Baby Mason

This sweet little guys is baby #3 for one of my favorite cousins. I had asked her early on in her pregnancy if I could bring my camera stuff over and play when he arrived. It was a lot of fun to see her and their families new addition. I think he looks just like his big brother but with brown
hair. Congrats Steph and Barry! ENJOY!!

Do you think someone is a little mad?

What the HECK!

Okay I have never proclaimed to be mother of the year OR for that matter a good house keeper but I try, really I do! So maybe I am up in the night by asking my kids to clean their rooms after school but hey I do it...am I breaking any child labor laws? I think not.

SO today a friend called me today and asked me if she could borrow some pirate stuff we had from a Halloween costume a few years back for a pirate party at her little boys pre-school. I felt all proud of myself in that moment when she asked because I knew what I was after was in 1 of 2 places. Option A) the dress up box in Avery's room or Option B) the Halloween stuff in the garage. I figured I would go check the dress up box first since the Halloween stuff was on a high shelf in the garage.

So picture this...Cicily 1952....JUST KIDDING... I think I am a tad punchy tonight and if you didn't get that GOLDEN GIRLS...HELLO~

Okay so really picture this I go haul my buns upstairs in my what Ron refers to as my "House Wife Uniform" AKA P.J.'s and open Avery's closet where the dress up stuff should be. Let me rewind to earlier in the week and the whole child labor law thing. I do require my kids to do chores....I know the nerve huh? So I of course had been in Avery's room every day that week and I would classify it as "picked up" but not really "clean" but she is 6 right so am I really expecting miracles? Of course not. But I do require them to give it their best shot.

FLASH FORWARD back to today at 10:00 a.m. I open up her closet and.......I almost SWORE because there was so much stuff crammed into that side of the closet. I think I just stood there contemplating if I should run for my life or attempt to dig through this mess. I decided to dig...no wonder the girl never has any socks to wear in the morning or shoes to put on her feet...I am surprised she didn't have a family of mice living in her closet with all the half eaten granola bars. IT WAS DISGUSTING!!! So I find what I need to find and get the heck out of there.

Later that day my sweet little 6 year comes home and I address this issue at which time she replies to me "I wondered how long it was going to take you to figure out I stuck all that stuff in there." BIG SMILE. Please let me add to this once a month I help my kids clean their room, really clean it. We had just done this the week before Christmas it sparkled like the lights on my tree. And now it looks like a dump after a tornado and an 9.2 magnitude earthquake. I was not pleased.

So we head up to the disaster area right after I give everyone a tetanus shot and get started. Did you know that I found one of those cups with the pop top lids in her toy box with orange juice in it....orange juice. Did you know that if you leave orange juice in one of those cups for I am not sure the amount of time but we will say a monthish since that is the last time I helped her into her haz-mat suite to clean her room. Any way it will explode when you open the lid. It hit my ceiling and me in the eye and the wall and than landed back on the carpet. I then had to scrub all of the previously described surfaces. That made me even happier about the whole thing.

There was stuff crammed EVERYWHERE! If there was a corner or a nook that you couldn't see with out really getting down and checking it out something was shoved in there. I think I need to instal video cameras in her room so I can see what she is doing when she is actually supposed to be cleaning. I am seriously contemplating this...how much would it cost I wonder? Anyway!

Needless to say we got it all done it looks like a page out of a magazine yet again. At least for 5 minutes. Since I love breaking child labor laws as punishment besides the whole cleaning bit I am making her do all the laundry we found, under her bed, in the toy box, in the dress up box, on the floor of her closet, in her doll house, behind her dresser. As you may remember from a previous post I just recently bought front loaders the hold a massive amount of clothing. We are on our 3rd and last load. She has had to put it in the washer and the dryer and put it ALL away WHERE IT GOES!

So I am sitting here tonight shaking my head as my hair is probably turning grey chuckeling about the whole thing. What do you do? Right! Right?

All I have to say is WHAT THE HECK!

Black and White!

I was looking through some of my old folders and found a bunch of fun pics I took this summer...I was feeling a little Ansel Adamsish when I posted these and turned them all black and white. Enjoy!

Magic

Today my little Avery came to me and said "Mom you know how dad bought you a new washer and dryer?"I say yes and am thinking how come only dad could have bought them. What is up with that? She keeps going and says "Well I am thinking I should write a letter to the people you bought it from telling them how wonderful it is." At this point I am just smiling because really how many 6 year old kids do you know have these kind of discussions with their parents? I asked her why and she responds with " It is just so amazingly quite before when I used to go to the bathroom I felt like a train was coming through there now it is so quite I hardly even know when you are doing laundry and it sings you a song when it is done. What could be better than that?" I just giggle to myself as she is walking away I hear her mumbling " seriously amazing!" What a kid!!!

Hide, Hide

Since my kids have been out of school they have created a game that they all love and only requires a large quilt or blanket. I think I have spent more time playing this game than I actually wanted too. Avery and Aidan are the inventors. Aidan is the ring leader and the one who fondly named the game "Hide, Hide"

Here are the rules.

Get the biggest blanket you can find.

Everyone pile under it and "Hide" (from what I don't know)

Giggle like crazy

It is a hit! If you have nothing to do tonight or for your next family game night give it a try.

ENJOY!

Easton and Hunter

These darling little guys were born 6 weeks early and weighed in at a whopping 3 1/2 lbs each. After a stay in the hospital they are finally home and not even really due to be born until December 29th. We are so glad to have 2 new nephews in the family and can't wait to see them grow up. I was thrilled when Kayla asked me to take pictures of these little cuties and had so much fun doing them. Kayla seemed so calm and collected through the whole thing as we were all peed on more than once and had to stop for several feedings. With all that they turned out beautifully! ENJOY!!

This is thier sweet big sis Oaklund.

Doesn't she have beautiful blue eyes!

Year in Review

I just thought I would at least right down for me what the heck we have been up to this year. So hear goes nothing.......

We have had a good year! We have been insanely busy no doubt about that but a good year. Among all the field trips, trips to the doctors, work, school, and the list goes we have survived and are even happy.

I have just recently quit my job where I worked for Heritage West Credit Union for the past 8 plus years in the collections department. I have tried to make this decision for more than a year now, with such a crazy economy I didn't feel great about walking away from a job when so many people don't have one. But being fortunate enough to stay home with my kids and to have a husband that supports me I don't know what took me so long to finally decide. My only regret it not doing it sooner. Don't get me wrong I look fondly back at my years spent there and the friends I made but this is where I am meant to be. I love being home with my kids and just feel so much more peaceful by having so much less on my plate. It has been great to be home to enjoy the holidays instead of sleep walk through them. YEAH for RETIREMENT!

Other than that I have fallen in love with photography and play with my camera every chance I get. I have bought new equipment piece by piece and feel such a thirst for knowledge to be able to learn about this new passion in my life. I have to say thank you to Ron for being ever so patient with me as I spend countless hours absorbed in tutorials and books. But I love it and hope to continue to learn and grow as time goes by.

Ron is almost done with school and I think he actually should have already been done but that darn deer hunt prompts him to take off a large amount of time every year so that he can go be a mighty hunter and has pushed his time in school out a bit. Now this is just my opinion I am sure if you asked Ron he would tell you something about having kids or something. But he really is almost done. YEAH! He is currently working for Wells Fargo for their online sales and service division and really likes his job and the company. They have been great to work for and I am grateful yet again the opportunity they have provided me to stay home. THANK YOU Wells Fargo! Other than that he is here to put up with me and my crazy antics and be a wonderful father and husband.

Alyssa is 9 and in the 4th grade. She is doing great in school and is one smart cookie. She reads all the time a passion she gets from her father. She is a fantastic big sister and a real help to me. She is my go getter though which might surprise you because she is so quite. She always wants to go do stuff....She wants to go to the spa or to dinner or to the movies or to a party or anywhere really she likes to be out and about. I am slightly worried for both Ron and I and her future husband. This girl has EXPENSIVE taste (something else she gets from Ron) we take her out to eat and she wants Fillet Mignon or she wants to get her nails done or stop real quick for a pedi and a mani. But overall she is just a good girl and such a joy to have in our lives.

Avery is 6 and in the 1st grade. Avery is also doing well in school but she is a home body. She would much rather be hiding in the bathrooms than in class. But this year has really done well. She has a fantastic teacher who she loves and I honestly think loves her. Avery and Aidan get a long famously, they are always playing together and she is so patient with him. Avery is my home body, she loves to play pretend and just to be. She says the most HILARIOUS things you will ever hear. She has informed me that she one day will be a Rock Star or an American Idol Judge and has super star ambitions. I honestly believe one day she will actually do them. If anyone can she can.

Aidan is almost 2 and is pretty much the cutest most spoiled toddler on the planet. Because he is our last we give him everything he wants. If we don't give it to him his sisters do. He never has to wait for ANYTHING. If he says he wants a cookie they are right there getting him one. He is also a MONKEY. He climbs everything and if he can't climb it he will construct something he can climb until he can get up to where ever it is he is going. I can seriously say I think I get him off the kitchen counter 20 times a day. He is learning all kinds of words everyday and has the funnest personality. We love our little guy and can't wait to see what he will be like as he gets older.

That is it, that is us. We have been running like crazy still with no site of the finish line but through it all have become closer as a family. I couldn't have asked for a better year and hope that 2010 will be just as good.

Merry Christmas!!