their case!

There is a lot of work I need to do in the back yard - not nearly as full with plants as I would like but you can see areas of color trying to make their statement!

My beautiful Honeysuckle never lost all its leaves last year and it is huge! I only have one plant on each side of this bench arbor and you can't even find the arbor!

This tree is a love of mine. It is a Autumn Blaze Maple and can be amazingly stunning IF it is healthy! I almost lost it 2 years ago to Borers because we moved it from it's original planting spot and it must have gotten weakened by the move and was attacked. I thought we had lost it for sure but my Mom-in-law told me to just wait and see. She helped me trim it and just sat back and waited. It is looking better but still has a long way to go.

I can see it out my kitchen window and hope to see bird nests in it someday as it towers towards the sky!

That's my small fall tour. I am a little giddy about trees and bushes and plants.

My Mom was a very "earthy" person and I would like to think I get this love from her!

Chocolate Face!

2009-10-14T10:27:00.001-07:00

Ty loves milk mustaches so today he felt he had a really nice one and actually asked me if I would take a picture.

It is actually a chocolate milk mustache but he is very impressed by it. Thought I would write up a little post for him. Silly kid!

Family - Food - Fun !

2009-10-11T20:23:00.000-07:00

When it was heard that Ray, Cheryl, Jamie and Jenna were going to come down for a small visit word spread like wildfire and a family get-together quickly formed!
This was the first opportunity to get to see ALL of Jamie's wedding photos, chat up a storm and just hang out and enjoy one another's company - and that we did!

The first stop of anyone that comes to these get-togethers is the kitchen! We really went all out in the dessert department this time - we had several types of donuts, checkerboard cake, coffee cake, several types of cookies, brownies, cake bars, banana bread, pop, coffee, tea, juice and this wonderful fruity punch that Cheryl had made for Jamie's Wedding - it was delish!

Here's Erica!!!

Hayden in the "Calorie Zone" !!

This was a cute little girl that Erica was watching for a friend - her name was Olivia and I think she was just a little sweetheart! For not really knowing anyone there she was so good!

Maddie and Nana! Maddie's teeth are fine, it's just some food she put in there right before the shot was taken!

Luke showed up which was a very nice surprise. He was being a total pain-in-the-neck for most of the night (lol - you know just what I mean Luke ) but it was great to see him! Jamie and Brodie are in this shot too!

Another shot where we were going over Jamie's beautiful wedding photos - isn't it amazing how skinny we are when we get married! It was fun looking at all her pictures and you can tell her and Josh are just crazy about each other! I hope to get to meet him someday! He had to work so he couldn't make the trip down.

This is Dad, Debra, Cheryl and Jamie.

Here's the "man folk" shooting the breeze . . . It was nice to have Mark and Bryan along for the ride!

Doesn't it look like Luke is trying to get into something?

This next picture is really sad. My camera takes several seconds to actually take the picture after you press the button . . . from the time I pressed the button the normal looking Ray turned into this creature! I thought I took another one afterward but I didn't so I had to post this. Sorry Ray but maybe you will think better of it next time! I could use my blog for blackmail purposes!

I was so thrilled that Kurt and Hailey made it! He and Hailey had left early in the morning to go to downtown Boise to run an outdoor show (yes, they nearly froze to death, I think it was only in the 30's when they were there) and then they had to tear down that stage and two others ones right after that! They were exhausted but at least they got to see everybody!

This is Hailey right after she walked in the door - looked like she was going to fall over!

Here is Emma in her pretty pose!

Hailey trying to find someone willing to support her! Deb was more than happy to do the job! She leaned on me a bit too but I needed the freedom to bug everyone with the camera. Hey, it's my job! If I don't blog . . . who will?

What was really cool too was that Debra had brought over an old photo album of our family from the early 70's! It was funny looking at shots of us when we were little! She had thought of bringing more but she didn't. It was a great idea. I think we are going to do that again.

Chris, Emma and Hailey!

Kelsey really cheesing it up for me - mwah! (okay, I'll admit it, I forced her into it)!

Maddie and Erica - I love the enthusiasm! You are funny Erica! So, was that a hint that you were a little tired of the picture taking?

We were just getting into this big picture taking situation in the front room and little Olivia was just entertaining herself with a cookie. I sat by her and hugged her.

I stepped out from behind the camera for a mere few minutes to have Hailey take my picture with the kids. Tyler was absolutely thrilled that his cousin Jenna was coming down. I think she was pretty happy about it too! As I have stated before they are two peas in a pod and can play endlessly - they never stop moving! Here we are smartly sugaring them up with donuts and pop. We like living on the edge!

They went upstairs in the room and worked off their sugar high! They had sooo much fun!

Hi Johnny!

Not really sure what he was doing here - almost looks like he is trying to look innocent about something . . . hmmmm. Should I be worried?

No house should be without LEGO's! Deb's kids love them as much as mine! I should have bought stock in that company long ago - I think we would be rich by now!

Kimmy, Dylan, Ryan and Hayden!

Kimmy moved when I took the first shot so I singled her out and took another one. She was thrilled, can you tell?

Here Brodie is having a lightsaber duel with Olivia - not sure who won!

Jenna and Tyler chucking stuffed animals against a wall and across the floor. Yes, I should have stopped it but they were having so much fun (plus my floor was starting to look shinier)!

Brodie has been taking guitar at school and is quite good at it. It was neat that he brought his guitar with him again. Here he is giving Hailey an impromptu lesson. Hailey isn't content enough in knowing how to play Violin and Piano - she wants to learn guitar and cello too - Aren't these kids amazing! It's fun to see all the talent they have! Later a few of us were talking about having them be wandering minstrels while we sit and eat delicious foods! I could handle that!

No, Kimmy's teeth aren't black - chocolate donut!

We had a small picture taking session - I didn't get the best shots so if you want better ones try Chris or Debra. I am posting the group ones anyway because it is all I have but you will have to try to ignore the "red-eye" - couldn't get it out of some of them!

Taking a picture of Chris and Deb taking a picture!

Wow! Lots of kids!

Hailey, Erica and Emma with Jamie peeking in the background!

Chris and Mark taking pictures of the kids!

I have NO IDEA what they are talking about here - I know Mark was experiencing a pretty bad headache by this point . . .

End of the evening - lots of sugar - does wonders for the kids!

Brodie leaned out of the way at the last minute . . . argh!

Did I mention how tired Kurt was?

Well, I think everyone had a good time. There was a lot of smiles, stories shared and PLENTY of high calorie, high Carb food - the perfect mix for a great get-together!

I was so happy to see everyone and glad that Ray,Cheryl, Jamie and Jenna could make it down this way "before the snow flies" as they put it!

Congratulations again Jamie on your wedding and we all know you and Josh will have a long, wonderful life together!

Just for the Blog of it!

2009-10-06T21:33:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time without anything really interesting to post. . . I have had sick kids off and on (and me intermittently) for the past week or so, sooooooo, no one has really done anything interesting and for some strange reason the kids won't let me take their pictures when they are sick so I can blog about it!!!
But, I can feel the pressure about producing something fresh for my readers to see.

First of all, weather-wise it has been a very strange week or so. It seems as if we slipped from full-on summer to winter within a week. We went from 90 degree days to 45 - 57 degree days within one weeks time and that is very sad to me because fall is my favorite time of year! Today's high actually hit around 61 degrees so I was pretty happy about that! The air was fresh and beautiful, the birds were going crazy in my trumpet vines out back and I actually opened the windows and gave the house a nice airing. So at least for today, fall was in full swing!

On top of that an old friend of the kids stopped by unexpectedly . . . his name is Nick and he used to live down the street. His family moved a few years ago and we didn't see much of him and then about a month ago out of nowhere he showed up at the door! I almost didn't recognize him because (being a teenage boy) he changed so much; taller, longer hair, face shape changed but I could still identify him by his voice. It was great to see him.
Today he stopped by again unexpectedly and him and the kids hung out a bit.

This is Nick not wanting his picture taken. Just to let you know, he never did fully cooperate but I did the best an annoying adult could do!

Hailey was trying to help me by pulling away his face guard (his broken skateboard)! When he used to come over and hang out when he lived down the street Hailey just loved it. She said "I want him to be my brother"! I then had to kindly remind her that she already had two of her own but he seemed funner to her!

Here is Nick with the two neighbor boys, Landon and Hayden. Did I ever mention that the neighbor boys' name is Hayden also and although he is a few years younger than my Hayden they actually have the same birth date! It's weird!

Tyler just being Tyler! You gotta love it!!!!

Now to take a break from the people in the yard and take some pics of some of my other favorite objects of love . . . my plants! You must be patient since I sometimes have "focus issues" but I wanted to capture some of the color before winter shoulders it's way back into our world!

Here is two of my favorites (not too hard to say because almost everything I planted in my yard are my favorites)!

This is a combo of the fire of a Burning Bush along with the sweetness of the Moonbeam Coreopsis.

My normally gorgeous Mums! This year they aren't fairing as well. I have to move some that are out back that got way too much shade this year. They love the sun!

Another Mum! When the Burgundy and Yellow are combined they really Pop!

The Marigolds with their final "hurrah" for the summer. We have had some frost and I can tell they are getting tired. Some of the foliage is turning color. They won't be here much longer. I will miss you little guys!

This was a real shocker! This Iris actually bloomed again! They usually only bloom in the spring so I am not sure what this little one's agenda was! I like to think of it as a nice little surprise!

Last but not least the fading blooms of my Trumpet Vine. There aren't a whole lot of blooms left and it won't be long now until I have to take out my pruners and spend literally HOURS trimming back these vines to the fence. I have done it once in the spring and once in the fall and I much prefer the fall, it looks much tidier through the winter and it can just go to town once spring hits!

There you have it. My little fall walk-about in the yard and some random thoughts. I hope that will hold you over until I actually do something interesting!

Have a great Fall!

Welcome!

2009-09-26T22:20:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to write a quick

WELCOME!

To Jenise and Mark who have started their own family blog!

I am very thrilled that they are now on board the blogger and am looking forward to seeing all the pictures they will be posting! I have included a link to their blog under my "links" section to make it easier! Now my "Tanya" link won't seem so lonely!

Now if I can just get my other family members to get their own blogs started . . . hint, hint, hint!

Random . . .

2009-09-23T12:57:00.000-07:00

Went out to get the mail and noticed this little "guy" hanging from my lamp at the front entrance. Huge!

Here is my "professional" attempt to show you how big this guy really was. . . in numbers I am thinking close to three inches long!

He wasn't moving at all and then I started to wonder if it was dead, caught in a spider's web or something. So I poked him with that trusty pencil . . .

Nope! Wasn't dead! I will assume this is some form of warning. I think I'll just leave the little guy alone!

Game Night with the Boys :) !

2009-09-19T21:22:00.001-07:00

I have to admit, it has been one of those days. Haven't had much energy, haven't felt all to well and just trying to get through the day and get through the house work.

Hayden has been feeling under the weather all day too and Tyler didn't really want to go outside so the boys were playing computer and Wii and Hayden laid around and read a lot. Kurt was away at work all day and Hailey went to help and the atmosphere was pretty drab. I actually found myself sitting at the computer and realizing that the boys had been on the Wii for a long time. I hadn't really seen them in a while and didn't feel good about that! So, I went down and suggested maybe playing a board game . . . they jumped at the chance. Since Hayden's head hurt I suggested something that didn't make a lot of noise . . .that knocked out Buckaroo and Trouble, Cage Bingo and Disney Yahtzee, Tyler suggested Candy Land (argh) but we all decided on Life! I like this game because it has a beginning and an ending, unlike Monopoly which can drag on forever - perfect to play with kids!

Willow was helping out with the instructions! This game was a lot of fun and Hayden ended up the winner by over 1.5 million more than me and Tyler, Tyler was second and I lost. I'm okay with it!

I didn't want to play life again so Hayden suggested a game he absolutely LOVES, Dragonology!

Hayden has a certain stealth about himself with this game but I have to admit it was very close! We toned the game down just a little for Tyler because there are some moves in this game (the card is called "confusion") where you can annihilate another player and knew he wasn't ready for that and Hayden also used an attack card(swoop) in a positive way for Tyler and it was the perfect example of good sportsmanship!

It was a heated battle between Hayden and I and we were not pulling out any stops! There was Hypnotizing, Swooping, Master Clawing and Deja Vu-ing all over the place. No idle threats were thrown and we knew a blood bath was a complete possibility! We were no longer Mother and Son, we were Master Dragonologists fighting to the death!

After over 2 hours of intense strategy and ruthlessness, Tyler was the victor! He was the happiest kid on the block! When you win at this game you get the huge honor of getting to write your name on a special list that is included on the game board in a special little envelope. Tyler was jumping all over the place! He stopped jumping long enough to sign his name!

In case you wanted to know, I won second and Hayden was third. It was a close match, he only had two spaces to move but I rolled the Dragons Eye and victory was mine! (well, at least I beat Hayden)! It was loads of fun and it beat watching a movie any day. The boys and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and really we all won because we got to spend the evening together and shared some special times! Hopefully next time Kurt and Hailey can join us too!

Picture Day for Tyler

2009-09-19T14:38:00.000-07:00

I like to have a little fun with Tyler at his own expense sometimes! Tyler is the sort of kid who likes everything "just so". He is VERY particular about how his hair is combed. He gets highly irritated if I do anything to it but a side part.

He had picture day on Tuesday so I put a little bit of gel in his hair (to his chagrin) to keep it in place until he had his picture taken. I decided to take the liberty to see if maybe he wanted to try another style . . . .

As you can see, he wasn't too keen on this one . . . I tried to give him the idea that it didn't look too bad. He was actually being a good sport he just couldn't take looking at himself like that so he closed his eyes!

Now he feels much better! I thought he looked rather nice too.

Now I am patiently awaiting the arrival of his pictures. It will probably take about a month for them to come back. Hayden and Hailey have had their pictures taken at school too. Hailey's have come back and I am pleased, they turned out very well and I almost cried because she is just growing up way too fast. Hayden's should be here anytime. So, as soon as they all are here I will get them out to family! Hope you enjoy watching them grow as much as I do!