Looking Good

I still love taking pictures and it is fun when the kids turn out so cute. I had to share them.

Good Arm?

I told Samantha to clean up after they had been painting at our kitchen table. KayDee was painting rocks with water and Sam wanted to do it after she was done with her paints. I told her to put the rocks outside and throw the newspaper away when she was done. She listened and obeyed. Then she came back in and said there was a crash and the window on the jeep looked different. I was really confused so I went to see. She had thrown the rock off the deck, across the driveway and it landed in the jeep on the opposite floor board of the shattered window. We had to teach some remorse but she helped her dad clean it up with the shop vac and put in the new window (luckily we had one in the parts jeep in the pasture). She had a good arm and it was a sharp rock.

More Easter

We had a really calm Easter with not much to do. My family was in up north and Kevin's traveled for a wedding. We went camping on Friday and Justin and Rachel treated us to dutch oven potatoes and chicken with peach cobler for dessert. Then we came home by 9:00am for the town Easter Egg hunt Saturday. Luckily, KayDee collected 2 metallic prize eggs during her age group because Samantha and Derrick couldn't compete with the 8 year olds in their group. It was extremely windy so we left quickly and did our normal Saturday stuff. My brother Spencer and his wife Celeste visited briefly to see our home and get the pop-up trailor. On Sunday, Rachel wanted to dye eggs so the two of us did it while the kids were downstairs playing and then they helped us put the stickers on the eggs.

Easter

We did just eggs for our Easter Egg Hunt this year since they got so much candy from other hunts. They loved peeling the eggs after. The dog liked it too since he ate the ones they dropped.

Enjoying Being the Mom

I have good kids and they are so fun. I enjoyed being the mom on this day. I am happy I can say that since I can get stressed and miss the good.

No More Green

My kitchen is no longer 70's green! Kevin got a great deal on these hardly used appliances, $250 for a fridge, glass top stove, dishwasher and microwave. He took my little green stove out and cut the counter so the new one would fit into place. He raised the cabinet about an inch so the fridge would fit and we put the dishwasher in Justin and Rachel's apartment (since we have one already)! The microwave will have to wait until we have a cabinet to put it under. We bought new white blinds to match. All my green is gone in the kitchen and my stove is wonderful!!! No more buttons for my chidlren (or us) to push accidently!

Bitter Sweet

I have been Young Women's president for nearly 2 years and I was just released last Sunday. It has been Bitter Sweet for me. I have been so blessed and grateful I was able to fulfill my calling and to know that I did my best. I'm not sure what effect I had on those girls but I know it made my life better and I wouldn't trade it. Now I am excited to move on. Our ward has few people to fill callings so I knew I would go where the next presidency came from. I am going to teach the Valiant 9 class now and I am thrilled! 4 kids in the class and no Wednesday night activity. I can definitely do this one. I am super excited to study the Book of Mormon with them, since I always want to continue studying the scriptures. This perspective will be an adventure.

Many thanks to my wonderful councilors for supporting all we did the last two years. I would not have made it without them. It is sad we won't have that connection anymore. I will miss it. I welcome the next adventure, so lets get on with it!

29 and Holding

Kevin has started his annual 29th birthday. He has decided to follow his Dad's footsteps and hold on 29 for each birthday. I think it is a smart idea although I am just fine with getting old so I will continue with gaining candles for my birthday cake and he will only need 29. It does make me feel better that I will always be younger than him so at least I will have that on him. Besides, getting old is what we are supposed to do and I plan on doing it. Kevin tells me that I will feel different once the wrinkles overtake my body. Right now I plan on being proud of it since that will tell people how much I've lived. We'll see.

Happy Birthday!

Tickle Me Daddy!!!

Didn't we all want to be tickled at one point in time? We have all done it and we have all realized how it is only fun when we are kids. Although many of you may not have a husband that can't just "get even"-mine "gets ahead" (that's his motto), so you may like to be tickled still. Fortunately he can pick on his children and the best part is, they line up for it. I took this picture because KayDee just laid down next to Derrick and started laughing without even being touched. She has to join the fun and knows exactly what to do. Kevin has it all worked out. Since he is tired at night and the kids want to play, he has trained them to come to him and he doesn't have to hardly move anything but his arms. It is the thrill of the evening. I love that Kevin and the kids get to enjoy each other after a long day.

Fixin' like Dad

Derrick has to get his tools out and fix stuff like Kevin. He recently discovered how he could be just like his dad since the 4-wheeler is broken and needs to be fixed. Example is powerful.

New Piano

I finally got a new piano. We had quite an ordeal last time we tried to get a piano so this was really exciting. We used some of our tax return to buy it and it is wonderful! It is digital and plays like an upright and that is what I wanted. The kids like it too, obviously.

Puppy Love

Would this be a good reason why puppy love came about? "I can't chew on these shoes so I'll refrain by sleeping on them." Puppies are adorable!

Say Cheese

Hold the camera out and take a picture of the group. The kids wanted a picture so of course I said okay.

Hub aka Fatty

We found a healthy, free puppy. Hub is super whiney and is very fat! He definitely came with a massive belly. He does eat for comfort we noticed or if he gets bord. Hub will wander over to the place where we feed him and sniff or lay down. He went through withdrawls as we got him used to a healthy feeding schedule. We have to have him as an inside dog because there are too many stray dogs to tempt him to run all over the town with them. He is a keeper and his health is so far so good. Although I would like it if he potty trained faster. I am really sick of cleaning up puppy pee!

Were you sick all Winter?

It sure seems like we have been sick all winter. All January was one cold or flu after another with only a couple of days inbetween. Samantha had a fever of 104 at 3am in which we had to give her a lukewarm bath to bring it down or go to the hopsital. It went down 4 degrees and the motrin helped keep it down until she got well. Kevin and KayDee were sick over the same weekend so we got a picture of them suffering together. If you get that super bad cold that makes you gag when you cough, eat and get sleep or it never goes away!

Samantha's 6th Birthday Party

Sam was excited she was able to have a birthday party to invite friends from the neighborhood, school and other friends she had from other places we lived. We planned a lot of games and of course the cake and ice cream. Rachel did an excellent job doing Simon Says. The kids had smiles on their faces.

Animal Shelters

I sure learned a lot about why I get a puppy from a box at the grocery store for free. We have a neighbor that was helping us find a dog. Justin and Rachel wanted a dog too so she was on a quest to find two puppies. She looked at the dogs at the shelters online and so we visited the ones she picked out. We found these two puppies that were so adorable and paid $100 for both of them. We thought we were doing a good deed and helping these animals out. Justin and Rachel's dog (Audrey, black) ended up dying of Parvo 5 days later and our dog (Smokey, brown) had bloody stools and ringworm and who knows what else. If you don't know, ringworm is very contageous for animals and people. We were mad since we had already gotten attached to these animals. I took my dog back and asked if they would consider a refund, since they don't do refunds. They will trade animals but why would I want another diseased animal. I told the lady our one income couldn't provide treatment for a puppy and I couldn't let my kids be around sickly animals. She did give me $25 back for our dog. I must say I am forever scarred. I'll give those healthy puppies in those cardboard boxes a chance for a great family.

Just waiting

We were going to town and the kids were ready to go and I had a few things to gather before I left for our journey of the day. Living far away makes you plan all necessities since you can't just go home if you forget something. Anyways... the kids lined up at the door and Derrick declared he was the leader and so he was first. The kids initially were standing and I was taking too long so they sat and amazingly waited quietly and patiently. That doesn't happen that often, so I had to take a picture of them sitting together in peace before we left. My kids are cute.

Grandpa's Birthday

We got to celebrate my Dad's birthday at my house with my mom and sister with 9 of her kids. They came down for the weekend and we had fun swimming, shopping and playing. My dad's birthday happened to be the day they came down. I made him an irresistable German Chocolate cake with homemade coconut frosting. He of course loved it-so did I. We do have that in common.

Really Cool Camper!

We have a really cool neighbor. She is crazy but she is really AMAZING! The story goes: Ann's spouse passed away and she was going to take their camper to funeral services in CA and Kevin was helping her get the camper ready. He walked in and found her crying and asked what was wrong and comforted her. She said she couldn't keep the camper since there were too many memories, and she asked if he would help sell it for her or make payments to buy it. He said he would help her out. She came to our house shortly after and told me to come over with the kids. When we got there we went in the camper to talk and she proceeded to tell me where I could cook, put my kids to bed and other miscellaneous things. I said what are you talking about, and she said it was ours. She came to our house the next day demanding a dollar and gave me the title. I told her she was crazy and she agreed, so I gave her 4 quarters so she felt like she got more money for it (and that's all the cash I had). We have never seen a person more generous and we feel so special to be part of her life. Oh, we do have to pay for it, I have to make 2 bean tacos for her every week until she dies or she moves from our town. She likes my homemade refried beans, don't ask me why-I just follow the directions on the package. Monday night is taco night now.

THANK YOU ANN!!!

The camp trailor is a 2006 with a pop-out and an outside shower we plan to spray our kids down with. Couldn't get much better!