The "Skinny" On Things

Big Girl Bed

2012-02-13T20:50:00.000-08:00

With all the room changes in our house, it was BEYOND time for this little girl to get a big girl bed! I have plans to make her an actual bed, but in the mean time a mattress on the floor is working out perfect. We went and picked up a mattress from our favorite place, Big Lots. They sell Serta twin mattresses for $99. You just can't beat the price. I wasn't sure what I was going to put on it, when mom reminded me that she still had MY bedding from when I was like 13! YAY! Clara loves it and she has been sleeping MUCH better. The boys also love her room and usually can be found playing in there too.

Granny B Turns 99

2012-02-12T20:49:00.000-08:00

For her birthday granny got to go the the doctor. Fun and exciting I know, but that happens a lot when you're 99. Mom and Dad took her out and about to do all the medical stuff for the week. She wanted to come home and have toast and yogurt for dinner. She got lots of phone calls and visits from grand kids and great grand kids. She said it was all she could ask for.

On Sunday, after a roast beef dinner with mashed potatoes, gravy, carrots, and jello....the men retired to more comfy seats. Granny got parked right in the middle of it.

After all the dishes had been cleared, the kids wrangled in from out side and granny was sung to by a chorus of angels! HAHA The cake was super bright and cheerful and YUMMY.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!! She said this could be her last birthday. I said, "yeah, your last birthday for the next year." We all think she'll make it to 100 at least!

I think every kid was able to sneak a little lick here and there before it was served.

This crew sure likes cake!! oh and don't forget the ice cream!!

A Girl and Her Dog

2012-02-08T20:49:00.000-08:00

After taking a little walk around the neighbor hood I decided to do a little yard work in the back of the house. I try to remember to do yard work on Wednesday so the green waste will get picked up the next morning. We have a new crop of these AWFUL weeds that I call briers that over the last 2 years have taken over our backyard. They stick to anything fabric and work their way deep into whatever they can grab. They don't hurt your skin or hair but are impossible on shoe laces. ANYWAY. Clara was helping me and got them all over her shirt and pants and socks so I took them all off so she wouldn't be in pain. As I continued to work on the terraces she fell in love with the dog. "Charlie" she would call to him. She would SQUEAL as he came to her. She would rub him and hug him and put grass all over him. It was the funniest thing ever. She use to scream at him, but now she insists on going outside every time I open the patio door. I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship.

Charlie is digging all the attention.

Taxes and Pizza

2012-02-06T20:48:00.000-08:00

We had a candle lit pizza dinner to celebrate receiving our income tax returns!! I love eating dinner by candle light because it really calms the boys down and they don't yell every exciting thing that they can think of out. It makes dinner pleasant and quiet. Don't mind the blue tape on the wall, that's a project in the works that should hopefully be on here soon.

Welcome Home Andrés

2012-01-26T19:00:00.000-08:00

We received a call Monday night that Andrés would be coming home and we found out Tuesday night that he was to arrive at the Bakersfield Airport on Wednesday night at 7:30p. I made a bunch of signs with Levi so the boys could welcome him home properly and then Oscar's mom called me that he had been delayed in Houston and missed the flight to San Francisco. His options were to stay the night in SF or to take a different flight into LAX. He choose the LAX route so I called Oscar at work to tell him the change of plans. I baked some cookies for the trip and got his dinner all packed. I sent all the signs so they could have something fun to greet him. Oscar and his mom made great time, especially since Oscar missed the 405 AGAIN. When Andrés called, the only info he gave was that the plane was going to arrive around 9:15p. I searched all the flights and found the one I "thought" was his based on a couple of things he mentioned. I was super nervous. They parked the truck, walked into the terminal and there he was walking into the lobby, shocked to see them. haha I have mad skills.

We are so grateful for the 10 months of service he was able to spend with the people of Guatemala. Sometimes you can't tell what the future will bring or reasons for why things happen the way they do, but we are hopeful and have faith that he is where he needs to be right now. I told him he has to keep himself busy working with his dad on Oscars family history work, so that he can come with us to the temple every time we go so we can get all the work done faster.

Here is a photo I got before he left to be released by the Stake President.

Sunday for Jared & Cake Competition

2012-01-22T11:54:00.000-08:00

Jared had fun reading all the words on the conversation hearts this year. New readers are fun to have around, its like they are rediscovering their world.

After a dinner of peas and chicken there were lots of little helpers for getting the dishes in the washer. Grandma ALWAYS has lots of help on Sunday's.

FIRST and LAST CAKE COMPETITION

Jared requested that Oscar and I both make a cake for him and he would be the judge of who made the better cake. We were up WAY too late on Saturday night making these ugly cakes! Although it was a little fun with all the trash talking. I was nice and gave Oscar some of my supplies...and the cake mix....and the frosting. So here is Oscars "nightfury".

Here is MY dragon...with fire breath...you see that and teeth.....and scales....

Well....Jared first called it a tie. He was really sweet about it. THEN everyone started eating and then all of a sudden they started saying how much they like Oscar's cake. WHAT THE HECK? Are you kidding me?? Both cakes were completely gone by the end of the night SO, I'm sticking with the Judge! HAHAHA I am the author of this here blog and I can say what I like!

See look at that fire breath! SO COOL!

Jared's 6th Birthday

2012-01-19T20:00:00.000-08:00

I started something with Spencer's Birthday, so now Levi thinks we HAVE to paint the car for everyone's birthday. Have you ever tried to paint a nodder and a ziffleback on a car window while holding a sleeping baby on your shoulder? Not the easiest task. The boys didn't care though....they LOVED how it turned out. I parked in a spot where all of Jared friends at school could see it at recess too. They thought he was a rock star!

Grandma took Jared out to find his gift at toys-r-us. HUGE TREAT. He picked the remote control dragon that completely terrifies Clara. NICE. It walks and opens and closes its mouth. It growls and its eyes glow creepy like. Perfect gift. :)

The only thing he wanted to do for his birthday was to play the Wii How to Train Your Dragon game at grandma's house so we could use 2 remotes and the boys could battle. He told me that he really wanted to beat Spencer's dragon to get him back for some bothering that had occurred earlier in the week. We had pizza with root beer floats before the games.

Jared whipped everyone. He has this crazy technique that involves a LOT of jumping and hand twirling and it is just amazing to watch! Whatever he does it works because he beat everyone. Note that Spencer is also airborne. His technique is also quite entertaining.

Levi doesn't like to play because he usually never wins, so we just played on the couch and watched the other crazys.

Jared even beat Oscar. He was SOOOOOOO happy about that one!

I found a ninja dart board so Jared could practice his ninja skills! And some Ninjago Lego toys that can battle each other.

LOVE this red, sweaty faced, ice cream loving boy.

Clara's main goal of the WHOLE night was to stay away from the dragon. YIKES.

Jared Turns 6

2012-01-19T09:52:00.000-08:00

Jared, AKA: Pollo Chicken, turned 6 today. Jared is the most cuddly, sweet boy when he wants to be. He loves Kindergarten, learning, homework and reading. He loves when his brothers play with him and go along with what he wants them to do. He is in love with How to Train Your Dragon for the Wii. He loves to make Clara laugh. His ears turn BRIGHT red when he gets excited. He loves to run and play tag a school. Everything has to be Ninja black with Jared. Backpacks, bikes, shoes, whatever it is....Ninja Black. He is very polite and usually is the only kid I don't have to remind to take their dish to the sink after meals. He loves peas, chicken, and plain jello. His favorite song is Our Door is Always open. His favorite movie is How To Train Your Dragon (big surprise) He loves to draw dragons also. He likes donuts and ice cream. He loves to take pictures with my camera and he loves to SEE pictures of himself that I have taken. Happy Birthday Jared!!!

Height: 47 inches
Weight: 70 pounds

Stump Remover

2012-01-14T11:41:00.000-08:00

With the tree all chopped and the firewood stacked and ready for next year, dad was chompin' at the bit to try this baby out. Matt got this cool stump remover and it is NASTY. It would rip you apart. As it was it was throwing chunks of wood everywhere. Oscar got hit in the chin and it was awesome. :) It took about an hour and there was nothing left but shavings.

Bee's in the Tree

2012-01-13T11:49:00.000-08:00

Once a year our tree flowers with these 3 - 4 inch long pollen covered catkins. My dad's bees flock to it like CRAZY. The funniest sight is when high school aged kids are walking home from school and they don't realize whats going on until they are UNDER the tree. They freak out and start running down the sidewalk. It lasts for about 3 weeks. The bees get so heavy with pollen that they fall out of the tree and hover over the side walk until they can get going again. You can hear the buzzing houses away. Our neighbor across the street came in investigate one day when we were gone because he thought it was machinery that got left on. Its really wild and I'm glad it only happens once a year!

New Recipe: Chicken Alfredo Bake

2012-01-12T11:27:00.000-08:00

Chicken Alfredo Pasta Bake

16 oz. package uncooked rotini pasta
1 cup butter
1 cup whipping cream (I used half and half instead)
1 1/2 cups freshly shredded Parmesan Cheese
1/2 tsp salt
pepper, if desired
2 cups cooked and diced chicken
1 can Hunt’s petite diced tomatoes, drained
3 green onions, chopped
1 cup shredded mozzarella

In a large pot, cook the pasta according to package directions.
Meanwhile, in another sauce pan over medium-low heat, heat the butter and whipping cream until the butter is melted. be sure to sitr constantly.
Add the cheese, salt and pepper to the butter/cream mixture and stir until the cheese is melted.
Drain the pasta and return to the same pot used to cook it. Toss the pasta with the cheese sauce.
Then fold in the chicken, drained tomatoes, and green onion. Pour pasta into a 9 x 13 inch baking dish and top with shredded mozzarella. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes until bubbly and cheese has melted. Serves 8.

Found it on Pinterest - via Realmomkitchen.com

Huge success. I love it, the kids loved it. YAY.

Bacon in the Oven

2012-01-11T11:31:00.000-08:00

I saw on Pinterest people cooking bacon in the oven. I had never tried it so I gave it a shot. It was super easy and the clean up was a sinch. Never gonna fry it in a pan again.

Wants to be a BIG kid

2012-01-11T11:29:00.000-08:00

Clara has to do EVERYTHING that the boys do now. She joined in on the "SUPER UNDERWEAR BOYS" I guess now I'll have to start calling the "SUPER UNDERWEAR/DIAPER KIDS" ? Hmmm.... Not as catchy.

Bye, Bye, Tree

2012-01-07T11:22:00.000-08:00

The last big project for vacation was taking out the tree in the front of Oscar's parents house. After the years of no water it was more than 1/2 dead and looking very sad. Oscar went to work chopping. After a while the chainsaws were giving him problems so it was very slow work. Our neighbor down the street, who happens to be Nathan's teachers husband, walked down and asked if we needed some help. He came back all decked out in work gear, hat, ear plugs, it was awesome. Apparently he likes to volunteer at Hart park taking down dead trees! It went so quick after that. I took him a big box of mandarins to say thank you for all his help. He is just an animal with the chainsaw! I didn't get any pictures of him, cause I thought that would be awkward. Oscar is use to my camera and he didn't have a choice.

Day 2 - More temple and the Tar Pits

2012-01-05T16:00:00.000-08:00

This morning was Oscar's turn at the temple, so we spent our time watching ice melt in the sink, walking around the temple apartments, and also enjoying the beautiful flowers and gardens around the temple. We met Oscar at the front door just as he came out.

I have a picture of me sitting in the poppies when Oscar and I were dating somewhere, so I thought this would be cute!

The boys wanted a shot in the same spot as our wedding picture that hangs in our bedroom.

Next we headed off on a wild goose chase. I wanted to go to the H&M in a mall near the temple because they have a kids department. Well....we found the mall. The only problem was that there was NO parking for cars over 6'2". BUMMER. I guess I'll never get to go there. Before we left I took a vote of where the boys wanted to go and they picked the La Brea tar pits. So after the failed shopping trip we headed off. Out printer hasn't been working so I just wrote the directions down by hand. BIG mistake. We aren't fancy and don't have internet phones, so it was total guess work. The last time I was there I think I was 12 or 13. After a couple of detours we found it! I'm not a huge fan of museums and such but the boys had a good time and Clara just loved to run around. It was small and we saw everything in about an hour. Luckly Oscar got in free because he is a teacher or it would have been WAY over priced. We found out later that Tuesdays are free....so if we ever go again, thats going to be our option! HAHA.

The boys LOVED trying their strength at the tar.

Oscar being a "teacher"

The dire wolf scull collection was pretty cool.

Here is the fish bowl lab. I don't know if I'd like to be watched all day while I was working.

We were trying to think about where we had seen this before and then we realized it had been on Dirty Jobs! One of our favorite Netflix shows!

Clara and I hung out on the bench eating tootsie rolls on the sly ( no food or drink allowed) while the boys watched a movie.

Then we took a big walk over to check out the actual tar pits. It was stinky. :)

On our way home we drove by grandpa's dirt. He drives dirt from the desert into LA every night on the train, so that they can have new roads and concrete to build things. Its pretty nice of him.

Start the Year Out Right - To the BEACH!!

2012-01-04T17:00:00.000-08:00

We really have been working NON stop on the kitchen and house projects and I decided that the kids needed a break! Last minute we booked a trip to LA for a little relaxation and temple trip. We had everything planned out and then on the way down the boys were all begging to go to the beach, so we switched everything around and headed there first. It was a toasty 87 degrees in LA today. The water was still freezing, but no one seemed to mind. We couldn't keep Clara out of the water. I tried to tempt her with fruit snacks and chips, to stay on the towels with me for a minute, but she didn't go for it. Jared got braver since our last beach trip. Nathan is still a dare devil and wants to go out as far as he can and push our limits constantly. Spencer is happy investigating the sand and creatures and shells. Levi likes the water but LOVES to chase the seagulls. Oscar still hates the beach, but I drag him anyway....cause I can. HA. We left with just enough time to miss the rush hour traffic and got to the temple apartments with plenty of time to change and get to the temple to be back just after dinner. We brought Kung Fu Panda 2 to watch with popcorn and licorice. The kids loved it and so did Oscar and I.

New Years Eve 2011

2011-12-31T09:02:00.000-08:00

This year Stephanie hosted a fabulous New Years Eve party. Food is always the best thing right?? I used all my new kitchen and made some heavenly orange rolls. Oh they were just so stinkin' good I'm probably not going to make them very often because I cannot resist their yummyness. Of course after the whole evening was over and the new year had been rung, we all realized not one picture had been taken. Most of the guests were gone but we had the boys take a few shots. Lets just say we were never looking the same direction, so they all looked like this one.

Or silly ones like this, but WAY worse.

Here is a shot of the photographers.

And here is night rider. Stephanie and Jill took a spin on Stephanie's Christmas gift from Brandon.

Christmas: After Church

2011-12-25T23:30:00.000-08:00

After we were all done at home and got all dressed up for church, we headed over to grandma and grandpas house for breakfast. We stuffed our selves with pancakes and breakfast casserole, it was a HUGE shock that we were even able to stay awake for Sacrament Meeting. Clara had been eating candy cakes since dark thirty so she was on a MAJOR sugar high, something that I wish to never see again. I was pretty much in the hallway the whole time chasing her down and keeping her away from the candy canes on the church tree. After a 1 hour meeting filled with lots of music, we headed back to G & G's for some presents and family time!

This is Grandma explaining how the present opening was GOING to happen and where all the trash was GOING to go. Will looks like he wanted to listen very carefully and was cleaning out his ears.

Jared's very first Lego set. Will was very impressed.

Spencer got all the fixings for a beta fish and a coupon to go get one with grandma sometime the next week.

It took a long time for Levi to get to open a present so we were all acting very excited when he went for this one. "WOW Levi, thats AWESOME, what did you get?" A shirt. "COOL...whats on it??" Nothing. Its plain and brown. HAHAHAHA It was Awesome. Ed on the other hand was EXTATIC with his plain blue shirt.

Clara finally woke up right toward the end and got to open her things with cute rosy sleepy cheeks.

Levi finally got to open a "FUN" toy, so no worries there!

Right before lunch we ran back to Oscar parents house to talk to Andrés for a couple of minutes too!

We got this really cool cooker from Karl and Gaye that uses a couple of briquets. Great for emergency preparedness. Also I didn't get pictures but I got a laminator from mom and dad and they also got us a ham radio!! So excited!. This year our family has really been blessed big time. We have been SOO busy with re doing houses that Christmas cards didn't happen, but I've got high hopes for next year! Now we have a whole 2 weeks to keep working on the house and hopefully a little fun before school starts up again Jan 9th.

Christmas Morning 2011

2011-12-25T14:59:00.000-08:00

Early Sunday morning I snuck out to the dinning room and took a couple of pictures before the boys woke up and destroyed the scene. For our tree I drilled a hole in a piece of 2x4 and stuck the TOP portion of our tree in it. The kids were so happy to have a tree with lights and a star.

Santa sure did FREAK me out with this one! I just wanted to get a photo and BOOM there is a snake in front of me! Its all soft and wiggly too. I thought it was REAL!

Happy boys ready to dive in!

Here is a present list for posterity's sake:

Nathan: How to train your dragon Wii game, orange down vest

Spencer: Rubber snake, mini fooze ball table

Jared: Wallet, Discovery Kids laptop

Levi: "tiger shark" airplane, bubblegum machine, pajamas

Clara: MP3 player boom box, pajamas

Oscar: Makita drill and driver set, Ninja blender, wallet

Jocelyn: Leather office chair, toaster, slippers

All the kids got RC cars or helicopters (even Clara), all the boys got robes, toothbrushes, and blankets, the school boys all got new backpacks and lunch pails,

Spencer was very sweet and wrapped up something for each of his siblings. He even made Clara a paper doll with matching purse. The biggest surprise was when I unwrapped my little point and shoot camera that had been missing for a month. Thank you Jared! It made me SO happy to find it!

The boys LOVE their robes! They wear them every night after their showers.

Christmas Eve at Mamita and Papitos

2011-12-24T12:41:00.000-08:00

This year Christmas was a little different. Juanjo and Jane went to visit Jane's family and with Andrés on a mission in Guatemala, our numbers were few. And by few I mean we were down to like 17? Mamita decorated up a storm. There were lights and pesebres (nativities), snowmen and Santa Clauses. We visited, ate, danced, and just enjoyed each others company.

This guy sure was on our mind a lot. Its hard to not have his funny self around when we all get together. Oscar ends up pestering his sisters more when Andrés isn't around. I know they will be grateful when he gets home!

Clara just danced and danced and danced. She loves all her cute girly cousins!

The funniest sight of the night for me was Ester. She has been watching SHERA on netflix and so when she opened her gift from us (a personalized rubber band gun and apron holster) she was NUTS! She was trying to shoot everyone pointing that thing in everyone's face. It was HILARIOUS! Unexpected and hilarious.

Watch out she is on the loose!

Christmas Open House

2011-12-23T11:31:00.000-08:00

Not too many pictures of tonight, probably because it was pretty low key. Food was always yummy as ever. Yvette brought some yummy new meatballs from Costco that had some spice and they were really good. Mom and I tried to made a fruit Christmas tree she saw on Pinterest. Not bad for our first attempt!

Classroom Christmas Parties

2011-12-22T11:41:00.000-08:00

This was the first time since I've ever recalled school getting out the day before Christmas Eve! Its been a really late season this year and its been really weird. Jared's class decorated sugar cones as Christmas Trees and they always turn out SO cute. I had to get Clara out of there pretty quick because she was stealing and eating all the kids decorating candy YIKES!

We headed towards Spencer who was a lunch and this little thing quickly

became the center of everyone's attention.

She almost made an instant mob.

They chased her and followed her where ever she went.

Spencer's class had their party on Wednesday and just had a PJ reading day on the last day. Their party was a little house in the big woods party and they made log cabins and butter. He really liked all the celebrations.

This kid is SO COOL!

I didn't go to Nathans party...but he had a BREAKFAST party where he volunteered to bring BACON. BACON of all things. Remember I don't have a kitchen?? YEA. So electric skillet and washing it in the bath tub after the fun. I cooked 3 pounds and they ate every bit of it too

Only a mother...

2011-12-20T11:52:00.000-08:00

would KISS a face like this! The ladies in this house sure love mint oreos!!

Christmas Piano Recital

2011-12-17T11:36:00.000-08:00

The boys had a hard time practicing for this recital because for most of the time our piano was under a drop cloth and there was mud all over the room. They got a little practice in here and there, but not a TON. They did fairly well under the circumstances.

Spencer always pulls through and surprises me with his performances. I think he does well under pressure.

Nathan had one piece that was great and the other was awful. Oscar got a little upset because he had NEVER heard him play it once at home. Next time will be better! We really need to get our piano tuned and one of the keys fixed before too long. We will get the spring recital music in January, so I need to get it together.

Such a great group of kids!

Lights at CALM

2011-12-14T11:30:00.000-08:00

The cub scouts met at CALM to see the light and I was excited to go, because i'd never been before. We had a large enough group come out that we got a discounted price *SCORE* and they also gave us two free passes as we were leaving! NICE!

The carousel was wicked fast. I thought the kids were gonna fling off. It was even scarier when I was riding it. I had visions of Nathan falling off into the middle portion. Yeah it was crazy and the kids LOVED it.

Here are some of the little hoodlums after saying hi to santa.

Waiting in line for the train to come into the station. It was just cold enough to be toasty in the jacket and the lights were really neat. I think we may go again next year with the whole family!

First Band Concert

2011-12-13T17:18:00.000-08:00

This year Nathan was able to start music. It was a big choice what instrument to pick. I really wanted him to play the french horn, he wanted the sax or drums. We watched a LOT of YouTube videos to help. I went to a music store and talk to some people I knew as well. We decided to buy a cornet on Ebay for him to start on. I'm hoping that we will move up to a french horn in a few years. The beginning band performed at the Christmas concert so we were SO excited to hear them!

The kids were pretty bored waiting for the concert to begin.

They played about 4 really short songs and it was great. Mrs. Poon has SO much patience with these cute beginning kiddos. The choir sang and the advanced band played too. The only bad thing about the whole night was the parents who were just un-classy and rude. Going up on stage to take pictures WHILE the kids were performing, whooping and hollering? NUTS. It was really disrespectful. The kids were the stars!! Not their parents tonight. Good Job EMS!

GATE

2011-12-12T17:12:00.000-08:00

Nathan's school started a GATE program after school on Wednesdays. They have a late bus that brings him home and he just LOVES it. This quarter they got to choose between the oral language festival or the science fair. He chose the science fair (was there really any doubt) He told his teacher he was going to try different liquids to see which "crystallized salt faster" I called a chatted with her for a little while to see what was expected and then I talked to Nathan and explained how things in your head don't necessarily work. And how salt would just dissolve doing the project how he was planning on doing it. I thought for a long time about something he would really enjoy investigating. He really wanted to use salt for some reason. We came up with which salt makes water boil at the hottest temperature. Or WHY does the macaroni and cheese package have you at salt to the water when boiling the noodles? It was successful SO he got chosen to go to the county science fair along with 9 other groups/kids. Now we need to make a board for the fair in march. He is very excited.

Ward Christmas Party

2011-12-10T17:09:00.000-08:00

All I can say about tonight is SUCCESS. The only thing our party tonight lacked was a santa, maybe next year?! The Bishopric made pork loin served with bobby Q sauce and there were all kinds of yummy side dishes and rolls. It was really really yummy. MMMMMMMM.

One of the things that makes me cringe about the ward parties is the table arraignments. I know it may sound crazy to many, but when I walk into a room of 150-250? people and the tables are forming a giant horse shoe, with one way in and one way out, I want to run home and skip the whole thing. This year the tables were arranged in short long rows all across the cultural hall. Lots of space, easy in easy out ohhhh it was great. I really enjoyed it all.

They decided to play a Christmas movie in the primary room for the kids to watch in stead of running around like CRAZY after the meal like they usually do. It was AWESOME. They were quiet and contained. Its going to be a tradition that will continue for sure.

We have had the Gabbitas's visit quite a bit this year and it has been so fun. We love them so much! Cheryl just adores Clara and the boys and they will usually sit behind us in Sacrament meeting if there is a spot, just to watch all their cuteness and craziness.

It was a mad dash to buy the left over pork loin after the party!

We had to pretty much pull the plug on the movie to get everyone to leave.....that includes the bishop and his counselor!!

Merry Christmas Monica WARD!!

Deck the Halls

2011-12-04T16:25:00.000-08:00

With our house TOTALLY under construction during this holiday season grandma was nice and agreed to let all the grand kids help with decorating her house. There was lots of hall decking going on. There were lots of little ones re-decking and un-decking the halls as well! By the next Sunday the trees were all perfectly aligned and up to grandma standards, but the kids sure loved helping.

I told the kids that the most important ornament on the tree had to be prominently displayed right front and center. Its the ornament with MY picture on it of course! I think I brain washed them enough. We shall see if they remember next year.

Cub Push Car Races

2011-12-03T14:46:00.000-08:00

So yesterday I got a call from Nathans Cub Scout leader to see if we could make it this morning to the push car races? I was shocked that I hadn't heard about it before then, but was SO excited for the boys to go and race! Bro. Berry built 3 cars for our ward and so off we went! The boys never had a chance to practice or anything so I knew it was totally going to be just for fun and IT WAS!

Waiting for the races to begin.

Here is Nathan and Matt racing with the Weblos.

Here is David and Spencer racing with the Wolfs.

Sebastian was a little nervous and didn't want to race, but we got him to take a turn after all the attention turned towards the awards. Even some of the leaders got in on the action!!

Jared is so excited to race when he is old enough.

It was a little chaotic and unorganized and EXPENSIVE. I'm hoping that we race them again, maybe just in the church parking lot! They really are a lot of fun. Next time I will bring snacks for the kids and drinks because Levi pretty much cried and whined the whole time. But other than that GREAT morning!

Kitchen Progress

2011-11-30T17:07:00.000-08:00

The kitchen is coming along SLOW but SURE. I'm trying to get as much done as I can during the days and Oscar is doing as much as he can on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. So far we have striped all the drywall off, ripped down a portion of an existing wall, moved the sink drain, moved all the water lines, added a water line to the fridge, rewired all the electrical switches and outlets, added new insulation, and installed new can lights and pendant light boxes.

This is the wall we cut out and added the NEW wall to. We will have 6 feet of counter with this baby!!

Last shot before drywall.

Here is what the walls looked like after the drywall was up, popcorn ceiling scraped,
and mud on everything.

After a few coats of paint. "Open Sesame" B:30 C:2Y34 R:20, just in case I forget! We started hanging the cabinets!!!

The pick up! It took 2 trips to Rosedale Hwy.

Everything went pretty smoothly except for ONE thing. If you buy cabinets that are 8 feet tall. and your ceilings are 8 feet tall, you can't lift the huge things up without cutting a hole in your new drywall ceiling. We actually had to cut two holes, because our ceiling dips down in the middle of the kitchen. It really wasn't a big deal, but it sure would have been nice to NOT have to do it! Kitchen in, office in GRANITE was next.

Oh the granite is HEAVENLY! Oscar and I made all the cuts and everything was perfect. No breaks, no mistakes, and little mess. It really was amazing. Granite is always a little nerve racking because 1. its expensive 2. its HEAVY 3. It has to be picked up, moved, and dropped off AGAIN if we messed up. Now we are old pro's! HAHAHA

Its really hard to get good pictures of a galley kitchen. Here a couple of right after we got the granite in.

This is the north kitchen wall.

This is the south kitchen wall.

Our little project is taking WAYYYYYY longer than we expected. We came in UNDER budget which is AWESOME, BUT we still aren't DONE so I guess I can count THAT chicken YET!

Here is the main reason for the lengthy delays. HELPERS. We have 5 of them and this little girl likes to be right on my hip, right on your lab, on the ladders, in the middle of it. She helped Oscar with the dishwasher install on this day and she climbed up under the sink with him for the new disposal too. We still have a LOT of trim work to do AND I can't forget the floor. I haven't even LOOKED at any flooring yet. I hope before summer I'll get the finished product pictures up on here. I the mean time it is functioning and AWESOME. I made rolls for New Years Eve and it was HEAVEN with the granite counters. Its awesome having a dishwasher again, even if I always forget I have one and don't start the silly thing! Hot water and a sink is AWESOME too. We have also been enjoying our microwave after 15 months of doing without. LOVE OUR NEW KITCHEN!

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-24T18:08:00.000-08:00

This year Granny had to go to urgent care the night before Thanksgiving, so the baking got delayed, and that set a chain of events that set everything just a little behind schedual. I came over late to start the pies at mom's and we also started are online shopping spree. I ended up going home at around 1:30a. It all worked out in the end and everything was yummy as always.I dont think anyone noticed the missing lemon pies. We were just "thankful" that granny started to feel better after the antibiotics kicked in.

Lincoln was thankful that clara stopped to pose for a picture so she would stop trying to hug him.

Happy Thanksgiving all! We sure are blessed and have a LOT to be thankful for!!!

Grafitti

2011-11-23T17:58:00.000-08:00

Oscar has a fan club at school. They decided to paint his truck. Apparently his nick name is Choco, because he always begs chocolate from the kids. I guess!?

Jared's Thanksgiving Feast

2011-11-23T17:28:00.000-08:00

All of our school's kindergarten classes got together in the cafeteria and had a FEAST filled with indians and pilgrams. They sang songs, and told stories.

Levi enjoyed the story lead by Mrs. Garcia.

There were lots of different stations, where the kids, ground up corn, made butter, and jumped over rivers.

We left before the feast began, but Jared told me it was AWESOME, and he liked the apple juice the best.

Family Photo Shoot

2011-11-20T17:20:00.000-08:00

Here we are waiting for David to come and shoot our family. Hoping to get the CD of all the photos soon to share with everyone!!!

Kitchen, The November Update

2011-11-19T17:23:00.000-08:00

It took all month, but we finally got all of the kitchen guts put together. Water moved, gas, moved, drains moved, new electrical added, new lights installed, and insulation added. We are ready for drywall. HOORAY!!!!!

Ham Stake

2011-11-05T17:12:00.000-07:00

Dad wanted to throw an open house to give all the information to anyone in the Stake that was interesting in learning more about ham radio operations. He enlisted Clara as a poster girl! It was very successful and quite a few people came over. We are big supporters of ham radio and encourage anyone that is interested to give it a try.

Mom put on a beautiful spread.

Everything was super yummy and we had a great time eating it all up and chatting about ham radio!

M&M's

2011-11-02T17:09:00.000-07:00

You know what they say is partialy true, M&M's do melt in your mouth. I may also add, all over your face and down your shirt. Just not in your hands!

Said Goodbye...

2011-11-01T17:06:00.000-07:00

....to our Pumpkins. I let the boys design their own this year. And only helped with a few cuts.

{JAREDS....NATHANS.....SPENCERS}

Clara and Levi didn't want to cut theirs, so we are saving them to decorate for Thanksgiving.

El Avion

2011-11-01T17:00:00.000-07:00

Mamita turns the porch swing into El Avion. Where are we flighing off to today??

Guatemala of course. Okay everyone look down and wave hi to Andrés

Trick or Treat

2011-10-31T22:38:00.000-07:00

First stop.....next door where the kids were greeted by a cackling witch and Cathy dressed to the nines green face and all. Clara cried. The boys thought it was awesome. Kelly made awesome balloons wands for everyone. I think the ghosts were my favorite.

Then to grandmas and grannies for some more goodies.

Here is the cast for Halloween 2011:

Mad Scientist 2.0

Peregrine Falcon - A last minute change from greek warrior, it sure was fun to make. We used 2 long sleeve mens T-shirts, and some anti slip drawer liner material. Spencer LOVED it, the kids at school didn't get it. He was a little upset that they couldn't appricite the worlds fastest animal.

Pirate

This pirate cannot keep a straight face!

Great White Shark - Look at those chompers

"Clara"patra and her mommy mummy servant

A pretty spooky crew. Oscar worked until late, so he really didn't dress up. We had a great evening with lots of friends and WAY too much candy! A perfect halloween.

Costume Parade

2011-10-31T09:00:00.000-07:00

Why is it so fun to parade a bunch of kids dressed up around a basketball black top? I dont know, but I LOVE IT. Kids are so fun in costumes!

Harvest Soup Party

2011-10-22T11:50:00.000-07:00

We had a harvest party this year in our ward. There were lots of yummy soups and breads. The kids got their faces painted by the ym/yw. It was a nice evening.

My Baby's Baby

2011-10-15T11:46:00.000-07:00

Clara fell esleep holding her baby. Man she really loves babies!

The Hallway

2011-10-11T11:06:00.000-07:00

With the new kitchen design we are moving the office into the spot where our safe was currently living, so the safe needed a new home. I measured, and re-measured and discovered that it would fit in our hall closet with enough space left over for 8, 5 gallon buckets of food storage to fit! I was so EXCITED! Our safe is "pretty" but I like it better when its not a focal point. I cleaned/threw away all the junk that has been stored in the hall closet. Some things were really HARD to get rid of, but for the MOST part it was AWESOME. Now in the hall we keep the safe, food storage, photo albums, DVD player and DVD's.

Scrapbook Showdown

2011-10-08T10:57:00.000-07:00

So, we've been going inch by inch through the house to get rid of JUNK. I decided to hit my scrapbook supplies this week. I have a couple of projects in the works so I couldn't just get rid of it all. I decided to keep only what will fit in the two drawer containers. I'm positive when the project is done....it will be PERFECT! Here is the Before and After. Note in the before that the trash can is already full of things to ditch! :)

My Laundry "Room"

2011-10-06T10:37:00.000-07:00

I'm catching up on the house posts because HOPEFULLY SOON, we will be closer to getting the kitchen fixed up. Here are some shots of my new LAUNDRY ROOM! aka: corner of the garage! Lots of help from Oscars parents to make this one happen. ALSO...My first project I made I found on Pinterest, the PVC shelf unit..... is PERFECT for us and I LOVE it. It got a lot of things out of our house that shouldn't have been inside and its SO easy to get to everything. It also serves as a wall so I feel like I have my own little room in the garage. I still need a rug AND something on the wall above my base cabinet with some COLOR! :)

General Conference

2011-10-02T21:21:00.000-07:00

We love conference weekend! We love pancakes and breakfast casserole at Grandmas!

But most of all we love hearing the words of the prophet and apostles. I am SO grateful for a living prophet and being able to watch and listen to him. Technology is amazing. I had a ton of favorite talks and can't wait to read them all again next month in the Ensign.

Biker Chick

2011-09-23T14:29:00.000-07:00

Clara turned one and so now she can wear a helmet and ride the bike with us. Here are a couple of shots from her second bike ride. Her first was with me, but then I had to go grab my camera because she was so dang cute.

She has the cutest hello kitty helmet to boot.

Sun Oven - AP class

2011-09-21T14:25:00.000-07:00

This year Oscar is teaching a new AP Environmental Science Class. One of the first sections he was covering was alternative energy. I suggested that he use a sun oven to demonstrate the principle. He of coarse would ensure that he had a fully baked cookie at the end of class and it was up to the designs of the groups in his class if they would eat hot yummy cookies, or luke warm cookie dough. I had to test the oven so I started with Banana Bread. 2 loaves...PERFECT.

Next I tried brownies and they turned out fantastic.

I really wanted more than a handful of cookies so I tested putting a rack in the oven to cook double layer of cookies. These cooked way faster than I expected and so were a little more toasty than my liking. They would have been totally perfect if I pulled them out after 20 minutes.

Only one girl baked a cookie out of his whole class. They are modifying and redesigning for the next competition.

"THE FAINT" - as the boys say

2011-09-20T17:26:00.000-07:00

I always open and close Suzanne's iron gate in the morning and today she was there and I started chatting as I was closing and pinched my hand between the brick column and the iron bar that was moving with some speed. It hurt....a lot, but I knew it was okay cause I could wiggle everything. So I started walking home. With every step I took I was feeling weird. After about 40 or 50 yards I got to the corner and my whole body was tingling and I couldn't breath well, couldn't hear well, felt like I was going to throw up and was really clammy. It was SO Weird.

Then all of a sudden I turned the corner onto the dirt and I knew I was going down and couldn't do anything to stop myself. I laid there for a while because I couldn't feel anything. Levi kept asking why we weren't going home. I Tried to get up, fell again. Finally skooched over to the stucco fence to sit down. Everything was still going in and out for a while, and I couldn't hear well still. I finally could feel my legs so I headed to Oscars moms. She took the baby and I went home, I was sweating so bad and was really cold. I called Oscar and then took a hot shower for like 10 minutes and was TOTALLY better. I've never been in shock before, or anything like this. The weirdest thing is my hand isn't really hurt that bad. It still is sore and had a big bump under the skin. The worst part of the whole thing was actually my foot. When I fell down I fell on my foot funny and it was so swollen that I couldn't put weight on it for a couple of days. It is still really really sore almost 2 weeks later. I've learned to eat breakfast before I leave and always take my phone....well at least I always eat breakfast!

Through Levi's EYES

2011-09-16T14:02:00.000-07:00

When I go to pick up the kids from school, I usually drop Clara and Levi off at Mamita's so they don't have to wait with me in the heat. On this day Levi took my camera with him. This was the best of the 30 pictures he took. Clara and Coco love the swing. Mamita constantly will tell them, "Recueste la cabeza" or put your head back. I love this time the kids get to spend with her and get there short little spanish lessions for the day.

Family Picnic and PTC

2011-09-16T13:32:00.000-07:00

We had our first family picnic for this year. I was in charge of getting some more parents to sign up for the PTC. At our first meeting last week only myself and one other parent attended. We had a pretty good response so maybe our next meeting will be better attended.

Little Laundry Helper

2011-09-13T12:58:00.000-07:00

I'm training her young so she can help me with my mountains of laundry.

Monica and Kern Valley BBQ

2011-09-10T12:20:00.000-07:00

Dad and Ryan are both in the bishoprics of their wards and thought it would be a cool idea if we all got together to eat some BBQ and play some softball. The weather was really interesting as the thunder, rain, and storm clouds came in right before the activity. There was lightning flashing every direction. The lighting caused a bit of a mess for all the KV members because the canyon and lions trail were closed due to fires. I think over the night there were over 50 fires in our area. It was fun to get together with everyone and have some really great food!

It was 9 o'clock at night and the sky was bright red from the glow from all the fires.

Hello.....Can you hear me now?

2011-09-07T10:49:00.000-07:00

"Hey, how's it going? Did you hear its my birthday?

Yeah...I'm pretty excited about it.

It been pretty much the best year of my life!!"

Nate is Great

2011-09-07T10:47:00.000-07:00

Nathan came home one day and asked if he could run for student council. We read through all the positions and decided that publicity would be the best thing for his abilities. I was scared to death. He wrote his speech and I couldn't go see him, but the principle said he did an awesome job. He came home in tears when he didn't win. I was torn up until I started talking to him about it and found out that he was upset because he wanted the sonic gift card instead of the Starbucks gift card he recieved as a consolation prize. I cracked up and told him I'd get him a sonic card and the biggest smile came acrossed his face. He loved the whole experience.

GREAT to be 8 and FUN to be 1 PARTY

2011-09-03T19:00:00.000-07:00

This month is such a speical one its birthday time for TWO! We invited everyone over for a BBQ after Spencer's Baptism to celebrate Spencer and Clara's Birthdays. It was great to see everyone and visit. Just the sheer number of kids in attendance was crazy!

This little girl is in LOVE with babies.

And this kid is In LOVE with Clara.

Spencer's Baptism

2011-09-03T16:00:00.000-07:00

What a happy day. Spencer has looked forward to this day since the days he can remember. We were blessed to have many of our family and friends from near and far attend. It was also special that Andrés baptized 2 investigators in Guatemala on the same day. He was the only one baptized this day and so Spencer was able to ask people to fulfill the assignments for the baptism. It was my opportunity to give the talk, Nathan and Grandma gave the prayers, Jane and Doté provided the music, and the boys sang a sweet song called "I Like My Birthdays" from the primary song book. We sang the "Baptism" song and "Called to Serve". Spencer's Grandpa's were the witnesses and Oscar preformed the ordinance. What a sweet boy we have. I am SO grateful for him!!

David Spencer Turns Eight

2011-09-02T16:25:00.000-07:00

LOVE this boy. Love his imagination. Love his compassion. Love his energy. Love his testimony of the gospel. LOVE LOVE LOVE him. Its hard to believe that he is eight. It seems like yesterday I was worried for him to start kindergarten so young and with all the funny little quirks he had. Now he is so responsible (except with Clara..I still don't trust him around her. He usually tries to do something crazy with her). I thought I'd keep it simple with a list of the eight most important things to know about Spencer.

1. He LOVES to read. Read, read, read, read. LOVES it. He even gets in trouble at school for reading when he shouldn't be. Right now he is deep in Percy Jackson and all things greek. I got him the last two books in the series for his birthday and he won't put them down.

2. He will give up anything he has to make others happy. Whether its a crying Clara or a sad brother, he will ALWAYS take the short end of the stick for them. It makes him HAPPY when others are happy.

3. He still hates change. He lives in the moment and doesn't like to move to something new or deviate from the plan.

4. Since school started he has a new fascination for knights, because that is his teachers last name. He saw our New Pioneer magazine on the bed and started reading an article about forging your own tools and nails and things from metal, he pretty much FLIPPED out and was so excited this was possible. He will randomly ask what your weapon of choice would be. His favorite is a double sided ax made from Celestial Bronze.

5. He likes to build wild contraptions and inventions with toys and household items. He promised me when he is an inventor he is going to build me a cleaning robot.

6. Carnivore. He gave himself that title. He would rather take 3 portions of meat and skip the vegi's and starch. He is always hungry and can eat 2nds, 3rds, and 4ths if its something he likes. Its rare that after a meal he will say he is full.

7. He loves art and drawing. He draws all the crazy contraptions and weapons that I wont let him build in the house.

8. Spencer has such a sweet testimony of the gospel and of the scriptures. He is so much better than me about remembering stories. He knows all the songs we sing in primary and he really loves the gospel of Jesus Christ. He wants to serve a mission somewhere with good food. He also wants to serve in Alaska because he is worried there aren't enough missionaries there. His favorite thing to study is the "barges and the brother of Jared" He knows most all of the answers to questions about the gospel. There are things he knows that I know I haven't talk to him about so I know he is soaking everything up around him from his teachers and talks, it humbles me when I think about it. I'm grateful to everyone who has given this kid all the good truths he knows. I sometimes think if he is being prepared for something really important. (sorry to ramble a bit but I want to write it down so I can say see, I told you I thought that!) We LOVE that he has decided to be baptized. He loves Jesus Christ and wants to be like him.

height- 51.5 inches
weight- 67.6 pounds

Olympian Party

2011-09-02T15:37:00.000-07:00

Spencer turns 8 today and I wanted to do something fun for him and his friends. We usually don't have friend parties, but 8 is a big one and he has a really great group of boys in his primary class. We handed out invites the Sunday before his birthday. While the kids were at school Levi and I painted the van..AKA CHARIOT of FIRE. We drove around and picked all the boys up before the party. It was fun to hear Spencer in the back, "HEY MOM! look over there at the sea of monsters!" And other things about the Percy Jackson Books. He was in Heaven.

All the Warriors ready for their Quest from Zeus.

First up paint a shield

Second clue lead them to a clue locked in water by Poseidon they had to melt and put together to read. This took a little longer than I thought it would and the boys figured out that dad's flat bed metal was SUPER hot and would melt the discs the fastest.

Next up a shot at balloons covering Medusa. The darts didn't work as well for the boys as they did for me to we had to improvise a little, but finally the clue was found in the end.

Next up was the underworld. Hades wrapped his clue UNDER many layers of dangerous curses.

When the boys were brave enough and got through them all they were rewarded with swords borrowed from Ares the god of war and some "ZEUS JUICE" AKA-rootbeer floats.

Spencer LOVED every single gift that he recieved and was just shocked and happy with EVERYTHING.

WATCH OUT THEY ARE ON THE ATTACK!!!

A Cola Farewell

2011-09-01T20:18:00.000-07:00

The Cola's are moving to FL. It's so SAD that they are leaving but its a wonderful job opportunity their family. Amanda threw them a party so all their friends could say goodbye! It was so nice and all the little treats were so yummy. Amanda and Ryan were really so sweet for doing it! I don't know what it is with Amber and her crazy daughter #2, but its hard to get a picture with their mouths closed! :)

I did manage to get this cute shot of Reecy. LOVE THIS GIRL.

Elise swinging with the storm trooper? I mean Nathan.

Stephanie came down from Porterville and it was fun to see her too!

These last pictures are well...awful of me, but I love these girls!!

Will Turns 7

2011-08-28T14:58:00.000-07:00

Will turned 7! The boys picked a How to Train Your Dragon toy for him. He requested interesing food including chips, ravioli, and jello cake! Love this Crazy kid!

A little refashion

2011-08-28T14:48:00.000-07:00

I picked up this cute little dress a Goodwill and wanted to change it up a bit for Clara to wear. I used a knit shirt of hers that I like to make a pattern. It turned out OK, but I think it looks a little too clown like. It really needs a belt or something. I think she has already out grown it anyway.....so now I need to make another one!

Clara Bustin' the Dance Moves

2011-08-27T14:45:00.000-07:00

If you listen closely you can hear the lyrics to this song say "santa Clara" I think its what she really really loves this song! :)

Teddy Bear Picnic

2011-08-27T14:31:00.000-07:00

The kindergartens celebrated the first week of school with a Teddy Bear Picnic. It was muggy outside and HOT. The poor kids were sweating so much that a lot of their head bands just ripped in half from all the sweat. Jared was SO happy to see us there. It was a tight fit in the room, so we walked around outside and went to visit Tobie in her room too.

Levi was very excited to bring Clara's new bear (a gift from Tia Libia).

When the cats are away.....

2011-08-25T13:16:00.000-07:00

...the mouse will SLEEP.

Since the house has been so quiet with the 3 oldest boys in school, Clara has been napping!! Its fun to have some time to spend with Levi and its great that she is happier too!!

Pack Meeting - kick off

2011-08-24T21:11:00.000-07:00

Nathan worked really hard this summer and was able to earn his Bear acheivement. He also earned a lot of belt loops and pins at Cub day camp and they were awarded to him tonight. He is very excited to be a Webelo, now that his is 10!

First Day of School 2011

2011-08-22T12:50:00.000-07:00

School seemed to sneak up on us this year. The boys were very excited, me not so much. Jared was especially looking forward to seeing what this whole SCHOOL thing was about. Nathan was a little anxieous about starting middle school and Spencer was looking forward to seeing his friends again.

This is how it went...middle school kid got a bye, I love you, be good at the curb.

3rd grader got a bye, I love you be good at the school gate.

Kindergartener got a bye, I love you, be good, listen to you teacher, at his desk.

The boys all had a great first week and I finally figured out the best way for drop offs and pickups.

These two look like trouble. Jared's little friend from church Luke, is in his class this year. Jared also is in the same exact kindergarten class room that I was in, 26 years ago!

Cutest Porcupine EVER

2011-08-18T12:17:00.000-07:00

The boys have begun torturing Clara. Sure...she "LIKES" it now, but I can see the future. They found my clothes pins and went to town on her bum.

They claim she is the cutest porcupine EVER!

Goose Egg

2011-08-17T12:10:00.000-07:00

Jared sprayed the floor with water and Levi ran through it landing both feet in the air and his noggin' on the ground. Poor kid cried FOREVER. We laid in bed, read books, and about 45 minutes later he was feeling much better. It took the whole day for the egg to finally go down.

Our 3rd Flood

2011-08-15T11:16:00.000-07:00

Since we have been living here we have had three floods. The first was in our front bedroom after a leak from our water going into the toilet. Our second was Christmas week last year when we had a week of heavy rain and the water entered our sunk-in living room and the third happened the other day.

Day one: I came into the house from the garage door and noticed some water behind the washer. This wasn't too much of an uncommon site as I (don't tell anyone) sometimes over load my washer. I know, I know terrible...but I do. And this causes the water to sometimes spray over the wash tub and leave a little water on the garage floor. NOT ALL THE TIME, but on few occasions. So I didn't pay any attention to it. Day two: I'm washing the dishes and look down. I notice that the laminate flooring looks like it has some water damage around the edges of the pieces. Call Oscar over to show him and think to myself, why didn't I leave that rug here because we must splash a lot of water out of the sink when we wash the dishes and babies and such. Later that evening, Oscar is fixing dinner (yes he is awesome and makes dinner a few times a week) and says to me uuuuhhh Jocelyn, you better come here. While standing there and moving back and forth he noticed an awful squishy, watery, wet noise coming from the floor and after more investigation we realize that it is under the entire kitchen floor. I freak out thinking that I had done it with over loading the washer all the time still thinking that is crazy I don't think it would leave THAT much water. Since this is day two of the water being there all the edges of the laminate are kind of peeling up and are damaged. We being to pull everything up. The flooring is 6 years old and is no longer available, so we realize this is gonna be a BIG problem. The water is spreading so we had to work fast. After pulling it all up we find about 1/4 inch of water under the whole kitchen area. I work fast to mop it all up before it got into the dining room and entry area. Once everything was up Oscar began his investigations.

The CULPRIT? Our hot water heater had given out at the bottom and was leaking, leaking, leaking. Joy of Joys. Now we get to drain and pull out the heater and buy a NEW one! YEA!

So during the week with the help of Oscars parents we ripped everything out of the garage, built new everything, installing new drywall, plastering, painting and buying new cabinets. We still aren't finished with everything, but it all works. We were only without hot water for a week, not bad.

What to do now? That is the BIG question. SO far we've pulled up the linoleum that we left when we installed the laminate. We're down to the concrete. It only took about 2 weeks for me to scrape almost all the glue/paper off the floor with razor blades (its the only thing that would take it off).

Our plan now is to totally remodel the kitchen. I've got a plan:

We are going to turn our U shape kitchen into a galley kitchen. Which will allow us to add in a walk in pantry and an additional 7 feet of counter space!!! 7! I love that number. I'm nervous, but excited. Now we just need to bite the bullet and start the project. First thing on the list is order the cabinets. Second thing is to raise the dropped ceiling. Oscar HATES the idea of that one, but it will make a HUGE difference for a small space.

For the time being I'm living in a construction zone AGAIN, with no oven and no microwave. Nathan asked me the other day when we were going to pack? I said what? why? He then said when are we going to pack to move in with grandma while we fix the kitchen. Oh poor kid, haven't you learned? You are gonna be here inhaling all the dust with the rest of us sweet boy! :)

Tight Fit

2011-08-07T11:10:00.000-07:00

Mom finally found some awesome couches at Costco for the family room. They give the room more seating and are very comfy, but while waiting to find some end tables Clara often finds her self on one side of the seating area or the other side....either way she wants to be on the side she is not. Tight fit for this chunky baby.

Camp Out

2011-08-04T11:59:00.000-07:00

With summer coming to an end, we wanted to take advantage of our last weekend free from school and loaded up for a camp out. We drove up to our good friends property and after a little trouble with a gate that wasn't suppose to be locked we found a spot to set up camp.

They love to roast them and make a mess, but really don't like to eat them all that much.

Taking a look at the almost full moon.

All cozy and snug in bed.

Clara didn't sleep very well at all. I think we are done camping for a while. We were going to stay 2 nights, but there was NO way she (I) could take another night.

Crawling around in the fox tail.

Big brother to the rescue with some milk.

We went on a short hike, there wasn't too much wildlife around except for a lot of lizards.

The boys had a blast. It was a little too warm for me,

but we are excited to try it again in the fall.

A Week with Will, Jessie, and Ed

2011-07-30T11:58:00.000-07:00

Ryan and Karrie went up to girls camp this year so Will stayed with us and Grandma watched Jessie and Ed. Here is a little glimps at all the fun things we did.

Looking through Grandma's cupcake book is more popular than the toy catalogs at Christmas.

Took the Boys to Dicks Sporting Goods to look at all the guns/bows/fishing gear.

We went to Winco to stock up on food for these hungry kids. Sometimes the kids don't get along so well so I was a little bit nervous about the week, but I was SOOOO happy to see that all my talks with the boys about being kind and nice and sharing paid off. We didn't have hardly any problems the whole week.

Grandma bought new couches and saved the boxes for the kids to build a cousin club house. It was a lot of fun, but really hot. We even put a fan inside for a little while. They stayed out there as long as they could stand it.

After all the hard work on the fort a little spritz with the water guns made everything cooler.

Clara had the right idea.

Monday night all the kids stayed the night at our house so Grandma could still go to the temple on Tuesday morning. It was a LONG night. Both Ed and Jessie fell out of the bed, at different times. Clara woke up screaming bloody murder and woke a couple other kids up. It was just wild. When the morning came no one was worse for the wear. We enjoyed a couple of art projects to pass the time.

Grandma brought out the water toys and the kids played and played.

We went to the Cub Scout Swim party on Wednesday night. Lots and Lots of kids in the pool. This shot is JUST the cubs. They did some swimming goals to pass a few things off.

Here is the van full of boys on the trip home.

We went and saw KungFu Panda 2. It was Awesome. I loved it.

We were gonna have a weenie roast and toasted marshmellows, but things just didn't quite work out. 100 degree weather and smoke in the changing wind just isn't very fun. The boys stuck it out for a while until we lost too many hot dogs in the ashes, then we decided it was best to bring them inside and just eat the marshmellows cold.

Pioneer Day Singing Time

2011-07-24T11:59:00.000-07:00

My calling in church right now is the primary chorister. That means I get to teach songs and sing with the kids every week. It's really fun and really hard at the same time. There are so many wonderful ladies out there in Internet land that put all their fun ideas on the web for others to use. I love to take two or three ideas and mush them together and come up with something original for our primary. I read an idea LAST year I wanted to use for Pioneer day, but just couldn't pull it together fast enough. Luckily I remembered it and did it this year!! Here is my indoor campfire.

A few logs + some rocks + a strand of white Christmas lights + 3 sheets of tissue paper= Totally awesome. The kids sat around and walked around the "fire" as we talked about the pioneers sacrificing to build temples. I love Pioneer day. This was my favorite photo that I found on google of real pioneers. I just love the look on the little girls face. The lady even looks happy. Makes me want to try harder at everything I do.

Splishin' and Splashin' with the Galyans

2011-07-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

Soakin' up the summer rays.

Munchin' on some watermelon from the garden.

Hangin' with great friends.....what could be better!

Double Digits

2011-07-19T14:50:00.000-07:00

Could it be? Oh its so hard for me to say but my first born is now double digits old! Nathan turned 10. He is stubborn like his mom, has to be right like his mom, but he is fearless like his dad. He will try anything, talk to anyone, and go out of MY comfort zone (he doesn't have one). We were at Kyle's mission homecoming , non-swim party and the Bishop promised $10 to anyone who would jump in the pool. Nathan jumped right in with all his clothes on. He is the best helper and will usually do anything I ask with out complaining. Usually. He LOVES his sister and loves to hold her, make her laugh, and play with her. She adores him. According to him her first word was his name. She apparently said "Neh Day" and that meant Nathan. He loves money. He is constantly thinking of ways he can earn money when he gets older. He has his own style and I try my hardest to pull his "style" a little closer to mine. He is an awesome artist. He is growing up too fast. It makes me CRAZY to think of him as a baby. He is looking more and more like a young man everyday and its just CRAZY. I love him so much and I love the sweet time I spend with him everyday.

INTERVIEW WITH A 10 YEAR OLD:
•How old are you? 10
•What is your favorite color? purple and silver
•What is your favorite smell? bakery sweets in the oven
•What is your favorite band? Neon Trees
•What is your favorite food? nachos and sweets especially ice cream
•What is your favorite drink? cactus cooler
•Who is your favorite subject? Science
•What is your favorite TV show? Fairly Odd Parents
•What is your favorite movie? KungFu Panda 2
•What is your favorite game? Monopoly
•What is the best memory of the last year?
•What do you like to do when you’re not in school? Watch TV
•Who are your best friends? Hazael, Kodi, Jacob, and Jesse
•What is your favorite thing to do with mom? Cook. With Dad? Throw a football.
•What do you want to be when you grow up? Lawyer or scientist

Weight: 82.4 pounds

Height: 52.75 inches

We surprised him and took all the boys to Pump It UP for some bounce time. Everyone loved it. They were tired after about 30 minutes of jumping. Levi was like the energizer bunny and kept going and going and going. For lunch we had ravioli and for dinner hamburgers. For dessert we made birthday whoopee pies.

Birthday wish list:

Knife

BB gun

Rollerblades

Mini ipod

Movie

Halo

Hex Bug Spider

Diary of a wimpy kid "The UGLY truth"

KungZhu "Night raid" its blue and black (so you know)

Lego Ninja Kit

10 Months Old

2011-07-18T17:38:00.003-07:00

This month Clara has grown in leaps and bounds.

She is getting so pudgy and her rolls are growing so kissable.

She will lead us and point to what she wants.

She calls Da.

She cries Ma when she is sad.

She took her first steps. Longest stretch is 18.

Most often we can get her to walk when she is after food.

She crawls so fast her toe nails are all broken and chipped.

She LOVES food

She LOVES both of her grandma's dearly.

Spencer always asks WHY she is SO cute?

Nathan says she is SO cute he just can't stand it.

Levi calls her "stupid baby"when he thinks I can't hear. He says it because he knows its a bad word in our house and he is going through a phase. And it IS more endearing when he says it than it sounds as I write it, but he STILL gets in major trouble.

She has three teeth. One on top and two on the bottom.

She loves fabric and loves to play peek-a-boo with her blankets.

She can finally hold her own bottle.

When she gets hot she gets these 3-4 adorable beads of sweat on her nose.

She loves to sing and be sung to.

She grunts when she is talking to you. She'll point to what she wants then put her hand to her chest.

She will SCREAM at her brothers until they give her what she wants.

She puts EVERYTHING in her mouth. She loves food remember and I think she thinks everything must taste good. YUCK.

She loves to splash in water and LOVES swimming.

Her hair still goes up in a natural MOHAWK 4 inches high.

She makes faces that remind me of each of her brothers.

She makes this nose squished/squinty eyed face that melts me

She no longer cries when I leave her.

She loves when Nathan picks her up and holds her.

She still loves me best! :)

Nathan's Nacho Bar

2011-07-17T17:52:00.000-07:00

We kicked off his birthday celebrations a few days early with a Nacho Bar at grandma and grandpa's house. All the fixins including lots of salsa! Nathan requested a viking helmet cake with a candle mohwk. It turned out really cute.

Grandma scored like 13 little Kung Zhu pets at Target and got one for every kid at the party! It was so fun to see all the little fuzz balls beeping and chirping and rolling around. Clara was in a weird mood and DID NOT like them one bit. She pretty much freaked out when the kids put one next to her. It was really funny.

Let's not talk about the number of candles on the cake. I don't think my heart can take it!

Grandma also got him a little nano pet spider. I had never even heard of them but Nathan sure knew a lot! He had been scoping it out.

Toe-May-toe Toe-MAH-toe

2011-07-14T17:38:00.001-07:00

How ever you say it we got a lot of them! My mom made a trip up the hill to get a load of free organic hydroponic tomatoes. Over 50, 30 pound boxes. She donated some to a local county child placement center and lots of ward members took boxes, but we still had plenty to can up.

Clara is gonna learn all of grandma's awesome skills!

Somebody give me some tortilla chips!

Pig Tails

2011-07-14T17:38:00.000-07:00

TODAY is the day this girly got her first piggy tails! I was barely able to whisp a few strands together. The boys were loving it and said she was the cutest thing they had EVER seen.

Cub Day Camp 2011

2011-07-14T17:37:00.000-07:00

This week Nathan was able to go to his very first Cub Day Camp. They held it at the college in the evenings. It was mostly themed around air and space. He loved the ultimate Frisbee, archery and bottle rockets. He can't wait for next year. We were able to join him for dinner on Friday to see everything. Oscar mostly loved the K9 dogs. Apparently the dog really "got" the guy and his hand was bleeding! Lots of fun.

Seat with a View

2011-07-13T17:37:00.000-07:00

We have been enjoyed the best summer weather this week. The best thing to do in nice weather is go for a bike ride with the FAM. I got this really cool bike seat for Levi ($15 on clearence) a few months ago and it was a hit. He absolutely loves the view and it is so comfortable to ride with him up front. I was thinking that when Clara turns 1 I'm gonna get a back seat for Levi and Clara can ride in the front and we can go for rides when the boys are in school!

Future Missionary

2011-07-10T17:36:00.000-07:00

A few Sunday's Jared's primary lesson was about missionary work. His cute teachers made him this personalized missionary name tag. He was beyond thrilled, totally made his day! He has been wearing it every Sunday and wont take it off. I sent the picture to Andrés and he thought is was awesome too. Now he looks just like his uncle!

Ring of Fire....or wait I mean WATER!

2011-07-08T17:36:00.000-07:00

The stinkin' dogs popped our pool, so I got this fun little sprinkler ring. It was hours of fun and the lawn got a nice drink too. Clara LOVES getting sprayed in the face with the water streams.

My Anti-Laundry Friend

2011-07-05T17:35:00.000-07:00

Definitely a sign that you aren't keeping up with your laundry.

Independance Day

2011-07-04T17:34:00.000-07:00

Pancake Breakfast at the Ball Field

Cub Scout flag ceremony

A little tug-o-war

-------------------------------

Back out to the field in the evening for some BBQ and fun.

Poor Lincoln caged with a crazy lady.

Our firework purchase this year was really pitiful. We got a big package of fountains, but they were all almost the same. Its a really good thing that our neighbors know how to have a good time. We ended up having quite a show. We brought a movie to watch outside after the show. Levi and Spencer were too tired, so I took them home and put them to bed.

The Move In

2011-07-02T17:34:00.000-07:00

All Packed up and ready to go! I sent my camera with Nathan to get a few picture of the move. Oscar, Ariel, and Son were movers and shakers and the girls were the packer/unpackers. I was in charge of watching the kiddos. I think I get the best part of the deal. I felt a little guilty kickin' it in the pool while they were all working away down the street. It was fun to hang out with my nieces that I dont see very often. Everything went great without a hitch. We are so excited to have them live so close.

Primo looks exicted, Charlie was very happy to get a sleepover friend for a little while why we get all the fences fixed and ready for a dog.

YAY for empty trucks!!

House Before and Afters

2011-06-30T19:20:00.000-07:00

There is still a short (long) this of things that still need to be done which includes but is not limited to: back splashes, tile, baseboard, cabinet molding, toilet in main bath, medicine cabinets, and a few doors. I took some pictures before the move in so I could get a little bit of the before and after effect. We pretty much turned the house into a blank slate. White walls, tan carpet, tan tile, granite counters, and medium oak cabinets. We are super happy with how everything turned out and can't wait for it to be COMPLETELY finished. Maybe this fall we will be able to get all the tile through out the rest of the house in. We are using the tile that we put in the master bath for the whole house.

The Family Room

BEFORE

AFTER

(The fans are now up on the ceilings and not on the hearth)

From the Living Room through the Dining room to the Family Room:

BEFORE

AFTER

Dining Room BEFORE

AFTER

Laundry Room BEFORE

AFTER

Main Bathroom BEFORE

AFTER

Front Bedroom BEFORE

AFTER

Back Bedroom BEFORE

AFTER

Master Bedroom BEFORE

AFTER

Master Bathroom BEFORE

AFTER

Kitchen BEFORE

AFTER

Home sweet home right? I wish I had this much counter space!!

Our Piano's Finally Home

2011-06-25T19:17:00.000-07:00

This week has been interesting because our fridge went out. We've been living out of a ice chest for a few days and we very excited when mom and dad decided they wanted to get a new fridge and they gave us their old one. Well......so long as the trailer was bringing the fridge over, I thought it would be the PERFECT opportunity to get the guys to bring my piano home as well. We have had the bench here since we got married (10 years ago) but the piano hadn't made the trip. It really was perfect timing too because Nathan just started using the petal in his piano lessons. We love the fridge and the piano and are SO greatful to my dad for his help in hauling them over here.

Final Week Of Swim Lessons

2011-06-24T19:13:00.000-07:00

Swim lessons were just awesome. We finished out our last week really strong and the boys really improved and exceeded my expectations. Nathan can jump off the diving board, pop up, and then swim to the side to get out. Spencer can swim the short way across the pool with one breath. Jared will swim about 8 feet and Levi is a little fish and can swim in a half circle from one side of the steps all the way to the other side of the steps. Our most favorite thing about swim lessons was the friendship we found with the J's. IT really made the two weeks awesome and the boys LOVED their new friends (me too!).

Here Levi goes out to Jordan.

and then back to the steps again!

Brothers....lots and lots of brothers!!

Jared blasting off.

Jared swimming to the steps

Spencer taking off and his excitement when he touched the other side

with only taken one breath!

Clara and her new buddy Beckett.

Oh yeah, Spencer like to dive too. Just not so much in the deep end.

Nathan stroakin' away down the length of the pool.

The big boys LOVED to take the last few minutes of lessons and do some freestyle diving. Nathan's favorite was the "pencil" dive. The little ones LOVED to watch almost as much as the big boys did to dive.

CANNON BALL!!!

Clara's first Dip

2011-06-23T21:10:00.000-07:00

One day Jordan didn't have lessons so we asked if we could still go and take a little dip with the family. Clara had her first dunk in the pool. She is a WATER DOG. She loved to splash and float on her back. She was really happy and calm, even though the water was kind of chilly.

Trips down "Weedpatch"

2011-06-23T12:18:00.000-07:00

I really haven't been going anywhere lately. We had two dentist appointment in the last week so I finally got out of the house and across town. To my surprise there was a brand new intersection with stop lights I didn't know about and also I had my camera handy to get a picture of "Weedpatch." A little while ago while driving with my mom we had a laugh about it. Good news is this is the very first year in like 5 years that not one member of our family has a cavity! WOO WHOO! Its a miracle. To celebrate my gingivitis and the kiddos poor brushing technique we bought everyone a toothbrush to go on my sonicare. It took about a week for them to get use to it. I can visually see the difference in their teeth now! Here is to no more cavities!!!

Hives and Heat Rash

2011-06-19T19:16:00.000-07:00

{random photo the kids snapped and accidentally caught Levi's hives}

This picture in NO way does the skin problems we've had at our house this week justice! I didn't get any good pictures, but Monday Levi and Jared came down with hives caused by the heat. It started on their legs and arms and spread toward their core. They were itchy and miserable, but it only lasted 2 days. Spencer got what I thought was heat rash that spread from his joints to his elbows and knees and then went straight for his face. A week later he was diagnosed with a skin infection of some kind and was put on sulfur based antibiotics. They started to dry up after about a week, but 2 weeks later and he still has lots of spots. I don't think it was a skin infection, but maybe an auto immune disease! I watched a show about it. Its like he has over active histamines in his body so if he gets a little bug bite, or sun exposure his skin goes crazy all over. I'm looking into getting an appointment somewhere to figure it all out. Poor kid. He was up crying because of the itchyness for a week.

First Week of Swim Lessons

2011-06-18T11:54:00.001-07:00

We just completed our first week of swim lessons. The boys are totally loving it. All day long they ask, "Is it time yet?" "Can we get dressed?" They are all doing much better. Here are a few highlights. Nathan is LOVING jumping off the diving board and swimming to the side. Spencer can open his eyes under water (totally grosses me out). Jared is still struggling but is getting more comfortable with the water. Levi loves to hold thumbs and kick, kick, kick. He'll tell you that Jordan even let him sink a couple of times on Friday! We have high hopes for next week. The best part about lessons for me is getting a new friend. We are sharing lesson time with a sweet family of 6 boys and we just LOVE them! It's like we were separated a birth. HA ! Okay well, maybe not THAT drastic, but we are very much alike and it has been fun! :)

Summer Hair Cut and Dental Woes

2011-06-10T00:04:00.000-07:00

My wonderful, fabulous friend Carianne (who just a baby 6 weeks ago) said my mom and I could come over to get our hair cut! We first swung by the dentist for me to get a cleaning. Good news no cavities....bad news gingivitis. KIDS really ,really screwed up my teeth! :) I told them they are gonna be scrubbing my dentures and they better not say ONE WORD about it because they are lucky I sacrificed my teeth to have them and feed them! My teeth were totally fine in December. It actually was my first perfect check up in FOREVER. From December to now....bad news. Anyway hopefully it will get better as I try to attack it from every way I can while nursing! SO wiping my tears away and ignoring the throbbing gum line from the deep cleaning, I pressed on to get this super cute hair cut! It's fun, easy to do, and I love it. Now I just need to go get some super big rhinestone encrusted sunglasses and I'll be ready for the pool come next week! The boys are in swim lessons and I am STOAKED!

*Public Service Announcement*

Please if you are pregnant or nursing go to the dentist. Lots and Lots! No one told me and I suffered greatly. Still now going every 6 months I'm still getting jacked up! I think I'm gonna pay the whole thing out of pocket to get a cleaning every 4 months this year.

Backyard Bash

2011-06-07T23:57:00.000-07:00

For one of Nathan's Cub requirements he threw a party. He wanted a welcome the summer party. We had ice cream and watched a movie in the backyard. It was a lot of fun and the weather was perfect. We watched Gnomio and Juliet which the kids LOVED and have been quoting all week. We have been without a microwave since November, so we popped the popcorn in an air popper and used real butter. I went through 2 pounds of butter!! YIKES.

Casa De Mustachio 2011

2011-06-04T23:47:00.000-07:00

Spencer called his 'stache: THE SAILOR

Nathan: "THE FANGER"

Jared: THE CURLY con BEARD

Levi: THE FUZZ

The best thought ever, to have TACOS! Boy were they yummy. There was enough left over that Gaye brought it all over to mom's house after church and we ate it AGAIN. I think it was even better in round 2.

Clara's runny nose washed away 1/2 her 'stache, but it was still pretty cute!

Oscar: KILLER, Jocelyn: Creepy! Not a fan of mine this year!

The wild hooligans "jugging" some root beer!

Kacy's Baptism

2011-06-04T19:20:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was SOOO neat because we were able to take a short trip up the canyon to Ryan and Karrie's meeting house to see Kacy be Baptized. She has been looking forward to this for SOOO long. My mom made the cutest white dress for her to wear after too. Mom gave the opening prayer. Karrie's dad gave a talk on Baptism. Caley Kacy's Cousin sang a primary song about when Jesus was Baptized by John the Baptist that was so beautiful, it brought me to tears with the spirit that was in the room. Her voice is GORGEOUS! Ryan was very gracious and obedient for a second unnecessary dunk to appease a very nervous grandpa who was caught off guard to be a witness. Dad gave the talk on the Holy Ghost and then Kacy was Confirmed. Karrie's mom gave the closing prayer. Oh yes, and I waved my arm around for a couple of songs as well!

{A handsome boy in his ORANGE bow tie}

After the Baptism, a lot of the guests headed out to their house for cookies, milk and the grand tour of their beautiful home that is under construction. We were greeted by a cute little snake. Poor thing didn't know his life would be so exciting today. The kids chased and tormented that thing the whole visit.

Uncle Dandy making it a little more exciting for us ALL.

Riley was visiting from TX! She wanted to take the snake home. I think Eliza will be happy we let the thing go.

Here is little miss sassy pants. Sunday she told me, "Aunt Jocelyn is this my pen" I said "It could be all the kids got one for Valentines day". She proceeded to ask Grandma....grandma said "YES" Of course. Then she walked across the room to say, " SEE I TOLD YOU"! Love this sassy girl!

Karrie recently put up some more house pictures on the blog. I was too busy with baby and kids and snake to really get HOUSE shots....KARRIE's BLOG