Living Life the Anderson Way

Chester

2011-04-21T20:17:00.003-06:00

So I got out voted and now we have a pet. I'm just not such a big animal person, but at least this guy is small and quiet and doesn't stink...yet. And his "waste" makes excellent fertilizer (Chris' major selling point). We now have a bunny, Chester! Grandma Alice gave him to us. He is a tiny little thing right now. The kids are loving him...maybe a little too much :)

taking a rest from putting the cage together.
Payton and chester in his cage
Jayden and chester
Chester eating the instructions
the boys helping put the cage together....they look so involved!

We've now had chester for 2 days and I have to say it's not the worst thing that has ever happened to me. He's been dropped 3 times and overfed like EVERY day...but he's cute and soft and cuddly...YAY for us!

Vacuum Cleaner Fun

2011-02-24T16:40:00.002-07:00

The boys love to take the parts of the vacuum cleaner and make guns and then chase each other around the house with them...gotta love cheap fun :)

We LOVE Mind Blowing Science....

2011-02-21T09:30:00.002-07:00

Thank you grandma for the science experiments. The kids LOVE it! And are loving playing with it. (even though they don't looked too thrilled in this photo!) We did 3 things saturday night and have big plans to play with it some more today!!!

thank you thank you!!! and the timing is PERFECT! Right in time that we are stuck inside by cold weather and a few snow storms!

Toothless...

2011-02-19T11:00:00.002-07:00

Chris pushed out Kenzie's other front tooth....we didn't even know it was loose!

Watch Out World...

2011-02-18T08:21:00.002-07:00

Jayden got registered for kindergarten yesterday!

This is his happy face...So they do a little assessment when you register, just to get an idea of where the kids are at at this point. So the principal was the one doing the assessments. So he asks Jayden a few questions and has him do a few things...no problem. Then he asks Jayden to count some crayons. Jayden says, "No. I don't feel like it." And he completely refused to do it!! The principal had to keep encouraging him and ended up doing part of it for him. It was funny.
Payton is excited about being the only one home for half the day next year!

Valentine's Day

2011-02-17T11:41:00.004-07:00

Breakfast--pink scrambled eggs and toast with heart shaped cinnamon sugar
Lunch--apple kisses
all ready for valentine's tea

They posed themselves...and I need to learn how to use my camera so all the faces aren't so washed out
Dinner table decorations

Jayden had a friend come over after I had set the table. She asked what all the candy was for. I told her we were just having a special dinner. She looks at me and then Jayden and says, "You know, friends should share. That's what friends do, they share." Later she went home and told her dad that we were having candy for dinner! (I even made peanut butter balls and dipped them in chocolate...they were yummy). Anyway...that was our valentine's day!

New Clothes...

2011-02-11T13:45:00.002-07:00

So, Betsy, Tanner, Renee, Steve, Cris and Laree all came up and surprised me for my birthday a few weeks ago. My AWESOME sisters bought me a whole new outfit with jewelery and everything....I can't even remember the last time I bought jewelery! Betsy also brought a bag of clothes she was getting rid of. Some of the clothes were so small they fit Kenzie (above picture)!
Even new shoes (new to me, anyway)
I was annoyed...I was doing math homework with jax!
SO CUTE and pretty comfy too!!! Thanks guys!
How cute is kenz in Betsy's clothes...dang bets, you are small!

Mommy School

2011-02-10T16:17:00.002-07:00

So Jayden gets to go to kindergarten this upcoming school year. In preparation for that, the kindergarten teacher has been hosting workshops at the school to help parents know how to get the kids ready. She give great ideas and also sent home a bag of things to practice with (a white board, marker, magnetic letters, rhyming books, number matching stuff, etc). So this last workshop was about numbers and math. So I took some of her ideas and used them at mommy school...that's what the kids call it when I try to teach jayden at home. Here he did some sorting and then....
organized some patterns by color and shape and even extended a pattern (he like the air head pattern better and was WAY more motivated to do that one than the blocks)
Also, we did writing in rice. In an attempt to help him recognize his numbers, he practiced writing them in the rice. It was a little messy, but he enjoyed it.
Got lots of other ideas to help him get ready for kindergarten...and until the end of august to accomplish them all!!!

Big Boss...

2011-02-09T09:55:00.002-07:00

Jax built this big boss vehicle out of k'nex....it has guns and kind of transforms! He did such a great job and had fun doing it. These are the kinds of things that happen when we have early church and mom and dad take a nap.

Look Who's Feeling Better!!!

2011-02-07T22:11:00.002-07:00

We've had a rough time the last few weeks...we've had one kid sick every week since the first week of January....it's been hard. But the worst of all was Payt...he whined and cried and needed to be held ALL DAY LONG. I'm not kidding. I spent an entire 6 hours one day holding him on the couch...it was a LONG DAY!

But this afternoon he was smiling and laughing and running around and playing guns (with vacuum attachments).

A healthy boy is a happy mom :)

10th Anniversary....almost anyway!

2011-02-06T19:37:00.002-07:00

So, in 10 days we are gonna be celebrating ten years of marriage. Leading up to this, I've wanted a band to go with my engagment/wedding ring. So Friday night we went shopping...and found a place that was having a 45% off sale (and yes the guarantee their stuff)....

We decided to get one on each side and then had them all soldered together....

I LOVE IT! and today at church the woman sitting next to me commented on how beautiful my ring was. I just had to agree.

TWINNERS!!!

2011-02-04T15:02:00.002-07:00

So last weekend Kenz decided to get out her easy bake oven and make dessert (for a mouse, because that's about all it feeds). So she took this ball of dough and stuck it in her mouth and bit down....and bit her loose tooth. To the point of blood and screams from the kitchen! So I looked at it and told her it had to come out. (for some reason my kids have this weird idea that if they leave their tooth alone it will just fall out on its own....whose kids are they, anyway?!?) So I twisted it sideways and made her go look in the mirror at it. Apparently that gave her the courage to pull it out...which really consisted of just barely touching it. And then she called everyone on the phone book. When I sat back and looked at kenz and jax they are both missing the same tooth! Funny kids!

Jayden "Working"

2010-11-09T19:01:00.002-07:00

This is another from this summer:
We told the kids to clean their rooms. After a while we went to check on them....ere is where we found Jayden:

He worked so hard to clean his room...I think he might have fell asleep putting it all under his bed!

Albuquerque, New Mexico

2010-11-08T10:34:00.015-07:00

So at the beginning of October, I took a road trip with my sister's down to new mexico (it's like mexico...only cleaner!) to visit katy and micah and their new baby, emmett. We left early, but ended up getting stuck in traffic in this stupid little town that happened to be having a very big celebration. Anyway...we got down to katy's around 5:30 on saturday. These pictures came from two different cameras...neither one was mine :) so they are in order by each camera.

monday night, micah took us all to el Pinto, a southwestern restaurant. The food wasn't too good, but the ambiance was awesome :) and we all got to try some chili...not a sauce, mind you but not the soup either.

Tuesday we went to tinkertown. there is no way to describe tinkertown...you just have to experience it.

Tuesday was also betsy's birthday, so renee made a cake and we floated it down the river...at tradition that katy and micah have.
thursday morning we went to the balloon fiesta ...it was cold and we are laPierres

but alas, micah had his own personal heater, so he was fine!
Now these are all from betsy's camera...this was on the garage door when we arrived
the excuse for our visit, thank you emmett.

So we were a little exhausted for conference that sunday, so I think we each took a turn and slept for a few minutes

this would be my turn

Sunday night we skped basically the entire laPierre family...but this guy was just so stinkin' cute!

So betsy and laree did this big photo shoot of emmett...seriously, like 1,ooo pictures. Above are just a sample.

Emmett hadn't been liking his baths...he'd been screaming through them. So we did a little countertop sponge bath...and he barely cried.
Donuts for betsy's birthday...a LaPierre tradition
Emmett and his favorite aunt

dawn patrol...these balloons go up first to make sure the weather is ok.

this couple got married in one of the balloons
the balloon of the day

the balloons would just come down anywhere...the middle of a parking lot or field...or the middle of the road...they just come down
emmett and renee
leaving the fiesta
micah and emmett...notice his little feet sticking out of the bottom
renee at the fiesta

anyway...other than pictures of the baby, we didn't take very many pictures. We had such a great time. It was awesome to hang out with my sisters and enjoy a baby...we were all sad to leave saturday morning...but 12 hours later, there were some very excited people to see me!

The King

2010-11-02T11:23:00.002-06:00

So I have a few pics from this summer left to post....So this is the bike trailer. The kids pulled Payton around the block in it. Two in front, one in back...the fore guard and the rear guard, no seriously. They hauled him around the block saying, "All hail King Payton. All hail King Payton" They were so loud I could here them when they were a street up from us...the neighbors got a kick out of it.

Payton got out quickly and wouldn't get back in for pictures, so here is Jayden demonstrating how it looked.

the guards

them making the final corner

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T09:30:00.006-06:00

I have this thing about Halloween. It should be a no-big-deal holiday. Ya know, a little bigger than Presidents' day, but less than Thanksgiving...maybe similar to the 4th of July. It should take a little thought and even less money. (I'm cheap like that). So I DREAD Halloween every year. I don't want to spend $20/kid for costumes and I'm just NOT a sewer. But I have this AWESOME husband who has this creative gene...and can do amazing things with wood and other household "leftovers". So he made the kids some things for Halloween and then they searched their dress ups to find costumes to match (and their friends boxes and our own halloween box) and here is what they came up with:

Snake Eyes. (from GI Joe). Borrowed it from a friend. He couldn't stand to wear the mask. So he didn't.

a skeleton warrior (he was gonna wear a skeleton mask, but changed his mind at the last minute and went with the stitches and fake blood instead). Chris made him this sword, he actually made two of them, but luckily Jax only decided to carry one...he was struggling with one by the end of the night.

The Sorceress. Chris made this staff out of old vacuum cleaner parts (LONG LIVE THE SHOPVAC!). He spray painted it and then let kenzie decorate it. The coolest part is that he rigged it so that the ball lit up. It was pretty ingenious, but then again what else would we expect from chris?

The Spider. We bought it for Jax when he was 2..everyone except Jayden has worn it. It was warm and oh so cute.

the whole group ready to go out.

A close up of those cute little kids...ready to go trick or treating on saturday...yep, we went on saturday!

Hi, I'm the grinch of Halloween. Nice to meet you.

Pumpkins 2010

2010-10-27T09:04:00.003-06:00

'Tis the season again for pumpkin carving and halloween costumes...I SO don't like halloween costumes! But pumpkin carving I love. This year we grew our own pumpkins, that was fun! Even though the overtook the whole garden and looked like a big mess, I will totally do it again! Our massive crop yielded 8 pumpkins...one we donated to our favorite neighbor ;). So here are our "blank canvases"...

So let the carving begin:

Payton's Pirate

Jayden's Snake Eyes (from GI Joe...it's his costume this year)

Mykenzie's Three Eyed Monster

Jaxon's Dracula

Now these pictures are so classic...they are totally the Anderson family...how many pictures do we have of Jayden like this??? He was upset about something so....

everyone copying jayden

all lit up! So I guess we're ready for the big day!

Mykenzie's Birthday

2010-09-23T13:00:00.008-06:00

I have been postponing this post because I do not know how to do justice to these AWESOME cakes without a million and a half pictures. I still don't...maybe the cakes will need there own post!

You would be surprised to know how little cake was left over

colorful..

Grandma Janet and Susie make this doll house...it is so cute! You should see all the details in there

borrowing hollyhock seeds from the neighbors

how funny is this pic?

Jaxon's Baptism

2010-09-20T10:13:00.002-06:00

Wouldn't it be great if I had an excuse--other than lazy--as to why these pictures are 2 weeks late??? It would be, wouldn't it! Jax got baptized labor day weekend...so that was like 2 weeks ago. It also happened to be Mykenzie's birthday and the 10th anniversary of our first date (for those who wanted to know a little trivia).

It was a really wonderful meeting and we so appreciated everyone who came and supported our family. And thank you, Thank you THANK YOU to all who helped participate. We enjoyed our special day with lots of family. Jaxon had a great day...as far as I can get out of him. He was given a nice new set of scriptures from grandma janet with a challenge from ALL grandparents to read them. I'm happy to report that he has taken on that challenge and has started reading his scriptures every night. I'm sure that he loves that excuse to keep his light on just a little bit longer.

It was an awesome day.... thanks again!

Apple Smiles

2010-09-01T08:56:00.002-06:00

Mykenzie saw these in a magazine and I remembered my mom making these a few times. Anyway...they made for a fun lunch

Pudding Painting

2010-08-30T12:02:00.002-06:00

In an attempt to keep the kiddos busy and enjoying their summer, we finger painted with pudding....

Kenzie made some great pictures...everyone else pretty much just ate it!

Ice Blocking

2010-08-28T22:13:00.004-06:00

So, remember that big microburst? The one that blew my corn over??? Well, said microburst also caused a power outage...a LOT of lines down all over town. So, Chris was concerned about the state of things in the freezer and fearing a total melt down (ha ha, get it?!) He went to Maverick to get ice...a few hours later the power came back on and we had two blocks of ice. What to do with two blocks of ice in the end of the summer on a hot day??? Go ICE BLOCKING!

Yup, I tried it too. Jax went a few feet and didn't try it again, there was a science to get it to work properly...he wasn't into it. Jayden tried twice and then he and Payt (who tried once) began to eat the ice. Kenzie and Jaxon's friend went over and over and over...for about an hour. Then we donated our stuff to the older neighbor kids who had a blast while we went home for popsicles.

I thought the day was a bust since most of my kids didn't enjoy it, but Jayden will keep asking if I remember the time we went ice blocking, or summer sledding!

First Day of School 2010

2010-08-26T12:41:00.003-06:00

I should begin the posts by saying that as I write this, Payton is getting ready for a nap and Jayden is playing with friends and the other two are AT SCHOOL....all day, both of them...until next summer!!!

thanks, again, Corinne...she LOVES the back pack

giving each other bunny ears...aren't they so CUTE?!

Yes, another year of school has begun. Jaxon is in 3rd grade...with Chris' 3rd grade teacher. Mykenzie is in first grade, with Jaxon's 2nd grade teacher (you follow?). My friend and I laughed at back to school night because they put Jaxon and her son next to each other. We don't think that will last too long. Jaxon is excited to be movin' up. (I hear third grade is a killer) And Kenz is excited to each lunch at school and for her new shoes (that are a size too big, but she insists they fit just fine...hello GYM class!). I just can't get over how big these two are getting. Even Jaxon's 2nd grade teacher...now mykenzie's first grade teacher....commented on how big ALL of the kids have gotten since last year (when they were running amuck while he was trying to have a parent teacher conference with me...someone bless those dear teachers. they put up with a lot!)

Bear Lake

2010-08-25T08:00:00.007-06:00

Oh how I LOVE Bear Lake. We took a saturday and went up and spent the day (or the afternoon at least) at the Lake...we talked Grandma and Susie into coming with us. It was a GREAT day and so relaxing and fun:

Jayden is a lot skinnier than Jaxon was at this age, so the shorts kept on falling down

Jaxon happened to find on of his friends there too

Susie practicing her matrix moves

the shock of all time...Jaxon spent the most time in the water. He didn't want to get out

She wore two different shoes!

He's 8!

2010-08-24T13:44:00.002-06:00

Last Thursday was Jaxon's 8th Birthday! I still can't believe he's 8! The batteries were about to die, but we did get a few pictures and a video or two:

the RECON CS-6 in case you heard him mention it anytime in the last few months
Jaxon is not a big fan of cake or frosting, so he decided this year he wanted warm chocolate chip cookies and ice cream...

look it's an 8!

Happy Birthday, Jaxon!

Funnies and Projects

2010-08-18T07:59:00.002-06:00

Jaxon is a funny kid. I don't know where he comes up with the stuff he says...it reminds me of someone I know pretty well. I believe mom kept a record of all the stuff s/he said. So without further ado...a few of Jaxon's latest things: I took him to the eye doctor to see if he needed a new prescription before school started. Sure enough, he did. So I asked him if he wanted to get new frames...he picked out $100 frames. I told him no way (the ones from last year were $9 and the dr. said he'd probably need new ones every year for a few years). So he takes them over to the woman working there and asks her if she can lower the price of the frames he wants. She smiles at him, kind of laughs and says, "No, that is the price." Jaxon looks at her and says, "Well, is there someone here who can?"

eating apple smiles with his stuffed snake wrapped around his neck

Betsy mentioned what he said when she was here. I wouldn't let him play video games or watch a movie. He was pretty upset. He looked at me and said in a stern voice, "Mom, that does NOT lighten my heart!"

Jaxon was staying overnight at grandma's. Chris had to help her with some stuff, so they all went out to lunch together. Jaxon ordered a root beer (it was an IBC in a bottle), so he asked if there were free refills on it. The waitress told him no and that he could order something else if he wanted to. The waitress left and Chris looked at Jax and kind of laughed at him and said he was funny. Jaxon said, "What? I'm just a boy with simple wants!"

I also remember him saying something about an object being taller than he was...but I can't quite remember the details on that one.

Also, I forgot to mention that when Cris was here, he and Mykenzie make this project...they made piggy banks out of milk jugs. They spent about an hour layering on coats of paint. Here is Cris with his finished project!

Microburst

2010-08-17T12:07:00.003-06:00

Yeah, have you ever heard of a microburst? Well, we just had our second one of the year yesterday evening. Although the damage in our yard was minimal (see below) the damage around town was fairly significant.

our corn now leans a little bit

There were branches down all over, upturned garbage cans, our neighbors' trampoline was upside down...the power went out for over 2 hours. There was an entire electric pole that blew over. Up the street, at our friend's house and entire pine tree....a REALLY big one, blew right over, uprooting it from the ground.

It was a crazy little storm! But since our power was out, we got to hang out with our neighbors/friends and had some pizza. We love to have an excuse to NOT COOK and to hang out with friends!

IF, ID

2010-08-16T11:17:00.008-06:00

So we went up to Idaho Falls a few weeks ago (yes, I'm slow at uploading these photos) to visit Carrie and the kids. It just so happened that Tanner had a job up there and so betsy came up with him. So we had a fun 2 days together.
all the boys reading a star wars lego book

playing the piano
climbing the trees

a very familiar picture of Jayden pouting

We also had a way fun balloon fight that went too fast for us to get the cameras out. We had a great time at the park, throwing rocks in the canal, climbing trees and just hangin' out with the cousins. Thanks Carrie and Mark for letting us visit.

PS out of love and respect for my dear sister, betsy, there are no pictures of her 'cause none of them were very flattering...

Hike!

2010-08-09T10:10:00.008-06:00

Yes, indeed, you did read that right! I took my family on a HIKE. You know how we LOVE the great outdoors...well some of us actually do. Cris came up to spend a few days with us and out of lack of things to do and funding to do the "fun" things, I came up with this great idea. We'd take the kids up one of the canyons for a little hike. Let them climb some rocks, throw some rocks in the water and collect a few rocks...all the while wearing them out and enjoying a little of what we have nearby...MOUNTAINS!

Cris was gonna climb up the face of the big rock to scare them...not so sure that worked out for him!

I wouldn't let him climb the big rock...he didn't like that.

the butterfly with a broken wing/leg.

throwing rocks off the bridge

the view from the bridge
the rocks nearby are never good enough
the trail

Payton taking a break

throwing rocks in the water
Kenzie's shoes got wet and then started giving her blisters...so Chris picked her up and carried her for a minute or two
then, of course, Jayden wanted a turn too
Cris' solution to the wet shoe problem...walk on the heels of the shoe...which was OK until she followed him "off-roading"

Cris and Kenzie blazing their own trail
Payton wanted a ride and proof that I was there.
waiting for the stragglers
I can't believe I caught this on camera...the boys (jax and jayden) were throwing rocks and playing in them. Jayden tried to throw a rock past Jax and hit him right in the head. Notice Chris disciplining and Jaxon holding his head and the look on Cris' face!
The end of the hike, everyone was tired and whiny...and Jaxon had a little bump from the rock. Cris cooked us some awesome Southwest chicken Chili that at least 3 of us enjoyed...maybe 4! Thanks for coming Cris...we had a great time, again :) And thanks for the chili...it was wonderful!

and to those who will understand...we had sunday beans the next night and leftover chili a few nights later. We had one unhappy bean hater :)

Splash Park!

2010-08-02T09:19:00.009-06:00

So my friend told me about this splash park in the south end of logan. (Providence, really, but who's keeping track). Its kind of like that one place in Salt Lake only smaller, obvioulsy. The water just shoots out of the ground and the kids can run around and play in it. So we had to take a trip. We piled my kids and my friend and her daughter and headed down on Friday afternoon. WE LOVED IT! Not much for shade as it's still kind of new, but it was awesome!

Even Jaxon got wet...that is a miracle in and of itself.

they wanted to eat the snacks as soon as we pulled in...forget that we had just had lunch

He is NOT peeing....he's letting his bum get hit be the smaller sprinkler. We've also determined that Jayden is skinnier than Jaxon was...as these shorts would NOT stay up!

Payton refused to go near the water until he finally got hot enough...then he decided he liked it!
sitting on the sprinkler

OK, so this is the big "sprinkler" right in the middle. It shoots up at the end of the cycle and all the kids were trying to stand on it and cover it up...not Jayden...he let is shoot his bum. It was so funny!
LOVE IT!

They also had a pretty nice playground there so they could get warm and then go back to the water

My friend and I decided that it was definitely worth another trip or two. We LOVED it because the kids can't drown, they can get as wet as they want (or not...) and they can play at the park.

Look Who's 4!

2010-07-29T09:40:00.002-06:00

Licking the beaters from his cake....

I think he had a good birthday. He had to "remind" all his neighbor friends that it was his birthday! He got a nerf gun that he has had so much fun shooting.

I remember the day he was born...there were so many other people in labor that the only room they had for us was a small corner room with a broken air conditioner. The sun was shining right into the window in there and it was HOT!!! They finally found a fan and brought that in, but it was still quite warm. The doctor that delivered Jayden was like my FAVORITE OB ever! He was so funny. We set up a "plan" so that he could induce me that day without actually having to "induce" me. He stripped my membranes and told me to go to the hospital in a few hours and tell them I was in labor (even though I wasn't). He was all about me not having to feel any contractions, so the epidural was put in as soon as I got there...only it didn't work and they had to do it again. I remember after he was born, Chris was holding Jayden and the dr was just finishing up. The doctor stopped and just looked at Chris holding Jayden. The look on his face totally explained why he did what he did.

We are so blessed to have Jayden in our home...with all his emotions. You've never met a kid with a bigger smile...and we LOVE that smile!

Just Wanted You to Know...

2010-07-28T08:18:00.003-06:00

This is for all you guys who spent a whole day of your vacation helping to get our garden "organized". Spending a whole day sitting in the dirt shoveling and pulling out weed roots. I wanted you to know that we (meaning I) have been keeping up on it. We edged around it this last weekend so now it doesn't run into the grass. It looks awesome! We couldn't have (or probably wouldn't have) done it without your help....THANK YOU SO MUCH!

...but all the other kids are doing it...

2010-07-26T14:57:00.002-06:00

Chris HATES the whole mohawk look "the kids are wearing these days". He can't stand it. He says it looks like someone sat on your head...if you get my drift... I, on the other hand, think it is cute. Ya know, the faux hawk...I'm a BIG fan. Soooo...when we had to go into town the other day for some errands, I just couldn't resist. They looked pretty good.

P.S. Chris was less than impressed when we made an appearance at his office and the boys had "mohawks".

Chris' 31st Birthday

2010-07-19T14:39:00.005-06:00

I never seem to be able to get pictures in order for this thing...or words in the right place...so we'll start backwards. This is kenz, drinking the melted ice cream out of the bucket: it was kinda gross, but totally expected!
Chris and his cake

That's an AR-15, in case you were wondering. This was the original picture, how'd I do?

I think he had a fun birthday. We had dinner at his dad's and celebrated all 6 anderson birthdays this month (add in my family and we have 10!) Then we came home and sang happy birthday to just him.Oh, and we had a surprise visitor for the evening...thanks again Cris, that was so nice of you and we SOOOO enjoyed having you here...as usual!

Happy Birthday, Chris....glad you were born :)

It's Been FOREVER!

2010-07-16T10:51:00.005-06:00

Remember this?????Well, it's been 2 whole years since that whole incident:

I know, most of the pictures are of the cake, but I thought you needed to get the full effect of it! Happy Birthday to our little guy!

6:00 AM

2010-05-13T14:09:00.002-06:00

I have to get up and be exercising by 6:00 am during the weeks. I don't particularly like to get up that early. I'm not so good at it either, but here is what happens if I don't:
That would be an entire box of baking soda as well as the remainder of our steak seasoning...some salt and pepper and whatever else he could dump out...on the counter and in the drawer....while I was on the treadmill. This is what happens if I don't get up early and try to exercise while he is awake.

Princess of the Parade

2010-05-12T15:05:00.002-06:00

workin' the crowd!

So this past Saturday, Kenzie was in a parade with her dance class. She was so cute, or so I hear. Jaxon and I had to miss the parade for a freezing cold soccer game. Anyway...cute little ballerina.

The Gene Pool

2010-04-22T12:03:00.005-06:00

(that's him on the left...he wasn't so gray when I left home, must have been the younger kids that did that to him)

My dad is a creature of habit. Seriously, you could tell time by dad's unfaltering routine. He gets up at some ridiculously early hour of the morning...like 4:30 or something. Then he has the whole exercise routine that takes probably over an hour and then at least an hour of scripture study/prayer and then we'd all have breakfast and then he'd run upstairs, brush his teeth, give everyone around the table a kiss (or a handshake in one particular case :) ) and then he'd leave for work. He always called mom on his lunch break...ALWAYS! He always was home by 5:30..we'd line up for high pushes on the swing (that hung from a tree that is no longer there) and then he'd go in, change his clothes talk to mom and we'd have dinner. His days, weeks, months are all planned out and executed with exactness. He's an engineer...he can't help it! But I have to admit I admire his discipline. I remember practicing piano with dad in the other room in the mornings studying his scriptures. I wonder if he ever read/wrote in time with the music. I am certain that obnoxious songs ran through his head all day...but he still did it. There was no excuse for missing any part of the routine...vacations, holidays, sick days, snow days...nothin'! I think the first time I ever remember dad not completing the routine was probably the day he ended up in the hospital...that was a strange phone call! Dad, in the hospital? Of his own free will??

This is part of my gene pool. I like order, I like to have a specific time to do things so I always know what I'm supposed to be (but obviously NOT) doing. My schedule goes something like this: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I get up around 5:45, go downstairs and do the treadmill for 45 minutes while I watch one episode of Desperate Housewives. Tuesdays and Thursdays I sleep in a little and then do 1/2 an hour of WII active. Then I come upstairs, make breakfast and lunches. I get the kids up and start getting everyone ready for the day. After I take the kids to school, I shower and study. Then the rest of the day can begin. I used to do laundry on Mondays, bathrooms on Thursdays and a complete pick up and clean floors on Fridays. I used to always go to story hour on Thursday mornings...see, I got the gene that makes me want to schedule everything. The gene that I missed is the one that makes me actually do it. I am SO good at talking myself out of doing the things that I should be doing. The conversation goes like this: "GoodSelf, you need to get those bathrooms cleaned today". "BadSelf: I will." An hour later Good Self: "What are you going to do about those bathrooms?" Bad Self: "I'll get there, just gonna check facebook, email, blogs first" Good Self "You checked everything you can possibly check, now go do the bathrooms!" Bad Self "Why bother, no one is coming to visit this weekend...I cleaned them two weeks ago...they aren't so bad!" Good Self "good point...where else can we waste time?" It happens with the laundry too...and cleaning the house and pretty much all the chores I don't enjoy doing. It's a problem for me. My dad who never took a sick day until after like 20+ years with the company...me, I feel a little tickle in my throat and I don't have to get up an exercise 'cause I'm sick!

yeah, I got the compulsion to plan--thanks daddio, I just lack the discipline!

Don't you just LOVE it?

2010-04-14T20:52:00.003-06:00

I was just thinking about our kite flying experience. I'm not the kind of mom who takes the kids all over town. We mostly hang out around our neighborhood...why not there is like a hundred other kids to play with! Anyway...every once in a while I get the notion to "be a cool mom" and do something out of the ordinary with my kids, like flying kites. I get it on the brain that this is going to be a great time. We are all going to have fun. Everything is going to just be perfect. In my mind, the sun is shining, and the kids are laughing. I envision them running up to me and telling me how much fun this is and what an awesome mom I am. I think, "Cool. This is going to be great. We'll bond and we'll be a better family for it!"
Then we begin the activity...whatever it is...and not 10 minutes into it I'm thinking, "What happened?" The kids are fighting, the sky gray, the stupid kites won't fly...whatever! Then what i thought was going to be this great experience ends up like a really bad dream.

WHY IS THAT?

and then last night chris had to work late so we got some hamburgers and watched a movie before bed. And those kids, those very same ones from the kite experience, all want to sit on my lap. They all want to snuggle next to me...and for the first time in his entire life, Payton gave me an unsolicited kiss on the cheek!

KIDS!

Let's Go Fly A Kite

2010-04-13T14:38:00.002-06:00

payton enjoying the fresh air (and the last few sucks of the binky)

So the kids got some new kites for easter...they were a dollar at wal-mart. Jaxon got Storm Shadow (from GI Joe), Jayden got Bumblebee (from Transformers) and Kenzie got a barbie kite. So one afternoon they wanted to go fly them. It was really cold outside and looked like it might rain, but we headed over to the school anyway to give it a try. OH MY GOSH! I think total flight time we got up to like 15 minutes combined! I kept telling jayden that he couldn't fly his kite by everyone else...they needed to all spread out or they would get tangled.

jaxon brought his friend and they took turns flying his kite

Shortly after that, Barbie...who had been just fine starts having drama and won't stay up in the air. There was plenty of wind but she just kept crashing. I was trying to help Barbie get off the ground when Jaxon starts yelling that he's having problems. I turn around and see Bumblebee and Storm Shadow fighting in the sky. Jayden hadn't listened to me and had tried to hang out with jaxon and his friend, but had got the two kites all tangled up.

While I left kenz to figure out the barbie drama, to help jaxon and jayden, kenzie decides she's done with barbie drama and tries to throw the kite away. The wind keeps whipping the kites around so that the tangle is just getting worse. that was the quitting point for me...
Kenzie took barbie, I took payton, jayden ran ahead and jaxon dragged bumblebee and storm shadow home......
as we left the field, big ol' cold rain drops started to fall. Yep, it was that kind of experience!

Easter Morning

2010-04-12T14:29:00.003-06:00

Payton scoping out his easter basket...and adding to it!

kenzie getting out her stuff

new ties

new dress
trying out the new bubbles

we had a great easter...we did the traditional jelly bean hunt (laree has all those pictures). we colored eggs and we found easter baskets. we rolled our eggs down the hill and we had an easter egg hunt at grandmas....and we got to listen to conference and enjoy the LaPierre side of the family for the weekend! (thanks for coming, guys...we had such a blast with you all here!)

Mykenzie's Room

2010-03-25T11:33:00.003-06:00

So here is the new and improved Mykenzie's room. The colors are colonial yellow and heart -something or other - pink. We were gonna just do all yellow, but we didn't have enough, so we figured if we had to buy new paint, we might as well get an accent color and kenz was begging for pink. The comforter and light she got for christmas. the quilt I made for her a few years ago (like back when she was in the toddler bed.). above is the doll corner: a doll bed and a rocking chair. it's hidden from view when you first walk in the room.

cute curtain...just one adds a little something something to the yellow wall. the shelf is going to have a letter M on it too, chris has been busy.

a bulletin board and picture frams
more scrapbook paper on poster board...looks good, doesn't it!
and a bed skirt...so needed one of those. anyway that's kenzie's room!

Objective: to lighten up the room and make it look more girly
mission accomplished!

Jayden's Bedroom

2010-03-25T10:47:00.003-06:00

OK, so when betsy was here a few weeks ago, I decided it was time to do something with the kids rooms. We started with Mykenzie's because it was SOOO dark and not girly and not even kind of cute. For Christmas, the kids all got some new bedding...so we started with that. Jayden's bedding was monsters (it is the cutest thing EVER). So we went with that theme. The colors of the wall are vivid turquoise and dewey green. I probably wouldn't have ever picked them out (betsy did) but they look AWESOME! They hurt the eyes to put them on with the other orange-y color that we had on before and it took a little getting used to, but I love it.

above is the back wall of his room. those are scrapbook paper of robots and gears and gadgets. they look really good on their with the monsters and aliens on the bed.

ok, so we had this big long wall with nothing on it, so i thought i'd pick a few of the monsters from the bedding and paint them on to poster board. I cut them out and convinced chris to help me make some frames for them. I LOVE the way they turned out!

here's a shelf we hung up...it used to be in my room, but now it holds the smooshie and a picture or me and katy on my wedding day...gotta change the picture!
yeah, i'm kinda proud of myself for the monster thing

i made the curtains...they are nothin' special...just white on a plain curtain rod.

anyway...it took me forever, but jayden's room is officially DONE! and it came out SOOOOOO good. Thanks bets!

Not to be outdone....

2010-03-18T17:54:00.002-06:00

Jaxon came home from school, heard that Mykenzie had lost a tooth and insisted that
I pop out one of his two loose teeth....so I obliged. It popped out easier than I thought it would and it went down his throat. He about choked on it...but all is well.
Jayden would like you all to know that his teeth are all still perfectly attached inside his mouth:

and now the tooth fairy must make a trip to the bank...

It's About Time

2010-03-18T13:14:00.002-06:00

So Mykenzie lost her first tooth today. It has been loose for months (seriously, months). Her permanant tooth started growing in behind it....clear back in January. Anyway, it FINALLY fell out today with a little help from mom.
It reminded me of when I was little and losing my first teeth. Mom would ask if she could see how loose it was and then she'd just pop it out without any permission. It used to make me so mad. She'd always say, "But it was so loose, it was just hanging there!" Now I understand. We've heard complaining about this tooth for two months and it was just time to get that little thing out. But, I asked permission to pop it out first!

Spring :)

2010-03-17T12:50:00.003-06:00

The kids had their first "picnic" of the season yesterday afternoon. It was finally warm enough to be outside without freezing to death, to they took advantage.

Can I just say...BRING IT ON! I'm SOOOO sick of the winter and being cooped up inside all day.

PROJECTS!!!!

2010-03-11T10:48:00.002-07:00

So...with betsy here and all last week...I thought I'd start on some projects. This is actually the last one we did, but it's the only one that is 100% done. Total cost on this project was like $3. (because I had the paint, wood, and a person who could put it all together). It's just scrapbook paper and mod podge. This project morphed as the week went on and finally ended up with this:

it sits on the wall behind the kitchen table...and I LOVE the way it turned out!

Sick Kids

2010-03-10T09:17:00.002-07:00

I was so excited to have Betsy come and spend a week with me last week. Too bad the first half of the week was dealing with this:

Jayden and Payton came down with something about the same day betsy got here. Poor Payton was so sick and so tired he wanted to be held pretty much all day...and betsy was so kind to oblige him :) He was really funny about his "stuff" too. He always had to make sure he had Mr. Lion, his blanket a binky and at least one sippy cup with him at all times! If betsy was using her phone, he'd swat at it to make her put it away. If she was patting his back and stopped, he start fussing and trying to do it himself. One evening he fell asleep on the counter while I was getting dinner together. (as seen above)

But we did persevere and were able to get two major projects done and one smaller one. And as soon as they are all the way completed, I'll post some pics!

Dr. Suess Day

2010-03-08T12:38:00.004-07:00

Our version of "Daisy Head Maisy". The kindergarteners dressed up like a dr. suess character on friday in celebration of his birthday. Kenz decided to be daisy head maisy. It took betsy and me a few days to figure out how to do it, but she looked AWESOME. She even ventured into walmart like this...got a few weird looks, but mostly laughs!

What's Not To Love?

2010-02-26T08:08:00.002-07:00

I remember the early mornings when I was young...getting up for school and being soooo tired. I remember how hard it was to get out of bed---especially in the winter. I remember begging dad for a piggy back ride downstairs...I remember snuggling in a blanket next to the heater. A generation later, not so much has changed. I was hurrying this morning trying to get Chris' breakfast and lunch together ( I had a slow morning 'cause I couldn't find my shoes for the treadmill and 'cause I had to talk to mind and celebrate the birth of a new nephew that I think has put me in a permanent good mood for the day--thanks lis!) While I was rushing about, the kids all sat in the kitchen on the floor. I turned around and looked at them and remembered how great they all are and how much I love these guys! I think in the day to day struggles of life I forget just how much I love these guys, but I was reminded how lucky I am and how special each child is!

Congrats Lisa and Jim. We are so excited about Jack or OO jr. You will be such wonderful parents...he's a lucky guy!

Who Doesn't Like Peanut Butter

2010-02-25T13:01:00.001-07:00

Finger lickin' good! He stole Jayden's apples and peanut butter...apparently Jayden wasn't eating it fast enough!

lunch was concluded with peanut butter finger painting on the counter!

Fun Stuff

2010-02-19T11:26:00.002-07:00

Mykenzie won the gold medal in their Kindergarten Olympics today (of course, so did everyone else, but she was pretty proud of herself) Who says facebook is a waste of time? I got this hair do off a picture on a friends wall...how cool is this?

Does this look familiar?

This is our "family picture" as taken by Jaxon on our 9th anniversary

Here we are on our 9th anniversary (we went to the temple and did sealings...hence the dressy clothes)

The Prodigal Has Returned

2010-02-17T09:26:00.002-07:00

It has been a REALLY long time since I've seen this on a pair of pants that actually fit me! After I had Jaxon I just assumed that that post-pregnancy size I was was just my "reward" for having kids. So, I never really did much about it...until I was pregnant with Jayden and the numbers on the scale were getting scary high. So I took up walking around the neighborhood..until I was put on bed rest and limited activity. But a while after he was born, I took to the early morning hours in Richmond like a woman on a mission, 'cause I was and my reward was that the weight slowly started coming off. That was motivation to work a little harder at it. I started working on controlling portion sizes as well as muscle building/toning exercises. When I was pregnant with Payton, I felt the best I'd ever felt in a pregnancy and was back to some sort of normal shortly after his birth. But I think the greatest feeling I've ever had in all of this was when I tried on a pair of pants "just to see" while Chris was getting new clothes for work and a size 6 fit ME!

9 Years!

2010-02-16T09:29:00.002-07:00

(photo taken by tavis johnson at betsy's wedding this past summer)

Nine years ago from today I started on a path I knew absolutely nothing about. I remember counting out how many hours, days, weeks and eventuallly months we'd been married for the first year or so. I can't believe that was 9 years ago! Where did the time go?

In nine years we have been through 4 pregnancies 3 of which were high risk and stressful. We've survived a very sad miscarriage, major back surgery when Chris could do little more than sit in bed for 3 months straight--while I was 8 months pregnant. We lasted through almost a year of unemployment. We made it unscathed through Mykenzie in the hospital for a week with RSV, the early arrival and subsequent 2 month hospitalization of Payton. We were there together through my grandparents' deaths, building a house together, adding on to the house together and the daily struggles of raising 4 kids in today's world. We've made it through a lot together and all of these things have made our marriage and our family what it is. We've learned to rely on each other, to trust one another and seriously, the true meaning of love--it's less to do with emotion and EVERYTHING to do with action!

Happy Anniversary, Chris! It's been an amazing 9 years!

Love Lunch

2010-02-14T23:38:00.004-07:00

We had a special dinner for valentine's day.... kenz enjoying her food

dinner: chicken fettuccine alfredo with bread sticks, ceasar salad and Martinellis (of course) chris' favorite dinner

Payton...he just never really wanted to change out of his pajamas

the happy participants

the settings

the awesome decorations (kenzie helped)

we had so much fun....but we missed jaxon (he had spent the night at grandma's and hadn't got home yet)

we're not really much for valentine's day, especially since our anniversary is 2 days later, but we had fun celebrating with the kids!

Chris' New Desk

2010-02-02T09:40:00.002-07:00

This was the last project of the addition (well, this and cleaning out the garage)...this is chris' desk that he built in his new office:

it has the same top at the counters in the kitchen...he did a pretty good job, I think. It makes for a nice office for him to work and relax!

Pirate Day!

2010-01-30T13:19:00.003-07:00

The second graders had pirate week this past week, culminating on Friday with dress up day before school

After school with his loot

Birthday Celebrations

2010-01-29T10:28:00.002-07:00

Flowers from Chris...they are so bright and cheery! My very good friend is exactly one day younger than me. So this year we celebrated out last year of 20's together with lunch at her house. We had "girl food" and delicious cake!

Happy Birthday to Us! Our Birthday cake

"Girl Food" = Monte Cristo sandwhiches and Pear and Apple salad with Light Lemonade and walnut muffins

the kids enjoyed their own personal pizza

Pretty, huh! We had a great time and the food was absolutely delicious. Chris helped me make dinner when he got home and we had more cake! It was a great birthday!

The Kids New Bedding

2010-01-26T11:28:00.004-07:00

The kids each got some new bedding for Christmas. This is Mykenzie's:

Jaxon's (gotta love the skulls with the teddy bear):

This is Jayden's--it glows in the dark:

Warm Fuzzies

2010-01-26T11:24:00.002-07:00

Here is our warm fuzzy jar (sorry it's a little late).

jaxon held the door open for us at church

jayden helped jaxon unload the dishwasher

mykenzie helped me with payton

i made a special treat for everyone

chris cleaned out the garage so i could park in there

Christmas Morning (Christmas Part II)

2010-01-18T13:51:00.006-07:00

7:30 am...can't complain about that

thank you katy and micah....I'm scared to use it!

it's supposed to look like her (same hair and eyes)

santa brought lots of legos

Christmas Part 1

2010-01-15T22:13:00.003-07:00

Christmas Eve always seems so busy and we never seem to have the time to color in the coloring book. So this year we made it a family home evening activity the Monday before Christmas...so here is our fun:

Christmas Eve Day, by about 2 the kids were so tired they couldn't even pretend to smile, so I made them all take a nap. A few minutes later, I heard them coming up stairs armed with blankets, pillows and silkie to nap under the tree. I put on some soft christmas music and they all eventually fell asleep. Chris came home from work early and joined them. I was in a rush to get the house put together so that it could be destroyed the next morning :) They all slept until it was time to go to the family Christmas dinner

SNOW!

2009-12-22T15:26:00.002-07:00

Payton's first time out to play in the snow...I think he likes it
these two look like trouble
cute!
jax taking a break
our snowman...since there is no grass in that part of our yard, he's a little dirty!

Family Home Evening Gingerbread House

2009-12-19T13:06:00.004-07:00

Chris was our official assembler of the gingerbread house. He was careful to make sure it was "structurally sound" with plenty of "adhesive" as you'll see
eagerly anticipating decorating time!

roof is on!
he was just making sure the frosting wasn't poisoned or anything

and then things got a little crazy...you might think the kids started this whole thing, but no...in fact it was their DAD who started decorating the kids in frosting:

the finished product:

it lasted ONE day...well, the candy only lasted about one hour!

LOVE IT!

2009-12-01T19:44:00.002-07:00

For some odd reason, the majority of my kids have a 'thing' against the sun...they just don't like it very much. It's hot, it hurts their eyes...they got it from their dad. He hates the sun...I think he'd prefer to live in a cave (which he basically did do once...he still claims it was the best bedroom he EVER had).

I was so excited the other afternoon to find Payton enjoying one of my favorite parts of the addition...the sliding glass door. Not so much the door itself, but the fact that the sun shines through it basically ALL day long. I LOVE that. I have also fallen asleep in this very same spot. It appears that LaPierre genes...though not the strongest can in fact be passed on!

Great room pics

2009-11-16T15:28:00.004-07:00

The lights are on and somebody is home, we're are pretty much done with the addition. We just have some minor things to finish up.
This is a good picture of the tile and laminate.
We're glad to be done with all the major stuff,

Kitchen pics

2009-11-16T15:15:00.005-07:00

Nicole has been really busy with other stuff so I thought I would post some pictures for her. Here are some pictures of the finished Kitchen.
Some of the cabinets look a little newer but, they will age over time and look the same as our existing cabinets.
Computer desk

The Granite tile turned pretty good, we really like it.

Here is our new mud room bench seat.
.....more to come

Kids Do the Darndest Things

2009-10-30T10:11:00.003-06:00

Jayden watching the goofy movie with ear protection on (I promise it wasn't loud)

Mykenzie made a Halloween costume out of a box...it was a tight fit with the arms
Jayden sticking his tongue out through his monster teeth
they are a bit excited for Halloween...they have their costumes laying out on the floor...complete with paper heads, hands and legs

Close up of Jaxon's "head"
close up of Mykenzie's "head"

Kitchen

2009-10-29T10:42:00.000-06:00

temporary stove
temporary sink
new cabinets and bar
same...

the counter top will be finished soon...I hope and then we'll be REALLY close to done!

Ward Halloween Party

2009-10-28T11:09:00.002-06:00

of course...a princess
he had to have the fake blood, but then refused to use it
he ditched the hat and boots before we even left the house

There are what their costumes are supposed to look like, but since it's been snowing and more is expected...they won't look anything like this on halloween...gotta love the 6 months of winter!
Somewhere between General Conference and Stake Conference we had some bad miscommunication in the ward and we showed up in time for the closing prayer! The kids still got some treats and it was ok, but seriously.....

PAYTON WALKS!!!!!

2009-10-27T13:19:00.002-06:00

So Payton has decided that he likes to walk and he's trying it more and more. When he falls down he quickly gets back up. He is getting so big.

Pumpkin Carving Party

2009-10-26T21:34:00.007-06:00

Jayden with his pumpkin...pre-carved...he looks so innocent!
He sure is getting bigger and handsomer...I was just noticing
Kenzie's imitation of a jack-o-lantern face
Brittany actually carved 2 pumpkins

Jacob really just wanted to play with the toys
but here is his finished product
four out of five done
mykenzie and her monkey face pumpkin...I did this :)
this is jayden's (he picked it out)

sorry about this picture, it though I turned it around, but I guess not. 'cause why would you NOT want your chin poked?
brittany's handy work again...jaxon wouldn't even clean it out.
just taking it all in
susie and branson trying to decide what to carve
finished product
with the binks...
without the binks...
our four finished products
hanging out ON susie after....who knew a loveseat could fit so many!

We had SO much fun...even if it was a kind of late night. It was a great way to spend some time together with family....thanks you guys!

Crazy Hair Day!

2009-10-23T11:44:00.002-06:00

This week has been red ribbon week at Park Elementary School. Each day the kids do something different to show their commitment to being drug free. Monday was red shirt day, tuesday was inside out and backwards day, wednesday was crazy sock day (we had no shortage on that one thanks to grandma dottie!) thursday was school spirit day and today was the long awaited crazy hair day. This is the kids favorite day of the whole year. They had fun thinking of funny things to do with their hair. Here is what we ended up with

jaxon insisted on views from every angle!

Update on the Addition

2009-10-20T10:29:00.006-06:00

Last Monday we started taking out the cabinets.

Tuesday night we started taking out the tile
Wednesday night we finished taking out the tile
Jayden just wanted to smash all the little pieces of tile.

We finished painting Monday afternoon

We started laying the new tile on Saturday night

This is late saturday afternoon

last night we finished laying the tile

tonight we will grout
tomorrow night we will seal the grout
thursday the cabinet guys are coming
friday night we hope to get ready to make the countertops
saturday we will probably (hopefully) finish the counters
next week we will put in the wood floors
and then carpet
and then DONE!

Expertec

2009-10-20T09:59:00.003-06:00

(dirk and sarah going to senior? prom)

I just have to say, Chris and I LOVE our mechanic. (Not just 'cause he's family either). First of all, he found us our car and got us a great deal. If you've ever bought a car from a dealership you will recall the hours of haggling over the price, the extra costs they throw in somewhere and all the other headache of buying a new car. We've done it a lot (as you know) and we SOOO hate it. But buying our car form Dirk was awesome. We told him what we wanted and how much we wanted to spend and he found us a car (in our first choice color) within a few days. All we had to do was show up, sign a few papers and within half and hour we were on our way with our new car. You just don't get that anywhere else. Plus, it's really hard to know if a mechanic is being honest with you about what your car needs or if they are over charging you. Chris and i know NOTHING about cars, but that's ok, because we have Dirk! You should all be so lucky.

Yesterday we took our Envoy in to be inspected, have new tires put on and an oil change. Chris took the car in on his way to work and Dirk gave him a car to drive to work. How's that for service. Dirk wasn't there on Chris' way home, so I called this morning to pay him. Our car was in desperate need of new tires, you didn't have to look very close to tell. Chris found a good deal on tires online and then dirk put them on for us. This morning he told me that the rear passenger side tire was a miracle. Apparently tires have metal rods in them to help them stay strong, they also have some mesh cloth after the metal that give them a little more strength. Well, apparently, the aforementioned tire had a chunk missing, he said about the size of a football. He said it looked like someone had taken a grinder to the metal rods and I was essentially driving around on mesh cloth. He said it was amazing that it hadn't blown out. Then he said, "You guys sure must be paying your tithing!" Which I so appreciated...because does your mechanic remind you that the Lord is looking out for you and blessing you for doing the best you can?

Seriously, we LOVE our mechanic!

Poor Little Guy

2009-10-08T10:49:00.004-06:00

So last monday, my friend asked me if I would watch her little boy after kindergarten (he's in Mykenzie's class) for a few minutes because she had to be somewhere when he got out. So we watched him for like 45 mins. Well, his mom called me this monday...a week later. She said that her son had gotten pretty sick later that afternoon (after he'd been here) then she said they all got sick. With what you might ask....the swine flu. She called to see if anyone in our home had gotten sick. Well.......last Wednesday/Thursday Jayden and Mykenzie were not feeling great. Fevers, aches, coughs, etc. And then poor little payton got it. He's been so sick. He's been running a temperature and coughing and been really uncomfortable. Everyone else has gotten better, but him. I was going to take him into the doctor, but my neighbor (a nurse) told me that there isn't anything they can do for him except treat his symptoms...which I've already been doing at home.

So payton has an unconfirmed case of swine flu...i just can't see paying a couple hundred dollars for the doctor to confirm it!

Something NEW!

2009-10-07T13:30:00.001-06:00

Payton standing

this is what he kept looking at these guys and laughing

a good looking bunch of kids!

Sheetrock is DONE!

2009-10-01T10:13:00.002-06:00

Yeah, I know I'm behind. If you and I have talked about this lately, you probably think this is pretty old news. But yes, the sheetrock is done. This (above) is going to be a built in book shelf--like in the front room.

this is jayden's room...well, his closet door and part of his bedroom door.

this is where chris' desk will go...it has yet to be built, but it's gonna look really nice when it's done

this is the mudroom wall...

we are hoping to get painting soon, but chris has had to work late every day this week and probably most of next week...so we'll see!

New and Improved Jaxon

2009-09-30T17:20:00.002-06:00

You may be asking yourself, has GQ come out with a junior's version? But nope, that's the new and improved Jaxon. He has finally got his glasses! We were a little slow on the uptake, apparently he should have had them last year, but better late than never, right? He's had them for a whole hour so far and is so excited about them. I, however, am skeptical that they are the exact presciption he needs. He still seems to be squinting to read stuff. But at least they are a starting point and should help him a bit at school...and home! But really, isn't he just so stinkin' cute! (I mean handsome. He would be so embarassed for me to say he's cute...babies are cute. Big kids are handsome!)

I Can't Believe I Forgot to Do THIS!

2009-09-30T10:14:00.003-06:00

I was sitting in bed last night thinking I had a lot of things I haven't blogged about when it occurred to me that I still hadn't blogged about Mykenzie's 6th Birthday! How embarrassing is that? Anyway, she wanted a castle cake...so that's what she got...bedecked with Cinderella and Prince Charming (are they ALL named Prince Charming?) Anyway...it was a LOT of cake (3 layers!) and the frosting was overly plentiful...I kept forgetting a major ingredient so kept adding others to try to fix it...it took my a while to find my mistake.

I told her to stand by her cake...this is what I got
CLASSIC!

we all know how long that will last

I believe these same items were used the next morning to give me a "makeover"

Thanks for coming up everyone who was here. We had a great time and the little princess' thought her birthday was well worth the wait!

My Favorite Feature

2009-09-26T12:34:00.002-06:00

I know I'm skipping a little ahead of myself, but Chris just finished this the other night and I am SO excited about it. This is the bench seat in the mud room...

the seat lifts up and we can store shoes in there--so NO MORE SHOES IN THE LAUNDRY ROOM!!!!

anyway....I think he did a really good job! I just LOVE it!

Just a Few Cute Pictures

2009-09-24T21:21:00.000-06:00

Jayden gave him licorice

Mykenzie's dollar store ball popped, but she was ok with it because she and chris found a new better use for it!

Jayden needed a turn

Building The Deck

2009-09-24T20:50:00.005-06:00

We started over Labor Day weekend and I naively had the idea that it would be done just like that...oh how wrong i was! We had a lot of help that weekend from Cris, Jamie and Steve.
This is Cris making sure the dirt around the posts was packed nice and tight!

Chris cutting the joists

the kids making potions

there was a LOT of nailing that weekend...I hope everyone's wrists have recovered since.

she is reading her operating manual for her new camera. I didn't know anyone actually read those!

it's blurry...but I love when he makes this face.

the frame is all up and ready to go

pretty sunset

he is so loving all this construction. he plays in the dust and dirt all day long!

part way done

after almost 2 weeks...the finished product!

I LOVE this 45 thing he did here...it looks so nice..and the deck is the perfect height to add some more "seating" to the conversation pit...

thanks for everyone's help. it took a while, but we got it done...aside from staining it (which we'll do when we're done with everything else) the entire outside it done!

The Rip-R-Stripper

2009-09-24T20:34:00.004-06:00

This is the machine that was supposed to make tearing up the tile easy...at least that's what we thought--until we actually used it!

Benj came over and helped us get some of this up

I just liked the name

trying to figure out if there was a better way to make it work (there wasn't)

of course he "couldn't sleep"

so he tried to help.

it took us over 4 hours to rip up about 1/3 of the tile. We had to take it out so we could build the mud room walls...We are very much NOT looking forward to taking out the rest of the tile!