Summer time...(almost)

I just wanted to post these pictures of Josh. They were taken last week when it was so warm outside. The kids put the sprinkler on for the first time this year.

This is what I feel I look like when I go to try on my swimsuit for the first time every year, just a little squishy in places. But there's nothing cuter than an almost two year olds body.

Sydni found a bag of Skittles and asked if she could have them. I told her she had to share. So these pictures are of her handing out the Skittles. It looks like ducks gathered around her for a taste of old stale bread.

Owen's Field Trip

19 4 and 5 year olds invaded Wheeler Farm on Monday. They all got to ride the school bus, which I think some thought was more fun than the farm. Both the morning and afternoon went together. Miss Trista and Miss Valle are the best teachers. They love the kids so much. It has been a great year for Owen. Do you love the visors they made for the kids with the name of the school on it. Great idea.

The tour guide told the kids not to stick their fingers in to pet the animals. Owen was wondering what would happen if he did.....

This is Owen and Lily. She has been his friend this year. We'll miss her.

Pioneer children......

So this cute picture is one I just happened on. It's Syd on Christmas morning when she put her new bonnet on. She really wanted two, one for play (this one) and one to wear to church. Santa couldn't find one fancy enough for church though. I don't know where she got the idea for a bonnet but she was set on it. I tell you she was born about 150 years too late. She would be in heaven to wear a dress and hat every day.

My first TAG

How to play this game of tag. Post these rules on your blog. List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

3 Joys....
#1 A brand new baby. (So why don't I have 6 kids by now?)
#2 Finishing any project. It could be as big as graduating in December
(Yahoo!) or just getting all the socks matched (which I think only happens in heaven)
#3 Summer!!! I love tired, dirty kids at the end of a summer day.
I know it's summer when the dryer lint has grass clippings in it

3 Fears....
#1 Being PTA President next year. What have I got myself into? If any of you out there would like the job, I am willing to step down. (I just copied this from Kirstie's but I think I am more scared than she is.)
#2 Having Ken die and leave me alone with two little kids, a half done house and a landscape company to run.
#3 Graduating and having to decide where I want to work and what I want to do. I am scared to death to have people lives in my hands for 12 hours at a time. (Sometimes I think, am I sure this is what I want to do? Can I really do this?)

3 Goals....
#1 To finish my main floor
#2 To finish my attic
#3 To finish my basement
(should I go on??????)

3 current obsessions/collections....
#1 I used to be obsessed with a lot more than I am right now. I have given up with trying to keep my house clean. I just pray people don't talk about me too much or they don't keep their kids away because they are afraid for their health. (One day I will try again when I don't have construction to fight with.)
#2 Ken thinks I am an obsessive worrier. I know I am. If there is something to worry about I will. (So let me know if you need my to worry for you. I'm good at it) It's good I have him around to tell me to relax
#3 Right now I am really trying to be more patient with my kids. I'm trying to be more patient at bed time. I want to make the most of the time I have with my kids. I know they grow up so fast and I will only be putting them to bed for a few more years.

3 Surprising Facts about me....
#1 I love math
#2 I love to watch a JAZZ game
#3 I love to read about people on their blogs. It is a little like snooping. (Is this wrong?)

My first tag is done. It is harder than it looks. I tag those who are reading this and have never done a tag. (caryn, melanie, danielle......anyone else?)

Where am I?

As I sit eating my breakfast (no one else home) I hear a noise upstairs. I didn't think much of it at first but then it didn't go away. As I stood at the bottom of the stairs I noticed I had a visitor.......





(I hope he doesn't hurt his little feet. Can birds hurt thier feet?)

I was brave and called Ken, luckily he was right outside, to come and rescue the bird and me. Well I guess he didn't learn the first time and came back again.............



This time I had to go open the window for him. Luckily I talked him into staying on one side of the room while I opened the window for him.

I guess I have another little project because he didn't come in through an open window!!! (and yes that is sunlight coming in through under the window.

This is why I love Mother's Day

I love the cards that come home from school. Don't they just make it worth it? I love the "gifts" that come inside them too. This year I was blessed with Owen's "Do the dishes" gift certificate, and Sydni's card that said she would feed the dog, give me a massage and bring me a cookie and a magazine. Not too bad! Sydni also gave me my own paper weight painted up like a little ladybug. (If you look at earlier posts you may be thinking this girl needs a bolder for a paper weight....I know) The thing I love about Mother's day is that I get to look at my family and just think about how blessed I am. I know it is cheesy, but I really am lucky to have an amazing husband, who no matter how big of a mess we get ourselves into we still can work through it and look back and laugh, and two beautiful healthy kid-o's! I am also lucky to have an amazing Mom. There are many times through the week when I think back to when I was kid and try to remember how my mom handled things. She did a great job raising us. It was so fun to have my mom involved in our school. I remember her spending many hours there. I hope Sydni and Owen will have some of the same memories. I am also the luckiest sister in the world to have Kirstie as my sister. I miss her a lot (I know we only live twenty minutes from each other!!!). She is fun aunt to my kids. We didn't get along very well through some of the early years but you'd never know it now. I am also so grateful to have Caryn next door. There would be some long days for my kids if they didn't have playmates next door. She's so willing to help on all my projects even if she has one of her own going.



These are some of the women who have made me the person I am today. I love them. It was so fun to get together for Mother's Day. (Beth, McKenzie and Katie where are you?)...and we missed you Jen, Kari and Andrea.

Swim lessons

I do try to do things besides work on the house. Mostly for my kids sake. They are pretty patient with me when it comes to projects around the house so I try to do something that's just for them every once in a while! Right now we're doing swim lessons. We haven't taken them for a while because of my school so I decided to have the kids try them again. Syd does great. She's the only girl in the older class with 4 other boys. (It's a little rowdy) She keeps telling me she needs prescrition goggles because she can't see when she's swimming. (This make me think of the movie Notting Hill.) I don't know if I want to make the investment now because her eyes have changed every year so far and not for the better. Has anyone invested in presciption goggles before?
Owen is hanging in there. He is working on not being so nervous in the pool. He's not nervouse about being in the water but that I am going to leave him. (which I've never done and can't figure out why this is.)

Update....

This is what we started with yesterday


This is as we started to peel away at the walls. After we took all the panel and sheet rock off we found that they wall papered the brick wall. (I don't know when wall papering a brick wall would be a good idea?)





Now we are down to the brick. What do you think? I like it and I think it's growing on Ken. We have a little electrical to do since we are going this far. Caryn loves a project so she is kind enough to hang out and give us a hand!





This is the awesome ceiling we uncovered. I think I am just going to re-stain it put a coat of polyurethane on it. Since we now have a brick wall and a dark ceiling I don't know what color to paint the other 3 walls. Any suggestions? I love color.

Project anyone?

So I am really good at getting myself into projects. I thought since I'm out of school for the summer I would really get going on the house. So we have been trying to get ready for the carpet. This includes getting a room ready for the kids. Above are pictures of the room I cleared out. It's a really nice room with cute square windows on two of the walls.

So I cleared all of this out (I know it looks like we are moving....it feels even worse than it looks!!) and got the room ready. Well as I started to take the panelling off the wall, low and behold, water damage! So what was going to be a texture and paint job is yet another home improvement project!

As we peeled away at the wall we also discovered there is no insulation in the exterior walls, (studs and a few layers of wood panel should keep these kids warm, right?) and the studs are 32 inches apart in stead of 16 inches. The carpet is coming in 9 days and I still have to get the basement ready! What do you think? Does anyone have a magic wand handy I could borrow?

Grandma Lu

I have to say that my kids are so lucky to know their great-grandma as well as they do. When we go to visit they get her attention the whole time we're there. She will play several games of war with Owen (I have a hard time with one) and tells him he's the best war player and she doesn't think she can win. She let's Syd set up a school room in her sewing room and tells her she will make the best teacher when she grows up. Maybe after watching three generations grow up you realize how fast time goes by and how quickly they grow up.

I know a little hike......

Ken and I had the chance to go to Hawaii this past December with some friends James and Amber. It was a last minute decision to go but I am so glad we went. Well, I was going through pictures on our computer trying to get them organized and came upon the pictures of our trip.


The last day we had to be out of our hotel room in the morning and our flight wasn't until that night so we had some time to kill. James remembered a "little" hike he had taken on one of his earlier trips. If you have been to Honolulu you may know the hike he is talking about. The pictures show views as we made our way to the top. Needless to say ended up being a little longer and steeper than he remembered. When we got to the top we were hot, thirsty and tired but we made it right?

When we got the the top we were taking some pictures and thinking "Wow we made it!" Then we noticed the lady who is standing next to Ken in the last picture...........She was celebrating her 80-something birthday climbing this mountain. She didn't even brake a sweat.

Do you think we need a gym membership?

Do you just love this age?

You know the days. You are a novice potty trainer so you are on your second pair of pants for the day. You started out in shorts and are now in pants. It's a Saturday so your brother and sister are home to play with. Dad is home so you are doing a little work on the yard which means you get to play in the front yard and whatever tools he happens to leave within reach. Papa will probably stop by to say "Hi" and see what going on. Does it get much better than this?

Choose or not to choose?

I was having a conversation about whether or not you let your kids wear character clothes. As you can see from this picture I let my kids wear them. The boots in this picture are the second pair Owen's gone through. He wears then everyday (they go with everything!!) and gets quit a few complements on them. On the other hand he has a pair of Thomas shoes he was wearing one day and his cousin told him "Owen those shoes are lame" to which he shrugged his shoulder and continued to put them on and go about his business. If someone told me my shoes were lame I don't know if I would have the confidence to keep wearing them. The shirt also has a large picture of some huge monster truck with flames on the side of it. This outfit would not be "My" Choice, I would love for him to have a cute little polo shirt, khaki shorts and some leather sandles on......but that's me and I'm not a five year old little boy. I think kids are told what they have to do, what they have to wear, where they have to go and when they have to do it so why not let them choose once in a while. It won't matter in the long run what shoes he wore when he was five. Will it? Especially when you know they will grow out of it before you know it. I know they day is coming when he won't want to wear his boots anymore. So I just enjoy him now. What do you think?

PS: I know the bike is a whole other post! (heehee)

Here goes.....

It's been about nine months since I was first asked the question, "Do you blog?" To which I answered "What's that?" So here I am done with finals (yahoo!) and ready to set up my blog. I have to say I love to look at other blogs and don't know if I will be able to keep up with some of them. Here's what we are up to around here.......

Ken's busy as always at this time of year. He has one guy who is working with him so far this year. He has been trying to build a new trailer for himself but its hard to find time. He also is trying to polish up on his jump rope skills with the kids. He bought a set of jump ropes at the store and has been teaching the kids. Syd was already pretty good but Owen has learned to jump in and out. I do have pictures of Ken jump roping but I was threatened not to post them.

I just finished my third semester of nursing school. I have one more left and will be done in December. It's been a long time coming (5 years!) but will be worth it when I am done. I hope to get a lot of work done on the house this summer and maybe move out of the cave we are living in. We are supposed to get carpet on the 16th. They said they could come today and install it but we had to push it off a few weeks. I wish we were ready!!

I was released from my favorite calling in the world (primary chorister) and put into the Young Womens about a month ago. It had been a change. I relate a lot better to little kids than I do to teenagers. I am out of my comfort zone and can't just say, "let's stand up and sing a wiggle song" even thought I know I need one.

Syd and Owen are growing up too fast. They are into playing chess and webkinz. They are also taking swim lessons. Sydni is learning to dive (remember learning to dive?) and Owen is working on his backstroke.

I will end here and try to post often!