Our Whitehouse

Just us

2012-02-15T12:50:00.000-08:00

The dang smart phone has me spending most of my time on it, and not the computer.. which means I am not blogging enough..plus our computer is getting old. We got it the year we were married, and that was 10 years ago. Needless to say we are in store for a new one.. in the next few weeks, which means this pile of bills, and our non filing system is going to get a makeover.

Case lost a tooth last night on Valentines. Ive never seen a kid want his dad to pull their tooth out, but Case did. he couldnt wait for dad to get home to yank it. The tooth fairy came leaving two .50 pieces and one quarter. He brought the treasure to our bed in the middle of the night to show us, and then snuck into bed with us.

Camden started baseball practice again. It feels like we just ended last season, but we are looking forward to it again. After practice, coach asked if anyone was opposed to practicing on Sunday besides us ( and pointing to us) I happily raised a hand grateful that he knew our standards.
There are 6 other days to play baseball. It was a nice family home evening lesson on standing up for the right, and making good choices. I reminded him ( myself being in disbelief) that he will be baptized this year, and he will get to make his own choices.
Camden was learning about Abraham Lincoln in class, and I couldnt believe how much he taught me about the 16th president with the big hat (that he would keep newspapers in), how tall he was and how he was shot.. The details were great. I am grateful that he goes to a great school that teaches about great former presidents and history.

We are planning a trip to Disneyland over Spring break. We cant wait!
Weve been spending alot of time at the park. The weather is perfect and I am happy when the sun warms my legs as the kids swing, dig and come home dirty.
I am working on saying "yes" more, instead of no when they want to do things. As long as chores and homework are done, we live outside. Thank you Arizona for your wonderful weather. In three months I may be cursing you, but for now you are beautiful!

I still have to blog about Halloween and Christmas, but I dont want to overwhelm ya!

Birthday Boy

2012-01-30T15:28:00.000-08:00

This first picture is how we really feel after a 4 day celebration of this little guys birthday. This picture wasnt taken recently, but it was so cute I had to add it in here.
Case turned 5 yesterday. He has been asking for atleast a month how many more days til his birthday...
we passed out froggy invitations and on Friday afternoon we had a party at the park. Pizza, cupcakes.. no mess at my house.. yeah it was wonderful. The weather was perfect and the kids enjoyed playing and running around.
The day before he celebrated at preschool with cupcakes.. one without frosting for his buddy blake that doesnt like frosting ( case told me and i hoped he was right.. he was)
Saturday, we ended up at Chase field watching Monster Jam. It was a first for all of us but Blades. Wow.. it was loud, fun and the kids loved the huge trucks. It brings out a whole new crowd of people I must admit.
Sunday, Dad made a big breakfast, and off to church we went. He got a special coupon to go see the bishop for a handshake and a treat. Bishop was busy after church, and we encouraged Case to wait til next week to turn in his coupon, but wait we did... until the bishop returned to his office where the treat jar was... He just couldnt wait a whole week.. During church he asked me if we were going to have a cake today. ( i figured with two rounds of cupcakes we could skip the cake) " but its my birthday, and im five" case conned me into making another cake after church. and another round of singing..
I cant believe my baby is 5. Its saddens me a bit... ok alot. I have pictures of this weekend but not on the computer yet, so here are some oldies but goodies..

Case is a :

terd, awnry a lot

always hungwee ( hungry)

an early riser

a great brother

a great hugger

loves his blankies still ( all three of them)

climbs into our bed and hands us the remote to turn on tv before the sun comes up

asks to go to the park everyday

newly found bike rider

drink swiper

5 FIVE year old now

this is how we feel after this weekend

swimming last summer

swimmer

a few years ago on a bike

snowman

brothers... case looks a bit girly... long hair i guess.. look at those squishy cheeks

mom and Caser

cheese

Batters up

2012-01-17T10:14:00.001-08:00

For Camden's birthday in September ( ya Im a bit behind in the blogging department) we took him to the baseball field and said we were signing him up for baseball. Talk about one excited boy. Practice started a few days later and we were thrown into baseball. He had a great season and the coaches couldnt believe this was his first season ever playing. He is a natural I suppose. I hope these pictures will be on the big screens at the World Series... one day as they flash back to Camden's first baseball days..one can hope :)

He had practices usually twice a week and a game a week. We spent plenty of time at the ballfield. But there is something about sunflower seeds, soft pretzels and cheese, and bubblegum that made me fall in love with baseball. Seeing other friends with kids on other teams was fun too. Blades even fundraised for the league. BBQ'd and raised over 450 profit.
He played in a tournament and they were first place.

waiting for trophy ceremonies.

He LOVES baseball! look at the face on that kiddo.

Is he not the cutest catcher? all that gear on such a small kid... and the classic sport grab..

October 2011.. he played in the Halloween Tournament. They were the champions. He had fun playing with other players from other teams.

Ready to bat

from the dugout

swingin'

a well deserved snowcone after a game. we started out the season sweating, and ending it freezing.. I guess thats the fun in playing fallball

He got to carry the sign for his team for opening ceremonies.

his first practice.

up to bat.. he is a lefty and has some power behind his swing. He got a home run one of the first games he played. The coaches and team cheered him on. I admit, I cried.. I was so proud!

( one of my favorite pics of the season) His real love is catching. At the beginning of the season, his coach noticed he wasnt quite getting fundamentals of the game, and asked if he wanted to catch. He got better and better at catching and he loves it. It gives him something to do... other than pick the grass in the outfield.

His end of the season party is this Saturday for pizza. He is pretty excited. We are signing him up again.. season starts the end of March. Let the games begin! again

"It's a new one"

2012-01-10T11:01:00.000-08:00

"It's a new one", Case says as he is watching Tom & Jerry cartoons. He must not realize that those cartoons are older than myself, but they are new to him I suppose. It makes me giggle every time he tells me that.

A new year... a new blog post for the year.

I am looking forward to this year. It's a big one for us. Camden will turn 8 and get baptized into our church. Case will turn 5 in a few weeks ( could it really be.. my baby turning 5?), and he will start kindergarten. What exactly is a girl to do with no kids at home.. I will figure something out later in the year...

We had a wonderful Holiday season. Pictures are sitting safely on my camera and will be uploaded soon. So check back for pics.

becoming Mrs. White

2011-11-09T09:23:00.000-08:00

3,285 days later and I am celebrating my 9th wedding anniversary..

I woke up to Case's sweet face inches from mine.. He was smiling, and who knows how long he was staring at me, just waiting for me to notice him there. He snuggled in our bed asking to watch TV before the sun was even up. Not yet Case, I said.. in a little bit.. he tried his hardest to be still, and before we knew it the garbage truck was even making noise in the street.. why they come at 6am Im not sure, but the truck next door thought it was too loud also, and began to scream by honking.

I went to wake Camden with a song hoping it would make for an easy awakening. I said mom and dad were married 9 years ago today... Its kinda like a birthday, but 9 years ago, we got married in the temple. His response... while focusing his still half closed eyes was... " oh.. so you got married on a Tuesday?".. It was actually a Saturday, and today is Wednesday.. oh he said..

I thought it was cute. :)

I kissed Blades as he went off to work.. Happy Anniversary babe...

We are celebrating at the Garden of Olives tonight...mmm i can already tell its gonna be some yummy food.. We were going to go somewhere new, but hey we love that place.. might as well go somewhere we know will enjoy

We exchanged our gifts last night.. I got him a large roasting pan ( romantic huh?) and some peanut m&m's.. which i havent seen since.. and he got me 2 books from Deseret Book.

My friend is watching the kiddos tonight while we go to dinner and maybe a movie.. or maybe some Christmas shopping. Who knows what the night will bring..

Nine years has flown by. In nine more we will have a 16 year old and a 14 year old.. now thats a scarey thought. We will be old"er" by then.

Blades is a wonderful husband. We love to people watch ( non judgementally of course) and can tell what the other one is thinking about the unsuspecting victim.

I cant wait for the rest of our lives to share together.. Happy Anniversary to us!!

SO not ready

2011-10-23T20:29:00.000-07:00

We were getting ready for Camden's first sleep over during the weekend. We were going to go to the Fall festival for the kids' school that night.. kids had been anxiously awaiting the proper time to put on their costumes. Camden's wasnt quite ready yet.. ( a mummy with gauze that has be tacked to a shirt) so baseball uniform it was. I was helping him get ready, since Case had already gotten in his costume hours before.. first it was the pirate pants at noon, then the shirt by 2.. the party didnt start til 530, but that didnt stop this anxious pirate..
anyway back to Camden and his costume.. im helping him get his shirt off, and low and behold.. the kid is stinky.. not just sweaty after school smell, but actual underam nastyness.. I couldnt believe my nose. He didnt want to get in the shower, but then smelled his pits, and agreed..This kid is only 7.. I told him he must get in the shower and wash his goats ( thats what my uncle nick always used to call our armpits)... I said no one would know he had to take a quick shower.. I let him put on some of Blades' deodorant, and havent smelled a thing since.
The festival was a success, and so was his first sleep over.. with a friend that wasnt like a brother... Case kinda got in the way and he spent most of the night with my in my bed watching TV... max and ruby.. the most annoying nick cartoon ever..
Another thing im usually not ready for is the dentist, but im actually excited about the appointment and counting down the hours til i sit in the squishy chair.. Ive had the worst toothache ever.. ive been in some pain before with previous csections.. three of them, but the pain of this tooth doesnt compare. it comes and goes. Ive even gone diving in the old medicine to find pain pills.. ( no need to worry, im not hooked or need rehab just yet).. but they make me loopy. The kids' primary program was today, and had to take one before just to make sure I could make it through the three hours of church. I even conducted Relief Society, and didnt make too much of a fool of myself.
I've had to carry around an icepack and a dishtowel for my face. its the only thing that seems to help. So 8 am I will kiss that dentist.. rip the tooth out, i dont care at this point.
maybe its the drugs, but im actually looking forward to seeing the person i dread the most???

who knew???

2011-09-25T12:42:00.000-07:00

Saturday, we found ourselves at our local Sports Chalet.. I frequent the shopping center the store is in atleast weekly, but have never stepped foot in the store until Saturday.
Camden was in need of a yellow belt, socks, some grey baseball pants and a cup.. yes a cup for a 7 year olds. I didnt even know that was an option. Can they get hurt down there this young?
A few days before, after his first practice, I told him the stuff we needed to get. A cup he asked?
yes... your dad can tell you about that... but he was in the car behind us, and the anticipation of the mystery cup had to be explained.... both boys thought it was funny.
We are in the store searching for supports and barriers, when of course like any male subject chooses the biggest one. Blades and I got a kick out of it... we laughed, then looked at the other options. There was pee-wee too... but we got a step above that... they fit inside little undies that came in a package together.
The coach already warned us, that in baseball they will sit out in the field and mess with that area the whole time.. its just the game he said... great.. look what i get to look at... my kid adjusting himself.. that should make any mother proud right?

This baseball thing is new to us. Three practices next week.... when we signed him up, the lady said they didnt have a team mom yet ... hint hint... I didnt volunteer.. Its all too new to me.. Let me see how this works before I just in head first...

who knew 7 year olds needed cups...

why do i

2011-09-19T18:24:00.000-07:00

worry about cleaning before a party which is on Friday... which will include 16 kids in a pool?
feel like laundry has to be going all the time?
not exercise more?
yell at my kids?
not figure out what is for dinner before dinner time?
not relax?
not play with my kids more? (as im blogging)

It's Monday, and must be a full moon. I had a good day until now. Im just irritated. A thousand things I feel like I have to get done, but really none of them matter.. cause Im just going to have to do them again later in the week.. I feel an early bedtime and hot bath for all involved would best fix my "issues".

Happy Monday all..

Call it what you want...

2011-09-16T06:49:00.000-07:00

Bribery, encouraging, begging, advising...

This afternoon, we will be at the local pizza/token play place.

Camden has worked so hard to get 20 green cards at school. Which means not even once did he get in trouble. This is huge.. and a HUGE day to celebrate.

Yeah Camden!!

a weekend away

2011-09-12T14:25:00.000-07:00

Labor Day weekend crept up on us, and realizing Camden didnt have school Monday meant.. LETS GET OUT OF THIS HEAT.. with the hottest August on record, we earned a weekend away to play... in the nicer parts of the state...

We went to Winslow the first night... poor little town is so not the happenin town it was probably 20 years ago... i think people go there for one reason.. "standing on the corner of Winslow Arizona"... a song by the Eagles.. well there is a corner set up and people take pictures of the corner...

The hotel had a pool, and the kids enjoyed swimming. We got the kids happy meals and we were going to get mexican food through a drive thru... the menu had us a bit worried, so we ended up with Subway.. much better choice..

We drove up to Flagstaff, where the weather was in the 80's... what a relief. There was an art in the park, so we stopped.. the kids played on the bounce houses, and we enjoyed the people watching.

We found another park to play at until it was time for the movies. We saw the Smurfs.. it was cute. We snuck in treats, and ate popcorn.

The hotel had a pool.. the kids and Blades went swimming and I snuck off to Target and Ross. didnt find much, but it was nice just to window shop..

We visited the train station, and another park, where Camden found some kids to play football with.

We had a great time just being away in the cooler weather. It was a perfect weekend.. Here are the pictures to prove it...

Have you seen enough? I didnt realize there were quite that many pictures.

The trip home was a trip...

what should of taken 3 hours took 5.. I guess everyone wanted away from the heat. Thankfully, the box of snacks and a nap from the kids held us through the bumper to bumper cars for 190 miles.

goodbye old.. hello new

2011-09-06T13:15:00.001-07:00

Camera that is... heres a few pictures from my new camera... a bit random..

while we were in Wyoming, my camera fell out of the case and broke.. I didnt realize a piece had come off until the next day. I went back looking for the piece and no luck... it was still workable, but not very convenient. ( blades swears i did it on purpose)

We got home to AZ, and while shopping at Costco, there was a great deal.. i talked blades into an early birthday present... i am happy with the purchase, and still learning about the settings and just uploaded my first bunch of pictures last night.. hense the blog return...

School's back

2011-09-06T12:31:00.000-07:00

Case started his second year of preschool... at Stacie's house.....he loves it, and asks everyday if it is school day.. today he came home with a book they had made.. he was very proud of it... he asks if its show and tell too..

some of his classmates.. Case, Kade, Blake and Porter

These pictures are a bit backwards.... so we will start with after school...

Camden started first grade...

walking in from his first day..

an after school snack is a must

Case helped me make chocolate chip cookies for Camden.

our big FIRST grader.. all ready to go... lunch box and all ( sniff sniff)

1 for first

his attire.. uniforms are the way to go... no choices to be made, and cheap to keep up on.

we set all of his stuff out the night before so we would make sure it was ready... new shoes, socks, backpack...

glad to see the playground again..

standing in line about ready to head to class..

got my shoes tied tight....

we all got to drop him off the first day.. getting some fatherly advice

his friends. Chloe and Carlie.. they all were in the same class last year, but this year they are all in seperate classes... a great way to make new friends...

he has been in class for 1 month now, and is doing great. his handwriting is improving and he loves math. The teacher called one day and left a message saying she was just letting us know what a great student he was, and that he is nice to the other kids.. ( i thought the call was for me to come down there because he was in trouble)... We are off to a great start!!

if he gets 20 green cards ( for behavior) we will take him to chuckecheese... we are at 10 now... the second week he got 1 yellow, so we had to start over... it has been a huge incentive and so far so good... knock on wood...

his teacher is on maternity leave, and has had a sub for the whole time. It will be interesting to see what happens when the teacher comes back...

Back to school Bash.. whitehouse event

2011-09-06T12:18:00.000-07:00

Before the back to school pictures are posted, I had to blog about this Whitehouse event.

19 guests
high fructose corn syrup served, buffet style
night time attire required
entertainment included simon says, dancing and a film.
a tradition the first lady thought....
the first lady might take 11 months to get over the event..
our guests

ready to watch the feature film

playing simon says

the after party.. Case dancing

the menu

The Land of the Free

2011-08-11T10:17:00.001-07:00

We spent the Fourth of July in Las Vegas.. here are a few pics of our celebrating..

sparlklers with Grandma Pat

no shirt and sparklers.. great fire safety mom...

let Case help light the fireworks.. why not??

Blades and Camden lighting sparklers

the boys dressed in their red white and blue outfits..

Camden and Kiptyn at the annual Cannon fourth of July picnic..

a bomb pop to cool Camden down

some sparklers

our family sparkler picture

Camie and Cori

Since we have moved away from family, this is one day we miss being around everyone.. including the annual cannon 4th of july party.. we were lucky to be there this year :)

all good things must come to an end

2011-08-07T19:25:00.000-07:00

As I packed my 1st lunchbox for my first grader for his first day tomorrow I felt a little sad that summer is gone. He will be in school all day long, and will eat at school. I packed a little note and instructions on saving one snack for snacktime and not eating it at lunch..
what about the doritos... they will make his hands orange, but didnt think that packing a babywipe in a baggie was appropriate for a first grader.. he settled for a napkin..
I have tons of pictures to share from our summer and will do that soon... but for now I had to reset my alarm clock for the rest of my life :)
early bedtime is on our calendars.. no more late night friends over..
Good luck Camden at your first day tomorrow.. you'll do great

flashback photos

2011-08-05T08:27:00.000-07:00

I was uploading pictures the other day and I wondered why do I take all these pictures, and then they sit on my computer... I have printed some to scrapbook ( which hasnt happened for a while) so I decided to start showing my pictures.. I hung ribbon on the wall near camdens room, and attached pictures with cute paperclips.. that way the kids can see when they were little, and things we have done.. it is fun to hear them talking about the pictures.. and i love to see them too.. heres a few flashbacks.
Caser

Camden

Camden 1 year

Case in NC. those chubby cheeks made me smile

Father's Day Surprise

2011-08-02T14:04:00.001-07:00

We had celebrated Fathers Day at the ballpark and stopped by to see Kyndal's grave on the way home. To our surprise we saw this....
We had been expecting her headstone to be here anytime, but what a special day for us to find it. I came around the corner, and started crying immediatley.. Blades was upset and wondered why they didnt call us, but I am glad we got to find it.. What a perfect Father's Day gift from a daughter... It made the day that more special, and we will always remember when it was placed. We are thankful to agoodgrief who helped us purchase her headstone. With the money we raised at her BBQ in April, we want to thank all of you again who participated and helped in the special day for Kyndal.

do you see our noses bleeding?? we had the cheap seats, but had a great time..

Case enjoying some nachos.

youve got to have a hotdog at the ballgame.. even if Blades had to wait for 4 innings in line to get it.

always fun

2011-08-01T16:05:00.000-07:00

Grandpa and Grandma Dill's house always brings lots of fun...
Camden, Kyla, Case, Austin and Jacob

Uncle Michael always plays with the kids..

theres something about swimming and goggles.. it makes the experience much better.. ( i hear)

nonstop swimming... great food.. and fun with family. We have spent a few weekends there this summer, and had a great time.. time spent with cousins, sunburns, popsicles and bbq's..

We always feel like we are at home when we visit..

My Dad and I

My Dad loves his Grandkids.. and they love him..

wow.. what a trip!

2011-07-29T16:48:00.001-07:00

I have tons of pictures to share and stories to blog.. but for now we are glad to be in our own beds. We are getting back to reality with laundry, grocery shopping and school starting in a little over a week. Camden will be in first grade. Is that possible? I remember being in first grade.
Here are a list of things I had forgotten about the great state of Wyoming...

they sell cows on TV ( auctions) and they go for about 1.25 a lb... averaging 800 lbs.. thats $1000.00 a head...

mosquito's are pesky and very feirce.. a good repellant is a must

a cattle-drive up to the mountains is a once in a lifetime experience

you can eat beef jerky and cattle drive at the same time..

Grandma's and Grandpa's spoiled us

small towns have great parades and festivities for Pioneer Day.

go-fish and crazy eights are great card games

small town pool is the gathering place..

cows walk in the yard

electric fences dont zap too bad ( thats what camden said)

slip and slide is classic afternoon fun

small town county fairs are fun

it doesnt get dark til 9:45 pm.. ( kids took a while to understand that one)

the checkin lady at the airport checked all my carry-ons for free .... what a relief

the same happened on the way home :)

fireworks and boys go together.. ( i tried lighting some for the kids and burned a hole in my shirt...)

a cattle rancher rarely buys beef.. he just drops one off at the process plant and comes back in a few days for the goods

you can buy cinnamon bears by the pound

deer jump out of no-where on the highway.. gotta watch out..

i still love the smell of skunks. ( so does camden)

pennies really do get squished by train tracks

four wheeler rides are just as fun as i remember

boys love to throw rocks and break bottles

everyone waves at everyone

farmers work hard and wake up early

my camera broke.. and i will be in the market for a new one.. it fell out of the carrying case and the top of it came off.. it still works, but a good reason to start shopping

if the temperature was below 60 my kids were "freezing".

cowboys like blades' bbq

Theres so many great stories and things that we did.. I will be back to blogging soon.. for now its trying to figure out what to make for dinner.... reality is upon me.. no more mom to make the dinners and do my dishes... darn it was nice!

preoccupied

2011-07-08T17:03:00.000-07:00

I have tons of things to do to get ready for our Wyoming vacation next week, and here I sit.. blogging about nothing in particular...

I have read the Hunger Games, and the second book too.. I just finished it off today.
I am sure I will read the third in a day or so...
i have the kids' clothes all ready to pack..
got some new uniforms for Camden.. ( school starts the week after we get back)
going out with blades tonight.. for some mongolian bbq.. will talk him into walking around target..
we had a great trip to vegas over the 4th.. pics to come.. one more thing to do on my list..
we are loving our pool
the two birds in the nest flew away.. managing to avoid the pool.. a miracle forsure
I have a wonderful new calling... 2nd counselor in the Relief Society.. I cant wait!
I will miss the nursery kids
Camden just popped his own bowl of popcorn... and watching Harry potter.
caser is taking a nap
blades should be home any minutes... then i can pick up our babysitter.. and hit the town of Queen Creek... watch out! we may be home before 10..

a lesson in life

2011-06-23T16:40:00.000-07:00

a few months ago, a momma bird made a nest in our flood lights in the backyard.. the wind came and off the nest went.. we found the remains of the broken egg, and nest parts all over our back patio when we came back from las vegas...

fast forward a few more weeks, and another bird ( had to be the same one.. and not a very smart one) made another nest in the same spot..

she would sit on the egg for weeks.. and last week we found an empty shell.. a nicer sign than the previous egg splatter. she has been dodging water gun squirts from the boys since the pool is right there. When we sit out there and turn on the fan, the flood lights come on too. I didnt figure the baby bird would survive.. the heat from az, and then the heat from a flood light inches away from the nest.

so i suppose there is a baby bird in the nest. we are waiting to hear the chirps, but all we can see is the momma sitting on the nest.. hovering over her pride and joy..

its been fun to watch this momma bird take such good care of her baby/babies...

so today we went to my cousins insurance office, and at first we were just sitting in the car, but i figured we would go in and say hello... on our way in, the boys spotted a baby bird hobbling along.. probably just a few days from leaving a nest. ( i really dont know much about birds im guessing here)... we admired the cute little thing, and in we went to say our hellos. The boys made their way back outside to investigate the bird. In comes Camden yelling " Case killed the bird".. he stomped on it.. Isnt that the saddest thing you have ever heard.. Did he think it was a large bug ?...( thats what makes me feel the best)
we went back to the car, walking past the poor little thing whose mom will probably be looking for it soon... we had a little life lesson on how we dont hurt God's creatures. I think Case felt bad... he was peeking through some binoculars that were in the car.. searching for his next victim?, or trying to ignore the constant.. "Case why'd you kill that bird" from his brother..

our little suspect is in his little nest in his room taking a nap as i type this..
life lessons are hard sometimes..

Take me out to the BallGame

2011-06-16T15:36:00.000-07:00

While we were in Vegas this last time in June, we decided to go to a 51's game. The kids loved it and the weather was perfect. Here are pictures of our night..

Case and Blades

Pat & Dad

Case and Cori

Grandpa, Blades, Camden and Cori

Kyla and Camden.. cousins just 1 month apart in age

Jacob and Caser.. cousins.. just 2 weeks apart in age

like my hat?.. cute austin in the background.. Kyndal and him would be 3 months apart in age

before the game

Our future ball players

Caser

Camden

There were fireworks after the ball game which the game went on forever!! The kids had a great time and loved the fireworks. Uncle Michael passed out treats and all the kids were happy. It was a great time had by all!

our little graduate

2011-06-15T16:32:00.000-07:00

The month of May brought graduation for Camden.. from Kindergarten...
Heres some pictures of his BIG day

waiting for his name to be called

Chloe and Camden.. one of his best buds.. theyve been friends since they were 2..

recieving his diploma

time for a "cookie"

proud brother and dad

Case, mom and Camden

his carpool friends..

all friends from our ward..

his teacher Mrs. Armendariez.

Never saying never again

2011-06-09T16:54:00.000-07:00

So my kids have NEVER written with crayons on my walls.. til today.. the littler of the two found a red crayon that was leftover from yesterday's entertaining, and the older tattler came to tell me the little one wrote on the wall.. I looked but didnt see anything. I thought I was safe. I found it later, and made him scrub it off.
I'd say those are pretty good odds... 2 boys... 6 years of plenty of opportunities... Im glad to say they passed up on the temptation of the wall before..
maybe my kids just arent creative enough.. maybe the wall is too overwhelming.. whatever the "CASE" may be.... i can no longer say they have never written on the wall.

* names have been mostly withheld

Our new friend Summer

2011-06-01T15:57:00.000-07:00

Summer replaces our old friend skoolyear.. who while she was nice, our friendship is on hold for a few months to make sure Summer feels included too...

Skoolyeer was a high maintenance friend with:

phonograms, learning new ones each week.. with a total of 71 learned this year ( a.. a... ah.. ph.. like phoenix...)

making sure the backpack was packed.. even picky about the snack ( rude huh?)

she was picky about the laundry and had to make sure there was a uniform clean and not too wrinkly.. although the wearer didnt mind.

she woke up early.. and we had to make sure her alarm clock was set nightly.

homework.. needs no more explaining.. just glad we are on hold for now...

carpool was fun with 3 other riders.. all being girls.. the conversations were priceless.

progress reports..

green/yellow cards.. for behavior reasons.. our recent graduate recieved his share of yellow's but i am proud to say he never got a red.. which involves the principal...

she liked to memorize these poems once a quarter or every six weeks.. although it was fun watching him recite the poem, practicing every night was .. um... no words..

skoolyear did teach Camden to read :).... I would say that was my favorite part about her.. What a good friend to teach him. I even cried when he read his first book.. green eggs and ham alone..

reading is fun, but making a mobile for a bookreport was not so much.. also due every 6 weeks.

skoolyear helped Camden learn to be a better friend, be a little more patient, and enjoy skoolyear.

Summer arrived today for the first time at our place. Since we are new to this school thing... summer has a new meaning to us...we are glad to welcome her

no alarm clocks to set.. no set bedtime ( atleast for tonight).. lots of friends to make plans with. swimming all hours of the day...

we celebrated with McDonalds... having a few friends over to swim.. many more of those parties to come... which had to involve a snack.. I had chocolate in the fridge.. warmed it up in the microwave.. brought out pretzels and giant marshmellows.. talk about a MESS.. a big one.. but only once do you have a last day of Kindergarten.. we celebrated alright!!.....

Summer hopes to take us to Wyoming.. atleast the kids and I sometime in July...

a little lacking

2011-05-25T10:17:00.000-07:00

so... we got a new pool for the kids in the backyard, and they have swimmed in it every day since Sunday afternoon. Yesterday ( tuesday) I realized they hadnt bathed in a bathtub since Saturday night...

does a dip in the pool count for a bath?

why am i even sharing this embarassing information...

why not?

another thing lacking is my motivation to do homework with my kindergartener...

only a few more days.. thankfully..

A close call

2011-05-20T09:52:00.000-07:00

" She came already?" camden said, while hearing the coins jingling under his pillow, where he placed his two teeth just 30 minutes before.
The toothfairy was almost caught doing the transfer.
" Where are my teeth?" he said, while Dad ever so sly-ly placed the teeth back under the pillow, and they both tried figuring out how the toothfairy had made her entrance and quick escape.
"Let me count my coins.. $3.00.. wow.. "
"I know why the toothfairy came so quick... its because I went to sleep so fast.. "
"I'm gonna go show mom. "( who was hiding in the hallway seeing and hearing the whole event take place).. I snuck into the bathroom, hanging up a towel.

This is when my heart skipped a beat.. Wow that was a close one... Thankfully dad had quick thinking and happened to be attentive to the potential hazard of a young childs mind.
The toothfairy in our house has forgotten to leave the money once, and we wanted to make sure that wasnt going to happen again. I had bunco, and all the girls had just left. Camden went to the dentist yesterday, and had 2 teeth pulled. The dentist sent them home, so the tooth fairy could find them at our place.
" I hope you have some more cash" blades said, after he had taken the last of my cash out of my wallet to entertain the children at our local fun.. McDonalds while I had Bunco. If i would have done well at Bunco, I would of had some extra cash, but not the case... We went to our stash in the 5 gallon water jug in the closet to fish for some coins.
We placed the 12 quarters in a pink toole pouch with a drawstring and blades went in for the switcharoo..
Camden must not of been asleep all the way, and wondered if dad would cover him up.. Then he remembered the teeth, and started looking for them. The thing was, they were already in Blades' pocket, and the pouch was now under his pillow. He quickly put them in his hand and swooped under the pillow, replacing the teeth.. and that's how the toothfairy was almost caught.
He shared a quarter with Case this morning, because he woke up with a dry bed. What a nice brother... ( maybe i should get some more quarters, cause washing sheets every other night is making my washing machine work overtime).. maybe my washing machine has some extra quarters... it's worth a look.

Happy campers

2011-05-18T08:16:00.000-07:00

The weekend of Easter, the kids were out of school on Friday, so we wanted to go camping. we didnt want to go too far away, so we chose Superstition mountain.. it was only about 30 minutes away from our house. Lets just say..

I wouldnt desert camp again.

The cactus alone could send any normal exploring boy screaming with stickers and thorns in his shoes..

shade is a must

all kinds of critters come out at night.

desert mice are not timid

large bugs can carry away terantulas

being a friendly neighbor is a must

a campfire and smores with the Palomo's was fun

you can heat corn up, and then serve it from the can you just opened..

We found a campsite that was large enough to hold our massive 20 person tent ( its huge maybe not 20 but atleast 10).. we had some not so friendly neighbor campers next to us that told our kids to move off her campsite... which was the trash can area... she also yelled at the boys when they were excited that a mouse was scurrying by our campsite. The clock read 7:30 pm... she yelled " BE QUIET"... i then told her " um.. it's just a mouse".. needless to say we wanted to smack her.. blades wished she would choke on a hotdog and we made sure not to make any eye contact with her on the way to the bathroom... come on lady.. be happy you are in the desert and camping.. who could ask for more?

Here are a few pictures of our evening. After Blades cooked, the mice started coming out of the woodworks ( desert) they werent concerned that we were humans.. they were focused on finding food.. we stood on the picnic bench for a while, but they were around to stay. we kept seeing more and more of them. we made sure the tent was zipped so they wouldnt find a place to sleep since it already be occupied by us. the mice were nasty and ran around our tent all night too. Debra and her boys came up for dinner and smores. They had fun watching for the critters, but were glad they would make the trip home to sleep in thier mice free beds.

We made breakfast the next day, packed up and left. We didnt really want to see our neighbor camper.. it still ticks me off thinking about it..

It definitley wasnt the ideal camping trip, but maybe the kids will have some great memories of our adventure.

Case showing off his new Chex mix jewelry

the view from our campsite..

rise and shine..

blades and the boys..

Case, Mason, Tyler and Camden enjoying the fire.. ( that we had to bring.. one of those firepits)

two tired boys..

Camden and a marshmellow

was that a mouse? debra's feet up in the air :)

have you any wool?

2011-05-17T14:43:00.000-07:00

As Camden's Kindergarten play approached, he was excited about the songs, but not so excited about the thought of dressing up as a farm animal. His school let us know about a week before the performance of the requested costume... to be something homemade, or something we already had. Halloween around here does not involve farm animals, so the thought of having something on hand was out of the question. I threw it out there on Facebook about an idea.. and heres what we got in return.. 500 cottonballs later... fabric glue and a vest we had the cutest sheep on the farm. He actually cried when I first told him my idea. saying " I'm gonna look so stupid." I tried explaining he might look more "silly" if he didnt have a costume since everyone else would. It worked!
How can you not love this sheep?
this was before we had all the cottonballs placed. We ran out and had to go get more. ( i ruined a shirt of mine while placing the furballs)

do you spy the sheep?

Case and Camden before the big performance

Camden, Chloe and Christion..

much more happy than the before picture.. Camden, Chloe and Abby

I'm biased, but I think his costume was the cutest. I may not be able to get away with it much longer.. me making costumes.. so I will take what I can get...

My little farmers..

2011-05-17T14:18:00.000-07:00

We have been enjoying checking on our garden. We were happy to see the tomato plant had red tomatoes on them. We didnt realize we picked the salad size tomato plant, but they were about as big as a grape :)... they were tasty.. The kids thought it was fun to pick them.. the squash is about to flower, and we have some bell peppers too. This was our first attempt at greening up our thumbs, but it has been fun!

Momma's Day

2011-05-09T10:03:00.000-07:00

I woke up to breakfast made on Saturday.. since we have church early Blades made breakfast the day before...
We cleaned up the house a bit, then headed to the movies. It was gnomeo and juliet.. a 3d movie.. the kids thought it was pretty cool.. all the stuff coming towards us. they looked cute in their oversized goggles...
We had lunch, and went to Kyndal's grave..
Sunday, I woke up to homemade cards which made me cry..
we went to church, and none of my kids had to be taken out.. which makes Mothers Day even that more nice.
I took a nap
Blades cooked dinner.. bbq steak.. yummm
got the kids ready for bed.
read them some bedtime stories.. ( are you my mother?.. figured it was fitting for Mothers Day)
we made dessert and put the kids to bed before they got their share..
i wrote in the kids' journals and our family journal..
sent blades to bed.. ( he is working super early in the am)
I stayed up and watched TV..

What a wonderful Mothers Day. I am grateful for my little boys ( who arent so little anymore)
I am grateful for my mom and mother in law. I have great ones.
I hope Kyndal was watching from above sharing in my special day.

My laundry is washing and drying.. my windows are open with a nice breeze coming through the house. When I took Camden out for carpool today, it was actually cool, so all of my windows are open. Im sure in a few hours I will have to close them, but for now the cool fabric softener breeze is nice!
Hope you all had a great Mothers Day!!!

Hip Hop...

2011-04-25T11:14:00.000-07:00

After a little visit from the Easter Bunny...
hunting for eggs.. ( bad picture.. one of the only ones without too much sun)

We went to church... all dressed up!

We had a wonderful dinner with some great friends. What a perfect Spring day to celebrate one of my favorite Holiday's!

National Treasure... vacation part 2

2011-04-18T14:45:00.000-07:00

After a few days in NC, we left the kids with Grandma and Grandad and we went to Washington D.C. It is about 4 hours away from NC. We have always said we want to go, and then we usually decide not to.. We thought it would be a perfect little get-away...
We ended up stopping in Quantico Virginia, and found Breanna Penas grave. She was one of my young women who lost her battle with cancer in February. I was happy to find her little resting place, and suprise her family by sending them a picture of us at her grave.

Things I didnt know about D.C.

Traffic... wow, I grew up in a large city ( las vegas) but I felt like I was in another country. Bikes, people, taxis.. everywhere

Metro ( the subway).. made me feel like i was in another country as well. connections, tickets, lines..

the building are beautiful and HUGE. I have always seen pictures of the capitol, but never did I think they were so large... lots of detail on the buildings.

lots of walking. after walking from the national monument to Abraham Lincoln memorial, we got a taxi to take us back. ( I told Blades it was the best $10.00 we ever spent)

Abe was HUGE.. way larger than I thought it would be.. one of my favorites..

DC Cupcakes.. ( a tv show TLC filmed there.. too long of a line for me to try) although Blades was sweet and found where it was and we drove to.

We found some not so safe streets finding our way around.

Smithsonian is HUGE.. you would have to spend days there to look at everything.

no gas stations anywhere

a beautiful temple we went to.. ( the pics are on Blades' cell phone..) when you are on the freeway, it appears out of nowhere.. very heavenly :)

we stayed in Maryland somewhere for the night.. who knew all those states were so close together.

we missed the cherry tree blossoms by a few weeks, but hear they are amazing

I cant help but be proud to be an American after you visit the capitol.

we saw the Constitution ( the original) at the National Archives.. and no pictures were aloud. It was amazing to see. ( talk about security)

We felt like we were stars on that movie with Nicholas Cage... National Treasure... Here are our pictures of our few days in D.C.

Blades and Cori .. the National Monument behind us.. a bit windy

HUGE...we stood at the wall and looked up.. it made us a bit dizzy..

Is that the consitution in your backpack Blades?? Make a run....!!!!

Cori and some other tourists at the Lincoln Memorial.. again.. a beautiful HUGE building.. the statue of Abe is up those stairs..

an amazing sight!

self portraits... gotta love em when you are traveling alone.. we are on top of the stairs at the Lincoln memorial.

the columns are huge and sturdy..

the details were everywhere.. the reflection pool behind this art was being drained...

the capitol

a doorknob at the National Archives.

the buildings were so fun to look at.

Blades at the Smithsonian... American History

Julia Childs kitchen.. ( just like from the movie Julie and Julia)

I learned that I need to learn more about the government and history. We had a wonderful visit and it was fun to not have to haul the kids around. There was lots to see and we didnt see it all, but glad to have visited...

Our biggest crowd yet

2011-04-11T11:22:00.000-07:00

Where do I begin..??? let's start with the man at the BBQ... 80 lbs of pork.. ( it's supposed to be black like that) It was cold and rainy out, but he still managed to keep the smoker smoking..with little sleep! about ready to come off of the smoker after 12 hours

Me wearing Kyndal's flower. The same one that she wore in the hospital, I wore at her babyshower and funeral. and the one that was in her hair for this artwork..

the sign in table.. I had extra sheets from the funeral that my friend Tara had done, so we had people sign their names for her bbq too! The book my friend Camie put together for us. The blanket.. hers.. She is buried with the same blanket...

bake sale treats

some of the crowd.. Francis' and Acuna's

Blades, Bishop and Lacey Jones

neighbors and friends

a really cute lemonade stand that Debra's sister made for us..

Glahns and family

Monica and Stephanie ( in my messy garage) but warm and dry

The Johnson's..

Palomo's...

cousins.. Masie, Miles and Lyla

The letter that I wrote to Molly...from agoodgrief.com

Good Morning Molly,

It's Monday morning, the even that we have been planning is over. What a weekend. Much success. We worried about the rain.. here in AZ it usually comes and goes, but Saturday it decided to stay. By 8 am we looked at eachother and decided to move the party to our house... with a mad dash of rearranging, setting up and a quick vacuum.. we had it all under control. We were expecting about 100 people, and were happy to serve 140. We set up tables in our garage and driveway covered with pop-up shades.

Everyone seemed to have a great time. We had a little sign in table with Kyndal's picture, and a poster explaining agoodgrief.com. It was wonderful to see the support we got from friends, neighbors and family. We think it actually worked out better having the food here. My hubby cooked 80 lbs of pulled pork beginning at 2 in the morning to make sure it had 12 hours to smoke. Everyone raved about the delicious food.. homemade coleslaw, pork sandwiches, beans and corn. We were going to have it in roasters being warmed by a generator, but it was much better in the house. I had great friends help serve up the food to our hungry guests. We served the food in to-go foam containers , which was ideal for the crowded spaces. Our kitchen table was overflowing with bake-sale goodies with Kyndal's sillouette picture behind the table. All of those treats looked heavenly. I will share pictures on my blog today.. this was a huge success in our eyes. We love having people in our home, and this was definitley the largest party we have taken on, but it was the most fun and rewarding, and appropriate for our daughter. When planning the party, I didnt realize that her 18 month birthday was the day before the party. Both my husband and I serve in the nursery and have the youngest children just turning 18 months. I cant help but wonder if she watches us as we serve those little ones..

It was all because of goodgrief and deciding to raise money so you can help another family. We appreciate your website and organization. What a wonderful honor to give Lucy. She is smiling from above... I just know it! She is proud of her momma who helps other families. I hope you know how you have influenced us. We have never met, yet I feel I know you.. maybe its the blogstalking, maybe its the communication via email, but whatever it is.. Here is our THANK YOU! Here is the grand total of the money we raised....

$650

We will be forever grateful to your sweet family and maybe someday we will be able to meet..

Love,

Blades, Cori, Camden, Case and Kyndal

what a weekend!

2011-04-10T20:36:00.000-07:00

just a brief overview..

it was raining.. so we moved the event indoors. ( thankfully we had that as a backup and already had cleaned the day before)

we were planning on 120.. it was more like 140.. yeah

we sat people everywhere.. even in the garage..

the food was delicious..

im tired..

pictures and more details and a total of what we raised coming tomorrow!!!! im off to count mulah!

Where my thoughts are

2011-04-06T19:58:00.001-07:00

We are on the countdown to the BBQ in honor of Kyndal... It is on Saturday.. 2 1/2 days away. I think we are about ready. This is where my thoughts are. Do we have enough tables, shades, roasters, utensils, etc..?? The boys helped me carry the big cans of beans to the car. It is fun to see them help and understand why we are doing this too.. We have had an amazing response already and are excited for the big day. We have great friends and family that are willing to still remember our daughter Kyndal. ( and help with the big day) It will be 18 months the day after the BBQ that she was stillborn. Time has gone quickly. With the bbq funds we will be able to give back to http://agoodgrief.com who is helping us purchase Kyndal's headstone. If you havent checked out their story, please do and watch the clip.. See the Good in the Jacksons.. on thier blog under the tab "our cause".

So come if you can. We would love to have you join us!

Spring Break"ers" vaction part 1

2011-03-31T17:33:00.000-07:00

this is what we are missing now that we are home and back to reality....

Blades playing paddle-ball with Camden

Our Family

enjoying the view and an ice cream sandwich.. (left over in the freezer from the summer Im sure)

sandy toes

Blades getting Case to share a peanut with him

looking for peanuts

blades breaking into the shed to find some sand toys..

changing after about freezing in the water

two very cold boys

they are sitting here, but looks like a big wave is going to get them.

found a monster truck museum on the way.. GraveDigger

the boys about to leave for the airport..

Case and Cori on the plane

Case.. got the window seat..

Camden and dad watching a movie and playing angry birds on cell phone

Case playing with Genevieve..

the first day at the beach... bbrrrr... and look at those wave breaks??

So we pretty much broke the rules about vacation. First off, we decided to go to North Carolina in February, and purchased our tickets.. We were going to go to Disneyland, but the cost was about the same, so we decided to go to see Blades' family instead..it would be more meaningful spending it with them, than in California while Mickey and his friends drained our pocketbooks.. leaving us with popcorn, and chocolate covered bananas..

Here's where the fun begins, and rules get broken..... We did not tell anyone we were coming. NO ONE but Blades' best friend Emil and his wonderful hospitable wife Katherine. Our flight came in super late, so they offered for us to stay with them the first night before we made the big entrance at the other "whitehouse".. That's right it was all a SUPRISE! Our plan was that we would just show up.. It was super hard keeping a secret for that long.. knowing we would see them in a few weeks/days.. and they had no clue.. and we couldnt say anything.

When we would tell friends here about our plans, they had many questions.. will they be there? ( yes.. they will.. and were)... maybe it was the strange looks and responses that we got...

We told the kids about a week before we left. We had gone to the park and sat them down and they knew we were going on a trip, but didnt know the details yet...

We gave them clues...

they had cousins there

there was a beach there

it was the opposite of South

Eventually, they got it, and were super excited. We explained that it was a suprise and that we couldnt talk to them about it. We made sure that when we talked to them .. the kids werent around... Blades even had a hard time talking to his mom a few days before we left. He felt like he was going to slip the news to them.. so he quickly got off the phone with her..

I couldnt blog about it, facebook about it or anything.. so it was exciting once we were on our way..

We flew into Detroit, and had 30 minutes to catch another plane .. ( on the total opposite section of the airport).. a tram and many moving walkways were involved... and making sure two little boys were close to us. Once we got on the plane, the pilot told us the flying time, which would get us there about 45 minutes more than we thought, so we figured we wouldnt have to run as fast. Once the plane landed, they took FOREVER to open the doors.. so we went running. We were the very last row.. next to the good ol bathrooms. Maybe those were the only seats they had all together, but seriously the very last row? The flight attendant was nice and let my boys check out all the gadgets in the back of the plane while we were waiting for them to open the doors. Ice, pops, treats.. it was great until one of them tried opening the emergency slide door.. we caught them before the disaster occured.

While finding our way to the very last row, a snotty blonde hoity toity girl was sitting right in front of us. She looked at us,, the kids and glared at her boyfriend with a discusted look on her face. WOW.. I wanted to smack her and we hadnt even sat down yet. Moments earlier, she is arguing with the ticket taker who is trying to make her check her mammoth size carry-on. I'm pretty sure some curse words were used from this snotty blonde.. So we sit, have a nice flight... Case tapped her seat every once in a while since his legs arent long enough to bend like everyone elses... and she eventually slammed herself back in her chair as far as she could trying to prove a point.. which I kindly ignored. Really lady?? We have been on the plane for 4 hours, my kids havent been loud, naughty or rude.. he tapped your chair..

We eventually made it to Norfolk Virginia... and picked up our rental car. The drive was about an hour to Emil and Katherines. Talk about feeling at home. She put together this cute basket in the room that we were staying in that had water bottles, goldfish, peanuts, granola bars, fruit.. and a welcoming note. She said that way we could have our own snacks if we wanted. It was very sweet, and a tradition that I will try to have when I have guests.. ( so come and visit.. just dont make it a suprise :) )

So back to the suprise... we woke up at 7 which was really 4 az time. I couldnt sleep anymore. I was anticipating the big entrance too much I suppose. We got ready, ate breakfast.. ran into the Moster's basketball hoop and bent it... and we were on our way.. All the way over I had butterflies in my stomach.. I asked Blades if he was nervous and he said I wasnt til you mentioned it..

It was raining, so I asked blades if we should go to the front door since there is a covering, but we went in the back door where most of the time they are.. in the kitchen.. We sent the kids up first,a knock... and then Blades looked through the window waved at his parents eating breakfast. His moms hands went over her mouth and the tears began to flow. His dad was suprised too, and his mom thought his dad knew we were coming. It was fun to tell them of our little plans and the kids found the toys right away.. He called each of his siblings on the phone and asked what they were doing and if they wanted to come over and visit. They were confused, but it all started making sense once we told them we were at mom and dads...

The kids starting looking for their cousins, and had a wonderful time playing with them the almost two weeks we were there. The first full day we were there we went to the beach. It was a little chilly and windy, but that didnt stop our kids who were wet within minutes of seeing the sand and icewater... we packed them another outfit just incase and they were in new clothes after about 10 minutes of near hypothermic conditions. The shivers, chattering teeth and red legs all were clear signs that it was a bit too cold. It was high tide, and the kids were just playing in it. One wave came in and the aftermath of it swept Case off his feet and I had to go in after him. He had this look of fear on his face.. poor kid.. so now I was wet too.. Blades was up in the cottage looking at fishing poles and wasnt near to do to the saving. ME it was.. so my jeans were wet the rest of the morning, but Case didnt get near the waves again.. We made sandcastles, and dug in the brown sugar like sand for the rest of the morning.

This was just the beginning of a wonderful vacation.. More to come, but wanted to start.. I hate that my pictures are at the top but hope you enjoyed a few of them.

you could call it going green

2011-03-30T21:12:00.000-07:00

so we are down to one vehicle. blades' yellow bumblebee car is on the fritz, and he is working on it now in the garage as i sit here at type.. sipping my beverage of choice.. ( in a foam cup) as i was riding blades' bike to the park today for play date i couldnt help but think about all the good i am doing for the enviornment.. blades was using the truck in phoenix and i have been carless all week and last week too.. not that i had anywhere to go... but its weird not being able to go if i want to. back to the green-ness... i pedaled my rear to the park and patting myself on the back for my "green-ness".. while i was a missionary in Seattle um 12 years ago.. ya that makes me feel old.. we had pioneer days where we had to walk all day one day a month..... to appointments, to dinner.. everywhere.. to give those wonderful toyota corollas a break..and save the miles i suppose.. either way.. it was rainy.. cold and im pretty sure i didnt feel like a pioneer. i wonder how much energy I am wasting as i blog.. the light in the office is on.. the computer.. ?? i'd better go check on that mechanic in the garage.. ( im pretty sure this foam cup is not bio-degradable..) here's to going green...

Spring Fling for Kyndal

2011-03-28T08:37:00.000-07:00

Please join us for.... A BBQ in memory of Kyndal.... http://kyndalann.blogspot.com/

Saturday.. April 9, 2011

4pm- 6:30pm

Laredo Ranch Park

fundraiser for Headstones for Hope.. (read the link for more information..)

$6.00 adult plates

$3.00 kid plates

bakesale too with lots of yummy treats

If you are reading this and you live in our area.. you are invited.

cause I'm a giver

2011-03-22T20:05:00.000-07:00

no.. Im not giving away anything for some contest...

I gave in... cause I'm a giver..

Camden got a yellow at school today which means he was a bit naughty.. for not raising his hand, talking frequently and playing around in line to computers.. ( it could be worse)..
( green is the best.. red is the worst.. which i am a proud momma to say he hasnt reached the red yet)..
Once he gets home from school, he tells us what color he got..
from previous posts.. if he gets 5 greens he can go to Karate class..didnt happen tonight..
His punishments are no TV and he has to take a nap on yellow days..
Today was one of those..
plus it was nice since we arrived home from our vacation at 1... but 4 am our bodies thought..
Maybe that's why he got a yellow. a bit tired..cranky.. jetlaggish..
we all were happy to join him during nap time... we slept for 3 hours.. much needed I might add.

I was watching random TV and catching him peeking.
We did his homework.. (grr.. more from yesterday makeupwork too)
ate dinner..
bathed...
and this is when I GAVE IN...

Sure you can watch a movie.. popcorn included if you both pick up the front room and kitchen with the toys they had messed my house up with earlier in the non-watching tv entertaining they were doing.. they were happy to help... and I was happy to push play!

Plus I got to watch Grey's online.. an episode I missed a few weeks ago..

So I almost stuck to my guns and not let him watch TV.. but a momma who just has been on vacation for 13 days must gradually get back into the swing of things...
It's cause I'm a giver!

Productiveness

2011-03-07T09:46:00.000-08:00

I am about to brag.. about myself..

This morning I:

woke up to the alarm buzzing, but didnt mind it. ( the kids had turned on the tv in the front room 30 minutes before my alarm went off)
suprised the kids with a treat the blades bought at the store the other day.. Cinnamon Toast Crunch
ate a cookie for breakfast
got on the treadmill.. ( why did i eat that cookie?)
jammed to some music while treadmilling it
scrubbed my bathroom
let Case stay in his underoo's til about 10 minutes ago.
made my bed
let Case eat M&M's.
made me a piece of toast with homemade jam.
about to go get ready for the day..

I felt like I had a really productive Monday morning, and wanted to document such a rare occurance.

a day of swimming

2011-03-03T11:16:00.000-08:00

Ok it is supposed to be almost 80 degrees today, but we didnt really swim... We did some things that involve "pooling"... Carpooling.. Thursdays are my day. How happy I am that I only drive once a week and once a friday once a month or so.. I usually stay in Camden's class and volunteer since I am already at the school anyway.. It is fun to listen to what happens in that class of 21 kindergarteners.. priceless I tell ya..
I was finished in Camdens class, so I made a trip to walmart and was still early coming back.. so I figured a post about carpooling was in order.. I had to have some pictures for the post..

Abby, Chloe, Carlie and Camden.. enjoying the ride

a coke.. a necessary item while carpooling.

( i had extra time.. so i went by walmart and mcd for a coke)

looking in the mirror for the swimmers to escape

and who doesnt love playing with their phone and camera while wasting time in the car..

check this out

2011-03-02T07:20:00.000-08:00

This foundation Headstones for Hope is having a concert in Utah.. I wish I lived closer cause I would be participating. More to come soon about this foundation.. Please pass on the information via email, facebook or blogging.. Thanks!

Case's Birthday Bash

2011-02-28T19:38:00.001-08:00

4 years ago.. we were handed this little guy...

moments after birth

excited at his birthday party

his first birthday party

yes.. that is cake :).. at his first birthday..

four years and now he looks like this... one handsome little devil..

Case and his buddy Camden

We had his birthday party at the park. all years before now.. it is so close to the Superbowl.. that he usually ends up with a football party. We decided the park sounded fun.. and i was even more excited that the mess would be kept to the green grass and park..

the kids played parachute..

Duck.. duck goose

and then it was time to sing...

and eat cupcakes..

and open presents.. he pulled up this chair onto the blanket... and was ready..

he was super excited about this gum.. and shared with all of his friends.

Case is a great kid and had a wonderful birthday.. the day before his birthday i was emotional.. could my baby really be turning 4??? our future babies and him will be so far apart.. He is a joy!

and the Oscar goes to...

2011-02-28T13:08:00.000-08:00

me..
if someone interviewed me and cared about "who" i was wearing i'd say this...
a 7.99 tealish colored shirt from Ross recently purchased, brown sweatish pants, and Nikes.. oh and the earings.. a steal from Layne Bryant..
( a steal.. like a good deal.. not a real steal like Lohan)
I even had makeup on today.. (yesterday at church realized i put on all my makeup but mascara.. an important accessory to any outfit)

I enjoyed watching some of the Oscars, but think it's rediculous the stuff they talk about and care about.. what parties who went to.. who was with who...but somehow it got me sucked in to the nonsense.

Now moving on...
Camden has been working really hard earning green cards at school, so he can participate in Karate classes.. well he got a yellow today, so no Karate tomorrow.. He is ticked, but we are sticking with it and maybe he will learn a lesson. or hope that he does.
I'm in a rutt... like i want to kick my kids' butts.. no im not a poet..

excuse me while I whine...
the boys constantly fight, dont listen, argue and egg eachother on. I am about to carry around the pancake turner in my back pocket.. cause thats the only thing that kinda works.. ( they think its funny when i stick it in my pocket.. waiting for the next swat)
they have lost tv time, are taking naps..
at church yesterday, one of the talks was on harmony in the home.. good thing we were sitting close so we could all hear it... it was just what we needed. we've moved on to prayer.. and lots of it.. I hope it helps.. any advice.???. i dont want to have a house where we are constantly yelling and getting on their cases for being naughty.. or my kids permantley hating pancakes or their childhood... I will keep you updated..

mmm freezer jam was made last night.. nothing like it. I could almost drink it through a straw.. although toasted bread and the jam make a perfect match.

I'm breathing.. sometimes long deep breaths to make myself not go crazy..
as for now.. i am looking forward to Oprah, and my coke. My time!

Camden is losing it..

2011-02-21T19:26:00.000-08:00

teeth... that is....
After Family Home Evening.. the kids took their routine scrub a dub -dubs and jammies were the chosen apparel for the remaiderof the evenings events.
Camden has had this tooth that has been hanging on by a prayer for a few days now. He has had his hands constantly in his mouth wiggling and jiggling the tooth.
They had lost their dessert from FHE, because they werent listening.. so after a few minutes of Camden yanking the tooth, I told him if he pulled it out I would give him an oreo.. ( the homemade treat that was made for FHE.. right out of the box).. He was game. Out came the washcloth for proper gripage... and he started pulling..
The more pulling he did.. the funnier the tooth started to look. gnarled.. you could say.. twisted.. nanny mcphee'ish'.

This was the winning pull.. he was so happy.. he had tears in his eyes..

Camden.. one less toother...

Checking out his new smile... daddy washing his tooth off.. ( made sure the drain was plugged)

Camden's new smile.

They did earn thier oreo... and brushed teeth afterwards.. man... they stick in your teeth forever..

I had a mission friends whose status on facebook today was : cleaning house with kids home is like brushing your teeth while eating an oreo.. made me laugh...

Camden and Case were in charge of FHE tonight. They picked the songs, prayer and lesson. Camden told us about Joseph Smith and the First Vision.. it was cute in his own words..

Case held up a picture of sacrament.. and we talked about how we should act during the Sacrament. ( this is definitley something we are working on)... Camden even bore his little testimony.

they played hide the monkey... and then it was time to sing Once there was a Snowman...

The tooth was the highlight of the evening. The tooth is tucked away in a jewlery box under his pillow.. Hopefully the toothfairy will remember to stop tonight..

( she even has cash in her purse.. an oddity for her)

Visit from Grandma and Wilford

2011-02-16T12:49:00.001-08:00

Look at these little superhero's.... Grandma helped us make the capes.. and I made masks from the left over fabric.. but i think they got thrown away with the rest of the scraps... I wasnt about to dig through the trash, so I made them masks out of paper.. Case's eyes are covered.. poor kid..
They went to a birthday party where they were supposed to dress up like their favorite superhero...
We ate at In and Out and sat outside. It was a beautiful day and Case had to have his valentine treat. Cute puckered lips. mmm fundip

We had a wonderful visit with Wilford and my mom. The weather was perfect, so we spent alot of time outside.. They are from Wyoming where it was 20 below when they left. They were happy to see the sun too!

The whole group.. except Blades.. behind the camera..

We went putt putt golfing. The kids had never been.. there was a playplace for them to play on once we were done. I even slid down.. the kids thought it was fun and wanted to push me.

The blossoms on this tree are already blooming..

Cori and Camden

Grandma and Case

Camden going for a swing..

Case playing golf

We had a few minutes before the golf place opened, so we went to the temple to see the visitors center and take a few pictures.

The boys with some pictures the missionaries gave to them.

Cynthia, Camden, Case and Wilford

Blades was working most of the time they were here, but we had a great time.

We went to Tucson one day to see Aunt Alyce ( my moms sister)

I even got to shop with no kids

We went to Canyon Lake for a picnic..

watched movies

ate yummy popcorn

Mom and Wilford.. Come back soon.. we already miss you..

Wilford has 800 momma cows that are about to calf

( wow I sound like I know what I am talking about).. so far 3 were delivered as of yesterday..

puzzling

2011-02-15T10:37:00.000-08:00

I have this 1000 piece puzzle sitting on my kitchen table.. about half way done and it is taking all of my time away...
away from... laundry, chores, blogging..
I mentioned it to Blades and he said not to worry about it.. so I am enjoying the puzzle.. havent done one in years...

On another note... Camden and Case were told last week if they got green cards at school all week they could earn karate class. tonight is the first one.. they are super excited. hi-yaw!

we had a wonderful visit with my mom and her new hubby Wilford in town. Pics and blogging to come soon.. ( as soon as that darn puzzle is done)

Need a good cry?

2011-02-03T11:21:00.000-08:00

Chloe, Camden and Carlie

ah.. a real keyboard...I'm a quick typer... always have been... Theres lots to catch up on... so if my title caught your attention.. hang on and read for a minute.. then check out the video...

Our internet was messed up for the last few days, so I have been doing all facebooking and blogstalking from my handy dandy.. ( not notebook).... phone... the one i got a few weeks ago.. that hasnt left my side.. unless of course its being charged or the kids are playing angry birds on it. the texting and keyboard are a bit smaller than the good ol' regular computer. My fingers feel so free and have lots of space to roam. i couldnt blog from my phone.. it let me type a title.. but no blogging.. so my " horrible" post the other day was published.. then removed.. I was just going to tell you about how Camden said the veggies were "harible"...

Caser turned 4 over the weekend.. so theres another post.. and previous Christmas posts.. grr.. ive got alot of work to do today.. i'd better make sure my kids are fed, so they can destroy the house while I blog.

My mom and her new hubby Wilford are coming into town on Sunday. We are excited for their visit and for our friends to meet him. The major toilet scrubs and baths are done, and Blades is cleaning the carpet as I type.. Is that mean?? I am blogging and he is cleaning.. NO.. it isnt.. I vacuumed earlier while he was doing computer stuff.. why am i cleaning before they get here in a few days.. its just going to have to be cleaned again on Saturday?? its the pressure I tell you.. I wanna just get it done..

It was freezing here the last few days.. we even had to let our water drip in the sink to make sure nothing froze. Our plants are probably still freezing.. we covered them, but the wind came along and probably blew them away. I volunteered at Camdens school this morning, and you should of seen the kids gathered around the plant that had ice around it.. These poor desert kids havent ever seen ice on the ground. Thier rosy red noses and cheeks were sure signs that they are not used to the cold Old Man Winter brought.. It was 22 last night. The coldest theyve seen around here in 2 decades.. ( that makes me sound old).. decades..

Please check out this video and Molly's website. If you want a good cry that is... I am adding her blog button ( i think thats what you call it) to my blog... its called a good grief.. check it out and let me know what you think. I bawled when i watched the video that BYU just made of her family. I had recieved an email from her notifying her email list of the new video. I hadnt been on her blog in a while, and checked it out. Her daughter choked on an apple on the way home from church. After she passed away... They wanted to help other families purchase headstones... I emailed Molly asking what it would take to be a recepient of such a gift.. since we still dont have a headstone for Kyndal. ( not thinking I would hear from her so quickly... or it be so easy).. She emailed me back the next day informing me of the process, and suggested we start looking into one, and once it was ordered... they send a check directly to the monument place. Isn't that awesome? They are going to help our family too. What a wonderful gift and service they give.. as they grieve... When I checked my email, I couldnt believe it.. I was so happy.. It made my day :)... It is families like them who serve and give that make me want to be a better person. Thanks Jackson's... We think you are good!

here is the website...( i tried uploading the video and i worked on it for an hour with no luck)

its one of the most recent posts titled "see the good".. with the video... please watch it.. grab a box of kleenex beforehand

http://jacksonparkcity.blogspot.com/

her website

http://agoodgrief.com/

I had carpool today, and Camden and the two girls ( Abby had already been dropped off.. and she is cute too!!) climbed into the back as i was their chuefer ( however you spell that word)... they wanted their picture taken, and Camden said he was " girl trapped."... I thought it was funny.. i will try to upload the picture here too..well it's at the top... are they not so cute???

celebrate with chocolate

2011-01-27T11:12:00.001-08:00

It's officially national chocolate day... i heard the good word from my cousin who is also a blogger.. To celebrate we were to make a chocolate cake.. and have a linky party...

Well it happened to be Case's preschool bring a cupcake to school day.. for his Birthday.. so here's a picture. While it's not the most fancy chocolate cake.. it does the trick!

I'm trying to link this to hers.. we will see how it goes!!

http://fiverreasonstosmile.blogspot.com

the rest of Christmas

2011-01-25T09:23:00.001-08:00

So we made cookies.. got in their new jammies and opened one present.. its a tradition.. the rest is all pictures from Christmas morning. They were up at the crack o dawn.. and the sun wasnt even out yet.. but we had a wonderful day!

The boys in thier new jammies

opening one gift on Christmas eve

Rise.. and shine!! Santa had come

another traditional picture... in all of the wrapping

the day was so nice we went to the park.. and flew a kite.. and played

Dr. Droid

2011-01-20T11:39:00.001-08:00

Dear Dell Desktop,

We used to have alot of fun together. All those late nights checking facebook updates, stalking blogs together and an occasional email... all have seemed to be lacking lately. Hours of wasting web surfing...
Maybe it's because the Fedex man brought me a droid with a data plan last week..

I know... i know.. it doesnt have a full keyboard or huge screen that collects dust, but Dr.Droid is doing it for me now. It has tons of pointless app's.... some good ones like Yahtzee.. which has taken alot of my free time away from you.

I will continue to check back on occasion, but the convenience of the internet at my fingertips has made me rely more on Dr. Droid. Please don't crash on me. I have lot's of pictures that you are holding dearly in your tower.. ( which are backed up just in case)

Peace out!
Cori...

ps.. just a side note.. 66 meals will be made out of my kitchen tomorrow.. Meals for the month with two friends.. 22 meals a piece.. the madness will start in the morning.. I really need to get my kitchen together and my freezer cleared out for all those lucious meals!

my kid can read

2011-01-12T19:40:00.000-08:00

Camden is starting to read and it is so fun. I get so excited when he picks out a new word and sounds it out.. He is learning so much in Kindergarten. They teach them the sounds of each word.. not just sight words.. so he will be able to sound out any word or combo of sounds.. what a great idea.. he gets super excited when he finds a new word too.
Tonight we read about Star Wars in a book that he got for Christmas.
I feel like he is growing up so fast. He's reading and next week he has his first spelling test.
If he is growing fast that means I am getting older too!

Case has always had a hard time saying "camden".. it sounds like "tao-oh".. wierd I know.. so we were working on it this morning. He got excited when it sounded more like Camden. Since I was gone this weekend I swear he talks more grown up now.

We are having a late night tonight since they both took naps earlier. They are watching Toy Story 2... what a clever movie. I wish our toys would come alive when we arent looking and clean themselves up :)

Im trying to get back into the groove of things around here. The house was spotless when I came home and its not anymore. and I am OK with that.

Blades ordered us new cell phones with internet plans and we are excited.. blog checking,, FB updates all from our phones.. What will we do?? you may never hear from us again unless it is accessible via our new toys..

bloggin from afar

2011-01-10T08:45:00.000-08:00

I'm at my dad's blogging from the house we spent alot of time at growing up.
I've had a wonderful time here in Vegas this weekend.
Camie's shower was fun. to see old friends there was nice.
we-... ( i keep saying we.. like I brought someone with me) have had a great time just "kid-free" time to just spend with my dad, Pat and her kids. We played skip-bo last night and ate some yummy meatloaf..
I called Amorette to see if she wanted to atleast get together to say hi..
back in the day when we used to attend church together as kids.. if I said the prayer in church I would always make sure that I blessed us to keep the sabbath day holy ( by not buying or going anywhere on Sundays)... It was my signal to her that we had after church lunch plans... at Bro. McDonalds.. or Sister Wendy's ( the food places)... she would get so mad at me cause her family was much more obedient about Sundays...
When i called her last night she said she had said the prayer and included those famous words about the Sabbath Day... so we were "covered"..
we ended up at Macayo's... although it wasnt the location we always used to go to.. its almost like we were cheating on our other one.. but none the less.. the chips and salsa.. and a classic TCT ( tortilla cheese tortilla) kept us busy for an hour of visiting. It brought back lots of memories. we used to go there as teenagers and just order a drink and eat chips and salsa... sometimes even 10 of us...im sure they have some policy now when they see teenagers approaching their restraunt with no wallets or purses nearby.
This trip has been wierd without the rest of my family. Blades has been playing Mr Mom this weekend. He had a list of things to do with the kids that they came up with... a picnic.. a hike.. baking cookies.. watching movies.. bike rides..
When we are at my dads usually with the kids they are constantly outside.. jumping on the trampoline.. playing the wii... watching movies.. it has been so QUIET...
I am anxious to see them tonight when I fly back home. Don't they say absence makes the heart grow fonder...
In a minute Im heading to Camies house so she can cut my hair.. last trip we ran out of time.. busy with that darling Kiptyn...
Ive enjoyed being here with my dad.. watching TV together..baking him his favorite cookies... just having lots of great time together. What is it about getting old ( me) that makes you love those moments even more with my family... and friends...
I'm glad i have a hubby who let me come this weekend for the baby shower and to spend time with my family ( minus the hubby and kids) Maybe it was the cheap flight... or just that I have a great husband who says.. "why do you even ask me.. you know you are going to go anyway"..
I guess i have a strong personality or something.. i do ask him... and he was nice to say yes.. ( although i already knew the answer)
Thanks Blades.. youre the best!

We'll start with...

2011-01-05T12:53:00.000-08:00

Pre-Holiday fun.....Two handsome boys..... ready for church

Christmas Eve in their jammies

making Santa some cookies Christmas Eve

cactus.. the Arizona Christmas tree

Christmas Eve was a busy one... We had a wonderful week before of Camie, Neil and her mom here. We shared a big dinner a few days before they headed home... I can't tell you how much fun it was having them here. We shared in their new joy.. Kiptyn... talk about a great gift..

I was so excited to be a part of this adoption.. It made my heart happy. I couldnt help but think of Kyndal and that they were probably with eachother days before he was born... We snuggled him for a few days.. and he had his first sleepover at my house.. ( since they were staying here)
It was wonderful to be a part of. And I would do it all over again TOMORROW if I could!

Kiptyn and me... Aunt Cori

the proudest momma around.. Camie and Kiptyn.. Her hubby Neil is proud too.. I just don't have a picture with him in it.. sorry Neil..

Case's creation from preschool.. He was so excited and proud of it.

We went to see Kyndal's grave on Christmas eve also. These pictures were from a few weeks before Christmas.. We decorated her tree..

A few weeks before we made our traditional gingerbread house. It's always fun times.

The finished product.. and two happy cheesy boys..

We had a wonderful Christmas season. More pictures of the actual day.. but here were a few from our preChristmas... We are truly blessed.. with wonderful family and friends. We missed spending it with family, but love the traditions we are making with our little family.

just a peek

2011-01-04T15:20:00.001-08:00

We spent some of Christmas day at the park.. no jackets.. new toys.. and Caser pickin his nose..
I'm working on uploading and figuring out what I want to blog about first....

Here's to a New Year!

2011-01-01T12:01:00.000-08:00

I explained to Camden that now it was 2011 and January.. they are learning calendar items at school, so he seemed interested..

Blades has today off.. we want to go do something but cant figure out anything???
walmart run it is. maybe we will think of something fun on the way.. it's too cold to go do anything outside...

Last night we yelled Happy New Year to eachother from opposite rooms. Blades was playing video games, and I was watching tv about to doze off in our bedroom... Talk about romantic...i did get a kiss ten minutes before midnight.. does that count?
we went to a friends house earlier in the evening and played cards and ate junk. had fun

Case will be a Sunbeam at church tomorrow.. no more nursery for the overgrown toddler... He is excited and sings the song quite often. Camden will get a new teacher too..
We will get new kids tomorrow too in nursery.. I think they did some switching around.

1-1-11.. thats fun to type.. it feels lucky.. should i buy a lotto ticket? I think i might!
Happy New Year

outnumbered

2010-12-28T18:33:00.000-08:00

side note... randomness.. I found this picture while blades was digging around in the junk drawer... it made me laugh.. wanted to share it with you!! it was a windy NC day in May of 09

last night it was video game night with a side of pizza...no bedtime

tonight it was nerf gun wars... dad included

they are in the bath after playing outside most of the day.... washing the sweat and dirt away..

camden decided to pee outside today.. ( maybe he forgot we have toilets)

went to the pet store and camden insisted in us getting a rat... ( um no.. )

Camden says to me today at lunch.. "mom.. we need some boys around here."

I tried explaining that there are plenty of them around here, and reminded him that I was the only girl in the house... ( and of course Kyndal which they mentioned...)

I think its time for a girls night out! Who's with me?

the bath is probably running over as we speak ( or type)... dad's supervising.. don't worry..

a Merry Christmas forsure

2010-12-25T19:44:00.000-08:00

what a day.. i am exhausted at the moment, but some delicious tamales are steaming and I must wait for the goodness to finish steaming..

It started last night as we tried getting the kids to bed early.. they were excited to get ready for santa and I had never seen them brush their teeth so fast. ( believe me it was short lived)
They slept in our room with bells on the door in case we had intruders... or extruders... those trying to exit before the right time.
They couldnt understand why we werent going to bed.. cause we had told them theyd better get to sleep so santa would come. We set our alarms in case we fell asleep, and they eventually went to sleep.
Camden woke up at 5 to use the potty and just wanted to see if Santa had eaten his cookies that we had made for him. I told him we'd have to wait til the sun was up and when Case woke up we would check it out. 7 came along, and they had held out long enough...
What a fun day. They were super excited about all the goodies and gifts. Camden and Case passed out the presents to everyone and we opened them... everyone takes a turn.. it takes a while, but its more fun that way... they jumped into the pile of wrapping paper and boxes for a traditional camera shot.. and we played ALL day long.
Had a wonderful dinner, watched toy story 3 atleast 3 times.. ( thanks Aunt Camie and Uncle Neil) theres lots more to remember and write, but my brain is done for tonight...
Merry Christmas ALL!

An Early Christmas gift

2010-12-22T08:35:00.000-08:00

Where do I begin??

One of my "featured friends" on my last post is here visiting with her hubby and mom. Camie and Neil got the best gift yesterday at 11:46 am...
a baby boy... straight from heaven.. he was placed in their arms thanks to a selfless young woman who made them parents...

what a wonderful day. I was able to see him minutes after he was born. He is tiny tiny.. 5 lbs.
He gets to have his first sleep over tonight!! at our house...

can anyone ask for a better gift.. cause I believe whatever is under my tree just got "trumped" by him....

that's what friends are for

2010-12-15T13:40:00.000-08:00

Do you have friends that you arent around all the time.. but as soon as you are together.. its like you didnt miss anytime together?? I have great friends who I feel that way about....

Here is one of them... Camie.. we attended the same HS for 2 years, and years later became friends.... Wow... what a great friend!! Her family treats us like we are their family. We look forward to spending some time with them in the next few weeks.
and another... Amorette... we have known eachother since we were 4 or 5.. We grew up in the same ward.. attended the same schools... and got in lots of trouble together as kids. She lived around the block, so it was easy to hang out with her. Last weekend, she and her hubby were sealed in the Las Vegas temple. Their son Trevor was also sealed to them. Talk about a special day! I wouldnt of missed it for the world and was happy that we got to share with them this day....

Last night I went out with some friends and did some last minute shopping. I am about done on my list, but found a few treasures.

You should of seen the 4 of us... Target first.. standing in the aisles chit chatting... dodging other shoppers ( who were actually shopping).. a coke... Rolos.... dollar section... comparing Santa lists... and Santa gifts.. and how to put what out from who... wrapped or not to wrap? The kids are all in the carpool, so we heard what they wanted from Santa... we compared again...

all without kids.. that was the nice part...

We didnt start our adventures until 8.. that way kids were almost in bed, and hubby's couldnt say much about us out for hours...

Next stop was Ross... who doesnt love that store? Attention Ross customers.. it is 10:55... please bring your final purchases up to the register..

We all decided we were hungry.. it was now after 11.. we dont live in vegas anymore.. stuff closes here in the Q.C. Jack in the Box it was. We visited til they closed at 12. Fun times.

I was tired this morning as my alarm went off for my kiddo to get ready for school... but it was well worth the missed sleep to spend it with friends..

I have met wonderful friends since we have moved here and feel very blessed for that. I miss my friends in Vegas... but luckily get to see them often too....I'm one lucky gal!

Dear Santa.. we've been good.

2010-12-13T09:58:00.001-08:00

This is what we have been up to... getting ready for Christmas... enjoy the mass of pictures..

Case and Camden visiting the temple lights in Mesa

Cori and the boys at the temple

Blades and the boys

an attempt of getting a family picture in front of the tree

first attempt at the picture...

The kids writing letters to Santa and taking them to the mall to drop them off in the Macy's mailbox..

Camden really concentrating on his letter

Case a little irritated...?

getting ready to send the letters off

... and they're gone

We spent the weekend in Las Vegas visiting with family and friends. My dad dresses up like Santa for my brothers ward party. The kids were so excited to see him. Camden saw him come in and got a bit confused when he looked familiar... like grandpa... I told him it was our little secret and not to tell the other kids. Grandpa helps Santa.. cause he is one busy man... Case had no clue at all that it was Grandpa... Santa it was :)

Camden and his cousins in awe of the magical grandpa..

Since we were visiting early... the kids even got to open presents early.. They were super happy..and now want to open all the gifts we have under the tree....

Case opening his scooter

Camden and his scooter... an item on his list :) Santa must of spoken to Grandpa and Grandma

The kids on thier new scooters... Camden in his nightshirt..

( he will hate his picture in years to come. but loves nightshirts)

Grandma Pat, Grandpa, Camden and Case with thier pillow pets..

Is my dad not the cutest Santa or what???

All the kids....my brothers kids too...

Jake, Camden, Austin, Santa, Kyla and Case

while it bakes

2010-12-08T10:51:00.000-08:00

I have banana bread in the oven to take with us to Vegas for some gifts. it smells good..
Blades is getting the oil changed and a new tire for the car that we will adventure in.
Camden is playing video games
Case is watching Dora
I am waiting for the banana bread to get done so we can run to Walmart and maybe pick up a taco.
My house is about ready for potential company while we are gone...
the sheets are in the washer..
toilets and bathtub clean
vaccumed
I still need to pack
we have birdfeeders to make and a gingerbread house if we have time
Camden's Christmas concert is tonight. He is excited. He has a new tie to wear.
now the kids are wrestling.. better go be a mother instead of a blogger

Motivation... are you out there?

2010-12-06T07:13:00.001-08:00

Dear Motivation,
I know we have spoken before. Please return my pleads.
We have a busy month ahead of us. The list of december to do's is long, and only a few are checked off.
This morning I should be sweeping and mopping. Maybe by writing you this letter, you will visit me and I can accomplish this task which I hate. Maybe if I do it today, I can wait til after Christmas to do it again.. ( wishful thinking)
One Whitekid is at school, and the other is happily being entertained by Max & Ruby, so I should take the opportunity to get my checklist done.. instead I blog.
This week is a busy one. We are heading to Vegas on Thu after Camden gets out of school to spend the weekend with family and friends.
Tonight is a candlelight service for Kyndal at the hospital that I attend the support group at.. We will take the kids, please don't climb the walls or burn yourselves kids.
I also keep saying I will walk.. treadmill or while the kids are next to me on bikes, but that too is wishful thinking.
For now, please be a friend and stop by Motivation.
Your friend,
Cori...

ps. maybe that brownie for breakfast wasnt the nutrition I needed for my tasks today.

a doll

2010-12-03T12:30:00.000-08:00

We started Christmas shopping this week. We let the kids write a letter to Santa, and we headed to the mall to drop it off at Macy's mailbox.. We ventured over to see Santa in the mall, and to our suprise there was only one person in front of us. yeah.

As we were walking back, I noticed the Angel tree... where you can pick a child off the tree, buy a gift and turn it back in. We looked over some of the names and ages of the kids. We decided to pick a girl that was young.
Case and I were at Walmart today and found a cute Snow White doll.. the first doll I have ever bought. We got some pink princess jammies too. I am excited to teach the kids about serving others this holiday season.
Maybe next Christmas we will be able to buy a doll for a baby in our house.. ( no this isnt an announcement.. we hope to add a baby to our family soon) believe me... you all will know :)

The kids are excited about Christmas. Its fun to see it through their eyes.. they are so excited about everything. I love Christmas! Tonight we are going to Camden's school to watch Polar Express in their jammies. We are heading to Vegas next week hopefully to see a wonderful friend sealed to her hubby and son. I wouldnt miss it for the world!

We are waiting for our friends baby to arrive. Birthmom is 37 weeks. I am trying to keep up on the housework, so when they call and say they are on their way, my house is somewhat together. Exciting times...

an end

2010-11-30T16:53:00.000-08:00

Day 30.... a long list... ( not in any particular order of importance.. just typing as it comes)

November has been a great month of thankfulness.

I am thankful for :

our warm house. two sweet boys. a great hubby. an angel baby. a Savior. A God who loves me. family. memories. making new memories. blogging. journals. bathtime. scriptures. texting. facebook. phonecalls to parents. friends. the Holidays. movies. games. anniversaries.
I could go on all night.. but i'm tired...
Thanks for the Thanks November!

a new day

2010-11-29T19:11:00.000-08:00

29..kids that forgive

After a night like we had last night I am happy to blog that we are having a much better day than yesterday.
I stuck to my guns about time outs and made it through the day..( with thehelp of a coke)
the kids are happily in bed, bathed, lotioned and even enjoyed their first hair dryer experience. who knew that would be so fun?? It's getting cold and all.. ( i remember as a kid my mom always blowdrying my hair so i wouldnt catch pnemonia)... does that really help??
i am feeling much happier about my mothering duties.

my mom called back with some "grandmotherly" advise.. although im not sure if this is the best advise but ill take it. she told me to : treat them like they arent my kids but like kids that I would be babysitting.. i wouldnt normally put up with children in my house behaving and disobeying. that i have such a strong personality and wouldnt put up with that .. so why do i let my kids walk all over me...so heres to unmothering my kids...
ha ha.. thanks mom.. can i get paid?? since they arent my kids and all...

we had a wonderful Family Home evening watching a dvd about Jesus' birth. It was fun to see how excited the kids were about it.. and teaching them what this Holiday season is all about.

tomorrows the last day of every day blogging.. im sure you are all sick of hearing from me everyday.. but hey.. it's my blog...

let the cheer begin

2010-11-28T18:44:00.000-08:00

day 28.. setting up Christmas..

warning: contains honest, frank behavior from me... the writer of this blog... no judging aloud :)

So with the Thanksgiving Holiday over... we had a bright idea of setting up Christmas tonight. I wasn't really "feeling" it... but decided to jump in and do it anyway... In my head I am thinking this will be so fun... making new memories... NOT HOW IT WENT DOWN ...

The kids hadn't napped, they werent listening to us AT ALL.... and I was frustrated more than ever. I was moments away from seriously having a meltdown. We eventually got the lights and ornaments on the tree...
Case inside the tree box... Camden waving fake tree branches around.. just picture it..
There was nice holiday music in the background from a local radio station, but eventually got turned off because any less noise was a good thing.. (even if it was the end of that Josh Groban O Holy Night.. the longest note ever held) the kids hitting eachother, fighting over Christmas books.. which ornament they were going to hang...

I had made potato ham soup earlier, so I warmed some up for the kids. Case ate it right up, but Camden complained about the few kernels of corn in the montage... after choking down 6 bites, they were off to brush teeth and bedtime was calling their names...

I yelled a few times and it was over. I vaccumed up the plastic greeness that had gotten on the floor.. Blades quietly put some more decorations up, as I talked to my mom on the phone. Bawling of course about how my kids dont behave and looking for a great cure for it all.. thinking maybe she had one.. she didnt.. darn..

Tomorrow will be a new day... I will hug my kids again and try it all over for another day...
for tonight I feel like the worst Christmas memory making mom ever!
( maybe since it's not December yet... it doesnt count) I hope

a few days behind

2010-11-27T17:39:00.000-08:00

25 26 27... let the traditions begin

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

I did absolutley no black friday shopping.. partly because I had a bug of some sort which made me want to do nothing for a day and a half..

We were at the temple today with my cousin who sealed thier baby to them. What an amazing sight to see children in the temple. It made me want my own kids there ( children are able to enter if they are being sealed to parents). its not something you see... It was nice to visualize today.. an amazing morning...

Stopped by Kyndal's grave. the kids collected pinecones for Christmas decorations and ornaments. we started on them tonight.. for some reason it sounded fun til we were in the middle of pipe cleaners, glue, glitter and googly eyes.. traditions I suppose... never would i thought it would be ok for my kids to run ( reverently) around with a trash bag at a cemetary collecting pine cones... I think we will make this a new tradition

we are watching movies tonight and enjoying leftover turkey soup.. heres to a great weekend!

a hubby that cooks

2010-11-25T08:29:00.000-08:00

day 24.. blades can cook

he made a turkey.. the best one yet.. stuffed with oranges, garlic and onion... yum.. the smells alone were delicious..

His mom makes lemon merange (sp) and pecan pies every year, so he made some here. they looked perfect..
I went to Laynes to make an apple pie.. with aunt bobijo's crust.. i even had a piece for breakfast

we are looking forward to leftover turkey sandwiches and lots of yummy pie.

we wish we were closer to family this holiday, but are grateful for friends we have to spend the day with.

sunset

2010-11-24T10:17:00.000-08:00

day 23.. sunsets..
Did anyone in the az area see that sunset last night? It was beautiful.. Blades was on his way home from work, and I on my way home from getting a nutritious $5 pizza... and i noticed it..
Oranges, pinks, purples all over the sky..
Blades called and i knew exactly why he was calling.. i answered saying" isnt it pretty"...

I tried taking a picture to post, but it didnt save to my phone for some reason, plus picture wouldnt of captured what it really looked like..

My mom always has loved sunsets.. she loves those colors.
When michael (my brother) and I were on our missions.. He is Brazil and I in Seattle... we would send her pictures of sunsets..

There is something magical about it. The colors and clouds.. makes you feel small in this little earth.. and a reminder of a loving Heavenly Father who would make something so pretty.

twice as nice... not here

2010-11-22T18:20:00.000-08:00

Day 22.. medicine

we spent the afternoon at the dr for Camden. He had strep throat a few weeks ago... and he has it again.. Twice in a month..poor kid.. couldnt even swallow his own spit..
so we are resting and thankfully we have insurance for 8 more days.
blades is on his way to pick up his new medication.. something stronger i suppose. and bringing us home a treat.

hope he is better in a few days to enjoy the Holidays and the yummy food that comes along with it.

rain rain..

2010-11-21T19:39:00.000-08:00

Day 21.. Thankful for Rain

I grew up in the desert.. when it rained it usually meant flash floods..
We didnt get rain alot.. but loved when it did come
I love the smell on the pavement when it first starts to rain
I still live in the desert which still means flash floods..
We saw a rainbow this afternoon

Once as a kid it rained so hard that all of Stewart was flooded.. We came home from church and swam in it.. my brother got hives cause he was cold. it was up to his head..talk about a flash flood.. ( think of the nastyness of that water yuck.. but we were kids and it was fun)

I served a mission in Seattle which meant RAIN.. love it.. different there though.. it was always drizzling and it was cold in the winter.. like walking into the cold section at Costco cold...
I learned to love it.. wet hair and all..

This afternoon it rained on the way to Mesa.. the kids enjoyed it and wondered if they could play in it.. when we got to our destination it had stopped..

It makes me want to climb into bed with a warm blankey and sleep.. Which is now what I am off to do!

Rain Rain... stay

Sunday's

2010-11-20T18:41:00.000-08:00

Day 20... Sunday's
Some are better than others.. all are great... especially when my kids behave at church..

the kids are all ready for Sunday.. baths... early bed.. usually i have thier clothes ready but not tonight..

I love how close our church building is now..
All of us dressed up
my kids folding thier arms for prayers
trying to be reverant for the Sacrament
teaching them how important church is
early church (9).. used to be 2... ick
a quick lunch .. we are usually starving when we get home
Sunday naps
spending time together as a family

Tomorrow this is what we will do... all of the above..
plus go to a friends house in mesa and have an early Thanksgiving..yum

family

2010-11-19T19:21:00.000-08:00

Grandad giving Case his first haircut..

Grandma loving on Case

Grandpa Dill building with the boys

Cori and Mom

day 19.. thankful for family..

those that are near in my home.. and those far away.. I love my family.. as I get older I realize how much fun my aunts and uncles are.. i remember as kids thinking they would just sit around and talk and us kids would just play. Now I enjoy sitting around listening to their stories.

Being far away from parents makes us realize how much we miss them. Now I would love to sit down and listen to thier stories and have them closer for my kiddos to be around.

We have found new family (s) here in AZ that we rely on and are grateful for them too. We have met wonderful friends that I know we will be friends with forever.

Tonight Im missing extended family! Especially with the holidays coming up!

coke

2010-11-19T07:04:00.000-08:00

day 19.. an iced coke
nothing like it... the ideal coke experience takes place in at sonic ... with plenty of sonic ice included in its styrofoam masterpiece. if it is between the hours of 2-4pm.. even better.. half priced drinks.. thats what i call HAPPY HOUR!

there are many other uses for the cola flavored treat...
i made pulled pork last night for salads.. ( added coke to the crock pot)
gets rid of headaches.. ( ive had all week.. but not from the coke.. probably a faulty pillow)
I hear it cleans toilets.. but i havent tried that method.. why waste a good thing?

My Grandma Welch loved Coke too.. its a tradition I plan on carrying around for quite a while.
Just the smell reminds me of her.. as she got older she saw a neighbor outside and invited them in for a coke. the neighbor went in and grandma never did.. she got distracted pulling weeds.. she did get forgetful.. maybe she just didnt want to share..

the first drink of the day is always the best.. the cold fizz you can feel traveling down your whole body.. yum!

sometimes i dont share.. with the kids.. i am worried .. especially if they are eating... that a particle of thier food might enter my beverage... creating a contamination.. yuck...

a first in 6 years

2010-11-17T19:55:00.000-08:00

Day 17.. thankful for growing kids...
So today we are getting ready to venture out to the park.. (we've been spending alot of time there) and Case put on his own sandals..
First time in 6 years that i havent helped anyone with their shoes on the way out the door.. I was a little happy.. but also a little sad.. my babies are growing up.. they are sweet boys and love them to death. although i am exhausted at the end of the day.. i wouldnt trade these two for anything...
Camden is so sweet in his prayers and sounding so big when he says them. He always remembers Kyndal in his prayers and talks about her often.
Case, when tricked into saying the prayer likes to do it all alone.. no help. I hope they can always remember to pray.. I wish I was better about my own prayers... I will work on that!
Case and Camden.. Jan 2007 Case less than a day old.. Camden 2 1/2

Camden 6, Blades, Case 3 1/2

a good haircut

2010-11-16T08:52:00.000-08:00

day 16.. haircuts..
have you ever gotten a haircut.. and everything else in your life feels great? thats how im feeling... Thanks Camie!
coming from two parents who are completely gray... i have no chance of having normally colored hair.. ive hair gray hair since i was on my mission.. maybe even before.. so usually i do the box of color thing.. but camie colored it this time too...

i give my boys haircuts.. and they are so cute afterwards...
my cousin stefanie asked for a pic.. so here it is...

facebook

2010-11-16T06:51:00.001-08:00

day 15.. facebook.. call me crazy but it's the best thing... if you arent a facebooker.. get one.. ( and add me as a friend.. if i know you)

yesterday i posted a question about a picky eater and what to do with a kid that wont eat..
I had 18 comments in a matter of hours.. all great ideas..

its a great way to stay connected to those i dont see very often...
mission friends, old ward members.. neighbors.. family.. its wonderful!

I missed my post yesterday.. blades just reminded me.. so there it is... and I will post again later.. for todays thankful

weekends

2010-11-14T16:49:00.000-08:00

Day 14. Thankful for weekends...

cooking breakfast ( more than just cereal)
no bedtimes
Neil and Camie in town
sewing burpcloths
glitter toes
a sneak to hobby lobby while kids napped
blades' cooking
a great haircut and color
good food

with friends in town we skipped out on stake conference...( don't judge me)
weekends are wonderful.. im tired though...early bedtime tonight for momma too!

bedtime

2010-11-13T20:57:00.000-08:00

quick post.. day 12... bedtime...
its quiet at my house after a long day of saturday events. the kids went to bed without a fight and it was wonderful!
camie said i should be thankful for bedtime tonight.. she is here visiting... whew.. quiet!
now off to watch a movie and drink my sonic coke blades just brought me back...

me myself and I

2010-11-12T17:15:00.000-08:00

Day 11...thankful for shopping with no kids

I cleaned the house most of the day.. we have friends coming in town.. so a little more cleaning than normal...
blades got home and the kids were napping,, so i snuck out... joanns for some material for burp cloths for a special baby boy that will be here in a few weeks.. (see prior post)
Old navy was right next door, so i had to stop in.. found the kids backpacks and some socks on clearance.. we will stuff that away for Christmas.
It was nice shopping alone.. glancing at what i wanted to... no screaming or fighting kids. no dirty looks from onlookers ( who i love to call out when they stare.. " look boys all these people are staring at you)...
its the small things right??

fall fun

2010-11-11T13:15:00.000-08:00

Day 11.. Fallness..
There is something about fall.. the colors, coolness and yummy treats. heres a few pictures of us celebrating fall..
Dad and Caser with a cupcake he decorated

Camden after dunking his head in for an apple

decorated cupcake..

Case diggin into his candy pile

Case and Cori ( i hate cats and i dressed like one).. I hadnt dressed up in 10 years.. figured it was time..

Three of the cutest boys around.. Mason, Luke and Camden

Indian and pirate on our way to the fun fall party

Dad definitley gets stuck with this job... the guts.. yuck!

Ever since we went to a wedding anniversary and there was real indian dancers.. camden wanted to be an indian.. here was his costume.. i added sleeves and fringe.. beads and feathers..

Caser the Pirate...

We love the fall.. and glad it is cool enough to open windows and enjoy an afternoon at the park!

flashfloods ahead

2010-11-10T20:04:00.000-08:00

Day 10... Thankful for grief..
Does that sound crazy? For most it is, but the feeling is coming to me less and less as time goes on from loosing Kyndal a year ago..
Today it came... like a flashflood.. out of nowhere.. ( and it felt good)
I was at the hospital visiting a friend's friend.. who is having a baby soon
( and giving her baby up for adoption to some dear friends)
she is starting to contract and they are monitoring her hoping to hold the baby in there a few more weeks..
she is on complete bedrest but when she was told she could sit up and eat she was super excited. the monitor slipped off the baby and the buzzers started going off... nurses came right in trying to find the baby's heartbeat. I sat there knowing everything was fine.. but all of these memories of me being in a hospital and a nurse searching for Kyndal's heartbeat came flooding to my mind.
I sat and prayed that they would find it... after what seemed like FOREVER.. we heard his heartagain.. and the sounds that come with monitoring.. whew... I felt relieved.
The tears came.. and my friends there were supportive in finding tissue for me.
I feel a special connection with this little guy hearing and seeing his heart beating on the monitor.. I cant wait to hold him.. maybe him and Kyndal are hanging out up there just waiting for the right time to send him down...
So today.. although i had a flood of emotions.. it felt good to cry and have those memories.

back in the day

2010-11-09T18:18:00.000-08:00

Day 9.... wedding bells were ringing...

Our 8th anniversary is today.. so today I am thankful for Blades.. and my marriage.. He is a wonderful husband, friend and father..
We got married in the Las Vegas LDS temple. weather was much like it is now... finally cooling off.. pictures were perfect... a bit windy..
blades hadnt seen my dress before he saw me in the temple...
my mom had sewn beads onto it.. ( it took her forever).. i wanted it beaded but not too much...
we shared the day with special friends and family.
we had a luncheon of yummy capriatti's sandwiches..
we had a ring ceremony at the church before the reception, so my father could walk me down the aisle...
we danced... kissed... and stayed at the Luxor that night..

8 years has gone so quickly. I can't imagine what the next 8 years will bring us...
I love you Blades!!!!

lazy dayz

2010-11-08T15:12:00.000-08:00

Day 8... Thankful for lazy days sometimes...

Camden has had a cough for the last few days. he woke up with a sore throat, so i didnt send him to school..
we had a lazy day... lots of cartoons, snacks, movies...
I am one that loves to go.. i love to just go to go.... but once in a while its nice just to hang out with no hair done... no makeup.. and just hang out for the day..
today was one of those days..
( although it's 4, and i'm bored!)

bathed baby boys

2010-11-07T18:40:00.000-08:00

Day 7.... today Im thankful for bathed kids

although this picture was taken probably two years ago... theres nothing like the smell and snuggles you get from two clean bathed kids..

the baby lotion, ( which i dont use any more) but did forever!!!

their wet hair across my face..

theres not a day that goes by ( except sometimes friday nights).. that my kids arent bathed..

maybe i should be worried about their dry skin from too much water exposure.. but for now..

they need a bath every night.. they are.. um... BOYS is the only word.. sweaty, dirty boys..

although they fight over who sits in the front.. is there even a front to the bathtub??

who gets out first.. who has to clean up the toys..

my boys are clean!

on a sidenote: i love to bathe too! everyday.. showering messes up my hair.. and a bath is much more fun!

temple

2010-11-06T19:55:00.000-07:00

Day 6...
We attended the temple to celebrate our anniversary. I cannot think of a better spot to be.. remembering that special day almost 8 years ago.... because we were married there... we will be a forever family... so after we die.. we will all be able to live together... which also means Kyndal is ours forever.. in the next life.. ( this one too.. she just left early) That alone brings peace to us. What a loving Heavenly Father who loves his children enough to make a way that we will have our families forever!

celebrate good times...

2010-11-05T14:10:00.001-07:00

Day 5....
Today I am thankful for him... Blades... this boy that I married 8 years ago..
We are celebrating our anniversary (eighth) this weekend. ( actually on tue the 9th) Our outing will include: the temple, lunch, and who knows what else...
2010 July Yellowstone Lake

Nov 9, 2002.. our wedding day..

California somewhere.. at a mexican restraunt

April 2009.. at Tara and Eddies wedding in NC

no need to laugh at my list

2010-11-04T14:50:00.000-07:00

Day 4.. Today I'm thankful for :
1. The day is going by quickly and the kids arent fighting too much..
2. Oprah will be on in 10 minutes..
3. Volunteered in Camden's class today.. the kids are so cute.. and the teacher... I'm not sure how she does it all..
4. A husband at work.
5. Grey's Anatomy on tonight.
6. Ross, Target and Kohls.. i stopped by today before the kids had to be picked up from school. I bought camden a new pair of pants for school and a neighbors wedding gift..
7. The weekend to celebrate our anniversary... 8 years!
8. 2 clean toilets
9. a dusted front room
10. Toy story playing in the background.. what a clever movie..

east coast folk

2010-11-03T15:46:00.000-07:00

Day 3... I am thankful for Blades' family... Although they live far away.. North Carolina and Virginia... we are able to stay connected through facebook and phonecalls. Blades' mother always remembers the kids... she is always sending them trinkets for the holidays... she is so thoughtful. Blades' dad loves his grandkids. We love every minute we spend with them.. especially when it is at the cottage in Kitty Hawk... the beach is beautiful.. and the company even better... We sure we wished we were closer to eachother... but the vacationing is great!

Eddie, Melanie, Blades and Tara ( blades' brother, sister and sister in law)
Grandad and Camden after catching a fish

Grandma reading them a story.. at the cottage.. all the cousins jammied up after a long day of play in the sand and sun

Blades' family...

what boys are made of

2010-11-02T09:01:00.001-07:00

the 2nd day of my thankful list includes these guys:

Camden at his back to school fair.. he ran off and found this creature.. that is a huge frog!
Case and his cute smile.. backward shirt and all

jumpin

A house full of boys sometimes looks like this... all ready for battle.. church ties around their heads, amo loaded and lots of noise..

Camden ready for battle..

Blades and the boys

the hunt... dad was found!

Where could he be??

Camden found.. in the closet

The littlest battler... one of the cutest!

Today I am thankful for them.. they bring me lots of joy.. all three of these boys..

dirt, sweat, kisses, hugs... all of it I love.

A month to be THANKFUL!

2010-11-01T09:55:00.000-07:00

So I figured I would write down every day something that I am thankful for.. since its almost Thanksgiving and all... ooh I can almost smell the turkey and fixin's now...

Today I'm thankful for healthy kids. Case last night woke up screaming in the middle of the night.( okay it was 9.. but he had been sleeping for a while) He had a fever and pulling at his ears.. I didnt have any tylenol in the house, so I called Layne.. of course she had some. ( blades says shes my pharmacy.. i'd have to agree).. After taking the tylenol, and sleeping in our bed.. kicking us all night.. he woke up fine. Blades gave him a blessing, and I know that helped. What a great dad... and husband to be able to bless our kids when they are sick. I didnt grow up with the priesthood in my home, so now it is great to have Blades right there to help when needed.

Pre-halloween fun!

2010-10-29T11:05:00.001-07:00

We had our ward trunk or treat... chili, cornbread, cupcakes and lots of candy.

Lots of friends too.. they took pictures since my camera was broken.. but I am proud to announce that mine is working again.. A quick whack of the camera worked like a charm.. Kodak wanted 100.00 to do that:) Maybe I should go into camera repair... I almost did a happy dance when it started working again..

Our Family
Cori, Monica, Rian and Julia

Julia and Nathan the officer

Blades and the boys

Cori and Camden

Camden

Jake, Bradley and Case.. adorable pirates...

sick

2010-10-27T16:00:00.000-07:00

my camera battery has been dead, so I went and got a new one today... my camera is acting up.. like it turns on for a split second then turns off... if it is broken I am going to throw up... I cant live without a camera

Our new pets

2010-10-25T11:32:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning we went to Camden's Fall Festival for his school.

(I remember clearly all the fun we had at Oran K Gragson as kids)...

There were the typical... cake walk, face painting, ring toss, fishing pond and the one we never played (or won) at our school carnivals....

This one had the longest line... the most kids..

Ping pong fish.. bounce a ball into the fish bowl.. and the fish was yours...

We managed to avoid the game for a while. After using all of our tickets but 7.. we managed to grab a ticket from the Williams... we had the necessary amount.. 8 tickets...

we stood in line for atleast 15 minutes. Each kid would get 3 tries... bounce the ball on the ground first and stand behind the white line were the rules.

A cute little girl in front of us dressed as Dorthy tried, and the tears were running down her face even before her balls were all used up..

I had warned the kids that if they didn't win.. no big deal.. we still had fun..

It was Case's turn... First ball.. right in...

Then my thoughts were.. oh no case won.. and camden is going to freak out if he doesnt..

Camden's turn... first ball.... no luck..

second ball.. right in...

my luck.. 2 goldfish in ziploc baggies..

a dad on the sidelines said.. all those kids have had no luck and your kids get it right away.. he asked camden what he was going to name it.. the dad suggested Bait... Bait it was..

Case chose Caillou..

would they make it home alive?where would i put them?

somehow they made it home.. called dad and sent him a picture to tell him our good fortune.. transfered them to a clear glass bowl.. ( that was a vase, but it works)

We bought the necessary fish food, fed and changed the water

Today while Camden was at school, one was at the bottom lifeless..

I broke the news to Case.. we spooned him out and walked to the toilet..

Case was actually excited to flush?

Should I be concerned? He is sensitive.. maybe just not to orange goldfish?

So since we will never have dogs or cats.. fish might be our pet of choice.

Fall... are you close?

2010-10-18T12:47:00.000-07:00

We've picked out Halloween costumes for the kids

Camden: indian

Case: pirate

We've had fall break

( this morning I had to set my alarm to get back into the schedule thing)

The Halloween decorations are out

Trunk or treat & Fall festivals are on our calendars

My crockpot is ready for stews and warm-ness

My windows want to be opened

My candles are already burning your lovely smells

Just Cool down... Fall will be fun!

We love the smells, coolness and Holidays the Fall brings..

A week to remember!

2010-10-15T08:16:00.000-07:00

We made it past the "year" mark... I dreaded that day knowing it had been a year since we held Kyndal. The day was wonderful... The best advice I got was to "be her mom".. I tried to remember that for the day. I made cookies and got ready in pink for the day.. ( the cookies were delicious, but forgot half the flour so they looked like pancakes) Had a friend pick some up on the way to the cemetary...

Had a wonderful Birthday party for Kyndal at the cemetary. The kids sang Happy Birthday ( I just cried) had wonderful friends there supporting us. There were about 15 kids there. I'm sure she appreciated the craziness.. The boys looked at her pictures and called their friends over to the blanket to look at their sister.. We released balloons after singing.

We put out new flower arrangements for the changing seasons and all... Our family in NC sent some pretty yellow and orange flowers that are perfect. I found another arrangement a few weeks ago with fall colored gerber daisies..

My house was full of beautiful flowers all weekend. I have wonderful friends and family.

My kids are on Fall break so we've got to spend extra time in our jammies in the morning, and have a non routine kinda schedule..

Blades had a job interview for a sleep lab yesterday. We prayed before he went that he would do well.. Hours later, he calls to say he got the job. What a blessing. He doesnt have any experience in that field except the class that he took about a month ago. The lady was very nice in hiring him and said she would train him. We couldnt be more excited in this new adventure. Congrats Blades! ( when he got the call to have an interview he came running outside where I was buckling the kids in the car.. with no shoes like a little kid so excited telling me about the interview.. it was sweet)

Tomorrow is the Walk to Remember. They have been doing it for 18 years. It's for parents and families who have lost babies. We walk for them. Alot of the people that I attend support group with will be there. I am excited.

ps.. thanks Debra for letting me use your camera for Kyndal. I had bought the wrong battery.. Debra saved the day!

and the countdown begins

2010-10-04T11:50:00.000-07:00

Last year this day, my mom had just flown into town and we were preparing for Kyndal to arrive within the next few days..

Last year I was pregnant for my birthday, Camden's birthday and those events have passed. The next event was Oct 8.. Kyndal, our daughter was stillborn.. click here to read the full story..

http://kyndalann.blogspot.com/2009/11/daddys-love.html

Friday marks the day. We are having a graveside balloon release with close friends.

I was at walmart today, and chose a new flower arrangement for her grave. It has bright fall colors, sunflowers and gerber daisies..

It makes me want to get my Halloween and fall decorations out..

Tonight is support group. I've missed (or forgotten) for 3 months.

I am sure it will be a tough week for me, so if Im not acting normal.. it's cause I'm not , and have a good excuse...:)

the word "year" is a hard word to say.

Not that my feelings will change overnight.. from 11 months to 12..

but it is something about that word..

what was i thinking

2010-09-25T20:12:00.000-07:00

11 kids on the invite list

13 including mine

easy...simple..low-key..

a few games

cupcakes to decorate.. sprinkles of choice..

goody bags.. and out the door the cute kids would go

This is how it really went down...

the kids start arriving..

Camden melts down about not winning hot potato..is crying hysterically in his bedroom..

(lucky his parents didnt find him another home)

Limbo- camden freakingout cause the kids werent playing it right...

balloon stomp-- each kid has a balloon attached to their feet.. the stomping and screaming begins..and doesnt end soon enough

He shapes up and we start having a good time.

after a few more games... we decorate cupcakes.. 13 kids at one table..

squished to say the least

birthday hats that the elastic parts are breaking off of.. each one of them coming to me asking me to fix.. each gets a cupcake... a knife full of chocolate ( what was i thinking) frosting.. and sprinkles.. I managed talking them into letting me sprinkle on just a few..

each kid needs to be wiped down from the chocolate disasters..

Debra takes over the facewiping.. and I grab my camera..

my camera battery is dead.. so out comes the video camera..

We start on the gifts..

I've never seen them all stand so close together before.. like attacking the one with the gift bag..

I glance over and see Debra and Layne cleaning up my kitchen.. sprinkles and frosting..

( i have great friends)

The madness continues with Camden asking " who wants me to open their present next?"..

( does it really matter cam?)

I glance at the clock and realize only 40 more minutes of entertaining needed to be done... one opens the back door to go outside.. PERFECT idea... it's still a bit hot in the arizona desert, but hey they dont mind....

We send out the Capri Suns to be opened, squeezed and drank outside

Some come in with red faces and sweaty hairdo's..

The new gifts are in a pile and being opened by everyone who thinks they look cool..

parts, cardboard, pieces everywhere...

Goody bags with homemade playdough ( are you impressed?)

twisty straws

glow bracelets

tootsie rolls

are handed out as each little munchkin leaves...

Blades and I both look at eachother at the dinner table ( while he is putting on stickers on a GIjoe truck/helicopter contraption) and we both take a deep breath.. WOW..that was alot of kids

What's for dinner?

taco bell it was

All in all the party was a success after a few meltdowns and messes. Camden said thanks for all the gifts and that he had a great party.. I suggested having a "friend" party every other year..

He didnt like that idea..

For now we will all sleep well tonight. I love having parties but this one almost did me in.