Moving On

Kendra, Raquel

Sarah, Allsion, Cortney, Brielle, and Nicole in bottom pic

Our good friends the Richins are moving. I am so sad, we should have gotten together more often. I just love their family. This little family has inspired me in so many ways. Allison is a nurse and works the night shift, getting only a few hours asleep, I have no idea how she does it. I get a full night's sleep but still wake up feeling ambushed? Jo is amazingly talented, he is so handy. I am just in awe by what he creates. They gave us their swing set to take care of while they are gone that he built. The kids love it, I'll have to post a picture of it for you, it's really cool. They are moving on to Washington, where Jo has decided to go back to school. I know they are a a strong family and if anyone can do it, it's them. So I had a little going away luncheon for Allsion so everyone could hang out one last time. It was so fun, we had a great turn out. Look at all the babies, I think there were four, with one more due in two weeks. Crazy. Our ward is all kids.
On to bigger and better things! Good Luck, guys!

Spirit Week

Ethan had spirit week to celebrate the last week of school. Monday was decades day. He dressed up as a punk rocker from the 80's. Shawn made his Penny Wise shirt, and a wallet with a chain. Ethan loved it. Tuesday was crazy hair day. Of course Hayden had to join the fun and paint his hair red, too. Wedensday was sports day, he wore his Tae Kwon Do outfit. Then today was school colors day. Ethan had fun dressing up, I enjoyed seeing the other kids at school participate. I almost got teary eyed seeing all the kids coming together, commenting on "costumes" on kids they don't know. It really does bring the kids together, and unifies the school. (I know I know I am a sap).

Freedom

Monday was my last day of freedom (Last Monday of not working and Ethan being in school). So I thought I'd celebrate by going shopping, seeing as how I probably won't be going there for awhile. Instead of celebrating though it turned it out to be one long fight with Hayden. He wanted to buy everything, didn't matter what it was. He was driving me bonkers. I thought it was ironic, because I am expecting many of these days in the near future (come on it's what kids do) but I thought oh we will have fun, just the two of us, we need to enjoy this, because it's our last chance. But no such luck. I have a feeling he will probably be the worst out of the lot. It's a good thing he's so dang cute!

Crafty

I am a crafter at heart, the sad part is that you probably don't know this; because I have nothing to show for this. I don't have my genius creations around my house, because they simply don't exist. They only exist in my mind. Does that count for something?? The only time I create anything is with the kids or for the kids, in the form of PJ pants, I am good at those. This summer I will have a house full of kids, and if there is one thing I know about kids, it is that a bored child is an unhappy child. So my job is to keep them as occupied as possible. I have been on the search for crafts for us to do. My goal is a craft, or project a day.
I've added a few links to a few of my favorite kids crafty websites. And let me tell you these Mom's are amazing, the things that they have come up with, well they are my hero's. I could spend hours on their web sites. So I hope you will enjoy them, too! Happy crafting!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to two of my MOST favorite Mom's in the world! Thanks for teaching me what it means to be a good MOM. I love you two a ton!! I wish I could be there with you today, but know that I am thinking of you!

Scrapping

So I have had scrapbooking on my to do list for ummm the last year, okay okay year and half (ever since I graduated from school). I am a major to do list person , and I just read this book about organizing your life (yes my life is in a dire need of orgainzing) and it said that if something remains unchecked on your to do list for more than like a week you need to think about why that is and re-evaluate that item. So I did, and I decided that I just don't want to do it right now, and that maybe I would just organize my pictures and then when life slows done (ha, like that will ever happen) I would scrapbook then. But when I told my Mom this her mouth dropped open, and she about fell over. So I quickly apoligized for my lack in judgement, and promised that I would make it a priority. And I did I am all caught up through summer of 2007, now comes the hard part go through the hundreds of files full of pictures and get them printed to catch up until now. Ugg, isn't it funny how even as an adult I am still quick to listen to my Mommy, and obey. But I am glad I did, because she's right. Of course she is!

Zoo

We went to the zoo with Hayden's preschool friends. We had such a great time. Our favorite was the family of orangutans. They were so sweet together. You can see the baby laying on top of the Mommy. All of the animals were out to say hi, so it was a great zoo trip. Hayden had so much fun he's asked everyday to go back, he wants to show his brother all of the animals.

Memory lane

I've been going through all of my pic trying to organize them...They are a mess. And I came across this video. In this video Hayden is actually more like 19 mo. Shawn never was one of those Daddy's that counted days or mo. But this was a proud moment for him. We thought for sure Hayden would be our pro dirt bike rider, but no, after this he never wanted to ride alone. And then we really haven't been riding in the last two years. Check out this vid it's the cutest thing ever!

Red Belt

Last weekend Ethan tested for his red belt. He was so excited. When he wore his new red belt to class on Thursday he said it felt great! I was worried when the instructer told me that he was ready to test, because he just received his Sr brown belt in February. They like to move the kids along too fast, I think. But she assured me that the next belts are harder to get, so they give them more time, about six months each. So if that is true, then he will have his black belt in a year and a half. Uggg, that is a long time, I had no idea what a huge commitment this would be. But he still enjoys it. He won the award this month for best attitude! He is always a ball of energy in class. He jumps up and down in his spot, the Master is always having to remind him to stand still. It's fun to watch him.

Banana Cream Pie Oh my

My big sis has become quite the chef, since she got married. To be honest with you I didn't even know she could cook. But she can, she is always telling me about these great recipes that shes trying out. When I stayed with her for a week in March she was cooking up a storm. She made pot roast, taco salad, the most yummy steak and chicken. Her thing is to try out new recipes, she has a ton of beautiful cook books.
So I thought I would try to be cool like her and actually bake something. Which is dangerous, every time I bake I always burn myself, and I have the scars to prove it. But anyways I was craving banana cream pie, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. It turned out pretty good. I made the whole thing from scratch, it took me all day, but it was fun.

Front Yard

So, I don't think this will ever be done. But it's really close. I am happy with the outcome (although it is very strange not to have grass). The landscaper picked out some beautiful plants, that smell wonderful, such as the rosemary and jasmine bushes. When I have my windows open and it's a little breezy you can smell them inside! The yellow trees attract bees, which the kids haven't noticed yet... shhh don't point it out to them, they are terrified of bees. All I need to do is get more rock, fix the drip system, paint all the stucco, buy pots to go on the pillars, and ummm, what else? Oh ya, then on to the back yard.