HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREW!!!!

July 1st is Andrew's 4th birthday. Here is a picture of him from our little family party we had on Tuesday night. We wanted to celebrate with Papa Wayne since he can't make it to the party this weekend. Andrew's friend Nicholas came over for cake and ice cream (he won't make it to the party either) and it was nice to have a small get together. Maybe we should do it this way from now on. These parties are expensive and stressful. I'm struggling with him turning 4. Of course, I have struggled at every year for some reason. Maybe because he is my oldest. It's hard to believe he is actually 4 and next year will go to school. I don't even want to think about how fast this next year will go.

We have completed 2 days of swim lessons. Grace is loving it. We play in the water together and blow bubbles, float and she jumps off the side into my arms. Andrew hated it yesterday b/c we thought he would swim with daddy but he is just with his instructor...no parents. That upset him and he cried "daddy" the entire time. It was very difficult to listen to him cry the whole time. Today he didn't want to do it and cried again for probably 20 minutes and the last 10 he had fun. The teacher made him do everything even when he cried. She even jumped into the deep end with him in her arms and they went under and he was fine. She doesn't mind that he cries and said the more she makes him go under water and do the activities the quicker he will be ok. I think it's a little of being afraid of the water and also being left with a stranger in a strange place. He really likes his teacher (she wasn't there yesterday) and said he will go back tomorrow. Maybe he will actually get out of her arms sooner tomorrow. I will get some pics of swim lessons but not until next Friday b/c that is camera day. Parents aren't allowed around the pool during lessons except for the parent/toddler class. Well, that's about it....HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREW!!!!!!

Our weekend

Our weekend in Vegas was hot and very busy.We made it to M&M's world and Rainforest Cafe. Andrew made it down the aisle (above) although he decided it was too hot and headed to the shade and drank some water.
Grace looked pretty in her little dress. She wasn't in the wedding but was a good girl through the whole weekend.
If you want to see more pictures of our weekend in Vegas and the wedding click HERE. There are pictures of Gracie's last day of school and our weekend in Vegas. We are all very tired from the weekend. It's hard to get much sleep in Vegas. We had really good time anyway. The kids danced a lot at the reception and had a blast with their cousins. We can't wait to see them again so the kids can play. Andrew had fun hanging out with Uncle Mike and Amy. Now we are going to focus on Andrew's birthday and his party next weekend. I'm going to order the cake in the morning and figure out the food. Hope you enjoy looking at the pictures.

Not Today

Well, I promised a post today but I'm just too tired! The weekend went well, Andrew made it down the aisle, nice wedding and reception. It took us 5 hours to get home today and I am just exhausted. Not really from the drive but just the weekend and then all the traffic and obstacles to get home took us 2 hours longer than expected. I will try to get the pics up tomorrow for you to see. Oh, and tomorrow evening is our first day of swim lessons. I'll let you know about all of it!

Wedding weekend

Just realized I haven't posted since Tuesday and won't be able to post again until Sunday. We have a wedding this weekend. I'll post all about it on Sunday. Andrew is going to be the ring bearer and if you think about it on Saturday at 1 pm (Pacific time) say a little prayer that he will cooperate and walk down the aisle and take pictures. I never know with him. Anyway, we are excited and ready for this weekend. I'll leave you with a picture that we took on Father's Day....just playing in the yard after church. Have a great couple of days!

Playing in the pool

Happy Father's Day

First, I want to say Happy Father's Day to all the daddies out there...especially my dad, my husband, my father-in-law Wayne, and my Grampy.
Here is what we got David

This is what Andrew drew in church today. Isn't is great! I LOVE it! Just thought you needed to see it! What a great treat for Father's Day!Here is what Gracie drew. There are 3 circles and pointed and said Mama, Daddy and Bubba. I guess she didn't draw herself in the picture.
Hope you have an awesome day.

Bloody nose and no panties

So this week was rough around here and Friday afternoon ended badly. Grace was yelling and Andrew couldn't hear the tv so he hit her in the face and gave her a bloody nose. This happened about 10 minutes before we had to leave. I couldn't believe it. Although it was a little humorous (though not until later) b/c it had been such a bad week of fighting. I'm surprised it didn't happen before Friday afternoon. Tomorrow starts a new week and I am ready for it! Bring it on!

Last night I went with my friend to a scrapbook club and David took the kids to Albertsons to check on a birthday cake for Andrew. The kids were playing around and Grace lifted up her dress and to his surprise.....no panties. I can't believe I didn't notice that she didn't have any on. We were in rush to get out the door b/c of the nose bleed and I just didn't think about it. Too funny....poor David.

It was nice to get out last night for a little while. I won a mini album kit and bought some more paper. Like I need more paper. I have so much paper it's crazy! But it was only 10 cents a sheet and I happened to have an extra dollar. Yea for me! Well, I guess that's all for now! Happy Saturday!

Oh, I'm passing on my blog award to a few people;
Heather at Half Dozen Blessings
Terri at A Brand New Day
Patrice at Williams Family Blog

My Blog Award

Look! I got a blog award! My new blog friend Sandy chose me as one of her friends to pass it on to. I will pass it on as well but for now I'm going to just hang on to it and enjoy it all to myself. Oooh, maybe that's breaking my promise that I made last night. I promised to find God in everything today and not my own sorrows, frustrations, etc. I've been find a lot of me lately and it really hasn't been a lot of fun. This was a nice way to start the day! Can't wait to make it a new way to start yours....if you have a blog that is! Maybe I can find a blog reader award. That would be fun!

Just thought I would share this with you. Head on over and visit Sandy. She has a great blog about her family. Oh, and thanks for reading. Have a wonderful God filled day!

Nothing exciting about Thursday

Well, it's Thursday. That's about all I can say about today. We went to mommy and me today. Grace actually did her shapes and knew most of them. I was so excited. Of course she refused to do her colors and every time I held up a color and said the name she said, "No." That is her favorite word these days. She uses it for everything. The kids made something for daddy for father's day and it is really cute. Andrew has to finish his at home b/c it took some time. Both kids are napping or at least Andrew is resting in his room. Dinner is in the crock pot which is nice. I won't be scrambling around trying to figure something out.

After class, we went to the post office and Grace cried and hung on my legs the whole time making me very anxious. I couldn't quite get it all together and postal workers are not the most patient people in the world. At least not at my post office. I have only had one person that was extremely nice and that's probably b/c my kids weren't with me. That kind of set me off and it has pretty much been downhill ever since. I think the post office is the worst place to take kids. I'm not really sure why but it's terrible. I'd rather take them to the doctor's office.

I've decided not to take Grace back to the mommy and me class after this month. I'm sad for her but I will continue to work with her at home. Andrew doesn't handle it well. He cries a lot b/c it's not about him at all. It's very frustrating but all the time I deal with his tantrums and crying takes away from her. I don't have anyone to leave him with either. I might try it again in January. Starting in August, Andrew will go to KinderKids. It is one day a week for 4 hours. It gets them ready for kindergarten. They work on sight words, counting to 100, counting by 10's, writing, letter sounds and many other kindergarten skills. For a boy, he does very well in class like settings. I never have a problem at the library, he sits and listens. Even during the special programs he can sit for 45 minutes and listen. I think we are going to do my bible study at least in the fall and then see how things are going.

The kids did get to play in the water for a while but then they dumped it out and that was it. We had lunch and now they are in their rooms. It was much needed quiet time for all. Now, I'm off to hang out on the couch.

I Wish I Could Tell You...but I can't

I really wish that I could tell you what the kids and I did today.....but I can't. It's a surprise for Father's Day and the recipients read this blog. I hope the kids can stay quiet. Well, I know Grace won't tell...haha! Andrew, hmmm, not too sure. Sometimes he forgets things really easily and other times he just blurts it out. We'll see. I don't want to remind him to keep it a secret b/c that will also remind him of what it is. Anyway, just thought I would fill you in (or not) about our day! Hehehehe! Curious? Too bad!

Andrew is doing very well sleeping in his own bed. This afternoon he crawled up in my bed while I was in my room and I told him I could turn on cartoons if he wanted but he said that he wanted to go in his bed and watch a movie. That's probably better because I don't really want him to think it's ok to go in my bed.

Grace wore panties out and about for the first time today. I didn't even take a pull-up with me and forgot a change of clothes. She did awesome! I've been putting pull-ups on her when we go out just in case but she has never had an accident in them. If I hated public restrooms before (and I did) I really do now. We have to go so many times b/c they never have to go at the same time. It's crazy. Well, hope you have a wonderful day!

Monday ramblings

We've had strange weather around here the last couple of weeks. Today started out sunny and it is now cloudy. In fact it was quite warm in the sun this morning but the wind was cold. I took the opportunity to work on my tan since it was still cool and the kids were playing outside. Tomorrow we could get thunderstorms (at least that's what the weather channel says). But then by Wednesday it says 80 and then jumps to 90 for the rest of the week. I knew it was coming but man it's coming and it happens really fast...in a couple weeks it will probably be over 100 every day. It has been awesome not having to turn the air on and just having the windows open. In fact most days it has been too cool to have all the windows open and the kids complain about being cold.

Today has been a busy day. This morning I cleaned the bathroom, baked a cake for Papa Wayne (celebrating his b-day today), played with the kiddos (actually spent the time breaking up fights), cleaned the kitchen, and wrapped presents for Papa with the kids. It was a very productive morning but this afternoon I haven't done much.

I put Grace down for her nap without a pull up for the first time. She always wakes up dry so we'll see what happens. Guess I better go get dinner started. Have a great day!

Garden pictures

Well, I'm heading to church to serve in the nursery so I can only add a couple pics. Today we started the second part of the Romans series and I am really excited. We will be studying Romans 8-11. Then we will do something else and sometime later this year come back to finish the book. Here are a couple pics from my yard of things that look nice and our sunflowers are beginning to open.



my pitiful tomato plants(not showing the whole plant....it's just too pitiful)
green pepper plant...I have quite a few peppers starting

My apple tree. We have about 20 apples this year and it looks so pretty

Grapes-as long as the birds stay away we will have yummy grapes at the end of summer

Pumpkins

Can I Get a Woot Woot!

Andrew slept in his own bed for the last 2 nights! I took a picture this morning to prove it! I had promised him that if he did it the first night he could go get a monster truck. Well, he actually bought a helicopter and Old School Ramone (from Cars). Ended up the same price so why not. He hasn't gotten a lot of sleep though. He has a hard time falling asleep and to keep him in his room we let him watch Bambi. We'll deal with that sleep crutch some other time. For now I need him to sleep in his own bed. I do miss cuddling with the little guy though. I don't miss him sleeping sideways and kicking me all night. I'm letting him sleep in today b/c he was up til at least 10:30 and up at 5:45 at our door with this comment, "I kept telling myself to ask someone if it was morning time yet?" So cute, of course it is not! Go back to bed. He stood there for a minute and back to bed he went. I felt guilty about not walking him back in there but I'm not sure he was actually awake. So many changes in our house....Grace is potty trained, Andrew is sleeping in his own bed. Does anyone remember what happened last time we got Andrew to sleep in his own bed? Yep, Grace happened....and as blessed as we are to have both of them. I think the game plan is to not make anymore blessings. At least not for now!!!! Have an awesome day!

WE HAVE FISHING TRIP PICTURES!!!!

I was told that Andrew is really good at casting his line and reeling it in. But he won't leave it out to catch a fish. I think I got the fishing language correct. If not, oh well....

Of course, being a boy...throwing rocks in the lake..do you see the one he just threw?

I was told that he picked it up and it slipped out of his hands and then he wouldn't touch it again. Hey, at least he tried. I'm so proud of him. He usually doesn't touch anything messy or dirty.

Fishing with daddy....great bonding time.

Pro gardener anyone? and other ramblings

I'm begging for someone to appear at my door and ask "May I look at your tomato plants to determine what is wrong?" Crazy? Yes! But this is driving me crazy!!!!! The plants look terrible even though they have fruit on them....a few plants have BER-blossom end rot....so annoying. Everything else seems ok except my tomatoes. So frustrating b/c I have to throw away most of my tomatoes b/c of the rot. I've read that it is common and usually goes away after the first batch of fruit. Oh, and all of the plants just kind of quit growing. Are they supposed to slow down? They grew really fast to begin with and now nothing. I think I'm doomed when it comes to growing things. We have no clue what we are doing. My mom told me to sit buckets of water out with holes in the bottom so it would slowly water and I'm thinking I will do that with milk cartons so it will at least get 1 full gallon slowly. I have no idea if I am over watering or under watering (which might be the cause of the curling leaves). How am I supposed to know that? The plants aren't answering my questions!!!!!! Anyway, enough about my tomato plants for today....maybe I will post some pitiful pictures for you to see. Maybe, it's rather embarrassing!

Grace is doing so well with the potty. I can't believe she just turned 2 and is potty trained. No more diapers for us!!!! That saves me quite a bit of money each month. Ooh, I don't have to buy wipes anymore either....I still have a ton that I guess I will carry around in the car since someone always has a messy face. Today we took Grace to mommy and me and when the teacher asked if we were ready to do the fishy song, Andrew said "I went on fishing trip with my daddy and me and daddy didn't catch any fish." All the parents turned and listened and then we all kind of giggled b/c it was so unexpected. He looked at me and asked what was funny. He didn't think we were laughing at him (good thing b/c he tends to freak out when he gets embarrassed). It was really funny b/c it seemed like he was talking straight to Miss Tammy and he didn't care that so many adults were around. Of course we were in the back of the room.

Well, don't have the pics from fishing trip yet. Wayne emailed them to me but I can't download them for some reason so I will have to wait until next week when he comes for dinner. Sorry..but they were good pictures. Andrew is obviously still talking about the trip. Wayne said that maybe Grace can go next year....what? hello? a weekend alone? I'm already in Heaven just thinking about it!!! Well, I suppose I've typed enough....and if anyone is interested in traveling to become my gardener...I'd love to have ya!

Fishing Trip???? (and a little Not Me! Monday)

So, they went on a fishing trip but didn't catch any fish. They had a great time and Andrew was sad to leave Papa Wayne and come home. We celebrated David's birthday last night. I made enchiladas and german chocolate cake. Our neighbors came over for cake and ice cream. They brought us some Huckleberry jam and syrup. They just got back from Washington and we were thrilled to get some. Yummy! I will get you some pics from the trip but they are all on Wayne's camera. I sent the camera with David but apparently he didn't use it. Not sure why but I guess we all have to wait for pictures. Just thought I would give you an update!

OK, so I did not make 3 trips to Target this weekend and spend way too much money. Also, while on my trips to Target, I would not tell Grace to just hold 'it' because we had already gone to the potty and she just sat there. I would never do that. Also, I did not let Grace get pretty much whatever she wanted because I didn't feel like dealing with meltdowns (except I did). Of course, she got new toothbrushes and toothpaste for her and Andrew which was a good choice.

Last Tuesday, I did not skip mommy and me and then go to the library for the parrot show and get upset when they told me the tickets were already gone and it was full. I did not complain to the lady about bringing my preschooler to the show I was told to attend and she did not go ahead and let us attend anyway (even though she did). Also, while in there I did not tell Grace to pee in her panties (pull-up) because if we left the room, we couldn't get back in. And she really didn't pee in her panties...way to go Grace!

I didn't get the flu last week at the same time as Grace and make David deal with her being sick. Then I didn't complain about feeling terrible all day with a high fever (102) and get mad at him when he got sick and I had to take care of the kids feeling awful. (I never got to really sleep b/c we were up all night and then he got it....poor guy. Maybe next time he should get sick first so I don't get mad at him.)

Happy Monday!

Girls Weekend

Sorry I haven't posted for a couple days. The boys went to Bishop fishing with Papa Wayne. Grace and I are just hanging out, organizing the house. I'm getting all the toys out of the living room and getting rid of some stuff. I bought a new organizer for Andrew's room and I'm thinking I will go get one for Grace's room also. I'll see if I feel like going when Grace wakes up. I've already went to Target once today to get Andrew's. Anyway, I'll post pictures by Monday. If the boys get home early enough then I will do it tomorrow night. We will be celebrating David's birthday tomorrow when they get back. Have a great weekend.

Cute Pics

Just thought I would add a couple pics. We've been sick with the flu and I'm pretty sure you don't want me to write about that. These are a couple weeks ago...Memorial Day.

Too Much Information(and boating pics)

Okay, this may be too much for you but we are incredibly excited around here. Grace has been potty training (as you faithful followers know) and today is the first time she pooped, ahem, had a bm on the potty. Mommy has been cleaning a lot of panties this last week and we are soooo excited. I told her this morning that if she had a bm in the potty that I would buy her a new baby. Like she needs another baby. Not sure if it worked or if it just clicked but Yea!!!! for us. We are getting there!!!! Of course I'm also a little sad b/c she is going to be a big girl way too soon. I guess not until she starts talking. How funny that she barely talks and she is already going to be potty trained. Typical of Grace!!!!

Andrew and Daddy floating around in the tube before

I pulled them a short distance around the lake.

Above: playing in the lake with daddy-she had a blast

Below: Grace in Andrew's cowboy boots. She went outside this way to see Papa Wayne. Of course we don't do shorts much at home with potty training.

It's Not Me! Monday again

So in honor of Not Me Monday I think I will give it another shot.

This morning I did not (although I did) make chocolate chip pancakes for my kids and then leave the mess and disappear in my office to check my email while the kids are eating alone. Also, I did not ignore the fact that they disappeared into a bedroom to play and leave their breakfast behind.

I did not almost pee my pants (or bathing suit) on the boat when David flipped his cousin off the tube going about 30 miles an hour. He literally flew off the tube and did 2 flips on top of the water before coming to a rest in the water. Poor guy!

I most certainly did not overreact to Grace dumping urine all over my bathroom floor b/c she is so stubborn and independent that she must do it herself. When she couldn't get the lid up on the potty chair she just flipped it over to try from the other side. I didn't make her cry.....not me!

Ooooh, I also didn't find urine on the couch from Grace having an accident and then forget about it (til just now). For those of you scared to sit on my couch...don't worry she was standing behind the cushion and as soon as I'm done here I'm going to clean it.

Hmm, I think that's enough for today. I don't want to tell everything, it would take way too long.