"The Nightmare Before Christmas"

OK...So after Kelli's birthday party Brianna comes to me and tells me her tummy hurts. Being the good mom that I am I tell her she needs to eat more so I try to give her some food. After that doesn't help I go lay down by her in her bed. The next time I heard Brianna was when she was throwing up. Shane and I went around frantically cleaning and sanitizing in hopes no one else would get sick... 6 hrs later Kelli starts, then Shane, Kolby and finally me. So much for sanitizing....I guess it was a little late for that. The good thing is it looks like it is just a 24hr stomach flu and we have some how managed to get through it; although death seamed merciful at times. Kelli was scared we were going to miss Christmas but it looks like we might live to see it come. Good luck to those that might be getting the "black plague" know that you will survive even if you don't want to at times!

Look Who's 6!

We have been celebrating Kelli's birthday for what seems like 2 months.....from Disneyland to Christmas....we now go to a restaurant and she'll automatically tell the waiter that it is her birthday. She had a little birthday party with some of her school friends on Saturday. It is hard for me to believe our baby is six years old. She is so much fun and has add a lot of energy to the mix. The kids went upstairs to play and found the bean bag.....I went up to check and they had rolled it over the the bunk bed and were all taking turns jumping off into it. To the parents I'll just say that I am sorry...I am probably to blame for that, when I was young I did the same thing, in fact we used to move my best friend Shannon's tramp underneath their balcony and jump off that onto the tramp... oh to be young.

Here are a few other pictures. Brianna had her little Christmas play at school and was a wise man. She is so sassy.....

It hadn't been snowing so when ever Shane thinks about getting the snow machine out.....it snows....he revised it this year and it works pretty good. He modified the Lawnmower to shovel snow...I went out to the garage the other day and he was cutting and welding and WaLa... it is never boring with Shane around!

Warning!! Long Post

OK, Really? Has it been 4 months? Well, now you can see how my journal looks. I hate when I do this because it takes so long to catch up. It has been such unusual weather here...I am waiting for it to get cold, it was 55 today and felt so warm in the backyard. I told the girls they needed to go outside and play. They came to me later asking if they could have their tents and sleeping bags...I initially said no, alluding them to the conclusion that I could not reach them and that they would have to wait for their father to come home . When Kelli asked me how long that would be I realized they had 3 hrs to dismantle, destroy and fight. I told them to come with me and that I would see if I could get them. After setting up the tents in the backyard you would have thought it was a 100 degrees out there the way my kids were dressed; none the less, they didn't fight once and I had a peaceful 3 hrs to get laundry done, dinner fixed etc. I would have taken a picture but left my camera at my parents.

So, I thought that I would just post the pictures in a big group....have fun looking and sorting it all out. Family, you can now see the pictures from the camping/boating trip. So much has happened; in August Brianna celebrated her 4th Birthday.....hard to believe that we have been living in Idaho for 4 years. Shane's parents came out for it and when they come to visit you better believe we'll be doing a project. This project consisted of adding/enclosing an office onto our house. Within about 4 days we had the room built, wired, sheet rocked , taped and mud, painted and trim and crown molding put up....doesn't sound to bad to the average person but for us who are the do it yourself kind of people .....I can honestly say I just walked around in daze most of the time we were so tired!! But it got finished and then the next part came with Shane building the bookshelves and desk.... that took most of September you know sanding, staining, clearing...to well, you know sand and clear again...etc. It has taken till December , but it officially doesn't smell like stain anymore. Shane and I love this room it is so QUIET! and if it were up to Shane he wouldn't let the kids in the room....but that would never happen. HA!

October came and Shane decided he better clear out the storage area in the backyard to put the boat away (Shane's grandfather left him a big fishing boat....we took the kids out and yep...hooked Kelli right in the side of the head...I felt so horrible...and of course thoughts run through my mind all the other places where I could have hooked her....like the EYE!! but God blessed us and she has since forgiven me.....wow I am laughing as I write this now.)
Shane had a pick-up that he had to move to put the boat in and talked to his dad telling him that he was going to take the S10 pick-up and tear it apart. Well Jerry doesn't want Shane doing that by himself (says it was to big a job) and they decide to come visit to help out.....did I mention that when Jerry and Evie visit we do projects? So in about a day they had the pick-up torn apart engine, instrument cluster...etc out to save to put in...........of course a street rod. Jerry and Evie drove out from Denver so they just took all that stuff back to you know "store out there". Well that couldn't be the only project to do...it had nothing to do with the house... HA HA HA. They brought with them from Denver a wood stove and next thing you know Shane is building a floor, floating wall, laying tile and grouting....and within a week we had a functional wood burning stove... no worries...we're legal, we of course had it inspected and passed off. One nice thing about it is that we haven't had to turn on the heat for a month. Jerry and Evie left a couple of days before Halloween, I asked the girls what they would like to be Kelli said she wanted to be Little Mermaid and Brianna wanted to be Flounder. I said that was very cute but mom didn't have time to make costumes, so I borrowed some really cute lion costumes from my friend Amy and in the end the girls wouldn't do it. Kelli had to go as the Swan Princess, Brianna had to be a witch and Kolby went as a lion.

Alright....onto November almost done! :) (Yes, I will be copying and pasting this in my journal) The long awaited trip to Disneyland. The girls have been saving all their money in a piggy bank waiting to go to Disneyland. So in June I started looking and wanted to go in November when they had there Christmas Decorations up. Once I saw how much this was going to cost us I tried to talk them out of it by bribing them with some water slides that they saw at Sam's Club. I obviously lost, so since it was the girls first time Shane's parents came and most of my family came. We had a lot of fun, the girls LOVED the princesses and eating breakfast with them. What they didn't love.....the scary rides. Poor Kelli was scared of all the rides that went into dark caves ...Brianna never seemed phased. It was so nice the weather was in the 80's and we didn't have to wait in any lines......now that is how I like visiting Disneyland....but that's because I hate lines. Kolby was a gem the whole time we were there. The flight over there went so smooth, the flight back...........um not so good. Kolby was starting to get sick, his ears wouldn't pop and he started teething. Yep...the last 40 minute of the flight he screamed like a madman. I felt so bad for him, myself and the people around us. OH.... We were so glad to get home! When we got everyone to bed, I took two Tylenol PM's (I wanted to ensure a good sleep) we were off to bed. Kolby woke up at 12AM and I went to feed him a bottle and he puked all over me. Shane and I were up the rest of the night and I was wanting to beat myself for taking those Tylenol PM. So after being sick for a week yesterday he official slept through the night!! :) (and so did Shane and I) Thanksgiving was great and the food was wonderful as always, we went to my parents in Oregon. Oh yeah, Brianna came to me two days before Thanksgiving and told me I was going to be really mad.......so of course I can't get mad, she swallowed a penny...Yep can you believe it? was the bead not enough? This kid and putting things in her mouth....she'll be the death of me!! We have be waiting to see the arrival of Honest Abe....and it has been a week....I'm officially assuming he came through just find and is off on another adventure!

After reading this I feel like my life has been on a roller coaster ride this year! (Put your seat belts on tight, keep your hands and feet in at all times.....AND ENJOY THE RIDE!)

Superhero Brianna

All of the sudden Brianna has a been wanting to play superhero and uses Kolby's blanket for her cape! I am always laughing when she decides to play. She tells me to watch her and clap for her when she comes running....and of course, says I HAVE to laugh ( no she's not demanding...ha ha ha!). So I'll attach a picture and a little video I took of her.....as you will see she is not the most smooth superhero, but she makes up for it by being so cute! No worries, we will always be safe in this house with our SUPERHERO BRIANNA!!

4TH of July

For the 4th of July we went over to our good friends the Williamson's. The girls had a great time playing in the pool and having water gun fights with the others. We were able to eat some yummy food and watch some fireworks. Of course I forgot my camera and have no pictures....

The next day we went to my parents for our annual boating fest. I bought some cheap sunblock...won't do that again...we all came back a little crispier, whoops! I remembered the camera this time so I got a few pictures. The girls had lots of fun with aunt Millie and uncle Renn on the jet ski's!

PEA PARTY!!!

Well we left Denver 8:30pm and drove all night to get back to Idaho. Shane and I were hating ourselves around 2AM but no worries I didn't put in any books to listen to and I was able to drive a lot more. he he he! When we got home everyone was so excited. We thought that we would check on our garden. It was HUGE!! The girls decided to have a pea party and picked all the sugar snap peas and brought out sodas and watermelon so here is a picture of our pea party!

Auntie Millie and Auntie Erin were so excited to have the kids back that they brought them welcome home balloons. I think that Kolby liked them the best. He was making me laugh....he was holding them with both hands and legs. I tried to get a picture.

Trip to Denver

This trip to Denver was our first time driving back with the children, we usually fly except Shane had to tow a boat that his grandfather left him back home; so there began the 16 hour drive with the whole family. On the way out to Denver we stopped in Utah and stayed the night so the girls could play with their cousins. We were up at 4am ready to start the rest of the drive to Denver. Each of the girls had a DVD player so they were able to watch movies when they got bored. I thought that I would be smart and check out some books on CD from the library so Shane and I could listen to them...I am officially fired from that job. I picked the worst books .... They were putting me to sleep, I think the whole way out there I only drove 130 miles...

When we got to Denver Grandpa and Grandma made sure the girls had everything to play with Grandpa saw a teeter-totter at an auction that he wanted to buy, but missed the bidding so of course he just decided to make one. He also made that big bike the kids were playing on. Now we see where Shane gets it....like father like son.

Their cousin Sabrina was able to come and visit at the same time and all the girls had so much fun. They were inseparable and had to all sleep in the same bed. Grandpa was of course so happy to have all the grand kids there. Uncle Bill was there and was so happy Kolby was the baby not to cry when he held him he even got lots of loves by Brianna....which is saying something since she is so stingy with those hugs!

It worked out that we were able to celebrate Aunt Wendy's Birthday. I'll leave out the age....ha ha ha I think that she is like 25??? something like that, right?

Well it was a great trip and we had so much fun....Evie and I even got to go garage selling.... my favorite thing to do in Colorado and of course go for Chinese after.

Happy Birthday Grandma Wilson

Well my Grandma Wilson turned 84 in June. Last year we took her on a murder mystery train ride, she loved that so this year we took her up to the mountains to a dinner theater where we saw Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.. It was so cute and she had such a great time. They took her up on stage and sang to her, made her night. We love you grandma!

Kelli making Kolby Laugh

Shane and I thought we were so special when we could get Kolby to laugh a little....Leave it to goofy Kelli to get him to laugh a lot! She was acting like a kangaroo...I know where did she come up with that!

Look who's 4 months!

It is hard to believe Kolby is 4 months old .....we go today to get his shots.... I have to take all the kids since school is out. I am hoping the girls don't cry when they see their brother get his shots...don't need Kelli having flashbacks from when she got hers HA! He is still just as sweet as ever and always has a smile for his mom! I was getting him to laugh the other night it was so cute. The girls are still enthralled with him...the newness hasn't worn off. I feel he gets a lot of tough love! Here are some pictures of our chunky monkey! The girls were so excited for me to see Kolby.....they had put a little bracelet on Kolby's head and insisted on me taking a picture because they thought he was so cute....all I can say is "Sorry buddy....this will probably be the start of many dress-up sessions!" I always tell Shane "It will be OK....my brother turned out fine and he had 5 sisters and we always had him dressed up!"

Kelli's Preschool Graduation

Kelli had her little graduation and they entertained the parents by singing cute songs and just being themselves. I put the video on the blog for everyone that couldn't be there that wanted to see her. She is so excited to be going to school and riding the bus. So here are some pictures of Kelli and her friends that we carpooled with throughout the year....these three are so funny! When I would drive them to school I would usually hear them discussing Jesus or Parker would be making Kelli and McKenna laugh by making gassing sounds (yes he is all boy!) and of course the girls would giggle and tell him to do it again. They both came over the other day and played they also helped me make cinnamon rolls and cookies....Parker went and put the apron on himself..

Oh, How I love to Paint!

I really say that jokingly... We decided to move the girls into one room and free up another for mister Kolby... So to get the girls excited to share a room, I told them we could paint the room....so off to home depot we went and they picked out a lovely light pink. In my mind I seriously thought that this would take one night.....(crazy thinking I know!) I taped off the room (I hate prep work!) put sheets down and started painting....when shane got home he found a frazzled and depressed wife....the room was sooooooo pink! Shane helped paint around the corners etc. and told me we were going to have to get another gallon of paint.....so off to home depot the next day. Well I was talking to the lady that mixes the paint....next thing you know I am coming home with a shade lighter.....(Ballerina Gown....yes that's the name, of course Kelli loved that!) Shane didn't know I got a different color of paint so when he started trimming it out I heard him yelling my name.....I thought "oh no....he noticed...ha ha ha" Well to make a long story short...I had to go back a 3rd time and get another gallon of the lighter paint....and finally we had a painted room. I had a bought a stencil to do a border around the room...thought that would be an hour job.....yes 7 hrs later it was finished...I seriously have to recalculate my timing on projects now that I have 3 children! In fact, I would say no projects equal happy mom. ha!

The Baby Has Graduated!

Well, it has finally happened.....my parents will officially be empty nesters.....we don't talk much about this with my mom....she is having a hard time thinking that she and my dad will now be invited to have family home evening with the other empty nesters. All the siblings were able to come to Erin's graduation so my mom planned on having family pictures taken. Let's just say we hope they turn out. With that many people it was pretty comical trying to get all the grand kids to look and the parents to just stay looking at the photographer....needless to say there were a lot of threats and bribes for ice cream afterwards if they would "just smile one more time for the picture!" Vale, Oregon had a heatwave that weekend and it was so HOT!! It reached 100 degrees.... Erin had a lovely graduation, she and a few of her friends sang at the graduation and they sounded perfect. She will be off to go to school at the Paul Mitchell Academy (I'm secretly happy about this since she told me she will show me how to do a few cuts!) after the hair school she will be going to BYU, Idaho. Erin, we are very proud of you!

OK.... a few weeks ago Kolby slept through the night...oh it was joyous I awoke the next day and felt so good and that was all it took. I looked at the weather report on a Friday and decided I would have a little lunch party on Monday (it had to be Monday because it was to be the nicest day). So I didn't have time for invitations I just decided to start calling people. Next thing you know I was frying up 80 hot dogs...I guess everyone needed a little lunch and some chat time while the kids played. I had a great time the day was perfect....even a little hot...so next time we'll make it a lunch / water party! The little girls were so excited for the party and were asking me when we could have another one.... I keep checking the weather for another nice day. So keep beginning of June open....maybe it will be warm then! (oh just a side note Kolby hasn't slept through the night since.)

We have been riding our bikes a lot lately and it has been so much fun. The other weekend we rode to the park and had a picnic and flew kites it was so relaxing and Shane and I enjoyed being with the children. This Friday before we could go biking again we had to get some projects done around the house. One of them was staining all the wood work out in the backyard. Of course it was windy, the girls asked me why we had to do this...so I thought, oh teaching moment..."because it is so important to take care of the things God has given us." I think that God was really teaching me patience. I started off dipping there paint brushes in the stain for them.....but every 30 sec. they were asking me to do it again... so finally I ended up giving them there own can of stain and letting them do it themselves... so we have stain drips and runs on most of the wood....and I just tell myself it doesn't matter. Although it drives me crazy being a perfectionist. Why does obtaining patience have to be so hard?

Smile.....

This is Brianna singing her favorite song at 3yrs old. Shane says I must put the words down since we are probably the only ones that can understand her. (No one likes a frowny face, change it to a smile, make the world a better place and smile all the while!)

Allergies....OUCH!

I took Kelli in on Friday to get her shots so we could register her for Kindergarten. Being the good parent, I told her that we were going to get them and that they might hurt her a little. For some reason she was still excited to go to the Doctor and get her shots. Of course the nurse wants you to join in the fun and help hold your child down. The next thing you hear Kelli say is....OUCH............Ouch .. Ouch.. Ouch!! (That nurse was fast gave her 4 shot!!) Kelli looks up at me crying and said "That really hurt....I didn't think they would hurt....do I have holes in my legs?" Once they gave her a sticker and sucker...she was fine...although she informed me that she didn't want to get another shot and when she has to go back to the doctor, if she could just stay home!

So I was sick a while back and went to my nose,ears, & throat Dr. he told me it looked like I was allergic to something and that I needed to get an allergy test. I went in today for my allergy test.....for those that haven't had an opportunity to experience the fun, I'll describe it to you. They test for 48 allergens(that number will be important in a minute)....so she shows me 4 trays with the allergy compounds that will be tested on my back by taking little combs that scrape the skin...I thought that didn't seem to bad....so I laid there on my stomach for 20 minutes while the compounds reacted with my skin....if you are allergic they produce small welts on the skin (like a mosquito bite....and yes they itch)...so I had 15 that I was really allergic to and to make sure I wasn't allergic to the other 33 they do a second test on your arm. She told me she was going to make a pin wheel...sounds nice until she brought out 48 needles! Yes I had 48 shots in one little section on my arm. So I am allergic to 20 of the allergens and they'll make me a special allergy shot. Boy, I wish there was an easier way...and what is really sad before they'll give me the one shot I have to have another 20 shots in the arm to verify the test results...I'm starting to think the over-the-counter Claritin doesn't seem to bad! I came home and showed Kelli how brave mom had to be. She looked at me and almost started crying.....I reassured her I was alright!

Celebration Park!

Well, we have finally had a few nice days. We had some friends that invited us to go to Celebration park and hike around with the children; it is right on the Snake River...and yes we crossed the bridge. I must say it was quite warm! The girls were so excited and were so exhausted after the hike. We roasted hot dogs and of course marshmallows. I'm proud to report that we didn't have to many injuries...Brianna fell on the asphalt(which she always seems to do)and they both have some slivers...but not to bad. Kolby slept through about everything...had to keep poking him to see if he was OK.