Updates on the Donaldson Family

Time Flies!

2009-10-24T11:17:00.000-07:00

Okay since I never posted any pictures of E's bday I guess I will do that. :-) (E says thank you for all her gifts...we are working on the thank you cards.) She loved that day! She got to go to school, come home and play with some new toys, daddy came home early, and then the party started. :-)

Okay time has flown by!!! Life is busy as usual around here. Seems like I never get everything done I want to. I am hoping to start on our Christmas cards this week since both kids should be in school! N was out of school Mon-Thurs this last week b/c he was sick. Just a fever and cough.

Let's see last weekend we went to Long Beach, WA with M's mom's side of the family. I got to meet some relatives that I have never meet. E had fun with 2 other little girls there. N had some fun in our bedroom with the TV and Nintendo DS games. (He started to get sick there and we were trying to keep him away from everyone else.) It was a long drive (3 day weekend) but we had fun. Didn't get any pictures b/c our camera decided to go on the fritz....seems to be working okay now. (Our guess is we will need a new one soon.) :-(

This weekend has been busy with Friday night at the church to carve pumpkins (mommy did most of it). Kids had fun running around with the other kids. This afternoon (Saturday) is N's last soccer game and then "party" afterwards. (S has to work tonight so M gets the fun of the party.) Then tomorrow (Sunday) is church and then the youth group is setting up for a youth halloween party. The party is 6-8 and so we will leave M at the church in the afternoon go home grab food and costumes and then go back for the fun. The kids are excited about getting to wear their costumes before Halloween. :-)

E Update!

2009-09-18T06:53:00.001-07:00

Well in the last couple of weeks E has started preschool (last year) and dance class. She is loving both of them! She wishes her school went all day like N's. :-) I am thinking we will be looking into the all day Kindergarten for next year.

We had a parent watch day at dance this week so I got to take pictures. She is the tallest in her class and you can tell she loves being there. This picture is of her and then neighbor girl. And then the rest of her. It was easier to take a picture in the mirror then any other way.

Then on Wednesday of this week it was crazy hair day at school. So she really wanted some color in her hair and I happened to have some stuff left over from something that N did last year. So she got red in her hair. She loved it...I think I could actually talk her into sparkles in her hair this year for Halloween (she is going to be Tinkerbell) since she wants her hair up like Tinkerbell. :-)

The Last Week...

2009-09-09T17:46:00.000-07:00

Well this last week has been a busy one around here! We had Nana B and Papa D come visit Friday evening - Sunday afternoon. On Saturday we went up to Silver City. We had alot of fun. If you have never visited there you should. It is on some dirt roads but they are not bad. We took the minivan and it was fine. We had a fun time walking around. We saw the old cemeteries, school, church, hotel (which you can get food to eat and actually stay the night if you want), and many other buildings. The picture is the back side the hotel. Every building in the town is owned by someone. Most are privately owned and used but others such as the hotel are privately owned but visitors can go inside.

Nathan got a little upset with us when we weren't going to go for a hike. We said we are hiking (have to walk everywhere) and he said no we weren't b/c we weren't in the mountains. (He meant that we weren't up on a trail somewhere.) Had a hard time convincing him we were up in the mountains. :-)

On the way back we stopped at a place called Celebration Park and tried to fish....well M and I did mostly but the fish jumped all around us but not onto our hook. M was not happy at all!!!!

Well come Sunday M was not feeling well. We went to church and then stopped at a BBQ competition that M had a friend competing in. (He won Grand Reserve Champion...hope I remembered that title correctly.) Anyways, M came home and went straight to bed. B and D left that afternoon after D learned how to play frisbee golf on the wii with N and E.

Well M was definetly sick. He has slept on and off since Sunday. He stayed home from work on Tuesday (Monday was holiday so was home already.) and then Wednesday you could tell he was doing much better so he went to work. Lasted until after lunch then BAM he called me and I could tell right away he was not feeling the greatest. So he came home and went straight to bed for 1.5 hrs and then got up and worked for a little while. He is hoping to be able to make it through a whole day at work tomorrow but we shall see. No fever but this cold or whatever has knocked him down.

E had a busy week! She started dance class on Tuesday and then preschool (last year) started today (Wednesday). She loves both of them. NO hesitation at either one. It was head for the door ahead of mommy and in we went and off to what we needed to do. She is such a social person. We are so glad to see that she enjoys doing this stuff. So now the season has started of mommy driving almost everyday to somewhere. :-) Thursdays are our days of nothing except for evenings are soccer practice for N.

N is loving soccer! We got so lucky in the fact that we were on a waiting list (late sign up since I didn't realize that for fall you needed to be signed up by the first of June!). Anyways, the lady made it sound like the team that he got on was not from our area but a different part of Meridian. Well come to find out 3 team mates are from his 1rst grade class and 1 team mate is from 2nd grade class. So he is loving it. He is always out there trying even if he is having a hard time or "not winning" as he calls it. We keep telling him that no matter what he is doing a great job! He so looks forward to Thursday evenings. (I just realized I don't have any pics yet of this...will have to fix that soon.)

FUN FACT:

Okay thought I would leave you with a fun fact! Everyone keeps hearing me say how much E grows and how much she needs to slow down! Well here is proof!!!! Tonight I measured them on the wall chart we keep near their bedrooms. Now I measured them exactly 6 months ago this day too. N grew almost an inch in that 6 months. E grew 2 inches!!!! I wonder when she will ever slow down. Now you can see why I don't buy new clothes/shoes until the last minute for each season. I just can't predicte which size she will be in for the next season. N was so predictable but E is not! :-)

New Glasses

2009-08-14T12:44:00.000-07:00

Well when my sister was here visiting I had an eye appt and I finally got to get new frames (my old ones the paint was peeling off the metal). So we spent awhile figuring out which ones and finally narrowed it down. Then I waited and waited for them to come in. I got them today! I like them and M & E like them. M says he has to get a little use to them b/c they are not what I "normally" choose. :-) We shall see if N even notices when he gets home from school. :-)

The picture is not the greatest b/c it is really hard to take pics of yourself that you like. :-)

Fishing

2009-08-14T12:33:00.000-07:00

Well as some of you know we have been getting into fishing in this household. 3 out of 4 of us have our own fishing rods. (And I will be having one soon) It all started with N getting a pole for his birthday from my parents. :-) Anyways, once M did it on our camping trip he was hooked. We do catch and release. Well so far non of us had really caught one yet. That changed this week. Wednesday evening we went to park (right next to our subdivision) and went fishing. N had his pole ready to go first so he casts in and I look over after sitting down and his bobber is gone! So I holler for him he has one and to pull on it and start reeling. I go running over and he had forgotten to "lock" his reel so here I was trying to pull on it and it kept going. :-) Anyways, the fish got away with the bait. :-( So then the rest of the time it was fun. We got alot of bites, N got his line stuck in a tree twice, E finally was convinced to use some bait/hook instead of using a weight, M caught 3 (only one got to shore on his line and one had the pole bent a ton but got away...would have been interesting to see what size it was), and S caught one after it had teased her in the same spot over and over. :-)

M's fish is the one "hanging" on the line. S's is the one in the water being ready to be released.

N First Day of School for 2nd Grade!

2009-08-14T12:29:00.000-07:00

Well as most of you know N is in year round school (modified) and we love it. He started school this last Wednesday. Tuesday night we got to go meet his teacher and see his classroom. Then Wednesday we walked to the school (knew the parking situation would be awful) and I picked him up. Then since then we have been catching the school bus. This year so far he is loving school. He hasn't had any "issues" at home about saying he doesn't want to go and he actually talks more about school then he did last year. Now it might because it's all new but I am hoping not. His teacher this year so far is great. I have heard great things about her from neighbors and friends. She is a more "creative" teacher...not as much desk work which should be great for N.

Coupon and Sale Savings!

2009-08-04T15:19:00.001-07:00

Okay I have been trying to be better about keeping an eye out for sales and using coupons on groceries. I have a few websites that I check out about 2-3x a week that a friends sent me the links too. So today after being gone for a week I needed to catch up. :-) Here is a picture and info that shows you what I am trying to do to stock up and save. I always check dates on items too since I don't want them to go out of expiration before I can use them. :-)

This pictures shows you my "loot" for this week from Albertson's. I paid $48.73 for all of it and saved $151.41 (love how the reciepts already add this up so you don't have to add all the coupons and such by yourself). So came out to 73 items that I bought which ended up being $0.66 each item.

I will have a posting up tomorrow about our camping trip...the computer is being very slow with the pictures. :-(

Camping Newberry Crater Oregon

2009-08-04T15:10:00.000-07:00

Well last week we got to go camping with the kids and dog. We left on Tuesday afternoon and camped until Saturday morning. Then stayed Saturday evening in Bend before heading home. It was a lot of fun. We had no watches (not even cell phones) and no set things to do. Every night the kids slept great except for the first night E got up once and scared M and I. :-) After that they were asleep within a minute of their heads hitting the pillows and they actual slept until 7am (our guess). The dog even had fun but every night she had to be tossed into the lake so she was clean to go into the tent. :-) She even slept out of her kennel which the kids loved. She went back and forth between the kids sleeping bags/blankets. It was really warm up there...atleast to what we have done before. The first day we tried to take a nap and that just didn't work...it was cooler outside the tent then in the tent (our tent was a tadbit in the sun but not much). The kids got very dirty. Our campsite was mostly dirt and was huge! We had a duck that visited every night but we only fed him on the last night. Nimi wasn't too sure of that whole thing. Every day we tried fishing but didn't catch anything. Got a few nibbles but that was it. Some places you could see the fish in the water (water was very clear) and other times when fishing from in the water you couldn't. We all realized we liked it so M has decided that we need to get poles and license for us so we can all fish. N is very good at casting his own pole...E still needs work. N gets bored b/c he hasn't caught anything and seen what it is like. M and I had a relaxing time. I think two weekends from now we might go up to the Sawtooth to hike and fish...we shall see what my work schedule is like. M and N also played with the sling shot that has been sitting in our garage forever. Fun times.

Lazy Days and Orange Chair

2009-07-22T11:55:00.001-07:00

Well one picture is of the kids being lazy in front of the tv. I think the dog loves it. :-) You missed out on the fight that started right after this. I guess an hour was too long together for this afternoon....they are now playing in separate rooms for a little while. Then I know in 30 minutes they will ask if they can play together and they won't fight. :-)

Then I just finished the painting job on the chair N wanted for his room at his desk. Now he desk from his birthday is blue like he wanted. Then when we found this chair from a friend who was moving and put it out for the garbage guys. We sanded it and cleaned it up and then painted it. It's perfect for a boys room b/c it can take a beating. :-) And of course you can see the color N wanted it. His Kindergarten teacher was big into BSU and even though we don't follow it N always remembers about it when it comes to colors.

Decorating

2009-07-22T11:51:00.000-07:00

Well slowly but surely getting things decorated...one step at a time. :-) I put some stuff on the mantel and then I did an idea that I can't remember if mom told me or Aunt P told me about. At first E was not happy that her baby blanket was up there (it has been in the closet for years) but now she is fine with it. I think on the other side I want to find an old wooden crate or something and put N's baby blanket on that side with some sort of plant. I'll just keep an eye out for something.

New Family Photos!

2009-07-21T16:53:00.000-07:00

Okay I know it's been forever since I have blogged and there is tons going on around here with summer here. My parents came to visit along with my sister and her husband. We had a great time and time seemed to fly by. I don't even think we made it to the pool like my sister wanted....didn't even realize this until after everyone had left. My dad made a mantel for us and after I painted it looks like it belongs in the house and was part of the house. We love it. I promise to take a "finished" picture and post it tomorrow since I put some stuff up on it yesterday after knowing it had been drying for 3 days (I was worried since it was glossy oil paint...that is what all of our trim is).

Anyways, while everyone was here I had a friend who takes wonderful pictures take our pictures. Of course I get to see them before anyone else (actually M and the kids did since I was at work)

E's Writing

2009-05-01T08:22:00.001-07:00

Well I finally got the letter scanned that E did at school.

Golf, Go Carts,Teeth, School, Birds, etc.

2009-04-30T10:45:00.000-07:00

Well a couple of weekends ago we went to Bend to see M's mom and stepdad. We had alot of fun. The kids got to go hit golf balls with Papa. They had a blast. N liked it alot more then E. N has been bugging us for quite awhile to go golfing. So he finally got to go. He did pretty well too for his first time.

While we were in Bend N took a tumble on his scooter...we are still not sure how it did it going up the hill of the driveway and wasn't even on the step part but he took some skin off his nose. Right now it is healed up almost all the way. He might have a scar there but oh well. :-)

N also finally has his first loose tooth! We just figured this out last night when he was trying to eat a fruit roll up and pulled on it with his teeth. It is the bottom right one. So hopefully soon I will be able to take his first smile picture with a tooth missing. :-) I think I am more excited about this then he is. LOL

Last weekend M and N got to go on their "guys night out" date. M is trying to take each kid about every 3 months out with just him to have some daddy time. Anyways, they went to Wahooz (use to be Boondocks) where they played minature golf, video games and then N got to drive go carts all by himself. He was nervous at first and then after the first time he was hooked. M said he was like a kid in the candy store couldn't get enough of it. Now these are not the adult go carts they are a smaller version and a smaller track but still there were older kids driving too. He was just an inch over the height you had to be. I would post a picture but the pics are on M's camera. :-)

Now here's a story for you about an annoying robin (bird)! We had gotten the tint done and then left for the weekend. Then came home and we washed the outside of the windows and I noticed there was bird poop on the patio but thought they must have just come in b/c no one was around and the feeder is near by. Well wrong! Come to find out we have a male robin that has been seeing his reflection in the tint and trying to "fight" the bird. Ugh! Let's just say annoying and messy! So I looked up info on the internet...didn't find a whole lot except for it's territorial and we knew he was building a next near by b/c he would fight the relection with dirt and grass in his beak (which just made the window more dirty...which drives M totally crazy). Anyways, I took some shiny ribbon and taped it to the window thinking it would scare him away. Wrong! He actually sat on top of the ribbon. Which just drove me nuts! Especially at 6:30 am! He would come in the morning and then again in the evening. Anyways, M thought of a cap gun. So he finally found one at Walmart and bought it. It worked! Every time the robin came one of us would go out and "shoot" it. The noise scared him away. It has been 3 days since he has come here. So it only took a few days of doing that. We still have the thing sitting out just in case but glad to have found something that worked that didn't cost an arm and a leg!

N is doing awesome at school. He is caught up with the other kids (middle of the pack) for reading. So he will do just fine on the IRI test in a couple of weeks. E only has one more month of school then it's summer break for her. I really need to find a dance class or something for her to do during the summer. She might be taking a week long dino theme class at our church preschool. Plus there is VBS week. It's wierd to think that in about 4 weeks there will be no school for E, N will be at the end of his track break and going back for 3 more weeks before his "summer break", I won't have babysitting at the church 2x a week, so the weeks should slow down...it's hard to imagine. The pool though will be open and I plan to take E alot so she will maybe start sticking her head in the water. :-)

Oh yea...E is learning to sound out words. I will need to scan in the paper I got from school. They had to write a sentence/letter and let me tell you...you can actually read it and she did it mostly by herself. It's wierd to see something that N would have done at the beginning of first grade from her. She loves it though. She is always asking us how to spell something (while driving in the car) and then there are times when she and N are talking about letter sounds. :-)

Okay time to get some more stuff done this afternoon before I know it N will be home from school and then time for me to get ready to head to work for the evening. Have a great weekend! We will. M is headed to Redmond area with the youth group for Acquire the Fire and the kids and I are staying here and getting some things done...hopefully the fence finished staining if it doesn't rain more.

Easter & Update!

2009-04-16T17:57:00.000-07:00

Okay I know I have been really bad about both of my blogs lately! Time just seems to get away way too easily around here. My goal is to try to stay around the house more...especially now that weather is getting nicer.

Let's see what is going on in our life...

N has been doing awesome with reading. Still need to work on the math subject but hey at least he is interested in it. Every week he gets 100% on his spelling test and that is with us only practicing once at home. Other wise it's just a waste of time on our part. They do practice them almost every day at school too so that helps. Some speed reading stuff that they have been working on he has gotten the hang of and done awesome on them! He actually now starts reading out loud to M and I. I have also noticed he can read my chats with M on the computer so now we have to be careful about what we are writing. :-)

E is doing great. She loves school. I am looking for a dance class for summer time with her. That way she is busy while N is still in school. I can't believe E only has next month left of school then it will be summer time for her. Oh and she learned how to buckle herself in the car (toy bribe) and it is wonderful!

Both kids are counting down the days until the pool opens. :-)

M has been busy with work and youth group stuff. We both are enjoying the Bible study class we are taking but we will be glad too when it is done in the next 5 weeks. It will free up an evening for us.

S has been busy with schedules around here and working at the church babysitting and also working at her job. She still enjoys working there. There were some changes done and not a supervisor anymore at this stage. They needed supervisors to work 20 or more hours and about any hours so wouldn't work. But still working there...it is a little different but still fun. S also had a baby tooth taken out and an implant put it. It wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. And now it is healing well. Will get the crown in 5 months.

We are still loving the house. We just got tint put on the top big windows in the living room that face west. So now that will help with glare and heat. Took some pics but can't really tell a difference...will try again at a different time of day to see. We do like the fact that now the back neighbors can't see in except for at night if we have the lights on. So that is nice.

Kids had fun with easter. We went to sunrise service, then brunch at the church, helped with children's church (Matt recorded media) at the 9:30 service. Then home to see what was in the kids baskets. Then we hung out and relaxed. We all ate dinner together. Then we did the annual jelly bean hunt. I had found tiny baskets this year that were perfect. The kids now call them their jelly bean baskets. :-) I think that was N's favorite thing of the day.

Oh yea the easter egg hunt at the church was on Saturday and the kids loved it. They each got the toy(s) they had eyed before the hunt (you use points from sunday school and what you find in the eggs). So they were happy. Plus we have a ton of candy. N's group was not as large as they thought it would be and so he had two basket full...maybe a little more. I had to use his coat to carry the extra.

Enjoy the pics. I promise to update more next week!

Sleep!

2009-02-05T07:05:00.001-08:00

Okay sleep is so important! Lately I have not gotten enough and neither has E with her waking up every night. So last night I gave her some Benadryl plus she had a long day yesterday w/lots of play. Well guess what! She slept all night...well atleast she didn't come down to get me! She even slept until 8am! I am so glad and so is M b/c now hopefully we have broken the cycle!

Have a wonderful day!

Tomorrow I will post about us going to our zoo the other day and seeing the new giraffees and how one of them was checking out a squirrel. :-)

Craziness in our house!

2009-01-29T15:54:00.000-08:00

Well M came home early today b/c his stomach was not feeling well. But he has been working from his desk. The kids have been busy but all of sudden I hear some screaming, yelling and running. So I take the camera and sure enough M has taken a break and the kids were pig piling on him. :-) Then M decided to bring them up to me. Here is the picture of it.

Now here is another thought...if you know of any toys that a dog can not chew through! Let me know!!! I swear this dog loves to chew on anything. Yes she is still a puppy...turns one in February. But still. Luckily she doesn't chew on shoes anymore or any of the "fun" stuff. But it seems like I am always trying to find a new toy. Now I did finally break down and get her some bones too and we always have raw hide squares for her but I love to give her new stuff. She only has about two "toys" that she can not chew through. I can not give her squeaky stuff, stuffed toys or ropes...they are toast! She even chewed up her kong after a few months. She is cute though!

On another note...I have finally started just a crafting blog. If you are interested in it you can see it at... 2 B Scrappin

Keeping Busy

2009-01-27T15:44:00.000-08:00

Well N is on his track break right now. All I have to say is who thought of this track! They just got back into the routine of school and now he has another 3 weeks off??!! Anyways, he and E have been getting along better then I thought they would but by late afternoons they are sick of each other and both tired. Anyways, I have been cleaning up and reorganizing the bonus room closet that has books, board games, and toys in it. Finally I am able to keep the fort building stuff down where they can build with it. Today N figured out it was there. Then asked me to help show him how to put it all together. So today I helped build this but it kept them busy! Next time it will be interesting to see what they can come up with together. Also, for some reason the dog did not like the tunnel.

Sunny but Cold!!!

2009-01-26T08:06:00.001-08:00

Okay you have to understand we have had an inversion going on here for almost 2 weeks before this weekend! So that meant it looked like it was foggy all the time and no sun. I think we saw the sun peak once for about an hour during that time. Well this weekend we woke up to some snow yesterday (just a dusting) and then a little bit of sun that afternoon. But by last night the temperature starting dropping (we can now tell b/c we finally got our temperature gage back up. By the time we went to bed at 10 last night it was 25 degrees outside so I knew it would be a cold night. This morning at 7:30 when I checked the temperature it was 19.5 degrees! BRRRRR! But one good thing is the sun is out today! I will be glad to have the sunshine come in through the dirty windows. (Yes the windows are dirty b/c it was never quite warm enough to clean them after moving in and whats the point in cleaning the inside when the outside is dirty too.) :-) Anyways, thought I would leave you with a picture of the beautiful sun coming in through our windows in our staircase.

BRRR!

2009-01-21T14:23:00.000-08:00

Okay today is my busy day! Weds are just nuts around here. It's babysitting at the church, eat lunch, take E to preschool, go to N's school to help out, go back and get E, and then home for about an hour before N gets home. Then we do homework and eat dinner when M gets home. Then it's off to the church for bible study for M and S.

Today has been cold! I have been cold all day. I am now going to be wearing my sweat pants for the rest of the night since I don't have to be dressed nice for bible study class. :-) M just laughs at me.

I thought I would post this picture of all of us with Mickey Mouse.

Princess Table & Misc

2009-01-19T13:34:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! I can't believe the last post I did was halloween! Life has been busy around here! In December we went to Disney World with my parents and my sister and her husband. We all loved it. The kids loved it alot! Thanks to my cousin for making the kids think that Mickey Mouse sent them a shirt! They loved that and let me tell you those shirts have been worn everytime they are clean! I will post pictures after I finish getting through them all. I now have my dad's cd of pictures to load too and look at. I am sure that is all I will end up doing tonight while M is at his 4th day meeting. :-) We had a quiet Christmas here b/c M's parents couldn't make it in the snow here. They would have gotten stuck on the pass for who knows how long. So they will be coming to visit us next month.

Now I had to put this picture in here though today...E got this in the mail today from Nana E. My mom has had this sitting for her dolls for a long time and decided that E would use it more. Well sure enough E loves it and N thinks it's "cool". :-) E calls it her Princess Mirror/Table.

Then this picture is of my birthday present from Matt and I also used some of my birthday money from relatives for it. We got it through Birds Unlimited (they have a store locally). We are hoping to add to it a finch feeder and maybe sometime a humming bird feeder once we have some landscaping/plants in the back yard. Right now it is outside my dining room window so I can see it from the kitchen too. I love it. Now for the birds to find it. So far haven't seen any on it but have only had it up since yesterday. I am sure by the end of the week they will have found it.

Halloween!

2008-11-04T10:00:00.000-08:00

Okay finally posting some pictures from Halloween night. The kids had a blast! N got tired of his helmet (not a mask) fairly fast. Plus E only got to the 3rd house and decided she had enough with her shoes. This is the first year that I remember not having to worry about coats! It was so nice outside! And mom the cape was perfect! It billowed out when N walked so looked exactly like Darth Vader! Just so everyone knows N was Darth Vader and E was Princess Belle.

Sleep!

2008-11-02T05:58:00.000-08:00

Well since last night was change the clock time once again I thought for sure N would be up at the break of dawn but lo and behold he slept until 6:20!!! Is this a new phase he is going through???? We are hoping so! It's so nice when he sleeps in for us! :-) Now M on the other hand got stuck on the computer/phone for 5 hours last night for work. :-( He is sleeping now as we speak and hopefully going to get about 2 hours of sleep in before we have to leave for church/work. I knew he had woken at a little after 1am but thought he would be back, but I woke up at 6am and he hadn't been back to bed. Luckily I think he is done being the on call guy starting tomorrow.

Hope everyone got plenty of sleep last night!

I will post Halloween pictures tomorrow!

Pictures

2008-10-30T11:17:00.000-07:00

Couldn't get the pictures to add very well on the last post so will do this instead...

living room (downstairs)

okay...most of the pictures you can tell what is what. The bedroom with the red/white/blue quilt is the guest room. The one with the checkered rug (which I need to figure out how to keep it from moving so much!) is my craft room plus the kids crafts are in there too. The one with all the boxes and entertainment center (which we are so grateful to neighbors that helped moved this upstairs the day we moved in!) is the bonus room. We have actually gotten the entertainment center in place far left wall closer to the window...the tv stuff will be at that end and then play area will be near the door. The only picture that is not in here is the master bedroom/bath area. On the first floor you have the living room, master, kitchen, dining, office, laundry, and half bath. Then the 2nd floor you have the kids bedroom plus bathroom on one side. On the other side you have the bonus, craft room and guest room.

UGH!!! Looks like some of the pictures are cut off. If they are when you look then click on them and you can see the full picture.
I know I need a picture of the outside too but will try to get that tomorrow....or maybe next week.

Finally!!!!

2008-10-30T10:52:00.001-07:00

Okay I know I have not blogged in a LONG time! Let's just say moving takes alot out of you! Yes we moved!!! Our official move date was Sept 26 (2 days before E's bday). We had sold our "old" house and was having a hard time finding one that we liked or the offer would be accepted. We did put an offer on one house that was not accepted. Then finally after a couple of weeks of me looking like crazy with our realtor to narrow down options for M to look at we finally came back to an area that I had already looked at but M had decided was too far away. Well come to find our house right there and we actually love this area! It is actually easier to get on the highway for M to go to work and it seems like we are getting better gas mileage out here too b/c we aren't always sitting at lights or doing "short" little trips. We are off a road too that is so easy to get on and get to our church area so that is so nice too!

N had to switch schools. He went from a traditional school (Sept - June) to a year round (July - June). So when he switched he ended up being 5 weeks behind. His teacher has been great with this! We need to get better around here with catching him up...sometimes feels like all we do is work on that weeks stuff. But know that this will easy out some for us now that we are more settled (don't get me wrong we still have tons of stuff to do around here) and we don't have any trips for the next 6 weeks!

We switched E to a different preschool too b/c I was not happy with the one she was in. It seemed like they had to be quiet alot and they didn't even let her write her name on her paper. Plus the art projects were not really art projects. (I know the school teacher coming out of me.) So she is now what I would call an arts & crafts preschool that she loves and I love.

M and I have just been busy trying to keep up with the house stuff, jobs, kids lives and then Emmaus for us. M worked the mens and I attended the womens. To me it brought back alot of memories as a teenager attending Chryslis. We loved the weekends and doing this but it does put us behind...especially with everything else.

M is busy with work. It is alot of stress lately with some reogranizing and such. His job is safe as we speak but it is still very stressful. S is still working the same job and loves it. The holidays are starting right up next weekend so it will be even busier at her work.

Okay I will leave now for some pictures that some of you have been wanting to see.

Update - Wedding, Strep

2008-08-27T07:33:00.001-07:00

Well we had a great time up at the wedding. (Aug 16) It was hot for Portland but it was a great wedding! Wish we could have stayed another day. My sister and her husband are now in LA looking forward to him starting school next week and my sister looking for a job. Plus they are looking for a place to live. I still have not downloaded any of the pictures I took...ugh! But I will sometime soon I hope!

Then the week after we got home everyone around the house has been tired and just not all there. LOL Well come to find out that we had a kid over the week before the wedding that came down with strep. And I couldn't figure out why I was getting sick in the mornings and did not want to hardly eat, my glands were swollen and just plain old worn out. So went to the dr and they did the fast test and nothing...so sent it off to the lab (Friday). So over the weekend I got worse so I called Monday morning and went in again thinking something had to be very wrong...well come to find out I have Strep. Well then time for everyone else to get tested plus I called my mom and texted my sister and cousin to let them know. Mom and Dad went in and sure enough they have it (little bit of a sore throat & drainage down the back of the throat). Well now both kids tested positive yesterday and M's test will be back today but he already started the meds too. It's crazy! I have never had strep in my life and M has had it only once when he was a kid. I can't believe how it spread!

N started school this week and loves it! I am glad...wasn't sure how he would be for a full day. But he loves it and now we are hoping we didn't pass on the strep to any other kids/adults!

Okay off to get some things done around here. We'll keep you updated hopefully a little better! :-)

Didn't Make It

2008-08-13T14:20:00.000-07:00

Well we tried the biking to the school. This is why I don't understand why he can't ride the bus! Anyways, it took us almost 25 min just to get to the back of the neighborhood and that is not including going down the main street (which has no sidewalks at points). That would have probably taken another 15-20 minutes. Oh well we tried. I think I might just park a little ways from the school and walk over to get him. We shall see.

Half packed for the weekend. :-) The kids are excited and helping pick out their clothes for rehearsal dinner and what they wear in the car. :-) E has decided on her easter dress...which I think might be a little too fancy but oh well...at least it will be worn one more time before she out grows it.

Have a great weekend!

Oh and Jann...can you believe Verizon and Qwest are going to team together in some package deal that you can get. The lady tried to tell me I would save $5 a month to bundle internet and cell together but it wouldn't be set until October or November. Wierd!

Weekend Coming Up

2008-08-13T07:00:00.001-07:00

Okay I can not believe that my little sister is getting married this weekend! The kids are excited to see her and everyone else. They actually picked out a present for Aunt L...N is so excited about giving it to her. At the store he had to carry it and make sure it was okay out in the car.

Today we are going to ride bikes to N's school to see how long it takes. I would rather walk to pick him up b/c parking there is awful in the afternoons. The kids are excited to do it.

Then the rest of the day is laundry and packing. Then tomorrow morning will be cleaning the house to make sure it is tip top shape so hopefully we will get an offer! Fingers crossed and praying!

Okay off to get us all ready to start walking/riding before it gets too hot.

Have a great weekend! I am sure I will have some fun pictures to share.

Frustration!!!

2008-08-13T06:43:00.000-07:00

Okay we canceled our land line last week. They tell me we pay a month in advance so the next bill will be prorated. I go online today when I get the notice I have a bill and it is not prorated! It says I owe a full bill for the next mont...uh don't think so! So I try calling...sorry customer service is not available until 8am. So then I go to online chat. I have been on there with this lady for 20 minutes (maybe longer) and we are just now getting to let's look at your acct. How many times does she need to ask me this...

I also want to share with you that the information on the services that we provide you is confidential and, by law, Qwest is obligated to protect it. May I have your approval to use this information during this chat to ensure that I offer you the best service we have to meet your needs?

She asked me a total of 4 times. Each times I said sure but I don't want anything the line is canceled and would just like to know about my bill.

ugh! She just asks me "So you said you got a full bill?" Hello! I have told you that I don't know how many times since I logged on! This is another question she asked me about 4 minutes ago...Sorry, did you want me to check for bundling discounts? Uh NO!!! I just want to know about my bill!

I am so hoping I get the question would you like to fill out a survey??? UH YES!!!! B/c I am tired of this!

Then just now she says it looks like you owe this amount...right away I can tell she is looking at the wrong acct. I told her we had another acct that is just internet and I am not wondering about that one but need to know about the one canceled last week. Oh my word! Makes me wonder what she is doing at her desk!

Oh my word...I am half laughing now...she writes back. "I'm sorry for the delay. I'll be right with you."

I just now asking to talk to a supervisor b/c she is now telling me that I should pay for the full bill and have it credited back to me. And that she would now need to ask that bill is that okay?

All I have to say is I hope I never have to have phone service through them again! I have always had problems with customer service there!

okay off my rant now. LOL

Camping & Update

2008-07-23T12:55:00.001-07:00

Okay I had not realized how long it had been since I have posted on here! ugh! I think the kids and I are both ready for school to start but I would love to find a job during the time that E is at preschool but we shall see if that all works out. Anyways...

This last weekend we went to Wallowa Lake with a family church camp (our church only). It was fun and interesting. The kids had a blast. M & S were tired when all was said and done. Of course the kids didn't sleep in until the last day when we needed to pack up before breakfast. :-) Then we actually had to wake them up. The loved sleeping in the tent and "camping". It was a pretty area. There were always deer around too. The lake was cold but the kids had fun. They went out on one of the boats (friends from the church had with them) for the first time and loved it. M almost got N talked into going on the tube but not quite. Of course the kids didn't eat much (food was prepared for us) except for breakfast usually there was something they would eat. Oh and then E got spoiled by all the attention of "older" girls at the camp. She constantly had someone that would push her on the swings (of course I didn't get a picture of this).

House update - we have had about 9 different groups look at the house but so far no bites. We went and looked at houses again last night (hadn't been in like 3 weeks) and found one style that we liked (new) but nothing else that we liked and had what we wanted.

The kids and I have been trying to stay around the house (too save on gas) but I'll tell you sometimes it goes a little stir crazy around here. I wish our kids slept in so atleast part of the morning is gone by the time they wake up! I miss having my desk out too so I could make a mess on it and create but not have to worry about putting it away later. :-)

Nimi has grown. And boy can she jump!!! She is still little but she can jump up on our bed. Now if you have seen how high our bed is you wouldn't even think she could but she can do it from standing still or if she takes a running start you shoudl see her. Now she isn't too happy that we make her get down from there. But she loves it when we ask her into our laps on the couch/chairs. Sometimes she "sneeks" up there. The last two mornigs we have gone for walks to an Elementary school near here to play at the playground and she has loved those walks and always wants to keep up with the kids. And boy can she run! We have got to train her on frisbee! She would be excellent at it!

Okay time to make sure the kids aren't making too much of a wreck in their room. :-)

Cleaning

2008-06-25T14:27:00.000-07:00

I have to tell you that I am like most "normal" people...I hate to clean! Especially dust or polish. :-) But I now have all the wood in this house (trim, doorways, and cabinets) polished with wood polish. They look really good! I also cleaned the carpet this morning before we headed to the free movie at the theater. So now that is done. Just regular cleaning to do tomorrow before 7pm so not that big of a deal.

Hopefully I will get to scrap atleast one page tonight. I just got my order of 100 photos from Shutterfly. The company I work for gave each of it's employees 100 free photos from there. I love working there! I wish I could work more hours but alas right now that just doesn't work out.

Off to relax a little bit and then head to the gym to meet Matt. Oh yea I should feed the kids at some point too. :-)

Well Moving Along...

2008-06-23T14:12:00.000-07:00

Well we went looking at some houses yesterday with a realtor and only liked really one of them but not the lot it sat on. But atleast we know after talking to her that there are options out there for us. Now to see what our house is worth or they think it is worth. They will be coming over Thursday night for us to talk and discuss things. So I am slowly cleaning stuff that is not on the "normal" list for cleaning. Such as windows sills, pledge some stuff (I rarely do this...I know not always good.) and making sure the tile in our bathroom is all polished back up. Just not stuff we would normally worry about but we want the most we can out of this house. It's so wierd to think we might be selling this house and getting a new one. It will be interesting to figure it all out. I am pretty sure there will be ups and downs the whole time but hey atleast we know we are not in a rush and want to find what we really want...unlike the last time we went house hunting and had to find a house in 3 days. I say we did really well with this house.

Okay off to clean some more before meeting M at the Y to work out tonight.

Attitudes!

2008-06-20T11:12:00.001-07:00

Okay our little E is getting somewhat of an attitude. She likes to voice her opinion very well and it's driving me a little batty sometimes! She even got in trouble with M today (he is working from home) when she told me not to yell at her. ugh!

Today we (the kids and I) are busy in the garage cleaning up out there. There was winter stuff to go up in the attic and then fan and wagon to get out of the attic. Now to get some hooks up to hang up the ladder that my dad bought us around christmas time...which I am loving dad! Very easy for me to use and now I can get in the attic w/o waiting for M. Which he likes very much b/c I am shorter and can fit up there better. :-)

M is working from home today. He right now works about one day a week from home. Hopefully in about a month he can start working up to 4 days a week from home. He is very excited about this. Will help with gas and mileage on the subaru. (Will also be nice for taxes.)

We have also decided to look and see if there are any houses out there that we could afford with what we want in it. We are going to be picky this time since the last time we had to find a house and sign papers w/in 3 days! Sunday we are going to go look at our first ones but don't think they are quite what we want but will look and give the realtor a better idea of what we are thinking. If we do find there are ones out there that we can/do want then we will be putting this house up for sale. But we shall see since we just want to take it easy and find what we want for the price we want. We know we could get another couple of years out this house if need be so not in a huge rush...which is nice.

Well time to feed the kids some lunch. Have a wonderful weekend!

Pool Time

2008-06-16T13:50:00.000-07:00

Well come to find out the kids won't be the only one in the pool this summer. It's a good thing we have this type of pool otherwise we would have lots of holes. Nimi is loving running around the yard and then through the pool. I think I need to find some place to hang some towels near the back door this summer!

2008-06-15T18:41:00.001-07:00

Okay I have a ton of pictures to load so going to just load pictures with captions. You will see N's kindergarten graduation, E's dance recital, and N's birthday party pics. Which we are all very tired by tonight! Especially mommy and daddy. :-) It will be an early night for all of us!

Not the best picture...all pictures in that gym always turn a little blurry or dark. This is the whole class. Then the next picture is of N and his teacher.

This picture is the greatest. I think E learned alot from dance but next time (if there is a next time) I would put her in a "real" dance class. Aren't the tutu's great!

So as you can see N had a water birthday party. It was great fun. Before all the kids showed up M had to show N how to use the slip n slide. I was inside and laughing the whole time. I loved watching them do it together. I think M had as much fun as N did. The waterballoon fight was fun to watch. It took forever to fill them up and they were gone in not time. Seemed like everyone ganged up on N. S and one other mom helped get some of the other kids. :-) One neat present was some tadpoles from one of the girls. There are 3 in the picture. N thinks they are neat but I think S thinks it's neater. :-) Look at how big they are!!! I had never seen tadpoles this big before! Then this morning I was out talking on the phone with my sister and this is what I saw.Not ready to really go anywhere but cool to see. Okay off to feed the hungry and get everyone into bed on time tonight! Plus hope everyone sleeps through the night!!!!!! Atleast for mommy's sake. :-)

Scare & Weather!!!

2008-05-22T14:45:00.000-07:00

Okay today has been an interesting day to say the least. I was to go in and help out in N's class today and he also got to celebrate his summer bday and decided to bring donuts. Well wake up to E crying and M bringing her to me in bed. She is burning up. Sure enough over 102. So decide she and I will stay home today. Go get the donuts for N and his class and then drop them off letting the teacher know that won't make it in today. During this time E has complained about her side hurting but nothing bad. Come home and she watches cartoons and naps on the couch. Go get N after school and she starts getting upset about her side. By this time the lowest I have gotten the fever is 101. So think okay need to watch her. Well by the time we make it home she is screaming about her side and the tylenol doesn't seem to have kicked in. So call dr office. They suggest I go to the ER to have work done and make sure it's not something more serious. So head down there. An hour later find out that her stomach seems fine, she is not complaining anymore of the side hurting (they have dosed her up on the advil) and she doesn't have anything come back in the work done on the urine. So guessing she has a viral infection and just to watch her. Have kept her on the tylenol and advil since we got home every 3 hours switching. She seems to be better and has eaten. So I think we are in the clear. M and I are so grateful it wasn't something worse!!!

Now the weather! I wish would make up it's mind!!! I just finished taking the electric blanket off our bed and had about half the clothes switched out for spring/summer. Now it is cold outside (and windy). We were hoping for sunny warm weather in Bend this weekend but we will be lucky if we get that! Plus it means I have to pack both ways just in case. ugh! I want it to be 70's and no wind again!!!

Two Cards

2008-05-19T19:58:00.000-07:00

Here are two cards that I made for a swap I am in. It is a shaped card swap. Both cards open upwards. They were both fun to make. I sent them off today and totally forgot to make a pattern of the star one to keep. :-( Oh well I will get one back and will need to remember then to do it for my file. :-)

Full of Life!

2008-05-19T19:43:00.001-07:00

Okay things around here seem to be going at a fast pace. Nimi and kids keep us busy plus all the other "stuff" in life. Nimi has certainly grown some. I will need to take a picture here when she is sitting still and show a comparison of when we brought her home to now. She is all puppy! We are working on no bite....just b/c of the puppy teeth but trying to get it so she knows not to bite peoples hands and only bite toys. She also figured out how to unroll the toilet paper and she does it perfectly...uses one paw to hold onto the toilet and the other to unroll it ...then she has fun. She hasn't done it since this picture b/c I surprised her and she doesn't like that one bit!

N only has a little longer of school. They get out June 5 but "graduation" is June 4. This week he is going on a field trip to the zoo (tomorrow) and then on Thursday he gets to celebrate his summer bday. He is bringing chocolate donuts. :-) Plus soccer just ended this weekend.

E has her dance recital on June 5 and gets to wear the cutest tutu! She is loving (as they both are) being able to play outside alot. She and Nimi love to run up and down the hallway too. :-)

I am not signing them up for much during the summer b/c I want to be able to relax this summer.

M is busy with work, guitar lessons (practicing right now which I like listening to but he says he isn't good as of yet...which he shouldn't be perfect b/c he's only done this for 2 months now). Plus youth group/church keep him busy.

I am busy with work, house, kids, puppy, making cards for swaps, and trying to scrapbook some. My goal is to get some pages done this summer. I also want to start a separate blog (most likely with my sister) to show off projects and such, and somehow try to sell some things but I just don't know how I want to do that. I have seen etsy but seems like there are so many people selling stuff that people would have a hard time finding my stuff.

We had alot of fun in Portland about 5 weeks ago (if I am counting correctly in my head). The kids and I stayed at my sister's house and got to hang out with her and her finance. M spent the weekend at Acquire the Fire with the youth group and had a great time.

Then not this weekend but the one before we went to Tri-Cities and got to see my cousin graduate from college and throw a bridal shower for my sister. The kids had fun seeing all the relatives. We even got to see my parents!

This weekend we will be headed to Bend to spend time with M's mom and stepdad. We are looking forward to that. The kids are excited about all the things there. We have told them about a few things that they never really could/want to do before. It's nice that they are getting to the age that they want to do this stuff and have fun with it.

Nimi has done great with all the traveling. I do have to say it is quite different from Molly dog in the barking area. Molly loved to bark. Nimi only barks at other dogs when she wants to play with them, the kids toys if they make noise or she doesn't know what it is and the vacuum. :-) I have to say that is very nice!

Okay I will leave you with a picture of the sun babies as I have called them the last couple of days. :-) I promise to try to blog more!

Officially A Big Girl!

2008-04-07T13:35:00.001-07:00

We did it!!! Or we should say she did it!!! E is now officially in panties! Today was the first full day of it. She has been accident free in pull ups for 2 days so thought we would go ahead and do it! She is all proud of herself! Now working on night time will be a different matter but we'll get that too. :-)

Other news...

Nimi is doing great! Potty training with her has gone great too! N loves her and they are pals. He loves to take care of her and hates the fact that she can't always go where we go. She sleeps through the night too! (Feel like I am talking about a new baby.)

My sister is engaged!!! Yea for her and A! Looks like they will get married in August (tiny wedding) and then move to CA for A to go to grad school.

Weather here has been finally nice enough to spend time outside which everyone loves! So running energy out is great.

N has learned not to climb our jungle gym thing w/o socks! Last night (early evening) he was out with Nimi and decided to climb up and slipped and fell onto his chest hard onto the bar. Got him calmed down and he seemed fine until he ate and then said that hurt...so off to the new ER near us. 5 xrays later he has a serious bruise but nothing cracked, separated or broken! We even had a follow up from that ER this morning asking how he was doing! I couldn't believe it!

That is all our exciting news so far this week. Hopefully the rest of the week is uneventful! :-)

Newest Family Member - Nimi!!!

2008-04-02T20:26:00.000-07:00

Okay well some of you know we have talked about this and others don't. But we now have a new family member. Through M's work we found some Miniature American Eskimo puppies. M and S talked about it for a month and decided we would surprise the kids with a new dog. Tonight they were ready to leave if interested. So after soccer practise we told the kids we had to visit a friend. We went inside and right away N was hooked. :-) Can't say we weren't either! Anyways, we decided on this puppy and on the way home we voted and named her Nimi. (M and S had come up with 3 top names and then asked the kids.) She is so far different then Molly dog was at this point. She was not nervous in the car...just curled up in my arms and watched and then tried to sleep a little too. (There was a lot of activity with teenagers at that house and other dogs.) We got home and she didn't like outside too much b/c it was cold, but was fine. Then we came inside and she didn't leave our sides much out in the living room. We did figure out that if N is sitting down she would come over and try to climb right up in his lap. She really likes him. But then again so does he! E held her and it was perfectly fine too. We then took her into the bedroom and introduced her bed (crate) and after a little bit we got the kids ready for bed and she started to fall asleep so put her in and she curled up and was out. So that is where she is right now. We have not heard her bark, growl, whimper or cry as of yet. Now asking me after tonight is over and we shall see. :-) We did warn the kids they might hear her cry tonight and not to worry. N had to ask me a few times to make sure I would take care of her. :-)

Happy Easter!

2008-03-21T14:45:00.000-07:00

I will make sure I update the blog this weekend after all the festivities. Today we decorated easter eggs for the hunt tomorrow at the church. Tomorrow we go to the hunt and then Sunday we are up early to head to the church for early service and brunch afterwards. Then helping out at the other services. E is looking forward to wearing her new dress and so am I! :-)

Have a wonderful Easter!

Stubborn and Last Resort!

2008-03-21T14:29:00.000-07:00

Okay starting a couple of days ago E was complaining about her butt...which means her front side if you know what I mean. Anyways, I thought it was due to rubbing to hard when wiping since we have been working on the potty training. Then yesterday morning it was screaming non stop when she needed to pee. Then when she finally went it was screaming the whole time. So call the dr and can't get in until 2pm.

Okay well that day was not fun let me tell you! I decided to go early so we could get pee in a cup like they wanted and I knew it would take awhile to do since she was holding it and not wanting to go. So we show up at 1:15. Sure enough I can not get her to go in the cup or anything for that matter! All she can do is scream at me that no she does not want to go and her butt hurts. So finally we see the dr at a little after 2 and she still refuses to go. So we talk about our options. They need a sample so they can make sure that the antibiotics (which is different then the stuff they give for other things) is the correct one to get rid of the infection. I guess they test it in the lab. Our options are wait around the office until we get her to go in the cup, take the cup home and hope she goes before 5pm or do a cathieder. (sp?) I decided lets do the last option b/c she is stubborn and I will be lucky if we get her to go in the cup and I don't want to hang around the office forever!

So fast forward about 15 minutes. Let's just say we barely had to stick the tube in and got some and it was a mess! I'm so glad the nurse and other helper were so nice!!! And I am glad it was over with! Sure enough within minutes the dr could tell it was an infection and just gave us the prescription that usually works the best.

Well last night while I was at work she tells daddy that it hurts but refuses to go. So when I get home at 10 she is in bed with him still awake and needs to go but won't. So I take her away and into the bathroom. Hang out for awhile and then finally tell her she is going or she is going to bed...she chose to go to bed. Well she didn't sleep the best last night either. Got up and came in sometime in the middle of the night and slept on our floor and then at some point put herself back in her bed. Then she still hadn't gone by 8 this morning. Then finally went a little after that.

Fast forward to 1pm we get home from errands (soccer and other things) and she is starting to complain big time. So have to listen to her for 1.5 hours and she won't listen to me about if she just would go it would be over and no more pain. Doesn't get it no matter which way I put it!!! Finally last resort for me. I take her pants and socks off. Stick her in the tub, take the pull up off and turn on the water. I know may sound cruel but only thing I could think of and I was tired of listening to screaming/crying for the last 1.5 hours. It worked! But now she is proud of herself b/c she went in the tub...have had to talk to her about that! LOL

Oh and this morning with the meds was not fun either. The meds must not taste very good b/c she usually will take meds no problem. But not this one. I told her she would need to take it the easy way with apple juice right there or take it the hard way (pin her down) b/c she needed this medicine to make the owies go away! Well she chose the pin down...after chasing her down. Well then I should have realized not to do it on the carpet b/c she spit half of it out. UGH!! Then had to give her a shower/bath...used the shower nozzle. Boy did she hate that and agreed this morning that she would then take the medicine the easy way b/c she didn't like the shower. LOL

M said it's a good thing I am as stubborn as she is. LOL

I am hoping that the meds kick in tonight...if not then we might be on the wrong stuff. But won't know unless the lab remembers to call us tomorrow or we have to wait until Monday morning when the dr checks the lab results.

Growth!

2008-03-13T14:53:00.000-07:00

Okay my kids need to stop growing! I will especially E right now! I have noticed all her pants are getting short so thought it's been awhile since I measured them on their growth chart. So two days ago I measured them. Now the last time I measured them was a little less then 6 months ago. N grew 1/2". Now E on the other hand grew 1 1/4"!!! If you look at N's side at the height E is right now N was 4 years old. So she is about 1 year ahead of where he was. ugh! I have noticed mostly in dresses I have to buy E a size 5 b/c her long legs. Now N hasn't grown much and his long pants are finally starting to fit w/o turning over the waist band. :-) I need to stop by the 2nd hand store (where i have some credit) and see if I can find a couple pairs of pants for E b/c warm weather is just around the corner and then there is no way I will get her out of sundresses and shorts. :-)

New Toys and Life

2008-03-10T10:14:00.000-07:00

Well I thought I would post this picture of M and E trying to get N with M's new toy. :-)

Life around here keeps going. :-) Right now E is just getting over a cough that she caught twice. The 2nd time with some asthma stuff going on so she was on the machine. Think she is allergic to albuetrol so took her off that and she is only on pulmacort. She is sounding much better! Then N is on 2 different nose sprays and nose flushing once a day. The first couple days of that was real fun! not! But now he is just fine with it. We don't feel like much is coming out but who knows. He has to do this b/c his sinuses are plugged and not draining. We go in the first week of April to check and see if this has all worked. If not then we might be doing some scans and in the long run it could be surgery...we just don't know at this point.

Oh and E got her tubes take out last week. Those tubes have been in there since she was 6 months old! 3 years was enough. Plus she has not had an ear infection for quite some time! So it was time to take them out! She is doing fine with it other then we had to cancel swimming lessons for the month since she can't get her ears totally wet for 2 weeks. Just when she was getting close to sticking her head back in the water. :-( Oh well we'll start again next month.

Soccer should be starting soon but so far have not heard anything which reminds me I need to call about it.

Matt and I have been busy with things going on all the time it seems. I work 3x a week and then we go workout atleast 3x a week, plus all the other things that happen in a family. :-) I am glad to see it staying lighter outside! Now if the wind would just quite blowing around here so we could go outside just a little more. :-)

I am pretty sure that there is more going on but I can't think of it right now. :-)

Happy Spring!

Update in our World

2008-02-15T12:39:00.000-08:00

Well I realized it's been awhile since updating. I now have a little bit of time. E and N have a couple friends over right now and they are going to play until 4:30 and then meet their mom and we'll do a couple of errands and then head to the airport to pick up Aunt L! They are excited about that and so am I!

M left yesterday early evening for the Walk to Emmaus weekend. He has never experienced anything like it so he was excited and nervous all at the same time. Which I can totally understand. I remember when I went to Chyrsalis when I was a teenager. I now can't wait for Sunday afternoon. I will be there at the "reception" for all of the men. I was talking to my sister about it. It's not hard when M is gone but what is hard this weekend is that I don't even get to talk to him. Usually we atleast talk at night before I go to bed but don't even get that. So I am always sending him little thoughts during the day/night this weekend.

Last night was fun being a "single" mom for the weekend. E has been coughing and it's gotten worse the last 48 hours. So called yesterday to the dr office and got an appt for Friday at 9am. Well last night I moved E to my bed when she started coughing again. Then she was coughing so bad she was like choking (sounded like it) when she was coughing. So I thought okay this is not good and off we go...after trying to wake up N. Let me tell you once that boy is asleep it is SOOOO hard to wake him back up unless it's early morning! We get down there and I kid you not we were there maybe a total of 40 minutes. The dr pretty much tells me that he doesn't hear any wheezing and since she is not running a fever (which she rarely does anyways...the dr thought I was nuts about that) that she just has a viral thing. I kept asking him okay are you sure b/c she sure acts like she can't breath very well or choking when she is coughing. Oh yea that's normal. So we get home and I get the kids back into bed (E in mine and N on the floor) at about midnight. E slept okay atleast but she did wake a few times coughing so hard that she was crying b/c something hurt but she couldn't tell me what. So we went to the dr appt this morning. I tell the pedia all of what has happened and she starts listening very carefully plus asking me questions. She knows my kids really well. She decided that E doesn't have croup (which I knew b/c not much of a barky cough) and that she does have a upper respitory thing. So one dosage of steriod and albuetrol machine (which we have at home) every 4 hours. E has been much better this afternoon! I did all of that and gave her some runny nose meds and it has helped! Now to hope it helps tonight too! I just have to say that I am so glad we have such good doctors here! My kids love the pedia and you can tell that she really cares about them (and us as parents)!

So this weekend will be busy with Aunt L here and I have to work tomorrow night. Then before we know it it will be 2:30 on Sunday I will get to see M soon and participate in the reception. Then home for the kids to see him. They are both having a hard time too with not being able to talk to him. N is now counting down the days/nights. :-)

Oh and we got a Wii!!! Thanks to "ins" with someone we found out when a certain place got them in and were there w/in 15 minutes. Now to find a couple more things around town hopefully. Plus hoping that I can figure out how to set it up w/o M so we can play some this weekend. :-)

Have a wonderful weekend! The sun is shining here!

Things the Kids say

2008-02-06T12:06:00.000-08:00

Okay I have been to write these things down somewhere so thought I would do it here so when I finally get around to scrapbooking it I will have a "record" of it.

Boom up = Blow up
I have the "bless yous" = I have the sneezes.
e gulls - sea gulls (mostly E)
where are the Jesus toys? - nativity scene (guess I need to have one of these down all the time for E)

"What's inside a carrot" (asked by E) - nothing...just a carrot...no mommy what is inside a carrot!!!

I am sure there are many more but those are the ones I can think of right now. :-)

We got about 2" of snow last night (sometime between 11pm-7am). Thought we would only get a light dusting but oh no...so M stayed home to work from home (roads bad) and then left at lunch to go in.

The kids started swimming lessons this week and N is loving it. E is doing her typical I am not going to do what you ask. Had to have a talk to and will again I am sure. Her friend is in there too so I thought for sure she would do everything she did but again E proves me wrong. E can not be bribed, caroled, or anything else into doing something she just doesn't want to do. I know this will be good in the long run but let me tell you it can be frustrating right now!

Oh and I got E signed up for preschool next year...maybe I wrote about this already...anyways she is ready and excited about it. She will be going 3x a week in the morning for 3 hours. We are excited she finally gets to go b/c she is so ready. Now what to do with my time?!!??? :-) I am actually looking into helping at another preschool during that time but not sure if the times will work out and such. Since E's starts at 9:15 and the other one starts at 9am. So we shall see.

Have a good rest of the week!!!

Snow! and more news

2008-01-25T06:12:00.001-08:00

Well this is what our backyard looks like right now. Now this is with the snow we got a few days ago and then what we got starting yesterday at about 5pm - sometime in the middle of last night. Let's just say the roads were bad for commuters yesterday. Took M over an hour to get to my work (I was waiting there but couldn't clock in.) He was not a happy camper by the time he got there and then had to still drive home with the kids. They didn't expect that snow to hit the area until later I think plus I don't think they thought it would dump that much. The kids are excited they get to wear their snow boots today. I really need to get a new pair...the only pair I have are big clunky ones for really "playing" in the snow. I just can't believe how much snow we have gotten this year! M and I since we moved here have never remembered this much snow here in the valley.

Now for my news...I am officially now a store supervisor at my work. I had my first part of training last night. It's exciting and should be interesting and fun.

Okay so far doesn't look like school is delayed so guess we should get going this morning. :-)

BRRRRRRR!!!!!!

2008-01-24T08:03:00.000-08:00

Okay it is cold here!!! The sun is out but I don't want to open the shades b/c of the cold and letting more cold air in through the windows! At 8:40 I looked at the thermostat and it said 3.7 degrees. Plus the lady that checked us out at the grocery store this morning said when she left for work at 5am it was around -5 degrees!!! Now we don't mind the cold too much but when it is this cold it is just way too cold for here!!! It's says that it's suppose to snow today but so far don't think so...we have clear sunny skies.

Hope you are warmer where ever you are! :-)

Waiting & Wierd things

2008-01-22T14:01:00.000-08:00

Okay the first thing today is that I saw the weirdest thing while driving this morning. Now maybe other people have seen this before but I certainly hadn't. Now you have to understand that there is snow on the ground right now...not much but enough to cover places probably still an inch in some places. So there is some construction down the street and guess what they were laying down.....SOD!!! They were just laying it down right over the top of the snow. Now I guess the snow will melt and give the sod some water but still it just did not look right!

I hate waiting! I have a couple of things I am waiting to hear about. One is something that I can/will say something when/if it happens but it will be a good/nice thing. Then there is waiting to hear from the doctors office. I had blood work done a couple of weeks ago during a routine physical and I'm sure it has come back and is most likely fine but when you get a message saying for you to call the nurse back and you do. You are hoping that during their break...Like during lunch but oh no that can't happen. She called this morning right after we left to take N to school and left a message for me to call her so I did. Well still have not heard from her at all. ugh!

Another pondering thought....why is E so afraid to poop in the potty. I am coming up with the conclusion that for some reason is fine peeing in the potty but afraid to poop. We have tried every bribery we can know of!!! I even have jewelry that I bought her and she has seen her friends poop in the potty but of course doesn't work. Anyone got any suggestions??? I know she is only 3 but still she is smart and understands it all but just does not want to do that part!

Have a great afternoon! I actually have tonight off (usually I work) and so M and I actually get to workout tonight since it didn't work out last night.

The Cruise!

2008-01-14T13:43:00.000-08:00

Okay to finally update everyone on the cruise. We had a wonderful time. It was the week before christmas. We got home on the 23rd. The kids were watching by S's parents and they all had a fun time. I think though that Nana and Papa were a little worn out. :-) Plus E had gotten a cough (which ended up being croup but was over it fast after seeing the dr).

Anyways, we went from San Deigo to Cabo San Lucas to Mazatlan and then to Puerto Vallarata. We had one day at sea on the way to Cabo and then on the way back from Puerto we had two days at sea. The one day down was just fine. We got to relax and check out the boat. I even got to see a whale off the side of the boat while I was walking the deck (M was running). Then in Cabo we went with J & C to their condo place. It was a great place and hope to be able to go back sometime with the kids in tow. We just sat around drinking, eating and talking at the pool. Then back at the ship M and I went shopping some. Found a silver bracelet I liked but the guy wouldn't bargain with me at all and I didn't think it was worth the cost (didn't find another one I liked the rest of the trip).

The following day we did a tour in Mazatlan of the Pacifico Brewery. It was alot of fun. Now I don't like beer but this was a fun tour. You got to see the brewery, the streets around it and the open air bus we were on did a side tour on the way back to the boat so we got to see some town and learn some things about the town. M loved the tour b/c at the end you got to drink Pacifico and/or Corona. And there was no limit. Whenever you were done you could ask for another. I had a pepsi and let me tell you it does taste different then the USA pepsi! It was little more "spicy". Plus on the ride back to the boat they were handing out beer too. We didn't get any time to shop in that town really. (that was one thing we would have liked ...two days at port - one for tours and one for shopping) We did stop at a "stop" on the way back and there was a stand there that we found a pirate ship for N.

The next day we were in Puerto Vallarata and we went on a boat tour to a fishing town called Yelapa. It was awesome. We saw dolphins and a mommy whale w/baby on the way there. Then when we were there we walked up through the town to the waterfall. Then got to walk back to the beach (sand is bigger there) and sit on the beach for about an hour. Then back to the boat and back to the city. Again we wish we would have had another day just to go shopping. The shopping was too far away (taxi ride) for us to go for an hour or so that we had. Then it was time to head back to San Diego.

Now after the first half day the water got rougher and the boat swayed alot. It was so rough that they had to close the pools b/c of the sloshing and such. It was fun to sit on deck and watch it do this. Plus it was too cold outside to sit and sunbath. I tried for about 10 minutes when everyone else was at a wine tasting thing. I went back inside and found a corner and read. Now unfortunately M found out he gets a little sea sick with this motion. Plus we aren't the time to party alot so it got kind of boring during the day on the ship. Now don't get me wrong...we loved relaxing but two days was a bit much for us.

We had a great time getting to see what a cruise was and having fun in the ports. Plus we got to hang out with M's half sister, brother-in-law, half brother and parents. Plus it was relaxing time for us to get to hang out together and no kids. We really do need this about once a year. (Get away as just adults.) :-)

2008!

2008-01-14T12:19:00.000-08:00

Okay I know...everyone keeps bugging me! I have not updated in quite awhile!!! First thing I need to update on is the cruise, then christmas, then school starting and kids. Then I think I will be caught up. So by the end of today I atleast promise to have the update on the cruise done.

Santa & Christmas Party

2007-12-09T09:55:00.000-08:00

Well last week on Weds we went to the Micron Children's Christmas Party. The kids loved it! It was the first year we did not have break down and neither one cried in Santa's lap! Even E went into the jump things w/o N. They got to play games in the toddler area, decorate a cookie, eat a snack, jump on blow up things, go down slides (E went with me as you can see in the picture), and have fun. It was fun for all of us and didn't seem as crowded this year but then again we didn't stay late either.

Well we have a week now before M & S leave on the cruise. Seems wierd to be going somewhere warm when it has snowed here some and is cold. We won't mind at all. The kids are looking forward to seeing Aunt L and Nana and Papa plus Cousin MA. They are going to be having so much fun and stuff that I don't think there will be time for them to think about us being gone...which I am glad of. It's nice not to have to stress about being away from the kids...we know they will have fun.

We have been busy around here just finishing up making some christmas presents, wrapping christmas presents and getting ready. I really need to get out my stuff and look at it to decide what I am going to bring. Where M just tells me oh I'll just pack the night before. I wish it was that easy for me!

The kids have been busy with school, friends over to play or meet at Burger King, dance (which E loves the ballet side of this), karate (which will be over in January and soon after that soccer will start), and just hanging out at home. They keep asking about snow...they really want to go sledding. We might be able to go up to the mtn on Friday and do this. We shall see. I wish we would get enough snow to drag them down the street but so far no such luck.

Well hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas! Will update when we get back...since I don't think I will get a chance this week.

13 years!

2007-11-27T18:19:00.001-08:00

Well M and I celebrated 13 years of marriage yesterday! We actually both were reminded by a relative...so we both got the day right instead of the middle of the day realizing what day it was. :-) All I did was get M a card but M surprised me with roses and the movie "Jungle Book". So that made my day/week!

It's hard to believe that 13 years have gone. In those 13 years we have lived in 3 places (and loved each of them for different reasons), both of us graduated from different colleges, had kids, bought a house and many more things! Plus we know there are many more wonderful things to happen for/to us in the many years to come!

Thanksgiving

2007-11-27T18:05:00.000-08:00

We had a great time for Thanksgiving. We had M's sister and her family come over from Seattle area. Then on Friday we had M's dad and B come over from Tri-cities. We got to hang out, go see a movie, meet cosmo, eat, and see the tree downtown. I have some great pictures that tell alot. :-) Also, the kids got to open their christmas presents from Auntie/Uncle/Cousins. N got the sonic game to the ninetendo and you can see what E got. :-) Comso was a great dog...we love those dogs.

Weather!

2007-11-20T07:15:00.000-08:00

Well today we woke up to snow today! The kids were all excited. N's first words now it's Christmas!! Then he asked if we could open presents now (I have been wrapping and putting up presents). :-) He wants to go sledding and E wants to go skiing. Can you tell who will be M's ski buddy. :-)

The other picture is of a turkey hat N made at school. He loved wearing it around. Today is a Thanksgiving "dinner" at school were a bunch of parents are bringing in a certain food and all the kids get to sample each of them. I am bringing in the green bean casserole.

We have all been good and busy around here. N came down with a fever on Saturday and then he has just a cold now. I think I caught the cold (or hoping it's the shots M and I got yesterday for our trip) and M says he has a slight sore throat. So here's hoping that lots of sleep and meds help it go away fast!

Well off to get the kids in their snow boots, coats and gloves to take N to school.

Belle!

2007-11-04T17:38:00.000-08:00

Well we have a new addition to our family. Now as my sister was asking...how did you guys decide on this, M and I couldn't really remember. :-) Other then the kids have been asking for a new pet but we don't want to get a new dog until they are both old enough to help out. So we decided this would be something that would help them learn how to take care of an animal. We got all the cage and other stuff this morning and put it together by noon. Then we ate lunch and went to the Y and then back out to look at hamsters. We watched how they acted with just us putting our hands up to them and stuff...not really petting b/c didn't want to scare them too bad. This is the one that I decided that was not very skittish and seemed active and interested in things. We were told (even though the book we got didn't say this) that we should keep her in the cage for 24-48 hours before handling so she can get use to all the "new" stuff. So we are doing that. Tomorrow night we will give her a few treats and let her get use to us....really just one of us handling her to begin with. We also picked out a purple sparkly exercise ball so she can run around the house in it. She will live in the kids room so this should be interesting to say the least, but fun. It's also funny she has a "house" down in the main part but it looks like she has decided that the green pod off to the side (right in the picture) of the tube is going to be her sleeping place...which will be nice b/c then we can still see her when she sleeps. I am sure I will have updates as the next few days go by.

Halloween

2007-11-01T13:12:00.001-07:00

Well yesterday was alot of fun! N got to go to school dressed up b/c they were going down the street to the assisted living place and go trick or treating there. Then they got to have a party in their room. N had a chocolate cupcake which was very obvious b/c he had chocolate all over his nose and mouth. :-) Anyways, E wouldn't have it with her not being dressed...so we dressed her up with the clothes but not all the "extra" stuff. She had fun. Then they had to take off at lunch so we wouldn't get it all dirty. Then it was time for a short nap and off to dance class with daddy coming too. Then to the Y for us to workout. Then home for M to mow the lawn and then all of us eat dinner. We watched the old transformer movie (the one from when M and I were little). It was funny to see. N loved it...Matt and I remembered pieces but nothing special. :-) Then it was time to dress up and head out. This year was totally different in the fact that they went up to every door w/o us (we watched) and did it all and had fun. Never were they nervous...actually fighting over who's turn it was to ring the door bell. I do have to say that E remembered to say Thank you more then N. :-) We really didn't go to many houses...just the ones on our street up and down but they were totally fine with that...I know one of these years they will figure out hey we can go further. :-)

Pumpkin Patch & Maze

2007-11-01T12:57:00.001-07:00

Well E and I "tagged' along on N's field trip to the pumpkin patch. It was alot of fun. I had a group of all boys (4 total) and E. They were all really good. One kept trying to get a big pumpkin but the rule was you had to carry it and it was a little walk back from the field. He finally found one that he could carry mostly. :-) Anyways, here are the pictures of that. The one of E is actually the pumpkin that E gave up on and N took. :-) The one E has is smaller. I need to get pictures of them just with their pumpkins...guess I didn't do it there. oops.

Then Tuesday night we went to the corn maze. I have been wanting to go with the kids. They had fun. N was mad b/c we didn't do anything else there but the other things cost more $ and didn't want to spend the $ on it. We let the kids take the lead until they got tired and then they decided to let us find the way out. I was trying to get a picture of E when she would get mad when we didn't go the way she wanted...she wanted to direct the whole time instead of N taking a turn. :-) I never got the picture...one of these days I will get that picture though.

First Homework

2007-10-26T21:03:00.000-07:00

Now N's teacher doesn't believe in "homework" for the kids to bring home. Now there will be a few things and this was the first. There was a sheet of orange paper, green paper, black paper and a green pipe cleaner sent home in a white bag with a note saying that she needed some pumpkins in the room. The homework was to use the stuff plus whatever else we could find and as a family make a pumpkin. This is the pumpkin we came up with.

Tools & Kids

2007-10-26T21:00:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of the kids "fixing" the coffee table. The love to take their tools (play) and fix things. Lately the coffee table is their favorite thing. I just loved looking over and seeing two sets of legs sticking out. You should have heard the conversation too. :-)

E's Quilt

2007-10-26T20:59:00.000-07:00

Well my mom finished the quilt for E awhile ago and I took this picture but never posted it.

Dentist Update & Dance Pics

2007-10-26T20:53:00.000-07:00

Well come to find out that N told M that he thought the dentist was going to take his teeth out. All I could figure out was that he totally turned something around that I said about the dentist trying to help you keep your teeth healthy so they wouldn't fall out when you were older. LOL Guess I am better off not saying anything before dentist appts. But after talking to N tonight and telling him that I am so sorry that he understood me wrong and that next time he just needed to talk to me. Plus he could always ask the dentist about the tools. He gave me a hug and told me that he wouldn't scream and yell the next time and then he could get a ring sucker. :-)

Here are some pics of E's dance class at Little Gym. She loves it. She gets 15 minutes of tap, 15 minutes of ballet and then 30 minutes of gymnastics. I think it is perfect for her. Mostly during tap they all love the sound of their tap shoes but then after that they seem to settle down some.

Still Here

2007-10-25T18:54:00.000-07:00

Well each day this week I keep telling myself okay I need to get on the blog and post all the things going on and the pictures I have taken and I still have not done this! Sorry to those out there that keep checking. To tell the truth I can not believe it is Thursday evening already and I feel like I finally got the kitchen cleaned up this afternoon and that is it. And to tell the truth I can only remember what happened yesterday and today...can't even remember everything that happened on Monday and Tuesday to make it go by so fast! I will just update for today and then hopefully tomorrow afternoon I will be able to update on the rest of this week and post some pictures.

First thing first...E is doing great on the potty training! I had to do bribery of tootsie rolls for peeing and we have little princesses for pooping. Okay now we have 9 princesses that we got last weekend...only one has been given to her. Does that tell you where we are having the problem at. :-) She is so great with peeing that I could easily put on underwear for her but I keep worrying about the pooping. And of course unless I can catch a sign and run her in there it doesn't seem to be happening. I am not sure about it. I figure it will work out. Plus we see the Pedia dr on Monday for her 3 yr appt so will ask then too.

Now for today....I helped with N's K class going to the pumpkin patch. So E got to go with us too. Everyone had a great time and we came home with two little pumpkins...they have to be able to carry themselves so that tells you how little they are. We got back about 15 minutes late from that. So it was rush home grab something to eat, then to the grocery store to grab a few things. Then off to the denist appts for the kids.

Now I love the kids dentist! If you ever need a recommendation for anyone in our area just ask! Anyways, it is a place just for kids. Now every time we go N has a melt down when they brush his teeth and half the time when we take pictures. Now I have prepared them for it and everything. They get N into the picture chair and are telling him how to show E how it is done. I am thinking/praying that he does well this time. Guess what! NO! We start throwing a fit. The only way we got through that was me bribing and holding his hands and he was still wiggling and trying to get away. They got them...one was good and the other was okay. Then it was E's turn and she was scared until I told her she could sit in my lap. Then she was totally fine with it. And she had to have like 5 taken b/c it's her first time. No problems. Well then it's the "chair". Now the chairs there are like beds and you get to lay and look at a tv screen in the ceiling. E was nervous until I told her it was like a bed and then helped her lie down and then the nurse took over and I didn't even have to go over to her at all. They just got it done and she watched the movie and not a movement or cry out of her. Now N on the other hand...sheez!!!! You would have thought someone was killing him. It took forever and even the nurse pulled me aside and asked how far I wanted to go with it and I said I wanted it all done that he needed to know that it wasn't something to be afraid of and that he does this every time and I was use to it. I think they were worried about me (which was confirmed later when talking to the dentist) and I was more worried about them (which they were totally cool with). So with me holding his hands and him crying and the nurse doing it fast we got it done. But I could not believe it when he started screaming. That is when he got a stern talking to from me! He knew I was not happy. Plus E got done with everything by the time we got done with just the cleaning on N and he saw how I told E I was so proud of her and stuff. Then N was totally fine with the dentist looking inside his mouth (didn't open real wide) and then he was fine with the fluoride going on his teeth. He did get to choose a toy out of the box while I talked to the nurse about him. We decided to put on his chart that when he comes back (6 months) that we will use the "quiet" room for him. :-) It is just a room that is separate and able to close the doors so he doesn't scare the other kids. Luckily today there was just one older kid in there that just looked at him like he was crazy. Then when we got in the car I specifically told him that I was not happy about the screaming. Now I don't mind crying if you are scared but screaming is out of the question! I think he understood that after talking about it. Then we went to the store to grab a couple of cold things on the way home and E got to choose something out of the candy area (I know...just went to the dentist and get sugar afterwards)...anyways, she picked a ring pop (a ring that is a sucker). Then N started asking for one and I asked if he had been good for the dentist office. He said "I don't know." I asked him to think about it...did he do what they asked or not throw a tantrum. He answered me correctly and I replied okay then you don't get one. The rule was if you were good and didn't throw tantrums then you got one. I said again that I didn't mind if he cried but not to be pushing and screaming. He then proceeded to whimper all the way through the check stand and in the car. Then when we were almost home he asked if there were any at home for him. I told him no. That started the tears. I think he cried for another 20 minutes before he came out of his room (this is where we go when we are crying/throwing tantrums) and was ready to talk to me and eat some dinner. Then he was totally fine with it. I do know that M talked to him separately w/o E in the same room about it too...haven't had time to find out what the conversation was like but he knows now that daddy doesn't approve of that either. Now the trick will be to see how he does in May when it is time for a 6 month check up. :-)

You could tell both kids were very tired tonight. It was off to bed at exactly 7 tonight since we have to be up early to take the van into Honda. We are having the 30K check up done (except for a few things on the list that we already had done) plus they are looking at the front right steering (squeaks when doing tight turns) and then the back right suspension again (they replaced something back there but I noticed that on big speed bumps I still get a metal sound and M noticed a squeak when we have more people in the car from that side). Luckily they are giving us a courtesy car (N is hoping it's a truck) b/c then I have to run N to school and E and I off to the church for babysitting. I am gratefully that I don't have to add dropping off M at work.

Okay time to do a little more cleaning up before I crawl in to bed and read for a little bit. :-) I promise to try to update more tomorrow afternoon/evening!

Charity Item & Birthday Gift

2007-09-30T17:50:00.000-07:00

Well I haven't posted anything that I have made lately...just haven't had much time to make anything. :-) I made the big clock for my sister for her birthday, it's for her craft room which she sews. The box with the clock is for a charity auction that the scrapping group I am in does each year. I am not sure if I will be able to make it up to Twin Falls for the crop and staying overnight but I wanted to make something for the auction. We auction off everything we make and then it all goes towards a group that we voted on beforehand. Plus we make money off the raffle baskets and there are usually quite a few of those. It's alot of fun and for an awesome cause every year!

Rest of the Birthday Day

2007-09-30T17:27:00.001-07:00

Well the rest of the day was great! We all had good naps and then off to pick up E's friends (who's name starts with an E too). We then were off to meet M at the arcade that has this miniature bowling alley that is great for kids. We got there before M (who was stuck in a last minute meeting) and so we got our "token card" and then started playing. They all had fun but they lost interest right towards the end so it was just the right amount of time. Then we let the girls play air hockey. Friend is a little shorter then E so after taking pictures I had her on my knee to give her the same height help. :-) Then off to look around the arcade...they had changed some games around and now there were not that much for littler kids which disappointed me. But they all had fun. We then headed to Red Robin for dinner. Everyone was great except for N was a tadbit crabby and almost got a time out in the car but as soon as his drink showed up he was fine. (I think he might be like Matt and if he is hungry/thirst then he will be a little grumpy until he has something in his system.) Then everyone ate really well. I was a little upset with our waiter b/c at the beginning I told him it was E's birthday and he asked if the nuts and stuff on a ice cream thing was fine and I said yes. Then he asked if we wanted the singing too and I said yes. Well guess what...not a thing. By the time I realized he had forgotten it was too late and the kids were at the ending point. So we just paid and headed out for home. Got home and had cupcakes and opened presents. They all had fun and everything ran smoothly until we were all done and the girls wanted to go play in the play kitchen with the new stuff and the baby dolls and N was back there yelling "but you have to share". :-) So M headed back and told him to leave the girls alone and let them play. It was E's new toys and she got to play with them first. He was not a happy camper but oh well. By the time friend left it was just past 8:00pm and everyone was tired so off to bed we went. Of course I told N NOT to wake up E in the morning (b/c he wanted to play with all the new toys in the bedroom) but of course come morning and they were both awake at 5:50a...atleast that is when I heard them first. Ugh!!! Some day N will sleep in...I HOPE! :-) Anyways, I will leave you with some cute pictures.

Birthday Girl (morning)

2007-09-28T11:51:00.000-07:00

M and I can not believe that our little girl is now 3 years old!!!!

Well this morning was an early one...as I had guessed. M left work at 5:40 and N woke up to the garage door and ran out to say goodbye to him. Then of course when he realized there were balloons for E out in the living room he had to wake her up. So I got woke up from arguing about the balloons at about 6:10. N is at this stage of if E gets something new he says "E has to share." Ugh!!! He is not getting the concept that it is her new toy and she gets it first. Of course E is usually nice about something and lets him have it not long after her, but one of these days or presents (opening later today) she will not let him have it. Then he is in for a rude awakening. Anyways, E loves her balloons. Then she got to open one present this morning...the one from N. It was the Little Mermaid doll (sort of like a barbie doll). She loves it and so far the clothes have stayed on her. I don't think they realize that the clothes come off. Then we all got dressed and I took the kids to Starbucks for treats before school. Then we all went to school. I was helping out that day and the teacher doesn't mind having E in with the class. So we went and had fun. It was fun to see what happens on a "normal" day. Then we came home and for some reason kids didn't want lunch...okay then off to bed for a nap. When they wake up we will be running an errand and then off to pick up E's friend and we will be meeting M up at the arcade that has a little bowling alley that is fun for kids. We will then grab dinner and have fun and come home for cupcakes and presents. So it will be a fun and late night. I will post more pictures either tonight late or tomorrow.

Tumble Bugs

2007-09-28T11:47:00.000-07:00

Well the last class for tumble bugs at the Y was yesterday. E loved this class so we are going to try her at a "real" gymnastics class at Little Gym. We go to a "try it out" class on Monday and then will sign her up if we like it. I took some cute pictures...

Cute!

2007-09-26T17:42:00.000-07:00

Okay here are some pictures I have taken this week. The first one is of the kids playing dress up yesterday afternoon. Don't know how long this will last of N actually dressing up with E to play. :-) The second and third pictures are the kids decked out and calling on their phones.

Still around...

2007-09-23T10:26:00.000-07:00

Well seems like life has gotten away again. :-) We have been busy around here. Labor Day weekend we were in Seattle and had fun. Then came home and left Tuesday overnight for a quick trip overnight for work stuff. Then on Thursday the kids and I left for Portland to visit Aunt L as a b-day gift. M went up to the cabin with the guys to play computer games and relax. We were all ready to be home by Sunday...was just too much to do but the kids did great with it and there was no way around it. We are now home except for maybe one trip to Bend towards the end of Oct and then we are staying here for Thanksgiving.

N is loving school. I will start helping out in class on Friday's. E can come with me or I might have her to go to a friends house every once in awhile. We shall see how it all works out. N has a best friend already. At first they called each other "friend" but his mom and I have been pushing the name thing and they now call each other by their names. It's cute to watch. Now N has come home with some new words too. - Cool Man. Oh Man. Holly Hack a mony (think that is from Holy Marconi), plus some other ones. The thing that I love he says is for sneezes. Whenever he sneezes I always say Bless You. Well he will start sneezing now and say mommy I have the Bless Yous. I am going to have to do a scrapbook page about that saying just b/c I love how he says it and why he says it.

E has been busy this last month with swimming lessons on Mon and Weds. Then on Thurs she has what is called Tumble Bugs (tumbling class). She loves it. It was the first time when I tried to sit down and help her (the teacher had 6 kids aged 3-5 and no assistant) that after about 5-10 minutes she told me to go back and sit down over there...which meant go sit with the other mommies. :-) She did NOT want me there. She loves it!!! We always knew she was a monkey. :-) So we have discussed it and since she loves it that much we are going to put her in a gymnastics/tumble class. We have found they are expensive but the one at the Y is just not enough for her. It was a good one to try and see how she was but I think she needs more then that. So we decided on Little Gym...at least I think we have. Her last class at the Y is this week and then I will sign her up for a free class the following week to see how it is and if she likes it as much. Then will sign her up from there. We are still working on the potty training...she just doesn't seem that interested in at home...anywhere else she is great with it. :-(

M is busy with work and changing over to Vista on his computer here at home. Plus he is busy with other stuff (as most of you know). So his time has been pretty full. I am busy with driving kids around and trying to keep up around here at the house. Plus I have been working alot. I actually asked for time off this week for E's b-day so that is a good thing. I have talked to the lead teacher and asked not to be put down to teach so much b/c for the next two weeks I think that is all I am doing and that is what is adding to the load of work. The first week of Oct I work Sunday, Tuesday, meeting Weds, Thursday and Saturday. So that will not be a fun week at all! But I like the work so that is a good thing.

Well I think I have caught up on everything. I will try to be better about posting more this next week! I will also get some pictures posted! :-)

First Full Day & E

2007-08-29T09:54:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday we had the meeting with the speech therapist that tested E the week before (same one from when N had speech). She is in the mild/moderate range...which means she below the norm median. Now to be automatically put in the preschool program she has to test really low and have more then one area...like with N it was speech and social skills. Well the only way to try to get her in is to do the preschool screening which she can not do until she is 3...so on Oct 5 I have an appt set up for her to go thru the screening. They will do a hearing screening too...which is what I wanted too and was going to do thru her ear dr but now that they will do it there I will wait and see what they say. Now if she tests low in a couple of things it looks like she could get into the preschool program. It would be at the same school as N and at the same time...so they both would be gone Tues-Friday (preschool is not on Mondays). So now it is a wait and see. I did have her service lady put her on the waiting list for speech therapy but that could be a very long wait.

N started his first full (half) day at school today. I didn't realized that I would just drop him off at the playground and then when the bell range they would go line up with his teacher and go inside. So pretty much I won't even see his classroom much. B/c after school we have to wait outside for the class to come out...less distractions. It's just weird to go from where I was in the classroom and knew the teacher really well at preschool to just dropping him off and picking him up. I'm having a hard time with it but N seems fine with it. He loves school. I am thinking about having him come home on the school bus. He is most nervous about having big kids on the bus but on the way home it would only be preschoolers and kindergartens. Plus that would be one less trip to the school...but we will see what he wants to do when we get home. I can't even imagine him getting off the bus in the morning and going straight to the playground...b/c that is what he would have to do...with no real supervision. So we shall see what happens.

And here is a new "word" from E that started yesterday....Wowie Zoeie. :-)

First Day of Kindergarten!

2007-08-27T15:26:00.000-07:00

Well today was the first day of Kindergarten for N. He was not nervous at all...he was just ready to go. Mornings are going to be good for us. N is such a morning person that it just makes it so much easier for all of us. Kindergarten is from 8:45am - 11:30am. Today was a early release day and only half the class was there. The other half comes tomorrow to meet the teacher and the classroom. Then Weds will be the first day. His teacher's name is Ms. Sarah. So easy for him to remember. His friends from preschool last year I noticed are in the afternoon class, so he won't be seeing them. But he was fine with meeting new people. He just wanted people his age to play with. :-) E and I got to stay until 9:20 this morning and talk to the teacher and see his classroom. Then we left and did some grocery shopping and then went back. E was not happy leaving N there. She kept telling me I want N. So I took her for a treat of choclate milk so she didn't feel so left out. Next week we will be busy for her too with swimming lessons on Monday/Weds and tumble time on Thursdays. Just this week will be hard for her.

New Desk

2007-08-21T08:35:00.000-07:00

Well I have been wanting the kids to have an "art" desk but they are all to expensive. Well I lucked out. I was at the 2nd hand store yesterday and they had one of the desk I had been looking at. It was very dirty and needed some serious cleaning but for $20 (regularly like $80-90) I could clean it. So one magic eraser and some scrubbing it was like new again. The kids love it and they share while working at...which is even better. I need to keep an eye out for a 2nd chair now though. :-)

Western Idaho Fair

2007-08-21T08:18:00.000-07:00

Well we took the kids to the fair. M does not like the fair that much and we had told ourselves that we would try to go to Lagoon (Salt Lake City) every year instead but this year we just don't have the time for it...we will be planning it for next year. Anyways, we took the kids Sunday afternoon. The weather was not the greatest...the kids and I rode the boat ride (which E loved and N didn't like so much) and then we started to walk out b/c the wind had gotten really bad. But it passed so we asked the kid what they wanted to do leave and I would bring them back a different day or we could do the rides right then. They decided to stay...which the weather held out. The kids had a blast. E is like me and likes the rides that go around. N isn't too sure of those types. They both wanted to go on the ferris wheel but with the way the clouds looked and stuff we were too nervous to take them up there. Plus we didn't see much of the animals...saw some roosters, chicks being born, guinea pigs, and rabbits. Oh and we saw a couple cows. But I have a friend that will be at the fair with some relatives 20 some cows...so thought maybe I would take the kids out to see them on Thursday. Luckily the
kids are still free to get in. :-)

Swimming Lessons

2007-08-14T12:38:00.001-07:00

Well here are some pictures finally of swimming lessons. Nathan loves to go under the water...especially with his new goggles. Now Ellie we can't get to go under quite yet.

Time Flying

2007-08-10T06:41:00.000-07:00

Well it is now Friday and I was hoping to get on a couple of days ago and post but of course that goes down the drain before I know it! This month has been busy with swimming lessons on Tues/Thurs w/me working out beforehand too. Then on Weds have been the free movie that we have been taking part in. So before I know it is Friday and I haven't even made a dent in the things I wanted to get done. Oh well...in a couple weeks will start and we shall see if I have a little more time.

I think I found a gymnastics class for E to take at the Y. I just have to call and ask the lady in charge since it is in Sept and E turns 3 in Sept. The age limit is 3-5 yr olds. But if she can it is on Tues/Thurs mornings for about 45 min...so would be while N was at school.

Well took N to the ENT dr on Tuesday b/c we had the appt set up for a couple of weeks and I wanted to make sure he was all cleared up...even though once in awhile he would tell me his ear was bugging him. Come to find out he is stuffed up and they think it is allergies. So took him in for an allergy test on Weds morning. Now they do a test that is so easy!!! It is a little plastic thing that sort of looks like a spider and sits in the "solution...6 different ones" and then place it on your arm and rock it back and forth. Now it has no needles...just a hard plastic. Well of course N did not like it...since he is sensitive to scratches and such (which is what it sort of feels like but she doesn't scratch...just rocks). We had to do 3 of these "spiders"...then wait 3 minutes and them wipe the solution off. Then you wait another 12 min to see reactions. Well right away one was swelling up (in the 3 min) and that was cat. After the test was done we found out on a scale of 1-5 he is 4+ on cats, 2+ on dogs, and 1+ on corn pollen (not corn), grasses, and box elder (maple trees). Our guess is that on some dogs he will be worse then others. Plus he will probably be like me and just keep the dog clean and he will be fine. Plus a dog probably will never sleep in his room/on his bed. No cats though...which M doesn't mind at all. :-) I am going to start him back up on the allergy nasal spray the ENT gave me as samples and see how well it helps him. I noticed last night he was stuffed up in his sleep...so we will just have to see how it all goes. He isn't bad at all!!! But just trying to get him to sleep better and maybe longer! This morning he was up at 5:30am and woke up E too! He got in trouble for that b/c I have told him he needs to come in and see me to ask what time it is. If it's before 6am we tell him to go back to bed. Plus he is NOT to wake up his sister!!! I think he gets up b/c he wakes up and doesn't think about if he is tired or not just that he wants to play his leapster. We have had to cut him off every day lately on that thing! He would play it almost all day if we let him.

They are both loving swimming lessons. (Will try to remember to bring my camera on Tuesday.) N is loving going under the water and he definitely tries more things with his teacher then with us. E was nervous at first but loves it now. She still isn't totally comfortable but likes to go and get in. She still doesn't like going under all the way though. :-) I think I might try to keep her going while N is at school or if they have afternoon classes take them both then. The new schedule comes out Aug 15 so have to wait until then.

Well off to try to get some things on my to do list done before the week is totally over. :-) Have a great weekend! I get to go scrapbooking Saturday night so I am excited...now to get my stuff together. :-)

I spy...

2007-08-08T11:55:00.000-07:00

Can you spy what was flying around my butterfly bush?? Someday I want to have room to have a few of these bushes...I love what comes to visit every year around this time. Now to be able to get a better picture. :-)

Hate this Air!!!

2007-08-02T11:31:00.000-07:00

Ok I am really getting sick of this air quality around here! You know when M and I first moved here and even when he was an intern we don't ever remember the air being this bad. Now I do have to admit that I am so glad N and I have not had any asthma problems from this (atleast major ones...just once in a great while small ones). I just would love it if it rained or had some gusty winds!!! It just looks like the area is covered with a sort of cloud cover but it's all smoke and air pollution! Here is an article from the ktvb.com site...

"Shifting winds are causing a rapid deterioration of air quality over the Treasure Valley.

The Department of Environmental Quality issued an orange air alert for Thursday – the third level on a scale of five steps. Just two days ago, the air of the valley was significantly cleaner, with the air status at a rare “green” status – the best level. A change in the weather pattern switched the wind direction to funnel smoke from central Idaho fires down in to the valley. The Air Quality Index is expected hit 130 for today – and the DEQ warns the air is unhealthy for sensitive individuals.

As the sun rose this morning – it appeared a bright orange color. The skies around the area are a murky brown, with the sun a diminished dot. The skies are mostly clear of clouds – but the haze gives the area an overcast feeling.

As you might imagine, open outdoor burning is banned in Ada and Canyon counties until the air quality improves."

Ok now to leave you with a picture of N that M took the other night when M was messing with the camera and asked N to wait a minute to fix his airplane...this is a classic look for N. :-)

Sad Day

2007-07-26T19:03:00.000-07:00

Well today we had to have Molly dog put asleep. We got home on Monday evening and noticed she hadn't eaten any food and was very slow. The dog sitter said that she had eaten until Sunday plus she had gotten sick a couple of times on Monday morning. Well she continued to not get better. Even turned down cheese or any kind of treat. She just followed me around and then would lay down near where ever I was. Then last night (around midnight) she wanted to just lay in the yard...which is so not like her. Plus this morning she just went and laid down in the yard most of the morning. M and I knew that most likely it was the end. I think we were both hoping that she would pass away in her sleep with us, but she didn't. We took her to the vet this afternoon. The vet felt around...mainly spleen and lymph nodes and said they were very swollen. Guess this is common in dogs that have cancer. He said we could run tests and such if we wanted to know for sure but most likely there was nothing to be done. Molly had a full life and was almost 13 years old. We were glad we brought the kids with us. I sat down with them while the vet was out getting paper work and told them that they needed to give her a last hug and kiss. M had talked to them Tuesday night explaining a little bit and we had sort of prepared them. But it was still hard on N...he understood the best. E understood that Molly was not coming home but even now don't think she totally understands it. N is such a dog boy...he loves dogs. I am sure the next week or so will be hard. Right now it's taking things and putting them away or giving them away that is hardest. We know that at some point we will have another dog so want to keep some things.

So going to part with a favorite picture of mine...it's not the greatest since it's blurry but hope it shows how the kids loved the dog and she was part of the family.

Happy B-day Dad!

2007-06-28T18:32:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to say Happy Birthday
to Dad/Papa! We love you!

(saw this on someone else's blog and thought this is a great idea...since lately my cards are always late to people.)

E's Nose

2007-06-27T18:07:00.001-07:00

I totally forgot to tell about E's nose in the last post. On Saturday morning (before M left on his trip) we went to the park and then we were going to go to lunch downtown. Well we made it to the park and then home after that. :-) There is a part of the toy that has a ladder inside that you climb up to a "third level" that has some slides down from it and a bridge to another slide. Well E likes to climb up there but never goes down the slides. She usually hollers if she gets stuck. Well next thing we know she is climbing back down the ladder and falls. Not sure if she just let go or slipped. But she landed on her face. We thought for sure she had broken her nose, so called the nurse on call and she said if it was broken there isn't anything they could do at the ER. Just have the dr check it in a few days. So we waited until Monday morning and got in to see the Dr. She said everything looks good. It just looked very swollen but didn't look crooked inside or broken. Guess there isn't anything they can do until the swelling goes down anyways if it is broken. She said one sign of a broken nose is snoring at night or not breathing thru the nose. Which E hasn't not had either one of those. So a good sign. The swelling has gone down some and now it is just a yellowish color mainly. There is some purple too. I have taken a few pictures. The first one (top of paragraph) is Day 1 (the day it happened). The next is Day 2 (peach colored shirt) and the next is today, Day 5. I will probably do a scrapbook page about it. :-)

We are Alive

2007-06-27T06:45:00.001-07:00

Ok we are here. Just busy. We had a fun time with my parents and sister here. The kids loved the surprise! I will post some pictures later from that time. Plus my sister got some cool pictures that I will post the link to here later too. I am going to use some of them on a layout. Yep I am actually getting some scrapping done these last few nights. :-)

M left on Sunday in the morning. I was so tired after working until a little after midnight. But we got him off. He will be back on Saturday afternoon. The kids and I are doing fine. N has summer camp this week and is loving that. (mornings only). E is loving the time with just me. You can tell she missed that. We are just trying to keep busy around here since we seem to have lots of time w/o daddy around. :-) I am actually almost done refinishing and painting the back door that goes into our bedroom. That has been on the to do list for awhile. Will be glad when that is done! I need to replace the weather stripping in there too but not going to do it now.

We are busy too getting ready to go to the cabin. We leave town right after picking up M at the airport on Saturday. So we should get to the cabin about 10pm we think. We are stopping for dinner with Barb and Dave so that will be fun too. The kids have said that they want to pack their own stuff too. :-) So Friday will be interesting to say the least. LOL

I am on jury duty this week too. My number was called for yesterday. So handed off the kids to a friend who has kids the same age and they all love to play together. She was a lifesaver!!!! Anyways, on the way downtown I got called back saying that the case was settled out of court and didn't need to come. But still call in every night to check in. ugh! I was hoping I would be done with it. I might still be done with it but who knows what will happen by Friday. So instead of picking up the kids my friend told me to go do something. So I went to the mall all by myself! It was weird to be there by myself and no kids! I looked for a new swimsuit but did not find anything! Then I went grocery shopping for the trip. That was nice to do with no kids! Thanks again to my friend!!!!!

Okay time to get this day started. Everyone dressed and out the door to get to camp. Have a great day!

Excited!

2007-06-13T18:11:00.000-07:00

Okay N is excited about his birthday on Friday and then party on Saturday. I think E is just excited that she gets to see her friend on Saturday (big brother is coming to the party too). I am excited to see my sister and parents!!! I am wishing it was Thursday right now and I would be at work. But then I have a few things that I am finishing up...like laundry and birthday party bags tonight plus some more thank you cards. Then tomorrow I need to dead head some flowers, clean bathrooms and mop floors. Then I will be ready to leave for work. Plus I leave early for work with the van b/c I will be picking up 14 balloons before work. Then take them into work so they won't pop in the car from the heat. Then go pick up Leah at the airport at 10:15pm. Yea! I know 14 balloons sounds like alot but really only like 4 or 5 for N. There will be a balloon for each kid that is coming to the party...they will start out as decoration first and then as they leave they get one with a party bag. Then there will be 3 on the fence gate so guests know that this is the house and the gate to come thru. :-) So really we won't be keeping 14 balloons at this house for long...which I and M will be glad of. :-)

Time for Pictures

2007-06-13T07:25:00.000-07:00

Okay I have been bad about getting pictures up from the last few weeks so here goes.

(Left) This is of N sleeping in our room a couple days after the surgery.

(Right) Graduation at the Elementary School.

Taken at our favorite park for pictures. This was towards the end of N's recovery time. He looks even better now!

Then the other picture is at the same park...first time I have gotten one of the flowers like I wanted!!!

I am sure after this weekend I will be posting a bunch more pictures of N's birthday party. He invited 6 kids. 5 of them are coming. Plus 3 little sisters to play with E. So we will have 8 kids plus our two. Then the parents. Should be alot of fun! Plus I am picking my sister up from the airport Thursday night after work to surprise the kids Friday morning when they wake up. Then Friday night we are surprising the kids with my parents flying in that evening. So it will be alot of fun!!! Have a great weekend!

Great day ...

2007-06-08T07:34:00.000-07:00

so far! N woke up at 4:30 and asked to sleep on the floor in our room. I said okay. Then asked if he needed some medicine. He told me no and went back to sleep. He still has not wanted any meds and even has eaten some cheese. He's been talking up a storm this morning too. Plus gotten a little bossy (like normal). :-) We shall see how the rest of the day goes. I will be updating with some photos later today.

Finally an Update

2007-06-06T14:18:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has taken me awhile to blog. Time has gotten by with us being busy. We had a fun memorial weekend in Seattle with family. The kids loved spending time with their cousins, grandparents, and aunt & uncle. It was a lot of fun. Will post pictures either later today or tomorrow.

We have been busy since Tuesday after Memorial Day with N's surgery. If we are ever told that E's tonsil/adenoids need to be taken out we will be seriously be talking to the dr about it. We thought this would be a little easier. I knew that N wouldn't take well to the surgery part and some of the pain but it has been worse then we thought. It's like the pain meds (prescription) wears off about 3-3.5 hrs after taking the dose...which we are not to give the next dose until close to 4 hrs. So that last 30 minutes are tough on him. Won't even go into how it makes him feel somewhat b/c it is Tylenol w/Codeine. Plus we were told that he had to have food in his stomach to take it. So if he wasn't' eating around the time then to give him Tylenol. Well come to find out 3 days ago that Tylenol doesn't work hardly at all and needs to take the prescription. And that he can just have a drink in his stomach to take it. Anyways...starting 3 nights ago (maybe it was 4...a little sleep deprived right now) N started waking up and crying screaming around 10pm. Two nights it took 1-1.5 hrs to calm him down and get him back to sleep. Then wake up again 4 hours later. Well 2 nights ago I purposely woke him up at 9:30 to give him meds and then he slept until 1:15a and got him to take some more and then back to sleep fairly fast. Then last night he slept from 8pm-6am except for when I came home from work at 10pm the garage door woke him but easily got him back to sleep. Then today has been a good day with some eating and only one small breakdown when meds were starting to wear off. Here is hoping that it just gets better from here!

The weather is so crazy here! Right now it is very windy and the temp is right around 60 degrees. Yesterday it was raining and a little above 60 degrees. Then before that it was hot outside. Like 100 degrees for two days!!!! Here is hoping that this weekend is nice enough to go outside to fix up the gardens in the back some more since N's birthday party will be here at the house in the backyard. :-)

Well time to get some laundry done. :-)

A Dream/Wish

2007-05-16T20:04:00.000-07:00

An fellow Idahoscrapper sent this to me. I am going to be sending a card to him and thought maybe some of you would like to.

http://www.shaneswish.com/

Mom's Day

2007-05-12T21:19:00.000-07:00

I got this off a friend's blog and I love it. It is so true...there are hard times but I would never change anything! Happy Mother's Day!

Before I was a Mom
I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.
Before I was a Mom - I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.
I slept all night.
Before I was a Mom
I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.
Before I was a Mom
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to
put them down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I
couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so
much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom -
I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so
important and happy.

Before I was a Mom -
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every
10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache,
the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a
Mom.

Update on N

2007-05-07T18:33:00.000-07:00

Well N saw the ENT today. On June 29th he will be having his first surgery. He will have his tonsils and adenoids taken out. Plus he will most likely have a tube put into the left ear. The dr said that the ear was still gross looking and lots of pus. So she will drain it while he is under and then most likely put in a short term tube to keep it drained. (Can't do much else and she is worried about leaving it longer b/c of hearing lose.) Most likely it happened b/c of all the other tonsil/adenoid things going on. He had to have a camera put down his nose (which he did not like). His adenoids are swollen to 70%. Meaning they are much too large for his age. They are surprised he is not snoring more. Then his tonsils look gross too. He has pretty much had tonsillitises and we didn't even know it. The reason he has had so many colds/allergies (which we are now not sure it was truly allergies) is b/c of the tonsils and adenoids. This should help with the colds/allergies, purpleness under his eyes, sleeping in (maybe), and nose picking will be gone. Plus it might help with coughing (asthma) and never know might help some with some speech aspects (but most likely won't notice it).

So for now until then we will be only on tylenol and augementant (antiobiotic so his ear won't hurt him until then). Then afterwards we will have some pain meds and pushing liquids. He doesn't like the idea that he doesn't get to ride his scooter for a week afterwards. :-) He should be all better for his birthday...so am glad about that.

Have a great Tuesday!

Adult Humor

2007-05-01T09:34:00.000-07:00

Okay a friend sent this link on a group I am on. I love this! It was a much needed laugh today. Ellie is whiny (think from the ears...which will hopefully be taken care of tomorrow) and Nathan I don't think got enough sleep last night (crying at the drop of a hat). Atleast their friends are over today to play for most of the day. :-)

Layout

2007-04-29T06:59:00.000-07:00

Finished this layout last night and I love it! Thought I would share. :-)

Warm Day

2007-04-28T18:25:00.000-07:00

Well today was certainly a very warm day! :-)

This morning the kids and I went and got flowers for mommy to plant and water shoes so the kids could play later in the pool. E's ear was still bleeding with the discharge. So called the pedia dr office. Love that office since they have appts on the weekend if necessary with the on call dr. It was our dr on call and she wanted to see her. Could we come straight down. So off we went. Yes E has a ruptured ear drum (the tube was gone) and the other one is barely in and junk in there too. So both ears are gross inside. So onto a new antiobiotic and keep up the ear drops. Then if we still see blood by Weds she wants us to call the ENT's office and tell them that she needs to be seen to clear them out before Monday (which is the day we have an appt).

Came home afterwards and ate lunch. Then outside for just a little bit to fill up the little pool so the water would be warm after nap. Then down for nap...which everyone needed...even mommy! :-) Got up and swimsuits on and outside we went. We spent 2.5 hours outside. Kids playing and mommy planting and cleaning up flower beds. I still have one more flower bed to go but atleast the main one is done and pots are planted too. N loved the sprinkler but E did not. She kept telling me it was raining. I think it was partly that she was tired out from playing and the ear.

Came in and had a warm bath while mommy cleaned bathrooms. Then time for dinner and a movie. :-) Now time for calling daddy to say good night. Then off to sleep. Then tomorrow will be another warm day and after church we will play some more. :-)

Have a wonderful Saturday evening and Sunday.

Mommy's New Toy

2007-04-27T19:36:00.000-07:00

Well I finally decided what I was going to do about two weeks ago after going to the McCall weekend crop. I wanted a system that I could do alot more with and not cost as much in the longer run. I looked at two different systems. One you had to buy cartridges for. The other you did not but you might have to buy a few things (shapes and such) online but not if you could find something to scan and play with. So I decided that later. Well so I started searching to see how much I could get for all the "cutting" stuff I already had by Quickutz and Sizzix if I sold them on ebay. Figured out I could do it. So I listed everything on ebay and to some friends. I sold them all for prices that worked for me. I had enough!!! So called the local store and sure enough they had one in. So went and bought it the day M left town for his guys weekend away (Thurs-Sunday). All I could think of was now I had it!!! But I knew I probably wouldn't get to set it up right away. Sure enough I just got it set up and did the first test run about 20 minutes ago. So far I love it!!! I can cut anything from 1/4" to 8". Plus I can use any true fonts that are already on the computer...so no more buying new fonts or worrying about not having the right font. From now on I pretty much do not have to buy any more lettering or shapes from the store. I can make them myself!!! There is still much to figure out and have fun with but so far I love it!!! It is called the Silhouette by Quickutz. It's pretty much a printer that cuts. (Digital Craft Cutter). Now I just want to find or make a cover for it. :-)

So M is gone for the weekend. He left for work Thursday morning and then all of the guys meet at 2:30 and left town from there. He will be back on Sunday. They all take their computers up to a place called The Depot (sp?) in Cascade, ID (near McCall). Then they all play hooked up together certain games. The all choose a meal to cook and bring the food. That way only one of them at a time is cooking/making the food. They have a great time and it's good for M to get away like that!

The kids and I have been doing fine. It has gotten quite warm here so we have been outside alot. I finally worked on the flower bed near the walkway and have it all nice and neat and like I want it now! I am so glad...it has been bugging me like crazy. Then tomorrow we are going to work in the backyard. I was going to put out the bird bath and stuff since the kids are old enough now but I think it might be in the attic since I can't find it in the garage. So that means i need to wait for M to get home for that. :-( But I can atleast get my pots done and clean up the winter stuff in the flower beds. We might have to run to the flower shop but that won't be bad. :-) Plus I might get out the pool and blow it up and put some water in since it will be in the 80's here.

We won't be going to soccer tomorrow though. I figure we need a weekend here at home w/o doing a ton of stuff. N seems to be doing ok with his ear but who knows b/c the last time we thought it was gone all the way. We won't know for absolute until Friday. But E's pink eye is back some. (so more eye drops...which is not fun with her!). Then today she started crying and saying her ear hurt when we went up a small hill in the car here in town. Well look back and sure enough she has some drainage. It was wierd b/c she had never cried like that before with ear infections (drainage out of the tubes). So called the ear doctor and left a message for the nurse to call me back. She called me back and we talked about it. What worried her some was that the last time they looked the tubes were about half way out (which was about 3-4 months ago). So she isn't sure what is going on. She wonders if the ear drum might have ruptured. So she told me to start the ear drops in both ears. Then we go in on the 7th to see the ear doctor (the earliest appt we could get...which was good). If it is still bugging her big time on Monday will take her to the pediatrician and make sure there isn't anything else to do before the 7th. She has been whine and stuff but was just associating that with her age. :-) But now wonder. The nurse was surprised that she had an infection since she is on amoxicilian (last day) for the sinus infection. I told her well when she was a baby it never worked when she had an ear infection. So now I guess it is a wait for a week and see what will happen. Tomorrow night I plan to clean this house like a crazy and keep windows open for fresh air alot lately and hopefully all this yucky stuff will go away!!! :-)

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

Soccer

2007-04-24T08:04:00.000-07:00

Well here is a soccer video of N at practice. He did really well until half way through...which is good for how crappy he must have been feeling. The boy in the red jacket and red hat is a friend from preschool. M couldn't figure out why he kept going to sit next to this boy. Finally figured it out when he took his hat off and I could see from where I was sitting. :-)

Sickness

2007-04-24T07:54:00.000-07:00

Well we are fighting sickness around here some more. N has the ear infection plus his eyes were so goopy all weekend. It was gross! Anyways, took him yesterday and he has some new viral thing that includes pink eye, fever (for 3-5 days...haven't seen that part yet), cough (just a little so far) and a scratchy voice. Then his ear infection hasn't gotten any better for the past 4 days so we switched antibiotics. Now hopefully we will not be going back for 10 days! E is doing fine...her cough is almost gone. So guessing the sinus infection is gone. Luckily she is on the antibiotics and hopefully won't catch the pink eye. S's throat is a little scratchy but think just need to keep rested and will be fine. M is hopefully not going to catch anything b/c this weekend is his weekend away with the guys to play and have fun.

The kids got new clothes for Nana J yesterday and they love them. E is such a girl...she loves trying on clothes and stuff. Her waist is so skinny and such a bony butt that alot of things that fit length wise we are having a hard time with the waist. So when she gets new clothes we always have to try them on now. Even at the store if we have time I will have her try things on. It's so different since I never had N ever try anything on at the store. Atleast she loves doing it. I think we will head to Kohl's today and exchange the skort that won't stay on her waist and exchange the boxers that are a tadbit too big for N. He is now a "big" boy. For pjs he is wearing boxers and white undershirts. It's so different and hard to remember that he is growing up. Can't even believe that he goes to Kindergarten next year!

Here's a fun picture that I took of them playing in the box that the clothes came in. :-)

Ear Problems!

2007-04-20T12:28:00.000-07:00

Well okay I thought we would get away with no ear problems from N. But no such luck. He got the first ear infection during spring break in Tahoe. (double actually). Well we are now thinking (dr agrees) that maybe it didn't "leave" all the way. B/c starting last night he was complaining and I took him in first thing this morning. Sure enough it is bad again. We are on strong stuff again and have an appt for 10 days to check it again. (Make sure it goes all the way away!). Then we have decided to add a allergy medicine in b/c he has the dark circles under his eyes again badly which means allergy problems. The singular isn't cutting it by iteself but the singular helps keep the asthma away. So will take that in the morning plus the clariton at night. Hopefully after a couple of days he will be looking "normal" again!!!

Okay time for naps for everyone since mommy and N didn't get much sleep last night. And E is whiny as can be today!! Her cough is atleast getting a little better...went and got her the antibotics yesterday (held off for a week to see if we really needed it).

Have a great weekend!!!

Race for the Cure

2007-04-19T12:28:00.000-07:00

The place I am working for, Archiver's, has started up a team to do the 5K team walk. I am excited! It should be lots of fun. Since the majority of our customers are women we thought this would be an awesome way to show some support. Plus most of us know someone (family or not) that has been affected by breast cancer. I have sent out some emails asking for donations (which I sometimes feel weird about, but this is for a good cause...one that I support). But some of you I don't have emails for so thought I would post the link here. So if you want to donate anything just click on the link below.

Thank you to those that have already donated!!!

http://race.komenboise.org/goto/SaraD

Busy Time

2007-04-19T07:55:00.000-07:00

Okay as my mom pointed out I haven't updated this in awhile. :-) I can't even remember everything that happened last week other then getting ready for my McCall scrapbooking trip and work. I know that it seemed like I didn't have alot of time last week but who knows what it was all about. :-)

This last weekend S went on a scrapbooking retreat with a bunch of other ladies. It was fun. I got a little over half way done with M's air force album. I wish I would have gotten further but oh well...at least it is part way done. I stayed up until 2am each night and got up at 8am. I was exhausted by the time I got home on Sunday. Luckily I got home in time for lunch and then nap on Sunday. :-) Came home to E sick with a worse cough. Plus M had bought the kids (mainly N) a new computer game that he loves. It's star wars legos (everything is made out of legos). He loves it...wants to play it all the time. :-) It's a good motivator for good behavior and listening.

This week we joining the YMCA near us. We love it so far!!! We took the kids up Tuesday night to go swimming. They have a little kiddie pool that only goes up to 1.5 feet. It has two small slides and a couple other "toys" in there. Plus there is a lifeguard on duty all the time. Then there is a huge water slide in another pool that goes into a 3.5 feet water. But they allow any child to go on as long as they have a parent with them. E loved it!!! She wanted to keep going down it with us. She would laugh and scream all the way down. :-) N didn't want to do it until the very end and then he loved it. N had fun in the kiddie pool and the little slides there. He found a friend to play with (just some boy that had the same shorts as him). Matt saw that the diving board was open so he went over and did some diving and had fun. We plan on going swimming at least once a week with the kids. Plus during the summer there will be swimming lessons and they will be at the same time and in the morning so we don't have to take the night time away from things.

My sister and I are going to do a fitness goal together too. Haven't worked it all out but plan on something like 3x a week for 45 minutes. Not sure what the reward will be yet if we beat each other. :-) So M and I talked last night and our plan is going on Mondays and Fridays to work out. Then Friday nights after we work out we can all going swimming. Then I will go during the week during the day. We are paying for the childcare part of the membership (it was so cheap) so that we can do this. The play area is cool too. Oh and there is a rock wall that at certain times kids can go on it with parents. My bet is that E will do it before N. :-)

So now this weekend we will be hanging out around here. Finally getting N to his first soccer "practice" and S working Saturday night. So should be laid back and hopefully the sun will come back out. :-) I am a little tired of the cold, wind and rain.

Have a great weekend!

Happy Easter!

2007-04-08T16:10:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Easter! We are just hanging out at home all day and relaxing. We got up this morning and had french toast (w/powder sugar for the kids). Then we had a jelly bean hunt in the house. This is from when S was a little kid. Her daddy use to hide jelly beans for her and her sister and it was fun to find them all. There would always be a few that weren't found until a couple months later. :-) We only hid about 20 total. N ate all his within an hour of finding them. E still has some left. We didn't say much about the easter bunny...mainly about what easter is about. So they were a tadbit surprised to find things in their baskets this morning.

Yesterday they had a lot of fun at the church easter egg hunt. E and two other little girls got a little section to themselves. E loved all the eggs and had fun finding them all. She got enough points to "buy" a stuff basket with two little animals in it. N had fun too but his was a mad rush for everything. He went with the 5-7 yrs old. I guess he was mainly worried about his friend. He only got 4 eggs and his friends mom tried to give him a few by putting some on the ground and telling him they were there. He ended up keeping one and giving one to his friend (sharing). He is such a loving person and loves to share with his friends. We are so glad of this!

We were to head home and get lunch and then have N get ready for his soccer "practice". PAKS (Parents and Kids in Soccer). He was so excited. We didn't make it. S was having chest pains during the egg hunt at church. They got worse so off we went to the ER. Short story...no heart problems or anything else "major". But could only narrow it to two things - chest inflammation or an esophagus problem. Gave me meds for the later of the two. The pain has mainly gone away but I am worn out...even with a 4 hr nap a little while ago. Will most likely follow up with dr later this week.

So today we let N dress up in his soccer stuff (after nap when the rain had stopped). He loved playing in the backyard with daddy showing him "moves". I think he is really going to love soccer. He loves the running part alot too...so that is good. :-) E even had fun out there playing with her little soccer ball. The only thing was she was kicking with the outside of her foot...trying to teach her to kick with her inside. :-)

Well off to make an easy fun dinner. Love to family & friends!

Sleeping In and Fears

2007-03-30T12:16:00.000-07:00

Yea the last two morning N has slept until 7am or 7:20a! I can not believe it! It has been so nice. Now to some of you that may seem weird but N does not sleep in!!! I do have to say that it is weird to get up that late and then later that morning look at the clock and it is already 9am and I haven't showered b/c I have been busy doing the morning "things" around the house. :-)

Now onto fears. I have had two skin tags for quite some time (since having kids) and never got them removed b/c of the fear they would hurt. But they have annoyed me every summer. Well I switched over to M's doctor ...who I really like. Anyways, I finally asked them to be removed. I was in there a total of about 15 minutes (just like he promised) and had them removed. It only stung like a small bee sting when the needle went in to numb it but other then that it was fine. One does itch now on and off and the other one just a tadbit irritated but it's fine. I do have to say I am so glad I finally did it!!! Now to remember that things aren't always scary to get done. :-)

Have a wonderful weekend! I work my first crop at my new job Saturday night and I am hoping I have wonderful people come to crop. :-)

Back Home from Lake Tahoe

2007-03-29T06:59:00.000-07:00

Good morning! Well we made it home Tuesday night about 7:30pm. We had a fun time other then N getting a double ear infection. We arrived there around dinner time on Friday. The drive was great. The weather was nice and warm so we were able to stop at the park half way there and eat lunch and let the kids run around. Saturday we went up and played at the playground and went and looked around inside. Then came back a little later to play racquetball (N and M) and swim. E is just like Aunt L! She gets the purple lips and then shivers but does not want to get out! You ask her if she is cold and she will tell you no. :-) We relaxed during the afternoon. Then that evening M and S made dinner (forgot the cord for the fryer so ended up doing that on the stove....that was an experience itself!). After dinner we took the kids up to the arcade to play games. They loved it. Then we came back and N wanted to take a shower so bad b/c he had watched daddy in there. It was a shower that had a shower head on each side. So we got them in there and they loved it. E was okay about it all but N could have stayed in there forever!

Sunday morning we went and played again. Then went back and everyone got ready to go down into town. There were a bunch of little shops going out of business b/c the town had bought the land to build a convention center in the next couple of years. I found a nice vest for cheap! But didn't find anything for the kids or M. Ate lunch down there. Then home, went and rented skis for the kids and then down for naps. E refused to sleep so she and I stayed up. :-) Then we went down into Mendin (sp?) and ate dinner. During dinner N told me his ear hurt. I was thinking it was the pressure and told him I would give him some tylenol when we got back up the hill if it still hurt. Well it did. So gave him some and then we all sat down and watched Little Mermaid. At the end of that is when N lost it with the ear pain. So S and N were up most of the night...think a total of 4 hrs of sleep (not in a row). S called and found out about an urgent care down the hill. (We were staying at the top of the hill.) We went and got in 2nd (they opened at 8am). Found out he had a double ear infection...the other one was just starting. So got perscription for amoxicillan and numbing ear drops. Well pharmacies around there don't open until 9am. So had to wait 15 min to open then took 25 min to fill. ugh! By that time N was crying and screaming in the car. So I put the numbing drops right in. Well come to find out they sting at first. So N screamed most of the way back up the hill to the room. But he insisted that he wanted to go skiing still. And E really wanted to. So got N calmed down and asked again and yes he wanted to go. So dressed them and loaded up.

Now finding a place to ski for kids was an adventure in itself! Let's just say that the people at Heavenly didn't know what they were talking about. The first place was closed, the next place didn't have the magic carpet and the rope tow was for ski school...atleast that is what the signs said mainly. And no one told us at the top of the mountain was a magic carpet! (found that out later from D and C when we saw them at the room) So M put on regular boots and he just took them up and down the side next to the rope tow. N did it once but wanted to do it his way. :-) In the picture he is pushing M away. E loved it. She went down twice and guess she was saying Whooo Hooo. :-) Then since M and S had spent $ on a lift ticket b/c M was going to try to ski and S was told she needed one to do the kids hill with the kids and we couldn't return them. We went up the gondola. Loved it! It was very pretty. Then we were going to hang out at the top (sledding was up there) but N fell down the metal stairs and was crying so that was pretty much the end of that. But hey he had done pretty well with ear infections and lack of sleep. So we headed back down. That is where the pictures come from. N asleep and E looking out. We got back to the room and kids went straight to sleep. E slept for about an hour and N slept for about 3. Then dinner and relaxing around the place. It started snowing about an hour after we got back and didn't stop until the morning. It was pretty to watch and boy did it cover fast. Figures they get a ton of snow the night before we are to leave! We got out of there okay...ended up backing back down a hill that we couldn't get all the way up and going out a different way but we did it. The trip home was just fine and the kids did really well.

N is doing much better with the ear infection. Took him back in b/c early Tuesday morning there was a little blood. But dr found no blood inside the ear yesterday. But did find a big ball of hard wax in there and it was still infected pretty badly. So switch medicine and for the first morning N has said his ear doesn't hurt! Yea! It just threw us all for a loop b/c N has maybe had one ear infection when he was a baby and that is it! It's usually E that gets them with her tubes.

Hope everyone has a wonderful spring break! And L & A have fun in Japan!!!

Fighting Fashion

2007-03-22T11:58:00.000-07:00

Well lately N has started to make decisions about what he wants to wear but he is stilling learning about short sleeves for warm and long sleeves for cold. :-) Anyways, this morning he went to get his socks and found this old tie. Came out with it and asked to wear it today. I told him no but if he really wanted to wear a tie he could for Easter. Well he didn't take the no for an answer. He put it on himself. :-) Of course he just looked too cute and asking please if he could wear it today that way. Well didn't really match. LOL So told him he could wear it in the car but couldn't wear it outside of the car. He remembered but after the 2nd stop this morning he didn't put it back on. :-) So got it out of his system.

Here is a layout I finished last night about us being married for 12 years now.
It was to meet a challenge of using only green and also one about something I am lucky about.

I did this layout two nights ago with N in his superman pjs the first time in TN. It turned out really good if I do say so myself. :-)