The Pierce Family

Middle School Awards for Megan

2009-06-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

Wednesday was Megan's last day of school, well Monday they had an awards assembly. The parents of students getting an award got a letter telling us they were getting an award, but to keep it secret from the students. I went not knowing what award or how many she was getting. She got not one, not two, but THREE awards. She did a great job this school year. Her first award was for Perfect Attendance. There were only 10 6th graders to get this award. I know what you are thinking, and no I didn't make her go when she was sick, she was just not sick this year.

The second award was a Certificate of Excellence for having a GPA of 3.5-3.99. She did so great with her classes I could not be prouder of her especially since one was 8th grade math and she was in 6th grade. She must take after her Dad.

Her last award was an Outstanding Student award in Science. She was getting an A+, but it moved to just an A. ;o). These are lousy pictures, but you get the idea. This is the picture of for her GPA award. It's the only picture that worked.

She had a great 6th grade and is so excited to finally have a long summer break since we have always been in a year round school. I give her 2 weeks to be bored. Courtney will be joining her in Middle School in the Fall and she isn't sure about that. Now Courtney can be called "Gerbil" and Megan will be called "Sevey". Some nicknames they give 6 and 7th graders.

Antoher trip to the Emergency Room

2009-06-04T10:55:00.000-07:00

About 2 1/2 weeks ago Tyler fell off a garden scooter onto the cement and had a big bump on the back of his head so I took him to the emergency room. He was fine. Well Friday night at 10:45 when kids are supposed to be sleeping Sydney starts screaming. I went to her and blood was all over her month. I sent her right to Ron because I couldn't look at it. He cleaned her up and discovered that her 2 top front teeth had not come out, but fallen down. I didn't get a picture with my camera, just my cell phone, but I don't know how to get pictures off of it. We called her dentist twice and he never called back, so we called a different dentist with the same outcome. We ended up having to take her to the emergency room at midnight. The dentist there pushed them back up and gave her some pain medicine. The only problem was when he pushed them back up he also pushed them back so when when she bites her front teeth are the first to hit, so she is changing her bite. This all happened because her and Tyler stacked couch cushions on top of each other and she fell and hit her wood bed frame. She did leave teeth marks as a reminder. This is a picture of her gums. They look so painful. Sorry about the lousy picture quality. There is something wrong with my camera.

I took her to the dentist and he wants to pull them. We are going to wait a week to see if she will start biting normally again. I sure hope so because I don't want her to not have her two top teeth missing for over a year.

Moral of the story is "No more monkeys jumping on the bed" or couch cushions!!!!

First piano recital

2009-06-03T11:35:00.000-07:00

Courtney has just been taking piano lessons for 1 month. My friend Darcie that is teaching her always takes the summer off, but I wanted her to at least know some basic fact about piano before summer so during summer she can practice. We only have a keyboard, so it's a little different, but she still gets the idea. Well she had her first recital and did a fabulous job.

This is just a picture of her getting her Certificate. Great job Courtney and yes maybe soon we will finally get a piano. Does anyone know where we can get a really cheap one?

Courtney's Science Fair project

2009-06-03T11:30:00.000-07:00

5th graders are required to participate in the Science Fair. Courtney choose to see if flowers will stay alive longer in ice cold water or boiling water. The outcome was that the boiling water cooked the stems and turned the water yellow and died faster. The ice cold water made the flowers last long. We should have had a controlled sample as well were it was just regular tap water. Anyways we are glad this project is over and I don't think there are anymore big projects left. Only 3 1/2 more weeks for her and then school will be over. Yeah!

Memorial Day Weekend, Silver City, Idaho

2009-06-02T11:12:00.000-07:00

My parents came up here to visit us for Memorial Day weekend. We had such a great time. They got here Friday, and after eating dinner Ron and I along with my parents went and saw Star Trek. I'm not a Star Trek fan, but I really enjoyed the movie. We took the Jeep to the movie theatres. My parents had never ridden in a Jeep and to have no top on they weren't sure what to expect. It was the funniest thing seeing my mom try to get out of the Jeep because it has no running boards and it is lifted. We had a great laugh over that. The next day Ron, my dad and a friend Ray went shooting. They had a great time. They got back and relaxed for a little bit then took all the kids up to Idaho City to go panning for gold. It was great for my mom and I because they were gone for several hours. They had a great time. Sunday we decided to go on a family outing instead of church. I don't condone this, but my parents only come up about once a year. We decided to go to Silver City. We knew nothing about it, but we googled it and it sounded interesting. It is about 90 miles away and for the last 20 it is through the mountains on a windy halfway dirt road.

There was this one part of the road that had snow on both sides. It looked really cool.

There are only 2 places that are open. One is Pat's What-Not Shop and the other is the Hotel.Silver City is only 2 streets about a block long. There are so many old buildings and they all had outhouses. I am so thankful that I have a flushing toilet and water. There were 2 outhouses that looked like they were 2 stories tall. I don't know how that would work and apparently you can see some of them with by appointment.

I think this is the deluxe model.

This is the church they have on the hill.

There was a little peek hole you could look inside of. View inside the peek hole.

The view of Silver City from the church.

Some other shots of Silver City.

It's hard going to a place that you know nothing about, but we were all glad we visited it. At one time Silver City had a population of almost 5000 people. I can't imagine that many people living there since it's so small.

On the way home we stopped at Given's Hot Springs and had our picnic we brought with us. When my parents come my dad always pays the kids for doing different things. He paid the winner of running at Given's. We had to have several races so that everyone got a chance to win.Yes, Ron did loose this race to Courtney.They raced again so that Ron could beat her, and he did.

Tyler beat Sydney so they had another race and Megan and Tyler skipped the whole time. Sydney did end up winning. Ok I will admit that I raced as well with Sydney and Tyler. I didn't win but I blame it all on my flip flops and lack of a supporting bra ;o).

Pay up Grandpa.

We had a great time with my parents here and we got to see new sites. Thanks Mom and Dad for coming and visiting us. We can't wait until next time!!!

Sydney's Pre-school graduation

2009-06-02T10:59:00.000-07:00

Yeah, my baby will be going to Kindergarten. I am not one of those mother's that will be sad to see her baby go off to school. I am so excited for her. She kept saying that Pre-school was boring. That is just Sydney for you though. Miss Susan to the kids, even though she is a Mrs, was a fabulous teacher. She taught all 4 of our kids for 2 years each. I think the reason I'm so excited about Sydney being done with Kindergarten is that I won't have to drive her so far away. It took me about 17 min. to get there every other Mon, Wed, Fri. I did carpool so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Here is the silly girl. I just love the hats that they got!

This one has a great picture of all the kids that were in her class.

The kids singing us there graduation song. They did such a fabulous job!

Even though Sydney said Pre-school was boring she really loved Miss Susan. Great job Sydney, only 2 1/2 months before Kindergarten starts. She is so excited!

Sydney's new eye wear

2009-06-02T10:53:00.000-07:00

So my baby girl had to get glasses. I took her to her Kindergarten registration and she completely failed the eye exam. Good thing I had an eye dr. appointment already scheduled for 2 days later. She definitely need glasses. She looks so cute in them. She doesn't always wear them like she should because she says she can see better without them until I have her try to read something across the room without them then she realizes she needs them.

She has been so responsible with them. She is so grown up now.

Women's Conference April 30-May 1

2009-06-01T20:53:00.000-07:00

So I grew up about 20 min. from BYU and never even knew some of the amazing programs that went on there. For example Women's Conference. I had not really ever heard of Women's Conference until this year. My Mom is the secretary for Sandra Rogers, the lady that is charge of putting Women's Conference on. Back in December, I think, my mom asked me if I wanted to go and thought to myself "I don't really know what Women's Conference is, but it is a great excuse to get away with no kids for a few days "so I told her sure. When the time was closer she told me I should invite some ladies from my ward to come down and stay at her house. There were 4 ladies that took me up on the offer. Mary Howell, Ashley Jones, Lynn Biggs, Michelle Miller and I all drove down to Utah together. Michelle stayed with her SIL while the other ladies stayed at my parents house. We had such a great time driving down together and back. What a special group of women they were.
The closing prayer for the first days closing session was given by my mom. Here is a picture of her getting the podium adjusted for her height, or lack of it. Just kidding Mom! You gave a wonderful prayer!I forgot to mention that since my mom was on the committee that put on Women's conference she was able to get one floor pass ticket for all 4 sessions. There were about 6 rows on the floor and I tried to sit on the second row, but they kicked me out and asked me to go to the back section. I did as they asked and then someone else asked me to move to the front row. Who am I to say no? I moved to the front row very middle. I had that same spot for all four sessions. I must have found my perfect spot because after that no one tried to kick me out. I felt so honored to be that close especially since there were over 16,000 people there. Wow! This is a picture of the people behind me. I didn't want to stand up and brag about where I was sitting so I turned my camera around and took this picture:All the classes where so amazing, but the part for me that was the most amazing was being so close to such wonderfully spiritual people. The second day morning session Julie Beck was the speaker. I was sitting in my usually spot when her family and friends started piling in around me. I was sitting right in the middle of her family. I kept telling them that I could move and they would say "Don't you dare". They were so kind! Julie had such a wonderful message and such a wonderful spirit.

I think I was too close because my camera wasn't working very well.

So for Women's conference they have a general session were everyone meets in the Marriott Center then we have 3 classes we can choose then a closing general session. After Friday mornings general session Mary and I tried to get into a class, but it filled up, so we wandered around the book store and bought Mint Brownies. Apparently that is what you do at Women's conference and after buying some and trying them I can see why. For the second class my Mom, my sister Stacey and I went to a class about Depression. We didn't really need that class, but it was taught by a good family friend named Karen Salisbury. She used to be our next door neighbor until both families moved away. We are still great friends though. She did such a fabulous job. I think my mom still owes her though because my mom is the one that nominated Karen to talk. Good call Mom! After class we brought Stacey home and I got to see here cute 2 year old daughter and there new house they just bought. When my mom an I got back to BYU it was during the last class and once the class starts you can't leave or enter, so we went to the hospitality room that is for the committee and important people. When we got to the room there were only 3 women there. My mom chose to sit by the one that was by herself. It just happened to have been Julie Beck, the General Relief Society President. We didn't talk because she was listening to one of her counselors give a talk. During the talk the BYU President came in and stood right next to me. So my mom and I were sandwiched between the BYU President and Julie Beck. Not back company if you ask me. Oh and they had mint brownies that we ate.

Fridays closing session we were so honored to hear from Elder L. Tom Perry who was accompanied by his wife and Elder Russel M. Nelson. Elder Perry was so much fun to watch. When he took his seat he wanted to see all the women so he had to block the bright lights.

I was so honored and humbled to be able to sit that close to them. They are such wonderful men and the have such a wonderful message and spirit.

This last picture is for my mom. I wanted to have her in a picture with the apostles.

During the last song we sang The Lord is My Light. During the song the women behind me started standing up. We then all stood up except those on the podium. Elder L. Tom Perry looked back and then they all stood up as well. Everyone started crying from being so filled with the spirit. I couldn't even sing. It was such a wonderful experience. I was so grateful to be a part of it.

Mom, thank you so much for inviting me and giving up your seat in the totally full class so that I could get it. It was worth the long drive and the lack of sleep. Thanks for opening up your beautiful home for my friends. We all can't wait for next year!

Dance Festival

2009-06-01T20:31:00.000-07:00

Our area had a multi-stake dance festival at the Taco Bell Arena in Boise on April 25. Our kids weren't old enough to be a part of it, but I was there all day with the youth as a chaperone. After a long day of practice and dress rehearsal they all did a fabulous job. Our stake did a line dance and some sort of square dance I think, I don't remember, but here are some pictures of it.

These next two pictures show all the kids from the 6 different stakes. There were so many kids there. They all did such a fabulous job. Megan and Courtney both came to watch and can't wait to do it again in 4 years.

Part 2

2009-04-21T12:12:00.001-07:00

I see from the comments left after yesterdays post that my sister Stacey didn't think I would do part 2 this week, so I have to prove her wrong. That's just the way I work sometimes and you can't tell me that you all aren't the same way too!

Easter weekend we decided to go on a day trip to Shoshone Falls. We never go on day trips so it was alot of fun. First we stopped at Malad Gorge. We drive by there everytime we go to Utah, but we have never stopped. We finally stopped and we were glad we did. It's this really cool gorge and you have to walk out on a metal bridge to be able to see it all.

It cost $3.00 I think, but the view was worth it. There is a park there with old fashioned toys, you know what I'm talking about. The metal big slide, the spring animals and a merry go round type thing. The kids loved the merry go round the best. They were dizzy kids by the time we left.

We then made our way to Shoshone Falls. We knew it was the perfect time to visit because the water was flowing.

The kids loved it, but the part they loved even more then the waterfalls were the hills. How is it that kids can roll and roll and roll and not get dizzy. I would get dizzy just rolling once. We then had a picnic with an awesome view of the falls. It was such a nice day!

Along with rolling down the hills the kids had a great time hiking up them as well.

You know how certain things trigger a memory from your childhood? Well they had a little conssesion stand on one side of the parking lot. They had licorice ropes. When I think of them it reminds me of one summer growing up in Pleasant Grove, Utah we had a swim pass for every odd or even day, can't quite remember which one, and they had licorice ropes for sale. I didn't ever have money so I could never buy one. So when I saw them and just had to have one. Of course after I got one then Ron had to have one then all the kids needed one so we ended up with 6 licorice ropes. They were really good too.

After a couple of hours and six licorice ropes later we left Shoshone Falls and went and saw the new Twin Falls Temple. It was small, but beautiful. There was a little bunny on the temple grounds that the kids kept trying to catch. They were even trying to lure it in with carrots we had, but it didn't work. They had a great time trying though.

The last thing we did was go to the Perrine Bridge and walk under it and on it until we were over the water. It was so windy up there. Tyler was a wimp and held on to the road barrier as he walked across it. I thought it was fun. I liked how you could walk under it to get to the other side.

View from the North side of the Perrine Bridge. There is a golf course. It was a great view.

We really had a great day and it didn't cost a lot, mostly gas to get there and back, but doing something as a family really ment alot. I challenge all of you to find something and do it as a family! Have a great day!

p.s Ha! Stacey I proved you wrong.

Get comfy you may be here awhile part 1!

2009-04-20T21:13:00.000-07:00

I just don't know how people do it. I have 2 blogs and I have such a hard time keeping up with them. I'm finally (a little) motivated to update this blog. You'll be here awhile since it's been over a month since I've updated, so get comfy!

First Megan always gets up and leaves for school before Courtney even wakes up. Well one day when they both got home from school they realized they had worn the same shirt that day. That was the first time it happened. They weren't to happy about it, but they still posed for a picture. Don't they look so cute together! Can you believe there are only 17 month separating them?

Next they both got here hair highlighted by my friend Darcie (thanks Darcie). I had to take a picture. Courtney was the one that was most excited to get it done, I don't know where that look came from!
Then Megan got a turn. Sorry you only get the before and not the after. They turned out really cute though, but you will just have to trust me. Darcie you did a great job and you're hired again for the next time!

So March 16th was Ron's birthday. I hope he had a great day. I had to post this picture to show you how much Courtney is a poser. She loves to show off for the camera. Happy very Belated Birthday! We all love you very much!!!

March 21st I took the kids to Utah for Spring Break. That was Megan's 12th birthday. She wasn't to excited to make a long drive on her birthday, but she was excited to be there with family. Don't worry I took her out the night before to celebrate her birthday. It was just her and me. We went shopping for new church clothes then went to Applebee's for dinner. We then went to Hastings for the midnight release of Twilight on DVD. We didn't have time to watch it that night since we were traveling to Utah the next day. We got there just in time for a big family BBQ celebrating my dad's birthday. They shared the yummy Chocolate Bundt cake. Happy Birthday Megan and Dad!!! We love you both. I am so proud of the beautiful Young Women Megan has become. She is such a great daughter to have around, and a great big sister/babysitter. I just love having a live in babysitter!

Megan got this beautiful statue of a Young Women since she is now in Young Women's. How did that happen that I have a 12 year old?
Well for the ice cream part of the cake and ice cream my mom made homemade ice cream in freezer bags. You're supposed to mix it all around for about 10 min then eat it. The kids thought it would be fun to throw it back and forth from the top of the swing set to the bottom. They had so much fun doing it. Some ice cream worked and some didn't, but it was fun trying. Thanks for the fun Mom!

Monday while we were down there my Sister Stacey and I took my kids and her one daughter to a place in Lindon called Jump on It. We had never been there, but it sounded like a fun place to take the kids. It's this big place that has a bunch of trampolines next to each other and on the walls. The kids had the best time there. Everyday after that they would ask to go back. I only took them that once, but I'm sure we will be visiting it again. They also had a bunch of inflatables for the kids to play on. Stacey's daughter Juliana would only jump if she was holding my hand. She was so cute. Stacey couldn't help here since she is prego with baby number 2. I thought it was fun too!

Also during spring break I took the kids to the Bean Museum at BYU. It was a fun place for the kids and the best part was it was free. We got there right when they started showing some reptiles to preschoolers. They brought around a turtle that was so cute, then they brought out the lizard of some sort. When they brought out the snake Sydney did not want to have anything to do with it. She decided to hide like a turtle so she wouldn't have to see it.

As you can see in the pictures I have a child missing. Tyler was there with us, but when they brought around the animals he hid under the bench because he didn't want to touch them. What a wimp!

They had taxidermied animals all over. The kids really liked the butterfly picture.

There really is such a thing as a Liger and Tyler has proof!

All in all they really enjoyed the Bean museum. I'm sure they would be happy to go there again.

That was our spring break this year. We wish Ron could have come with us, but someone has to stay and make the money. We are glad that he has a job and can do that!

The last thing I'm going to share with you tonight is this picture of Bolt that Courtney free handed. She did a great job. She thought it was good too so she made a frame to go around it.

Thanks for staying and catching up, but that was only part 1. Part 2 will come sometime this week. Have a great day!!!

Six Tag

2009-03-09T13:11:00.000-07:00

So I'm finally excepting a tag. I've been tagged before, but I don't have time to do a list of 25 things, or think of several different things that people don't know about me. This tag was easy so I can do it. You're suppost to go to your sixth picture folder and open the sixth photo and post it. Not hard to do. This is the picture that was there. I don't know if Megan will appreciate this picture. It's of her and something she made out of Magnetix taken Jan. 30, 2006. She has definitely changed in 3 years.

Now I tag: Lana, Lisa, Weeze, Amy, Tiffany, Amberly

Sydney's family birthday party

2009-03-09T12:13:00.000-07:00

Sydney's friend birthday party was on Friday, but her actual birthday was on Saturday, so of course we had to do something fun right. I made pancakes for breakfast and then we cleaned a little. We then went to Idaho Ice World and went ice skating. They had a free ice skating day which included free skate rentals. It really was totally free. The only problem with that was that there were a ton of people there. I haven't been ice skating in at least 12 years. I never fell, but it was harder then I remembered. Megan and Courtney did good and Tyler was starting to get the hang of it. He still had to hold onto someone though. Sydney went around once and did not want anything else to do with it. She rested for a little while then I had her go around one more time. It's a good thing it was free because we definitely would not have gotten our money worth. We then went to yummy Tucano's for lunch. It's our favorite place to eat when we go to Utah so we are so glad they finally opened one up here in Idaho. After Tucano's we went to Chuck-e-cheese's. Note to self do NOT go there on a Saturday. We could barely walk around because there were so many kids there. Surprisingly though they didn't have to wait for the games. Yes, even Megan got in on the fun. I can't believe how fast kids can use 20 tokens. After that we came home and vegged the rest of the day. We were all exhausted and didn't want to do anything. And because we went to Tucano's at 3:00 we didn't need dinner, so it was perfect. Sydney had a great day, but I don't think she will ever go ice skating again.

Snow after Church

2009-03-09T11:27:00.000-07:00

When we left for church yesterday it was not snowing. In fact it was a nice day, I even wore sandals. When we came out of church we found it had snowed. Of course when we got home Courtney scarfed down lunch and was out playing in the snow before I was even changed. The snow was perfect for big snow balls. She and Tyler ended up rolling quite a few of them and making a fort with them.

It wasn't very big. Tyler barely fit in there, but they still enjoyed themselves.I'm afraid that yesterdays snow was probably the last snow fall of the season. The kids love the snow, but I'm ready for warmer weather. Who's with me?

Sydney's Birthday

2009-03-09T10:48:00.000-07:00

I slacked of a little in getting Sydney's birthday pictures on the blog, but better late then never right? She turned 5 Feb. 28 and wanted to have her first birthday party. They celebrated it in preschool first then I brought 5 girls home with us from preschool.

She wanted it to be princess themed so that's what I did for her. It started with eating pizza and since it was a princess party they needed tiaras, a princess needs a tiara.

Next a princess needs jewelry so they all made a princess necklace.

After the necklaces a princess needs a bag to put her stuff in so they decorated a small tote using flowers I cut out onto sticky back felt. It worked perfect for this project.

They broke a pinata and filled there bags with candy and treasures. I think they all had a great time being princesses.

Sydney loved her first party and I'm glad they only come around once a year!

Megan's Band Concert

2009-03-02T13:07:00.000-08:00

When kids are in 6th grade (Middle School here) they have to take Band, Orchestra or Music. I wanted her to take music so we didn't have to buy an instrument or listen to her practice. She really wanted to take band though, so being the bad mom I am said ok, but only if you play the flute. I figured the flute isn't that loud and it's small enough to pack to and from school everyday. She agreed with it, well about 1 1/2 months ago she came home from school saying they are having a parent band that we have to participate in. She got to teach me 3 different notes and I had to learn 4 songs. After I learned the notes and was able to play the songs she brought me a paper saying it wasn't mandatory but voluntary. I figured she already taught me so I may as well keep doing it. I knew she really wanted me to. Well last Thursday they had there 2nd concert along with the parent band performing.

There were only about 15 parents that participated in the parents band. I'm glad I got the chance to do it. I really appreciate the hard work and effort Megan had gone to in learning to play the way she does.

It's hard to see Megan, but she's to the right of her teacher on the front row the second child in. They really did a great job! I'm proud of her for learning a new instrument from knowing nothing about music. She is going to take band again next year.

Sydney's diagnosis

2009-02-23T12:32:00.000-08:00

So we just got back from the Dr. and he confirmed that it is something called Henoch Schonlein purpura or HSP for short. Inflammation of the blood vessels causing bleeding in the tissues. It has gotten worse, and it still may get worse, but it will go away in about a week. They don't know what causes it, but it will just go away. We have to keep an eye out for her kidney because it could effect that, but she should be just fine. The Dr said that they don't see it very often. It is so weird. It looks painful, but she says it doesn't hurt.

She is running around just fine, so no need to be concerned. I'll keep you up to date on her condition though.

Ouch!

2009-02-23T09:29:00.000-08:00

Saturday late afternoon Sydney was saying that it hurt to walk. I looked at her feet to find that her right foot was all swollen and she had some bumps on her leg. I had no idea what happened. I didn't know if she sprained her foot, or had an allergic reaction to something, or even a spider bite. I gave her some childrens benedryl and it didn't seem to work so I brought her to St. Al's Emergency room. After they did the initial exam they put her in her own room. The Dr. had no idea what was wrong. I just have to say that I have the bravest little girl. They had to draw blood and give her and I.V. She never cried. She just let them do it to her. I was so proud of how brave she was. The Dr. said that she was there favorite patient of the day. She also had to have chest x-rays, a strep test and urine sample. Her results came back and they were all fine. The Dr. drew around the swelling and bruising to see if it got worse. It spread to both legs and on her little bum. Her arm was also starting to swell a little.

I fogot to take the camera with me and they wouldn't let me have my cell phone on so these pictures were taken Sunday at home. She was on so much pain medicine that she was running and jumping all day. I'm sure that it made it worse, but we could not get her to sit still. She has a Dr. appoinment today and we will see what he says. Poor Sydney.

Discover Engineer Day at BSU

2009-02-03T08:47:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday BSU had a big kids Engineer Day. They had alot of things for the kids to do. We got there a little late so we didn't do alot of things, but we did get to hear Barbara Morgan (the first teacher in Space) talk about her experience in space in 2007. It was really cool to listen to all the things that happened in space. She had some really cool pictures too!

Barbara Morgan!
Space shuttle Endeaver with some of the people that made it possible.

The International Space Station in 2007. More has been added since then. It's roughly the size of 2 football fields.

Water and M&M's floating in space.

Picture of the earth from the space shuttle.

Courtney and I ended up winning Basil seeds that flew in space. How cool is that! This is a picture of Courtney picking up her seeds from Barbara.

Megan and Courtney also got to ride a Segway. They thought that was pretty cool!

The last thing they did was learn about buildings and motion using Jenga blocks.

All in all we all had a great time learning about Engineering and the best part was that it was all FREE!!! Can't beat that.

Happy Belated Anniversary

2009-02-03T08:34:00.000-08:00

So I blew it this year not because I forgot our anniversary, but because I didn't post anything about it last week. Last Thursday Jan. 29 Ron and I celebrated our 15th Anniversary. I can't believe that we have been together for 15 years. Time has just flown by. It has been a great 15 years and I can't wait to see what the rest of our lives hold. Since it was on a Thursday and Ron is going to BSU 4 days a week there wasn't awhole lot we could do. We ended up going to the Boise Temple and doing an Endowment session there which was really nice. Then we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. Yummy! He also bought me flowers!

This is a picture of them 5 days later. They were really pretty when I first got them. Note to self make sure they have water. The vase was completely empty. No wonder they look like they are dying.

We had a great day and when Ron doesn't have school we may go on vacation alone, but we'll have to wait and see.

I love you very much Ron! Thanks for being a wonderful husband, friend, father and son!!!

New Friends

2009-01-24T15:22:00.001-08:00

In the mail we got a gift card for a free Build-a-bear up to $12.00 as a birthday present, but it was only good from Jan. 21-25. Since my birthday is the only one in that time frame I claimed the coupon. We also had another coupon for $10.00 off since we had spent $100 previously. So we all went to the mall to get bears. The kids had Christmas money and that's what they wanted to spend it on. I was to embarrassed getting my bear so we pretended that is was Megan's. So the bear that Megan is holding is actually my almost free bear with the coupons I had. Thanks Build-a-bear. Now we all have at least on bear. The kids all have 2. Yes, even Ron has a bear that we got him last year for Fathers day that says "#1 Dad!"
Toby didn't want to feel left out so he had to be in the picture too. The bears are bigger then he is :0)!

My birthday present

2009-01-24T15:06:00.000-08:00

On my birthday Ron would ask me what I wanted, and I just couldn't pin point what is was I wanted. He then said he had an idea. He didn't want to tell me, but then he said I needed to pick one out. It was a new kitchen faucet. That was perfect because our other one the handle to turn the water off and on would come right off. So we went to Home Depot then Lowe's then back to Home Depot and finally back to Lowe's. (Good thing they are less then 1 mile away from each other.) We finally settled on one that is perfect for us.

Before... Very pathetic

Ron really had to work to get under the sink, but he was a trooper!

The new and improved faucet. It even has a soap dispenser, so one less thing to put on the sink. We don't have a fridge that has a water dispenser and I was so tired of the PUR water filter on the faucet so we got one that goes on the sink. I love it! Now we just need a stainless steel sink. Maybe next birthday!

Thanks for the hard work in getting the new faucet put in Ron. We were up until 2:00am doing it. The kids think it's awesome, and so do we!

Thank you EVERYONE!!!

2009-01-23T09:14:00.000-08:00

I just had to say Thank you to everyone for making my birthday so special! I have to tell you what happened. So Wednesday night Ron was asking me what I wanted to do for my birthday. I told him I wanted to stay in sweats all day and not go anywhere. I always go to a Mexican restaurant called On the Border in Boise for my birthday, but Ron is going to school and he has a class on Thursdays from 1-4 and Tyler doesn't get off the bus from Kindergarten until 12:15, so forget about going out to lunch right. Well fastforward to Thursday my actually birthday date. I went to get my sweats and realized they were dirty. Of course they were such a great start to my day. I found some other clothes to wear and left my bathroom. Well my baby Sydney, ok not baby since she is almost 5, was laying on my bed and said Happy Birthday Mom! This is very amazing because I have to wake her up every day. If I don't she would sleep in until past 11:00. I was shocked to see her there, but it was so cute! After I got the other kids out the door to go to school Sydney and I went shopping for dinner food. Ron can cook, but he doesn't really do it unless you want waffles or Spaghetti. Not exactly what I wanted for my birthday. We got a Stouffer's Lasagna. No cleanup of dishes, no cooking, perfect! We came home and I stamped some. When it was getting close to Tyler coming home I thought to myself that staying home for lunch was stupid since I wasn't going anywhere for dinner I wanted to go out to lunch. I called a friend but she wasn't home. So Sydney, Tyler and I left to go out to lunch at Wendy's. Something fast because Tyler was getting his hair cut at 1:00 by the friend who wasn't home. We were on our way when Ron called saying he didn't have class since it was the first day, so I got to go to On the Border with him after all. It was yummy and I have leftovers for lunch today. Yeah! So needless to say we were late for getting Tylers haircut. We got to Darci's house and about 2 minutes later the doorbell rang. It was the Young Woman's president followed by her counselors. They came to suprise me with a cake. I was very suprised and so grateful that they would do that for me. You are probably wondering why the Young Women's presidency was there. Well it's because I am the Camp Director for this year. I don't know how that happened, but it did, and the more I think about the funner it sounds. I haven't been to camp since I was a girl, and this year will be extra special because Megan gets to go for the first time, and I get to be there with her! Anyways off topic. It was great to have them there and the cake was yummy. (Thanks Denise!) I'm thankful to Darci for putting this together for me. While we were there Darci was organizing her movies so I borrowed a couple of them. You know really good chick flicks for me to watch.

Off topic again I pick Megan and a friend up from school everyday and they drive them to school everyday. Well I called Candice to see if she could pick them up so I wouldn't have to on my birthday. She agreed which was awesome to not have to get them. Eating the cake and talking ran a little long so Megan got home before me. When I finally got home she had decorated the house with signs and streamers. It was a great suprise!

I didn't think I needed any cake with friends or decorations, but now that I got them it really made my birthday. It was so much fun!!!

Courtney made me some club crackers with Havarti cheese and ham. We all enjoyed them. She did a great job because they were really yummy and she was so cute about it!

Looks interesting but they were yummy!

Dinner was enjoyed and eaten by the kids since Ron and I were still full from lunch. We enjoyed more cake and ice cream.

I didn't get my present yet because we have to go pick it out. I get a new kitchen faucet. I know you are thinking how boring, but it's really not. Now I will get a filtered water dispenser next to the faucet. I can't wait! After dinner Ron cleaned up and the kids went to bed. I also went to bed earlier then usual to watch some TV. Perfect for me.

So I just have to say Thank you to everyone for making it a great day. Thanks to my family for all calling and wishing me well and to all my Facebook friends who have wished me a Happy Birthday. It truly was a Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to ME!

2009-01-22T11:08:00.000-08:00

I don't know if you noticed the new background for the blog, but that's for me since today is my 34th birthday. Yes I said 34. I can't believe that I'm that old, but now that I'm that old I think it's very young. I remember being a child and thinking 30's were ancient, but really they aren't. I love my 30's and I wouldn't go back to my teens or 20's for nothing. My kids are all growing and can mostly get things for themselves now. I still have to make sandwiches for Sydney and Tyler and dish out there food and pour the milk if it's to full, but other then that they can do pretty much everything by themselves. I have even trained them that when they wake up (on a non school day) to go downstairs and watch TV and don't wake me up. Yup I would not go back to my 20's when I had babies under foot and into everything.

I wanted to just share with you some things that I'm thankful for...
First that I live in America. I don't know that you all know this, but I'm the oldest of 5 kids. My Mom is from Idaho, but my Dad is from Chile. They met while my Mom was working in Chile. The married there and moved to Utah 1 month before I was born, so I'm thankful to them for moving here and letting me be born in America.
Second I'm thankful for my family. Sometimes when the kids ask me for something or call me Mom I think why are they asking me, I'm not the mom, but then I remember that oh ya I am the mom, and when did that happen. (I do know how it happened though;0)) I still feel young and think that someone should be caring for me and not the other way around, but I am thankful to have the chance to have a family of my own!
Third, I'm thankful for the Church. I don't know where I would be without it. The things that I have learned, and the dear friends I have met really mean a lot to me.
Forth, I'm so thankful to Ron for being a good provider! I'm so thankful that he still has a good job so that we can have the things we have and a place to live and food to eat. (Thanks for making me my traditional oatmeal cake as well babe).

I'm thankful for a lot more things, but I don't want to bore you anymore. Thanks for letting me share this with you for my birthday!!! I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Tylers new favorite toy

2009-01-20T16:07:00.000-08:00

So Tyler has recently discovered Lego's and he just loves them. He got some for his birthday and Christmas. He took the camera and took pictures of what he had made. I like how he set it all up and has the helicopter flying and everything.

Now the truck is bringing the helicopter somewhere. He has so much fun with them!

Handsome boys!

2009-01-20T16:01:00.000-08:00

While we were in Utah for Christmas we all went to church with my parents. My dad and Tyler looked so handsome together.

Sydney must have been jealous because she had to get in the picture too.

The many faces of Megan

2009-01-20T15:37:00.000-08:00

Megan took the camera the other day and took lots of pictures of herself. I told her I was going to post them. She is so embarrased about it, but at the same time she thinks it's funny. This is what happens when you take the camera and take pictures of yourself, you get it put on your blog for everyone to see!

Great pictures Meg!

I'm not lost...

2009-01-20T15:13:00.000-08:00

and no I haven't forgotten that I have a blog like some of you may be thinking. I have been busy with other things, but now that Christmas is over and things have calmed down a little bit I decided to add to our blog.

We had a wonderful Christmas, spending time with family and playing in the 2 feet of snow we had in Elkridge Utah. It was great. The kids had a wonderful Christmas and got what they wanted. Tyler really wanted a Nintendo DS like his older sisters. He got one and convinced Grandpa to play with him. Tom has never held a DS in his life so Tyler thought it was great because he won every time!

We had to break out the Rockband that we brought down with us. It was a big hit with the big kids ;). ROCK ON!

Kristy, Ron and Trevor on drums.

Trevor, Kristy and Ian on drums.

Trevor, Ian and Kristy on drums.

Tom and Kathie have this fun ball that the kids all fight over. Tyler got inside of it and I just had to take a picture. Isn't he cute!

Ron and I played Trivia Pursuit with his Mom and his sister Kristy along with her husband Jon. The kids were entertaining themselves. At about midnight we found them like this...

I have no idea how he could fall asleep like that.
Megan was watching us play.

Thanks everyone for making Christmas so special. Thanks Mom and Dad for housing us for so long and Tom and Kathie for having a fun Rockband party and a great sledding party. You were all very generous and we love you all!

Snow

2008-12-09T19:08:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we woke up to snow on the ground. There was just a skiff, but it was enough to get Courtney, Tyler and Sydney out there building a snowman. Tyler and Courtney are on track break, so that's why they were home. Courtney confiscated the camera and took these pictures. I have to admit the snowman was pretty cute! I'm surprised she was able to make that big of a snowman since there was hardly any snow. When they were all done there gloves were soaking wet. The snow was very very wet, but they didn't mind and they had a great time.

Ron's new hobby

2008-12-09T19:01:00.000-08:00

Ron has been taking Taekwondo at work on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This last Saturday he took his first test to advance up in rank or whatever they call it.

He passed the test and now he is a white belt with a yellow stripe. The funny thing is that he was by far the oldest in the white belts. There was even a 6 year old girl. Good thing he didn't have to fight her! He really enjoys it and it's great exercise for him. Way to go Ron!

53 is the magic number

2008-12-09T10:05:00.000-08:00

So a big stress for me at Christmas time is getting Christmas cards sent out. This year was no different. The thought was always in the back of my head that I really should get the cards out. So yesterday I spent the day making and writing in Christmas cards. I also typed a letter with some info about all of us. Well after doing it I ended up having completed 53 cards.

I was pretty proud of myself. I feel so much better having completed all of them, and by sending them out kind of early everyone can enjoy them longer. I just hope none of them were to big and that they don't come

back to me for lack of postage! Off to the post office now to get them mailed! All of you that will be receiving one I hope you enjoy them and know they came with love from us! Merry Christmas to all!!!

Happy Birthday Tyler!

2008-12-04T12:53:00.000-08:00

Tyler had his 6th birthday yesterday. I can't believe he is already 6. It was such a crazy busy day, but he said it was the best day!

He got Geo Trax from us. He was so excited. I should have recorded it so you could see his reaction!

He had a birthday party with 3 friends. They had a great time. They first played pin the tail on the wolf that Courtney made for them to play. They had a great time with it. Thanks for making the wolf Court. Then they played feed Scooby-Doo. Then of course you have to have a pinata, followed by presents and cake and ice cream. Tyler loved it and was so excited to have his friends over!

Thank you Jack, Ryker and Matthew for coming to Tyler's birthday party!

Happy Birthday my favorite boy! (I can say that since I only have 1 boy!)

Hockey

2008-12-04T12:36:00.000-08:00

My parents came and visited us for Thanksgiving. The kids love it when they come and visit because Grandpa always brings money to give the kids. They have to earn it, but they are always eager to work for it! My dad loves to play hockey with the kids. The winning team each get a dollar. The kids could play all day just so they could get more money! They have sooooo much fun, so much fun infact that Ron and I had to join in it. I can now see why they always play hockey! I won a few games too, but I didn't get any money. I need to have a talk with my dad!

Tyler wasn't scared to get right in there too. At first he couldn't hit the puck and he wasn't very good, but after 2 days of playing he was awesome. I had a hard time scoring against him. He will tell you that I had to cheat to score and yes I admit I cheated and lifted up his stick to score because he was so good. Good job Tyler! Sorry mom had to cheat to score!

Here is a video of there awesome playing!

While they were playing Sydney found something to keep her entertained so she raked up the leaves from the tree. She did an awesome job!

Mom, Dad thank you so much for visiting us and making us a wonderful Thanksgiving meal!!! It was the best Thanksgiving so far! Dad's wallet wa lighter after they left but my kids banks were heavier!

Megan's first band concert

2008-12-04T12:29:00.000-08:00

So being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator I have classes at my house every once in awhile. I scheduled a Christmas Card Stamp-a-stack where people come and make 12 cards. Well I accidentally scheduled it on the same night as Megan's first band concert. She plays the flute and really enjoys it. Ron has a night class once a week and it too was on the same night as her concert. I had 14 people coming to stamp, and I couldn't abandon them, so I had to just drop Megan off at the school for her concert. I had to take a picture of how grown up she looked though.

You have to remember she is only 11. She looks like she is 14. Ron was able to leave class early and he made it. He said it was really good. Note to self check kids calendars when you want to schedule something! Sorry for missing your concert Megan. I will definetly be at the next one!!!

I'm back!!!

2008-12-04T12:14:00.000-08:00

Ok I really didn't go anywhere, I just haven't been posting. My problem with posting is downloading my pictures. Not that it's difficult, or that time consuming, but it does take time and I hate it. Well I see I haven't posted in like 3 weeks and I do have lots of pictures so I thought I would share them with you.

Last month the kids were suppost to be going to bed. Ron was trying to get a TV/VCR working in Courtney and Sydneys room, but they couldn't find the remote for it, so they put a movie in and that worked. After about 20 min. of them being quiet and Ron missing too I decided to investigate. This is what I can upon. Them all watching a home movie of when Megan was about 18 months old.

Megan couldn't wait until she got dressed from showering. She will now wish she would have been dressed. Ron is wearing his old mission pants. I have told him so many times to get rid of them, but he says they are his most comfortable pants. He will now wish he would have listened to me!

I'm glad that we have those videos to help us remember how cute they were and to also be glad they have all grown and we don't have diapers anymore!

I'm now Facebooking it now

2008-11-13T10:09:00.000-08:00

I got a friend invite from Facebook so I finally decided to check it out. It took a little getting used to it and I still don't understand it all, but in just one week I have found several of my good friend from High School, along with old neighbors and old ward members that I haven't seen forever. If you aren't on facebook I would highly recommend it! It is great to see everyone and there own families and to see where they have all moved to. I think almost everyone has stayed in Utah except for just a couple of us who were brave enough to venture out of Utah. Go and check it out!

Twilight Quiz

2008-11-11T20:14:00.000-08:00

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!
So I just love the Twilight Series. I will be there opening day with Megan to watch the movie. There is a quiz you can take to see which character you are most like. I'm Esme and proud of it!
Who are YOU?

Book of Mormon reinactment

2008-11-06T11:03:00.000-08:00

Megan and Courtney are both in Achievement days. Tuesday they had to reinact characters from the Book of Mormon. Megans group did Samuel the Lamanite.
Samuel talking to the people

The people throwing rocks at Samuel on top of the wall

Courtney was Amalickiah in the story of Captain Moroni

She is such a drama queen. They both did a great job and had fun doing it. Way to go both of you!

Halloween monsters

2008-11-05T09:59:00.000-08:00

I don't know if you knew this or not, but we have monsters here in little Meridian, Idaho. They also go by the names of Megan, Courtney, Tyler and Sydney. Megan decided to be Dracula this year. Good thing Kathie was here to help her with the make-up!
Courtney was a scary Zombie

Tyler was a Lion

and Sydney was a Witch

Ok, so not so much monsters, just scary kids. They had a great time and got way to much candy. We had such perfect weather. Tyler was getting hot in his costume and I was wishing I had left my jacket at home. I never remember the weather being so nice! When I was a kid I don't remember getting so much candy either, especially candy bars. We were lucky to get about 8 candy bars. These kids got more candy bars then anything else. They haven't made themselves sick yet. I can't wait for it to be gone though so we don't have all the candy wrappers all over the floor anymore!

Speed typing test

2008-11-04T13:08:00.000-08:00

I came across this and thought it was fun. I always wondered how fast I typed. Not as fast as I thought though. Enjoy!!

69 words

Speedtest

Visit from Ron's parents

2008-11-04T11:57:00.000-08:00

Ron's parents aka Tom and Kathie came up for a visit this last weekend. We had a great time with them. We have this annoying barking dog that doesn't like anyone except for us. Ron's mom Kathie just loves animals, so of course she had to try to get on his good side. Every meal we had he was right there begging at her feet. She just couldn't resist. I bet he gained 1 pound while she was here and that's saying alot since he is only 5.9 lbs to begin with. They did end up making friends.

The kids love to play with Tom.

Kathie can't just sit and do nothing, so she wanted to clean our pool that had been sitting there for months and now has algie and bugs. A disgusting job that's why it was still there. The job was just to big so we are just going to throw it away. Thanks for trying though!!! You gave it a good effort though.

Thanks for coming and visiting! Now who is next?

Get out and Vote!

2008-11-04T11:50:00.000-08:00

So I knew I wanted to go voting early today to get it out of the way. I dropped the kids off at school then Sydney and I went and voted. We were only there for about 30 min. I thought it was going to be alot longer wait. I was prepared with a snack for Sydney and the newspaper for me to read, but it went by quickly. This vote is sooo important. Please go vote especially if you're voting for McCain. Go McCain and Palin!!!

You can get an I voted button like mine or some others by clicking
here

Have a great day and get out there and vote!

Stamping Tyler

2008-10-28T18:29:00.000-07:00

Whew, I guess I had more posts then what I thought. I hadn't posted for awhile because I didn't think I had anything to post about. I downloaded the pictures from my camera and realized I had more then I thought.

So I spend alot of my time in my office. It has two of my favorite things: Stamps and the computer. When I'm stamping Tyler and Sydney both think they need to stamp too. Yesterday Tyler and I were stamping When he said he was done he showed me his picture and this is what I saw. I just had to take a picture of him. How on earth do you get the ink pad on your cheek and lip?

Tyler is very talented! Nice blue on the face. Yes it did come out!

Soccer's over for now

2008-10-28T18:15:00.000-07:00

So fall soccer has officially ended. Meg's team had there end of season party at Fuddruckers. They got an award and a trophy.

Her team getting there awards.All in all she had a fabulous time with this team and can't wait to play with them again in the spring! She did such a great job. We are very proud of you Megan!!!

Beautiful fall colors!

2008-10-28T18:02:00.000-07:00

I just love the fall for all the beautiful colors it brings. We have a maple tree in the front yard for this very reason. It is so amazing this time of year. The burning bush is pretty as well.

Tyler with his certificate from school for Tolerance.

One big tree. We planted this tree when we first moved into this house. It sure has taken off since then. The kids keep waiting for it to drop all the leaves so they can play in them.

Special Tyler

2008-10-28T17:56:00.000-07:00

Tyler is in kindergarten this year and at his school they have a character trait that they focus on for a month. Each class picks one student that meets that trait. Well this month his teacher chose him. The trait was tolerance meaning he sees that people are different and accepts them for who they are. We are so proud of this little boy of ours. They have an assembly for the school and present them with a certificate. I picture of him getting the certificate isn't great, buy you get the general idea.
Way to go my very special boy!!!

Deer hunting, I mean hiking

2008-10-28T17:44:00.000-07:00

Ron seems to think he needs to go hunting every year. He has yet to get anything whether it be deer or elk. This year was no different. He spent the day mostly hiking. He took the camera with him and got some great shots though. That's as close to shooting anything as he will get. He did see elk, but of course he was deer hunting.
I told him I didn't want the meat and I wouldn't cook it or eat it, so it didn't hurt my feelings that he came home with nothing!

Good bye tomatoes!

2008-10-28T17:22:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we were going to have our first freeze and I didn't want my tomatoes to just die so Sydney and Tyler helped me pick the tomatoes. They had so much fun doing it. Our plant was out of control. I got it at Costco and it grew so good. I don't know if it was the plant or the place we planted it. Either way the plant was awesome except for the fact it was a yellow tomato plant. Note to self: Look at what type of plant it is before you buy it. I wasn't even thinking when I bought it. That's ok because we discovered yellow tomatoes are just as good. Here is a picture of the plant. The one on the left in the cage is the cherry tomato plant. Again look to see what kind of plant it is before you buy it. The other plant is just one plant!

My huge Zucchini plants that I couldn't keep up with!

My trusted helpers!

They had so much fun! The plant was so big and the soil was muddy that I would pull part of the plant off and hold it up and Tyler and Sydney would pick all the tomatoes off for me. It's a good thing we picked them all because it froze that very night. Good thing we have weathermen to worn us about these things.

Tyler has a new friend!

2008-10-08T08:01:00.000-07:00

Monday Tyler came home from Kindergarten wanting to play with a girl in his kindergarten class named Jesica. I had no idea who Jesica was and no way of getting hold of her. Tuesday I gave Tyler a piece of paper to bring to school to get Jesica's phone number. So he came home yesterday with her phone number and we called to see if she could play. Her mom said yes and that she would bring her over in about 1 1/2 hours. Tyler was mad because he wanted her to come over now. Tyler is just so fun to tease, so I kept asking him if Jesica was coming and is she is his girlfriend. He would get so embarrassed that he had to hide his face.

So when she came over he was so excited he didn't know what to do with himself. He went outside to play and forgot to bring her along. They finally got things figured out and played outside most of the time. They had a great time on the trampoline.

Tyler is jumping like a robot.

All in all they had a great time playing with each other. He has great taste because Jesica is really cute and fun to play with. When it was time for Jesica to go home they literally gave each other about 20 hugs. What a cute couple they make!!! And if Tyler could read he would kill me for posting this stuff, so don't tell him!

p.s. Jesica's mom told me that Jesica came home from school with a secret. She said she gave Tyler a kiss on the forehead or cheek, I can't remember. Tyler gets mad when you talk about it though. I think it's just because he is way to embarrassed!

Halloween costume show

2008-10-07T09:41:00.000-07:00

The kids found the box of Halloween costumes the other day and wanted to try them on. These are costumes we have had for awhile and they don't fit them, but they wanted to try them on anyways. At one point the costumes fit them, you can really see how they have grown when they put them on.

Pumpkin costume is intended for an toddler under the age of 2.

Yes they do have costumes that will still fit them, so don't worry! Happy Halloween!

Wall climbing kids

2008-10-07T09:29:00.000-07:00

Courtney is by far the monkey around here. She was climbing up the walls upstairs and Megan decided that if she can't climb the walls she will find the next best thing. So she gets a chair and then sits on the wall. That takes some serious muscles to be able to do that. Soccer must be paying off!

Sydney was getting jealous that she couldn't climb the wall, so she did the next best thing to get up higher, standing on a chair along with her Build a bear monkey named Princess!

Weekend picnic

2008-09-14T21:14:00.000-07:00

Saturday we had a Stampin' Up! family picnic. I had to post these pictures. We were throwing the balloon back and forth. Sydney and Tyler had to join in too. Good thing the balloons were hard to break.

No, the balloon didn't pop on Tyler. That would have been a great picture though!

Megan's soccer game

2008-09-14T20:47:00.000-07:00

This week I remembered to bring the camera to Megan's soccer game! Yeah me! She had some great moves even though her team got clobbered 2-8. She still had a great time. Megan still played defense this week.

Way to boot it out of there Megan!

Nice dribbling Megan.

Don't mess with me pose!

Sydney's first day of Preschool

2008-09-14T20:43:00.000-07:00

Sydney finally had her first day of Preschool. Everyone else has already started school so she was feeling left out, but Wednesday she finally started. She is in the 4 year old class so she goes every Mon, Wed, Fri, which also means that on those days for 2 hours I am by myself. I don't know if I can handle it. JK I can't wait to enjoy it more! She is sure growing up fast. Next year my baby will be in Kindergarten. Wow the time sure does fly by! Have fun in Preschool Sydney!

Even guys stamp or little boys!

2008-09-11T16:29:00.001-07:00

Megan came home from school needing some pictures for a project she had to do for her English class. So I was looking through pictures finding what she needed and came across this picture. Every Memorial Day weekend my family goes camping on my parents land in Fairview Utah, but my parents were in China this year so my brother and sister-in-law came up with there 4 kids. Kellie and I were making end of year teacher gifts and I guess Sterling got jealous because he came in and started stamping with us. Nobody asked him to join us he did it all on his own. Look no one is twisting his arms! Look at the great concentration. Courtney looks like she is in aw or it could just be the look of unbelief!

Good job Sterling you didn't even mess up too many times.

Zoo right here in Meridian

2008-09-09T12:33:00.001-07:00

All my kids are very creative, but Courtney got a little more then the rest. She has this sculpting clay that she plays with. Well Sunday afternoon she started making animals. She ended up with a whole zoo of animals, cage and all.

There is a turtle, lamb, giraffe (my favorite), turkey and monkey with banana and all. The penny is there so you can see how small they are.

Here is a cobra, bear, seal, cow and pigeon.

Last but not least we have an octopus, frog, shark and a fish.

Megan was giving her ideas as to what to make. Can't wait to see what she comes up with next time.

Tails of Toby

2008-09-09T12:12:00.000-07:00

Our crazy dog Toby thinks he is human most of the time. When he hears my keys rattle he comes running because he thinks it's time to go somewhere. More then once we have had to get him out of the vehicle because he wanted to come with us. Well the other day Sydney was eating some candy corn and Toby loves candy (see I told you he thinks he's human) so he was trying to steal it from here. She laughs so hard when he is trying to get something from her that he usually wins because she just can't hold onto it and laugh at the same time. It is so funny to watch them.

Yup, her hand is empty because Toby got the candy. Try to control the druel Sydney!

Yesterday Ron was helping Megan do her math homework. She is in the 6th grade, but is doing 8th grade math. Pre-algebra. Well Toby thought that he needed to be right in the middle of it.

You can't get mad at him because he is so cute! He looks so innocent doesn't he.

That is the story of Toby's life. Sleep, bark, eat, bark, sleep, bark, you get the picture. He does not like strangers at all. We just love the little 5.9 lb barking attach dog!

Megan and soccer

2008-09-08T16:24:00.001-07:00

So I'm not the kind of mom that has her kids in all sort of different sports and activities. I don't like to have to drive everyday to bring kids and pick them up, but we have made an exception for Megan a few times to play soccer. I like this because there is an end and you only have to pay once for the 3 months or so. Saturday she had her first game of the fall season and she rocked. She played defense this game and really kickes those balls out of there. During spring season she kind of kicked it alittle, but never very far. This time she is getting the hang of it and booted them out of there. We were congratulating her after the game and commenting on her kicking and she said she didn't know she could do that. The coach is going to be trying different positions, so we will see where she ends up this week. I really wanted to take my camera and then I completely forgot, so you just have to trust me. Her team won 6-2. Way to go Megan and the Blue Ice team!!!

Courtneys 10th birthday

2008-09-03T12:44:00.000-07:00

Courtney's birthday was on a Sunday, so we had a sleepover birthday party for her with 3 of her good friends. I took them ice skating. Courtney did a really good job. She has some moves. She was so fast that the camera couldn't quite get a focused picture of her.

For her birthday cake she wanted Staceys chocolate bundt cake. Who am I to say no to the chocolate bundt cake. I made her a tiny one too.

Her friends, Alexa, Ashlyn and Bree. They had a great time. They did insist on having there pj on first. I don't blame them since it was about 10:30 when we finally did the cake and presents. Happy Birthday Courtney!!!

Tired Sydney

2008-09-03T12:38:00.000-07:00

When we were rearranging things we completely wore Sydney out. I guess she wasn't quite used to sleeping in the bonus room with Courtney so she crashed on the floor in her old room. Tyler drew a picture of her on the chalkboard. We thought it was really cute. She fell asleep with a Nintendo Gamboy in her hand. Tyler made sure to draw that in the picture too. I really like the zzzz he added.

Tyler's new room

2008-09-03T12:08:00.000-07:00

Tyler is the reason we had to start all of this rearranging. We needed to separate him and Sydney because they were getting to old to share. So now Tyler has his very own room and wouldn't have it any other way. Again before:

Tyler's bed is the only thing in the whole process that stayed in the same spot. We did move it out though and clean behind it.

Now for the finished room:

He really likes the computer in his room. He is really good about not playing it at bed time. Now let's just hope he can keep it clean with everyone else going in there to use the computer. Poor boy!

Courtney and Sydneys new room

2008-09-03T11:19:00.000-07:00

So here is a picture of what the bonus room used to look like.

This is what was behind the bookshelf. There are actually things stuck to the wall. You can see why it took us three days to get everything done.

This is what it looks like today! Such a BIG improvement. Courtney still needs to learn to organize her stuff (the top shelf of the book shelf). Courtney and Sydney love there new room, but can't wait to get the couch out of there so they can have a table to write on. We also need to move all the VHS holders. Anyone need a VHS case? I have 6 I need to get rid of. That is why before I said we are 95% done because of the couch and the cases.

We are now blogging

2008-09-02T13:53:00.001-07:00

I have had some family members bug me about blogging, so after much thought (really after just finding the time and desire) I have decided to take the plunge. I was going to start a couple of weeks ago, but I was tackling another big project that took precedence. We have 4 kids that were sharing 2 bedrooms. One bedroom being shared with Tyler and Sydney. They really needed to be separated so we changed all of our upstairs to accommodate that. It took over 3 full days to get it 95% of the way done. We are so close, but we can't quite finish until we get rid of the couch.

This was Megan and Courtney's old room. It was a sheer disaster. The look on Courtney's face explains it all.

So after we moved there bunk beds and dresser this is what it looked like.

It doesn't look awhole lot better. We didn't even know where to start. We finally had to just push everything aside so we could put Megan's new bed in there.

Now for the finished product!!! It looks so much better.

We let her have to TV on the condition that she has to ask and when we tell her to turn it off it better be off or she will loose it. No second chances. She has been doing a great job!

She just loves having a queen size bed. So now when we have guests come and visit (hint hint!!!) they will have there own room!

She has a pretty big closet so we put a bookshelf inside.
So along with the bookshelf she has her bean bag chair, blanket and lamp. She has her own secret reading area. She loves to hide out and read there!