The Wynia Family

My Creative Outlet

2011-03-16T09:14:00.000-07:00

First of all I am happy to report that Aubrey has been staying out of trouble. There have been no major messes that have caused me to call my daughter names such as beastly or a terror. So I am much happier these days. :)

I have been having so much fun lately with doing the kids' rooms. The boys room is all finished except we have to actually hang the shelves that we got at Ikea last week. When that is finished I will post some pics. I have been on the hunt for a chandelier for the girls' room for quite some time. When I tried to explain to Josh what I wanted he thought I was crazy. I had to show him pictures on the internet to prove that putting a chandelier in a girls room was a good idea. Anyways, I had found a few at a really awesome store here in town that sells antiques but they were more than I wanted to pay and when I looked online all I could find was ones that were too big or ostentatious. But I still wanted to have the crystal look. Well, then I stumbled upon this little beauty... While we were in Utah for the birth of my sister's first baby I took the fam to a cupcake shop that was right by our hotel called "The Sweet Tooth Fairy." The cupcakes were to die for and I found a light fixture that would be perfect for the girls' room. I just loved it so I took a picture so that I could try and find a match to it. The next day I went to Ikea and unexpectedly I found a chandelier that was almost a perfect match. And the best part was that it was half the cost of the ones I had found in Billings. I love ikea!!! So this little sucker is the inspiration for the girls' room. Now I just have to fill in the rest. We are starting with paint and will go from there but I am loving the striped two tone paint look.

I have been lucky enough to have a number of friends and family members having babies recently. I love babies! I just want to hold them and snuggle them and eat them up. You can't get much better than a brand new baby. Anyways, I have been hard at work making some cute things for all of my friends and family. I made some bow ties and used my skinny boys' necks as a guide. I figure that you don't want them too tight for a baby and that if a baby is chubby at all then Ethan's neck will most likely be the same size. We will see. I put lots of velcro on them just in case. My sister had shown me once how she makes bow ties so I just made a few adjustments and tried my best. I was pretty pleased with how they turned out.

Josh's stepsister is having her first baby next month and naming her Aubrey too so I made an initial onesie with the cutest ruffle butt ever! I love making little girly things with ruffles and bows and not using traditional "girl" colors. Oh and just can't over how cute the flowers and headband turned out. I love the fact that the black headband goes so well. I had made this one for Aubrey but she didn't get to wear it very much because she had nothing that really matched.

Too Cute!!!

This bag was a special request made by Julie. It is her diaper bag for her new baby. She was very particular on the fabric but we finally found some that she approved of (long distance fabric shopping is difficult) and it turned out so beautiful. I made a couple of different adjustments to the pattern on this one to make it more of a diaper bag. I added width to it and gave it a bunch more pockets as well as a longer handle. I had taken it down to Utah in pieces so that I could finish it with her there in case she wanted any other adjustments made. Well I had forgotten some pattern pieces so I had to wait for Josh to bring them to me, (he came down a day later for work) and then the next day when I was supposed to finish it he still had my stuff with him in his car when he went out to make his sales visits. So I finished it up at the last minute in the hotel. I even had to go to the front desk and ask to borrow a pair of scissors since I had left mine at Julie's house. So yeah, getting this bad boy finished was quite the feat.

Yup, I took this picture in my hotel room :)

This is my newest favorite baby item. The suspenders are so stinkin cute! And then it allows me to use a coordinating fabric for the ties. I love them!!! I can't wait to make more, so you friends of mine better start poppin out those boys!

Yesterday I spent almost the whole day sewing. It was wonderful, I love sewing because it allows me to clear my mind and just think. I found myself pondering a number of different things in my life right now. It just leaves me feeling refreshed and more focused after I get to spend some time creating. Now if only I could find that kind of joy in cleaning my house.

Lipstick and a Quilt

2011-02-17T07:47:00.000-08:00

I have been a little stir-crazy. I am not going to school during the day and I have been needing a little something to keep me busy (ok, not really I am already busy enough) But I got an idea in my head and couldn't get it out. I had an idea for decorating the boys' room. I had seen Camille Roskelley's (Simplify) boys bedroom and loved it. So I thought I would get to work and spruce up the room and it definitely needed a little attention. So we painted it a light gray and I have been adding bright greens, dark gray, black, and turquoise to it. I am not quite done but I did order the cutest "I hope they call me on a mission print" from here that I can't wait to get. I also need to take a trip to ikea for some bright green shelves. We did finally get the wire hung that we had gotten at ikea last october, and I found the perfect dark gray curtains at target. I wanted to make a quilt for their room but haven't decided if it is going to go on Ethan or Preston's bed. They have trundle beds but in all honesty Preston's is rarely pushed in. The slipcover on Ethan's bed is perfect for their room already and I had picked it up at ikea also (I had this idea brewing for quite some time.) Anyways here is a picture of the quilt before it was all put together. It was also missing quite a few blocks so it has a different feel to it now. I was still waiting on two fabrics in black and white so what I added helped give it a little less color. I LOVED the way that it turned out. This is the first quilt that I have made where I picked out all of my own fabrics and it was tons of fun. I do a lot of my fabric shopping over the internet, which can be difficult when it comes to color. I am pretty familiar with all of the major designers and know their fabrics and colors but there were a few that I bought for this project that didn't quite work in the end. Oh well, I can always add to my stash right? Finding boy prints was also difficult. Fabric tends to be floral.... which wasn't going to work for this projects so we ended up with lots of strips and polka dots but in the end there is no hint of girl. I am going to quilt in with just vertical quilting to help even more in the masculine department.

Here is a stack of MOST of the fabric before I started cutting.

The finished quilt on Ethan's bed. Ethan found a picture of art class to hang on the wire RIGHT away. I am planning something with modge podge, fabric, scrapbook paper, and the word "brothers" to hang on this, we will see how long that takes me :) I will post some finished pictures when I get everything done, but don't hold your breath, it may take awhile.

Aubrey is such a little mess maker. I cannot even begin to describe the amount of or magnitude of her messes. She is unlike any of my other children in this department. Yes all of my kids have gotten into things and made messes but this little princess is in a league of her own.

Here she had gotten into my purse and found my favorite estee lauder lipstick. It was a fun and trendy red and I had really been enjoying wearing it. I also loved that it was a nice quality lipstick, which I don't get too often. Well she used her little fist to grab pretty much all of the lipstick out of the tube and then proceeded to use rub it in her hands like lotion, coating EVERY crevice and surface with my lipstick. But she also proceeded to get it on the carpet, her face and pajamas, and Preston. She was so coated in the stuff I had to take a picture. I am going to try and be better at taking pictures of her masterpieces (messes) so that she will understand just how destructive she was. And it gives me proof that I am not joking when I tell Josh that his daughter is CRAZY!

A Few Christmas Pictures

2011-02-08T10:39:00.000-08:00

I just had to add a few pictures from Christmas since it was at our house this year. And these ones of Aubrey just melt my heart. She cracks me up. She is so full of personality. She had just opened up her purse and sunglasses from Josh and I and then she got this doll from Grandma and Grandpa Wynia. She LOVES baby dolls and is such a little mommy to them.

Just this morning as we were headed out the door to take Kendra and Ethan to School she spotted her purse and would go no further until she had it on her shoulder.

Here we are getting ready to rip into some presents.

Before present time they were watching Despicable Me downstairs and I just had to take this picture. Uncle Devin is so amazing! He is going to be the best daddy someday. My kids adore him.

Thursday before Christmas we had Kendra and Preston's birthday party since everyone was in town. Amy and Wayne had literally just walked in the door when the party was getting ready to start. I ended up having MUCH less time than anticipated and so my plans for their cake got way scaled down but still turned out fun. I did a layer for each of them and put butterflies on Kendra's and dinosaurs on Preston's. They loved it so I was happy.

Just a quick picture from Ethan's Christmas program. At their old school they didn't do a Christmas program each year so we were excited to be able to go to their school and watch them perform.

South Dakota

2011-02-08T09:25:00.001-08:00

Well we never got the laptop fixed and instead had to get a whole new computer. Apparently the motherboard went out and that was going to cost a pretty penny to fix so we just got a new one instead. But it is working great so no complaints here!

So we made it to Mount Rushmore on Thursday I believe. It was one of the warmest days that we were there, but by the time Josh got done working for the day and we got up there it wasn't warm anymore. If you didn't notice Ethan is crying in this picture. He did not want to sit up on the ledge. He has a HUGE fear of heights. When he was about three his uncle Devin was playing with him and threw him high into the air. So high that it totally freaked him out and for a while he would get scared when I picked him up. Anyways, the ledge we set him on was a good two feet wide and on the other side was another level about 7-8 feet down is all, but that didn't matter apparently. I think that pure exhaustion played a role in his meltdown because he was being just a tad ridiculous about the whole thing.When we were parking the car and getting out Josh realized that he hadn't brought his coat with him. He normally never wears a coat but definitely regretted it. It got cold up there.This was just a few minutes after the ledge incident and see how happy he is? Oh and yes, Ethan lost his first tooth. It took Ethan forever to get his teeth. I remember being at his one year check up and asking the doctor if something was wrong because he didn't have any teeth. The doctor told me that all kids get their teeth at different times. Well it also took him forever to loose his first tooth. He was 7 and a half when he finally lost it and since then he has lost one more. He was super excited to finally have lost his first tooth, too bad he swallowed it.Josh took us to this place called Culvers that serves frozen custard. I was really skeptical but it was YUMMY!Here we are all dressed up for dinner, (I think.) This is what happens when I wait forever to blog, I forget! But I love this picture because it shows both of my curly haired kiddos.The waterpark! Oh man, we spent so much time here. When we left my legs and stomach were all red and burned. I think it was from spending HOURS everyday in the water. The kids loved it though and there was plenty of fun places to play. Preston called the lazy river the "bumpy ride" because at one part they have jets on the floor that shoot up so it makes it kind of like rapids. This is Kendra lying on the ground as the huge bucket droped water all over this kids play area. Kendra was the only one that would willingly wait for the water to drop. Ethan did it sometimes, but only if Kendra was with him

Preston LOVED the "Bumpy Ride"
Aubrey and I did a lot of just hanging out the first couple of days until she got a little more used to the water and all the noise.
Josh made Preston stand under the bucket once. He giggled and laughed but wasn't willing to do it again.

This slide was the family favorite! In the middle of the slide it opened up into this big bowl and you would go around and around until you got to the middle and would drop down to the rest of the slide. I tried to get some good pictures but they go so fast! Kendra is the one waving.

Preston loved the big slides but could only go on them when Josh as around because someone had to stay with Aubrey (she didn't like the big slides) So as soon as Josh got of work and came down to the waterpark Preston would drag him up the stairs over and over again. He loves the water. He is going to grow up to be a beach bum and just surf all day long with his crazy blond hair. I can already see it.

Where to Even Begin

2011-01-03T21:14:00.000-08:00

Today was my first day of nothingness. No school, no birthdays, no company, no holidays, no trip, NOTHING. I had even done most of my catching up on laundry and cleaning yesterday (yes on the sabbath, Josh had to pack again for this week.) I didn't quite know what to do. I let Preston and Aubrey destroy what little order the house was in and I caught up on a few things concerning my New Years resolutions and other things on the computer. I don't think I have spent as much time on the computer in months as I did today. It was wonderful. I did a little sewing and a bunch of eating (I made really yummy cookies yesterday.) It was a good day!

This is Josh's last week in Rapid City. It is a bittersweet thing to come to the end. There were times when I was perfectly fine with him being away every Monday through Thursday in exchange for me not having to work and spending all weekend together. Then there were the times (usually at bedtime) when I was willing to PAY for him to be home. I have to head back to work a week from tomorrow and although I have some new resolutions to help give me extra motivation I am not overly excited. With the holidays and all the business that comes with them I didn't really apply for too many jobs. I still go back and forth about me working full time during the day. I figure I have five more months of not seeing my older kids much until summer break. It is hard. In fact, when Kendra rolled over this morning and told me that she didn't want to go to school today I almost told her ok and climbed into bed with her to cuddle for a little while.

Christmas was wonderful, as always. It was strange to have the Christmas Eve festivities at our house since we have the big house now. I LOVED having both Josh's family and my family there and even more I loved not having to load up the kids or presents and being gone all night. Josh's dad and step mom got to see a new side of my family as about 12 of us all played Mafia. The accusations were made and the cousins got loud, as always. There were helicopters flying and wrapping paper everywhere. Kids were playing and everyone was eating. What is Christmas Eve without a whole bunch of Chaos? We were even blessed to have company stay with us as my sister decided at the last minute to come with her hubby and kids. I loved being able to stay up late Christmas Eve with them while the finishing touches were put on the front room.

On the Monday after Christmas we packed up and headed to Rapid City to stay the week with Josh. The hotel that he has been staying at has a huge indoor water park attached to it so we decided to make a vacation out of it. We had a lot of fun and swam A TON. The highlight of the trip might just be when we went out for dinner after a long day of swimming and Preston threw up all over the seat, then Aubrey spilled water all over and then to finish off the dinner Preston threw up again. This time Josh was prepared with the huge empty water glass and kept it contained. Preston was just utterly exhausted, poor guy, it was even his birthday! We made it up to Mount Rushmore, but then missed Reptile Gardens because they closed a day early for the season because of a snow storm. That same snow storm kept us there an extra day but when we did make the trek home the roads were fine. It was a nice and much needed trip but it made the week go by WAY too fast.

I am hoping to get our laptop fixed next week. I will be glad to download my pictures and get caught up on a few other things. Until then...more babbling :)

An Intervention

2010-12-07T07:49:00.000-08:00

Well I guess someone read my last post because we have definitely seen some changes around here. The week of Thanksgiving Josh's company was awarded a new contract. Being awarded this contract meant that the company was going to have to open a new branch in Rapid City. There was talk of us moving there so that Josh could be the operations manager. Not where we had in mind to live, but it would pay well enough for me to stay home so we were ok with it. Not to mention it would be great experience for Josh. Well his boss's (he has a few) decided he was more valuable to the company in his current position and would rather hire a new local guy to be the manager in Rapid City than have to hire someone for Josh's position, (to me I think that means they should pay Josh more if he is so valuable, but that is just me.) So we did avert a move to Rapid City but they did decide to send Josh over there for the six to eight weeks to open the branch, find the shop, hire drivers, contact and obtain vendors, and all that fun stuff. GREAT EXPERIENCE! Josh was excited to have the opportunity and he drives a company car and everything is paid for and he comes home on the weekend. It isn't fun to have him gone all week but that just means that we have to enjoy our weekends as much as possible. Since him being gone all week means that I can't work his company is paying him an additional per diem so that we don't have to worry about me working for the next 6 to 8 weeks.

Hallelujah!

He started working over there the week after thanksgiving. Since he is gone and not taking care of the kids at night he actually gets more of his homework done so it works out in many ways. It couldn't have come at a better time. Kendra has been struggling. She needs me home. She is growing up and maturing into a young woman much faster than should be allowed. She had been asking me every night for about a week if I had to work. That is the number one sign that I am working too much. It has been nice to be home and to enjoy the weekend with my family. I know that prayers are answered in strange ways sometimes and that this is an answer to a prayer right now. This also gives me six to eight weeks to find a job :) I didn't get the one that I had first applied for but there are a few others out there that drew my attention so we are playing the waiting game. In the meantime I get to finish out my semester without worrying about work. I also got to go to Kendra's holiday program at school last night and I won't have to miss any other holiday parties. It is WONDERFUL!

Something's Gotta Give

2010-11-23T21:23:00.000-08:00

Each day I get up at 7:20 am and hope that Kendra and Ethan are already dressed for school. I make sure that they get breakfast, gather up their school things, and get them to school. I come home and bathe Preston and Aubrey, do the dishes or laundry, get homework done, shower and get ready for the day, I occasionally sew, and try to spend some time just being with Preston and Aubrey. By the afternoon I have class. I take the kids to Staci's house (a friend in our ward that has been so wonderful) and I head to class. I pick up the little ones, head out to pick up the big kids, and then finally come home. I have anywhere from 20 minutes to 1.5 hours before I have to be to work. Sometimes I have to meet Josh at the Roadhouse and trade off the kids (and yes people in the parking lot always look at us funny). Wednesdays I squeeze in Piano for Kendra and a quick run to Sam's Club while she is having her lesson before work. I come home somewhere between 9 pm and 11 pm (later on the weekends) and sometimes squeeze in more studying or homework. Then I get to do it all over again the next day.

Not a whole lot of fun!

I am supposed to be applying for the nursing program for next semester. If I get in then my school load goes from part of my day to my entire day. This would mean that my younger two would have to be in full time daycare and I would have to work even more in order to pay for it, while going to school. Let's just say that I don't have much of a desire to continue school right now. With that being said I have no intention on turning in my application for the program. I am excited to not have to worry about the added stress that brings into my life. When I finally made the decision not to continue it was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders and I could breathe again.
Since I won't be going to school in the spring that frees up my day. I had been contemplating what to do when I came across a job listing for my dream job. It was a job that I had decided I wanted to do a long time ago. I prayed about it and pondered it and it just felt right. I hadn't planned on getting a day job but it was just too perfect. So I applied. I have had my first phone interview but so far that is it. As I started thinking about it more I realized how wonderful it would be to have a real job again, to build a career and to see my school age children and husband again. I am excited. I don't know what the future holds for my family but I do know that no matter what I have to work. Sadly that is the consequence for the poor financial choices that Josh and I made in the first 7 years of our marriage. And if I have to work then I want to be working towards something and doing something that I love and am passionate about. I want to be able to see my children and not just get them to school in the mornings and then pick them up in the afternoon just to leave them shortly after.
I hadn't planned on taking this turn in life but it seems to be where I am headed and I am okay with that. I am now seriously looking for a day job again and there are many more positions now than when I was initially laid off so that definitely helps. Sorry if you came by the blog to read updates on my kiddos or see pictures. This blog has become more of an outlet for me recently. It helps me to clear my head and so if my posts are long and boring then I am sorry. Maybe when my life doesn't feel so overwhelming I will go back to the light hearted stuff. In the meantime you can learn intimate details of my life, who doesn't love that? :)

I Heart Etsy

2010-11-14T18:41:00.000-08:00

Our laptop is officially ill and needs to see the doctor, so I am having a hard time getting anything done on our ancient computer. I apologize for the lack of posts and also the lack of pictures but it will most likely be awhile. Anyways, the semester is rapidly drawing to a close and I couldn't be more excited. I am ready for a break! It is much different this semester due to the fact that I am working four to five nights a week on top of my school load, (which was only seven credits this semester.) In the meantime I have also been keeping up with my Etsy shop. So many people that I run into have never heard of Etsy.com and it amazes me since I am pretty obsessed with it. Some of you may know that I have a shop at www.runiqueboutique.etsy.com I love to sew and be crafty so when I discovered etsy I knew it was for me. Etsy is a website that sells nothing but handcrafted or vintage items. The site it full of thousands of crafters that have awesome and fun things to share. I do plenty of shopping on etsy now and love being able to find things that are trendy, cute, and UNIQUE. For example, for our anniversary I got Josh a hand stamped keychain that had our initials and wedding date on it along with a cute saying. It was personal, thoughtful and inexpensive.... PERFECT! So along with the craziness of my semester I have been trying to fill my shop up for the holidays. I pretty much have every bag that I wanted to get finished all done and listed in the shop. I call that my own little miracle. I also recently made a whole bunch of fabric flower headbands but due to the malfunctioning of the laptop those might not make it on the site for a few weeks. So if you haven't already, go and check out Etsy.com you can get a jump start on your christmas shopping, (with two December birthdays and four children I started about four months ago)

10 Years the Full Story

2010-10-27T08:18:00.001-07:00

Ten years ago today I got married. WOW! I remember thinking about this day, how it seemed so far away. I remember thinking that if we could make it to our ten year anniversary then we would be just fine. We were married in the LDS church and Bishop Homer married us. I didn't wear a fancy dress and it was super small, just close friends and family were there. We always talked about how we would have a real party when we went through the temple. About 22 months later we were sealed in the temple and had no celebration aside from a cake at my parents' house. Then we always talked about how at our 10 year anniversary we would have a reception. At the start of the year we contemplated it, but it just didn't work out. So here we are with big plans for tonight. Go to the temple, come home, eat some homemade Cafe Rio burritos and then do some homework :) Fun huh? I am just happy to have a night off, eat some yummy food and go to the temple with my best friend.

We didn't get married under ideal circumstances. I was pregnant. I got pregnant at my senior prom. Almost makes you laugh right? When it finally came out that I was pregnant I had already been accepted to BYU and was devastated. I went to California to live with my Aunt and the plan was to put the baby up for adoption. I quit talking to Josh and got a job and picked out a family to adopt the baby. On my 18th birthday Josh sent me an e-mail. That changed everything. We began to talk and my feelings towards Josh started to change from anger back to the love that I had felt for him. We talked for another five weeks and we decided that we wanted to get married. It was important for me to know that I wanted to be with him because I loved him and not just because I was going to have a baby. Those times were crazy and my emotions and thoughts were overwhelming. As I look back on our first couple of years I am still amazed. I know that we were led through some strenuous times by our Heavenly Father. I remember hearing things in those first few months about how friends and acquaintances were talking about us and giving us 6-12 months before we split. That made me so mad!

We kept moving forward, I was in school and Josh got a decent job. Things were going pretty well. We were sealed in the temple in August of 2002 and that gave me some confidence in our relationship and a little peace of mind. We had set the goal of going through the temple within 2 years and we made it. A few months later we were excited to find out that baby number 2 was on it's way (we had been trying for a couple of months). Ethan joined our family the following summer. He was such a mellow baby and child. It was a much needed difference in our home. When Ethan was a year we bought our first house. It was a wonderful house that we had built and it gave us room to grow. A few years later I planned on going back to school and about a week after initially contacting the school we had a surprise when we found out that Preston was on his way. Although he wasn't planned I knew that he was supposed to be coming to our family at that time.

As our family changed and we went through career changes and sold our home and went back to school we were growing up. We were just kids when we started out but we were determined to make it work. We had similar goals in life and were willing to sacrifice for one another. As I get to know other teenagers and young adults in my life the more I realize how lucky we were to make it through those hard times stronger and more dedicated to one another. Last night as we lied in bed I told Josh that I would love to know what our moms were thinking about us on our wedding day and now what they think 10 years later. I hope that my children never make the choices that we made but I pray that if they do that they have the maturity to deal with them and grow from them.

These 10 years haven't been flawless and we haven't made the best choices every step of the way but we know that we aren't perfect. Over the last couple of years we have had a number of friends struggle in their marriages and have seen some of those marriages end in divorce. It has given me a wake-up call. I know that every day I have to work on my marriage. It isn't something that can be taken for granted. I have also learned that you have to be willing to share your thoughts and feelings. Even if your spouse doesn't agree with them or it makes them upset. I have found that if Josh knows where I am coming from and knows my thought process then it helps him have a better understanding. Everyone is different but I know that what we have works for us and I love my husband and I still look forward to the moments that we get to spend together.

Frumpy Dump

2010-10-18T08:42:00.001-07:00

Alright, this post has been nagging at me for quite some time. A couple of weeks ago I had a bad day. Nothing looked right and I was just frustrated with myself, I was standing in the bathroom looking in the mirror and almost had tears in my eyes. Josh walked in and we talked a little bit. I told him I felt like a frumpy dump. He laughed at my word choice and of course assured me that I am not a frumpy dump. It wasn't too many days later that I was getting ready to walk out the door for work. My hair was done, my make-up on, and I put my super cool new aviator sunglasses on (Old Navy $2.99.) Josh just looked at me and told me I looked like I was trying to be 21. I told him that I was just trying to be the age I AM and that my new sunglasses were super cool and I walked out the door. When I got to work I walked in and took off my sunglasses. One of my male co-workers said, "look at you miss Heather Locklear with your new hair (I recently got my hair done and it is pretty blond) and shades taking them off all cool like that." This particular co-worker of mine is strange and loud by I will take the compliment anyways. Thank you Jarvis.

So I have been thinking about these events quite a bit lately. I hate feeling frumpy! I take pride in the way I look. I am not skinny, nor am I overweight. I am not comfortable wearing super trendy clothes or clothes that are too tight or revealing. I leave the super trendy to my skinny younger sisters :) I have a personal style that works for me, I understand that I am not 21 but I am still only 28. Yes, I am the mother to four children. But that doesn't mean that I have to dress like I am 40 or 50 years old or that I just got done working out when we both know that I didn't.

One morning when Kendra was in 1st grade I was getting ready to take her to school. I was wearing workout pants and a sweatshirt just like every morning. She kindly looked at me and asked me if I was going to get dressed today. I knew exactly what she was trying to say by the look on her face and her tone. So I asked her if she would like it if mommy got ready before I took her to school and picked her up. She politely said yes. That moment changed me forever.

Looking like I take care of myself and dressing stylish doesn't cost me a ton of money or take me forever either. I enjoy hunting for the best deals and I am an avid "couponer." I like to splurge on my jeans and only do that every few years. And I am talking like 70-100 dollars, it could be much worse. Good jeans are the basis for everything so I willing to pay more and sometimes I find good ones for 20-40 bucks. But seriously, good jeans make me feel like a million dollars.f I shop online a lot and use coupon codes and almost ALWAYS get free shipping. I can sew. I make things and I am able to alter things that don't fit quite right. I buy all my makeup at target. I use the Internet as a huge resource. For instance, I was having issues with my make-up. It just never looked really good. I wanted Amy to teach me her tricks when we met up in Park City last spring but we never had time. So when I got home I googled make-up tips. I found an awesome website with video tutorials and everything. I learned SO much! Anyways, I guess the point I am trying to make with this paragraph is that it has taken me a little bit of effort but not a ton of time or very much money. After my incident with Kendra years ago I knew that there was no excuse good enough for letting myself go. I owe it to my children and my husband to look good for them and myself.

I love Dr. Laura's book, "The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands." Her views are similar to mine and I read chapters from her book pretty regularly. It helps me to stay focused on being a good wife. Anyways one of the reasons I try to take care of myself, besides doing it for myself, is for my husband. Ten years ago, (almost to the day) Josh married a pretty cute 18 year old. Even though we have both gotten older and put on a little weight I still want to be my cutest self for him. Impressing my husband is important to me. No he isn't always going to think I am the hottest girl around and he has seen me at my absolute WORST. But he needs to know that young cute girl is still in there and that she still likes to get dolled up for him.

Do I look good all of the time? NO WAY! Do I still take the kids to school in pajamas? YUP! But I come home and get ready for the day and I make sure that I don't look out of date and that I am dressing appropriately. I may only get my hair done twice a year but I know how to style it and am not afraid to try new things. Despite all of my efforts I sometimes still have days where I feel like a frump. But I guess the important thing is that I try my best not to give in to my inner Frumpy Dump.

My Baby

2010-09-24T07:34:00.000-07:00

Aubrey is full of spunk! She is busy and sweet and trying and wonderful all at once. She is really starting to grow up. I think communicating does that to little ones. Once they start communicating they are no longer babies. She is using new words every day. At night when we kneel down to say prayers with her she has finally started trying to repeat what we say. It seems like this has taken her a long time since she has been folding her arms and "praying" every night for months now. You can't understand a single word that she is saying but she still tries her hardest to repeat what Josh or I say to her.She has curly hair! I can't even believe it but Aubrey has curly hair! I was glad when Preston's hair came in curly and I still just adore his sweet little blond curls but now I have a little girl with curls too! Aubrey has been pretty good about letting my put ponytails in her hair and just smiles and giggles at herself when I stand her on the counter to look in the mirror when I am done. She still has her big blue eyes and we still get comments on them everywhere we go. All four of our kids have blue eyes but something about Aubrey's eyes gets people to stop us where ever we are to tell us what beautiful eyes she has. It is strange.

Yup, this is her playing peek-a-boo with us. She is extremely playful. She loves to laugh and play. The older kids are pretty good about letting her tag along and Aubrey almost always has a baby doll AND doll blanket in her hands.
I took Aubrey to Old Navy to do some shopping for her as it started to get colder around here. She found some boots. Well, I found the boots first and showed them to her and asked her if she liked them. That was a huge mistake! Those pink patent leather boots were on her feet before we left the store and she carried them around and wore them for weeks. She even slept with them! She loves her boots! She gets really excited to put them on and they can take her mood from frustrated and upset to perfectly happy. I am almost in love with the boots as much as she is!

Red Lodge 2010

2010-09-16T07:28:00.000-07:00

I think that our trip to Red Lodge is turning into a yearly event, which I don't mind at all! It is a great way to welcome fall and have a good time. We had to stop at the candy store and fill up our bags. We have learned that in order to avoid kicking and screaming we have to cave and let each of the kids fill their own bag. We just have to monitor what is going in and take them as soon as we can get away with it.Aubrey's bag was also known as Daddy's bag. And I helped Kendra fill hers with some of my very favorites. I LOVE salt water taffy and they have just about every flavor imaginable. I am such a sucker for candy that this is the highlight of my day in Red Lodge.

Preston didn't quite know what to do with himself in the candy store. We made it out of the store alive and the candy only lasted a couple of days thanks mostly to me!
We headed up to Wild Bill Lake with the fishing rods that Gma and Gpa Black got for the kiddos after our last trip fishing. Josh hadn't caught a fish all day until he was holding Aubrey so that I could gather up our things to leave and what would you know, he finally caught one. I am giving the credit to Aubrey on this one.
A close up of Ethan's fish!
He was so proud of himself! I reeled in a couple for Grandpa and caught one all on his own too. The fact that he stayed dry is a miracle. Grandpa Beau helped Ethan, but he got the casting down pretty quickly.
Uncle Justin was Preston's helper for the day and they caught quite a few fishies. Preston was brave and held them so that I could take his picture, but he never took his eye off of them.
This was their first catch of the day and I think that Justin was more excited than Preston was!
Kendra was a pro and did a great job casting. What a difference it made this year with Kendra and Ethan being able to cast their own lines. Kendra was the first on to catch a fish in the family and she did great, although holding it her hand was not something that she was willing to do quite yet. Kendra had worn her big ol rainboots so that she could wade out into the water, and it was raining when we left Billings. Well.... she waded out a little too far and her boots filled with icy cold water. It wasn't too long after that we headed out for dinner. He feet were FREEZING!

While the kiddos were busy catching fish Aubrey and I had fun with the camera. She was a trooper and it was pretty cold out but she stayed pretty happy and I got some GREAT PICTURES! The one above just totally captures her personality. She is really playful lately and has a great temperment. She can get a little worked up when she doesn't get what she wants but is communicating really well lately. She will nod her head yes or no, but you can usually tell by her reaction. And when you ask her to say "I love you" she just makes a kissie face and pretends to kiss you.

The kids found this crazy catepillar and so the guys of course put it on a hook. I don't think it stayed more than a few casts before it was lost in the water but it was a nice try.
We had so much fun and then Grandma Black cooked us some amazing french dip sandwiches back in their camper. It was a great way to relax and enjoy the outdoors.

No More Junk

2010-08-31T08:25:00.000-07:00

We just moved. AGAIN! I am so sick of moving and I hope that we don't move again for a very VERY long time. Josh and I are coming up on our ten year anniversary and in those 10 years we have moved 8 times now. That includes a five month stay at my mother's house last spring and staying at my grandmother's place while looking for a house to buy and then waiting for our house to be built. I never felt like I moved all of the time until now. But hopefully we will be here for awhile. We moved into my Mom and Dad's house. They are empty nesters with a large house. My dad has Parkinson's and has a hard time moving around and stairs aren't easy. He also can no longer take care of the necessary things around the house. So we came up with a solution.... We are living in their house and will hopefully be buying it when Josh is done with school. And they moved into a smaller and more manageable house that doesn't have stairs.

Our kids are going to Blue Creek School now which is a small county school and they love it. I didn't want to move them from Big Sky until I knew that we would be permanent but I figure this is close enough. As of yesterday we are officially DONE with our other place and every corner and shelf was cleaned and the inspection is done. That is the worst part for me. I don't mind going through all of the stuff and boxing it up and hauling it all over. And I really enjoy unpacking and putting everything in the right place and getting it all organized. But having to devote days to scrubbing out an empty place that you are just leaving behind, well let's say that I would rather be cleaning just about anything else. My aunt and cousin helped me out with the kiddos and my sister pitched in to help me finish in time for the inspection. THANK YOU!

Now I have a large house in desperate need of attention. My mom still has stuff in most closets and on the walls and I have stuff.... everywhere. This is definitely a crazy move and someday when I get it all organized and pretty I will post a picture or two. Maybe. It is strange living here with all of my stuff in a house that I am so familiar with. My parents have never lived in a house for as long as they have lived in this one. We all still call it grandma's house. And we probably will for a really long time.

Four Eyes

2010-08-11T09:36:00.000-07:00

Well, it was really only a matter of time before one of my children got one of my not so wonderful traits. I noticed a couple of weeks ago that Ethan was playing his MarioKart on the Wii while he was about an arms-length away from the TV. Hmmm... it was a strange sight and not just the usual "I am a kid so I want to sit close" kind of situation. He looked really weird because he was standing up too. So I remembered that and figured that I better make an eye appointment for him. Of course I didn't. Then something happened a couple of days ago while we were out as a family so when we got home I grabbed a notebook and a big black sharpie. I had Josh hold Ethan on his lap and I wrote out letters in block format like at the eye doctor and we gave Ethan our own homemade eye test. He failed. Josh and Kendra could read it all just fine but Ethan was struggling. So we got him an eye appointment on Monday and sure enough he needs glasses.

He was actually really excited to be getting glasses and his prescription is strong enough that he will need (and most likely want) to wear them all of the time. I was glad that we were able to catch it early and before school started. But seriously the kid just turned 7! He is really going to be in for it. His mother can't even read the big "E" at the top of the eye chart. I am sure that his eyes will only get worse as he grows up like mine did. But in the meantime he is just happy to see the leaves on the trees and many other things that the world now offers him.

We got him two sets of glasses. One a little more contemporary and bolder then a nice pair of blue wire-rimmed ones. Josh and I both like the bolder, thicker frames and I was worried that he wouldn't like them as much, but they are his favorites! He is looking super stylish now and can't wait to go to school to show them off. We headed to the park right after picking up his glasses and I just had to laugh as he told random kids that he wears glasses. His excitement was too cute.

We have a winner!

2010-08-05T08:11:00.000-07:00

For the second summer now we participated in the public library's summer reading program. The kids log the hours that they read and for every hour they get a ticket to put into canisters that represent different prizes. Also, when they go to the library they can do weekly activities and different library activities and for each one they complete they also get a ticket. Well my kids LOVE to read and Kendra was bound and determined to win something this year. Last year Preston won a mystery bag full of different books and things. Ethan was gung ho at the start but didn't last long and actually didn't get much reading done. Kendra would spend hours in her room reading all kinds of books. The library puts a five hour per day cap on it and there were a couple of days that she hit that cap. From the start of the program Kendra really wanted the Ipod shuffle. She put tickets in other canister too, but she really just wanted the ipod. She told me many times how much she hoped to win it. Well the last day came and they drew the winners and we went online to see if anyone had won anything what would you know....Kendra WON the IPOD! She was jumping up and down and screaming in excitement.

When we went to claim her prize she was shaking with excitement and the librarian could she just how excited she was. She got to have her picture taken in front of one of the prize cabinets.Kendra definitely worked hard to win that Ipod and logged over 40 hours of reading. GOOD JOB KENDRA!!

The Trip

2010-07-20T21:19:00.000-07:00

I know that I already talked about our trip, but I have more to say. It was long...... and I mean really long!!! Kendra and Ethan were superstars though and when we were on the home stretch, right before Bozeman I think, they started playing like this.Preston had finally gotten permission to join them in the back seat, (what a horrible mom I know) and they built themselves a fort. It was too cute. Just outside of Ennis we stopped at a rest stop that is on the river. We played simon says and a few other games and it worked wonderfully at getting some of that pent-up energy out.
These little puppets were a huge hit! I got them at the dollar store before we left and each of them had their own animal. Aubrey and Preston would crack up when I would put them on my hands and use silly voices. Sadly the trip ended with all of the stuffing being pulled out of the pig. I guess Aubrey was done with him.
On the way home we stopped in Reno to get some In-N-Out for lunch while we still could. All of the kiddos LOVED it and no joke, Aubrey finished this bad boy off all by herself along with some fries too. She doesn't normally eat burgers but she really liked In-N-Out, OF COURSE!
Aubrey took good care of her baby doll on the trip and that is how I often got Aubrey to calm down. I would just tell her that her baby was hungry and she needed to give it a bottle. She loves it when I swaddle her babies up in a blanket!
Preston did a lot of this in the car! He was pretty good about falling asleep and staying asleep. Aubrey, on the other hand, would fall asleep and then jerk herself awake after about 30 minutes.
Josh did a lot of this while in the car! He didn't let me drive at all! He never lets me drive, and I don't complain. I definitely don't mind it, I just feel bad that he has to be behind the wheel the whole time.
The kids loved playing at Uncle Darren and Aunt Lizzie's house! Ethan told me that Gavin, "has some sweet toys." They all loved the pool too!
These two cousins are just a few months apart. Sometimes I think that Aubrey looks just like Hadley, it is spooky!
TOO CUTE! They get along really well.
Aubrey got a really nasty eye infection on the trip. It was rather gross. Once I quit messing with it and resigned myself to the fact that she was going to have goobers all over her face it started clearing up. In fact by the time we left it was almost gone and now I think her tear duct may have opened up. I can't tell for sure, but that infection may have fixed the problem. YEA NO SURGERY!
This is my set of twins! They are so sweet and play so well together. Of course they fight and yell at each other and make each other very VERY mad. But for the most part they are best friends and do everything together, I love it. So there is a little more about our trip. I do not suggest taking a 19 hour car ride with an 17 month old baby. It is rough. But you will survive, and so did we. And we miss our family already!

A Special Baptism

2010-07-16T09:23:00.001-07:00

On Thursday last week we loaded our kids in the car and headed for Sacramento California. I was born in Sacramento and lived there for the first nine years of my life. I have lots of family that live there including two siblings, and lots of cousins. When we first moved away to Sheridan Wyoming when I was young we would visit Cali once or twice a year to see my aunts, uncles, and lots of cousins. I have fond memories of making the trek out there. We would always take the back seat out of the van and lay down all of the luggage and blankets and Amy and I would claim the back to sleep and play in. I am sure that we sat on the seats sometimes, but I mostly remember playing and sleeping in the back. It was usually only my mom and the four or five youngest kids making that oh so long journey. Right after High School I flew down there for the first time and I couldn't believe how fast it was, I never wanted to drive there again. Well Last Thursday I made that trip once again. Only this time with my own four little ones and no comfy back bed like we used to have. It was long and hard, especially for little Aubrey. By the time we got there I felt like I had tortured the poor thing. But we had one amazing reason to go so it was all worth it.

My older brother who lives in Cali was baptizing his wife. I get all weepy just thinking about it. I have pretty much been an emotional wreck since Lizzy, (his wife) started taking the discussions. My older brother quit attending church when he was a teenager. He is a full 10 years older than me so by the time I was eight he was already out of the house. I saw what his falling away had done to my mother from the eyes of a child. I remember her crying as she wrote him letters (no e-mail back then) and sharing her testimony with him. I remember her talking about him in the talks that she gave in Sacrament meeting. I know that it was hard for her and something that I hope that I don't have to go through as a parent, it definitely made an impact on me. So when Darren began taking the necessary steps to be able to baptize his wife my heart was full. It has been over twenty years since he was active in the church and last Saturday he entered the waters of baptism and baptized his wife into the church. Repentance is the most amazing thing. Without it we are all lost, our savior loves us and died for us so that we can repent and return to live with him.Here are the six of us, all grown up! I love my siblings so much. They are all amazing people with big hearts. No one is perfect and occasional we hit that, "you've gone too far" moment but we love each other and that is what matters. And now you can see where I get my height, look at those brothers of mine! Sorry Nicole, you missed out on that trait :)
My older siblings, Darren and Nicole. I just love this picture, I think this is the best picture from the entire vacation. I love seeing them laughing together.

So there is more to the story, if you are ready for it. Growing up my mom and her sister were really close, they are best friends. When we lived in California we always lived close to her, as in walking distance close. She had five children and we had six in our family. These cousins are the cousins that we did everything with, vacations, Sunday dinners, everything. The oldest son, Dustin, and Darren are the same age. They have always been close, like brothers actually. They live within walking distance, their wives are close, and their children are close too. Dustin also quit coming to church when he was a teenager. Although he has taken his children to church pretty regularly in recent years he didn't participate. His wife has taken the discussions previously and attends church with him occasionally. Well she also decided to get baptized. Dustin also took the steps necessary to baptize his wife and son who recently turned eight. It was the most amazing baptism I have ever been to. My sister Amy spoke on baptism and my mom spoke on the Holy Ghost. I cried just about the entire time. I know that there is no way that I could be a parent in the world today without the gospel in my life. It helps me strive to be the best mother, wife, sister, daughter, and friend that I can be! Some of you might be completely lost right now with everything that I have said, if you want to find out a little more then you can visit www.mormon.org or call or e-mail me. So yes we had a great reason to make that long journey out to Cali but we made it and it was worth it.
Preston and Presleigh got a little loud during the second half of the baptism so I took them out and entertained them with food and the camera.

And of course, Aubrey joined them too! She was done with sitting down reverently after that car ride.

A Wedding

2010-07-16T09:06:00.000-07:00

In mid-June Josh's step sister got married. It was a beautiful wedding with perfect weather. Kendra was asked to be the flower girl and the dress was to be silver, perferably with a blue sash. I am all about the colored flower girl dress, especially when the little girl is over the age of five. And Kendra has always been a little more on the mature side. I think she passed the foofy white dress stage ages ago. Luckily Brittany agreed with me. So the hunt was on and it turned up NOTHING. I even started months in advance! There was nothing out there that fit what we wanted. I had a feeling going into the search that making her dress was an option. Maybe I had been inspired by my sister's fabulous creations for her daughter. It wasn't what I wanted to do but finally I conceded and headed to the fabric store. The dress turned out wonderful and the only complain that I have is that sewing with special occasion fabric is not easy! The kids had fun at the wedding and it was a wonderful way to spend the day. Congrats Brittany and Tyler!The wedding was an afternoon wedding with no dancing so this is the time that we headed home.
And this is what we got from the backseat. The kids had ran and played so hard that they were both out at 6:19. Josh and I almost didn't head over to his dad's for dinner but decided it was just a little too early to let them be out for the night. So we took them home, woke them up, changed their clothes, and then headed over to Kevin and Denise's for some yummy food. Preston and Aubrey eventually woke up and played some more and then slept soundly that night.
Aubrey is finally getting some hair! Something about that magic 18 month mark seems to make my kids sprout their hair.
The flower girl and ring bearer. The wedding was out at Oscar's Park and the ceremony took place right on the river's edge. That place was so cool with old buildings and an old train station building that was transplanted there as the main building. If our anniversary wasn't at the end of October then I would have our party there. But I think this place is definitely suited for spring and summer with a huge wrap around porch, it was tons of fun.
I love how Ethan tries to sneak into every picture!

Fourth of July

2010-07-16T08:20:00.000-07:00

These are completely out of order but I can't seem to drag them any more. Oh well! I really have to think hard to remember our Fourth of July. A lot has happened since then. Hopefully I will get it all right. It was a Sunday so we went to church and then came home and let the kiddos nap. Fun right? After that we went out to my mom's for a bar-b-que. We actually didn't have any plans until the night before since we hadn't gotten an invite anywhere. We were going to have meatloaf and mashed potatoes but were thankful to be able to go to my mom's. We had some family over there and ate yummy food and I am sure that we played some games, although I can't exactly remember. Afterwards we headed out to Laurel to watch the fireworks display. They kids were so super excited about going to Laurel and had been talking about it for days! It got late and pretty soon they were all ready to go home. At one point I don't think any of our kids were even watching the show. SERIOUSLY! They had been so excited, even Kendra was laying on the blanket not looking. Aubrey was really nervous about all of the noise and the extremely bright lights, but she warmed up a bit and by the end she didn't need to be held or have her ears covered.
This is what Preston did after the fireworks started. He watched them for a little bit but eventually fell asleep in Josh's lap. He fell asleep last year too so we weren't too surprised with this one.
I tried and tried to get a good picture of the fireworks and this is the best one I got...pathetic!
Before the show started we got sprinkled on so we brought our umbrella with us. We thought we were going to get poured on but we were glad we didn't. The whole day wasn't really hot, it was really nice. So here is Julie and Aubrey playing with the Umbrella.
All the girls in the fam. We had more fun getting ready for the show to start than when it actually did.
All those boys!
Mom and Dad, you can see the sprinkles on Josh's sweatshirt.
My precious kiddos
Ethan is such a little model, he can really strike a pose. He put on this little outfit complete with his new aviator sunglasses and came upstairs. I just had to take his picture. He kept posing with super serious faces and I had to talk him into smiling for the camera. He is a hoot! So our forth of July wasn't anything too exciting, fireworks, food, and family. That is what it is all about! It is nice to just relax and appreciate the freedoms that we enjoy and the country that we live in.

Not my cup of tea...usually

2010-06-11T13:36:00.001-07:00

This past Saturday was the annual Briarwood Garage sale. Briarwood is the neighborhood that my mother and father live in and every year they choose a day and charge the homeowners who want to participate $25 and advertise like crazy. It is a big deal. To see the cars streaming in makes me laugh out loud.

I am usually up at my mom's bright and early putting things on the tables outside just so and making sure that everything in clearly marked. I love having garage sales. I love being able to de-clutter my house and make some serious cash too! I have had many successful garage sales in my past. On the other side of the coin, I hate going to garage sales. Call me crazy but I am not a fan of MOST people's junk. And yes, there are lots of wonderful things to be found and AMAZING prices on things that are almost as good as new. But it is most likely stuff that you DON'T NEED. Would you go out to the store to be buying those toys for your children, or how about that great kitchen gadget that you just snagged? Probably not, so I say save those dollars and spend them on the things that you are actually going to the store to purchase. Use those dollars to buy higher quality things (they last longer and then you can sell them at your own garage sale because they held up better.) I know this all sounds a little backwards, but hey, I am a little backwards.

Anyways, last week Josh and I had been checking craigslist to find a bike trailer and possibly a bike for me. We saw a couple but they still wanted like $50-$100 bucks for the trailer. So we set out Saturday with ONE specific item in mind... a bike trailer. Kendra and Ethan were rather excited since we don't go to garage sales very often and came loaded with their wallets. At the very first sale we went to Kendra found a pair of rollerblades just her size. She has definitely broke them in since then and didn't have a single problem learning how to skate in them. I was really surprised, seems like it took me quite a while to get comfortable on those things.These babies set her back $3 and she definitely thinks that it was money well spent. I am just glad she brought her own money, because I would have said no! A scooter, a bike, and tons more outside toys are enough! As we were cruising along the streets of Briarwood Josh slammed on his brakes and veered left to turn around and almost hit a car in the process. I had spotted the prize!!!
This little puppy was sitting on the end of a driveway just waiting for us to come along. As I hoped out and weaved through the crowd, (yes a crowd) I looked for the price. $5! WHAT, you have got to be kidding me, is something wrong with it! The dad came over with a piece in his hand. It was the fitting to attach it to a bike. All pieces were accounted for! Holy cow, we took that trailer and laughed the whole way home. Well almost, we were still scoping out the neighborhood for a bike. We never found a bike, but did manage to find a helmet for Aubrey for a whopping $.25.

We got it all hooked up and Preston and Aubrey both LOVE it! I am so excited and can't wait to get a bike of my own. The other day we went for a quick ride before we headed out to my parents' house for dinner. Since I don't have my own bike I got to ride the razor scooter. Yup, you read it right, the scooter. I got MANY strange looks but I think I got a better workout than Josh did because when we got back my rear-end was KILLING me. So there you have it, my philosophy on garage sales, as strange as it may seem it works for me. And I am just thankful that my hubby sees it the same way I do. Oh and by the way, we will be having a garage sale of our own in a couple weeks if anyone is in need of baby stuff or kick-knacks we are trying to make enough to get me a bike :)

Not My Intentions

2010-05-31T17:48:00.000-07:00

I just have to say that when I sat down to write my last post I had no intention on getting all sappy. That has been happening a lot to me lately, maybe I am going crazy. Or maybe I just need time to reflect once in a while. Either way, here is a post that is just for fun :)Preston is my little skater dude. Actually I think he is better suited for a surfer dude! He should have been born into a family that lived on the coast. He loves to skateboard and fights with his big brother for the scooter. He asked for a skateboard for Christmas and when he asked the first time Josh and I just looked at eachother and laughed. But he never let it go, when anyone asked him what he wanted he told them a skateboard and a helicopter. (He dreams big I guess)
Don't you just love it when the moment you sit down to do something at the computer the kids' sensor seems to go off and they must come and insist on your attention. Aubrey's sensor is VERY fine tuned! She has even discovered a way to climb up onto the desk and plop herself right on the keyboard. I think she might be giving me a hint!
These two have been playing so well together lately! Once in a while Preston gets a little too dominating and I have to remind him to play nice, but for the most part these two crack me up. I brought the basketball hoop inside the other day and it was a hit. Preston didn't let me take it back outside until I convinced him that it was nice enough out that he could play with it outside again.
Oh my little Kendra! She is so grown up these days. She has been facing problems lately that I distinctly remember going through when I was young. It breaks my heart and on Sunday we had a good cry together. Somehow that seems to make everything better.
I started working out daily about 1 1/2 months ago. I feel amazing, but haven't really lost any weight (which really sucks!) But one evening Josh and I went to the Y together. We dropped all four of our children off at child watch (free daycare at the Y WOO HOO) and had a date on the track. It was super fun, I think I am beginning to get a little addicted to working out. Anyways, I kicked Josh's butt :) That is definitely a first for me and gave me just a little more confidence. After that Josh started working out on his lunch hour whenever he had the chance (I wonder why?) We went on another workout date Saturday morning and he almost caught me this time, I guess I am going to have to step it up a little.

Ethan is in his last week of baseball and this is also their last week of school. I could use another week or two myself. I don't feel ready AT ALL! But I guess I don't have much of a choice and I am sure that we will have a great summer.

I Give Up

2010-05-26T11:10:00.000-07:00

I always say that I will do (fill in the blank) as soon as things calm down. I have finally come to the realization that things are never going to calm down for me. This is the life Josh and I chose when we decided that our family wouldn't be complete without four special spirits. A life of sinks full of dirty dishes, bathrooms waiting to be scrubbed, cars that you don't dare let people outside the family see inside, constant going, un-made beds, fridges always in need of milk or eggs, laundry piled precariously high, snotty noses, cries for mommy. It never ends, my list could go on all day long. I get frustrated at my list sometimes and then I see pictures like the one below. And I stop. This is what life is all about, this is why we are here. To be parents, to have a glimmer of insight as to what our Father in Heaven feels for us. I know that being a mom is the greatest job in the entire world. I love my little snotty nosed children and even when my days are filled with what other people would look down on I know I am where my Father wants me to be. Each child of mine is unique and special. Each one makes me smile and laugh in a different way. They also each make me angry and frustrated in their own way too. I am their lifeline, I am the one to nurture them and to help them grow up to be good, contributing citizens. I am there to help them become parents and spouses themselves. We are our children's greatest examples. It is a big job, but I wouldn't want anyone else to do it, these kids need ME! And let's face it, I need them just as much.

Top Ten

2010-05-13T09:33:00.000-07:00

It won't let me drag the pictures to the bottom so you are going to have to enjoy the pictures first, sorry.
We acted silly A LOT!
Yup, we had to take the group picture first thing in the morning because Julie was headed out of town to Alabama with her hubby for the summer. So my mom Julie are the only ones that had showered.
Nicole was not a big fan of the Cafe Rio. Maybe next time sister.

As some of you may know my mother recently celebrated a big milestone, she turned the big 6-0!!! To celebrate we had a girls weekend in Park City, Utah. It was a central location for everyone and my cousin was able to get use of her friend's condo. We left on Thursday and got home Sunday. I have never taken a girls weekend before and I have never left Preston or Aubrey for more than a day. It was super fun and I was SO excited that I got to see me sisters (I only see Julie and Amy once or twice a year!) I had also never even met my nephew who is NINE months old. Yes, it had been that long. So we had a blast shopping, getting massages, eating, and just visiting. Amy brought her two little ones with her since she lives so far away and no one gets to see them often enough. I kinda wish that I had brought Aubrey but it was well worth it to have a weekend where I didn't have to worry about naps, feeding, and everything else. I got to help my sister as much as I could and came home ready to enjoy my own chillins a little more. I learned a lot while on my trip so I am going to give you the top ten things that I learned.

10. I love Cafe Rio! I had been skeptical after the first time I had it, but now I CRAVE IT!!! I tried a variety of things and it was all yummy. I am now officially on the Cafe Rio band wagon.

9. Boutiques are inspiring, we were able to go through a whole bunch of boutiques in downtown Park City and also really close to where our condo was. They had the coolest stuff and I found lots of cool things to try and copy :) My mom also found a really fun bag that we ended up surprising her with for her birthday.

8. My older sister is crabby when she is tired. Oh wait, I should say that she STILL gets crabby when she is tired. I remember when we were all at home still it was a well known fact that if Nicole (and Amy too actually) was tired then you need to stay away! Not much has changed :) No one is real fun to be around when they are tired. I found myself the last one to go to bed each night. I am not sure what got into me but I was always ready for more fun late at night and then I was just about the first one up in the morning. I guess the kids take more energy out of me that I thought. At least that is the only conclusion that I have come to.

7. My sisters are terrible liars. When we were at the shops by our condo we decided to chip in and get my mom the bag she had found as a birthday present. We gathered the funds from everyone without my mom noticing and then sent Nicole off to get the bag. My mom notices that Nicole is missing and asks Julie and Amy where she went. They just kind of look at each other and go, "I don't know." Of course that set off bells and whistles in mom's head because Nicole doesn't just take off, especially when shopping. So yeah, we had quite the extravagant cover up after that which ended up with me running after Nicole and sneaking into the Bed Bath and Beyond. OH BOY!

6. I have awesome friends who stepped in to watch my sweet children. I split them up so no one would be overwhelmed. Kendra and Ethan walked home with friends after school and didn't stop talking about how much fun they had. Even when I called home all Ethan could do was talk about wanting to go back. My brother-in-law helped me out too and Preston and Aubrey may have convinced him that he doesn't want any more children :) I am thankful to everyone!

5. Josh can manage just fine without me. I was worried about leaving, VERY WORRIED. I prepared meals for them beforehand for every dinner that I would be gone and made sure that every bag was packed and the fridge stocked. I guess I just didn't want Josh to feel overwhelmed while I went gallivanting off to Utah. No one was injured and Josh survived and harbors no ill feelings :)

4. I have the cutest little niece of nephew. Presleigh was so sweet the whole time and just as funny as could be! She definitely has a thing with shoes and when Amy got her a new pair of baby blue patent leather slip ons complete with a big blue rhinestone on the toe she told everyone she met about her new Cinderella shoes. She wouldn't go anywhere without them! And Noah was just happy, I am sure Amy is grateful to have a happy and content baby because Presleigh was quite the handful. And I have to add that being called "Auntie Kim" is awesome.

3. Traveling nine hours in the car is WONDERFUL without kids. I had the most enjoyable drive to Utah that I have ever had. We were squished in a Buick Rendevous with my mom, aunt, grandma, nicole, and I and I didn't mind a bit. Yes we were uncomfortable, and yes we stopped A LOT (more than when we have kids with us I think.) But it was still relaxing and enjoyable. I didn't have to worry about keeping anyone fed, happy, quiet, or anything! It made such a difference. Just quite time, I think I need more of that.

2. I miss my sisters.....A LOT

1. I have a wonderful mom who has devoted her life to raising her family. I am thankful for all that she has taught me. I had a great childhood and have her to thank for that. I am lucky to live to close to her, to be able to have her be such an important part of my children's lives and to be able to see her just about any time that I want. I LOVE YOU MOM! Thanks for turning 60 so that we could have such an amazing weekend together.

One semester down, so many more to go

2010-04-26T13:40:00.000-07:00

Well today marked the end of my first semester back in college. I am super excited to be done, but sad to not be learning anything new over the summer. I guess I can look forward to the endocrine system and much more in the fall. For now I am ready to enjoy the warmth that we have had lately. Here is Ethan before his very last basketball game. He has now moved on to baseball and is loving it. Ethan is so full of energy, he loves to be outside and just GOES! He isn't hyper or crazy just HAPPY. He seems to have a special ability to just enjoy himself in whatever he is doing. School, sports, singing, it doesn't matter, to him everything deserves his best effort. I love this little boy. His disposition and intelligence are going to take him so far in life. I am lucky to be a mom.
Oh Preston! He is BUSY! He is so independent, he likes to do everything on his own. If it is his idea then he will do it, if not then you better have some good persuasion skills and be ready for a squeal or two or more. About a month ago he really started talking, I mean TALKING! He hasn't quit since. For instance this morning when I picked him up at my cousin's house after my last final Abby, my cousin's daughter, and Preston were watching Team UmiZoomi and Preston was trying to get her to "go to the party" with him. He just kept telling her what they needed to do and was using the area behind the couch as their vehicle. And anything that was happening in the show he was acting out like it was happening to him. Blossoming, that is what he is doing. He is blossoming into a full fledged big boy. I am not ready for him to grow up but I am sure enjoying his antics. Everyday he makes me laugh! Oh yeah, and he is ALWAYS dirty. I think he has as much laundry as Kendra and Ethan combined! And his face LOVES messes!
My little baby, I can't believe how you've grown. Aubrey has a strong personality, as all of my children do. She loves her siblings, but seems to be taking a beating from them lately. I am always finding new scratches or bruises on her. I know that Preston contributes to those mysterious marks, but she gets plenty on her own as well. She understands incredibly well. Sometimes she puts me in awe with what she can understand. She is always carrying around a doll and usually has them wrapped up in whatever she can find, yesterday it happened to be a pair of Preston's underwear.I had to take a picture of Kendra's new haircut. This has to be one of the best decisions that I have ever made. No more tears, no more fights, and so much easier and cuter too! She is bossy one my little Kendra. Always has to have her nose in everyone else's business. But we know that she does it out of love, she is definitely full of love for her family. She is a born leader and so fun, I love having her as my oldest. The other day we painted our toes and fingernails together SO FUN! I love my kiddos

And I love this man, the man who gave me such beautiful children and such a wonderful life. THANK YOU JOSHUA!

Aubrey's First Birthday Pictures

2010-04-08T11:53:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to share these pictures with you. I am just giddy with how they turned out. It was pretty cold out so Aubrey was a trooper. Towards the end she was done but we ended with a big ol lollipop so she was happy....and sticky!

She loved this chair so much that when we wanted her to just stand she would start running for the chair laughing and giggling the entire way of course. It made it pretty difficult.
She squinted her eyes a lot and wouldn't give the camera her big smile but that's ok.

She actually left her bows and flowers alone the entire time, what a miracle. She was probably too cold to even care.
Aubrey loves sweets, just like her momma. I can't even convey how much she likes them. A while back I got an awesome deal on fruit snacks and got them for .10 a box (I love coupons!) So I got like 40 boxes or something crazy like that and Aubrey is now obsessed! She knows that they are in the storage room and she will scream at the door. If she sees them she tries her hardest to jump up and down and she screams and squeals in excitement. It is just about the funniest thing you will ever see. Easter was even worse. She loved her basket and spent all day scrounging up what candy she could find on the floor or within arms reach. And if that didn't work she would take it out of other children's hands or scream until someone satisfied her want for candy. OH MY GOODNESS! It was a long day all around.

I love this look on her face. She gets SO excited over things. Lately she has added the feet and arms into her excitement. Stomping her feet and waving her arms or attempting to get both of her feet off of the ground at once.
SO SWEET! You can find the photographer here I had a hard time finding what I was looking for here in Billings, but Christy was awesome! I can't wait to get the family pictures taken when things calm down and I am finished with my semester and basketball is finally over.

Neglected

2010-04-07T13:33:00.000-07:00

In all of my haste to get my spring bags listed and my shop blog updated I have yet again neglected my family blog. Sorry! I found my camera yesterday and did the happy dance. It had fallen behind some boxes in the office/craft room. I know, it serves me right for not keeping this room cleaner. But now I have it safely tucked into my bag so that I can fill it up with fun pictures of my children :) I had Aubrey's pictures taken for her first birthday about a month ago (yup that is how behind I am) and can't wait to get them back. I also wanted to share with everyone a new creative blog that I think is going to be amazing, it is www.kikicreates.blogspot.com go and check it out. She is going to be doing a giveaway soon and she just opened up an etsy shop full of cute things. I just love cute :)

We are starting the baseball adventure again. Ethan has his first practice today and I am not sure if I am ready. At least his practices are going to be at the kids' elementary school which is super close. Kendra is still loving her hair and no longer throws a fit when I have to comb it. I think that her favorite part is probably that she gets lots of comments, that girl loves attention. She seems to be growing up at lightning speed. Can't she just stay a little girl forever? Aubrey has been very communicative lately. She yells, and grunts, and screams while she points in order to let you know what it is that she wants. She is quite effective but very VERY LOUD! And when you get her and Preston in a room together you might as well put in some earplugs. My sweet and wonderful cousin has been watching the children for me while I am in class and she has definitely learned what loud means. :) Well I hear Aubrey in the next room so I better go and get her. When I started this post I thought I had some recent pictures to go along with it, apparently not. Next time.

Look pictures!

2010-03-30T22:54:00.000-07:00

I finally got my memory card to work so I was able to get my pictures off it. I have been experimenting with my cricut. The other day as I was cleaning out Aubrey's clothes I found some onesies that were crying out to be created into something new and cute. The first one I put an umbrella on the bum and a pair of rain boots on the front.

And on the other one I put a ladybug on the front and experimented with the two layers. They turned out super cute. I did one more with an owl that had a few layers also, I just forgot to take pictures of it before I passed these onesies onto a friend.

I know that I have said this so many times but my baby girl loves to eat. Every time we sit down for a meal we all laugh at Aubrey at some point. Usually it is because of the way she devours her food.
I remembered to take the camera to swimming lessons one day. Here is Preston with his teacher Miss Lena. He was actually really good this day and did a bob and jumped in too!
We got Kendra's hair cut this weekend and it is wonderful. I will make sure to take some pictures.
Ethan is loving swimming! He actually doesn't do well with the kickboards. He needs to work on his kicks but has the arms down on most strokes.
I forgot that I had taken this picture of Kendra so this will make for a good "before" picture.
The other day Josh and Ethan ended up coming down to the kitchen dressed alike. I couldn't help but take a picture of my handsome men!

I guess it is time

2010-03-23T15:31:00.001-07:00

I never thought that I would turn into one of those bloggers that only gets around to posting once a month. WELL I AM! Just a little on the crazy busy side around these parts.

Preston has joined Kendra and Ethan in the pool but doesn't like to get his face wet. He is scared to do just about anything that the teacher wants him to do and mostly just holds on to the side and blows bubbles. Yesterday he didn't want to get in the pool at all and I had to tell him that if he didn't get in then he had to go with Aubrey to child watch (the childcare center that the Y provides for it's members.) Well that did the trick and he went right over to Miss Lena and got in. Kendra has graduated to a guppy and Ethan is very close. Next month we will be doing it all again, but I think that Preston is going to have to wait until he has a summer of swimming with mom under his belt. I am excited for Kendra and Ethan to use their newly acquired swimming at Rose park this summer. Should be lots of fun for both them and me :)

Preston has been saying the funniest things lately! For a while he was on the "best friend" mode. Often tell me that I was his best friend. When he would get upset he would try and pull the "best friend" card on me and I am not going to deny that it worked once or twice. He even starting using it when it came to other things. For instance he wanted to watch a movie and I wouldn't let him and he said, "but it's my best movie mom!" It was quite cute but it didn't do the trick that time. He has also been telling me that "I'm having a hard time, mom" when something is going quite right. The things that he comes up with sometimes! I know that he just used a new one on me a few minutes ago but I can't remember it. I will have to wait for him to use it a few more times.

Aubrey is climbing! BOY OH BOY! She loves to climb on a chair or table or ANYTHING and just sit. When she accomplishes whatever it was that she set out to climb she just beams and is so proud. She also waits for me to see what she has done and once I acknowledge it she is on to the next thing. She is also give TONS of hugs. This is a new development for her and she has never been to cuddly but lately she wraps her little arms around your neck and softly pats your back. Then she pulls away and gives you kiss. I love that she is being cuddly! She is talking a little more and has added "this" to her pointing. She definitely gets her point across and communicates rather effectively.

Kendra and Ethan are both loving swimming. It has surprised me that they haven't grown tired of it yet. They have probably gotten more excited as time has gone which is amazing to me. Basketball is a different story. They are definitely ready to be done with basketball. Kendra is so done that they she is threatening not to play next year, and when you are projected to be 6'1" then not playing basketball isn't really an option :) Ethan just wants his Saturdays back but doesn't mind the basketball itself. I am also extremely ready for basketball to be done. I had no idea that it would last so stinkin long! They have learned a lot and have drastically improved over the season. Now Ethan is constantly dribbling and shooting the ball around the house.

I have been busy with school. I only have about 5 weeks left in the semester and have really enjoyed my classes. I am doing very well which helps keep the stress stay at bay. I have found a new passion and that is Anatomy and Physiology. I feel like a human sponge as I sit through my lectures. I find everything so interesting and I just want more! I look forward to the lectures and then the lab really helps to be able to clarify all of the information. It is hard for me to understand how anyone would struggle with the class, but I have to remind myself that I have had more than the average amount of math and science classes to help me. Many people may not know this but when I first enrolled in college I was a pre-med major. I wanted to be a doctor so bad! But I was very young, newly married, and had a new baby. Josh and I knew that we had started our family and we weren't going to stretch out the distance between our children. I also knew that I wasn't willing to make the kind of sacrifices that medical school would have demanded of me. So I changed my major. Last week Josh and I talked about medical school again. I will be interesting to see where I exactly end up in my schooling but I definitely know that I will love every minute of it. Well ok, not EVERY minute of it.

Josh is busy working. Although he is looking forward to a much less busy and chaotic summer than last year. He just works Friday and Saturdays at the Roadhouse now and is doing really well at Warren Transport. He has been traveling quite a bit which is definitely not fun but it allows him to actually get his homework done since he has nothing better to do in his hotel room.

So there you have it, that is what we have been up to lately. Just trying to survive and have as much fun as we can in the process.

Happy Birthday Baby!

2010-02-23T17:54:00.000-08:00

Well first off I can figure out why it is underlining everything I write. VERY annoying. But anyways, we finally celebrated Aubrey's first birthday last Sunday. We have put it off for a while in order to try and coordinated schedules but finally just called all of the g-mas and g-pas at the last minute and everyone was able to come for some yummy cake and ice cream. Aubrey did really well opening up her presents and devoured her cake. I pretty much took all of the frosting off of it except for a thin layer all of the way around it. So I didn't feel too bad letting her dig into it, and she definitely did!Here are the remnants of Aubrey's cake.
And the look of pure excitement she had while enjoying the cake!
I had kept Aubrey's presents in my closet for quite some time and hadn't done much to hide them so she had played with them (at least as much as she could with them mostly in a box) quite a few times. But she was still just as excited when she finally ripped wrapping paper off of them.I have been feeling crafty lately and this is a mini-bag that I just finished. I absolutely love it and can't wait to add it to my etsy shop. I am in the process of clearancing out the bags that are listed now so that I can list all of my new stuff, I am so excited to sew some of my new fabric. And I am sure that means that I will be making myself a new bag as well!

Aubrey is such an eater, on Sunday I made my very first roast in my crock pot. I know, I know it took me long enough. So the roast tasted really good but it was very dry. I did manage to make some really yummy gravy. And gravy is one of my favorites if you couldn't tell by my waistline, so it was a success overall, especially in Aubrey's book.
Here is another mini-bag that I recently finish along with Aubrey sporting her new leg warmers that her Aunt made her for her birthday. THANKS AMY! Aubrey is a girly girl already and loves bags!
Aubrey has recently mastered the art of pointing. She is always pointing and jabbering. She also recently started folding her arms for prayer, it melts my heart!
Here is Aubrey with her new baby dolls that she got for her birthday. She got a set of twins and is already loving on them all of the time. She sleeps with them, eats with them, and carries them around all day. SHE LOVES DOLLS. She seems so young to me to have such a love for dolls already, so I had to go to the source on all things little girl MY MOM. She said that Julie was the same way, she always loved dolls. So that made me feel good because I remember Julie playing with dolls until she was quite old and she has always LOVED children and is about finished with her Elementary Ed degree.
Preston recently decorated a wall in my bedroom for me.
And then decorated his legs to match. (It was dry erase marker thank goodness!)
I finally finished the quilt I started before Aubrey was ever born. All that I had left was the binding, but it had been folded up and had been in my way for far too long, so I finally just finished it and in true Aubrey fashion she giggled and wrapped herself up in it. Such a happy girl!
We have been doing a lot of swimming lately. Kendra and Ethan have been taking swimming lessons for the last four weeks down at the YMCA and are loving it! Kendra told me that she is going to be a professional swimmer. She really is doing well and Ethan has warmed up to it, it took him a little while. Next month Preston will be joining them in the pool and I will be found relaxing on the side. Too bad it is indoors and even more that summer isn't here yet.
I know that this has mostly been a jumble of pictures but I leave you with my favorite one. I don't want my little girl to grow up! I am enjoying every single day with her and cherish her special spirit. I am so blessed to have FOUR wonderful children and they all teach me something every single day!

Me + 12 Credits = Messy House

2010-02-09T09:50:00.000-08:00

I am officially in full swing of my first semester back at school. It has been wonderful! I love my classes, I love being back in a learning environment, I love pushing myself and seeing what I can do. But I will be the first to tell you that I have had to let some things in my life go. The first being my house. I know that these pictures aren't pretty, but I got home from class one day and just had to bust out the camera. I just can't keep up with it! And honestly I don't have much of a desire to. Once in a while I get my act together and get the place cleaned up, but it doesn't last too long so I try to take it one room at a time.

This is the family room and is the one room that I rarely put on my to-do list. I can get the kids to cooperate once in a while and get it cleaned up at least partially. Preston has such a good time playing with all of the toys that I can't get too mad about the mess in the family room. Besides, it is in the basement and no one but the children usually venture down there. Below is usually all I ever see of the mess that is lurking downstairs.

To keep the living room/kitchen/dining area cleaned up of the children's clutter I usually just toss everything down the stairs so the picture above is what we end up with.

The kids aren't the only messy ones in the house though. I leave my stuff all over! And Josh is worse than me, he seems to have developed an issue with putting his shoes in the closet. I don't know why I can't seem to put things where they belong. This counter is actually cleaner than usual and hey you can't even see any dried food particles on there, BONUS!

This is the worst, THE LAUNDRY! Our washer and dryer are right off of the kitchen so it tends to overflow to the living room. I like our house and I even like the floor plan (which Josh hates) but I would request that the washer and dryer be upstairs where three of the bedrooms are instead of on the main floor where NO bedrooms are. Just a simple request! And then the chair wouldn't have to be designated at the folding station, wait let's get real, it is more just a PILING station than a FOLDING station.This has been my saving grace. I have been keeping up on the dishes and actually cooking meals. I had a fear that when I started back to school I wouldn't do the dishes, which to me means no cooking because I hate to cook when my dishes and kitchen are dirty. But as I look around the house and see the perpetual mess I realize that I can at least keep the dishes done and cook meals for my family.

So school is going well and I have two math tests under my belt (I am taking two different math classes) and I have my first big Anatomy and Physiology test tomorrow (yes I should be studying.) But I loved it, even if it means I have had to trade off a clean house, which wasn't super clean to begin with, and other things like blogging. So wish me luck and I will be glad when the semester is done and I can scrub this place down because it will definitely need it by then.

A Favorite Moment in Time

2010-01-28T09:07:00.000-08:00

The other night I came downstairs to find all four of children in the front room playing together. It was one of those things that just stopped me in my tracks and made me start to tear up. They were having such a good time and not fighting at all!

I love the look on Preston's face in this picture, it is priceless! He loves the imaginext toys. As Ethan starts to pull away from them a little more Preston is definitely stepping in and plays with them ALL OF THE TIME! To listen to him play and see his imagination going is something that I cherish!

Kendra plays with the imaginext too, she enjoys setting them all up and coming up with the next adventure that they are going to act out. She is usually like the director, telling eveyone what they are going to do next. On the report card that she just got her teacher said that she is a good writing and loves to explore different genres. I am contributing that to all of the crazy things that she plays with when she is at home, like the imaginext!

Yes, even Aubrey was in on the fun, at least for a little while. She eventually just played with the bins and got herself stuck in one, but for just a little while she was playing with the big kids.

A few budding photographers

2010-01-28T08:43:00.000-08:00

My kids love cameras! Kendra found an older 35mm camera at a garage sale that she just had to have. She got it for free with her charm and Kendra somehow convinced Josh and I to get a battery an film for it. We have had a few rolls developed and she just loves it. I don't mind too much because it is something that she enjoys and I can't argue with having more pictures around the house. And there is something so sweet and innocent about pictures taken from a child's perspective. Kendra took this picture of Josh and I goofing around, but she used my camera. Someday we will get her her own digital camera, maybe when she has a computer to go with it.
Preson also loves the camera. He is always trying to take Kendra's camera away from her. If he finds it unattended I can guarentee that he will turn it on and snap a few pictures. The other day he had my camera and was taking pictures of me.So I grabbed the camera, (he isn't really supossed to touch mine) and snapped some pictures of the two of us. Can you tell where my kiddos get their blue eyes from?Aubrey is my other camera loving kid. If she can see the camera then she wants it. She isn't particular, kendra's, mine, it doesn't matter to her. They all go straight to her mouth. When she scraps her little teeth on mine it makes a funny sound so she LOVES to do that. The other day she had Kendra's camera and was able to turn it on somehow. Kendra didn't like that at all so she took it from her, here is the face she made when the camera got taken away.
This is such a classic Aubrey face. So dramatic, so sad! So maybe someday one of my lovely children will be a photographer and can take amazing pictures of us!

Eater

2010-01-06T14:31:00.000-08:00

Aubrey got ahold of an apple the other night. I didn't think it would last long seeing as how she can't really get anything from it but boy was I wrong. She just chewed... And Chewed...

And Chewed. She was getting just a little bit off of it by scraping it along her bottom two teeth. I just had to bust out the camera, she was so excited to be sucking on that apple.

She even offered to share it with Kendra.

Then the other night Igave her a bowl of her very own bananas. She just sat there with her little ankles crossed and shoved them in her mouth.

Of course, she offered me some bananas also, but I politely turned her down. Something about the slimey wet bananas and her yucky little paws was just not very appealing to me.

Something about my girls, but they seem to both be good eaters while my boys tend to NOT be. I guess my daughters are trying to follow in their mommy's footsteps, not necessarily a good attribute to try an emulate but what can I say.

Bonfire at "The Farm"

2010-01-05T09:59:00.000-08:00

The company that Josh works for held a New Years bonfire on Saturday. The company owns a whole bunch of property and the particular place where they held the bonfire is referred to as "The Farm." When we told the kids that we were going to "the farm" to have a bonfire and they were so excited. Preston couldn't stop talking about the farm all morning long. When it was finally time to get bundled up and go I thought they were going to go crazy. So we headed out to Lockwood and followed a trail back into a secluded area. I was worried that our van was never going to make it out, (our tires are in desperate need of replacing.) But we made it in and out. They had a toasty fire going and roasted hot dogs and then we had s'mores. SO YUMMY! Jim, the owner, had a mule, (like a four-wheeler/golf cart :)) that he brought out and hooked up a basket thingy to it. I have no idea what to call it can ya tell? It is suppossed to be to feed cows I think I heard Jim say. They hauled kids around behind the mule all over the area. Another guy brought his four-wheeler and hooked up a toboggan to it. That one was a little harder to stay on but it seemed like everyone had fun. The kids found a sledding hill and there were sleds and kids flying everywhere. I had my crew to keep track of so that kept me a little occupied and Aubrey wanted to get down the entire time of course! But we had a blast and the kids definitely enjoyed, "the farm." Sorry these pictures are so tiny, Someone from Josh's office sent them and I can't seem to make them any bigger.

Here is Kendra all loaded up in the "basket thingy" :)

Aubrey did pretty good overall, I had expected worse so I have no complaints. She is at a hard age to take to an activity like this because she just wants down and you can't really do that with snow all over and a fire going.

This picture is kind of random but I figured I would include it anyways. There were a lot of people there. It was originally just going to be for the people in the office and their families. There are maybe ten people that work in the office that Josh works in, but somehow drivers ended up coming and then all of their families and then some friends of friends. I don't know how many total there ended up being but they did run out of food!

Wow, a good picture of Josh and I, CRAZY! Josh got a bad headache at the end so we had to make a quick escape but I think that it was just from the campfire because it eased up pretty fast once we got out of the area.

Merry Christmas

2010-01-03T20:30:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I know that I am late... WAY LATE, but I still wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. I never truly got into the spirit of the holiday so I apologize for the lack of enthusiasm. Next year I will be better, I promise! We had a wonderful, quiet, mellow Christmas. Christmas Eve I spent the day cooking, well not really but the food was so yummy you would have thought that I had. A long time ago, before I had even graduated high school, my mom came across a recipe for a turkey that was different from your traditional roasted turkey. That year I helped my mom cook all day and I was in charge of the bird. The recipe calls for filling the turkey with orange slices, onions, and fresh rosemary and thyme. And then you also baste it with a mixture made out of orange juice concentrate and other yummy things. The turkey was a HIT and oh so yummy. A couple of years later when I had my own Thanksgiving for the first time I knew exactly how I wanted to cook my turkey and it was wonderful then too. So of course this year I did the same yummy orange turkey and it hasn't failed me yet. We loved it and the kids gobbled it up!

So we ate a yummy dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Wynia and opened presents. We let the kids open their traditional Christmas pj's and then their gifts to one another. I think that this is our new tradition. I love taking the kids out shopping for one another, even if I do keep their budget pretty limited. To see them get excited about GIVING instead of getting during the holidays is just awesome. So Josh and I decided to let them give their presents to each other on Christmas eve so that they could enjoy the spirit of GIVING a little more and it seemed to work great. Definitely our new tradition!

Aubrey loved the phone that Preston got her!Christmas morning was actually calm around our house. Aubrey and Preston slept in, I think that it was close to eight when we got up and I walked down to find this. Kendra and Ethan sitting on the couch reading their new books that they had got the night before sitting ever so patiently. I think that I about fell over. I don't think that these are my kids, or even kids at all for that matter. This is how our conversation went,

me: "what time did were you up?"

Kendra: "oh at about 7:12 I think"

Me: "why didn't you wake us up?"

Kendra: "because you were sleeping"

Me: "you still could have woke us up, didn't you want to open your presents?"

Kendra: "Well I have been reading, I am already done with the Sunday fairy book!"

Seriously? Not even normal! So I grabbed the camera and video camera and we took our sweet time opening up all of the wonderful presents. Ethan's excitement level definitely soared after he ripped open his first present and Preston was just as cute as he could be as he got exactly what he wanted.... a skateboard. Aubrey was actually pretty good at opening up the presents and with a little help from her brothers she made it through her pile. Kendra, who I think is hard to shop for, also ramped up her excitement and loved her presents but I would have to say that her fairy book set has seen the most action since Christmas by both her and Ethan!

Preston is not much of a morning person and he took a while to get going but after that he didn't stop all day, he crashed hard that night.

This is Josh before we headed downstairs, Aubrey was pretty content with staying in bed with daddy and Josh had no arguments either.

Kendra got the "Julie" American girl doll and a new outfit for her Kirsten doll. She was so excited that Kirsten got to have a friend now. She has never been too incredibly into dolls. She plays with them from time to time but nothing big or major so it has been fun to watch her enjoy these dolls and read their stories and actually get excited about them.

Later Christmas day we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Black's house and had another wonderful meal and played a super fun game of quelf! I love that game, it was too hilarious. At one point Josh had to give a 30 second monologue as he rode an ostrich in circles around a beached whale. He also happened to have the rule that told him he had to act like a member of the opposite sex so his delivered his monologue as a woman. We were cracking up and his step dad was quite perplexed as to what Josh was doing :)

Here is Josh and his brother and sister, I know it is really hard to see, sorry. They are playing the wii I think.Preston had to get a bath on Christmas morning and he wasn't too happy about it. I couldn't help take this picture when I was washing his hair, it is just so long!I had to include this picture of Aubrey with the slinky. She is totally perplexed by the thing! So that was our Christmas. We had a blast and are still trying to find places to put all of the new toys. The kids have been playing with their new imaginext sets pretty much everyday so I would say that Santa did pretty good this year.

House Full of Fun

2009-12-30T12:58:00.000-08:00

Today is Preston's Third birthday. I can't believe that my little baby boy is three. This has been a HUGE year for Preston, here are a few of the highlights of his year:

He became a big brother in February

He finally really grew some hair and it is white and CURLY

He learned all about scooters, skateboards, bikes, and all things with wheels

He learned how to use the big potty

He learned that he likes boxers instead of briefs (I have no idea where this one came from, I don't even buy boxers but he kept trying to put on his jammie shorts underneath everything he wore and would tell us that they were his boxers, so Grandma Wynia got him some for christmas and he asks to wear them EVERY day)

He loves to sing and dance and finally learned some primary songs in nursury

He discovered TV and the wonderful world of disney channel and caillou

He learned how to talk and actually be understood. He says the funniest things, but the way that he says them makes them that much funnier

He spent a lot of time with mommy this year, just hanging out mostly :)

He learned how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich

He also learned that the library is not fun for a two-year-old AT ALL!

I think that I could go on and on but Preston has really had a year full of learning and growth. Yesterday I watched the video of last Christmas and it just amazes me how much he has changed. He is a big boy now and loves to play with his big brother and sister, but still looks out for Aubrey. He is sweet and loveable, but only when he wants to be. His nickname is Einstein, because of the hair if you couldn't already guess. Kendra and Ethan only call him Pres and are really good about including him and keeping an eye out for him. He is full of energy and loves to play with just about anything! He is a drooler, which I find to be stange that he still drools so much and it seems that his nose in constantly running and his cheecks are always pink or red. I don't know what our family would be like without little Preston around, but it would definitely be much quieter! We love you Preston!!!

2009-12-21T08:30:00.000-08:00

Today is Kendra's birthday. I am a little stunned, where have the last nine years gone and why can't I remember every day of them. It frustrates me that I can't remember all of the details that I wanted to remember. I look back and wish that I had been better about keeping my journal updated, I am sure that it would have been very insightful. Especially now that we are raising another Kendra (Aubrey.) The other day I was giving Aubrey some animal crackers and she got so excited after I put one in her hand. Then she just waited and looked at me. So I grabbed another animal cracker and put it in her other hand. She practically squeeled in delight and then walked off to enjoy her treat. Kendra did the exact same thing. She was an eater (and still is) and when you gave her food she wanted it in both of her adorable little hands and wouldn't leave you alone until those fists were full.

Preston has been having a blast in this box lately. He gets himself in it and then tries to put his blanket over the top. As a sidenote here, our TV isn't working. There is something wrong with the power something or other, who knows. But I have loved not having a TV. If I could convince Josh we wouldn't even get it fixed. But he isn't buying it. In the meantime my kids have been enjoying one another and playing a lot of games. My house is even messier than normal if you can believe that one though.

Last weekend we had christmas at my mother's house since my dad and her flew off to cali for christmas. We had some very yummy soup and opened lots of preseants, I felt completely spoiled this year, and Josh got a new winter coat!!! Everyone then played a new game that Devin brought over called quelf, I was busy attending to a not so happy baby, but it sounded like they had a blast.

Kendra is a great big sister and she amazes me at what a good helper she is. She rarely complains and does a great job at keeping Preston and Aubrey entertained.

Aubrey got this new hat and gloves from my mom for Christmas, they are so stinkin cute. She is always taking her hat off and I have to just keep putting it back on her, over and over and over again. But I know that she will eventually learn that it is a battle that she won't win. I remember it taking Kendra at least a month to learn, but after that I didn't have to worry about hats anymore.

We stopped and got some yummy frozen yogurt at Costco the other night and Aubrey LOVED it! That girl can eat!

A little guilty feeling

2009-12-15T20:40:00.001-08:00

Ok, well I am not completely into the Christmas spirit yet, but I am getting there. I did a bunch of christmas shopping on the internet today which means that over the next few days I get to have my own Christmas, (I love the UPS guy!) and I love opening packages. The kids have been great. I am really enjoying Preston and Aubrey and the time that we get to spend with one another during the day. I remember being able to do that with Kendra and Ethan and it is so special. I am going back to school next semester, as I mentioned before, and I know that this time with them won't last forever. I don't really have a whole lot of updating going on around here, just a lot of the same. Josh is right in the middle of finals so we will all be glad when that is over and we can have a few weeks of calm. Well, I hope that you all have a wonderful week and are feeling the Christmas spirit.

Can't find the right word

2009-12-15T20:38:00.000-08:00

Don't you hate it when you only have that one lonely binky (or whatever your term is for it) and you do your best to keep track of it for weeks. Then you finally break down and go buy more and suddenly you end up with tons of them. I HATE THAT! Just a thought :)

Is There Something Wrong With Me?

2009-12-08T08:16:00.000-08:00

I have yet to really feel the Christmas spirit this season. Yes, I have started my christmas shopping, I have been to the mall and I have even put up my tree. All of these things usually work for me but something just isn't there yet. Is there something wrong with me? We are going to try and go up to the heights and visit their "Night in Bethleham" and I am praying that it will give me a quick swift in the bum to help me get with the program.

Josh and I watched the movie, "Four Christmases" last week and really enjoyed it. It kinda reminded us of our holidays, three christmases with family and then the fourth one being the one at home that we are always trying to squeeze in somehow. Then we also throw in two birthdays so you get the picture. This year my family is all going down to California for Christmas. I am bummed that we will not be there and be able to see everyone, things just won't be the same. But I have no desire to travel at Christmas!!!!! I just can't imagine packing up all the presents and driving for a full day and the drive home would be the worst when you have nothing to look forward to. When I was little we did it all of the time at Christmas, Easter, and during the summer too sometimes. Sometimes my dad wouldn't even come with us at Christmas. I just can't imagine Josh not being with the kids at Christmas, what fun would that be? So this year we are having Josh's dad over to our house on Christmas Eve and I am so excited! I can't imagine not even having to leave my own house on Christmas Eve, that has never happened before for my children. I am going to cook this ginormous turkey that Josh got from his company and the kids are going to act out the nativity YEA!!!

Growing up Christmas Eve was always the big thing in our house because my older brother and sister would go to their dad's on Christmas day. Santa would often come early on christmas eve, knocking on the door and leaving the presents on the doorstep or magically coming while we were out looking at Christmas lights. So my best memories are of Christmas Eve and I can't wait to be able to spend it at my house!!! Hopefully soon I will be humming Christmas carols and enjoying the snow outside and lighting my christmas tree scented candle and maybe even make some sugar cookies and build a gingerbread house. Somehow I just don't see it happening this year.

Great Finds

2009-12-02T21:00:00.000-08:00

The other day when I was at Target, (I try not to go there too often.) I found a rack of children's clothes marked down 75%. They were super cute too! I found cute yoga-type pants for Aubrey in bright colors for $1 and jeans for preston for $3 and all kinds of cute stuff and nothing was over $4. This is why I stay out of target :) I had to get this dress for Aubrey. It was $2.50 and super cute. But then I got the boots and they weren't on sale, darn it! So here she is in her cute dress all ready to go to Thanksgiving dinner at grandma's house.
I say this all of the time, but she is such a little walker! It amazes me how each and every day there is such improvement. Today she bent over and picked up toys and carried them to Preston, she also changed directions without stopping. They just learn so fast! I guess what gets me is her excitement in the whole thing. She always tries to walk, it doesn't matter that she just keeps falling down. She has a certain look of determination and then when she really gets going she gets the biggest smile!

I love this toothy grin. She just has the two bottom teeth but she acts like she is teething most of the time, so who knows. Someday she will have a full head of hair and a mouth full of teeth.

Going..............

GOING.............

GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!! She takes her headbands off all of the time now. I have to put it on her and then hold her hands until she forgets that it is there. She eventually forgets and leaves it alone for about an hour or so.

Back to School

2009-12-01T11:12:00.000-08:00

Do you ever get so far behind blogging that you just keep putting it off because it seems like an insurmountable obstacle? Well that is me.... But here it goes, I am sure that I will miss tons of what I wanted to post but oh well.

Yesterday Josh left for a sales trip down to Utah, he got to each lunch at Wingers in Idaho and then he got Cheesecake Factory in Salt Lake and all paid for by his company too. He also has Cafe Rio on the menu multiple times over the next four days. I am totally jealous I think that I love to travel just so that I can hit up all of my favorite restaurants. I LOVE eating out and that love has been known to bust our budget once or twice, but I have been much better about it over the last few years, probably has something to do with the FOUR children I have to wrestle. It just doesn't seem quite so enjoyable when mom and dad are tag teaming trips to the bathroom or taking unruly children to the car. Anyways, he is gone until Thursday afternoon and I get to play single mom. I have been able to get quite a bit done and hopefully can get everything checked off of my list before he gets home. We miss him tons and can't wait for him to get home. I just love this picture of him and Aubrey!

I went to visit with an advisor at the college yesterday and looks like I will be enrolling for spring semester. One of these days I will get my degree finished. I will have one class and one lab on campus and then the rest I will be able to do online so that is perfect. My second semster should be easy like that too. If everything goes right I will be getting TAA benefits that will pay for my tuition over the next two years. I won't be getting the particular degree that I want but it is a huge stepping stone in the right direction and I can't argue with free schooling. Kendra was concerned when I told her how my meeting went. She asked who would watch her, Ethan answered right away, "we will be in school." He is a sharp boy and Kendra is always quite concerned with her well-being, like I am going to leave her to fend for herself and siblings.

We had a great Thanksgiving with some AMAZING food! It was definitely one of the yummiest Thanksgivings in my book. Friday I hit up the stores at the break of dawn to get some doorbusters that were on my list. I was able to get almost everything that I had on my list and I survived. It was my first time going out so early with the intent of snagging something that is hard to come by, but I managed to get my cricut and didn't have to throw any elbows in wal-mart to get it. I love it so much! I am not really supposed to be using it until Christmas but I have a few Christmas gifts to complete with it so I just HAD to get it out. What an awesome machine! My project list just grows with each passing day, I probably won't leave my craft room after Christmas comes.

My little sister Julie and her husband traveled to Montana for Christmas and on Saturday when we were saying our goodbyes Kendra goes, "Dang it! Next time I am going to have to Bust Out my camera and take a bunch of pictures." I was cracking up on the inside. She is so big sometimes, I have to remind myself that she is only 8 years old. You think that they quit saying funny things after they are in school, but I don't think it ever ends.

Aubrey is walking like a pro and always tries to walk first and then when she falls she just crawls to where she was trying to go. Preston and Ethan went with their dad on Saturday and got haircuts. I just had them trim Preston's curls so that they weren't so long and we could see his eyes. I was really nervous but when Josh brought them home they all looked very handsome. Preston and I are sick right now with a yucky chest cold, but we are surviving and hoping that it starts to get better sometime soon.

This is Aubrey's friend Isabelle. She turned one in the middle of November and we went over to her house to help her celebrate. She got these cute little twin dolls for her birthday and Aubrey was quite intrigued with them. I forget about the whole doll and pink thing, it has just been too long, but at least now I know what to get Aubrey for her first birthday. I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving too!

My little beastie!

2009-11-23T12:57:00.000-08:00

Preston has finally taken quite the liking to his baby sister. He gets excited when he hears her wake up from her nap and loves to play with her. He tells me, "mom, I go and get her" and if I follow him he says "NO, you stay there!" He says the funniest things lately, I really need to be writing them down, but that doesn't even capture it. He is really growing up I am not sure if I am ready for that. Preston is SO independent, he always has been too! He started feeding himself and using utensils before he was a year old. He always wants to do everything himself and lately that has included making himself lunch. The other day Preston went in to meet Aubrey when she had woken up and they were playing so nicely. I was in my craft room right next door and I could here Aubrey belly laughing and Preston was jumping and throwing things and laughing. He was getting a kick out of making her laugh. Finally I went in there and this is what I found. He was throwing everything that he could find into the crib and then climbing in with her to play.

Preston is like the energizer bunny, he just goes and goes. I believe this picture was taken Halloween night after we had all come in and were sorting our candy, he just crashed. The nice thing about having such an active child is that he sleeps wonderfully!

Last Saturday morning I went downstairs to see what the kids were up to and I found this next to the TV. Apparently Preston was hungry and instead of asking for something to eat he took care of it himself. Cheese must have been sounding like a yummy breakfast so he just started munching on the ENTIRE block of it. The best part was that Kendra an Ethan were sitting down there with him and knew what he was doing but didn't bother to try and stop it or tell Josh or I. When I saw it I just ran back upstairs to show Josh laughing the entire time. Sometimes you just can't get mad!

Although Preston tries my patience, he is so sweet and I love him so much. He keeps things interesting and light hearted around here. He has been the family clown from the very beginning and I am thankful that Heavenly Father blessed our family with such a happy child.

Cursed

2009-11-10T09:18:00.000-08:00

Eating spiders or wild mushrooms that land you in the emergency room, coloring on the walls in permanent marker, how about that dirty nasty water that you get when you are scrubbing out the fridge, imagine a child stripping down and then climbing up to the sink to get in it and using it as their own personal bath water. Screaming incessently, not responding to spankings AT ALL, and spending HOURS in their own personal time out chair. These are all stories that I have heard over and over throughout my life. Why did I hear these stories all of the time? Because they were all things about me! My mother raised six children and I have been informed numerous times that I was the biggest handfull (something about that third child!)

When Kendra was little my mother would often say "that is what you get." Since I had been such a crazy little girl then she felt it was only natural that I would have a handful of my own. Kendra really wasn't that bad of a toddler, (Preston has taken that crown), it was the baby months that were tough. I am afraid that her little sister is trying to follow in her footsteps. LITERALLY! Aubrey is officilly walking! She took her first steps (more than two) on Sunday and she is super excited. She loves to walk to Josh or I and she knows that she has just accomplished something big. Kendra first started walking right before she turned nine months and Aubrey will be nine months tomorrow. I think that I have now been punished accordingly for all that I put my mother through as a child. I am glad that she has accomplished this milestone, she could have waited just a few more months though and I would have been just as excited. Sorry that this is sideways, I couldn't figure out how to get it switched so you are going to have to turn your head to enjoy. I apologize!

May The Force Be With You

2009-11-01T19:55:00.000-08:00

We had a most spooktacular Halloween and hope that everyone else did too! Actually in all honesty I had one of the most fun weekends that I have had in a long time. Our festivities started on Thursday night with a tri-ward trunk-or-treat and carnival. I love being able to see all of the cute costumes. Friday was a CRAZY day. I was trying to make it over to a friends house for a luncheon but had a bathroom meltdown with Preston and had quite the mess to clean up. That night we had a birthday/Halloween party to go to. The rule was that adults all had to dress up and so we put on our costumes and away we went. After we got home that night it was pretty late but our friends called us and wanted to hang out. So after all of our kids were asleep mom and dad got to play with our friends. Little do the kids know what fun we have after they are asleep. We played cards and other games, I think, it is all kinda a blur. They stayed until almost two in the morning, I kinda felt like I was a teenager again. Then Saturday we ran some errands and went to watch Josh's little sister play some b-ball. Then we got home and had some quiet/nap time before the storm hit.

My cousin, her husband, and their two little ones came over for some taco soup and trick-or-treating. And so did Josh's dad, step-mom, and little brother Kolton. So we had a house full as they all got into their costumes. They defiantly weren't too happy when I made them all wait one more minute to pose for a picture. They all had a good time trick-or-treating and got TONS of candy. After we were done we loaded up and went over to our friends house and got the kids to sleep and played some more. We were definitely tired and after eating far too much of our kids' candy we got plenty silly too. I moved to Sheridan Wyoming when I was in third grade and there were many wonderful girls there that were in my ward and also in my grade. Mandy is one of those amazing girls and I am super lucky that she lives here in Billings with her hubby and three cute kids. We enjoy one another so much and is the best girlfriend that I have ever had (and our husbands get along too which is a great bonus). On Saturday night we were acting like we were in 8th grade again and I even ended up putting on a silly costume and let's just say that the camera made it's way out but those pictures won't be seen any time soon. About 2:30 we packed up the kids and made it home. Today we made it to church and we were actually ALMOST on time. I was feeling fine, but I think Josh was a little tired. We just aren't quite 21 anymore. Tonight our friends came over again (we get together most Sunday's) and this time our kids actually got to play with one another. We ate dinner played just one game of wah hoo and two hands of cards and called it a night. Definitely some fun times were had this Halloween weekend.

Here we are at the birthday party. Last year right after Halloween Kendra and Ethan became quite into Star Wars for a while and we came up with this idea. As Halloween was approaching this year I asked them what they wanted to be and gave them a few ideas but they still wanted to be from Star Wars. So here we are, the force is strong with this group. Aubrey is an Ewok if you couldn't tell and Preston is YODA NOT SHREK, he got called that a few times this weekend.

I don't know why my camera was all blurry!

Aubrey has been standing up on her own and I had been trying to get a pic and finally got one at the trunk-or-treat. The crazy thing is that was only a few days ago and now she is always standing up.

Here is luke skywalker after eating a donut off of a string.

Our very own Master Yoda. He was super excited to be yoda and if you asked him who he was he would say, "I ODA" It was so cute!!!

Princess Leia won the donut eating contest, she was pretty proud of herself.

Our tuckered little Ewok

I had to throw in this picture that I took of Aubrey today, I just love it and she is growing and changing too fast.

Time Flies When You Are Having FUN!

2009-10-30T09:09:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday Josh and I had our 9th anniversary. I had big plans to scan some old pictures of us and say all of this cute stuff about how much I love him and how amazing the past nine years have been. But as you can tell, it didn't happen. I believe I spent my day sewing instead. Whoops! So I just want to say that I love my husand. He is amazing, everyday I just stop and marvel at what we have become. We have both changed a lot, getting married at 18 and 20 will do that to you. And I am lucky that we are stronger and more in love now that I ever dreamed possible.

Josh ended up not working that night and Kim's restaurant was open for business (that is what we call leftover night around here.) I grabbed some scrap pieces of paper and wrote down what was on our menu for the night and I acted like I was really their server. The kids LOVE it, and Kendra was giggling the entire time. Last week when Josh was out of town we had corndogs for dinner, don't laugh I know you have done it too when dad is gone. I had some corndogs left and made the mistake of putting them on our "menu." So wouldn't you know the kids all wanted corndogs for dinner, not lasagna, speghetti, or chicken with pinapple and veggies in orange sauce. CORNDOGS! Oh well, I got to enjoy the rest of the chicken while Josh had lasagna. I even let the kids pick their side items and all meals were served with complimentary cottage cheese and water to drink. I told that kids that "Kim's Restaurant" had opened nine years ago and the food gets better every year. They thought that was pretty funny and I even got Josh to laugh.

As some of you might know Josh and I didn't really have a wedding. My dress was a whole $3 off of the clearance rack at Sears, cake was from costco, and our decorations consisted of two HUGE balloons hooked onto a weird contraption, (I am not even going to try and explain.) We always said that we would have a big party when we hit 10 years. THAT IS NEXT YEAR! At first I was all gung ho about it and searched and searched for the perfect dress. Not to wedding dressy but still white and beautiful. I haven't found a dress and my enthusiasm is waning just a tad. We were going to have it at the train depot or some place similar and just have dinner and then cake and dancing. Just celebrate our marriage with our family and friends and have the reception that I never had. Is this silly? I Just thought that I would throw it out there and get some opinions. Josh is up for whatever I decide but I just can't seem to make up my mind.

Here Piggy Piggy!

2009-10-19T10:27:00.000-07:00

The Wynia family has been out of commission for a while but I am happy to report that we are all feeling good again. The doctor told us that we had the swine flu but if that was it then I don't see what all the fuss is about. Kendra, Ethan, and I all had a fever for about 24-48 hours and Kendra and Ethan's were easily controlled with tylenol. Then we each felt icky for another day or so and now we are all good. I have a little bit of a lingering cough and if Kendra and Ethan start playing too hard then the cough starts up again. Actually Kendra starts coughing at night. Josh and I are convinced that she forces it. Her cough doesn't sound anything like Ethan's or mine. Has anyone else had a child that insists on coughing all of the time? Kendra always does this, even if she is just a tiny bit sick. It drives Josh and I CRAZY! So yeah, we all survived the swine, no big deal. They had us start treating Preston before he had any symptoms and he never got the fever but does seem to have a little bit of congestion. Here are some before and after pictures of Kendra, she seemed the most sick of us all.
Yes, she is even dramatic about being sick. Ethan wanted to go school after the tylenol kicked in and I had to convince him that even though he felt better he had to stay home. He just complained that he was too bored to stay at home.

Here is Aubrey all dolled up for church last Sunday. I just can't resist taking pictures of this adorable little girl. She finally got two teeth to come through and now is just working on one more it looks like at the moment. She really doesn't like to show anyone, so it is hard to tell. All I know is that she is cranky. I thought that she had an ear infection when we all went to the doctor, but he said her ears were fine. I am usually pretty good about knowing when my kids have ear infections, which isn't very often. But I have been wrong about Aubrey twice, the pediatrician joked that I have lost my touch and need more practice, no thank you!

Ethan is getting much better about picking out his own clothes lately. I am pretty particular about what he wears most of the time, but tried to let go a little this summer and let him wear whatever he wanted. His choice usually consisted of a tee-shirt and mesh shorts which always bugged me but now that it is cooling off he is picking things that mom agrees with again.

Preston is still being a superstar with his potty training and has it mastered. I can take him out in public now without making sure I bring his potty chair with us (he wasn't a fan of full-size toilets for a while) And only seems to have accidents at grandma's house, not quite sure what that one is about. The biggest suprize for me has been that he stays dry during his nap and is almost always dry in the morning. I am a little stunned at that one, he has only had 2 or 3 wet mornings!

Josh did such a good job taking care of us when I wasn't feeling good. His boss sent him home when he heard that we had all been diagnosed with the swine flu but Josh tried to convince him that he needed to stay at work AWAY from the germs. But he ended up coming home and cooked the most amazing chicken noodle soup for us one night for dinner. Thanks Josh!

This little girl has me baffled, I just can't seem to figure her out. For example, one day I will be able to quietly lay her down for her naps and she will just fall asleep on her own and then the next day she freaks out and I have to bounce her, hold her, rock her, anything just to get her to fall asleep when she is obviously tired. Her personality changes faster than I can describe! So that is what we have been up to, if I didn't answer or return phone calls, or if I forgot to do something then I am sorry. I don't get sick very often and it really put a kink in my week!

We Did It

2009-10-03T15:11:00.000-07:00

This little guy is officially POTTY TRAINED! I can't believe it. I just keep telling myself that it isn't possible but yes, he is! I woke up Tuesday morning with the thought, "today is the day that I am going to potty train Preston." I have no idea where it came from but it was as clear as day. So I got the kids off to school and stripped my little guy down to his t-shirt. After his first accident I knew that we could do it. He stopped and said OH! BEFORE the flow started. That is when I knew that he could tell what was going on. I tried to get him to sit on the potty and nothing. In fact we had one more accident and so finally I got out the potty chair, took Preston downstairs and told him he could sit on his chair while he watched cartoons. I went down to check on him a little bit later (with the intent of making him sit on his potty) and lo and behold there was a suprize waiting for me. He had peed all by himself. And that is what we did for the next four days. He got to hang out watching cartoons with his handy potty chair right next to him drinking all of the juice he wanted. And he would go potty whenever he felt the need.

Preston is very independent and once I realized that he COULD do it, I left it up to him to make it happen. The first day I kept telling him how proud I was of him, especially after he pooped in the potty all by himself! The next day I was buckling him into his carseat and he had just gone potty, he looked up at me and said "your proud of me mommy." I just wanted to squeeze him! How sweet, and I am VERY proud of him. He turns three on December 30 so that means he will be a sunbeam come the first of the year. A very YOUNG sunbeam and I have been really worried about that. But now we have one big hurdle down, YEA!!!

This lttle girl is working on her first tooth, actually her first four teeth. She has learned about cameras and that bright light that they make. She started squinting when that orange light comes on. Me niece Presleigh dd the same thing and I thought it was so cute! A little hard to get a good picture, but still cute.
Here is Ethan all ready for for the primary program. Ethan had a super long scripture and almost completely memorized it, Josh and I were very impressed. Ethan had two other members of his primary class in his Kindergarten class and they had an awesome teacher. Well the little girl that is in Ethan's primary class invited Mrs. Shull (their teacher) to come to the primary program and she did! Ethan was so excited to have her there, it made it very special and we were glad that Mrs. Shull agreed to come and see these cute little kiddos.

I broke down and finally had to go and buy Kendra some clothes for school. You know when dad says something that maybe it is time to go. Kendra is at a really hard stage for clothes right now. I just never know what to buy her, so we got some trendy outfits and then some things that I picked out. :)

Preston is so sweet! I turned the camera around to take some pictures of the two of us and he thought that was the coolest thing, too bad he just kept watching me instead of the camera!

Here in Wynialand

2009-09-25T13:40:00.000-07:00

It is a strange thing that has happened to me in recent weeks. I seem to find myself referring to my family in strange ways. For example, "the Wynia's don't do that," or "here in the Wynia house," or maybe even "I need all of the Wynia's to come upstairs." I know that I have used these phrases occasionally over the years, but it seems to be happening ALL OF THE TIME. At family home evening I think I referred to "the Wynia's" maybe 8 times. We truely are a crew and I love it. Upon reflection the phrase that I like the best is, "that is not something that the Wynia's do." I use that a lot with the children and I think that it is teaching them our family rules, code of, or ethics. Is it working? Who knows. Just a thought that I had run through my head and I wanted to share. It could be a phase, but as I unpacked our "Wynia, families are forever" sign the other day it just struck me. We are the Wynia family, a really wonderful family. And I am grateful for that.

A Day Away

2009-09-22T20:43:00.001-07:00

We escaped for a day last week and went fishing up in Red Lodge with Josh's fam. We had wanted to camp with them but Josh had to work and we were sure glad we didn't because from what I heard it was C O L D!!! And who really wants to go camping with three little rascals and a teething baby, oh wait.... I DO! Next year, next year, at least that is what I keep telling myself. As we hiked into Greenough Lake Ethan stopped and exclaimed. MOM DAD A BEAR!!!! We looked over to find one strange looking bear WAY too close to us. This moose was CRAZY! It was just walking along and when we got all settled on down the lake he came up over the ridge and walked right by all of the people that were there (and there were quite a few) He wasn't fazed a bit. I on the other hand would have picked up my kids and gotten the heck out of there if I had been on that side of the lake instead of getting out the cameras.

Kendra wasn't quite sure what to do with herself, it took her awhile to decide that she wanted to try and catch a fish, but eventually she caught a couple.Preston did what Preston does best. Get into things. He was super dirty by the time we got home.

Her cheesy grin at the picnic table.

Preston is working on growing some facial hair.

I caught Josh mid-bite. The best part was that he and Aubrey are making th exact same face. She was a little cold up there so she fussed a little but I think that she was glad to be getting some fresh air.

Little boys and water... do I need to say anything else?

Labs and water...Do I need to say anything else?

Josh tried and tried to catch a fish and they kept nibbling but he couldn't hook a single one! Then he traded poles with his little sister Beth and caught like five in a row. I would have to say that her pole was the lucky one.

All set for the hike in. Wearing that thing is never very flattering, but it sure makes carrying her much easier. We had a great time and it was definitely worth it. I just felt a tad bit guilty when Ethan was saying his prayers that night and said "thank you that we could skip church today and go to Red Lodge." Opps, I guess that is what we get.

The Maize at Grandpa's Farm

2009-09-21T13:29:00.001-07:00

Last Friday Josh ended up not having to work (wow a Friday off, CRAZY) We tried to call some friends to see if anyone wanted to eat dinner and play games but it was totally last minute and no one could so we decided to go to the "maize at Grandpa's Farm." We had such a blast and I am so glad that we went before it got to cold, it was already cool enough to have the kids wear their jackets and we were there after dark. The maize is owned and ran by a family here in Billings, they are LDS and super nice.Here are the kiddos getting ready to have a blast. I just love that Aubrey is all decked out in her fall flower. Getting all four of them to take a picture together is next to impossible. We spent a good 7 minutes or so before we went in to try and get a picture and this is all we got. BOO! After we were all done with the maize we got out just in time for the nightly pig races. It was quite funny and Kendra and Ethan were chosen to come up and have a race of their own. They pretty much tied so they both got to be little piggies. Josh had fun trying out his roping skills. He hadn't done it in ages, but back in the day he did a little roping. He had a crowd watching him, but I kept giving him a hard time and telling him he was too close. One lady even took pictures of Josh and asked Josh to try and teach her son, which he did. For a minute there I thought I married a cowboy and then i remembered that a cowboy would never wear a purple shirt.

This was a fun little race that the kids could do. They put a rubber duckie in the gutter and then pumped the water as fast as they could in order to get their duckie to the other side. It was hard to get that thing going, Preston couldn't do it at all but he sure tried.

They had a playground made up of all kinds of things that you might find on a farm, things like hay bales, chain, huge pipes used for slides. Preston wasn't quite sure about this, it went awfully fast for him.

Instead of a sandbox they had a cornbox, full of dried corn kernels. They kids could have played in there for hours. Kendra was making corn angels and Preston and Ethan were playing with the trucks. It felt really strange to sit on those kernels.

They had this "cow train" that was pulled by a quad that took them all around the place. Kendra and Ethan couldn't wait for their turn on the cow train. The beautiful white stuff in Kendra's mouth is kettle corn. They popped the kettle corn right there and it was so delicious. I forgot how wonderful fresh popped kettle corn is, way better than any microwavable kind. Here is another action shot of Josh showing off his skills. I will admit that he did pretty good, I don't think that he ever missed, even on his first try.

He taught Ethan a thing or two also. Ethan did pretty good and so did Kendra.

Us just being silly! Ethan was too busy doing who knows what and Kendra was our photographer.

My very favorite part was the pedal cars. These things were so fun! They had a track made up and you just pedaled it like a bike. I got going pretty fast, Preston wasn't sure what to do except hang on for dear life.

Aubrey was an angel throughout the whole thing. We went though the actual corn maze very last and next time we won't be bringing a stroller. Since it hasn't been open that long yet the trail wasn't packed down enough and it made it pretty difficult. She got a little fussy at the end and so we took her out and she fell asleep in my arms and slept though the pig races even.

Josh wasn't quite sure how to hold Preston on the pedal cars. Or at least that was his excuse for going so slow.

More fun on the playground.

Kendra was way into this one. Look at her pump away! We had such a good time and highly recommend this to any family. We used a map to get through the maze. At one point we had lost were we were on the map. We hadn't been in there very long but it was getting close to being dark and we hadn't brought a flashlight. When Ethan heard Josh and I talking about how we didn't know exactly where we were he crouched down and cried and said "we're lost! We need to go back the way we came." He was so concerned and thoroughly scared of getting lost in the maze. (as their slogan says) We reassured him and eventually found where we were and made it safely out.

"R" Unique Boutique

2009-09-14T13:34:00.000-07:00

My mother and I have officially kicked off our website! I have been working on it this summer and adding to it every now and then. I had planned on doing a givaway months ago when I first got it put together. Then I quickly realized that with summer and the bags that people had already ordered I just didn't have the time. Well, school is back in session and I have a bit more down time. It is finally done and you can go and check it out, www.runiqueboutique.blogspot.com We are giving away three different bags and you can also see some of the other things that we have been working on. It explains how to enter and all of that jazz. You can enter any time in the next two weeks, I decided to make it longer so that I can get the word out. Enjoy!

New Camera

2009-09-11T10:06:00.000-07:00

I am doing the new camera dance. Our old one finally bit the dust for good and there was no way I could go without one any longer. While I was at my mom's I would just use hers, but I couldn't just keep it in my purse and take with me every where I went so there was a lot of pictures that I wasn't able to take. So this week Josh and researched consumer reports and surfed the Internet and decided on a super small canon. I LOVE IT!!! I had wanted a fancy Nikon DSLR and so we had talked about just using this one while we save up for the nice big one, but after using it for a few days I am hooked. I am sure that I would love the other one, but this one fits me and my crazy lifestyle better. I can throw it in my purse and grab it out whenever I want and it takes AMAZING PICTURES! Did I mention that I love it :)
Aubrey is crawling like crazy but is doing good, she hasn't made a break for the stairs yet and is pretty content to sit in one place if she is entertained. Depending on her mood she doesn't really like to let me out of her sight. She went to the doctor on Tuesday and got more yucky shots and she is above average for her height and weight and she is right at the 50Th percentile for her head. I can't believe it, I have a child with a average sized head. All of the others were super tiny, Kendra was lucky if she made it on the chart. We are having some sleeping issues with Aubrey. She doesn't like it! She fights it and I use to be able to rock her, but the rocker is at my moms and for some unknown reason Josh has been dragging his feet about going and getting it. I guess he doesn't realize what Aubrey's naps mean to me, I can't wait until this weekend, maybe then he will see. I have been wanting her to learn to get herself to sleep anyways so today I was letting her cry in her crib. After far too long I broke down and went in there, I couldn't believe what I saw. There she was standing up in her crib holding on to the sides. Why must I have early walkers, why oh why? Maybe I am being punished. The doctor said on Tuesday that it looked like she would be walking early, by say 8 or 9 months (Kendra walked before she had turned 9 months) but I brushed it off. They can't learn to walk if I am not pushing it can they? But as of today all hope has now been lost. She turned 7 months old today and can now pull herself up, OH BOY!This was the project that I did yesterday. I was sick of clipping all of my bows on Josh's ties so i decided that I would do something about it. I was pleased with the way it turned out. I love making bows and now that my craft room is pretty much done I will be busy! I have many projects planned and just got a ton of new fabric, YEA!!! So if anyone wants to come on over I would love to make some more bows with you! Preston picked out his own outfit yesterday. He was looking pretty comfy but got just a tad warm when it got into the 80's yesterday, at least he was sporting his sandals.Aubrey is still working on getting some teeth. She has yet to have any sprout but poor thing is just miserable sometimes. The nice thing is that the teething tablets seem to actually help her. They never seemed to help my other children. In fact, I may have the same bottle that I had bought when Kendra was teething.

I almost have everything put away in our new place and now mostly just have some straightening up, laundry and that kind of stuff to do. I have been making myself get the house completely in order before I start bringing out all of my house decor and pictures and all of that fun stuff. So this weekend I am determined to get this place looking like our home. Wish me luck! (I should probably go get started instead of sitting on the computer)

We're Out

2009-09-07T12:26:00.001-07:00

We are officially in our new place! I am so glad that it is done and all of our stuff has made it through another move. Everything went pretty smooth and the only thing that we seem to be missing is our griddle. I guess sunday morning pancakes are going to have to wait a little while. I like our new place a lot more than I thought I would but the location leaves much to be desired, (we are on some pretty busy streets and I feel quite exposed). The kids got to open many boxes labeled "toys" that had been in the garage for the last six months. It was like christmas for them.

Happy Birthday Joshua

2009-09-01T09:19:00.000-07:00

Today is Josh's 29th birthday and I just wanted to make sure that I told the whole world how wonderful and perfect he is :) He loves birthdays, I remember when we first got married how he would always try to make a big deal out of birthdays. I, on the other hand, usually treat them just like any other day. My family has always been like that, with the exception of my youngest sister Julie, (love you sister.) Over the years Josh's enthusiasm has seemed to curbed. I think he plans on being 29 for a long time to come. Josh loves his nieces and nephews! He is so funny about my sibling's children, he enjoys making them laugh and watching them grow up (sometimes he does make them cry though). Here he is with Presleigh when we were down in Utah for Julie's wedding. He loves to hear little Garrison say his name and I will admit that he does say Josh super cute.

Josh is also a hard worker! Never has it been so evident as the past six months. He has worked so hard for our family. He is going to school, working two jobs, and being a dad and husband. He is a great multi-tasker and puts his all in every job that he does. He is competitive and wants to be the best.

He is a wonderful husband. He takes care of me and pampers me. He is a helper around the house and is always thinking of me and I know that he would do anything for me. I am also grateful that he is a worthy priesthood holder and takes his family to church every Sunday. I love that he put the scriptures on his ipod as soon as he could figure it out and listens to them all of the time and now he is a bit obsessed about getting them on his blackberry (even if I give him a hard time about it)

Josh is a wonderful dad. I know that he is always learning and growing as a father, he is always trying to be better. Parenthood is a challenge and I know that Josh is up to it. Josh loves each and every one of his children and wouldn't change a thing about our family. After Kendra and Ethan were born he was still saying he wanted a lot of children, like 8 or something outrageous like that. Then when I was pregnant with Preston he kept saying that we would have one more. Now we are both on the same page and can say that our family is complete. Like I said, always learning, not only about being a parent, but learning about yourself :) I love you Joshua, I couldn't ask for anything more!

Cutest Baby Contest

2009-08-31T07:12:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I only had one motivation when I did this and it was purely to try and get the twin bed, Preston is in serious need of a twin bed and that is one of the prizes. I know I have talked on here a couple of times about trying to win stuff from the radio and so you might be able to tell that we listen to the radio quite a bit and it is usually 106.7 (the planet) So I submitted Preston's picture for the beautiful baby contest. So if you want to help us out and see if we can win that twin bed you can go online and vote for Preston. I don't know how many times you can vote but it looks like you can vote as many times as you want. The website is http://planet1067.com/poll?sid=2657 and he is close to the bottom, seventh row up. I used the same picture that is on my sidebar of him. Josh said I should have chosen a different one that showed his face better and when I thought about it I agreed. I just love the picture! So check it out and maybe vote for him once or twice :) Thanks!

First Day of School!!!

2009-08-26T11:49:00.000-07:00

I am happy to report that Kendra and Ethan made it to school on time with smiles on their faces and not one single tear was shed! I was so ready for school to start, I wasn't sure I was going to make it. I had never been ready for school like I was this year. If it gets worse every year then I think I will be resorting to summer school. I let the kids pick out their own outfits and Kendra told me, "I need something new because I want to wear something that no one has ever seen me in before." I didn't buy her anything new, but instead she wore something that she had gotten this summer. What a girly girl she is, she always has to be "stylin" as she puts it.

Ethan finally got his hair cut yesterday,( I know completely last minute) and I was asked the question that I had been waiting for. A lady with her perfectly done hair, makeup, and clothes. Along with her two adorable tween children asked me "are they all yours?" She asked very nicely and she wasn't trying to be rude or anything but I just smiled and said yes. As a side note I had not showered and just pulled my hair back, Kendra hadn't combed her hair and Preston's hair was crazy but he was wearing a hat. I figured I would just run into town to do this one thing that I had put off as long as possible. I hadn't anticipated Great Clips to be packed full with people getting back-to-school haircuts. OOPS!!!

Aubrey is sitting up great all on her own and she is trying to crawl. She gets on all fours and starts rocking but just can't get going. She is going to figure it out really soon. She also gets up on her toes and hands and does her own version of push-ups. I LOVE IT! She is still a happy baby, as long as I am around and as long as she is sitting on her own and has something to chew on. I think that her hair is starting to sprout but Josh disagrees.

Preston wanted in the picture too of course. We have really been enjoying our nice quiet day today and it has been filled with a whole lot of nothing. I bathed the little ones, fed them, cleaned up the kids' room a little bit, got Aubrey down for her morning nap and then I sewed a bag. I love school.

Here is Ethan all lined up and ready to go inside. This little girl behind him was already poking at him and trying to get his attention and then would turn around to the girl behind he and snicker. Oh what fun to be a first grader.

Can you see Kendra's massive backpack. They have to bring so much stuff!

They were so ready! I didn't even have to wake them up this morning.

Ethan was excited that he got to wear his new shoes! I had them in my closet for a while and he had put on his old shoes and come down the stairs when I asked him if he wanted to wear his new shoes. I think that made his day. So now we are just waiting to get moved in to our new place and get all settled so that we can enjoy our free time even more.

What could make me happier!

2009-08-19T11:54:00.000-07:00

I walked into my room today and found that Preston had made his bed. He had all of his little stuffed animals lined up on his pillow and his blanket placed just so. I hadn't even asked him to and to tell you the truth Preston's bed rarely gets made because it is a toddler bed and he naps and well, I am just lazy. So I was taken by suprized that my spirited little two year old decided to take the initiative to do this. What a little sweety, now if only I could get him potty trained.

I guess I should update on what is going on in our lives these days. We are not headed off to Utah for the fall semester. Josh didn't get in to BYU for this semester, he was .15 off in his GPA they told him. He was bummed but is optimistic. He is taking another year worth of credits online through MSU-B and then we will see what happens at least his generals will be done. Josh found an awesome job with a company here in Billings and will be their Logistics Coordinator. He is super excited to be starting this position and helping the company to grow. It is a new position within the company and he has big plans. I am just glad that we found such a great job. We were getting down to the wire, seeing as you can't mow lawns all year long in Montana. We managed to find a pretty nice place at the very last minute that is in the same ward and the kids don't have to switch schools. It is funny how things fall into place. Josh and I had fallen in love with a different place but we were going to have to switch wards. Neither of us felt very good about that but our options for three bedroom rentals in our price range is pretty limited here in Billings. But we went and saw this other place and fit our needs perfectly. We almost didn't go to the appointment but are glad that we did.

The kids are very excited to start school and so am I. I can't wait for them to be back in school, is that horrible for me to say? We are looking forward to Josh starting his new job on Monday so that we can see him more at night! (and he won't come home smelling like grass clippings and gasoline)

Time to Party

2009-08-12T21:31:00.000-07:00

Sadly you can't even see this amazing person. It is a good thing that we could or I would have been one sad momma!

Muah!!! I couldn't help planting a big one on him. Isn't he so cute when he is all dolled up? Well I think he is cute all of the time, even when he smells like grass and gasoline. When we got to the concert Josh and I split up to see which line was faster since our tickets were just general admission. He made it in before I did of course, but we weren't separated for more than five minutes and wouldn't you know some college girls managed to hit on him. He just smiled at them and said, "I'm married" as he literally ran off to get me good seats, what a wonderful husband.

So yes, I got to go and see Kelly Clarkson, one of my very favorites!!! My wonderful mother-in-law scored us some awesome free tickets to the show and we had a blast. Even though we were in general admission we still got pretty decent seats since we got there right when the opened the gates. I would have loved to have been on the floor, dancing and singing and having a blast with all of the teenagers maybe next time. Josh had been trying to win me tickets on the radio all week so that we could be right up front but he needed to brush up a little on his Kelly music.

I feel like I have had more date nights in the last two weeks than we have had in the last two years! It has been so wonderful and a big thank you to all of the wonderful grandparents who have watched over our crew, I am very VERY appreciative. The favorite thing that we have been able to do since living with my parents is getting the kids all tucked in and asleep and then going out to the late movie. Talk about not having to worry about the kids, it was wonderful, except for the fact that I had to fight to stay awake. I didn't really enjoy the last Harry Potter Movie. Josh's mom also got us tickets to see Trace Atkins last Saturday (she is the sales manager for a broadcasting company) I didn't really want to go but Josh got the night off and got his dad and stepmom to watch the kids so I couldn't say no. The concert ended up being really fun and I knew more songs than I thought I did. The drunk lady on one side of us and the couple getting hot and heavy on the other side wasn't very much fun though but kept Josh and I laughing.

We think that we have found a new place and are very excited abou moving, it is in just the right neighborhood and I absolutely LOVE the floorplan and it is brand new, you just can't beat that. The only downside is that we will have to change wards, total bummer. I am really going to miss Blue Creek. I didn't think that I would like to be back in the same ward that I was in when I was in high school but it wasn't bad at all and everyone is super nice, so we will miss it.

I am DONE with hospitals!

2009-07-24T07:57:00.000-07:00

Shortly after the reunion was over we were at my aunt's house and the cousins were playing. There were still a number of family around after the main activities were done so we went up there to visit. After we got home (which was about 9:30pm) we got a phone call from my aunt saying that when Grandma had gone downstairs to go to bed she found her pills scattered everywhere. YUP, the kiddos had somehow gotten into Gma's room and then played with her pills and sure enough one was missing. It was one of her heart pills and when my cousin had called poison control she said to get them down there right away. So we loaded up Preston and Hadley and met them down at the ER with Kirk Allen and Kamilla, my cousin's two toddlers. They put us in a huge room and took all of their vitals and when the doc came in he listened to their heart and said that they were all fine and if any of them had taken a pill they would be able to tell by now. So the four toddlers, one baby (I couldn't leave her at home) two moms, two grandmas, and Josh loaded up and finally made it home to sleep. On Tuesday Ethan went in and got his tonsils and adenoids removed, they put a tube in his left ear, and trimmed something in his nose to give him a bigger passageway. He was a trooper and was excited to get the procedure done. We learned through a hearing screening at the school that he couldn't hear very well out of his left ear so when we took him in to the audiologist she did another test, looked in his ears, and called in the ENT doctor right away. Ethan has never had a problem with ear infections, I think he has only ever had one. The doctor told us that often times you don't notice the hearing loss when it is in one ear because as a child they just learn to compensate for it with the other ear.

So he is all fixed up now and after the first day he told us that he could already hear way better out of his bad ear. He was rather pleased with that and we are glad that there was no permanent damage. He has been a good patient and is eating lots of Popsicles, the only thing he doesn't like is when we have to irrigate his nose and I don't blame him for that one.

The day that my mother left to go to Utah and then on to Cali we ended up in the hospital again. That night (Friday) I put Preston in the bathtub. Aubrey was being a little needy but started playing in the mirror that is in the hallway. She was being so cute, talking and smiling and even laughing at herself. So I decided that she could play in the mirror in the bathroom while I bathed Preston so i cleared the space so her little paws wouldn't find something that they shouldn't and then put her in her bumbo right close to the mirror. Preston and I were watching her while she was in the bath and we were talking to her and she was having a blast. Well I had to wash Preston's hair so I turned around and right when I was finished I heard the worst sound ever!!! It was a sound I don't ever want to hear again and I knew exactly what it was. My little girl's head just hit the ground. Since she was so close to the mirror she had pushed off with her feet and tipped herself over backwards off the counter, bumbo and all. I scooped her up and comforted her. She had a pretty good goose egg right away but I was able to calm her and she was responding and smiled a couple of times. I also checked her eyes and she seemed ok. She wouldn't let me put her down, but she wasn't screaming. I got the kids in bed and Aubrey eventually fell asleep and I had read that if you can console them and they seem ok then they are probably fine. Josh eventually got home from work and I gave Aubrey to him and she woke up SCREAMING. At that point we couldn't console her and then I looked at her head and now it was really swollen on both sides, we knew we had to take her in.

We took the other kids over to Josh's dad's house and headed for the ER, we had just been there two days before. She finally fell asleep on the way there and did pretty good once we got there. She was fussy and crying but no longer screaming. They gave her a CAT scan and they saw that her skull was fractured in two places and it looked like there was some bruising. The ER doc called the neurosurgeon in (at about 2:00am) and he thought that we would have to go into surgery. She had bleeding on her brain. They decided that since quite a bit of time had already passed since she fell that they would wait a little bit and then do another CAT scan an see if the bleeding had increased. So we had a horrible night in the ICU waiting, and holding Aubrey, and eventually got about 1 1/2 hours of sleep. We took her in for another CAT scan first thing in the morning and were so relieved when the Neurosurgeon told us that it hadn't grown. She had to stay in the ICU for another 24 hours though so that they could watch her and make sure. But by that afternoon she seemed to be back to her old self and we got to come home.

They had a tiny hospital gown for her and everything. She had to be hooked up to monitors the entire time and had an IV too. MY POOR BABY!!! I was glad that we had such amazing nurses and everyone told me that it was ok and that these things happen. I was glad that I wasn't getting the opposite response, I definitely felt bad enough. She had the worst two bumps on her head but they are almost gone now. We have to go back into the neurosurgeon in a couple of weeks to make sure that everything is healing ok. She is rolling all over the place and is almost sitting up on her own. Let's just say that what use to be my favorite baby item now makes me a little sick to my stomach to look at. And I am definitely done with hospitals for hopefully a very long time.

Rhinehart Reunion

2009-07-10T10:40:00.000-07:00

Over the 4th of July we had our first Rhinehart Reunion. We did so many fun things. On Thursday we had a huge paintball war out at my Uncle Clark's ranch. The boys headed out there just after lunch and enjoyed a cool breeze that was blowing through the hills and had a great time. The women hit a few stores and enjoyed going out to lunch at my favorite, Mongolian Grill. Later we went on out to the ranch and enjoyed the beautiful scenery and ate dinner. We didn't think that the boys were ever going to come out of the hills. They eventually did and compared battle wounds. Apparently the In-laws beat the Rhineharts...TWICE. So sad, maybe next time they can redeem themselves. They all apologized to G Ma for letting her down. On Friday we went out to Yellowtail dam. We rented a boat and enjoyed the water. It was actually a little cold and the water was so high that day that they nice sandy beach was completely submerged so that was a bummer. Then Saturday we had a huge BBQ over at my sister Nicole's house. She has a full acre lot so we had plenty of room for volleyball, slip-n-slide, water balloon fight, and a whole lot of eating and playing. Here is a picture of my G-ma's decendents. There are actually quite a few missing. I think there are about 26 still missing. I think that is so crazy to think that all of this is from one amazing woman. She and my grandpa had five children, she now has 19 grandchildren and 38 great grandchildren and still counting. (In fact my sister is in labor right now :))

Here is a picture of my G-Ma and my mother. These ladies are so incredibly wonderful, I am thankful to belong to such a great family and to these incredible women to look up to.

Here is Ethan, apparently Aubrey wasn't cooporating.

We got matching tee-shirts for the reuntion and they had this on the front and my grandpa's brand on the back, they were pretty cool and the kids love to wear them.

Here is Kendr at the dam, it was freezing cold. When I went out on the boat we stopped so that people could play in the water. I dove in and it took my breath away and as I was swimming back to the boat my wedding ring almost slipped off, so I had to make a fist so that I wouldn't loose it.

Here is Preston and my niece Hadley. They are just over 2 months apart and had a blast playing together. Hadley and my nephew Gavin stayed with us for another week when their parents went back to California. I think that everyone was all cousined out this morning when they left. But we definitely had a fun time getting to know them. We don't get to see them very often because they live so far away.

I had to throw this one in because Preston is so sticken cute! I love the glasses, and he loves playing with Kendra's doll. He even dresses her and sleeps with her every night.

I Love Summer

2009-06-24T22:05:00.000-07:00

We have had such a fun time over the last week! I was thinking one day, man I never get anything done and I am home all day, so when the weather got a little warmer and more reliable I decided I would change that. Now I don't get anything done and we are GONE all day :) My friend Mandy filled me in on the summer reading program down at the library and reminded me about the free lunch in the park so we have kept ourselves very busy. It is nice because the house actually stays a little cleaner because they aren't home all day to make messes, and who can argue with free lunch. My favorite part would most likely be having another adult around, it is just nice to be able to talk to a friend. Mandy has been my friend since I was in third grade, you just don't have many friends like that in your life. I am so glad that she and Kevin made the choice to move to Billings when he graduated. We have had some late, but wonderful nights. We have recently been into the Construction Game. But we also play cards, wa-hoo, apples-to-apples, Partini, or whatever strikes our fancy. And laughter is almost guarenteed!!!

This last weekend another friend of mine since third grade came up to Billings for a few days to visit. Mandy, Megan, and I had such a fun time talking, laughing, and just enjoying one another's company. Isn't it the best when you get together with a friend that you haven't seen in years and it is just like nothing ever changed. That is how this weekend was. I moved away from Sheridan at the start of my sophmore year so I missed out on a lot of great memories but the friendships that I had there are some that will last a lifetime. LOVE YOU GUYS! Oh yeah, the picture is of Aubrey and Isabelle, who is Mandy's youngest, they are three months apart. She also has a son that is within a year of Ethan and another one that is within a year of Preston so our kiddos LOVE going to see Kevin and Mandy.

Spiderman

2009-06-17T10:15:00.001-07:00

This is Kendra's ready stance. Someday she will kill me for this I am sure. I don't know who taught this one to her but when she busts this out I die laughing. I guess for once I can be happy that she ushually isn't paying attention so we don't see this one too often. The ball almost hit her in the head so she did a good job getting out of the way. With minors softball the girls are always getting hit with the ball. Maybe that is good to teach them not to be afraid of it

She gets a little stiff when she goes up to bat, but I think it is mostly nerves. The last two times she has hit the ball she ran to first base with the bat in her hand. And once she started taking off her helmet. She told me after the game that she had forgotten what to do it had been so long since she hit the ball.

It's over!

2009-06-17T10:03:00.000-07:00

We are all done with softball! WOO HOO!!! Back to normal life, and I can't wait to have a good dinner. Oh wait, we have the pizza party tonight, so not quite there yet. The best part is that this week has been wonderful outside and would be great to sit at a baseball or softball game. Maybe next year the weather will cooperate a little better. On Saturday we went to the batting cages and Josh worked with Kendra and Ethan. What a difference, it is amazing to me what a little direction and coaching can do. Ethan had fun swinging at balls that were actually being pitched to him even if they did come a little too fast. Kendra got her confidence back and then hit an awesome double at her game Monday. It was the tournament of champions tournament so it was sort of a big deal. But her team didn't have enough people show up so they had to borrow players, which means that they couldn't advance no matter what. Kendra was actually bummed out about it. Go figure!

Ewww

2009-06-17T09:46:00.001-07:00

See this super happy face? I will give you three guesses as to why she was so happy.... Yup, she had taken care of business. I couldn't help but snap this picture just to have documented one of the many blow-outs that Aubrey likes to bless me with. The sad thing is that I usually know when they are coming and I am getting pretty good about planning her outfits accordingly.

June 13, huh???

2009-06-13T21:49:00.000-07:00

I am not quite sure how we got to June 13th. My only theory is that I fell into a coma two weeks ago and just now came out of it. Seriously, where does the time go!!! We have been busy with tee-ball and softball but are so close to being done that I can taste it. Ethan finished up about a week or so ago and the highlight of the entire season was that he got a trophy, WOO HOO! I meant to take a picture of him with it but haven't quite gotten there yet. I have never seen a child get so excited over something like a trophy, but hey who am I to complain, when the kids are happy, momma is happy. The team mom organized it so that the kids could have something special. I am thinking that for $9 I will be getting trophies for many more occasions, like when Preston gets potty trained or maybe when Kendra finally gets in the shower without complaining. Whatever works right? Here is Ethan waiting for the ball. He did a pretty good job at paying attention throughout his games. They couldn't let one of the boys on his team be in the outfield because the moment that no one was looking he would run off and start climbing the trees. So we were just proud that Ethan paid attention. As you can see, the other little boy in the picture is playing in the grass.

Preston doesn't seem to have a problem sitting on his potty chair, it is making it happen WHILE he is sitting on the potty that seems to be the issue. Some days he will only sit on it completely clothed while other days he prefers to be naked!

In Tee-ball every kid gets to hit each inning. There are never any outs, they just go through the batting order and then switch. His games are nail-biters let me tell ya! His favorite thing was to play first base and then after the game he would tell me how many outs he would have gotten if they were playing coach-pitch. He actually did pretty good. He has big plans for next year.

I made Josh smile for some silly pictures. He has lost a lot of weight this summer since he has been working outside, but you can't tell in any of the pictures I took because of the funny angle, oh well.

I didn't have a whole lot of clothes from when Kendra was a baby. Eight years was just too long to hold on to most things, and after two boys I had given up hope. But this little outfit was one that I had held on to. Some times you just need some pink with a little bit of frills thrown in. Aubrey loved it!

Once in a while I will be looking at Aubrey and it is just like I am looking at Kendra as a baby. The other day it really struck me and took me back to when she was a new little baby. I even teared up. Can you imagine being able to hold your oldest child in your arms as a little baby again. Holding Aubrey is like I am doing just that. But then Aubrey smiles and coos and I realize it isn't Kendra because she wouldn't be this happy :) I am so blessed, raising my children is my greatest joy and I know that no matter what they will always be the center of my world. (Cheesy, I know) But I love them so much! Josh and I are always telling people that we are done having kids and I know that most people are thinking, "Yeah right." And I don't blame them because we are super young. But now that Aubrey is here I feel that our family is complete, that everyone that is supposed to be here is here. It is a comforting feeling and I love just being able to think about my kids and each of their personalities and to see what each of them brings to our family. A friend of mine told me that when her youngest started school she had a hard time and really wanted another baby. Her husband told her that they were going to have to move out of that stage at some point and move into the next. I know that day will come for me, when my babies are no longer babies, when I have them all potty trained and can understand what they are asking for, when they can bathe themselves and make their own bed. Children are always changing and growing and we, as mothers, are here to help them along their way. We are also always growing and changing, even as I watch my mother I realize that it is often because of her role as a mother that she grows and changes. What a wonderful and eternal role, I couldn't ask for anything more.

The Hooligans Strike Again

2009-05-29T12:12:00.000-07:00

Shortly before I had Aubrey I was out at my mother's house one evening. I stayed very late and when I went to go my father went to start my car. It had been super cold out lately and was well below freezing that night. My dad went out (probably in his sandles and shorts) and when he came back in he said that my car window was broken out. We got it fixed right away and later found out that there had been a number of windows shot out in the neighborhood, some were even house windows. A little while later I found a bullet hole in the roof of the car right behind the rear view mirror. It didn't go all of the way through but that made me mad, a window can be replaced and fixing a spot in the roof is a lot different. I thought we were pretty safe out here in the wood (Briarwood) but I guess you are never compleatly safe.

Anyways, this morning my mom went out to her car and then came back in and said that someone had been in her car and they had left the glove box open. I thought that maybe she had left it open and forgot or maybe my brother devin or my dad had been looking for something and left it open, all very possible scenarios. Then I loaded the kids up to take them to school and saw that my glove box was open with my box of personals pulled out and my CD cubby also opened. "Oh crap" I thought someone really was in our vehicles. I felt kinda violated in a way and wondered how in the world could any one do that when they can see the baby cloths on the floor, a bag full of toys, and beautiful artwork done by Kendra all in the front seat, seems kinda heartless to me. Then remembered... Josh always leaves his wallet in the car. I hate that he does that and I have told him so many MANY times. I looked down in the door compartment only to see nothing! I quickly called Josh to see if maybe, just maybe he had taken it for some reason but nope it was officially stolen!

So the hooligans struck again and this time made off with a driver's lisence, debit card, Social security card, costco card, temple recommend, pictures of our beautiful children, and possibly a gap credit card. We never use it so I can't remember if it was in there or not. Along with a variety of other things. I went directly to the bank and got our debit cards cancelled and there were no charges on our account, thank goodness. He didn't have any regular credit cards in his wallet, thanks to me (he was even just comlaining how I took everything out of his wallet). So I am hoping that this might teach him a lesson, in the meantime I am busy making a bunch of phone calls and getting started on paperwork, UGHHH. And no the car wasn't locked, Josh ushually locks it when he gets home at night but failed to last night.

Wedding Pictures

2009-05-20T13:54:00.000-07:00

Woo Hoo!!! I got my hands on some wedding pictures, my mom's camera had some pictures on it and I stole some from my sister's blog, thanks Amy! If only my girls had been looking at the camera this would be a perfect picture. Who knows where Josh was, probably exploring the temple grounds he loved it!

And here is a full length picture of the beautiful bride and that is Presleigh my niece trying to dance with her I think.

Here are ll of the sisters, I look super tall I just noticed!

Here is Julie with her nieces and nephews on the steps of the Manti Temple. We are just missing Gavin and Hadley! If you look close you will see that Presleigh is screaming, Preston isn't looking and Aubrey is hunched forward. These pictures pretty much are guaranteed not to turn out!

He is one of Julie, it isn't the best. Her dress was absolutely beautiful I LOVED IT! And she looked stunning!

Here are the kiddos a little more in their element

All the activity made Aubrey exhausted.

Here is the gym pretty much finished. Just imagine the lights turned down, the centerpieces on the table and one of the middle tables with a cupcake stand and the other one with an ice cream sundae bar. But at least you get the idea of the ceiling.

This is Julie's new husband Paul. He is such a helper! After running around all morning getting last minute things he was finally able to help. He even got a phone call saying that their honeymoon cruise was cancelled due to the swine flu. Talk about stressful!

Here are the centerpieces but without all of the beautiful flowers in them, my mom got this idea somewhere and she did a great job with them.

Here we are just getting ready to raise up the middle of our masterpiece. I love doing things like this, I definitely could see myself doing it for a living :)

We just had to get a before picture!

More Pictures

2009-05-20T10:10:00.000-07:00

Since I figured out how to get my Kiddie Kandid pictures on my blog I figured I better go back and put the ones of Preston on here.

A Wedding and Some Pictures.

2009-05-20T09:07:00.001-07:00

We went down to Utah last weekend for Julie's wedding, we left on Thursday and got home late Sunday. Everything went great and the kids were wonderful until just after we hit the Utah border and then Preston was DONE! He pretty much fussed the rest of the way. We had gotten on the road early (we had hit Laurel by 6:00 am) so we were there nice and early. That night we finally got to try Cafe Rio, which we had been hearing all about for months. It was definitely yummy but I think next time I will try something else. I had the pork, which was delicious, but I like my mexican food to be spicy not sweet.
On Friday I got to do some shopping and we got the church all decorated, IT TOOK FOREVER but it turned out great. If I had to do it all again I could probably do the same thing in less than half the time. We had quite a bit of trial and error. That night we went to a session at the Mt. Timpanogos temple and it was wonderful. I have always wanted to go to that temple, it is one of my most favorites. I'm not sure why but it might be because they were building it when I was in high school. It is definitely beautiful both inside and out. The best part was being there with both Julie and Amy.
We didn't get done at the temple until 10:00 pm and then we loaded everyone up to go to Manti. Paul is from Nephi so he wanted to be sealed in the Manti temple and I don't blame him it is like a majestic castle. Julie and Paul were sealed at noon in the Manti temple and their sealer was a speed racer. He must have known we left 7 little kids with Devin and Garret out on the lawn, well there was a bridesmaid with them. It turned out to be a beautiful day and my arms and the back of my neck even got a little red. The reception was great and everything had stayed in place. My favorite part was that instead of a traditional wedding cake Julie decided to do cupcakes and an ice cream sundae bar. She has always been obsessed with ice cream so she decided to personalize it a little more, and it was a big success. And we got to snack on the leftover toppings on the way home, like gummy bears and M & M's.
On the way home we decided to go through Park City so that we could go to the outlets. It was so much fun! I did early school shopping and found jeans for Kendra, Ethan, and Preston for $8. Shirts for the boys for $2.50 and tons of other great deals including church pants for the boys and dress slacks for Josh, who just happened to ruin his over the weekend. The only bad part was the sales tax, bummer! I don't think that I will ever get used to that, I have been spoiled for too long now. After we were done shopping we had a picnic and let the kids get some wiggles out before loading them up in the van. It took a little while longer going home through Wyoming but it was nice to have some different scenery and to show Josh it wasn't as ugly as he thought it was.
We stopped and ate dinner in Casper. We chose Burger King because it had the biggest play place and we all needed a break. Before we loaded up I put the kiddos in the PJ's so that we wouldn't have to worry about it and they could be comfy. Well Preston's had feet in them so when we left I forget to get his shoes. So his shoes are still at the Burger King in Casper. I hate that!
Monday after we got back we went and got Aubrey's pictures taken. We had been putting it off forever because I wanted to take them all in so that I could get a group picture as well as Aubrey's first pictures. Well that just wasn't happening so I finally just took her in. They turned out great and I am glad to just have it done so that I don't have to worry about it anymore. I had taken all of the other kids in at 10 weeks and got an 11x14 of each of them and had them in matching frames. Well Aubrey didn't make it in until over 14 weeks, you can't tell that much though so I was relieved. I wish I had some pictures of the wedding to show you but my camera wasn't working so I am waiting to get some from Amy. (By the way Amy, Nicole and I were wondering if you could make each of us a CD of the pictures from last weekend we would really appreciate it :) HE HE) The little girls all wore matching orange Tu-Tu's and were super adorable and the boys hade cute orange ties.

Just Call Her Anne (with and E of course)

2009-05-13T08:04:00.000-07:00

Last night at the incredibly cold, rainy, and windy softball game Kendra scored her first run! I was so excited for her. She has only hit the ball one other time, but at the last game Josh gave her some tips (it was the first game he had been able to attend) and her swing dramatically improved. I had been running Ethan to his game (which he ended up not having, good job me for checking the schedule) and finally made it back to her game just in time to see her hit it a second time way out into left field. When she got to the base she was jumping up and down. Her enthusiasm just makes me chuckle. Which reminds me.....

A couple of Sundays ago Josh and I sat down and watched "Anne of Green Gabels". I love those movies and can remember many Sundays when I would sit down to watch both Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea with my sisters, yes all four videos. Anyways Josh was cracking up most of the time at the way Anne talked and "Carried on so." But the funniest part was when we realized that Kendra is a lot like Anne. I guess that is what I get for watching that movie so many times and reading all of the books. She is so dramatic, both when she is happy as well as sad. Kendra had been watching with us until it was time for her to go to bed and I told her I was going to just call her my little Anne. Of course she didn't like that and got all upset, drama drama drama. I just hope that Aubrey isn't so dramatic as Kendra, I don't think that I could handle two Anne's.

A Busy Family

2009-05-05T14:27:00.000-07:00

Kendra and Ethan have started baseball and softball and it is keeping us very busy. Soccer is much easier! But we gave them the choice and they decided that they wanted to give it a try. Right now they each have at least two games a week and then one or two practices, just depending on the coach's schedule so it is keeping us (or should I say me) running. They are having fun and learning lots of new things. My sister Amy was here last week and so Preston got to have a friend for a little while and my cousin is visiting her mother as well and she has a son that is just 6 days younger that Preston. Those two are adorable together! Preston has never had anyone so close to his age around and it makes such a huge difference. They are at the point where they actually try and play together but mostly they end up just playing "by" eachother. Today they were jumping on the trampoline and when Preston would fall then Kirk Allen would fall and then if Kirk Allen would fall then Preston had to fall too! It was just too cute. Aubrey is still being a wonderful baby and she loves to coo and smile. She is sleeping well at night and has even made it all of the way to 7:30am a couple of times. Josh is all finished with the semester, thank goodness, and is just waiting for his final grades to get posted. He was on the borderline is all of his classes but one and had a chance to get a 4.0 But I guess it wasn't meant to be because he got a B in biology. He is just glad that it is done, this was a super busy semester! Josh is going to enjoy a couple of weeks off and then start up with some BYU classes over the internet.

I got my haircut while my sister was here and I love it! I meant to take a picture of it so that I could post it but haven't made it quite there yet. My mom made my appointment for me and even paid for it, THANKS MOM! I tend to push things like haircuts for myself to the very bottom of the list and I can never seem to get in because I have four children and my husband works all of the time!!! So I really appreciated it and was thankful that my sister was here so that she could keep my kiddos out of trouble. We are ready for the warm weather to get here and STAY so we can go to the park and enjoy the beautiful outdoors!

Funny words

2009-04-16T15:18:00.000-07:00

I had to write this down before I forget. Josh just called me and he had to tell me what Kendra said to him while they were in the car. Josh was on his way to take her to activity days, her leader lives out in no-mans-land and so it takes a little while to get there. Well Kendra was singing, "I don't want to be a chicken, I don't want to be a duck, so i shake my butt...." I am sure that many of you are familiar with the song. Well Josh wasn't so he asked her what she was singing so she sang it again for him and told him that they had learned it in gym class today. "But I need to think of something to say instead of Butt" She went on, "Why?" Said Josh. "Because I am not suppossed to say butt," she replied. What a good little girl! Josh suggested that she use the word rump. After he explained to her that it was another word for butt she began singing again. Pretty soon out of nowhere she tells her dad. "Cows are lazy" "Why is that?" Josh asks. "Because all they do is stand around all day long and chew on grass," she answers back. "Well what about milk cows, they get milked so that you have milk to drink," Josh says back in hopes of throwing her off a little. "All they do is stand around and get milked, they are lazy too! I am kinda hyper today, I don't want to be a chicken I don't want to be a duck..." Josh said that he did everything he could to hold in his laughter. She just isn't like that very often, it was quite funny. Let's just hope that she isn't too out of control for activity days.

The Amy Butler Birdie Sling is Finished

2009-04-07T09:30:00.000-07:00

Well I finally got with it and worked on my birdie sling Sunday evening. I had such a blast! It turned out great and although we hit a few stumbling blocks I did manage to get my divider and extra large pockets (and my wipe container fits perfectly!!!) I had so much fun that yesterday I made my second one. It is almost just like mine except I reversed the two prints on the outside. I am getting much quicker and it is getting much easier too. Here is Preston Modeling the huge bag! It holds everything :) I am thinking that it will be a perfect swimming bag for the summer, or a travel bag, well actually a just about anything bag!

And of course it wouldn't be a picture of Preston if he wasn't getting into something. Her he has found some lotion.I don't know if you can tell but Preston is wearing a pair of my shoes and he came walking in with the bag. It was too funny because he kept falling over. Between the massiveness of the bag and my huge shoes on his tiny feet he was just a little off balance.

So here is the official picture of the bag. I am working on getting a shop set up on Etsy for my mom and I, but until then if anyone is interested let me know. I have some different material for my next two bags and I can't wait to get them done!

Better get to it

2009-04-06T07:51:00.003-07:00

I have been meaning to blog for quite some time now and I had all kinds of fun things to blog about and now I can't remember any of them, go figure! Last weekend we moved in with my mom. Our lease was up on our house and we knew that we wouldn't be there for a full year so we decided to stay with my mom until we make the move to Utah. AND.... we can save some money in the process. So we are all settled and enjoying spending lots of time with grandma and papa. Preston is really getting to know his new surroundings, what I like to call getting into trouble. For instance the other day he kept bringing me all of the bars of soap from all of the bathrooms, and then yesterday would not give up his tube of toothpaste. He has a thing with bathrooms.
We took Preston to get his 2-year pictures taken, and if I can figure it out I will get them posted on here. Anyways he was so adorable! He kept trying to stick his tounge out and so I would push it back in. The lady taking his picture thought he was super cute and kept telling him that, so of course he kept sticking his tounge out and then laughing about it. Then he would say "I silly, I silly, HA HA!" It was rather funny. He is very aware of the things he does now and is talking REALLY well. Just a couple of minutes ago I sent him to get a diaper while I grabbed some clothes for today and as I came around the corner he jumped and said, "I scared, I scared" Apparently I had scared him. But of course he laughed. So here he is in one of his favorite spots, the bathroom! Now if we could just get him to use that potty.

I was looking through my mom's pictures on her camera and I found a few from the very end of my pregnancy, I am so glad that she took these. I ushually hide from the camera when I am pregnant but I knew that I shouldn't and that I would regret it later, but then I didn't get any of me so I was glad to find these. HOLY COW HUH? I am glad to say that I have now lost my baby weight and am starting my pilates today. Josh and I are going to start running together in the mornings if i can ever get Aubrey on a schedule to make sure that she stays asleep so that my mom won't have to worry about her.

We had parent teacher conferences last week and found out how wonderful our kiddos are :) I think that this was the first time I wasn't nervous about going to talk to their teachers. I guess I was just afraid of what they would say, but they are always better for their teachers than they are at home. Ethan just got tested for the gifted and talented program but we haven't got the results back yet. His teacher did say that she had heard that he had done really well on the IQ test. I can't wait to see his results, that boy amazes Josh and I everyday. He is really bright and we are very VERY grateful for the all day every day kindergarden program here in Billings. Kendra is also way ahead when it comes to her reading and math. I hope that they can keep it up, they both work very hard. Kendra loves to read and is really starting to read for the enjoyment of the story and not just because she is excited that she CAN read. It has been fun to see the change in her motivation come and watch her realize that reading a story is much more fun than watching a movie or TV show. Ethan just soaks everything up and when you introduce a new concept to him he grasps it so quickly. For example I was explaining multiplication to Kendra a couple of months ago and after giving her the basics I started to quiz her and Ethan started blurting out the answers before Kendra could even get them out. He LOVES it, and he really loves math.

Aubrey is doing well and is growing every day. I can't believe how big she is getting, I am not ready for this. She is already getting close to two months old and before we know it I will be feeding her cereal and then baby food and I am not a fan of teaching babies how to eat solids, I would be happing nursing exclusively for the first year :) But she is a good baby and has had a few fussy evenings but for the most part it happy. She is learning how to smile and is starting to coo a lot. You just can't beat those sweet sounds.

Sweet Baby

2009-03-16T09:35:00.000-07:00

I just can't stop loving and kissing on this little girl. She has definitely woken up over the last couple of days and seems to just be taking everything in. She has the biggest bluest eyes that she opens as wide as she can. I am anxiously awaiting a regular sleep/awake schedule, but I am sure that I have a few weeks still. What can I say, I am a schedule mommy, it just makes my day so much easier! I learned the hard way with Kendra, by the time Ethan came along I knew that I had to have a schedule. I love this picture, it really shows her precious little face.

She still takes her binky, but not all of the time. When she is interested she is great with it and keeps it in her mouth well, but sometimes she just doesn't want it. Oh well!

All of the kids are doing great and the boys are over their colds that were lingering around the last couple of weeks. I am busy packing away and trying to organize all of our junk. I am looking forward to having a HUGE garage sale. I am trying to get most of the big stuff listed on craigslist but just can't seem to get it done. I have made my list of items and started taking pictures but I just can't seem to take that last step, I guess I would rather be browsing people's blogs or on Facebook when I sit down in front of the computer.

We were the winners, well not really

2009-03-14T15:07:00.000-07:00

Last weekend High School Musical the Ice tour was in town. Kendra and Ethan were both super excited and we really wanted to take them, but didn't want to buy tickets so we had been trying to win them off of the radio for over a week. Well mostly Josh had been trying but had no luck. Then our wonderful friends called and Kevin had won tickets from a radio station, he is always winning things off of the radio. They were headed to Sheridan for the weekend and their boys aren't the biggest High School Musical fans anyways so he offered them to us. Josh went and picked them up and picked out our seats, which were awesome! The next day Josh's mom called, (who is the sales manager for a broadcasting company) and said she had vouchers for the show if we wanted them. We decided that we would take two of the neighbor kids that Kendra and Ethan are always playing with, so Josh went and picked up the vouchers. This was the day before the show so his mom just gave him all of the vouchers that they had left, which ended up being like 20!!! So Josh took them to work with him that night and handed them out to any guests that wanted them. So apparently we didn't need to worry about tickets, oh well the kids had fun listening to dad call into the radio stations. We had a great time at the show and Josh and I enjoyed the music :) While the kiddos enjoyed every moment. It was definitely an interesting experience. I hadn't seen ice skaters like that since I was just a little girl so I enjoyed watching the tricks. I have to admit that I am a huge High School Musical fan and could probably watch the movies all day long, oh wait sometimes I feel like I have! I know that my little brother would cringe if he read this but I love that my kids have a wholesome show to enjoy that I don't have to worry about sexual inuendos or violence or anything like that. Ethan loves to watch the movies to improve his dance moves, he is a pretty good dancer I must admit. I catch myself singing the songs all of the time and sometimes I steal Kendra's MP3 player so that I can hear my favorite song, "Fabulous."

Amy Butler Bag

2009-03-03T23:14:00.001-08:00

I am not sure how this all started but my mother bought this pattern and made this ginormous bag a couple of months ago. At first I didn't like it because it was so HUGE! But I liked the material that my mom picked out and then my sister came and made one and I loved the material that she used and then my other sister came to town and she made one too and now I have got to have one. I am going to make a few adjustments to mine, like adding a divider down the middle to break up the massive space and I am going to make the pockets on the inside slightly larger and put a seam down the middle on them so I have a space for diapers and wipes. But I have decided that this is the ultimate diaper bag/purse. I can't wait to pick out my material and get started. My mom has loved making them and has decided to make a bunch and then sell them. If anyone is interested let me know and I will pick out some awesome material for you. We did some research on these bags and they are super popular and you can buy ones on Etsy if anyone has ever heard of that, but anyways they are $40 and super stylin :)

Man I have a lot of kids!

2009-02-28T13:14:00.000-08:00

I have been saying this to myself all week! As I load them all up to head out to my mothers or even just think about running to wal-mart or costco I get a tad bit overwhelmed!!! It is getting easier though as I start to feel more like myself and we find a routine. Aubrey is just over two weeks old and it seems like we just brought her home from the hospital. She is awake a little more often now but is still being an angel baby. Preston has definitely mellowed out some and I am thankful for that. All of the kids seem to be adjusted for the most part, they mostly ignore Aubrey but are glad to have her around and hold her from time to time. I have decided that Aubrey is going to have her own look. Yes, she looks like the all three of the others but I don't think she will look a ton like any of them (Like how Kendra and Ethan could be twins if they were the same age) She is going to be more like Preston, where she looks like her siblings but has her own look too. She smiles every so often when she is sleeping and it melts my heart, she is going to be a cutie! I just took this picture of her.

What a mean mom, she was trying to go to sleep and I was flashing that dang camera in her face.

Sometimes I just can't believe that I have a baby girl, the first week she was here I kept calling her a boy, I guess I had to get used to the whole girl thing, it had been too long. But now I get to bust out the bows and PINK! WOO HOO :)

Kendra and Ethan have decided to play baseball this spring instead of soccer and are very excited. Well Kendra will play softball and Ethan will be playing tee-ball. I am just excited for spring, it definitely makes it a little easier on me when the kids can go outside and use up some of their energy. This next week is spring break and I hope that I can make it through alive.

25 Random things about Kendra

2009-02-26T22:06:00.001-08:00

I figured it was time to do Kendra's 25 things.

1. She is super tall, when the doctor does thier growth projections with their growth curve she is going to be 6'1"- HOLY COW!!!
2. She isn't shy, I always thought that my daughter would be shy but she definitely is NOT
3. Kendra has super long hair and after Julie's wedding we are going to get it cut and she is donating it to locks of love
4. She came inside crying a few days after we brought Aubrey home and told me that they (Ethan and their neighbor friends) didn't understand how hard it is to be a big sister to so many brothers and sisters. POOR THING, I started crying too!
5. She loves school
6. She loves teaching her brother everything she learns
7. She loves stuffed animals and has never really been into barbies or baby dolls
8. She has huge feet, just like her mama :)
9. Rarely does she ever sleep in past 8:00
10. She loves to create things, she is into crafts and all things messy.
11. She has had her ears pierced since she was just over a year old, I was sick of people calling her a boy
12. She never wears earrings
13. Every teacher she has had so far has been her favorite (oh the joys of elementary school)
14. She is willing to try new things at least once
15. She is my best eater :)
16. She is going to play softball for the first time this season
17. She doesn't like to play video games but is happy watching her little brother play.
18. She is a morning person, thus never sleeping in, but she hops right out of bed with a smile on her face
19. She is very smart, and works very hard at school
20. She loves to recieve compliments and attention
21. Her laugh is hilarious!
22. She loves to sing
23. Sometimes she stays up super late reading. We can always tell because the next day she has dark circles around her eyes
24. She is an awesome big sister and is super patient
25. I can't believe how fast she has grown up, she is a little woman now and I love her very much, I have definitely learned a lot from her and sometimes I feel bad that she is the oldest and that we have done so much growing up together.

An Entire Week

2009-02-19T08:11:00.001-08:00

I can't belive that Aubrey has already been here for a whole week, time has just flown by. I keep waiting for her to really wake up and find her voice, but she hasn't quite gotten there yet. She is still in the brand new baby stage and mostly just sleeps, eats, and poops. I have to say that this is just about my favorite stage though, you just can't beat a newborn baby. They just let you love on them and hold them and they never complain. Aubrey has been just about perfect and has even been on a wonderful schedule, I always know when she is going to be awake and when she will want to eat, it has been wonderful. Here is a little more about our week in pictures. Doesn't she have a lot of hair? This picture doesn't even do her hair justice, I am sure that she will eventually loose it but for now she has a bunch of dark hair. Aubrey got her first (sponge)bath at home and she absolutely loved it, she didn't make a single noise the whole time. And when I washed her hair I could just tell that she was loving it. Preston even helped me wash her hair and he thought it was just about the coolest thing.

This is her right after her bath, she is definitely wide awake. Like I said she was way into her bath, she didn't want to miss a thing.One night her little fingers found their way into her mouth. She absolutely loves to suck and takes a gumdrop binky wonderfully. I hope that it lasts because I love binkys, Preston wouldn't take one and sucked his thumb instead and that was hard enough, I don't know what I would do if they wouldn't suck on something. I even read last week that taking a pacifier reduces SIDS, heck, I just love them because it is easier on me :)Here I am with my two babies. Preston has definitely been adjusting, poor guy. He has had some tough days but I am hoping that he is getting better. Preston and Aubrey are just barely over two years apart and that is the closest of my kids and let me tell you it is difficult. I don't know how those moms do it that have their kids so close, my Heavenly Father must have known that I couldn't handle it because WOW! I think that it makes a difference that Preston is a boy too because I know that Kendra at two was much more developmentally mature than Preston is right now so that makes it hard too. Preston's world has been turned upside down and he is now having to figure everything out all over again.

This is Aubrey right before we came home from the hospital. While we were in the hospital they got super busy and switched me rooms. They moved me into the family suite complete with a queen sized bed. I had no complaints and I slept much better the second night. They even gave me a gift certificate for the gift shop because they felt bad that they had me move. I didn't mind one bit. We went to the Doc on Monday and she has already surpassed her birth weight so she is growing well. I am almost past the yucky, painful part of breastfeeding and am extreamly grateful for that. We have the most wonderful ward and have been getting meals all week and they have been so yummy! Having meals brought in has got to be the most wonderful gift after having a new baby and a whole weeks worth has been heaven, what a difference it has made for me. I am doing well and been sleeping great. We will see if she keeps up this wonderful schedule but for now I am enjoying it.

Meeting the Family

2009-02-13T10:38:00.000-08:00

Doesn't this picture just make you laugh, look at our crazy crew! Ethan hasn't been all that excited leading up to the arrival of his little sister but now.... he LOVES her and just wantst to hold her all of the time. He tries to give her kisses all over and he has the start of the same cold that I have. It is so sweet to see him get excited about Aubrey. He has told his dad that he wants to be a doctor.

Introducing...

2009-02-12T08:17:00.000-08:00

Aubrey Michele Wynia
Born Febuary 11, 2009 at 2:02 pm
8lbs 3oz
20 inches

Everything went wonderful yesterday and we are excited that little Aubrey is finally here and everyone is healthy and happy. I went in yesterday at 7:30 but it took forever to get going. I didn't get my IV in and start on pitocin until 9:00 and then the doctor was really busy so he didn't get in until about 12:20 to break my water. After that it didn't take hardly any time for her to make her debut. She came so fast that her chest and face are all purple and bruised.

She looks just like Preston did when he was a newborn, which is crazy because I thought for sure she would either look like Kendra or have her own look. She has been wonderful and came out ready to suck! I am thinking that she might actually take a binky:)

Amy and my mom were here and Amy took a bunch of awesome pictures, I will post them as soon as I get them.

This was taken just a few days before. I meant to take a few belly pictures right before they got me all hooked up to the IV and everything but right when we turned on the camera the batteries died, wouldn't you know, I even checked them the night before. Oh well, my mom brough some back-ups but by that time I wasn't feeling like standing up to pose. The other kids seem to be doing good, but aren't use to not having me around. They are very excited that their little sister is finally here.

25 Random things about Ethan

2009-02-06T07:25:00.000-08:00

So this little thing is going all around facebook and I ushually don't ever do them but I decided that since I was enjoying reading everyone elses so much that I better do it. Then last night, as I was laying in bed timing my contractions and hoping that it would be time to leave soon or that I would fall back to sleep I decided that I should do them for each of my kids. I am starting with Ethan but will hopefully be able to get to each of them eventually.

1. He loves to give hugs and kisses, he will never tell you no if you ask.
2. He is so touchy-feely that when he is watching TV he likes to be touching the person next to him, even if it is just laying is foot on your leg. This drives his sister crazy!
3. He is obsessed with socks, he must be wearing them at all times, especially to bed!
4. He is super smart, he catches on easily to things and excels in math.
5. He seems to be friends with everyone, I love picking him up from school and hearing everyone say "Bye Ethan" as we walk towards the car. He knows everyone already, just like his daddy.
6. He doesn't like to eat. It isn't that he is super picky he just likes to eat a couple of bites of whatever is in front of him and then be done.
7. Ethan is picky about his hair. He doesn't like me to do it very often and when he does he always has a certain way that he wants it done.
8. He knows how to make Kendra upset at the drop of a dime as most annoying little brothers do but he seems to have perfected this at a very VERY young age and the kicker is when he gets her going and he sits there giggling.
9. He can be hard to understand. It sounds like his tounge is too big for his mouth. It used to be much worse and he is always getting better but it is something that I worry about.
10. He loves the Wii and is better than me in most games, but he would ushually rather be outside.
11. After spending quite a bit of time working with Kendra to teach her how to do a front flip Ethan hopped up on the tramp and did it on his first attempt, he is now getting pretty close to being able to land on his feet.
12. He has blonde hair and blue eyes
13. I would try and get him into child modeling if we lived in a city because I think that he would do really well.
14. He loves to build things with his legos, and even though he enjoys his little legos I think that he still prefers his duplo blocks
15. He sleeps like a log. Josh and I can't even get him to wake up during the night, I have never been around such a sound sleeper.
16. He prefers riding the razor scooter over his bike. I think that I have only seen him on his bike 3-4 times
17. He knows how to tie his shoes
18. He also knows how to make a sandwich or get himself a drink and things like that but always asks Josh or I to do these things for him. Like I said before, he is a smart boy and he knows that it is usually just easier for us to do them for him. (except the drink thing, he always gets called out on that one)
19. His room is always the messy one
20. He is very easy going and laid back
21. He is really starting to enjoy his little brother instead of just ignoring him all of the time
22. He loves his stuffed animals and sleeps with his panda every night
23. Ethan is afraid of heights, he doesn't like to be thown in the air or anything like that. His uncle Devin threw him too high once and he has been a freak about it ever since. Sometimes his gets scared just when I pick him up into my arms.
24. He played his first season of soccer and loved it and is now getting ready to try baseball this spring. I can't wait to watch him
25. I love him! Ethan is so super special, after having Kendra who was such a handful Ethan came into our lives and was a special blessing. He has kept his sweet demeanor and I enjoy watching him grow. I can only imagine what kind of man my sweet little boy will grow up to be.

The Date is Set

2009-02-02T20:23:00.000-08:00

Well, I went to the doc today and have progressed to a three. YAH!!!! But ya know, with Ethan I was at a three for two weeks. I have had a lot of contractions lately, if they could just stick around then I might actually be in labor. My doctor is on call on the 11th so he said if I don't go on my own by then I can be induced that day. I LOVE MY DOCTOR!!! So at least I know that I don't have to go past Feb 11th, which is huge and I am super excited. My sister Amy came up from Utah with my mom and got here yesterday. She spent the day keeping me company and getting me motivated to do my dishes and she cleaned my front room and floors. I am extreamly greatful for her help and can't wait for baby to get here. Now if only I could get Preston to treat his cousin nicely then it will make my life much easier.