Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Well there it goes….the month of October.  We were busy (of course) celebrating birthdays and getting ready for Halloween.  I had a fun outing with my childhood friends.  Each year we get together and have lunch.  There never seems to be enough time but I am grateful Kerianne, Leslie, and Rori are my friends.  Kerianne made me promise not to put the picture on facebook.  However, she said nothing about my blog.

We also went out for Xadia’s birthday.  She decided on Chick-fil-A.  Tim and is missing from the picture because he was in Washington state getting our house ready to sell.  McCabe was not feeling well due to a back flip going awry.  He hit his head on the trampoline so he decided to stay home and rest.  The rest of us enjoyed a yummy meal of chicken nuggets, criss-cross fries, and milk shakes.  Xadia got a Coraline costume for her birthday.  That is what she wanted to be for Halloween.  Funny thing, the yellow rain jacket was the wrong size.  Good thing momma knows how to work the sewing machine.  After a few cuts and hems, the rain jacket is a perfect fit.

 

Jacinda got to go to Anime bonsai during the middle of October.  Here she is with colored contacts, a fake face scar, and her costume.  She really loves to dress up and put on character make up.  She is super talented and definitely has a knack for that.  Teagan decided to be in the picture too because he loves to hang around Jacinda (when he is not playing minecraft on the computer).

Tim and I had a little get away to Washington before our house sold.  The house turned out amazing.  I just loved the carpet (Kamden is the name from Home Depot) with the walls (silver strand is the name of the paint).  It made me a little sad to think that would be the last time in our WA house.  However, I am very happy at the thought of only owning one home.  While in Washington, we saw Doug and family.  Doug and Denise are living in a house right next to the water and it is absolutely gorgeous.   Their house is next to an oyster farm. Tim and I had a fun time flipping oyster nets over and watching the little sand crabs scatter.  We kept thinking how much fun the kids would have staying at Uncle Doug’s house.  There was fishing, swimming, and watching nature.

The weather is turning cold and that means baking.  Teagan likes to help me in the kitchen.  He decided to put on Tim’s apron to prevent getting dirty.  Of course he wanted to pose for a picture.  And so here he is flexing his chocolate chip cookie muscle.  He is such a joy to have.

Tim surprised me at work with flowers for my birthday and love notes just because.  He somehow roped my boss into helping him.  After I left work, my boss put loving sticky notes (made by Tim) on my monitors.  It was such a nice surprise.  I was all smiles and it started my day right.

October 25^th was birthday tables for Xadia.  Tim and I were able to join her along with her 3 friends, Izzy, Belen, and Natasha. Tim took the picture of Xadia with her friends then dropped my phone and cracked it (LOL I love Murphy’s law).   Xadia requested chicken nuggets and a frosty from Wendy’s.  Of course we bought a frosty for each girl.  That is something kinda fun we like to do along with bringing balloons and a small gift to the birthday girl’s class.  This year Xadia got balloons with a 100,000 grand candy bar and glitter glue pens.  As I write about Xaida’s birthday I am amazed at everything we did.  She also had a birthday party.  We tried to do an escape room but the puzzles were a little hard for 10-year-olds.  Nevertheless, they enjoyed making slime and decorating graham cracker haunted houses.

We had a family get away (along with Kade and Izzy) to Lake Mantua.  It was a little cold but so much fun.  The kids fished, rode bikes, and played at the playground.  For some reason the kids called the giant sand hill on the playground “poop mountain.”  They are so silly.  Tim had a good time also letting the kids hang on him as he played on the zip line.  Tim painted my nails and some of my fingers bright red (and I loved every moment of it) as we sat on the dock.  To top off the getaway, we bought a big slice of cheesecake and carrot cake (Yum!).  These desserts are incomparable.  They are so good.  Unfortunately Jacinda could not join us because she was working her last day at Lagoon.  I am so pleased that she stayed the entire season with her job and was so responsible.

At home the kids are always being so creative.  McCabe and Teagan decided to put toilet paper on their fan and turn it on.  As the paper spins, they dance in the middle of it.  It looked fun until the paper started wrapping around McCabe’s neck.  That is when I say, “game over kids and it is time to take it down.” 

Saturday, October 5, 2019

     I had such a fun week.  We celebrated my birthday.  It started out with celebrating a few days early by eating at Joy Luck (a Chinese restaurant).  The kids ordered strawberry Italian Sodas.  We then enjoyed a big dinner of cream cheese puffs, egg drop soup, strawberry chicken, sweet and sour chicken, peeking ribs, cashew vegetables, and black bean asparagus.  The food was delicious and I had left overs for lunch for the next 3 days. 
     On my actual birthday, I was surprised at work by the family.  They brought me 2 dozen red roses, a bag of Lindt chocolates and some birthday cards.  Xadia and Jacinda made me cards.  Jacinda took time to sketch a character on her card.  I love the cards.  I taped them to my wall at work so that every time I need a break from work I just look to my right and see the cards and it reminds me how much I am loved.
     After I got home, we had a nice pot of macaroni and cheese for dinner, that is what Teagan wanted.  I do not like mac and cheese but I was not very hungry so there was not need to argue.  After dinner, Tim and I went to the temple.  Because of a policy change, I got to witness a bunch of sealings.  It was a tender experience.

       Thursday was the tech trek.  Xadia and Teagan had a great time running laps at the school to raise money.  There was a lot of kids and the music was so loud.  I was exhausted.  Usually I run laps with the kids but after about 7 laps I had to sit down.  The kids did a good job and had a lot of fun running with their friends and eating snow cones.  I am so thankful they get to have this experience because it helps build their character in a positive way.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

I got a lot of catching up to do.  First off…..school is back in session.  Teagan is in 2^nd grade, Xadia is in 4^th, McCabe is in 7^th, and Jacinda is in 9^th.  (My babies are getting so big!)  I took some cute pictures before their first day.  The Squire children are also in the pictures because they are temporarily living with us until their house sells.  It has been fun having them.

The Squires like a lot of the same thing my children like.  They play the computers.  I think they play Minecraft, Roblox, and Fort Nite.  They are also good helpers with the lawn care business.  They have made a few dollars also.  Brinton will not miss an opportunity to mow a lawn because, “it is his only source of income.”  Kate and Jacinda like anime.  They dressed up as Hetalia characters for Fan X.  Jacinda was Prussia and Kate was Germany.  I was so impressed with their costumes.  They made them from D.I. clothes.  Jacinda’s boots were originally black and she covered them with a white vinyl material.  These kids are super talented.

Labor day weekend was no vacation.  Someone started a fire in the mountains and we had to be evacuated from our house.  Luckily the fire did not touch our house.  It was about 150 yards away.  However, three people lost their homes all because a campfire was not fully extinguished.  It was so said seeing the losses on t.v.

McCabe just got braces.  He is suffering through the pain.  The first 3 days meant soft foods.  He lived on mashed potatoes, applesauce, yogurt, and ice cream.  He is very excited to have straight teeth to compliment his good looks.  He is very much into trying to create a six pack.  He likes to flex his muscles in the mirror.  He is a cute kid. 

Xadia set up her “squatter’s camp in the hallway.  She got lots of blankets, chairs, and pillows to make a nice bed.  Teagan and Canda also joined in the fun.  She slept there for 3 nights.  It is fun to see what Xadia will do next.

Caught Teagan the other day putting his “babies” down for a nap.  My heart pretty much melted at the sight.  Teagan still shows some of that sweet baby boy side while being a tough adventurous 7-year-old.  It is so fun being a mama to all these wonderful children. 

Wednesday, July 10, 2019

It is an exciting time in our lives.  After nine years of renting, we are going to sell our Longview, WA home.  It has been a great home.  Three of my four kids lived there for a season.  Tim and I built it with the intentions of living there forever.  It is just over 4200 square feet.  It has an intercom system and HDMI cable all throughout.  We had missionaries living in the basement during our occupancy.  I love the double headed shower and that the laundry room is on the floor with all the bedrooms.

Our last set of renters really did a number on the place.  They painted the walls and got some of the paint on the ceiling and carpet.  One of their children decided to paint the outside of the house.  There was markers and writing on doors and walls.  Pieces of candy were stuck in the carpet and it reeked of urine.  That was really frustrating.  They did not take care of the yard.  There were over grown weeds and moss on the roof.  My heart dropped when I saw the condition.  They tried to blame the previous renters but Tim and I visited the last set of renter and saw the condition of the home.  It was not that bad.  It also did not smell nasty.  It was frustrating to see that the current renters did not keep their side of the contract to do $300/month of home repairs.  Needless to say, we helped the renters move and did a major overhaul on the house.  It took a lot of time and money to restore the house.  Now it looks beautiful.  New carpet will be laid in 2 weeks.  Part of me wants to hold on to the house.  The other part says to let go.  I took lots of pictures to keep as memories.

Something really cute that has happened this past month is Teagan copying Tim with pen placement.  Tim always has a pen.  On Sundays, Tim puts the pen behind his tie in between two buttons on his shirt.  Teagan does the exact same because he wants to be like his dad.  It is the cutest thing ever.  I just love it.

Thursday, May 16, 2019

      Well a lot has happened since my last entry.  Easter was a blast because we got to do the egg Olympics.  Uncle Matt and Aunt Mimi were good sports because they did not come down too hard on Xadia’s BYU decorated egg.  In fact, they had a lot of fun tossing it around.  I almost won the luge but got beaten out by Vaughn.  I found out that the shot put and I don’t mesh well.  This is the event where you put a shelled egg in your mouth and spit it out as far as you can.  My egg did not go very far.  Roxanne (my sister) thought it was hilarious.  Every time I was up, she would gut laugh because I looked so funny.  We go some good pictures.  I think the best event was the 400 meter dash.  Aunt Roxy is super competitive.  As soon as the race started, she whacked my egg off the spoon along with anyone else who got next to her.  That did not stop us from having a good time.  We would pick up the egg, put it back on the spoon and keep running.  The kids all had a good time.  Uncle Tim was in hard-boiled egg heaven.  It seemed like every time I turned around he was salting an egg and eating it.  I think the egg Olympics is one of the best Easter traditions ever.

     The weather in Utah is absolutely beautiful.  The kids walk to school every day.  When the weekend arrives, as a family, we like to go to a park or ride bikes.  The flowers are so beautiful.  I love seeing the phlox on the rock wall.  It looks like a vibrant floral waterfall.  God sure knew what he was doing when created this earth.

     In the beginning of May, Tim, myself, Aunt Amy, and Uncle Ethan went to Rome and Italy.  What a fantastic trip.  The landscape and history are unbelievable.  The pictures do not do it justice.  I was so amazed at how advanced the Romans were.  They had their own little sewer and plumbing system.  Their roads had speed bumps to prevent chariots going too fast and hitting pedestrians (saw that in Pompeii).  I was really intrigued with their tall buildings and short doors.  However, the buildings dedicated to their gods were super ornate with huge doors.  I believe it was the Pantheon door that is 23 feet high.  Another church/baptistery door in Florence was decorated with gold and depicted bible stories.  There is a lot of religious influence in Italy.  It was bizarre to see interpretations of hell in the murals.  It looked like a scary place with some very strange creatures doing weird things to people.  I was glad we were able to go to the Rome temple.  It was very powerful doing a session and hearing people respond in different languages.  Humans have not changed much over the course of thousands of years.  Some strive to be close to God, others choose to live a different type of life.  I am so glad I was able to go and see and learn the history of Italy.  I could not help but think about the age of the structures (some over 2,000 years old) and compare it to the U.S. only being about 250 years old.  It made me laugh.  Here is a fun fact, Michelangelo did not want to paint the Sistine chapel ceiling because he considered himself a sculptor not a painter.  However, the pope kept asking and so eventually he said yes.

Sunday, March 31, 2019

     We had a fun week with the kids.  We did so many things.  We made cinnamon rolls.  Teagan has reminded me that Saturday and Sunday mornings there should be cinnamon rolls or a ring-a-ling.  The kids always like to help make the food.  The cinnamon rolls turned out delicious.

McCabe threw a scone and potato chip party.  He invited some friends from school and they came and made potato chips and scones.  They also had a good time playing in the basement.  The party was to go from 6 to 8.  But the kids were having such a good time, they did not leave until 10 pm.  I am glad they could hang out at our house.

Teagan celebrated birthday tables this month at school.  He was able to invite one friend.  He invited Amelia.  She was a very quiet but nice girl.  Amelia's sister was also at birthday tables and her sister, Rhea invited Xadia as her friend.  It was so fun to see my kids at school.  I like celebrating their existence.

Jacinda had her first day at work.  She stood all day taking money and allowing people into Lagoon.  When she got home, her feet were so sore.  I am very proud at her enthusiasm to work.  She gets to go back the next day and stand some more.

Thursday, March 28, 2019

Seems like the days blend.  Nothing too exciting to report.  I have been exercising more and as a result, eat more.  Also met with the accountant and now need to pay some hefty taxes.  Tim is getting the lawn business ready.  This weekend he will change the oil and lawn mower blades.

This past weekend, we drove by the Farmington house.  That was an amazing experience because the owners were outside working.  They invited us in for a tour.  It was so incredible to see that much of the work Tim and I did 15 years ago did not change.  We but a lot of sweat equity and good memories into that home.  The owners were so nice and come to find out, I went to high school with Adam Jensen.  It was funny to find out that Michelle Jensen lived in Longview, WA and knew many of the same people we did.  Side note: we moved to Longview, WA after remodeling the Farmington house.  We hit it off so well that they are coming over in May for a BBQ.

Jacinda has surprised me this past week with taking the initiative and cleaning the house.  She even mentioned that she needs to focus more on her school studies.  I don’t know what sparked this change but I love it.

McCabe is doing his thing which is playing fortnite and doing evening math with me.  He likes to get me just before going to bed to review his math.  I have told him that Tim can review it, but for some reason likes it when I check.

Xadia is working on her marionette.  She made a puppet of Malala.  Just the other day we made a vibrant dress for her puppet.  Now we need to make a head shawl for her.  Xadia is also working on identifying adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, and verbs in a sentence.  We had a short review yesterday as we were chopping hard boiled eggs for egg salad sandwiches.

This past week, Teagan has been wanting to sleep in my bed.  That is a big NO because he likes to flail his arms.  History shows that I have been hit too many times in the face by him while I slept.  I know better.  So we came to an agreement.  He could sleep on our bedroom floor in his train tent.  Oh the simple things in life that bring joy to a seven year old.  He ran down the hall and in 10 seconds was back with his tent, 3 blankets, and a giant teddy bear.  He laid on our bed as we watched the news then once asleep, Tim put him in his tent.

Egg Master Teagan has mastered cooking eggs in bread.  He likes to surprise us with his specialty dish.