The Last Week...

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

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

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!

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!

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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!

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!

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!

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

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!!!

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!

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

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!

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!

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!