Halloween 2011

Finally, I am getting caught up on this blog thing a little bit! I finally have the pictures from the kids from Halloween now.

Ryder wanted to be a Transformer this year. Finally we found an Optimus Prime costume and he was so happy. We couldn't wear masks at the trunk or treat so he asked his dad to paint up his face to make him look more like a Transformer. Nils did and I think it turned out really great!
Brooklyn this year took forever to pick what she was going to be. We went back and forth for weeks. Finally one day while in Wal-Mart she saw a witch costume and said that was what she wanted. She said she didn't want to be mean though, a nice one. So we bought it and she LOVED it.
Gavin this year was going to be a monkey again, but one day while online Ryder and I were just searching Halloween costume ideas and Ryder said he wanted him to match. So, we found him a cheap Optimus Prime Transformer costume. Ryder was so stickin excited that they were going to match it was funny. Gavin hated the whole costume thing! He screamed so bad while trying to take pictures we gave him his sippy to shush him and then took pics. So all the pics with Gavin in them, there is a sippy cup. He was not parting with that thing. At least I guess I got some pictures of him; even if there is a sippy cup too.

For Halloween we decided to go try out the wards trunk or treat. We had been a couple years back and didn't really dig it. I REALLY hated the fact that I was buying and handing out candy to people not even in my ward. The one year Nils and I sat in our car and watched as cars pulled up along side the road, kids jumped out (by handfuls) and ran around getting treats then jumped back into the cars and off they went! Not my cup of tea! However, this year we gave it another go and it was well put together and nice. They had games for the kids to play and had an actual dinner for us. It was yummy. I still though am not a trunk or treat person. I think next year we may vote to do door to door to friends or something instead.

Overall, despite the fact that Nils and I are not Halloween people, it was good! I really enjoy getting the kids dressed up and see them get so excited! Gavin did not dig the whole Halloween thing, but maybe next year will be better for him.

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Our trip away...

On October 23rd-26th Nils and I went on a trip out to Branson, MO. Nils had a Reinke convention for his work (the company they do pivots with) and when he had told Bart him and Brandon were getting things ready to go Bart told him to take me and make a little vacation out of it the best we could. So, Nils decided to take me along. It was all new territory to us and we figured it'd be some good time away. We went with Brandon and his girlfriend Hidee.
This was my first flying experience since about 12 years ago when I flew with the school to Mexico! I was way beyond nervous, but at the same time excited.
I went through the excitment of being away and having time alone and then it was mixed with me freaking out and not wanting to leave the kids! I have actually never left my kids for more then two nights....we usually go stay somewhere for two nights on our anniversary & that's the only times we've left the kiddos. They were going to be staying with my mom. She'd was bringing them to our place to sleep at night then to her place during the day.
We had to leave that Sunday morning about 5AM. I am not a morning person, so this was hard! I REALLY wanted to kiss the kids bye again but knew if I went into their rooms they'd be awake and it'd be hard for them and they wouldn't go back to sleep. So off we went. As I pulled out of the driveway that morning I felt so many emotions. I knew they'd be fine, but every worry possible started in my head. :)
We finally made it to the SLC airport. I got the random search in security and didn't really dig that. Man, it seems you have to get naked just to get through security! LOL Finally we were off and flew into Denver. We had about a 15 min wait there then we boarded up again and flew off to Branson.
When we landed in Branson, MO. I looked out and wondered "Where the heck are we!" It was a little airport and did not look or feel like an airport at all. They had us get off the plane and walk down an outside little tarp covered area and into the building. It was strange but neat to experience!
While in Branson the boys did their meetings during the day so Hidee and I went and drove into Branson and found some shops to hit and things to check out. It was a neat town. Not big like I imagined, but by all means not little. My favorite was driving down the town at night time seeing all the lights and things. There was one night after we all ate dinner together that Brandon & Hidee went off to do their own things so Nils and I decided to hop in the rental car and drive and look. It was SO fun. Just to look at all the lights, new sights, and talk without screaming kids and not being in a rush to get anywhere!
The hotel that we stayed at where the convention all was held was so nice! It was situated on a lake front. You had the lake view out the right side (some rooms that is all they had) then off to the left were the mountain view/hill. We were lucky enough to be in some of the rooms that had the middle of both views! It was gorgeous! We had a balcony and I enjoyed the weather out sitting there in the quiet! The weather was great, in the 70's, and it made sitting out there wonderful.
Wednesday we had to head home. We got to the Branson airport and ended up having to wait a couple hours. The weather in Denver was yucky and there was ice so all flights in and out of there were delayed. Sitting in that little airport was indeed boring, but as others told me; 'welcome to the world of flying' :) We finally got to Denver in enough time to run to the next gate, grab a quick sandwich and board the plane. We got into SLC and both said to each other we wanted to go back to Branson cuz we were freezing.
We didn't home to out place until a little after midnight so I decided not to wake the kids cuz Ryder had school the next day. When I got him up the next morning though he was excited to see me. He then went right in to his dad and gave him loves. It was great to be home!!
I had a really fun time! I enjoyed seeing new sights and having a break from the kids. At the same time, I missed the kids and was very grateful when I got to come home to them! I even found I then had more patience with them and realized just how much those stinkers pull at my heart strings. :)
I am grateful for the safety we had on our trip and for the opportunity we had to go. I am already hoping we can have a convention next year and go together!
Here are pics I got while on the trip. Enjoy Branson like we did!

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Pumpkin Decorating

So Nils and I just are not that big on Halloween. I like seeing my kids get dressed up and excited, but that is about it. (Yep, party poopers!) Just not a huge fan; not sure why but oh well. Anyhow, the kids had asked if we could carve pumpkins. I was up for that. We usually have done some each year. However,to our suprise,our pumpkins in our garden grew very little! They were small and we knew carving them wouldn't be much of a success. So I told the kids we were just decorate them and then I'd go into town one day and buy bigger ones for us to carve. So they each picked their little pumpkin out of the garden. Me being me, I was late getting to it this year so really we only had a little over a week until Halloween. I happened to run into the store that day and found some cute pumpkin decorating kits. I had to buy them; they had my name all over them! LOL So long story short we did the lazy man's way of decorating pumpkins. :) The kids had a blast doing them though and laughed at how funny they were and how scary they could do it. After they put the faces on, they took markers and wrote their names and added a little more decor to them. We made the activity a family night and the kids really did enjoy it.
So, here is our lazy man's decoration for pumpkins. :)

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Ryder turns 6

FINALLY I know, I know. I just haven't had the time to sit and blog so I am a tad behind on this thing.
Our Ryder celebrated his 6th birthday September 19th! Crazy how the time just flies by us. He actually had two birthdays this year. One we did for the family w/ grandparents and then my sister Val was able to be here. We then did one for him and his friends.
For the family party we just had the grandparents and my sisters here. We had subs, cake and opened presents. Easy and quick. Ryder only wanted Ben 10 stuff, but I told them it was for his friends. So I then suprised him and got a few Transformer decorations and a Transformer cake. He thought that was really neat! He is all over the Transformer and Ben 10 stuff I tell ya what!
For his friend's birthday he chose to do a Ben 10 theme. His favorite! Ryder had a blast with his friends. I was nervous to actually have friends come, but after it was all over I was glad I did it. He had fun and I too had fun getting to meet some of his friends he talks about from school, but who I never really had met before. He had them come to the house and we played a couple games, opened presents and ate cupcakes. What a good group of kids too. They just all played and had a great time. No fighting at all and man those boys were so polite in saying please and thank you and taking turns! I was amazed and it was sure nice.
Ryder ended up with a lot of fun things for his birthday. If I remember them all here is what he got between his family gifts and friend's gifts. He got a nerf gun, Ben 10 board game, legos, walkie talkies, Ben 10 shoot thing, puzzles, pencils, clothes, Tag Reading books, and some candy.

For Ryder as well at school they did a little celebration in his class. All day he was able to wear a birthday hat, and they had his name on the board. I was invited to attend the little party they did so I went up. His class sang to him then he talked a little bit about himself. The class then took turns saying something fun about Ryder or something they liked about Ryder. He then passed out treats to them and they all lined up to give him big hugs. He then got to leave an hour early to come home with his mom. He thought having the day be all about him was pretty neat and I think it was really neat thing his teacher did!

So overall a great 6th birthday for Ryder. He is such a great kid and growing more and more every day. He is loving school and is a huge help to me around the house when he is home. I think I have myself a mommy's boy! :) I don't mind one bit either! Here is to another great year with Ryder watching him grow even more!

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Brooklyn Starts Preschool

Brooklyn had her first day of Preschool yesterday. She is going to Miss Mindy's Learning Adventure in Preston. It is the same one Ryder went to as well. We absolutley LOVE Miss Mindy as she has been a miracle worker with Ryder and she is ever so nice and cute with the kids.

Brooklyn was so stinkin excited as I got her up and told her she needed to get ready to go to school. She jumped right up and was ready in no time waiting for me to do her hair. She has been waiting awhile now after watching Ryder go to Preschool and now Kindergarten and she always would ask when it'd be her turn. Well, her turn was finally here and boy she thought she owned the world! It was really neat actually to see her so stinckin excited and smiling from ear to ear. It almost reminded me of the kids on Christmas morning. LOL Hopefully she'll keep up that big wave of excitement about school for a long time!! (fingers crossed)

I have talked to her teacher that Brooklyn struggles a little. Her speech is under par right now, but Miss Mindy has told me not to stress right now and she'd do some "testing" and some work with her and let me know her thoughts in a few months as to where she is and what not. Hopefully we can get her to move upward and improve. Even trying to do ABC's here she has no desire in the world. Hopefully someone else can get her to work and do it. Brooklyn also doesn't have a very good attention span, which is probably the age, so she will need some work in that department as well so that she can sit and listen to the teacher. I hope this all helps and I'm excited to see her progress through the year. Ryder grew SO much in his time in Preschool so I am anxious to see Brooklyn's outcome.

Suprise too; I didn't cry and didn't feel totally worried like I did when I had first taken Ryder. I did however have a part of me that was taken back that she was actually old enough now for Preschool. She looked so big and acted so big it was a tad bit weird. It was like an overnight change. As many of you know Brooklyn is and has been my hardest kid. She is a complete handful and VERY moody. She constantly seems to be finding anything to get into that she knows she shouldn't just to test my buttons. At the same time though Brooklyn can be so loving and funny. The things that she comes up leave you scratching your head and/or laughing your guts out! I wouldn't trade her for anything but yet those couple hours away for me was a breather and very much needed. It's amazing what just a few hours can do. :)

Here are some pictures of my little Brooklyn. As you can tell in a couple she didn't want pictures taken, she just wanted me to get her up to school. lol So now here is to wishing for good progress from her. Good luck to Brooklyn for growing and learning lots this year! Love her to pieces!

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Ryder starts Kindergarten!

Well, my boy started Kindgergarten. I knew this day would eventually come and it did! He has only had one day there, but will have his second day tomorrow. He is going on Tuesday and Thursdays all day. I really struggled with deciding to let him do all day for two days a week or to go everyday for half day. If I did the every day for half day I'd have to either take him to school everyday or go pick him up everyday. The bus would only bus one way. It then quickly became common sense to just let him do all day for two days a week so I wasn't using that much gas to go drive into town every day. Besides, I felt like he would barely get there and I'd have to go pick him up. I just felt like he needed more class time per day. I of course was very worried because it's such a long day for him, but I figured he'd have to get use to it because for 1st grade he wouldn't have an option and would be there all day every day.
I put him on that big yellow bus at 7:10 that morning. He was so excited and got up with no problems at all! He was dressed quickly and ready to roll with hardly any "hurry up" comments from me. I tried to stay cool and collect for him, but it was really actually tearing me up inside. I sent him on the bus and as that big yellow thing swallowed him up and drove off my heart sank. (Yep, I'm a whimp!)
Now just let me explain myself a little here so you don't think I'm off my rocker or something! I have had my kids home with me 7 days a week and we start every day from 7:30 usually to about 9PM together. There may be a time here and there I have been gone an hour or so for certain things without them, but they are usually right there with me. SO, to just have Ryder gone really was making me worry. A little churn in my stomach. I have never worked because I find it ever so important to raise my own kids and if that means we struggle and have tight budgets so be it. I know some families have to have both parents work, but I have found to "make do" and not work.
Okay, now back to the subject.... I sent him on the bus then loaded myself up and drove to the school to wait for him. I went over and waited where the buses unload and then walked with him to class. I put him in his classroom, gave him a kiss and left. I could feel some tears coming and hurried to bail before he saw. His teacher gave me a smile as if she knew and off I went. I had to stop at the office to pay lunch money and it was one of those moments that if you talk you are going to loose it and the tears are gonna come. So I asked just what I had to, paid, and off I went in like five minutes. Boy let me tell you how hard it was for me to drive away from that school! I cried. Yep, like a little kid I cried. :)
Nils decided his work was rather slow that day so we went up later and had lunch together to help get my mind off things. Which was neat; I love my husband! All day though I found myself looking at the clock to see what time it was; if it was time for him to be home yet. Man time seemed to move slow that day. Each time I looked at the clock I found myself asking "wonder what he's doing right now." Then the worries flooded my mind. I started wondering about all the little nonsense things like, will he find friends at recess, will he know where to go after, will he eat the lunch they have, will he get to missing me, and on and on....
Well, finally about 4:15 hit and Brook and I went to sit outside and wait for him. Then about 4:30 we saw the bus coming down the hill for us. I couldn't help but smile! Brooklyn was jumping up and down yelling "I see him, he's coming" while I just smiled. LOL
When Ryder came in the house he was tired. He was hot and sweaty and pooped right out. He got him a snack and watched some TV while I decided to get dinner started. He then came out and asked if he could go in and take a nap. Nope, no way man. He ate and was to bed early again.
So now that I wrote a book, I'm sorry to all who had to sit and read. I enjoy blogging though because really this is my scrabook/journal in a way. I have my life on this computer and blogging is a way of marking down the eventful days of my life.
Good luck to my Ryder and here is to hoping for the best for him. PLEASE don't let him become a victim of teasing; I just worry and pray every day he doesn't have to deal with that.
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Gavin's Birthday

Wowzers, my baby turned 1 on July 28th! Really, it doesn't seem quite fair that they grow up so stinkin fast. I have really enjoyed him though and am amazed he's already a year.
His birthday actually fell at quite a busy time this year. We had a ton going on. We had the rodeo activities we'd made plans for then I was running hectic trying to finish up things for girls camp. His birthday fell on the Thursday, the first night for the famous preston night rodeo things. So we went to the parade with the kids. After we stopped and got some icecream cones and came home and just hung out together watching a movie. (and of course I sat and held him!) :)
We then had his little birthday bash on Sunday. We just had the grandparents come over for a light dinner then cake and icecream. Gotta love the 1st birthdays when they dig into their very own cake!! That was the best part of the night to watch.
As he was eating his cake he'd start out by taking little tiny pinches of frosting between his fingers, lick it, then wipe the rest down his chest. He then decided that no one was getting after him and it was pretty good so he started going to town on it.
Short and sweet for his birthday and yet fun! That little stinker is growing up on me and makes me laugh everyday. He does the strangest things and/or gives the funniest looks all the time and I can't help but giggle. I love him to death!!! I have really enjoyed every day with him! I love you Gavin, happy birthday buddy!!

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Preston Rodeo Time

So we just had our Famous Preston Night Rodeo weekend. It's a crazy time to go to Preston, but still a fun time. On Thursday night we went to the parade with Kory, Jen and their kids, and being me I forgot my camera. Friday night we went with the Blake's to the rodeo. It was just the adults and the kids stayed home. It was a great night of laughter and fun! Again though, I didn't take any pictures of the rodeo. On Saturday night we went with Brooks and Robin to the parade then to eat, then to the carnival. It was wonderful seeing them finally and letting the kids all goof around together. I did remember my camera for the parade, but left it behind when we went over the carnival. I got a few pictures of their son Jaxson goofing around with Ryder waiting for the parade to start. Brooklyn was in the parade Saturday night and looked pretty. Thanks for all of you who hung out and made it such a fun weekend for us. Gotta love that Famous Preston Night Rodeo!

Here are a couple pictures of Jaxson and Ryder while they waited for the parade to start. The first one Jaxson is being silly w/ Ryder's toy and making himself look a bit mischevious when I asked for a picture. The other one Jaxson looked over at his mom for a picture and did some crazy look that I just had to get a picture of! LOL It ended up blury though because I was in a hurry to snap a good picture of him. Jaxson is hillarious and was just a ball of fun that night and the kids all got along so well!!


Here is the picture I got of Brooklyn riding in the parade again. She was just so cute! She said she had a lot of fun riding in the parade. It took her a bit to find us, but when she spotted us she quickly threw us some candy. :)

Lewiston Parade

Brooklyn got to ride in the Lewiston 4th of July parade this year. She rode with the pagent girls from that little Miss Idaho Days she did. When I dropped her off and put her on the float she was a tad bit nervous and sort of gave me a sad lip. The lady there helping talked her though and Brook was fine in no time. She was so stickin cute when she passed us. She caught site of us and started waving (her princess wave she says) and then was blowing kisses. So cute!
She will now ride this weekend in the Famous Preston Night Rodeo and she is so excited.
I just was able to snap one picture. I had one of her before when I dropped her off, but who only knows how it was deleted from the camera. ;)

Brooklyn turns 4!

Brooklyn turned 4 on June 27th!! (Yes, I'm slow on doing the post!)
We had a short birthday party for Brooklyn this year because she started out that day not feeling well. She sort of just sat around. Finally later that week I decided I better take her to get looked at. I figured she just had the stupid cough and cold that was going around so I didn't bother wasting the dr. bill on it. However, later that week she got worse and worse. I finally took her in and she had asmatic bronchitis. She was on meds and they made her throw up a TON, so then they lowered her dose and gave her nausea meds. Poor little girl. Let's just say the 4th of July weekend for us (mainly her) was not real fun! She did ride in the parade though in Lewiston on the 4th cuz she said she felt better. However, when she was done and we walked to the car she asked me to pack her and she just laid on me. I could tell she was still trying to get better and not up to herself yet.
She had wanted to do a Princess party and I had cute things in mind, but when she was sick I decided we were cutting it down. We just had the grandparents all come over and did a dinner then cake and icecream. We then had her open presents. She was fine with it. She loved it all and that night when I tucked her in for bed, she looked at me as she gave me a hug and said "thanks for the birthday mom. I loved the princess cake and my present!" Awww..melt my heart. I thought it was boring but to her she totally loved it!! (sick and all)
Here are just a few pics from her birthday.....












I of course had to snap and share a cute picture of little Gavin making a little cheeser smile. What a cutie!! :)












It was fun, but so sad that the kids grow up so fast! She may be the hardest kid for me and give me the most work, but she is still a sweetheart to beat and I love her to death!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROOKLYN!!!

Brooklyn's Pageant!

A few weeks back a few friends of mine had suggested I put my little Brooklyn into the pageant that they were having for little girls during the annual Idaho Days over here in Franklin. I sat and stewed around about it then finally decided Brook would totally love it so why not.
The pageant was held Saturday over in the park on a stage that they had put up. She was so excited when she showed up because the stage decor was in PINK! (Brooklyn is the biggest fan of pink!) As I gave her a kiss and left her up behind stage with one of the ladies in charge she started to tear up and her bottom lip stuck out all sad. I asked her what was wrong and she said, "There are a lot of people mom." WOW. I couldn't believe she was getting nervous. She is so brave and does whatever; she literally has no fear at home! I talked to her for a bit, showed her where we'd be sitting and told her she'd do great. After just a minute or so she realized it was okay and stood by a friend she had made there, Lacey.
Here is her group lining up getting ready to start.



At first they had the 3-4 yr olds and the 5-6 yr olds come out on stage together to do their opening dance number. She did some of the right moves, but of course didn't remember 1/2 of them so she sort of did her own dance. She was cute!
Here are a few shots of the dance number I got.




Then they went off and one by one the girls were brought out on stage to do their walk. They had one of the gals from the Idaho Days pagent help them. While they walked the mc introduced them with a short intro I wrote up for her.




When she got to the microphone I just had it wrote that she would say, "I'm Brooklyn Olsen. I'm three years old and I love to dance!" Then she would do a little twirl. However, she just rambled a few things at the beginning; I was afraid I'd have to go up there and stop her from talking. LOL Then she was asked a few questions.
They asked her:
1.What's your favorite animal.
2.Who's your favorite person and why?
3.Why do you want to be a princess?
As Brooklyn answered them, she said:
1."a kitty"
2."My mom because she loves me and plays with me."
3."because they are special and pretty."
She answered them without being shy at all and was so cute up there.




Then she went over and recieved the award she earned earlier that week at day camp. She earned the "most easy going" award and got a small crown and award.
Here she is getting the little crown and a little flower from them for the award.



Finally it came to the end of the group and they were announcing the winners. She ended up getting the 1st attendant and we were so happy!! She did such a great job without getting too shy up there or anything!!
Here are pictures of her getting the sash and crown put on. Then there are some of her up there after. As you can tell by the time my camera was there she was done smiling for people. LOL :)






After it all she kept reaching up touching the crown saying "I'm a princess mom!" LOL She was so stickin excited!! (okay, and so was I of course!)

Here is my little princess all crowned....and tired of smiling! :)



I am very proud of my girl and the hard work it took for her to get up there in front of all those people like a big kid and do her thing!! Now they told us to be prepared to be on a float in the local parades which I think she'll find neat.
Way to go Brooklyn!!! I love you.

Swimming Time

I decided I wanted Ryder to get into swimming lessons this summer. My friend called me and said they had an open spot in the class with her son if I wanted to get in. I decided I better so I did it. I then went to tell Ryder and he was not so thrilled. He asked me if he could take his arm floats with him and I told him he couldn't and boy did he get mad!
**Just a side note so you know......Ryder is NOT a water boy!! He hates getting his head/face wet and will NOT put it under water. If you shower him, he hurries and brushes water out of his face and turns if he can so it's not in his face. We have taken him swimming a few times and it takes us FOREVER to get him to just get in the water where he can touch. (like on the step) Once we get him in he does a death grip around your neck to make sure you won't let go. This is even if he has floats on!**
Anyhow, I finally decided to drop it and not talk about it for a bit. I then had my older sister talk to him because she's building a pool at her house and Ryder said he wanted to go stay with her. SO, she told him he had to learn how to swim before he could come down and then they talked about how fun it was for her when she took swimming lessons. That night Ryder asked Nils and I a few questions about swim lessons and then then told me, "Mom, I guess I will do it. I want you to stay there and watch me though and not leave okay?." Of course I would if it got him to do it. :)
So low and behold Ryder ventured out for swim lessons. He started them on June 6th. He would go Monday-Thursday for two weeks. Not bad I thought. He did the 8AM class though and that ended up being a struggle to get three kids together and ready that early. I talked to my mom and had her keep Brook and Gavin most mornings so I could get him there and stay to watch him. He did pretty good. The first few days he did get in and kneeled in the water, but still did NOT let water get over his head at all. FINALLY, the teacher was able to get him to relax and get more comfy in the water and he would dive down for little animals that she'd throw in there. As time went on, he'd get a little more braver and little more "in" the water messing around.
Well.....by the time he finished I was VERY PLEASED! Ryder was putting his whole body down in the water doing his "turtle" paddles and moving in the water. He floats on his back and on his tummy! He does an "alligator" paddle, he does super man glides, and some thing they were working with that was 'monkey, airplane, rocket' to help him get swimming a little. It was so fun to see him just lay on the water and float!! His head to his ears were in the water and he'd just lounge and he loved it. I was VERY suprised to see him get his face into the water to sit and float on his stomach.
I decided by the time we were done with them that I wanted Brooklyn in there too. So I went out and signed her up too. :) She will start her lessons the middle of July and she is very excited. Nothing scares that girl!
Hope the little slideshow thing works. It's amazing and fun to see Ryder came so far and got so comfy with just 8 lessons!! Can't wait until next year for him to do them again and hopefully advance a little more on things.

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T-Ball

Ryder has started playing T-ball this year. This is his first year and boy has he been excited for it! He totally LOVES playing ball. Getting use to hitting the ball off the T was a bit of a struggle for him for the first little bit though because he was so use to having someone pitch him the ball and he'd hit when we played around here. However, he's gotten the hang of it and does quite well I think.

He is a switch hitter! One time he'll get up to bat and he will bat left handed and then the next time he gets up he will bat right handed. He just does whatever he feels like and when you ask him, "What are you going to bat today? Right or left?" He will look at ya with a shrug of the shoulders and say, "Whatever I want!" Well okay then! LOL So we just let him do his thing and he does whichever. Nils has told me not to discourage him and if he wants to hit both then good for him, so that's what we are doing. He does throw right handed though and has a stronger swing left handed when he bats. Wierd kid. :) We will see if he ends up sticking to one or the other or keeps on switching it up.

He has I think three games left and then we are done and I think it's going to be drama when we are done because he just loves going and playing. He asks me almost everyday how many more days until he has T-ball again.

We are still working on his fielding abilities. A ball gets hit to him and he'll just look at it as if to say "yep, it's by me. What do you want me to do?" If he doesn't do that he'll just sit and look off into la-la land and/or cover his face with his mit! It's qutie hillarious to watch and yet now he is getting better and going after the ball! Sometimes it's hard to watch t-ball for me because they just let everyone bat, no one gets out and it's mostly just to learn the hang of ball. It's fun to go watch him have so much fun though and enjoy himself. I just can't wait until we are on playing baseball with him! :)

Here are some pics I got at one of his games. Enjoy!

Brooklyn's Boo-Boo

So last night we sent the kids to get PJ's on. I set Brooklyn's on her dresser and left. The next thing I hear is her freaking out and screaming that she doesn't want to wear the ones I set out and so on. (She thought she should be able to wear shorts and it was just too cold for them.)She was throwing one of her tempers which is not too unusual for her.

After a bit, Nils had finally heard enough of her in there and went in. He told her to get dressed and wear what we put out or she was going right to bed. She then decided to sort of move the toys towards Nils so he couldn't get through the doorway. Nils then pushed the one toy back just as she threw her arms in the air to fall to the floor and throw her fit. (If you could picture the throwing of arms in the air while your head tilts back and you fall all dramatically to the floor.) SO, as Nils knocked the toy back out of the way, she flopped to the floor at the same time and came down on the toy. It got her right by the eye!! Of course you couldn't tell as she grabbed her eye because she was still screaming from her fit. Nils then turned back again to talk to her and he could see blood on her face. He quickly went over to her and noticed it had been cut. We laid her down and wiped the blood, but it was still bleeding. Finally it slowed so Nils went and got a butterfly bandage. It just wasn't holding it together though. You could still see the gash was pulled apart. We then sent his mom a picture of it to see what she thought.(Where she is a nurse and all)

After having talked to her she advised us we should take her in and have her checked out. GREAT, an ER visit. Not what I had wanted at 9 o clock at night. We then figured the worst they could do is put a butterfly bandage on it themselves and send us home. So off we went.

When we arrived the nurse said she figured a stich or two would probably be wise where it was on her face and all. Being on her face and not doing anything with it could leave a nasty thick scar and I really didn't want that either. So she called in the Dr. to get his opionion and check her out. The Dr. finally decided after looking it over that he'd just try glue and see if it'd hold. If it didn't, he said he'd throw in a couple of stiches. So they numbed her and started the glue process. After he watched and it seemed to be holding just fine so he sent us on our way.
I wasn't so set on the "glue" to hold it, but so far so good. She just has a purple blob on her face which is the glue. They said within a week or so it'd fall off and in the meantime feel like a scab so to make sure she didn't sit and pick at it or anything. She came home with us around 11 pm and was back to her bubbly, hyper self. She has complained a little today, but only due to a headache.
Here are pictures of it today. I forgot to snap some last night cuz I was in a rush sort of speak. All the purple you see is the glue.

This has been our first experience with our kids having a cut or anything at all that we had to go to the ER for! They have been there due to being really sick, but not for boo-boos. ;) I am just very glad that she didn't hit her eye as that could have caused a lot of trouble. Glad it wasn't very bad and we got it taken care of! Now we hope when her room is full of toys she'll think twice before falling to the floor while throwing a tantrum. :)

Misty Graduates....

This last Thursday Misty graduated from High School! It was just crazy to see her graduate. It doesn't seem like that long ago that she was just a little thing tagging along side me, now she is going to be off to college! She is a smart girl though and I know she will do well in college. She will be attending Utah State this fall and will major in journalism/broadcasting. She has an apparment all lined up down there and ready to roll. I think her getting out on her own is going to be an adjustment for her, but a GOOD adjustment. She won't have mom and dad right by her side telling her what to do every second, but I know it's going to do her well and she'll be able to grow up and learn a lot. I do think it will be strange not having her right by us because sometimes the kids want to go to Grandma's and play with Aunt T....and now that she won't be there hardly at all may be quite the adjustment for them.
Misty graduated in the top ten of her class with honors. I was very proud of her and I wish her all the best in college!!
Here is her in line to get her diploma....

She is now receiving her diploma...

I was able to get some pics of her and I. Why I always look horrible in pictures I don't know, but at least there are a few of her and I.



My brother Bryan made it up for her graduation and we got a few pics of the three of us. Val didn't make it as she is training for a new job and we missed her tons. If you know my brother, you know when he is around he always says or does something nuts and you laugh. So as you see in the one pic we are laughing and who only knows what he said or did then. lol The other one we are all smiling decent, but too bad we are all looking at the other cameras going off.


I managed to finally snap a picture of her with my mom and dad. Too bad my dad was the only one who was looking my direction!

Here are a couple pictures of Nils and I with Misty. Again, get all of us not to be pulling a face (or chewing gum) in a picture and you are doing mighty well. It seems like Nils always pulls a strange face too, but I guess I should be happy we got a couple of the three of us together.


CONGRATS MISTY!!!! We love you and are very proud of your accomplishments!!!!