The Shelton Seven

June - Part Two

2010-07-25T20:44:00.001-07:00

Two more super awesome things happened in June that I thought deserved their own post! Back in May some of my girlfriends challenged me to do The Sound to Narrows 12k race. And I agreed! Crazy, right? Well, I trained pretty steadily from May to June and we did it. We walked and jogged cuz baby, I ain't no runner - and we finished almost 8 miles in a little over 2 hours. It was awesome! I felt such a sense of pride and accomplishment. And it has just kept me motivated to keep going. I now seldom miss a day on my treadmill and I love feeling stronger and healthier. Thankfully, I did not bring my camera that day, but if you must see pics check out Brook, Clarissa, Heidi or Rachel's blog and I think they have them.

And the other thing that happened was the ECLIPSE premier!! It was so fun to get an awesome group of ladies together to see the midnight showing. We met at the theater at 9pm and visited and such until we got into our theater. Then, I forced them all to win their movie candy by answering trivia questions about the movie. We even ran into a group of girls that had seen New Moon with us the year before. It was so crazy that we were in the same theater again with them!! Must say, loved the movie - shocking, I know - and loved a super fun night out with my ladies!! Don't be jealous of Clarissa and I's matching tee's!!

June

2010-07-25T20:27:00.000-07:00

June was a busier month. The kids were done with school so all the fun could start! Marcus turned 5!! And can I just say, what a difference a year makes. For those of you who don't know my sweet boy, he has had his challenges. Most noticeably his speech has been delayed and he is just not a "typical" boy in some ways. Not super sociable and sometimes just likes to be by himself and do his own thing. This past year in preschool has done wonders for him. His speech improved dramatically and his independence as well. I was so nervous for him at first, but he had no problems riding a bus to and from school and doing what his teachers asked. Leaps and bounds he has improved and I am ever so thankful to his two preschool teachers who have helped him so much in his start to school. He was even the best one in class at writing his name by the end of the year, which was awesome because when he started he didn't even recognize his own name!! Anyhoo, I couldn't be prouder of him and I've definitely come to realize something as a mother - all of my kids are SO different and no one can put them into a "box" or force them to be a supposed "norm". It's totally ok to be different, to think different and to embrace it!! Happy Birthday my sweet boy!!

May

2010-07-25T20:23:00.000-07:00

Let's see - Todd turned 42 this month, but I can't remember what we did nor do I have any pics! Must've been a good year, right sweetie?! And that's all I can remember!! So, just enjoy this picture would ya'?!

April

2010-07-25T20:06:00.000-07:00

Easter! Nothing too exciting with this one. Just pics of my ubercute kids. Oh, and after they did their Easter egg hunt, they spent the morning making up one for daddy and mommy to go on too. That Raquel is pretty creative!

We were also able to be grown ups again and moved out of my parents house for yes, the second time! Hey, whatcha gonna do? We are just so thankful that my parents are always so willing and able to help us out. We moved to the Grand Mound area which puts us central to Todd's work, family and friends and we are loving it. Here's a pic of our house that I am totally loving. Just enough space for this family!!

March

2010-07-25T13:01:00.000-07:00

Ok, February's formatting got a little funky on me, but I think you can still follow my stories!! On to March and this one is a keeper. Normally, I love the fun projects Raquel does at school and I like helping her if she needs to get one done. Well, not this time!! It was the day before St. Patrick's Day and she came home from school and was freaking out that she needed to make a "Leprachaun Trap". Aahh, what?! I asked her if it was for school and she said no, but that all her friends were making one and she just HAD to!! And she needed a shoebox and chocolate and money and all other things that would indeed catch her a leprachaun!! Well, I didn't have the needed supplies nor was I going to run out and buy them for something that wasn't even an assignment!! Well, needless to say - I ruined her life!! How could I NOT help her build a trap!! What kind of a mother was I?! So, in not one of my better mother moments I simply informed her that there were no such things as leprachauns, it was all made up, and therefore why, oh why, would we need to build a trap!!

I know, I know. I know what you're all thinking - I might as well just have let the cat out of the bag about the Easter bunny and the Tooth Fairy too, right?! I said it wasn't one of my better moments. And to make it worse, my sweet girl's eyes filled up with tears and she ran to her room and slammed the door. Just lovely. Never fear though, all wonderful Grandma was here to save the day!! My mom swooped in and not only helped her build a trap, but the next day on St. Patrick's Day she hid stuff all over the house for the kids and said it was from the leprachauns. Thanks Mom!! So before I went to bed that night Raquel and Grandma had put her trap out on the table and this note was attached to it. I already said she's a bit dramatic, right?

It reads - "If you are real like my friends say please will you give me a dollar or two or at least something. My mom says you are not true but if you are please it would mean so much to me. If you did I won't catch you. I am too sad to do that. P.S. I believe in you no matter what anyone says."

So, I caved after reading that and Todd and I staged a trapping of the leprachaun which involved leaving money for her from the leprachaun. Whatever. I'd like to meet the teacher who came up with the idea of a leprachaun trap, cuz I am sure it came from a teacher's wicked, wicked mind - and I'd like to punch them in the face. Yup, in the face!! I mean, don't we have enough fake people we have to be throughout the year?! Now, apparently we need to add leprachaun to the list!!

February

2010-07-25T12:36:00.001-07:00

Raquel was in her first play at school! It was Rumplestilskin and she was one of the villagers with a speaking part!! She was so excited and practiced so hard and did SO good at her performance. Never a prouder mama was there!! I forsee this as the first of many since if you know my Raquel you know she has a flair for the dramatics!! And the Oscar goes to . . . .

I also just have to share this awesome Family Home Evening lesson we did this month. My husband is going to kill me for putting these out into the world, but it was such a great lesson and he did such a good job! We had decided to do chore charts and have a lesson on helping mom and dad around the house and being responsible for cleaning up our own things, etc. Well, I found this hilarious poem on one of my favorite websites - sugardoodle.net - and I somehow convinced my sweet husband to dress up like an old woman and come into the room as I was reading the poem to my kids. You know, so they would always remember the lesson we had on chores with the "old lady". It went over pretty well except for Marcus couldn't stop laughing and Raigan didn't recognize her daddy and started to cry and wouldn't go anywhere near him!! Aahh, these teaching moments we can treasure for all of our lives, right?!? Here's a link to the story and Todd will forgive me eventually for his dress up pictures!!

http://www.sugardoodle.net/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4493%3Awhen-im-an-old-lady&catid=2135&Itemid=200001

January

2010-07-25T12:18:00.000-07:00

So, here we go - catching up on the last seven months or so. These are going to be short and sweet! In January we celebrated Raigan turning 2! I love all my kids, but I gotta tell ya' - this one takes after her mother the most and I love it! So, sassy and silly and full of a whole lotta somethin'!!

Hello Again/Apology

2010-05-30T18:34:00.000-07:00

Hello again blogging world! I have been neglecting my blog something fierce and boy have I been hearing about it! Never fear! I have returned! Before I get on to all the fun stuff my family has been doing this year I must take care of something else first. If you followed my blog last year you probably read an incredibly cruel post I wrote directed to members of my family. I owe an apology to my entire family, most especially to my brother Kirk and my sister-in-law Laurie. It was very wrong of me to attack them verbally in so public a forum. We have since met, worked through many of our issues that had been lingering between us for years and forgiven one another. I must admit, I was pretty turned off from blogging because I had turned my blog into something ugly and mean. And it was all my own doing. So now, it is time to forgive and forget and get back to what blogging is really all about - bragging about what our kids are doing, right?!? So now I will attempt to catch up on what we have been doing this year so far. I think we will go with the short version since I haven't posted anything since January!!

The Kids

2010-01-14T16:08:00.000-08:00

Found these two on the couch one morning before Christmas. They were both totally asleep. So cute!!

Marcus - All Tied Up

2010-01-14T15:54:00.000-08:00

During the Christmas break my kids all had "Quiet Time" just so mommy wouldn't go crazy. You can all relate I'm sure. Apparently one quiet time Raquel and Marcus weren't exactly laying in bed reading books like they were supposed to be. Raquel had to get up to be somewhere that day and Marcus had already fallen asleep. So, I didn't go in and check on him for awhile. Once I did I found him tied up to his sister's scarf that was looped through the top bunk while he was fast asleep on the bottom bunk. I guess they had been playing and he was the bad guy and his sister just forgot to untie him when she had to leave. Poor guy. How he'll ever make it with two sisters!! And of course, being the good mom that I am, I had to take a picture before I untied the poor guy!!

Candy Trains

2010-01-14T15:46:00.000-08:00

We used to make these when we were kids and my sister said we absolutely had to make these candy trains at Christmas this year. I can't remember whose was whose, but they all turned out pretty cute. Can we all say sugar overload?

Christmas 2009

2010-01-14T14:59:00.000-08:00

Hello family and friends! I am guilty of blog neglect yet again. I can't believe I only posted twice in November and in December! Yikes! I will blame it on Facebook again and a little tv show called Criminal Minds. My mom is a huge fan of the show and I gave her the first season on dvd for Christmas. There was nothing on tv to watch, so I thought I would watch Criminal Minds to see if I liked it and I was hooked. Zipped through the first season and then borrowed the next three from my girlfriend Vonda. I have been ignoring everything, including my family, because I am so hooked on this show!! I just finished a few days ago and now I'm dying for season five to come out on dvd - not until this fall most likely! Aahh! And I have a tv crush. It's okay, my husband knows about it. Dr. Spencer Reid from Criminal Minds and if you've seen the show, you know. He's all dorky smartness rolled into one yummy nerd and I'm crushing on him big time right now. Anyhoo, that is the reason for my long break between posts!!

We had a great holiday. My sister and Nicholas came up from Utah to celebrate the holidays with us. We had a good time fighting and playing games and fighting and going to the movies and fighting. :) I was kinda bummed that I didn't get to decorate with all my Christmas stuff this year because it's still all packed in Spokane. Oh well, next year I'll probably get it out at the beginning of November because I didn't get to this year!!

Santa & The Kids @ Ward Christmas Party

Christmas Morning

Now, I have to explain the next few pics. And yes, Nicholas - I AM putting them on the blog!! Every year since I can remember I ask Nicholas over and over again what he wants for Christmas and he can never give me an answer. I have thus threatened every year that I will buy him pink girl underwear if he doesn't give me at least one idea. Well, this year was no different so I decided to finally follow through on my threat! Yes, I did!! So, I bought him some pretty pink underwear with gift cards taped into the crotch. What? Did you think I would give him only undewear? There was a present, he just had to look for it!! It was ha-la-rious! I don't know why I waited so long to do it. I bet next year he'll give me some ideas, won't he?!?

Our Christmas Tree

2009-12-10T13:50:00.000-08:00

My kids are really excited to be staying with Grandpa and Grandma this year for Christmas. We have a fake tree we use every year, but we get to go and cut a real one down at their house!! Here we are finding the perfect tree and decorating it later that night. Marcus came up to me when we were done with a string of lights wrapped around him and told me he was a Christmas tree - so, I plugged him in!! Merry Christmas!

The Long Awaited New Moon Premiere

2009-12-10T13:28:00.000-08:00

Again, way behind on posting on my blog!! Aahh!! Here are the pics from the New Moon premiere. Rene, you can stop reading now and go to the next post!! If you know me then you know I had a marvelous time. It was so worth waiting in line outside for an hour and then waiting in the theater for another two hours. It was worth listening to the teenagers behind me get into a screaming match with the mom next to them because she wanted them to be quiet! Hello, we had like hours to wait and they're teenagers for pete's sake!! We had their backs though because they let us watch Twilight outside with them when we were all waiting in line. They nicknamed us their "Hot Mama's". Only because one of them referred to me as Ma'am and I about had a heart attack. I am so not old enough to be a Ma'am. Well, I probably am but I'm in denial. So, they made me feel better by calling us the "Hot Mama's"!! Sweet girls.

Anyhoo, had a great time visiting with Clarissa and Heidi and Susie while we waited and then we watched the movie. LOVED IT, LOVED IT, LOVED IT!! Obviously - since I've seen it four times already and will be going for my fifth time tomorrow!! Oh, and after seeing this movie I have totally switched teams. I was all about Edward in Twilight, but Jacob has now won my heart in New Moon. We'll have to wait and see if I can be flipped back when Eclipse comes out in June!!

Have you ever seen anything so beautiful as these three movie posters together?

The "Hot Mama's"

Me and Clarissa

And me and Clarissa's tongues!!

Bits and Pieces

2009-11-24T05:13:00.001-08:00

Just some random bits I thought I'd share. November has been a good and bad month so far! The Good - I celebrated my 34th birthday, Todd and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary, Todd started his new job, and New Moon came out!! Yay!! I'll have some pics up soon on our night out at the New Moon premiere. The Bad - our whole family has had a horrible flu/cold/cough bug for about a month now. Everyone has had a turn being sick and my kids just seem to keep rotating it. Fine for a few days and then back down with a fever and over and over and over!! Aahh! Just be well!! We also had both of our vehicles out of commission for a while. But thank heavens we're with my parents so we weren't totally carless and I have a wonderful friend who let me borrow their extra vehicle until we got one of ours up and running again. I'm sad to say the van is not fixable. The transmission is gone and it would take more to fix it than I spent to buy it, so we'll just be saving up to buy something else. The tragic part is that my Twilight Mom bumper sticker that I got in Forks this past summer is on the van!! Oh well, another trip to Forks. Darn. Thankfully our other car was an easy fix and my dad could do it and now we're up and running again.

Lots of people keep asking me about our blog title. Why is it called the Shelton Seven when there are only six people in your family? So, I thought I would clarify for all the curious out there. We have Todd, me, Nicholas, Raquel, Marcus and Raigan. And yup, that is only six people. Three boys, three girls. When I originally started my blog I thought we might have one more child. Since then, I have definitely changed my mind!! But, I like the title so I ain't changin' it!! Plus, when we had our Great Dane, Lola, I counted her as a part of the family anyway - so it made sense then!! Now, Lola is gone and we're not having anymore kids and well, it's just staying. Besides, the number 7 is my favorite number, so for me, it makes sense. Now quit asking me about my title and just accept it!!

One more bit. This past Sunday we lost power for half of the day. My sweet Marcus just could not wrap his head around this concept. He wanted to watch TV and didn't understand why I just wouldn't turn it on for him! Here was our conversation:

Marcus: "Mom, you turn on TV?"

Me: "Marcus, the TV doesn't work right now. There's no power."

I then tried to turn on the TV to show him how when I pushed the button nothing happened.

Marcus: "Daddy fix the TV?"

Me: "No, Daddy can't fix the TV."

Marcus: "Oh. Grandpa can fix the TV."

He then marched up to Grandpa and asked him to fix his TV. But, alas, even Grandpa couldn't fix it. He thought for a minute and then came and found me.

Marcus: "Mom, you go to the store and buy a new TV."

Me: "Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!!"

The poor guy just couldn't understand why no one would help him with the TV!! Priceless. The power came back on eventually and he was happily engrossed in Spongebob just a few hours later. Me thinks we watch too much TV my son!! Oh well!

I'll try to get Thanksgiving pics up before Christmas!!LOL!!

Halloween - A Bit Late!!

2009-11-24T04:36:00.000-08:00

I blame Facebook. I blame it for distracting me from keeping up to date on my blogging!! Oh well, better late than not at all, right?! Here's our pumpkin carving and the kids in their costumes! Happy late Halloween!

She's not eating the pumpkin, she's kissing it! Aaww . . .
Raquel the Pirate!
Marcus the Bumblebee!
Raigan the Fairy!

I get this look at least a hundred times a day. How can you ever get mad at that face?

School Halloween Party

Candy Coma's

Funny Pics

2009-10-18T22:27:00.000-07:00

I know we all say we should just give our kids the boxes for Christmas because that seems like all they ever play with, but I'm seriously considering actually doing it with Marcus this year! He put this together all by himself one day and wore it the rest of the day. Said he was a robot.

Daddy's Little Girl

Seeing Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs in 3-D!!

Raquel's Baptism

2009-10-18T21:54:00.000-07:00

Where has the time gone? I just can't believe my "baby" girl was baptized!! It seems like just yesterday that she was as little as Raigan and now she is turning into a lovely young lady. Here she is going to her baptismal interview with her daddy by her side. No worries though, because I gave her the all the answers before she left. Yes, yes, no, no, yes, yes, no.
And here she is this past Saturday at her baptism. It turned out to be a wonderful day for everyone. Todd's parents drove up from California and that made her day even more special. The weather didn't cooperate very much, considering the torrential downpour that we had all morning, but we managed to keep that white dress clean! And her dress turned out AMAZING!! My sweet mother was literally working on it until the night before her baptism, but it turned out awesome. And a special thank you to Margo who made her tear drop pearl earrings for her to wear. Everything went well and Todd's mom gave a great talk before her baptism and everyone loved the video that Uncle Neil sent of one of his songs he sings with his band After the Storm. We had so much love and support from family and friends and we really appreciate all of you!! Thank you to my girlfriends who brought desserts to share at the last minute!! It was a fantastic day that I know we will all remember and we spent the rest of the weekend playing games and spending time with our family. I am so proud of my sweet Raquel and her decision to get baptized!!

Seriously, my hair is driving me insane. Can we say helmet hair? Help. Oh well . . .

Raquel with her Grandpa & Grandma Jarman

Raquel with her Grandpa & Grandma Shelton

Raquel with Lavonda & Annie

One last little tidbit. Funniest moment of the day was my sweet Marcus. He was so excited about Raquel getting baptized and he kept talking about the water. Right before we started he leans over to Todd and whispers, "Dad, dunk Raquel!" and then starts giggling. He thought it was going to be like a swimming pool party I guess. Totally cracked us up right before we needed to be reverent. Thanks Marcus!!

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-18T21:28:00.000-07:00

I know, I know - I haven't blogged in over a month!! Yikes!! I will admit that I have been facebooking too much and have neglected my blog, but I have also had nothing to blog about until recently! So, last Saturday our dear friends Lavonda and Annie and Melissa took our kids to this amazing pumpking patch that they take them to every year. It has become a tradition for our kids to get their pumpkins for Halloween with them and they love it!! They have pumpkins and animals and yummy food and my kids just have a blast there. Here they are picking their pumpkins and feeding the goats and even takin' a ride on the mini carousel!! I love fall and everything that comes along with it! Thanks Lavonda and Annie and Melissa!! You're the best!

Happy 8th Birthday Raquel!!

2009-09-17T12:16:00.000-07:00

Eight!! I really can't believe my baby is 8 years old today. I tried to get a picture of just her, but I couldn't get Marcus out of the way!! He was really excited it was her birthday too!! She got to open her presents last night because her Daddy isn't here today. She thought that was pretty cool. Now, I must talk about my girl. I am tearing up just thinking about what I want to say about her. Despite my best efforts to totally screw her up by being her mother, she is growing into an amazing young lady. I thought I'd share some tidbits about our sweet Raquel.

Raquel is super smart and she remembers everything! (And I mean everything. She can remember something I said weeks or months ago. Let's hope she uses her powers for good and not for evil when she grows up.)

Raquel is so beautiful and has the best curly hair ever! (Even though she hates it right now, one day she will thank me for her naturally curly hair. When all of her friends are curling theirs with curling irons, she'll thank me.)

Raquel has definitely been blessed with a love of the arts. She loves to draw and write stories. She loves to play the violin at school and the piano at home. She is super dramatic. And not in just the typical girl dramatic way. She has an imagination that I really can't believe sometimes. She just takes herself away into these imaginary worlds full of imaginary people and I find it quite extraordinary. (She said she'll thank me when she wins her Oscar for best actress in a dramatic role.)

Raquel is very confident and makes friends very easily. She has been uprooted and moved quite a bit in the last few years, but I never worry about her because she adapts so well and easily makes friends because she is such a good friend. (I asked her once if she was nervous going into a new school and she looked at me like I was crazy and said, No, why would I be?)

Raquel is a great sister. She loves, loves, loves it when Nicholas is home with us and she is very motherly to Marcus and Raigan when she wants to be! (When she doesn't want to be we have this little thing called fighting in our house.)

Raquel is a wonderful daughter and we couldn't be prouder of her. We love to watch how she grows and learns in the gospel each day and we are so happy that she has chosen to be baptized next month. Never change Raquel because we love you so much!!

Todd left this morning to go to Utah to see Nicholas, so he woke all of us up at 6:30 am to say Happy Birthday to Raquel. This is what she got in her bed first thing on her birthday!! What a silly daddy you have Raquel!!

Today was also Marcus's first day of preschool. Mommy was so nervous for him, but I think everything went well. Let's just say this - his teacher didn't call and there were no notes in his bag for me - so we'll call our first day a success!! He looked so grown up and I actually really missed him. I didn't cry though, so I think I am getting better at this whole letting go of my kids thing. He gets picked up and dropped off by the bus, so when I asked him what he liked the best he said riding the yellow school bus because yellow is his favorite color!! Yesterday we went to his classroom for a little meet and greet. I stayed with him while they went through what they would be doing in preschool each day. He loved play time, but wasn't having any of circle time. When we left he said goodbye to his teacher and then we walked out of the room and he looked at me and in his most loud and clear voice told me that his teacher was SO BORING!! Aahh! I really hope she didn't hear him! Good job on your first day of preschool Marcus!

P.S. - Sorry for the crappy pictures today. My camera was acting all weird today taking pictures that look kinda smoky. I thought for sure my camera was breaking, but then I cleaned the lense off with a q-tip and now they are as clear as a bell again. Darn. I was really hoping it was broken so I could get a real camera. I keep letting Marcus play with it in the hopes that it will die and Todd will be forced to get me a new one!!

Aahh, my kids . . .

2009-09-14T22:29:00.000-07:00

So, the other evening Raigan was laying on the floor in front of me being SO adorable. She was all cuddled up in a big blanket with her sweet little head resting on a pillow. Could not have been cuter. I was just sitting there watching her and I looked at Todd and said, "She is just so sweet." And then, all that sweetness promptly sat up and belched the hugest burp I have ever heard come out of someone so small!! And we all died laughing, so she pretended to fake burp the rest of the night since she got such a great reaction with her first one. She doesn't crave attention at all and is nothing like her mother!! LOL!!

And then tonight, my Marcus pulled another one. Literally. You know of course it has something to do with his weiner because the kid is fascinated with it right now. I was changing his clothes and so he had nothing on but his underwear and wouldn't you know it - he had his hand down the front of his undies. Except for this time he has found something new to do - he was using it as a gun!! I am so not kidding!! I can't make this stuff up. He was pointing his thingie at us through his underwear and shooting us. I don't get it, but apparently he is a normal boy, so let's just hope someday soon he'll get over his little obession. Hopefully before his first day of preschool on Thursday!! LOL!!

Hey, they give me good material for my blog, so I'm not complainin'!!

Girlfriends!!

2009-09-06T15:28:00.000-07:00

It's been so great to be back here with all my sweet ladies. We've already gotten to hang out twice in the week I've been home!! Friday was Rene's birthday and we all went out to breakfast at our favorite little eatery, Berryfield's Cafe. It was nice to catch up with everyone and to just be silly and laugh. I love my girlfriends!! And Rene really loved her birthday dessert, didn't you Rene?!

Then Saturday a bunch of us went and saw the new movie All About Steve (Bradley Cooper - yummy!!) up in Olympia. We met up with my friend Rachel who is notorious in my book for smuggling in illegal food at the movies. And we are not talking about just a candybar here people. She usually has a bag full of food and last night was no exception. She sits down and pulls out a box, a box!! And it contains a grilled tuna fish sandwich!! Cracked me up. And of course, smelling it the rest of the movie was super awesome. Thanks Rachel!! And that was just the first course. Food just kept coming and coming. She is so little too, so I have no idea where she puts all that food!! You crazy thing. After the movie we headed back south and ended up at Applebee's until 12:30 in the morning. We had great conversation (wink, wink) and lots of girly silliness. Thanks for staying up so late with us Heidi. (Who is very pregnant with baby #4!) And that is a dessert shooter Clarissa is sporting and we were really tired!! I love girls night out!!

Goodbye Spokane, Hello Chehalis . . . Again?!?

2009-09-06T14:51:00.001-07:00

Hey Everybody!! Well, we made it and we are settled at my parents house and I finally figured out how to transfer the pictures from my camera to my parents computer!! Yay - the blogging can go on!! I was worried for a bit that I wouldn't be able to get my pictures and blogging without pictures is just, well, let's all admit it - BORING!! I was in a bit of a panic thinking I might not be blogging for possibly months, but I figured it out and now all is right in my world!!

I should probably back up a bit. Our move over from Spokane went really well and without any problems. My parents, of course, are super excited to have us "visiting" and are just rearranging their house to accomodate us. It's really very sweet. I think they might start missing their naps though, because my kids aren't having any of that. If they can't find Grandma and Papa they go in search of them and there are kitties down at Papa's shop right now, so I'm afraid he gets no peace even when he escapes down there. He usually has a little shadow following him down to see the kitties!! It's really nice to be back at what really feels like home for us and our kids.

So, we got in on a Friday and our first Sunday back in our ward, which was our ward before we moved, was pretty funny. Before the day was over Todd was already teaching a class the next week and I had a calling. Seriously!! I told my bishop that he didn't even have our records yet, how could he give me a calling!! He just laughed at me. It's nice to be among good friends again and to feel so welcomed and loved. We liked Spokane, but I think this area will always feel so right to us.

On Monday Raquel started school. I was so nervous for her. The poor kid has had to start a new school every year she's been in so far!! You know that mother worry. I hope she likes her teacher and that she makes a friend and that no one is mean to her and that she is happy. And of course, as is tradition for me, I dropped her off and then cried all the way home. I really don't like to cry, and I really, really don't like to cry in public, so I held myself together until I got in the car, but I still bawled like a baby. I was so ansy that whole first day until she got home and as she was leaving the bus someone yelled, "Bye, Raquel!!" and then I knew she had made a friend. After her first week she seems to be enjoying herself. This is her on her first day. Isn't she so stylish?

Marcus will start preschool on the 15th at the same school Raquel goes to, so that will be nice to have them together. He is really, really excited to go to school like Raquel. Let's hope that lasts after he goes the first day and realizes he has to listen and learn!! He had another run in with the infamous bike helmet. (When we moved to Spokane he refused to take off his sister's pink bike helmet for over a week! He even slept in it.) A few days after we got here he got a free helmet for going in for his well child check up and was wearing it all over the place again. At least this one is blue and we don't HAVE to wear it when we are sleeping!! I think preschool might be an issue if we have to wear the helmet!! Aahh, my boy - I love ya'!!

It will be really strange to only have Raigan for half of the day. I need to get ready to go back to school so I can start working when she leaves me and I'm all alone all day!!

Just Some Thoughts

2009-08-24T19:03:00.000-07:00

Well, we are almost done packing and loading everything into a storage unit. Since we don't have any idea where we will end up we didn't want to move it all twice, so it will just stay put until Todd gets a job. I'm really tired!! Nothing too exciting to share except for some tidbits.

1. I was on the computer this morning emailing my sister-in-law and I heard Raigan in the bathroom. She REALLY likes to flush the toilet and I heard her in there flushing away. After the second time she flushed I heard hands splashing in water. I ran into the bathroom thinking she would have her hands in the toilet. Did she? Nope. She had a cup in her hands and she was drinking the water from the toilet with it. Aahh!! At least it was clean toilet water, right?

2. Even though we fogged our house and set out tons of spider traps I think the spiders are winning. They are even starting to venture up the stairs which they have NEVER done before. I think they might be mad at us and are launching a counter attack. I'm really not kidding when I tell you they are big and fast and hairy and now apparently, they are pissed off!! Run for your lives!! Hopefully we can make it a few more days. Enjoy the pics of the ones we have defeated. And yes, these were two separate traps!!

3. I really, really, really love my family and Todd's family. Both my parents and Todd's parents are so willing to help us in our time of need and they are so incredibly supportive in so many ways. We have each also had siblings who have offered to help us as well and it is so appreciated. This is an incredibly humbling experience, but we are thankful for it and how it will only make us better people. It would seem to most that we have had a bit of "bad luck" the last few years, but we are going on the perspective that we are being taught and guided by our Heavenly Father and we need not fear. We will come out on the other end of this better people than when we started.

Those are my thoughts for today. Have fun!!

Goodbye Party!!

2009-08-20T15:27:00.001-07:00

My girls here in Spokane all got together Tuesday night and took me out to TGIFriday's for dinner to say goodbye. We had so much fun and we were that incredibly loud obnoxious table that is at every restaurant you go to!! We laughed so much my face hurt when I got home. It didn't help of course that they told our waitress that it was my birthday (which it wasn't) so the waiters came out and sang to me while wishing me a happy 21st birthday!! 21, yeah right! I think the waitress was vying for a good tip because when I told her I was almost 34 she acted like she couldn't believe it. I told her I had the kids to prove it and she was still flabbergasted. She said I totally didn't look it. Bless her heart and yes, she got a good tip from all my ladies since they wouldn't let me pay!! Thank you guys and I will miss you so much!!

Silly Raigan

2009-08-20T15:17:00.001-07:00

Armitage's have an adorable dog appropriately named Bella that Raigan just fell in love with. She followed her all over the house while we were there and at one point wanted to do her hair. It was pretty entertaining to watch. Bella kept moving away from her and Raigan just followed wielding her spray bottle and comb!! Run Bella, Run!!

This is Raigan's pose for every picture I take. I say cheese and she gets all squishy faced. Good thing she's so cute when she does it!! Todd is too, huh!!

This is her hiding from the paparazzi look and then, oh, no, they've found me!!

This is just cuteness!!

Catching Up

2009-08-18T21:06:00.000-07:00

Been a busy few weeks, so I thought I would play catch up all in one post. Hang on this could get long!! First of all, I just have to say - I HATE PACKING!! It really is no fun at all and for all you constant movers out there I don't know how you do it. Other than laundry, it might be my least favorite thing to do. Ugh. Oh well, it has to be done. Now for the fun stuff. My sister flew in from Utah weekend before last to visit my family while she was on a break from school. My parents drove over to see her as well and we just had a great time. My kids were so excited to go to the airport and pick her up, so we made these signs for them to hold. They're so silly!!

She stayed for a week and we had fun just all being together. We of course had to go to the Old Country Buffet because my parents have made that a tradition whenever they come to visit. Raquel was really excited because she is a huge meat eater and couldn't wait to get her hands on some ribs!!

We also went to the movies, played at the park, went shopping, and played lots and lots of games. It was also really nice to go to the temple a few times while they were all here. Todd and I and my dad did a session together and then later in the week Todd and my dad and Lindsey did baptisms. It was a really nice visit and I just love being around my family. My sister has to be one of the coolest people I know and I love being with her. She inspires me to be a better me.

The day after all my family left we took off for Tri-Cities to visit our dearest friends in the whole wide world - The Armitage Family!! We got there Friday afternoon and ditched all our kids for some grown up time. We went out to eat and then went and saw The Time Traveler's Wife. Clint's pick if you can believe it. He really wanted to see it and was actually really emotional through the whole movie. It was quite touching. I think he cried more than Kate and I did. Aaww!! Saturday was non-stop fun. We got slurpees at the store that sells the most slurpees in the whole U.S. (that was a highlight!!) We went to the park and had lunch at Taco Bell. Then we went bowling and I kicked butt. What was my score again? I think it was well over 200. After bowling Kate and I ditched everyone for some girl time at the craft store. Then we went back and ordered pizzas and played games until Todd got cranky cuz he was tired, or losing, I can't remember which. Sunday we hung out until church - 1pm, yuck - then just went to sacrament meeting before we headed home. Raquel and Allie were having such fits about having to leave each other that we decided to let them win and we left Raquel there for this whole week!! She's been having so much fun she barely remembers to call me at the end of the day. Anyway, we've had a fun filled couple of weeks with family and friends and now it's back to packing and getting all ready for our move. We'll be seeing some of you really soon!!

Kate and I and our mini-me's!!

Update

2009-08-10T21:54:00.000-07:00

Okay, so here's the latest. Todd still hasn't found a job. Unemployment benefits are at least six weeks out in coming because they are so overloaded and busy. We have never been able to be the people who can afford to just put away money for times like these since we have always lived paycheck to paycheck. So, thankfully we have family that we can lean upon until Todd finds a job. We will be moving back to Chehalis at the end of this month to stay with my parents until Todd can find work. We are sad to have to leave Spokane, but there really is no other option at this point and we really feel that after a lot of prayer and fasting and temple attending that the Lord is pointing us this way because it is the smartest choice. We will be able to cut our expenses dramatically by staying with family and give Todd the time to find something that will work for the long term. And moving before school starts will be easier. My kids are ecstatic to be staying with Grandma and Papa again, but not for too long this time so as not to become a burden. Still keep us in your prayers that we can find work soon!! We love you all and Chehalis - here we come - again!!

More Favorites

2009-08-09T14:28:00.001-07:00

Apparently you all like being hokey, so I thought I would try another one. Tell me what your favorite sound is? Mine - the sound of a soda bottle being opened. The hiss, fuzz, aaahhh. . . .

Calling All Favorites!!

2009-08-06T22:10:00.000-07:00

I know this is kinda hokey, but the weather totally changed in Spokane this evening from being unbearably hot for I forget how many weeks to being cloudy, with some lightning and thunder, and some downpours of rain. I opened all the windows and just listened to it pour and then the breeze would waft through and give me the best smell ever - fresh rain!! I love it!! So, may I pose this question to all of you - what is your favorite smell ever?!? Only tell me one, so choose which of all the smells on this earth you love the most. Mine is rain!!

Spiders - Yuck!!

2009-08-05T20:05:00.000-07:00

Spokane has spiders. Big spiders. And I hate them!! We started seeing them last summer, only in the basement. Then of course nothing during the fall, winter or spring and I thought they weren't going to be so bad this summer until about a week ago. They are everywhere downstairs. Never seen one upstairs, but there is at least one screaming fit a day at my house because someone has spotted a spider and wants me to come and get it. The only problem is that I am scared too!! They are big and hairy and scary fast!! Two nights ago I was putting Marcus and Raquel to bed and one came scurrying out of its hiding spot and right up the wall next to their bunkbeds. Yeah, they both slept upstairs that night. And we decided to go on the defensive the next day. We bought spider traps and last night we sealed off our downstairs and made everyone sleep upstairs and we bombed the heck out of our basement. Hopefully we have the upper hand, but time will tell. Meanwhile, I've finally got my kids back in their beds with the promise that daddy killed all the spiders last night. Here are some of our casulties. Gross.

Raigan, Raigan, Raigan

2009-08-02T20:58:00.000-07:00

So, I have never had to take any of my kids to the emergency room. Everyone please knock on wood right now. I have no idea how I have avoided that, but it is true. I think Raigan is going to do her best to see that we end up there before too long. The kid can not take two steps without tripping over something and falling down!! Now, granted, she is a bit pigeon-toed, but come on!! This week alone she has hurt herself three times and I'm thinking it is only a matter of time before I find myself in the emergency room waiting area.

Her first accident was tripping on her way to the couch and falling face first into the edge of the couch only just with her nose!! I don't know how to tell if it's broken or not, but she now has these two little weird lines on her nose and they've been there for the whole week. I would think if it was broken she would have cried for a lot longer, but I dunno. She didn't get black eyes or anything, but she was so pale for quite awhile after it happened. So, we'll count that as accident number one - possible broken nose.

Accident number two was Saturday when of course, I was home alone with the kids. She was running through the house with Marcus and believe it or not she tripped, again, only this time her face made contact with my solid oak hope chest. Ouch. This one was the worst. Blood everywhere and screaming and crying and yup, teeth through the lip. Of course, it wasn't as bad as it first seemed when all the blood was pouring out, but she sure did a doozy!! The cut just under her mouth closed up almost instantly, but she is sporting one dizzy of a fat lip and the inside is just gross and I swear her gums above her teeth looked bruised. How is that even possible? Accident number two - teeth through lip, fat lip, bruised gums.

And drum roll for number three. Just this afternoon she decided to close the bifold doors on the coat closet which I must say I have warned her about countless times and yup, you guessed it, all four of her little baby fingers smashed in the doors by her own doing. More wailing and crying and gnashing of teeth!! Accident number three - smashed fingers.

The kid is gonna do me in. No worries though. We'll be going in for our well child check up to discuss the nose, the lip, and talk about fixing those feet so we can WALK without falling down!! I don't think you can appreciate the grossness in these pics, but it's kinda hard to get an 18 month old to show you her inside lip. She sure is cute though, even with her big fat lip!!

FORKS!!

2009-07-30T20:31:00.000-07:00

I have to dedicate this post to three different people. First to my bestest girl Kate, who introduced me to Twilight before it was so "cool", to my dear friend Sarah, who is, I believe, an even bigger Twilight fan than I am and third, to my dear friend Rene, because she just couldn't understand why in the world I was driving to Forks. Her comment to me on Sunday as she grabbed my hand was, "Traci, you know Edward isn't real right, and he doesn't actually live in Forks!!" Yes, my sweet Rene, I know this, but I still had to go there and just imagine - him, me, the meadow. You get the idea!! Check out this sign.

So, on Thursday of our vacation my mom and I planned to drive to Forks and take in all the "sights". And yes, I know they didn't film the movie there, but that is where it all happened in the books so hush up!! My friend Lavonda decided to take the day of and join us when she found out we were going and it made for an absolutely perfect day!! Three adults with my three kids and off we went. Four hours later we made it to Forks and I am so NOT kidding when I say we were not alone!! When we pulled up in front of the visitors center there had to be at least 20 other cars there and guess what - they were all doing the exact same thing we were. It was unreal!! Everywhere we went people were there taking pictures and buying souveniers just like us!! It was crazy!! So, our first stop was of course, driving into town and seeing the welcome sign.
Then we went to the visitors center and got our map and took pictures of the replica of Bella's truck that they had parked out front.

Next, we drove to Bella's house, or what it might have been if they had filmed there. They had a sign out front that said - Home of The Swans. Too cute.

Then we went to Forks Community Hospital and got to see where Dr. Cullen parks one of his fabulous cars everyday before he goes to work. I couldn't resist lying down in his spot, just to be closer to him.

After that we headed to Forks High School, where of course, Bella and Edward go to school. This was definitely a highlight.

Then it was Forks City Hall, where the police department is housed and Charlie works. I even got a pic of a real Forks City police car!!

And last, but not least, was Forks version of what the Cullen house would have been. Not what I pictured at all, but I think it was the best they could do.

After taking in all the sights we ate at a local pizza parlor and hit the stores like crazy. They have a store downtown that is called Dazzled by Twilight that exclusively sells Twilight stuff and does Twilight tours. And every other drug store or hardware store touts all Twilight things for sale. Did I already mention there were tons of people there? I'm still flabbergasted by it. It was so full of Twilight fans on a Thursday in July. Awesome. After doing some shopping we had to head out to La Push beach of course, which is about 20 minutes outside of town. It was beautiful and the day was literally gray and cloudy, just like it should be in Forks!! This sign was posted on the road right before we crossed over onto Quilete land. Love it!!

And this is La Push beach. Looks exactly like I pictured it in my head. I filled my pockets with beautiful rocks from the beach and they will find a special place in my shrine to Twilight I have in my office.

When my husband saw this picture he thought I had done this on the beach. It took me a while to convince him that it was already there and I just stole a pic. It really was though!! I love it, but I didn't do it!!

And this was the other side of the sign when we were driving off the reservation.

And this is me and my Edward!! Don't we look good together!! We stopped at a gas station and this was sitting on the front porch of the store and the sign said to go ahead and take pics, so I couldn't pass this up. Eat your heart out Sarah!!

It turned out to be the best day of my whole vacation - stop laughing Rene - and we were so pooped out by the time we got home at 10:00 pm. We spent almost six hours in Forks, Forks people!! It was a blast. And I will forever remember it now with my bumper sticker that will stay on my van forever. It says, Twilight Mom - Forks, WA.

Bad News/Good News

2009-07-28T14:39:00.000-07:00

You know how everyone usually wants to know the good news first? Well, I thought I'd try it the other way around and tell you our bad news first and then on to happier stuff once I get that out of the way!! Unfortunately, Todd lost his job here in Spokane. Hasn't been too huge of a shock because he and his boss didn't see eye to eye on a lot of stuff and Todd hasn't been happy for awhile. The hard part is that he signed a no compete clause in his contract which means we basically can't work for another doctor in Spokane for the next three years. So all of this means that we are looking anywhere and everywhere in the state of Washington for another job and any prayers on our behalf would be greatly appreciated!! The only way really to be able to stay in Spokane would be to do something other than chiropractic, but that just doesn't make any sense to me at all. That's what he does, that's what he loves. We'll keep you posted on where this adventure called life is taking us next!! Now, enough bad news. We just got back from a week and a half out at my parents house and we had a fun, relaxing time.

Drove over on Thursday, the 16th, and I will admit my kids did really well. It's a six hour drive, so I stopped every two hours to go potty, eat, or just let the kids run around for a little and we had no major temper tantrums or breakdowns, so yay!! The traffic was really great until I got on I-5 going south and I swear it took us forever to get to Chehalis!! What's with all the cars people?!? But we made it safe and sound and my kids couldn't get out of the car fast enough when we got to Grandma's house.

Friday we went grocery shopping in the morning and then played outside the rest of the day because it was HOT!! While we were playing outside we had another what I like to call "Marcus Moment". As I was changing him from his shorts to his swimming trunks he told me he had to go potty. I told him to just go for it and he literally walked over to the fence around the yard and proceeded to pee all over it!! Boys are born gross. I didn't even tell him what to do he just went and did it, like it was instinctual or something. I swear. We laughed so hard I think we all pee'd in our pants just a little. For the rest of the week I could barely get the kid to pee in a toilet. He kept wanting to go outside and "paint" Papa's white fence a lovely shade of yellow. I took pics, but I can't sensor the naked butt so the hubby asked me to refrain from showing our son's naked butt all over the internet. Too funny!! Apparently my parents kiddy pool had a hole in it so we had to resort to this for our water entertainment!!

That night one of my friends was having an open house for her son that was leaving on a mission (Way to go Richard!!) so I headed over for the party. Forgot my camera, but it was great because tons of people from my old Adna ward were there and I got to visit and catch up with them. After the party was over my girl Clarissa and I headed out for some much needed girl time and let's just say, I didn't get home until 1:00 am!! I love you Clarissa! We had to squeeze all our visiting into one night because she was going to be at girls camp the whole time I was visiting. So fun!!

Saturday, we headed up to Olympia so the kids could go visit Lavonda and Annie and we could have some free time. We dropped them off and my parents and Todd and I went out for lunch and then did some shopping. (Since Todd wasn't working he joined us for a few days on our vacation and then headed back to continue the job search)

Sunday we went to church and I seriously sent Todd in early to save "our" row. Our family has gone to church in the same building for forever and we have sat in the same pew for as long as I can remember. Now that it's just mom and dad they don't always sit there and I was like, well, we are today!! I'm pretty sure that one of my siblings has carved the name Jarman on that bench somewhere after all these years!! After church Lavonda and Annie came down and we just ate and visited and played games and totally by accident Vonda and Raquel were dressed the same!! How cute are they?!?

Monday we took the kids to see Ice Age 3 and then Grandma took them home and Todd and I went out on a date. He took me to dinner at Applebee's and then to see Transformers 2. At dinner I told him we've been married too long. You see, we didn't talk to each other. We each had our magazine's that we wanted to read so we each read and didn't really talk until our food came. Either we are really comfortable with one another or we need help. I like to think that we are just comfortable and we don't have to talk all the time!!

Tuesday we took the kids to the Tacoma zoo. It was fun, but holy hecka really hot!! We were dying by the end of the day!! And so were the animals. A lot of them were hiding out in their pens to try and find some shade. The aquarium was the best because it had AC. We did it twice!! And the polar bears were just catching some zzz's when we first walked in but then it was feeding time and the guy was throwing the fish right at the window we were standing in front of, so that ended up being the best part of the day. Watching that huge animal eat fish and fruit right in front of us was pretty awesome. Before we left the park we let the kids ride the carousel and they loved it. I couldn't get Raigan off! She started screaming every time we tried to take her off so I think we went on the thing like four times in a row!!

Wednesday we had a play date at my friend Rene's house. Her daughter and Raquel are the same age and I brought Marcus along because the kid is permanently attached to my side. They played for hours and Rene and I visited and visited and laughed and laughed. At one point someone got Nerf guns out and there ended up being a horrible war. Pretty sure Rene and I won!! Thanks for the visit Rene!!

Thursday we went to Forks, but that deserves a whole post all on it's own so I will not say anything about that yet!!

Friday and Saturday we just played and read and tried to stay cool because it was REALLY HOT by then!! Sunday I packed and Monday we drove home. It was a great vacation, but I am pooped and ready to just be home for a bit. I have to get ready for my next round of guests though. My sister will be flying in from Utah to stay for a week and my parents will be driving over at the same time so we're looking forward to seeing them next Friday!!

Nothing

2009-07-12T21:55:00.000-07:00

I realized as I sat at my computer tonight that I don't have anything to blog about!! I guess we've had a pretty boring week here. I don't even have any pictures on my camera - not a one!! The only mildly interesting thing I can think of was when I took Marcus in for his well child check up on Thursday. First of all, the doctor wants him in for more testing on his speech because he is very concerned that no one understands him except for me. He said by his age strangers should be able to understand what he says and I just laughed and told him that wasn't happening. I also told him I took him into a speech therapist through the school district who told me he was fine. But the doc says it's not okay, so we have to go to an audiologist and then probably another speech therapist. Yay. Anyhoo, that's not the funny part. The doctor had to check Marcus' private area to make sure it was all okay and for the rest of the day Marcus would crack up laughing and say - "The doctor looked at my weiner." The kid thought it was hilarious. I swear - boys!! Well, I might not post for a bit because we'll be packing this week and heading out to visit Grandma and Papa. Have a good one!!

Soda Free

2009-07-09T20:41:00.000-07:00

I have officially been off soda (of any kind) for thirty days!! Yay, me!! I know that most of you that know me are thinking, yeah, we've heard this one from her before!! In fact I think this is my third attempt just this year to kick my horrible habit, but I just keep on trying. I know it's horrible for me and all the bad things it does to my body, but I still love it. So, this choice to quit drinking it is HUGE for me!! When I get stressed I swear to you just hearing a soda can open and that fizz sound can calm me down. So, I guess now I am never going to be calm again!! Everyone told me it would help in the whole weight department too, but I have yet to see the rewards of that little rumor!! So, tip one back for me because I can't and it's on to the next thirty days!!

Bike Riding Attempt #2

2009-07-05T21:01:00.000-07:00

Okey, dokey. The whole bike riding thing is not going well. So, I am totally up for any suggestions anyone might have. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with all her dramatics (don't have any idea where she got that from), but she acts like it's some kind of punishment to be doing this and she hates it!! At least Raigan had fun this time!!

Happy 4th of July!!

2009-07-05T20:50:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th to everyone and especially Happy Birthday to my brother Neil who also gets to celebrate on this day!! In fact, congratulations are in order because Neil and his girlfriend Suzanne got engaged this weekend while they were in New York City to celebrate his birthday!! Yay!! We had a really mellow fourth because you're not allowed to do fireworks over here and we definitely weren't taking Raigan out that late and just listen to her cry at one of the shows they put on. So, the extent of our fireworks were some sparklers in the backyard which of course Marcus had to go and burn his finger on and then was miserable the rest of the night!! My husband actually did buy some other fireworks, but I hid them. Yup, I did!! What is it with guys and their need to see things blow up!!?? I was just so mad because hello, we live in the city now and in a rental for pete's sake and what if something happened or someone called the cops, then what would ya do? So, I wouldn't let him light them off. I know, I know, I'm such a drag, but I have been around one to many "accidents" (Bubba) and I wasn't having any of it. They are still hidden and no one knows where they are but me!! Tee-Hee!! My sister informed me that I have the same complaint every fourth of July that my husband spends too much on fireworks and I hate it and so on and so forth!! Thanks, sis!! It's like watching my grocery money go up in smoke!!

Camping

2009-07-05T20:39:00.000-07:00

Todd had Friday off from work (yay), so we decided to do the version of camping that works for our family of little ones right now. And that was to put up the tent in our back yard and pretend that we were sleeping somewhere else!! Hey, don't knock it - the kids had a blast and I got to sleep inside in my bed because somebody had to be inside with Raigan!! We built a "fire", made smores and Raquel begged her daddy to tell her scary stories. It ended up only being Raquel and Todd outside and I ended up inside with the other kids, but they all had fun playing in the tent for a couple of days. And that will be the extent of our camping for this summer!!

Marcus & Raigan Playing Together

2009-07-02T20:57:00.000-07:00

Typical mom post, but my two youngest were playing in Raigan's toy bin the other day for a LONG time and just being all around cute together so I of course had to snap some pics. For some reason they wanted to be in the bin and they wanted ALL the toys piled in on top of them. Hey, they were bottle fed, okay, give them a break!! They're such weirdos!!

New Vampire Series

2009-07-02T20:48:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to let all my fellow vampire lovers out there know that I stumbled across a new series that is really good!! I was looking for something about vampires, but of course I didn't want to get anything that was too violent and gross. So I bought the first book in this series at Target to see if it was any good and hello - they had me by the end of the first chapter. Now, if you are super sensitive about some things then it's not for you. There is a lot of cussing and some shall we say questionable moments, but nothing that's gonna make you blush or anything. So you were warned and you can't come back and get after me if you read them. I understand my threshold for the inappropriate is probably much higher than most, but I told my mom to go buy them for heaven's sake so I think you'll all be okay!! Anyhoo, enough blabbering - they are called The House of Night series by authors PC & Kristen Cast. There are five books out so far and the sixth is coming out in November (hello, best month ever - New Moon!!). The books are called Marked, Betrayed, Chosen, Untamed and Hunted. It's kind of a cross between Twilight and Harry Potter. You've got teenagers, vampires, a vampire school, magic, and so on. Now, the cheapest I have seen them is at Costco for like five bucks. Next best place was WalMart and then Target. So, go check them out and if any of my ladies in Spokane wants them I have all five and you can borrow!! Happy reading!!

One Year Anniversary

2009-07-02T20:23:00.000-07:00

I can not believe we have lived in Spokane for a year!! Time has sure flown. I personally, have learned a lot about myself and my family in this past year, so I thought I would bore you with the details. Try not to enjoy!!

1. I can in fact, survive without my mother living two minutes away from me. I don't like it, actually, I hate it, but I have survived. I can take all my kids with me everywhere I need to go and somehow get done everything I wanted to get done. I didn't use to have to do that cuz they could go to Grandma's house any time I wanted to ditch them.

2. I can survive my husband working way more hours than he has ever worked in our whole marriage and be extra appreciative of the time that he is home with us.

3. I can go from having "it all" to having "just enough" and be totally happy about it. Sure it has been hard, but I think my whole family has learned to live with less and enjoy finding more affordable ways to entertain ourselves, shop, etc. We have even learned in a pinch you can sell all kinds of stuff on craigslist to take care of unexpected things!!

4. I have definitely learned that what we have is enough. We have a job, our kids are healthy and happy, our cars run (for now), our bills are paid and the pantry is full. We have enough.

5. My relationship with my husband is of the utmost importance. Without love and communication and utter devotion to one another I am positive the things of "this world" that we have had to go through over the past two years would have done us in.

6. I can make new friends!! This was a scary one for me because I had such a fantastic group of friends back home that I was actually so nervous about moving to a new place and trying to fit in. But there are good people everywhere and we always seem to find each other, don't we? I am so thankful for the church for that. How scary would it be to go somewhere where you don't know a soul and not have a bishop you know you can call and a ward to become a part of.

7. The weather here is way intense. Since we have moved here we were within blocks of having to be evacuated because of a really bad wildfire, we have seen wicked thunder and lightning storms, we have had over two feet of snow accumulate within 24 hours and basically been snowed in, we have experienced below zero temperatures and seriously crazy wind storms. We have also heard that emergency broadcast thing on the TV tons of times. And not the test thing they do people - the real deal!! So much so that it doesn't even phase me anymore. I just get pissed because they are interrupting my TV watching.

8. I know the best thing I have learned in this experience is that my Heavenly Father is aware of me and my family and He does love us so much. He takes care of us and knows our needs and wants us to try our best. And He forgives me and loves me for me - and all the faults I carry around daily. I am so grateful to Him.

I'm sure there are tons more things I have learned, but those are the ones that have been floating around in my head for the past two days, so I thought it would be fun to share. Here's to year two in Spokane!!

Fun In The Sun

2009-06-26T21:58:00.000-07:00

The kids were outside "playing" in the sprinkler today and I couldn't help but grab a few shots because they were cracking me up with their umbrella. Sadly, the poor umbrella didn't make it through the day, but they sure had fun with it while it lasted!!

Marcus Says The Darndest Things

2009-06-24T20:39:00.000-07:00

As I was watching me some Access Hollywood this evening to keep up to date on the latest buzz, this is what I hear from the bathroom:

Marcus: "Mom, mom, come on, check it out!!"

Mom: "Check what out?"

Marcus: "Come here!!"

I then proceeded to the bathroom where my son happily showed me his poop and then said

"It's pizza!!"

Because that's what he had for dinner the night before. Aahh, at least he understands that what goes in one end comes out the other!! Boys are so gross.

Happy Father's Day Papa!!

2009-06-21T10:28:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day Papa!! We love you!!

Bike Riding

2009-06-19T15:34:00.000-07:00

I don't really remember how I learned to ride a bike. I'm sure one of my brothers taught me. So, we decided it was past time that we took off Raquel's training wheels and taught her how to ride her bike. Let's just say my girl is a princess and we aren't quite there yet. There was a lot of "crying" with no tears and a lot of stopping and putting our feet down. She of course got frustrated because it didn't come easy, but we told her she just has to keep trying and she'll get it eventually. I made Todd teach her because in my mind bike riding and swimming are just things that daddies are supposed to teach their kids. Todd is overly thrilled I can assure you!! Here are some pics of our first lesson!!

Last Day of School

2009-06-19T15:15:00.000-07:00

Wednesday was our last day of school and I am so excited!! Not because Raquel will be home because her and Marcus fight like cats and dogs, but because I am not on a schedule of any kind!! No more dropping off and picking up and buckling and unbuckling seatbelts a million times a day!! Yay!! Well, I shouldn't say no schedule, because we did come up with a summer schedule we are going to try to stick to just so mommy can have some sanity. It involves limiting our TV time (because my kids will just plant themselves there all summer if I let them) and especially having some quiet time each day (that's for mommy). Raquel was pretty bummed out because she won't be going back to her school next year, she'll be going to a different one (long story short, first grade was full in the school she should have attended so she went to a different school this year and then has to go back to her original school next year). So, I surprised her with a little school's out party when she got home on Wednesday to cheer her up. I got her balloons and a little gift and made cupcakes and we just had fun the rest of the day. The best part was when she came up to me hours later with a smile and told me thank you for her party. Raquel did really well in first grade and got all 4's on her report card (that's the highest you can get). Good job Raquel!! Todd reminded me to enjoy the summer break because the dropping off and picking up will only be worse in the fall when Raquel is in school all day and Marcus starts half day preschool!! Ugh.

Last day pictures!!

Our School's Out Party!!

Raigan and Marcus really enjoyed the cupcakes!!

Whining

2009-06-19T14:43:00.000-07:00

I'm going to whine here for a minute, so if you don't want to hear it you might want to scroll down!! I just have to get this off my chest and then I won't talk about it anymore!! We just finished our first year of all day school and Raquel had a blast and thrived a great deal. That isn't my issue. My issue is the extent of parent involvement that seeems to be expected at school these days. I can remember my parents coming to a school activity maybe a couple of times a year, like Christmas parties or band concerts, that was it. And did I survive, yes, did I feel neglected, never!! I can't even count the number of things that went on at Raquel's school this year and boy, oh boy, did I ever get the whining and the crying when I would tell her I couldn't come. I tried to explain to her that I still have little kids at home and coming to activites a couple of times a week was too much because all I would be doing was chasing Marcus and Raigan around the room and trying to keep them out of stuff. So, guess what - I didn't go to the fifty thousand during school and after school things that the school put on and I am tired of feeling bad about it!! Don't get me wrong, I want to be as involved in the education of my children as possible, but seriously, do we have to have a poetry reading in the middle of the day that my daughter says I must attend!! We did the big stuff, Christmas program, Valentine's dance, etc. But come on now, why does there have to be all this extra stuff that makes it really hard for us moms at home with other kids to attend and then we feel super bad for the kid in school, like we're letting them down or we don't care enough because we do, but just not every stinkin' week!! Okay, I feel better now. And I don't even want to hear it from all you super awesome moms who can do everything. I'm doing the best I can do and if that means I don't make it to every activity the school can dream up these days, then I just don't. Wow, after reading this back I think I had a real issue there. I just hate to see my girl disappointed. Now, on to funner posts!!

Marcus' 4th Birthday

2009-06-14T20:21:00.000-07:00

Aahh, how time flies when you are having fun. Haven't posted for a bit because can I just tell you my family has NEVER been so sick since we moved to Spokane!! Ever since January it seems like one or all of us has had something. Strep throat, head colds, flu bugs, throwing up, soar throats, high fevers, and on and on and on. We are all finally well today and just got over the worst head cold I can ever remember having. Let's just say that my children who have never, ever had medicine before were introduced to children's tylenol over the last few months. Shocking for some of you to hear that, yes, but I must confess it has happened. They are no longer pure. My sweet husband will forgive me one of these days!! Anyhoo, enough of my whining and let's get on to my Marcus turning four!!

We've had a family filled, busy, hectic few weeks, but it is always worth it because we love our family!! Nicholas flew in to see us from Utah for a week and my parents drove over, so we were all together to celebrate Marcus' birthday. We went to movies, out to dinner, played games and just had fun together. I think I will forever remember this birthday for Marcus because he was just so excited. I went and got him a big ol' balloon bouquet the morning of his birthday and his reaction when I walked in the front door was priceless. He was flipping out he was so excited over balloons!! So sweet. He just loved every minute of it - from the opening of presents, to the cake and singing Happy Birthday. The innocence of youth is so special.

Now, I know it's customary to brag unceasingly about our kids on their birthdays and so I will. Marcus is just so dear to me. To be honest, we didn't really get along for the first few years of his life. I kid you not. He preferred his daddy over his mommy in the beginning and I can remember carrying him out of sacrament meeting more than once and he was just a kickin' and a screamin' for his daddy. Aahh, good memories. But all that has changed now and he is totally his momma's boy. Good thing too because both my girls adore their daddy. At least I get one, huh?! Anyhoo, Marcus has his challenges, but it endears him to me all the more. He still has a hard time with his speech and he doesn't like to be in big groups of people, it makes him nervous, and the Jarman temper he inherited kicks in big time quite often - so we're pushing through the hard things and I know we'll be better for it one day. The kid still makes me tear up every time I hear him say out of the blue - I love you mom. I just love my boy and I wouldn't want him any other way. Happy Birthday Marcus!!

The Balloons!!

Seeing Up! with Grandma & Papa!!

Presents and Cake

Eating out at The Old Country Buffet

And we're exhausted at the end of the day!!

Happy 21st Birthday Lindsey!!

2009-05-27T17:40:00.000-07:00

This post is dedicated to my sweet sister Lindsey, who is 21 today. Happy Birthday sister!! I absolutely adore my sister. She has become one of my best friends and I love talking to her all the time. She is fantastically beautiful and puts most of us to shame, but I'm hoping she catches a little ugly after she gets married and pops out some kids!! LOL!! She is super smart and has gotten sassier and sassier ever since she grew up and moved out of the house, which of course I adore because who doesn't love a little sass? I just want her to know that I think she is friggin' awesome and I hope she has a wonderful day!! Love you sister.

My Hair!!

2009-05-26T20:57:00.000-07:00

Alrighty, I got my hair done today!! Thank you to all my friends who replied with suggestions, and I just have to say to my sister-in-law Annie, I'm sorry, but I don't live in Utah, so I thought I could get away with the angled bob!! Still love me please!! It was a pretty hectic appointment since I couldn't get anyone to watch my kids, so I literally had Raigan on one knee and Marcus on the other trying to keep them happy for TWO hours while I got color, highlights and then a cut. Yikes. I promised her next time I would get rid of my kids!! Anyhoo, despite grumpy kids I love my new style. I can honestly say she cut it and I was so happy with the change. I kept thanking her over and over. It's nice to see something different when I look in the mirror. Should be fun trying it different ways. Hope you like!!

Haircut Help!!

2009-05-24T19:29:00.000-07:00

Okay, I need help from my dear friends!! I am so sick of my hair, so I scheduled a haircut for Tuesday morning. Any suggestions on how to cut it? I just want something totally different than the same old look I've had for awhile now - long and curly. I need to change it up a bit. Let me know if you have any ideas!! All comments welcome! I'm thinking short and sassy?

My Girls Vs. Dance Dance Revolution

2009-05-17T20:14:00.001-07:00

This video is totally cheesy, but Raigan just cracks me up, so bear with me through the whole thing and then she'll reward you with her cuteness at the end!! Happy Dancing!!

Mother's Day

2009-05-17T19:46:00.000-07:00

I had a wonderful mother's day from my sweet family. It turned out to kinda be a mother's weekend because my husband, well, he rocks. When Todd asked me what I wanted for mother's day I of course replied with - "Something Twilight. Anything to do with Twilight." And then I told him I would just love a few hours all to myself to go shopping or do whatever I felt like. Well, he obliged on both counts. Saturday morning I woke up to my gifts - something Twilight - the movie companion guide and a game. Good job sweetie!!

And then I got to take off for half of the day and I went shopping and ate out and had an absolutely kid free afternoon. It was wonderful!! Sometimes it is really nice to only have to buckle my own seatbelt and no one else's!! Sunday dawned with a very sick Raquel (who ended up having strep throat) so I went to church with just my Marcus. My sweet boy has had a really hard time adjusting to primary from nursery. It's pretty much a war every Sunday to get him to go to class and stay there without Todd or I. So, we've been trying to make sure he is there every week and goes to class so he can get used to it. Since it was Mother's day Todd stayed home with the girls and I went with Marcus. I knew the primary kids would be singing during sacrament meeting, but I figured there was no way Marcus would go up there without Raquel. When it was time to sing one of the sister's in the primary presidency grabbed Marcus and took him up front to sing and I was thinking, oh, this should be interesting. He stood right in the front and started waving to me, so I waved back. Then they started singing and my Marcus was jamming along with all the rest of them. Pretty sure he wasn't singing the right song but his mouth was moving and he was smiling and waving at me and it just had to be the best present ever. I just love that boy and it makes moments like that all the more sweet because they are SO rare. When he came back down he ran up to me and said, Mom, I sing a song!! He was so proud. His speech isn't the clearest still, so when he does something like that it just makes my heart so happy. Anyhoo, it was a great weekend and I do love being a mommy.

Todd Vs. Dance Dance Revolution

2009-05-17T19:10:00.000-07:00

Due to such overwhelming demand to see my husband take his first try at Dance Dance Revolution I have posted said video above. Todd said no way at first, but I have worn him down and he has conceded. (I think he knew I would do it anyways, so he finally just agreed!!) I will say this was only our second day of using it, so he kinda sucks, but then we all did. We have now been dancing for a few weeks and are all MUCH improved!! It's turned out to be quite fun and the first thing Raquel wants to do when she gets home from school every day is have a dance off with her momma. Enjoy!!

P.S. - This is the first video I've ever uploaded and I have no idea why it is crooked or how to fix it! Any ideas?

Happy 41st Birthday Todd!!

2009-05-06T11:14:00.000-07:00

My amazing husband turned 41 yesterday!! He thinks he is getting old, but I don't think so!! The funny thing is no one ever thinks he is as old as he is because he definitely doesn't look it or act it and he has a super hot, much younger wife so everyone just assumes we are around the same age. To celebrate we went out to dinner with some friends of ours this past Saturday and had a silly old time. Then yesterday he got his gift when he got home from work and then I sent him off to the movies to see X-Men Wolverine. He said he had a great birthday. He's pretty easy to please and he never wants for much. I was thinking a lot about my Todd yesterday on his 41st. Our 2008 wasn't a great year for us and we had a lot of trials and struggles. But ya' know what, we survived and I believe we have learned together and grown as people together and I really do love him and respect him now more than ever. Happy Birthday my Todd.

Oh, I forgot to mention that Todd also "bought" himself a gift, but it was really for the whole family. He got Dance Dance Revolution for our Wii. Not joking in any way here. I have actual footage of him doing it but I was told I would be in huge trouble if I put it on my blog. My only question is - how many of you want to see it?

Easter

2009-04-21T21:02:00.000-07:00

Our Easter was pretty low key this year. The bunny (aka - me) didn't go as hog wild as I usually do. Mostly because I didn't have the money to spend, but also because it really wasn't necessary. We dyed eggs on Saturday. Marcus was pretty into it this year. The kids woke up hecka early on Sunday morning. I will admit that Todd and I stayed in bed while they broke into their baskets and did their "hunt". I know, we're lame. I discovered tonight that I should have tried a little harder apparently. For part of Raquel's homework this week she was asked to write about Easter and she came to me and told me it wasn't any fun, so she couldn't think of anything to write about. WHAT? Oh, okay, so dying eggs wasn't fun and finding them in your hunt wasn't fun and your basket wasn't fun. Whatever. I'm thinking of exterminating the Easter bunny next year and we'll see how much fun that turns out to be!! Maybe the Easter bunny would have been more fun if someone (Raquel) hadn't lost two teeth in one week and exhausted the Tooth Fairy. Because you see, someone (Raquel) has a hard time falling asleep at night and that means the Tooth Fairy has to stay up and wait for you to fall asleep and then remember to be the Tooth Fairy. So maybe, just maybe, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny were a little tired this year and a little short on funds!! Am I bitter?

Twilight Viewing Party

2009-04-21T20:51:00.001-07:00

The Friday after spring break some of my girlfriends had a Twilight viewing party! Yay!! We have all seen it a bunch, except for my friend Carrie, and boy that was not the place to be watching it for the first time. Some of us (Sarah) are a little in love with Edward and we had fun talking to him, about him, of him through the whole movie. And after you've seen it a few times you just start repeating lines without even thinking about. Or saying what you would like to do with Edward if you could just get him alone. ANYWAYS, our poor Carrie had to put up with all of our silliness for her first time. Sorry Carrie!! Never fear though people. I lent her my copy a few days later so she could watch it again without our commentary!! It was a fun night. We played a few trivia games all about Twilight and Sarah made great prizes (ie. the golden onion and red apple) and we ate yummy snacks. We watched it in Christine's super cool movie room with the projector screen and surround sound. Awesome. I really don't ever get sick of watching the movie or reading the books. I'm getting ready to re-read the books this summer so that I will finish before New Moon comes out. November is turning out to be my favorite month of the year. It's my birthday, my wedding anniversary and hello, New Moon on the 20th!! Woo Hoo!!

Mustard

2009-04-21T20:39:00.000-07:00

This post is dedicated to my amazing and awesome parents. I promised you I would blog about this!! While I was home for spring break we went to make sandwiches one day for lunch. I just happened to glance down at the expiration date on the bottle of mustard everyone was using. Um, it said it had expired in 2008. It's 2009. I was giving my mom heck and teasing her that my OCD makes me do things like that. So, I went to the fridge to see if there were any other bottles of mustard. Yup, there sure was and just to be funny I checked the expiration date on that one too. Um, no joke, it had expired in 2007. Again, it's 2009. We all started busting up laughing and to be funny I was like, well, let's see if there is any other mustard in this fridge. Yup, you guessed it - there was another bottle. Checked the date. Seriously now, it had expired in 2006. Need I remind you that this is the year 2009! By this time we were rolling!! I took a picture of the expired culprits and sadly enough no one got any mustard on their sandwiches that day. You're all welcome!! My parents are getting older, but come on now, you're not that old yet! Good things came from this. After we left my mom cleaned out her whole fridge and threw away stuff from the last five years!! LOL!! And to make you feel better mom, just this past week I found a jar of applesauce in the back of my fridge that had mold growing inside it, so don't feel bad, it happens to the best of us!! Mustard anyone?

Spring Break

2009-04-21T19:54:00.000-07:00

I know this all happened a few weeks ago, but I didn't get the chance to blog about spring break before my computer broke. So forgive me for going back in time, but we had so much fun I couldn't NOT blog about it!! I took the kids and drove home to my parents house for spring break. Three kids in the car by myself for six hours. There is a hell on earth. Seriously though, they did pretty good. And of course, the minute we arrive at Grandma's I no longer exist which I must say I really don't mind! We got there on Friday and then just spent the weekend hanging out with my parents and Lavonda and Annie who drove down from Olympia. For those of you who don't know who Lavonda and Annie are they are our awesome friends that Todd and I met in Olympia when we got married. They lived just upstairs from us and have been like a part of our family from the beginning. They LOVE my kids and we miss them like mad, so we were glad to see them on our visit. Here are a few cute pics:

Now let's see, I have to try to remember everything we did. It's been awhile and well, we all know we lose brain cells with each kid we have! On Sunday it was great to go back to Adna ward and see all our old friends. On Monday I had a playdate with Clarissa, Janell and Brooke at where else? Burger King!! Our old stomping grounds!! Here's my beautiful ladies -

After BK, Clarissa and I met up with my parents and we took the kids to see Monsters vs. Aliens. I thought it was pretty good. Not as annoying as some of those movies can get and I actually laughed out loud at a couple of parts. Let's see, on Tuesday it was my mommy and me day. My mom and I drove the kids up to Olympia and dropped them off at Lavonda's and then we went to the movies and saw Knowing. And for anyone with a religious background it turned out to be a rather interesting movie. After the movie we picked the kids up, got dinner and went back home to veg. I love hanging out with my mom because we talk and talk and vent everything that is going on with each of us and I always feel better afterwards. I love you Mom!! On Wednesday we planned a "Girls Night Out" with everyone at Janell's house. It was a blast. We also turned it into a Back To School party for Stacy who is returning to college to become a nurse. You go girl!! We ate, we laughed, we sang/talked made up songs and we broke the underwire in our bra's. Oh, wait, that was just me. No joke, we all know I have some big mama's and I was leaning over to grab my drink and we all hear this "snap" and I lost support all of a sudden. Everyone was like, what was that? Oh nothing, just the only thing keeping me from hanging down to my knees. We knew it was gonna be a great night after that!! We visited and ate way too much and then hunkered down and watched Seven Pounds. I liked it. Sad, but I liked it. Here's our out of control night:

Clarissa likes to kiss me. Don't deny it girl, you know you do. I have a lot of pictures of you doing this. Good thing Doug doesn't get jealous of our love fest. Ah, so much fun. I miss all of you!! Thursday I was supposed to load up and drive to Kate's, but the weather was kinda crappy and I wasn't quite ready to leave my parents yet. So, I just hung out with my mom all day. Friday we packed up and headed back to Spokane. Again, three kids, me, van, six hours - no really, HELL on earth. It exists. We had a great time, much more relaxing than doing all that at Christmas and my kids can't wait to go back. Marcus asks me almost everyday if we can go home. It's so sad when I have to tell him that we are home.

I'M BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-04-19T21:13:00.000-07:00

To all of my awesome devoted friends who were just as sad as I was when my computer broke - it's fixed!! Yay!!!!!!!!!!! I realized how much I love to blog while my computer has been down these past couple of weeks and I have been backlogging stories to share. I hope I can just remember them all now!! I must give the utmost thanks to my dear friend Sarah, who offered up her uber smart husband who knows everything about computers to try and fix ours. In church today he asked us what was wrong and I told him what the screen said and then he rambled off what it was and how to fix it and we were just staring at him like, WOW! I am in awe of people that understand anything about computers!! So, Monte, you are officially my hero (right behind Edward Cullen, of course)! And thank you, thank you, thank you for fixing my computer! Your pie will be on its way! I will post stories tomorrow though, because Amazing Race is on right now and the only thing I love more than blogging is TV! Blog you soon my friends!!

No Blogging

2009-04-08T20:48:00.001-07:00

Hey, just wanted to let everyone know that I probably won't be blogging for a little while. I got back from spring break, downloaded all my pics and my computer broke the next day. We have a second laptop, but it only has wireless internet and it keeps booting me off all the time. Plus I can only download pictures on the one that is broken. So, I will have to wait until we can get our main laptop fixed. If anyone out there knows what it means when your screen is black and all it says in the upper left hand corner is NTLDR is missing, then give me a call!! I called Dell and of course our warranty expired at the end of February, they wouldn't even go any further unless I gave them a credit card and they were going to charge me $52 bucks just to continue!! I told them to suck it. So I am pretty much without computer, pictures and a good internet connection. I'm not sure how I will make it. Blogging is what I like to do best!! Help! Maybe some of my computer literate brothers could figure out what that means and help me!! Love to all!!

Spring Break!!

2009-03-28T09:29:00.000-07:00

We drove home to my parents house yesterday for spring break. It was a much easier drive than when we drove home for Christmas. Not a snowflake in sight!! Our only "hiccup" was the day before we left I was loading suitcases in the car and decided to vacuum up some of the kids leftovers. We have a little vacuum that you plug into the car. So, I put my keys into the ignition and turned it to just get power and vacuum. Well, I vacuumed and then forgot about my keys and finished loading and went back inside. Whoops! I went out again hours later and my battery was totally dead. We jumped it twice that night and it started, but then when we would try again later and it wouldn't start at all. Thank heavens that we have the nicest neighbor ever and he loaned us his battery pack and left the car charging on it all that night and she started up just fine the next morning. We finished loading and left about 9 am yesterday and arrived at my parents around 3 pm. Every time we stopped at a rest area to pee I was just praying that when we got back in the car it would turn over and thank heavens it did every time!! I know, I know - I'm a dork. And you can just imagine my dad shaking his head at me when I am telling him this story after we got here. Anyhoo, we're home and my kids are in grandparents heaven!! I won't be able to post pictures until I get back to my house, so I'll recap our spring break in about a week!! Enjoy spring break everyone!!

More Random Thoughts

2009-03-22T21:07:00.000-07:00

Again, nothing too exciting happening here in Spokane, but I get a lot of heck when I don't post at least a little something!! We had a few things happen this past week.

I went visiting teaching on Wednesday and Marcus was running around with a bunch of girls having a grand old time. That is until his face connected with a slamming door and we ended up with this:

I don't think you can really see how bad it is in this picture because my camera sucks, but he had a HUGE goose egg right between his eyes for the rest of the day and that red mark is still there today. Cried like a girl, but he is totally okay. He is a handsome devil, isn't he?

On Friday Marcus had his speech test. I was so nervous because I just didn't know how he would do. He is having a hard time going to Primary right now and when he doesn't want to do something it is meltdown time. I was just envisioning him throwing himself down on the floor and screaming his brains out. Only because that has actually happened before!! So the whole morning before we went I talked it up big time. I asked him if he wanted to go to school and play with the teacher and he was all into it. He was like, "Yeah, like Raquel." And of course I bribed him with a prize if he was a good boy. So, we go and I sit in the corner of the room while she tests him and I kid you not, the whole time I was thinking - "Who is this child and what have they done with my Marcus?" He was so good!! He sat in the chair at the table with the therapist and did everything she asked him to do and he was so good!! Can I say it enough? He was so good!! I couldn't believe it. The therapist even told me he was such a good boy. And I told her that this was a rare day! Anyhoo, as far as his speech goes he is fine. Right on target with how old he is and being in preschool next year will only help him to refine what he is saying and get better. So, no extra help needed and I just want that therapist to come and live with us because she had an effect on my son that I would like to bottle and reuse everyday.

Let's see - Friday of course was a big day. Um, hello, Twilight DVD on sale at midnight. And yes, I am that much of a loser. I stayed up until midnight so I could go to the store and buy the Twilight DVD. I was going to end up going by myself because all of my Spokane friends apparently aren't REAL fans like I am. But thankfully my friend Liz called me and totally wanted to go with me. Thanks Liz!! We felt a bit weird hanging out with all the teenagers until midnight, but we decided we didn't really care if we were the oldest people in line - we wanted our movie!! And yes, I took it home where my sweet husband was waiting up for me and I started watching all the special features until I just couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. I think that was around 2 am. I'm just not as young physically as I am mentally!! The next morning we gathered the whole family around and watched Twilight and all the extras until I saw every bit that was on both discs. And yes, I said my whole family. Marcus and Raigan are clueless still and I loved sharing it with my Raquel and Todd. What a great week!!

I look so tired, but I had to have my movie!! And I've already lent it out to a sister in my ward who has been reading the Twilight series to her family. Don't you love that!?! The more Twilight love I can spread around the better! You're next Allyson!!

Random Thoughts

2009-03-16T21:30:00.000-07:00

Not too much of anything exciting happening in the Shelton household lately. So, I thought I would post some random things that went on this past week. Raquel has been bugging me for forever to straighten her hair. It's the typical - I hate curly hair, I want straight hair - and everyone who sees her hair says they hate straight hair they want her curly hair!! Can't be happy with what we have, huh?!? I caved and finally did it for her the other day for school. Here is the all new straight-haired Raquel. Still a beauty no matter what in my opinion!

Sunday afternoon I "caught" Raquel and Marcus having a "moment" together. Normally they fight like cats and dogs, but they were watching a movie together on the couch and I just couldn't resist this moment of perfect harmony. It was short-lived. . .

And other than Todd's car breaking down and the bill coming back at $1200 to fix it, we have had a pretty uneventful week!! Yikes!! Kinda puts a dent in my spring break plans to head home and see my family and friends. Hopefully my kids will do something interesting this week so I have something to blog about. And let's not forget what happens on Saturday people!! Twilight on DVD!!

SLEEPWALKER!!

2009-03-05T13:53:00.000-08:00

I think I've posted before about Raquel's sleepwalking and night terrors. The girl has some issues. So, night before last I wake up to hear Raquel and Raigan both screaming bloody murder. I run into the upstairs hallway between our bedroom and Raigan's room and Raigan's bedroom door is open. Then I started yelling for Todd because Raigan sleeps alone in a crib and she can't open her own door. I'm thinking there is someone in our house. I start heading for the downstairs because that's where the screaming is coming from and Raquel and Marcus sleep down there. When I get to the top of the stairs I see Raquel on the stairs screaming and crying and Raigan is sitting at the bottom of the stairs screaming and crying. HUH?! It took my mind a moment to register what I was seeing. I start yelling at Raquel asking her what in the heck is going on and she is just crying and mumbling a mile a minute. I get her and lay her down on the couch and I am getting like no response from her. Within like 15 seconds she is snoring. Sound asleep. I grabbed Raigan and she was half undressed and pretty much hysterical. Todd is up by now and I made him check every room, closet, door, window - everything in our house to see if someone broke in. Nothing. I get Raigan calmed down and back to bed and then it all clicked. Raquel was sleepwalking, went in to Raigan's room, woke her up, tried to change her diaper and then took her downstairs!! That was the only explanation because Raigan can't get herself up or open her door and there wasn't a bad person in my house!! Holy crap!! Most of you are probably laughing about now, just like my mom did when I called her the next morning, but I WAS NOT! Totally freaked me out. Raquel remembers doing none of this. I asked her repeatedly the next day if she remembered getting Raigan and her screaming and she looked at me like I was crazy. It freaks me out because that was a lot of stairs she had to have climbed down with my baby in her arms and she wasn't even awake. Aahh! I really don't know what to do. I am going to buy latches for Raigan's room and the front door and attach them up high where Raquel can't reach them, but what else can I do? I just don't want her to hurt herself or someone else when she's off in la-la land. My dad suggested using one of those shock collars that you put on dogs to keep them in the yard, so that she will shock herself awake when she tries to leave her bedroom. Don't think that one is going to work dad!! My parents are so helpful with this situation, aren't they!?!

Best & Worst Mother Moments

2009-03-01T20:06:00.000-08:00

I had a worst mother moment and a best mother moment all within the same week this week! Thankfully, I was the worst mother first and the best mother second so I didn't end the week on a bad note! Here's my worst mother moment:

I finally took Raquel in to see the dentist. (I know, I know! No lectures on taking her in sooner! Lesson has been learned!) We just didn't make it a huge priority because she's been losing baby teeth for awhile now and we thought she'd be fine. Whoops. Apparently she has her father's weak teeth. On Thursday my poor sweetheart had to have a baby root canal, an entire tooth pulled, two other teeth drilled and filled and sealant put on her molars!! Her first dental experience was all of that! She did so well and the office where I took her is just for kids, so they were super awesome with her. They call everything they are doing by different names so they don't freak the kids out. Like, here comes Mr. Whistle or Mr. Tickle. So cute! She was miserable the rest of the day once the numbing wore off, but all better now. I tried to take a picture of her cavity ridden tooth they pulled, but my camera sucks and it wouldn't zoom in good enough to see the tooth and now it is in Tooth Fairy land. I will now be taking Marcus in as soon as possible to avoid this in the future. I can only hope that he has my teeth (strong as an ox) and that they will sedate him for me, otherwise ain't no way that boy will sit in that chair!! LOL!!

Okay, on to my best mother moment. It wasn't anything that I did necessarily. It was just a moment with my Raquel that I will forever remember and made me feel like I might be doing something right. At the end of the day on Friday I was taking a bath. Love to take baths at the end of the day because it relaxes me and gives me about a half an hour to myself. And my sweet husband, bless his heart, knows that I need this time so he often tells me to go get in the bath and he takes the kids. So as I'm soaking I hear a knock on the door and Raquel wants to come in. Usually I don't allow this since it kind of defeats the purpose of alone time, but she had a book with her and she asked if she could just sit in the bathroom and read. I usually am reading a book during my bath, so I said sure she could stay. So, for the next half hour I soaked and read and my Raquel sat and read, only interrupting when she couldn't figure out a word. I paused for a minute and just savored the moment. Alone time with my daughter spent doing something I adore - reading - and thinking that I have instilled in her a love of books as well. Can't beat that. It was such a tender moment for me. One without words, but that really spoke to me as a mother. I don't totally suck all of the time! My kid is reading Charlotte's Web with me in the bathroom!! So cool.

Father/Daughter Sweetheart Dance

2009-02-16T16:51:00.001-08:00

Friday night there was a father/daughter dance at the school and Todd and Raquel went out on a "date". Don't they look so gorgeous!! Raquel was so excited to get all dressed up and go to a dance with her daddy. Mommy did the hair (not bad, ay?) and picked out their outfits. They danced the night away and finished it up with a run to Dairy Queen. So sweet!!

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-16T16:34:00.000-08:00

You might think that all these Valentine treasures my girl is holding are from her father or mother right? Nope!! I picked Raquel up from school on Friday and she was carrying a gift bag and this rose. When she got in the car I asked her who the flower was from and she said her friend. I asked which one and she says - BRANDON!! Huh? Then I asked her if he gave one to all the girls in her class and she said, No, just me. Huh? Not only did this Brandon give her a regular Valentine at their class party, he also presented my daughter with a rose and a gift bag with a stuffed animal in it and a box of chocolates!! HUH?!? This is first grade we're talking about here people. This young man had to get his parents to buy him this stuff! Super cute, but now I have to find out who this Brandon is and what his intentions are towards my daughter, so I have to run so I can run a background check and hire a private investigator and . . .

Speech Therapy

2009-02-16T15:54:00.000-08:00

Raquel and Marcus fight like dogs most of the time. I blame myself for spacing them too far apart and now they seldom want anything to do with one another. I'm sure none of you have this same problem with your kids!! Anyways, I have really been concerned about Marcus' speech lately and his inability to communicate to us what he wants. This leads to our frustration and his temper tantrums. A couple of my girlfriends here told me about some free testing that the school district will do to see if they can help him before he falls behind (thank you Kim & Liz!!). So the other morning I was telling Todd about the appointment I had made for Marcus and all the details and I often forget that Raquel is ALWAYS listening to me even if she isn't included in the conversation. Later that afternoon I go downstairs to my office and before I round the corner I can hear Raquel and Marcus talking. I wait for a second and discover that Raquel is drilling Marcus on his ABC's!! I poked my head around the corner and she has him standing in the corner of my office and she is saying A, and then making him repeat, B, repeat and so on!! How sweet is that!! She overheard me worrying about his speech and took it upon herself to drill him on his letters to help him get better! That was such a great moment for me to see them actually caring about one another. Now - let the fighting resume!!

This is an old pic, but was the only one I could find of the two of them together in the last six months and Marcus' face is hilarious!!

Ward Party

2009-02-04T20:14:00.000-08:00

Well, we had our first ward party (adults only) in our new ward and the theme was Tacky Cruise. I really wasn't all that excited to go, but Kim and Allie told me I just had to, so we went. The best part was the day before when we went shopping at Value Village for our tacky cruisewear. I think we spent at least two hours in there deciding on how tacky we could be. It was so much fun!! The party was really nice with good food and good entertainment. I'm sure you've all seen the video on youtube of the ward talent show where the guys did synchronized swimming. Well, some brethren from our ward did it and it was a kick in the butt. So funny!! Here's some pics of Kim & Freddie, Allie & Todd and me and my Todd. We were trying to pose like we were at the prom, but we just look dorky. Happy sailing!!

I Love Company!!

2009-02-04T20:00:00.000-08:00

I love to have family and friends come to visit and you have all done just that since we moved to Spokane. My parents were just here this past weekend to celebrate Raigan's first birthday and of course we had a wonderful time and I got a bit of a break which I live for!! The weekend before that my girlfriend Clarissa was here with her husband and I just have to tell one story on her. Saturday morning we were all playing the Wii and having a great time. Well, you know that commercial that you see about the Wii where the guy throws the remote into the tv and breaks it?

Happened.

Well, almost happened. Clarissa was up to bat in baseball and we didn't have the wristbands on the remotes and she got a little bit too into the game. She swung and it was like my world slowed down as I watched a flash of white (the remote) fly out of her hand and barely miss our tv as it slammed into the shelf above my tv and break into three different pieces. There was like this moment of silence as we all absorbed what had just happened and then we died laughing. I couldn't stop!! I thought I would never see that happen, but I did!! Needless to say, it's a good thing I like the old country look because my shelf took most of the beating and I'm pretty sure Todd has banned Clarissa from ever playing the Wii at our house again!! So fun!! I miss my family and friends, but I love that I get to see them more than I ever thought I would. You're all the best!!

Raigan's 1st Birthday!!

2009-01-29T17:07:00.000-08:00

I know, I know - I haven't posted in a while! I'm sorry!! I've had company for the last two weekends, so now I'll catch everyone up. I really can't believe a year ago I was pushing out this almost ten pound baby!! Where does the time go? Since it seems to be the norm to brag about our children when we post about their birthdays I shall not disappoint!! These are some tidbits about my girl Raigan:

1. She came out ten pounds and has never looked back. The girl can eat Marcus under the table every meal and I'm pretty sure she has a food radar. If you are anywhere with food she will find you and stand in front of you screaming at you until you give her some. I do not jest.

2. She has a very sweet personality although I do sense a mischievious side lurking very near the surface. Example, we were grocery shopping at Walmart today and she wanted to hold something so I handed her the bottle of syrup. She somehow figured out how to unscrew the lid, yes I said unscrew the lid, and pull of the little tab underneath and pour out the syrup onto herself before I even realized what was going on!! I wish I was kidding!! Let's just say we were a little sticky and so were our groceries by the time we left!!

3. She is absolutely 100% in love with her daddy, it's sickening at times. We have affectionately nicknamed him her "Beloved". He hates it. Once he arrives home from work I no longer exist.

4. She is the mini version of Raquel in every way. They look so much alike. My sister-in-law sent me some old pictures of Raquel that she had taken and I seriously thought they were Raigan when I first looked at them. Kinda creepy sometimes!!

5. Her smile makes me smile even when I want to cry.

Superstars of Dance

2009-01-13T20:17:00.000-08:00

Just a little note on this show. It can be a bit cheezy, but I love all dancing shows so I watch it anyways. The judge from Russia is HILARIOUS. I mean, seriously HILARIOUS. It's on Monday nights. Just check it out to hear his comments before he posts his score. The guy is killing me with his quick wit.

New Ward

2009-01-13T20:03:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we had Stake Conference and we are now in a new ward!! They had announced two Sundays before that a new ward was being added to our Stake and all would be divulged at the adult session of Stake Conference. As you can imagine, speculations and gossiping ensued for the next two weeks until conference. And there were so many people at the Saturday session that they had to overflow them to another building in our stake and televise it so everyone could attend!! Crazy. My dear girlfriends Kim and Allie assured me that we would not be affected (we live only houses away from one another) and that we would most likely stay in our ward and just get some other families from other wards. Nope!! They threw that map up on the big screen and I think every ward in our Stake has changed and we are now going to a different ward!! Fun!Fun! Thankfully there are quite a few families that we have gotten to know that will also be moving to the new ward so we don't have to completely start over getting to know our ward! We just moved here in July for heaven's sake! I was just sorting out who everyone in Pines ward was and now I'll have to start over in Belle Terre ward! I am kinda bummed that some of my girlfriends are now in two other different wards, but I'm sure we'll still get together for our playdates and chitt-chatting!! And hey, new ward, no callings for a bit so we can just go to church and not have any other responsibilites right now, right?!? I'll keep you posted on the transition. The best part is that Todd will be at a chiropractic seminar this weekend and I will be going to our new ward by myself with the kids. Great first impression we'll make I'm sure! LOL!!

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

2009-01-02T20:17:00.000-08:00

My sweet Raigan is turning one this month and she is changing from a sweet baby into trouble. And I say that with love, but I have noticed the past two weeks that she is going to give her parents a run for their money. Usually when I tell her no not to touch something she will stop and crawl away. Now that she is "walking" along all the furniture she has discovered some new independence or something because when I say no now, she just smiles this wicked smile at me and then does it anyway!! This one is definitely going to be trouble. Todd says it's because she has her mother's blue eyes and therefore her mother's personality. Time will tell . . . .

My Girls - Aren't They Beautiful?!?

2009-01-02T20:16:00.001-08:00

Marcus & The Water Dispenser

2009-01-02T20:11:00.000-08:00

While I was at my parents for Christmas my son discovered that he didn't need any help getting a drink. In fact, he didn't even need a cup. When I first caught him doing this I reprimanded him and wouldn't let him do it. Then, he just kept at it and we all got such a kick out of it that we just let him drink like this for the rest of the time we were there. The pic is a bit blurry, but I think you can see his creative way to quench his thirst.

Girls Night Out

2009-01-02T20:06:00.000-08:00

While I was home for Christmas I got together with all my ladies. We had dinner at Applebee's and went and saw Marley & Me (sad, don't go see it) and just had a great time. And yes, that is Janell in a shopping cart at WalMart. I bring out the crazy in that lady I tell ya'!! I miss all of you already!! Happy New Year!!

The Hardest Job In The World

2009-01-02T16:45:00.000-08:00

If you know me then you know that parenting has got to be the HARDEST thing in the world for me. I always thought I would be a great mom and have a ton of kids because my mom is amazing and she had a ton of kids, so naturally I would be the same, right? Wrong. After I had my first I quickly found out it's not as fun as all the pretty pictures they paint for you when you're growing up. Strangely enough I've popped out two more!! Aahh!! Now, I know there are those of you who love all this parenting crap and you're quite good at it, but there are a few of us who, while we know we are supposed to have kids, find it to be one of our challenges in life to deal with everything that comes at us in the kid department. Tonight is a perfect example. Let me set the scene for you.

We just got back from Christmas vacation at my parents house, where I might add, my children are spoiled endlessly because Grandma doesn't EVER tell them no. While unpacking from our trip we just put all the kids' new toys from Christmas in their room. They've been playing with all their new stuff for the last few days and enjoying themselves. Well, tonight I asked them to go to their room (Raquel and Marcus share) and simply pick up all their toys and put them in a bin. Didn't matter which bin, just find a spot and get everything up off the floor. After listening to Raquel yell at her brother to clean and Marcus cry because it was "too hard" for 15 minutes, I went in to encourage them to work together. They did that by getting in a pushing match which I will admit my little Marcus appeared to win. Well, that did it. I snapped. They both got sent to bed early admist cries and whines, oh and some screaming too. Normally, I would be really upset and questioning my role as mother and how much I suck because I can't even get my kids to clean up their room. But tonight, as I sit at the computer listening to them talk to each other in bed I can't help but crack up.

They are at this very moment crying profusely for their Grandma and their Papa. Marcus is begging to get in the car to go to their house. Raquel is reminding him that they live six hours away so they can't go there. Again, more crying for Grandma and Papa only a little louder. Now, Raquel is kindly telling her brother that it is basically all his fault that they are in bed a whole half an hour early!! If only he had helped clean up the toys!! And Marcus is claiming he has to go potty. He uses that one every time they get sent to bed because he knows I don't want him to wet the bed. And he actually goes, so he must have the ability to conjure up urine at will!! They're calming down a bit now. Only some quite whimpering for their beloved Grandma and Papa. I swear, you would think I was actually abusing them!! Nope, just asked them to pick up their toys. The joys of motherhood. Wow, that was an oxymoron. Hey mom, if my kids show up on your doorstep in a few days you'll know why - I made them clean their room and they ran away!! (Actually, they didn't even clean their room - it's still a mess and they're in bed!! Somehow I don't think I won this battle!!) Enjoy the picture of my little angels. And don't get me started on Raigan. That girl has mischief in her eyes. . . .

We Made It!!

2008-12-21T21:16:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I actually made it home for Christmas, but we did. Just in between all these storms!! I left Spokane on Friday at about 1:00 pm. The city streets were still pretty messed up, but once I hit the freeway it was better. And once I got out of Spokane it was much better. I think that last storm just built up and dumped all it had on us because once I was about an hour outside of town there wasn't hardly anything. I drove to Ellensburg, about three hours away, where my Grandma lives and stayed the night there. The nice part was that my parents met me there with my sister Lindsey because I had a cousin that got married and was having a reception that same night. So, that was nice that we could then drive the rest of the way home together. We left Ellensburg about 8:30 Saturday morning and made it over the pass before a big storm was due to hit. Whew! We did watch some idiots in a Ford Ranger driving way too fast on the pass lose control, fishtail, turn sideways, slide in front of us and hit a snow bank facing the wrong way. Let's just say thankfully no one was hurt and they slowed down the rest of the way down the mountain!! We stopped in Olympia to say hi to Lavonda and Annie and as we were sitting in their house it started snowing - AGAIN!! So, we figured we better make it home. After a "quick" stop at WalMart to buy milk on the Saturday before Christmas - YIKES - we finally made it home just as it was really starting to come down. And now, my parents have like twelve inches of snow which hardly ever happens here. I feel like I can't get away from snow right now. Normally, I love it, but when I have to drive in it and then get stuck and can't go anywhere, it starts to drive me nuts. Anyhoo, I'm home for Christmas which is just where I wanted to be and I don't think I'm leaving until all of this white stuff is gone. Hopefully we can get Todd here for Christmas. He is supposed to fly out Christmas Eve, but the airport keeps cancelling all of the flights to Seattle and Portland because of the weather. Ugh, snow. Hello to all of my Chehalis ladies and I will be calling you when I can get out of my parents driveway!!

Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow,Snow, Snow, Snow!!

2008-12-18T19:20:00.000-08:00

This is our front yard. There is a street out there and a couple of our cars, but they are buried!! My van is under here somewhere!!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow - And Snow, And Snow

2008-12-18T19:08:00.000-08:00

Mother Nature hates my family. Of this I am sure. You think I've finally lost it, right? Here is my proof:

1. December 2007 - Flood in Chehalis, part of why we eventually had to close our office and move to Spokane.

2. July 2008 - Forest fires in Spokane, we were blocks away from having to be evacuated.

3. December 2008 - Snowstorm in Spokane, over two feet of snow in less than 24 hours.

Also the occasional wind storm (Chehalis) and lightning storm (Spokane) and I'm pretty sure that we have somehow pissed off the big Mother and she is exacting her revenge. LOL!! At this very moment I am supposed to be leaving to head home for Christmas. The only problem is we just barely found one car, we're still looking for the other two, and I couldn't back out of my driveway if I wanted to anyways!! Aahh!! We have to get home for Christmas!! Pray for us and to appease Mother Nature I beg of all of you!! (The kids, and by that I mean Raquel, Marcus and Todd, had fun outside today though!)

Holy Craps!!

2008-12-09T16:08:00.000-08:00

I have to tell on Marcus. One day he will kill me for putting all of this stuff on the web, but for now he has no idea. He just keeps giving me such funny stuff to blog about. It's his own fault. We were eating dinner last night, in front of the TV I must admit. A bad habit to form I know, but I wanted to watch my Access Hollywood. The kids have to eat on the floor if they eat in the front room with us, so they were chowing down. All of the sudden, Marcus stands up in front of the TV, grabs a butt cheek in each hand and starts yelling, "Craps! Craps! Craps!" At first I thought he had to go to the bathroom, but then he proceeds to pull down his underwear and bend over to show us all his "craps"!!

I know what you're thinking, that he had pooped his pants, right? Nope. My adorable, sweet little boy just wanted to show us his "crack" and he doesn't pronounce everything so clearly yet and it came out sounding like "craps". What the heck? Are boys just born gross or is this something you have to have a special gene for. You would think growing up with six brothers I would have seen enough "crack" in my day, but no, now my son needs to share his "craps" with me. Aahh!! And right during dinner too. Love you Marcus!!

Macaroni & Cheese

2008-12-06T20:28:00.000-08:00

I will freely admit that Marcus has been my most difficult child so far. But, as of late he has been growing on me (tee-hee), because out of nowhere he will do the sweetest things and then I forget that one minute before he was actually pulling Raigan's hair while she was strapped into her carseat. (And yes, that really has happened!) Marcus doesn't eat. Anything. Some days I think his only source of nourishment is apple juice. No joke. Honestly, I can tell you what I can get him to eat. Toast with peanut butter, chips, macaroni & cheese and of course all candy. Loves the candy. He was grocery shopping with me the other day and he wanted to sit in the basket where the food was going. So, I let him and then I proceeded to fill up the cart with groceries piled on top of him. He thought it was quite cool. When we walked by the macaroni & cheese I thought the kid was going to pee his pants he was so excited. You see, we had run out the week before and he had been asking for it for several days, so you can imagine his joy when we came across it in the grocery store. I piled macaroni & cheese on him and went to check out. He grabbed two boxes of the mac & cheese and wouldn't let go of them for anything. Wouldn't even let the lady scan them because he didn't want to let go. I think maybe he thought they wouldn't make it home if he let go. It was actually quite sweet watching him cling to those boxes. He carried them out of the store in his two little hands and into the car. While I was putting groceries in the back he was doing something in the back seat. When I came around to buckle him in his carseat he said to me, "Mom, buckled macaroni & cheese." And I in my distracted state of mind was like uh, huh honey. Then I looked in the back seat. Sure enough, there were Marcus' two boxes of macaroni & cheese, buckled into the seat belt on the back seat for a safe ride home from the store!! How cute is that!! Oh, my boy I love you!

Here's another Marcus moment for you. It made me realize how much our children actually do listen and learn from us. Raigan was down for a nap one day and I was talking in the front room and Marcus comes into the room and totally straight faced says, "Mom, shut up Raigan's sleeping." Aahhh!! From the student to the teacher, right?!? Of course, nothing will ever top the time that Raquel told my mom she was going to kick her a**. Yup, have no idea where she would have ever heard that word. Nope, none. My kids give me such good stuff to blog about!!

Dedicated to Aunt Lindsey

2008-12-01T21:42:00.000-08:00

Dear Lindsey,

This post is just for you because you aren't getting to know Raigan the way you got to know Raquel and Marcus because you had to move away to that stupid place called Utah and you were feeling sad about not seeing her as much as you saw them. We love you and just wanted you to see how big and adorable your sweet Raigan is getting. See you at Christmas.

Love,

Traci & Raigan

Todd's Kids

2008-12-01T21:35:00.000-08:00

I just thought this picture turned out cute. People here are flabbergasted when they find out Todd has four kids and then he has to remind them that he is forty, it's not that strange. I guess he just doesn't "seem" like he's forty and has four kids. I think that is code for he is on the immature side. I love him that way though, because we all know I'm a big dork and so we go well together. He's not perfect, but I think he's a pretty good daddy and ALL of his kids idolize him. I mean, forget about mom who takes care of you all day, when they here that key turn in the door at night everyone freaks out and runs for daddy. Even Raigan gets all excited and army crawls her way straight for him. They sure make me a proud wife and mommy.

Thanksgiving Week

2008-12-01T20:57:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a week we just had!! Busy, busy, busy. And now I can finally sit down and write about it. We had my parents over for Thanksgiving and Nicholas flew in to be with us too. Everyone got here on Tuesday and stayed until this morning!! I'm tired, but I love having family here so it's worth it. Let's see if I can remember everything we did. First of all, I have to brag a bit about my sweet Raquel. I went to her parent/teacher conference on Tuesday and she is doing so well. Turning out to be quite the artist and with her flair for the dramatics, well, let's just say I hear the drama department calling and she's only in the first grade. She got rave reviews from her teacher and is excelling in every subject. I'm so proud of her. Not afraid to do anything that one. Very confident.

So, let's see, Wednesday during the day we just stayed home while Todd worked and raked all the leaves in the back yard. We have a pretty big back yard so it was quite the task, but my kids had fun "helping" Grandpa and I with the work. Wednesday evening we went out to eat at Old Country Buffet. It's kind of turning into a tradition when my parents are here. Raquel wanted to see if she could out eat Nick. Are you laughing yet? I swear that boy eats me out of house and home when he's here. No joke, he was on his third plate by the time the rest of us were done with one. Sometimes we ask him if he actually tastes the food or just breathe it down!! Needless to say, Nick won. Raquel tried, but he smoked all of us!! Later that evening my mom, Todd, Nick and I abandoned my poor father to babysit while we went and saw Twilight - again!! It was the second time for everyone but Todd, his first. He really liked it and may I just say - even BETTER the second time around. It is such a good movie and it makes me want to read the books again. I think I'll start after the holidays. Thursday we prepared our Thanksgiving meal and played games all day. Shocker, I know. That's what we do, we play games. And I especially love it when Nick is here because we gang up on Todd and he loses like every game we play. Good bonding for me and the Nickster. The best part of the day came when I was taking Marcus downstairs to bed. I was holding him in my arms facing towards me and at the bottom of the stairs he vomited - ALL OVER ME!! Three times. Apparently, all he had had to eat that afternoon was chocolate milk and hershey's kisses because I was covered in them. Aahh, I love being a mom.

After we cleaned up the "chocolate", I went to bed early because I LOVE to shop on Black Friday. I know, it's strange, but I get such an adrenaline rush and I just love to watch grown adults act like complete idiots!! I got up around 3:30 am and was at good old WalMart at 4:30. I must say, the Chehalis WalMart does things so much better and more organized than the one here. For starters, they actually let you in the warm store. Here, we were standing in lines outside and it is frickin' cold here!! At Chehalis, they give you a map of where everything is that is on sale. Here, you just wander around aimlessly until you stumble upon the dvd player that is on the floor behind the check out counter in electronics and then accidentally find the dvd's on sale in the dairy section. Strange, I know!! From there I hit Lowe's, Kohl's, Old Navy, Linens-N-Things, Walgreen's and finally Target. And believe it or not I was home before noon. Usually I'm gone all day, but I went by myself this year and I must say I got in and out and done a lot faster. The rest of Friday we played more games. Saturday Todd and my dad replaced a part on my new sweet ride while I took Marcus to his first birthday party at a friend's house. So cute!! And then, you guessed it, we played more games. I know, we're dorks. Saturday night Todd and I had a date night with Kim & Freddie and Allie & Todd. It was a blast. We ate out at Chili's and had dessert at Dairy Queen with a whole lotta nonsense inbetween. We've become good friends with them and we always have great fun when we're together!!

Sunday I think I was running out of steam because I didn't feel well so I stayed home with my babies while everyone went to church. Afterwards we did it again - we played some more games. Man, I feel like a broken record!! Nick flew home Sunday night and my parents drove home this morning. It was a hectic week but so worth it because I got to spend it with my family. Now, I must go finish putting up my Christmas decorations while listening to Christmas music. Goodbye Thanksgiving - Hello Christmas!!

TWILIGHT!!

2008-11-25T20:37:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it finally came!! I was so giddy with anticipation that I barely slept on Thursday night!! Which wasn't so great considering that I had to drive to the Tri-Cities and back on Friday to attend the private screening of Twilight that my girl Kate had arranged for us to go to. I told my husband I was just as excited as I was the night before our wedding. So, relying on pure adrenalin and caffeine, I loaded up my kids into my awesome minivan (ugh) and drove three hours with all three of my kids to Kate's house. I dropped my kids with Kate's daughter Rachel and off we went to the movies. It was awesome!! Our "ticket" to get into our private screening was this lanyard we wore around our necks.

Pretty creative, huh?! And as we were walking into the theater our hosts had put up all these pictures from the movie and quotes from the books all along the walls. Before the movie started they handed out prizes for all these different Twilight things, like who had read it the most and who had "converted" the most people to the books. I of course came all decked out in my Twilight gear - Twilight t-shirt, check - Twilight bag, check - Twilight keychain, check. I left my poster and calendar at home because well, how could I justify bringing those to a theater!! And then, finally at 10:00 am our private screening of Twilight began!! And of course, I LOVED IT!! Obviously it wasn't as good as the book, but then what movie ever has been bettter than the book? I was so happy just to see this book that I love up on the big screen. I don't even want to hear anything critical about this movie!! I am a TRUE fan and I can't wait to see it again. Plus, hi it made like 70 million bucks so now I can't wait for New Moon!! After the movie we went out to eat at Olive Garden and then I grabbed my kids and headed back on the road for another three hour drive. Needless to say I was exhausted by the time I got home, but it was worth it. Thanks so much to my miss Kate for arranging our private showing and to my dear Clarissa it just wasn't the same without you!! I love Twilight!! Thank you Stephenie Meyer!!

Decorating

2008-11-19T15:47:00.000-08:00

Just been doing some more decorating in our duplex (I know, we've lived here since July and I haven't got everything on the walls yet!) and I really liked how this grouping turned out so I thought I would share. I get awfully proud of myself when my decorating comes together and I really love to decorate!! This is above our bed in the master bedroom and I think it turned out too cute. Tell me what you think!!

From Motorcycle to Minivan

2008-11-19T15:11:00.000-08:00

I have to give some special attention to my amazing husband in this post. Because, you see, he sold this:

So that he could buy me this:

And I'm pretty sure that he got the raw end of the deal on this one. You see, my husband LOVES his bike. That's what he does. He works and supports our family and when he needs some time to himself he takes his bike out and drives at speeds that I don't even want to think about. He is so a bike person and it actually gives me a great deal of guilt that he gave up his passion so that I could have a bigger car. In our other car our kids were all crammed together in the backseat, wall-to-wall car seats. Now, they are all spread out and we actually have extra room!! In fact, when Nick comes to visit for Thanksgiving we can all ride somewhere together in one car instead of having to drive two!! So, I am thankful so much for my husband's sacrifice of his "baby" so that I can officially be a minivan mom (ugh!). We'll miss you Suzuki!!

Slip-N-Slide

2008-11-10T15:07:00.000-08:00

The duplex we are renting is an older home and we've realized that the stairs are just a bit narrower than our old house and they're carpeted as well. Since we've moved in we've all actually slipped on a stair and fallen on our bums and had a good laugh. Last Sunday we were running around as usual trying to get ready for church and be on time. I was trucking it downstairs and I slipped off the second step and took the last four on my back. Ouch! Of course I threw my arms out to try and catch myself, but that didn't work either. I hit my arm so hard on the wall going down that I was sure I had broken it. Thank goodness it wasn't. Just this nasty bruise and holy crap was I sore. I'm not old by any means, but I sure felt this a lot more than I did when I was younger. Everything hurt!! And, no TH, I am not whining, I am just sharing with everyone what a clutz I am so no mean comments!! Enjoy my pain!!

Laundry Man

2008-11-10T14:35:00.000-08:00

I know there are bound to be a few of you out there who are going to sympathize with this story. For those of you who don't know me so well I will admit to having a little OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) and for those of you who do know me, well, you know. I like things a certain way. Yes, my movies are all alphabetized as well as my cd's and of course my books. My clothes are all hung in the closet a certain way and so on and so forth. I know, I know, but I seriously can't help it. I have gotten better since having kids because so many things are just out of my control right now. Well, I also like to clean and do laundry in my anal way and I usually don't let anyone help me, because, well, they might do it wrong!! Ha-Ha!! So, last week my husband wanted some laundry done and I couldn't get to it at that moment so he decided he would "help" me and run a few loads through. He of course, did it wrong, bless his heart and didn't check pockets and I think the picture tells the rest of the story. . . .

Yup, those are mostly my white clothes that were trapped in laundry hell with something red and came out pink. Thanks for all your help sweetie!!

Happy Halloween

2008-11-01T22:17:00.000-07:00

I just had the best Halloween I think I have ever had in my life. Growing up Halloween was never a big deal because my mom hates Halloween and the month of October in general. In fact, I was actually due in October and my mom willed me to stay inside of her until November rolled around!! Thanks Mom!! So, we never made a big deal about the holiday. This year though my kids are older and they were all excited about it and for once we actually live in a city where you can walk around trick-or-treating. I will admit at first I was dragging my feet about even taking them out, but they were just so excited - even sweet little Marcus was walking around the house practicing his "Trick-or-Treat"!! We drove over two streets to where all the "rich" people live and met up with my girlfriends Allie and Kim and we all went out together. It's hard to describe it, but the reason I had such a good time was simply watching my kids. This was literally the first time either of them had been trick-or-treating door to door and they were SO excited!! Just watching them run up to strangers doors and yell trick-or-treat and run back to me so happy about just getting a piece of candy was so fun. My little Marcus running just as fast as he could to keep up with his much faster big sister - oh, it makes me smile just thinking about it. The neighborhood was really great too with tons of decorations, fog machines and even a haunted backyard. I didn't realize it at the time, but we were out there for two hours!! And my sweet babies were running from house to house for most of that time. Needless to say they passed out when we got home. What a great night with my kids and I must say, definitely my most favorite Halloween yet. (Raigan, we'll get you next year sweetie - you slept through the whole night at home with Daddy!!)

The Phantom of the Opera

2008-10-31T12:14:00.000-07:00

This last Friday I convinced my husband to take me to see The Phantom of the Opera. It was AMAZING, as I knew it would be. I'd seen it once before when I lived in Colorado, but it was much more fun this time to share it with my sweetheart. He was such a good date. Except for the part where we were eating dinner at The Outback and he jokingly tells me to tuck my napkin into my shirt so that I don't spill anything on it. Ha-Ha, right?!? I swear he jinxed me. I, of course, being the stubborn woman that I am don't tuck my napkin in and guess what happens? Yup - steak juice dribbled all down the front of my super cute top that I had bought specifically to dress up in!! And nothing would take it out. Not even baby wipes that will usually take out anything. They just made it worse!! Oh well, the food was good, the show was good and I got a free night out with my hubby - the best!! This picture is before the catastrophe at The Outback. . . . .

Happy Birthday To Me - Early!!

2008-10-31T11:42:00.001-07:00

I have to take a moment and brag about my bestest girlfriend miss Kate! She so knows me so very well. I am not ashamed to admit that my "love language" is gifts. Yup, you heard me right - gifts. She knows this, my husband knows this, my mom knows this - if you know me, you know this. So, I turn 33 a week from today on November 7th and what do I get in the mail last week - my birthday present from my bestest girl Kate! Early even!! She made these with her very own two hands because she also knows that I love to decorate for the holidays. Aren't they adorable!! Thank you so much Kate for remembering me and that I do so love gifts!! Love you!!

Daddy, she just said *#%@!!

2008-10-20T21:38:00.000-07:00

This is a true story. The names of the innocent have been changed to protect their identity. The names of the not-so-innocent have not been changed so that I can embarass them. This past Saturday night I had some girlfriends over for dinner and I kicked my family out of the house. So they went over to one of my girlfriends houses to play with their kids and hang out until we were done. Apparently this family has a Wii Fit and so the kids were playing it. One of my girlfriends kids, who shall remain nameless, doesn't pronounce everything so clearly yet and she asked if they were playing the Wii Fit. The only problem was is it came out sounding like she said the Wii *#%@!! (Figure it out - four letters, starts with S and ends with T?!?) So, my sweet daughter Raquel upon hearing this come out of her mouth turns to her daddy and says - "Daddy!! She just said *#%@!!" Aahh, out of the mouths of babes. I have no idea where my daughter would have ever heard that word!! (Hee-Hee) I mean, I'm more of a damn and a hell girl myself. In fact, I'm not sure if my kids even know those are cuss words. Hey, I'm not perfect okay!!

Dedicated to all of Marcus' Grandma's - You Know Who You Are

2008-10-20T21:36:00.000-07:00

I think the picture says it all, doesn't it?

New Post Alert!!

2008-10-20T20:50:00.000-07:00

I know, I know - it has been forever since I updated my blog!! And for those who I have seriously offended please accept my most humble apologies (Clarissa, Kate & Lindsey)!! I just feel so busy here all the time and I'm not sure why. I think I'm doing the same things I always did, but maybe it's just the hustle and bustle of living in the city again that makes me feel like we are constantly on the go. Well, a lot has gone on in the last few weeks so I will try to play catch up. The first weekend of October Clarissa and Rachel drove all the way over to visit me from Chehalis - a six hour drive - so we could have a girls weekend. We had a good time eating out at P. F. Chang's (yummy, yummy), shopping, seeing a movie, buying matching pj's, playing games and just talking for forever. It was so awesome to see them again and I'm so thankful that they came all that way to see me!! What good friends I have!!

The rest of this month has just flown by with school, swimming lessons and Young Women's stuff. The weather has cooled down quite a bit here, so we have been forced back inside for the fall and winter. I love this time of year, but not being able to send my kids outside to play has led to all kinds of mishaps. Marcus has figured out that when mommy is on the phone I am distracted and not paying attention to what he is doing. This last week this is what I found when I got off the phone with one of my girlfriends. . . .

Yup, that's a whole roll of toilet paper. The funny part is the look on his face - I don't think there is any remorse for this wastefulness!! Little stinkpot!! And I think Raigan is taking cues from her big brother. She figured out how to climb up the three steps that lead to the kid's bedrooms this week and she is causing all kinds of mayhem!! These are her stages of destruction and total world domination!!!

Isn't she adorable!?! Those are my Halloween decorations she has so haphazardly discarded so that she can lay on the hallway table. I mean really, who does she think she is anyway? Oh, that's right - she's the BABY!!!

My sweet Raquel hasn't caused any damage as of late, but that's because she is in school all day! Thank heavens for public school, right?!? Well, I can't think of too much else that is going on right now. My dear friend Todd (not my husband) will be happy to hear that I dropped a chunk of change on some inserts for my shoes for my poor feet that hurt at The Good Feet store and they are actually helping with my pain. In fact I would say I'm about 85% better, so hopefully he won't be hearing me "whine" again anytime soon. It's okay T.H., I don't hate you too bad for calling me a whiner!! Well, that's about it - I am looking forward to this Friday. I talked my husband into buying me tickets to see The Phantom of the Opera for an early birthday/anniversary present and we are going this Friday night!! And my awesome and amazing parents are driving over to stay with us and watch our kids so it should be a great weekend!! Love to all!!

Unicorn

2008-09-29T14:02:00.000-07:00

So here's the back story on this post. This past MAY my family was visiting Armitage's and Kate forced me to climb a small mountain. (Tee-Hee) The only problem with this was other than being incredibly out of shape I had only brought sandals with me. Both her and Clint said it would be fine, so I climbed their stupid mountain in sandals and I'm pretty sure that is what gave me plantar fasistis (I'm sure I did not spell that right). My left foot has pretty much been in pretty bad pain since MAY and it's now almost OCTOBER!! Love you my Kates!!

For those of you who know my husband you know that this has perplexed him a great deal. He likes to be able to fix me and he normally can but this is just not going away. So he's been trying all these treatments and stretches on me. It has now actually progressed upwards and is affecting my ankle, calf and knee. Last night he was working on my whole leg doing very painful stretches and working out the muscles. And I am a huge wimp - very low tolerance for pain. So I'm laying on the couch whining that it hurts and what does my sweet Raquel say to me - "Mom, just think about riding a unicorn and then it won't hurt!"

HUH?!

Todd and I started rolling in laughter!! I love my girl. The things she thinks of! So, for anyone having pain of any kind today I say saddle up and ride yourself a unicorn. Trust me, you'll feel better.