I am done!

Wooohooo!! I am done shopping and I am done wrapping. I am so excited! All that's left to do now is wait for the Big Guy in Red to show up!

Random cuteness

Just some pictures of the kids that I found. These were all taken this summer.

What are you reading?

About the only time I get to read is when I'm at work. I average about a book a week. If I spent less time on Facebook I'm sure I'd get more reading in!!

Right now I am reading the Kite Runner. I am only about 50 pages in, but I am enjoying it so far. The book before Kite Runner was Beauty a retelling of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley. I really liked it a lot more than I thought I would. One of my more recent books was The Murder of King Tut, by James Patterson. I really enjoy Patterson's books. The are interesting and fast paced. I also like that they have short chapters. I am really looking forward to his new Alex Cross novel. That was the series that really sucked me in.

I like to keep track of my To Read List on Goodreads.com I go to that website and see what is next on my to read shelf and then go to the library website and put that book and maybe some others on hold. I would LOVE to have the time to go to the library and just browse the shelves for something to read, but, I don't have that kind of time, so I use the libraries online request feature weekly. I love it! When my book is ready, they send me an email and then I go pick it up. Easy peasy! Takes all of 5 minutes!

Have you read any good books lately?? If so, what are they?

Funny Buster

I found these pictures tonight when I was organizing all my pictures.

This happened a few months ago, but I thought I'd share with you all.

Max and Jake had gotten into trouble and Rob and I were both in the kitchen and we yelled at them to get into the corner. Well, I guess Buster didn't like us yelling at the kids and stood guard over them until we let them out. I think he thought we were gonna spank them and he was havin' none of that! LOL

Went through pictures

So, I just spent about a half an hour getting all the pictures from our 3 cameras put onto the computer and my thumb drive. I like to put them all on my home pc and then back up on our external hard drive. I also like to put them on a thumb drive and then transfer them to my laptop. I do most of my blogging at work, so I like to have a copy of my pictures on my laptop. I had pictures clear back from Max's birthday in August that were not transferred! Now I just need to go through and delete the bad ones and put them in their correct folders. I like to put them in monthly folders, then sub categories inside the month if there was a special event like a birthday or school program.

A few months ago I borrowed all my mother in laws photo books and scanned all her pictures to my computer. About a week ago she showed me a book that I had missed, it was mostly pictures of Rob as a baby. I don't want to miss getting those photos! After those are all organized I plan to burn them to CD's to give to Jan and any of her family that wants one.

Random...

Rob called me last night while I was at work and mentioned that he had found a Kitchenaid Mixer for sale for $50 on Craigslist. He asked if I would be interested in something like that and I told him to call and ask about it. He did and made an appointment for this morning to go look at at. It was in really good condition, so we bought it. I have always wanted one, but could never justify the cost of a brand new one. I am excited. It came with a recipe book that has some really yummy looking things in it. I can't wait to get started. It did not come with a dough hook, so we stopped by the kitchen specialty store in town and got one for $15, I think. Rob was looking online for the other accessories that I think we'll invest in. Our food processor broke a few months ago, so rather than replace it, we'll just get KitchenAid accessories.

Who has some kind of KitchenAid/Bosch mixer? What is your favorite thing to make with it?

I am hoping it will help me with my quickbreads, like banana and pumpkin bread. I can never seem to get them to turn out quite right. We'll see!!

Updated. Well, kinda

So, I finally updated my blog background, now that it's almost Christmas. I know, I'm way behind. I am really, really gonna try to be better at updating this thing.

It's amazing!

He does smile!

What happens when your 6 year old finds your camera...

You get very strange, random pictures. Like this one of your aunt's kitchen floor....


Or the picture of the back deck through the window....


Or a water jug sitting on the floor. Hmmm, interesting!



Then your 6 yr old finds a human subject. Let's see if he'll make funny faces at us!



Now it's our turn to make funny faces!

Bracken's funny face

The Funnies, Part 2

I think all of the funnies I have this time are from Jake.

"Those hurty things are hurty!" Talking about the sticker weeds.

Max asked me if Jake was old enough to try riding his bike without training wheels. I told him I didn't think he was ready for that, yet. Max told Jake, "mom says your old enough to ride a bike with just 2 wheels." Jake then asked Max if he was old enough to ride a bike with FOUR wheels! So funny!

Just yesterday Jake was running to his room. I followed him and he told me his brain always follows him. I told him that was good, since it's inside him.

What a goofy boy!

The Funnies

I'm gonna steal an idea from my friend, Sarah Anne and start writing down the funny things my kids do and say.

The other morning Rob got up with the kids and let me sleep in and I heard Jake stomping around the house saying he was doing the Gorrilla dance (or something like that! LOL)

Today Max was playing Starfall on the computer and they have an area where you can make your own avatar. He put a mowhawk on his and then asked me if he could grow his hair into a mowhog!

Rob found some sunglasses in a car he just bought (to fix and resale. Yes, my husband thinks he's a car salesman. At least he's an honest carsalesman :) ) Anyway, Jake looked at Max and said Hey, lookin' good!

He wasn't faking this time. Poor Max :0(

NOT a fun night last night! I got home from work (a very LONG night, might I add) and just a few minutes after I crawl into bed I hear one of the the boys crying. Not sure if it is Max or Jake. I go check on them and it is Max, clutching his belly and moaning and crying. Poor thing! I calmed him down, got him some medicine and went back to bed. Not long after that he comes in and tells me he's going to the couch. It took me a minute to get up, but before then I hear him puking in the hallway! UGHHH! AND he had RED jell-o after dinner. I get a bowl for him and put him on the couch, and go clean up the mess. We both layed on the couch, me trying to calm him down, poor baby. He threw up one more time but was still moaning and crying til about 5:30 or so. After he seemed to be feeling better I asked if he minded if I went to my bed and he said, ya, that would be good, then I can have more room! LOL, I didn't know I was crampin' your style, buddy!

Rob got up and got the kids to school, thank goodness, but I still didn't get enough sleep. When Max got up this morning he was perfectly fine and has been fine all day. He was mad at me when I kept him home from school, though!

On a happy note, I have an appointment to get my hair done tomorrow, wooohoo!!!!

Meet Konner Si

My sweet, snuggly new nephew!! This post is pretty late, since it's been almost 3 weeks since we went to Delta to meet him, but we all know I am a procrastinator!

Konner is my brother, Pj and sil, Heather's new baby! We waited a long time for him to join our family and are so glad he is here.






Konner and Jake. This is the one and only time we got Jake to hold him. He really liked the baby, but Jake is a mover and didn't want to sit still long enough to hold Konner. He would walk by him if someone else was holding him and talk to him or give him a kiss, but that was about it!

Jordyn and Konner. She just LOVES having a new baby in the family to hold and snuggle!

Max and Konner. He is so happy to hold and talk to the baby! I don't know who asked to hold him more, him or Jordyn!

I didn't get a picture of Si holding Konner. I did get a picture of Si that weekend, though. I don't think Si even held Konner. He was asked several times if he wanted to, but never did.

We had such a blast in Delta! I think I'm gonna do a new post to talk about what we did while we were there. I can't wait to go back and visit!

New closet

Last week the shelf in our closet collapsed. Not fun. This is the second or third time this has happened. We lived with it for a few days until Friday when Rob and I went to Home Depot to get a new, sturdier shelf and supports. On Saturday, I cleared everything out of the closet and Rob and I discussed putting the shelf up over the existing dark wood, or tearing it out. We both really, really disliked the dark wood. The people who put it up did a good job, and it's high quality wood. But, it made our closet so dark! Plus, I hate dark wood, anyway. So, we decided to go with tearing it out.



Here is the before...





We were going to do the outside wood, as well, but it really would have been a HUGE chore and we would have had to dry wall, as well. We decided that was more than we wanted to tackle in one weekend. So, we are leaving the outside wood for another time.



This is after the wood was torn out and the holes patched and mudded.






The closet painted just a plain white (we had the paint left over from something else)

After the shelves are installed. I love the new second shelf. The original shelf was very narrow, so we got a wider shelf and then Rob cut down the old one to make a second shelf. Love it!

After everything is put back in the closet. I just love my new closet. Even without a light in there I can see much better now that it is white and not all dark! I still need to get some shoe racks, but we were out of money, so we'll have to wait for payday! I would also really like doors on the closet, but that will have to wait for another time.

Was he faking?

The other day I woke the kids up for school. Max was on his bed, moaning and groaning that his belly hurt. I finally gave in and decided he could stay home from school. A few hours later he was acting fine and was asking if we could have Wendy's for lunch and could he play the Wii? I told him no. I started mentioning that he was acting like he was fine and that he should probably go to school. I think this was about 10 am. Rob said, no, lets just let him stay home. I said, ok, no biggie, he can miss a day of school. Rob then told Max that he had to take it easy and to go rest on his bed. About 10-20 minutes later Max came to find me saying he was ready to go to school now!! LOL, I knew he was faking!! Once he figured out there was gonna be no Frosty, Wii, or anything but rest, he decided school was more fun than staying home!

The BEST cupcakes, EVER!

I'd been hearing about this little cafe/bakery here in town, even drove by it a few times. I had to run a few errands before work today, so I left early. I was done with my errands and at the library, picking up a book when I realized I had some time to kill. That's when I remembered 25 Main was just around the corner. Yay, I could finally go sample some of their killer cupcakes I'd been hearing about. It was definitely worth the trip! Next time I go I'll have to go around lunch time, their panini's look FABULOUS! I ordered a Orange Blossom and a Chocolate Raspberry, because I couldn't decide which flavor to try. I took them to work and shared with my co-worker. She choose the Orange, so I had the Chocolate. TO DIE FOR!!! Seriously.

So, if any of you end up in St George, head on over to 25 Main and have a cupcake or two. Or 10.

Busy, busy,

but not much to say! It seems like all I do is run errands, clean, make meals and go to work! We haven't been doing much, just the same old, same old. Well, we did go to Delta and see Konner, my new cutie pie nephew! That was a lot of fun and I loved snuggling with the baby. As soon as I get the pics on the computer I'll post them. The kids all seemed to have a good time playing with their cousins. Jake kept telling me he was gonna play with Bracken and they got along well.

I did do a bunch of canning a few weeks ago. Greats Max and Voy brought down some plums and I made a whole bunch of jam. YUMMY!!! Then about a week after that Jan went up and brought down a whole bunch of peaches and nectarines and I made jam out of those, too. I also blanched (I think that's the word for it) and cut up a bunch of peaches to freeze to make smoothies with.

Thats my life lately!

Funny Blogs

I have recently come across 2 hilarious blogs that I thought I'd share with you all. The first one is Awkward Family Photos and the second one is People of Walmart. Go check them out, if you haven't already. These blogs will definitely have you laughing!

Jordyn's Baptism

Jordyn got baptized on August 1st. It was such a special day for our family, especially Jordyn! She was so excited and not *too* nervous!

Grandma Jan, Grandpa Dave, Josh, Grandma Debbie, Aunt Chantel and our very good friends the Hancocks were all able to make it. After the actual baptism we all headed over to our house for a some subs and chips and visiting. All in all it was a GREAT day!

This is Jordyn and Brother Bice. Thank you, Brother Bice!!

Saturday

Last Saturday was pretty busy. We were invited to a birthday party at a splashpad the I took all the kids too. We had lots of fun! When Roman (the birthday boy) was opening his presents, he opened a bag with some pajama's in them. Max sighed real loud and said "Awww, man, I need some of the those!!" It was so funny, all the adults started laughing. That's my Max!

After the party we went home and relaxed for a bit and then Rob surprised us by taking us out to the county fair. This is the first time we have gone to the fair as a family! I think we all had a great time. When we got there we went and walked through the building with all the homemade items and it was really interesting and neat. Jordyn and I liked looking at the intricate dollhouses. Plus, the building was air conditioned! After that we went to the entertainment/food building. We walked around a bit then I bought the 3 little kids some tickets to jump in the jump house and go down the big slide while Rob and Si went and got some food. Next we went to the commercial booth building and walked through all their booths. I think everyone's favorite was the pest control booth. Those guys had some awesome spiders, lizards and scorpions. They had a scorpion under a black light and it was glowing blue, I think. Also, one of the guys had a HUGE cockroach on his shirt. He said he'd had it for 5 years! YUCK!! Jake kept begging to hold it, so the man let Jake pet it's back. EWWWWW!!! He also got out a lizard and let the kids pet it, too. Jake kept asking to hold it and he did let him hold it with his help for a little bit.

After that the carnival was open. The same exact carnival I grew up going to and used to be at the park right across the street from my house when I was little. The kids thought that was pretty neat that I lived across the street from the carnival when it came to town! The kids all rode some rides and had a blast. Si rode on some pretty scary ones that you definitely wouldn't catch me on!! He thought it was great!! Jordyn and Max rode on the Gravitron thing where you go inside and lay against a rolling thing on the wall and it spins you so fast you can't move. Max thought that was so awesome that he couldn't move one piece of himself (his exact words) I wished I would've caught a picture of the look on their faces when they walked off that ride! I took Max and Jordyn on the Magic Carpet ride. Max loved it, hollering and laughing the whole time. Jordyn, on the other hand, hated it. She was doing a little freak out next to me. Finally she closed her eyes and calmed down. Even the girls next to her were giving her concerned looks. As soon as it stoppe, her eyes popped open and she said that it was fun!! I just laughed! Jake had a ton of fun on some of the smaller kiddie rides. I think we'll definitely be back next year! I might even talk Rob into going up to Lagoon next summer! YAY!!! I haven't been there since Si was a baby!

Here are some pictures. I didn't get any of Si and Jordyn cuz they rode the bigger rides while I took Max and Jake on the kiddy rides.



Jake and Max on the train. It was a little slow for them after the rollercoasters, but they still liked it.


Max driving the rollercoaster, of course!



Jake riding the dragon. This one just went around in a cirlcle and up and down. I could barely get him to look at me.

This is the first ride the boys went on and they LOVED it! They also went on another roller coaster, but I didn't get any good pictures of that one.

Well, that was our Saturday!! Busy, busy, but LOTS of fun! Thanks, hon, for taking us!

My Brave Jake!

In order to be admitted into Headstart, Jake had to have a lead screening. I thought it would just be a finger prick, like the iron tests at WIC. I took him to the lab last Friday and found out he had to have 5 cc's of blood taken from his arm! I felt so bad! He wiggled too much on the first arm and they couldn't get enough blood, so they had to do it a second time in his other arm. He did great that time. I told him if he held still the second time we'd go to Arctic Circle and get an ice cream cone. Here he is afterwards with his bandages. He held his arms out straight until we got home. No way was he bending his arms.

Tuesday I had to take the paper to the drs office to have them sign, saying the test was negative. The dr's office is right next door to the lab and Jake kept asking to go back to that building cuz he wanted his blood taken again! Silly boy :-)

Back to School!

Today was the first day of school for Si, Jordyn and Max. Jake starts HeadStart on August 31st. I have not got pictures of Si, yet, he had to leave about 7:10 this morning and I was barely coherent at that point and totally forgot to get some of him. I'll make him pose this afternoon after school. I'm sure he'll LOVE that!

Si is in 7th grade, his second year of Intermediate School. Jordyn is in 3rd grade and Max is in 1st. He is very excited about being in school all day. Jake, Buster and I walked Jordyn and Max to school. Jake was really sad that he couldn't go to school with them, but I think he's enjoying being home with just mom and dad. I know I'm enjoying it! He even got to play Mario Kart Wiiiiii (as he says it) all by himself! Well, Jake is asking me if I'm done, yet, so I better go.

Modeling

Jordyn got baptized on August 1st. Grandma Voy and Aunt Jo could not make it (they went to Arizona for a funeral) On their way back through, they stopped and did a little shopping with Jan for Jordyn. The got here the cutest outfits and Jordyn was so happy to receive them and try them on. Of course Grandma had to take pictures! I do have to say that I love that Jan is always snapping away with her camera, because, if for some reason, I don't have mine, I know Grandma has hers. It has saved me several times! Anyway, back to Jordyn.

Here is a picture of Aunt Jo and Grandma LaVoy!

Our day

This morning all 4 kids had dentist appointments at 9 am. What was I thinking making appointments for ALL the kids that early when I have to work the night before??? But, we made it. I think we were even a little early, if you can believe it. All the kids did really well and behaved themselves. Jake did NOT like the gritty toothpaste stuff the lady used to clean his teeth with, but he handled it ok. He really liked being able to lay on the table and watch the movie in the ceiling. Jake was also the only one with cavities :-( Guess we're not brushing good enough! Max, Jordyn and Si did not have any cavities, thank goodness. Si did not walk out very happy. He has 2 adult teeth growing in (I'm sure they are pretty much in) but his baby teeth hadn't fallen out, yet. I heard the dr asking him if he was ready for them to come out and Si was saying no. The dr said, well, can you get them out in the next day or two? Si was over there saying, ya, ya, ya! I knew otherwise! I walked over there and told the dentist to just pull them. Si did not like that ONE bit, but the dentist put some numbing stuff on his gums and pulled the 2 teeth right out. He's one brave guy, I thought Si was gonna take a thumb with him!

After the dentist we headed over to the Hidden Valley park/splash pad. It was a ton of fun. The kids loved that they could be getting wet one minute and then playing on the toys the next minute. I really enjoyed all the benches and shade over the benches. I don't think I've been to a park with so many shade umbrellas! It was really cool. I took a TON of pictures that I'll try to put on later.

Another Max Funny

This kid just cracks me up.

My niece, Autumn, was playing a Wubzy dress-up game on Nickjr.com. Wubzy was standing in a room in his underwear and the point of the game was to dress Wubzy however you wanted. Autumn put a shirt on him first and Max said "you really should put pants on him first cuz it's embarrassing to see him in his underwear!" Oh my gosh! He is so funny!!

A Max Funny

While Jake was in the tub Max went in and yelled "BOOOOO", scaring Max. The funny thing was that Max came out of the bathroom, laughing, looked at Rob and said "That never gets old" He such a stinker!

Home again

This morning I went to Beaver to meet Chantel and picked up Jordyn and Autumn. It wasn't a bad drive, I turned the music up loud and sang along. I'm glad to have Jordyn back home and I think it will be fun to have Autumn here for a visit. So far the plan is to meet next Saturday to drop Autumn back off with Chantel. We may have my other niece, Kirsten come down for a visit when we drop Autumn off. We'll see how this week goes, first, though!!

He got in!

A few weeks ago we got the acceptance letter from Headstart for Jake. I was so happy! I'm pretty sure the only reason he got in was from the referral from the school district for his Speech Therapy. Now I just need to get him into the dentist and the dr for checkups and turn the papers into Headstart and then we'll find out what class he's gonna be in! I'm really, really hoping for morning, so keep your fingers crossed for us! I already have the dentist and dr appointments set up, just have to go to them!

Another reason this makes me happy is I've been kicking around the idea of going back to school when Jake starts Kindy, so this may up my plans a year. I just need to find out when Jake will be going to school and take a class or 2 at the same time as Jake and no day care costs! I also need to make an appointment with a counselor and see what kind of classes I need to take. Oh, and decide for sure what I want to be when I grow up, lol!!!

Off Visiting

I forgot to mention in my 4th of July post that after our fun-filled weekend in Fillmore, Jordyn went to Delta to visit with my family. Sunday afternoon my brother, PJ, and my niece, Kirsten, came and picked her up. I have only talked with her once, but I'm sure she is having a blast! Some of my favorite memories are going to visit family in the summer time. I loved the anticipation of it and then when it was over reliving all the memories throughout the next year before going and doing it all the next summer!

It has been very quiet at our house without her. Who would've thought that one child would make the house that much quieter? But, it does! I hate to say it, but Max and Jake get along much better without Jordyn there to tease and fight with and make scream. Oh what a little drama queen my only girl is!! LOL I do miss her alot, though.

Saturday I am meeting my sister, Chantel, in Beaver to pick up Jordyn and my niece, Autumn. Autumn will stay with us for about a week and then we'll do another trip to Beaver to drop off kids!

We miss you, Jordyn!

Fireworks!

Here are some pictures of the Fireworks. It was a great show!

Family, Fun, Food and Fireworks!

Last weekend we all packed up and went to Fillmore to spend the 4th of July with Rob's family. Rob's Grandpa Max was the Grand Marshall of the parade and most of the family was there. We had so much fun and ate TONS of FABULOUS food!

My kids had a great time playing with all their cousins and riding bikes and squirting each other with squirt guns. The adults had a great time hanging out with each other.

I took 2 vacation days, so we went up Thursday and got all unpacked. Friday morning we got up and headed to Delta for a quick trip so Rob could check out the air conditioning in my moms truck. We got back to Fillmore before lunch. After lunch we decorated the kids bikes and scooters for the kids parade that evening.

Saturday was pretty packed, but a ton of fun. I was in charge of Breakfast that morning so Rob and I got everything put out and cleaned up. After that was the parade, which was a ton of fun. I don't think I have ever seen that much candy at a parade. The kids had a blast chasing after the candy and getting squirted with water guns. After lunch Rob and I took the kids to the park to check out the booths and games there. The kids each got to ride the big slide and then Jordyn and Si both got dunked in the dunk tank. After the park we watched the Talent Show that Jordyn and Skylar put together. It was so fun! Jordyn even got up there and sang a song all by herself. I was pretty impressed!! That afternoon the kids and I took a little nap and then it was off to the fireworks. They were great! Max was pretty scared of them, but everyone else liked them. We were a bit too close cuz about halfway through the wind shifted and debris and coals (not hot) started falling on us. Right at the end it started raining, so we hightailed it out of there!

Sunday morning we started to pack up and then hung out til lunch/dinner was ready. After eating we headed home :(

Here are some pictures