YUMMY!

It's been quite a while since I've purchase this yummy stuff, but I decided to grab some when I was in Costco the other day. I don't know if any of my kids have experienced Nutella yet, but they have now and it's a big hit at our house!! Brynley was the only one with a messy face, so of course she's the one who gets photographed!!! If you haven't tried nutella - you must go get some! Our favorite way to eat it is spread on toast. YUMMY!

Happy Belated Father's Day

Ok I know.. so it's WEDNESDAY already and I haven't posted a thing about father's day. Here's he is... Steven... He's a great father. All our kids totally love him and even though Brynley is SUCH a mama's girl, lately she has been calling out for her daddy. He always gets down and plays with them and they love that about him. He's great about helping around the house (he's done dishes almost every night since we moved here! WHOO HOO!) teaching our kids about Jesus and reading scriptures (and other stories) every night. He almost always does bedtime for the boys (sometimes Brynley) and he is a hard worker. He has been very dedicated at his new job, leaving early - staying late, and even working a little after the kids are in bed to make sure we are going to have what we need. It's nice to be here in Boise where he isn't working full time and doing a little research on the side. So far, no callings - which is awesome since Elder's Quorum Pres was a little time consuming! We got a new Bishop the first week we were here, so I have a feeling it might be a little bit before they catch up with us! It's been nice going to church TOGETHER, rather than at separate times! We love you Daddy! (Steven!)

Here's a few pics from Saturday when we went up to Lucky Peak for the afternoon to play in the water. The kids had a blast!! (and I got a little red on the shoulders! ouch!)

We're alive... BARELY!

Yes, we made it to Boise. My mom and dad took the kids on friday, and we came saturday morning. I am TOTALLY reminded why I need to get rid of a bunch of crap each time we move. The nice thing is this house actually has room (and too much of it!) for all our stuff. It's easier to organize when you aren't thinking of creative ways to stash stuff! We have a living/family room both, so right now we are needing another set of furniture!! The house is nice and the kids love having space. I'll post some pics someday, when boxes aren't strewn about!

We have also been battling the flu. Luke puked ALL over the backseat(s) of the car on Sunday. Brynley was sick from Monday until ... well, she's still a bit queezy today and not eating too much. Anything she has eaten runs really quick out the other end. NOT FUN! But at least we have moved on from the puking.

I have started new classes this week, and take my last finals tomorrow as well. I will definately feel a bit relieved when tomorrow's exams are over. I don't recommend doing finals and starting new classes in one week.. on top of puking kids and trying to unpack. It's amazing I haven't sent to the loony bin by now! (maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing.. some quiet, alone time?! Hmmm....) Oh - and note to self... Boxes are such cheap entertainment!

Mommy's Little Helper

I just realized how big of a whiner I've been the past week or so! My goodness! I have to put up something positive - here's my cute little helper. After the guys put in the new window, I was vacuuming the floor behind the couch, so she ran and got her pink vacuum to help me. She said "Look mommy! I cleanin too! I helpin'!!" She's SOO cute!

PLEASE! Just shoot me now!

Ok.. so you're not going to believe this... so that's why I took a picture. So much for getting any of that $1050 security deposit back.

(the story: that large table you see is a ping pong table my mom brought over for our yardsale last weekend. It's SUPER heavy and huge. It was sitting on the porch, leaning up against the railing. That smaller table is a train table. So - the wind blew the ping pong table, into the train table, then into the window - Kinda like dominoes!! And no, I'm really not laughing - but seriously! at this point.. I'm just expecting MORE to happen to us this week!)

Summer Fun!

Check out this idea... How fun is this? I totally signed up for it!
http://elizabethkartchner.blogspot.com/2008/06/wanna-play.html

Who's Next?

I think the flu bug has plagued our house... Victim number 1: Michael (2 days of school missed) Hopefully he can go to school tomorrow and thursday because the last week of school is always the most fun! Just please don't take any more victims until AFTER saturday's move!

SERIOUSLY!

Ok.. so who is going to get hurt next this week? This afternoon Michael and Luke were helping me shred some old papers, and I reached up to hand michael a paper and well... Paper cut his eyeball! Seriously?! What are the chances of that? So I called our eye doc, with 5 minutes before closing, hoping to rush in a get some numbing drops, but instead she wanted us to come in so she could check him out. Sure enough - a vertical slice on his little eye! Poor guy! He is totally tramatized by the whole thing. He's such a sensitive kid as it is! She added some antibiotic drops to prevent infection (which TOTALLY freaked him out) and we're just adding "fake tears" as michael calls them for the next couple of days. Ok.. ranting is over... for now anyway! :o)

Obsession

My daughter has an obsession with these two guys... She has to watch it ALL the time.. and she has to watch it on "mommy's bed!" As I type this, I have put her down for a nap, on my bed, to Monster's Inc. Bad Mommy i know! I have never let my kids fall asleep to a movie, but this past week has been so crazy with trying to get stuff done, that I know if I pop that in for her, she'll be out in no time! It's like a comfort thing for her.. another binky. When we get to Boise I'll be able to crack down on the naptime.. But for now, it's just survival mode!

G'day from the land down under!!

On thursday night Michael's class presented a program on Australia. They had been studying Australia for the past 6 weeks or so. It was so cute and the kids all did very well! They each had their own parts to memorize and we learned all kinds of things about Austrailia. We learned where Austrailia is and how it broke apart from the other continents long ago, it's flag, different animals that live there, even how some kids go to school by walkie talkie instead of in a real classroom! Here's a few pictures from the evening. The one of Michael on the horse is him getting ready to "ride out" during the song Waltzing Matilda. They had their own "coral reef" display, along with Austrailia's flag and pictures of austrailian animals and the student's own artwork and projects on display. They were told to wear something they thought the people of Australia would wear, so he came home and told me very specifically that he wanted to wear a Camo shirt with Khaki shorts! Funny kid!

Bring it on...

As if I didn't already have enough to do during the next couple of weeks, I got to spend a few hours in the ER today. Brynley (being quite a little shorty) cannot reach my bed. Usually she asks for help to climb up, but today she decided to pull out my bottom drawer and use that to boost herself up. When she decided she wanted down, she smacked head first on the wooden dresser drawer. It knocked her out for a few seconds, and gave her a minor concussion. We had to do a CT and everything! She was a champ and held still, and they didn't have to sedate her. Thankfully it was normal and she seems to be acting ok. The mark (which was a HUGE goose-egg a few hours ago is right near her hairline, so if I don't pull her hair back with a clip, then you don't see it. It doesn't look terribly horrible right now, but I know the coloring will only get worse!! (and yes.. as you can see from the picture I still give my 2 year old daughter her binky. Sure - she's got a little bit of a cross bite now - but that can all be fixed later... sanity is much more important at this stage!!)

But, like I said - do I really need anything else added to the stress???!!! I'm starting to feel the craziness even more from trying to pack, sort, get ready for the yard sale, school work...... etc etc. Anybody feel the need to write a paper or take a final for me??!

Let Us Remember

My maternal grandmother died suddenly of a massive heart attack right after Steven and I got engaged. I was fortunate enough to have my truck break down just down the street from my grandparents house. I walked down to their house and got to visit a little with them before they helped me get my truck started. Amazingly it started right up. If my truck had not had problems that day I would not have gotten to see my grandma that one last time. I will always remember the great big hug she gave me as she said goodbye after grandpa had gotten my truck started. She always had those GREAT big bear hugs. I only wish she could have lived a little longer to have become a great-grandmother. She would have loved seeing her great-grandchildren. After she passed it was a difficult time for my grandfather. But it was really nice to get to know him a little better before he passed a few years later. It was neat to hear of some of his war stories and to hear of the hero that he was for our country. I hope you all have a chance to visit the cemetary today and pay tribute to loved ones and to those veterans who served our country faithfully.

Announcing...

The new website for the firm is up! Check it out!

http://www.millerandfisher.com/

Jumpin' Jacks Preschool: Class of 2008

Here's the grad - my little Lukey!!! Luke graduated from preschool this week. It was a nice short little ceremony. They sang a couple songs, then got their diplomas! They had a "weather" theme for their graduation. They sang songs about the sun, rain, etc. and wore yellow tie-dyed t-shirts! During the "rainy" songs they wore umbrella hats! It was just too cute! here's a few pics - the lighting was absolutely HORRIBLE and i really couldn't get the best photos - but oh well.. I did get some! :o) (I tried to post a video clip but blogger seems to have issues) In the picture of him with his teachers, the one on the left is Mrs. Godes - she was the assistant, and Mrs. Hawking is to the right, she was the actual teacher. I just LOVED this preschool. Luke learned so much. They had the coolest activites and lessons, and he even got to go on field trips! I can't wait to scrap his preschool year! :o)

Digital Creativeness....

So this is only my third attempt at photoshop/digital scrap stuff. I'm getting these ready to send out to friends/family to announce our move and new info. What do you guys think? Anything I should add or change up a bit? (Sorry 'bout the blurred info.. but you get the idea!) They will be printed up as a 5x7 matte finish photo.

Cramming ideas anyone?

Ok - so our landlord JUST called me and said he'll be here tomorrow to show our house to some prospective tenants. My house is a mess! Not a super huge mess, but messy enough it's not in showing condition! I've been sorting and boxing and there is stuff everywhere!! Any ideas on how to make my house presentable and FAST without using my usual stashing places of closets and my room?!!!! AHHH! Panic mode has officially set in (and I have a test tomorrow that I need to study for!! Why do I do this to myself???) I know, I know... if I was a great little housewife, my house would be spotless, dishes always done, never behind on laundry, kids would always have their hair combed AND I would still be able to get my classes done with time to spare.. but who really lives in that kind of a world anyway? If someone does... tell me how you do it?

Small & Simple

My friend Jenny is making (and selling) the sweetest little bracelets. Check these out! They are very reasonably priced and so adorable! I'm definately going to be ordering some for Brynley! You can pick from the ones she has shown on her site or custom design your own. Check her out at http://smallandsimplebabybracelets.blogspot.com/ or send her an email at smallandsimple@gmail.com.

We have a home!

We went to Boise this weekend to find a house.. and luckily we found something relatively close to downtown and BSU AND the size and number of bedrooms we wanted! YAY! It has been a LONG week and weekend. I thought I was suffering from a migraine (which I've never had before) for a few days, and I finally gave in to go to my PCP and he said it was a NASTY sinus infection! If I only had thought that was possible a few days sooner! I didn't even give it a second thought because I was already on antibiotics and I wasn't "green" anymore, if you know what I mean!!!! Nice huh! So I suffered through 3 days of debilitating headaches... and probably could have reduced that a TON! But thank-goodness for percocet! That's what got me through the night (and no - I definately don't take care of my kids "under the influence"!! ) He gave me some decongenstants and nose spray to help "clear my head" and my headache is almost totally gone now... but now I've got a funky rash all over.. so I'm probably allergic to something! Off to the doc again tomorrow! ARGH! BUT... WE DID GET A HOUSE! HOORAY! Come visit next time your in Boise! We'll be moving June 7!

Slave Labor.. um.. I mean "Spring Cleaning"

This is why I have 3 kids! (just kidding) It finally feels like spring around here... so I guess it's time to get started with Spring cleaning! (and the fact that we're moving in a few weeks is another good reason to get cleaning!) The kids had a lot of fun cleaning the windows, sweeping and cleaning their toys with soapy water! Luke ran off and picked me some dandelions and put them in a water bottle vase. He's such a thoughtful kid!

THANKS BECKY & LISA!!!

Ok, so I'm the type that enters everything... and NEVER Wins! But this time... I'M A WINNER! This is what I won on Becky Higgins website... it's Lisa's Bearnson's newest book! I can't wait for the mailman to come! :o) What a great day!

PS Congrats to Maria who won that GORGEOUS quilt that we were all hoping for!