Payton and Logan have started school and really like it. Their teacher, Wendy is really good with them. We were really lucky to get them both into a class with only 2 other kids, so they get lots of attention. And Logan is liking the bus just as much as Payton did last year. Here are some pictures of them being silly.

Jackson has aquired a new nickname, Monster (said in love of course!). He is into everything and doesn't understand hitting, pinching, grabbing, taking toys, etc... And his other name should be Garbage Disposal, because this kid eats SOOOO much! He frequently eats his portion then finishes off his brothers's. Here is a cute video of him making elephant noises...

This one is only 24 seconds but explains all those complaints I've been posting about my camera!!!

One down, one to go...

So I finished my phlebotomy extership today and it feels great to have finished that! I really enjoyed St. Joseph's and meeting new people and patients. I have so much respect for those patients! Most were there for brain surgery and they were all in such great spirits despite the gravity of their diagnosis and nature of their surgery. I felt bad I had to poke them, but I know that was the least of their worries. I get a week off before starting my next extership at North Valley Internal Medicine. I should be done at the end of September...Yeah!!

Nothing too new at home. Jax is just getting over some sort of stomach bug that gave him diahrrea for 6 days, and now Moose is feeling it. Wonderful. I told him to make sure and wash his hands so Payton and Logan don't get it! It's miserable when they are sick!

I'm working a graveyard at Gainey tonight because I can't say no. But that's okay...it's always nice to have a little extra money.

I think that's all I have to say...Bye for now

D-backs vs. Giants

It was a lot of fun last night. I took Logan to his first d-backs game. I shoulda got some pictures of him with his cherry snow cone cause he was going to town. No spoon just face to cone. He did really well and loved it when the balls would "go real real real high to the woof."

Stitches

So this was our Friday...




Payton was the first of the boys to get stitches. I guess that is fitting since he is the oldest... Anyways,on Friday Payton either had a seizure or fainted or something. We and the ER doctor aren't sure, but either way his chin met pavement and he ended up with 4 stitches in his chin. He had a CT and bloodwork and everything came back normal so we will follow up with his doctor and see what else is recommended. He has been the same little boy, so we are not too worried about it. Let you all know if we get any new info...

July 4th Camping

As usual, I am behind posting...You'd think I'd do it more often since I've been out of classes the last 2 weeks. Anyway, here are the highlights...




I took Logan a little longer to be comfortable with the Rhino, but once he got going he was all smiles!



We taught the boys to "water" the trees. Payton refused, but Logan fully embraced the idea...although he had no modesty and often chose the trees in the middle of camp! At least he hasn't peed on any of the trees here at the apartment!



Payton LOVED to cook marshmellows on the fire...although maybe burn is a more appropriate word. He just wanted to catch them on fire, then blow it out. And then repeat that until the marshmellow was no longer recognizable. Then get a new marshmellow...

Here's my Dad and one of my parents' three dogs, Shelby.

These last two pictures sum up the before and after of the trip...By the end, we were all exhausted and very, very dirty!

I Love This Car

Not to be confused with "I Love This Bar"... Anyways, I went on an adventure today. I bought an armoire for our bedroom TV. Yesterday, Payton somehow caused our bedroom TV to fall. Payton is okay, but it scraped his foot a bit. I wanted to make sure that it didn't happen again. Hence the new armoire. Here are a few pics...

The lady I bought it from is moving to Pennsylvania tomorrow morning and gave me a small dresser for free! But you can see how packed my car was! It was me, the 3 kids, the armoire in the back and a dresser in the passenger seat! I love this car!

Funny Side Note: I had to delete 42 pictures off the camera from Payton and Logan playing with it this morning (they woke up before me and Moose) !

Okay...now back to studying...

Catching Up

Finally! We have our camera back and are able to post some pictures for you...here goes!

Jackson found the fireplace. I wish I would have gotten a pic of him in it, but here are the bath pictures! Gray water came out of his hair when I rinsed!

I made a cake for Father's Day and the kids decorated cupcakes.

Enjoying the pool!

Playing in the pantry

A Chapter Closing

February 2009 began a new chapter of our life. A time of learning and growing closer to God and to each other. Many of you know the story. Moose's store closed leaving him unemployed and we had the unexpected early arrival of Jackson, our third child. Well, that chapter has closed. Our house was auctioned off to the highest bidder today. It's hard to believe the journey we've made over the last year and a half. There is no way we could have done it without our family and friends. Thank you to all of you for the counseling, advice, prayer, help with the kids, moving, finances, and transportation. There is so much that all of you have done to get us through all this even stronger than we were before. We are excited for what's ahead of us! I will be getting back into the workforce in a few short months and the kids will be back to school soon. We look forward to saving for a vacation and in the long run, a down payment for a house. God has blessed us and given us new pathways to bring glory to Him. Praise be to Him, our Lord and Savior! He knows every thought we think and every action we do, and loves us more that we can imagine. Nothing on earth comes close in comparison.

We've Moved!!

So we've been in the new apartment 1 week now. As I predicted, the boys have been in the pool everyday if not more! So far so good on the noice level (coming from us, I mean!). No neighborly complains yet. Lily's found a good home....with Bert and Stephanie. They got attached to her since moving in with them last weekend and lucky for us that means she is staying within the family! Still slowly changing our address with everyone...I'm sure I will miss someone. We upgraded our phones a few days ago to new touch screens, which I am still trying to figure out (so sorry if I miss your call or hang up on you!). Our other phones were over 2 years only and were barely functional anymore. So many changes!! I should have pictures up next time I post. The camera is ready at Best Buy, but since it is at the location near our old house, I haven't made the time to get over there to pick it up. I will post pics of our new living room furniture! I was lucky to get a new (to us) couch, chair and 2 ottomans for only $15 more than what I sold the red sectional couch we had! And I love my new living room! More to come...

K

Moving...and some random thoughts

Well, it is 7 days away...We will be packing up our stuff and moving across town. Moving to a larger place was much easier, but having to consolidate and sell stuff so we can fit into a 3 bedroom apartment has been interesting. But we are excited about our new place! We will meet new people and I know the boys are going to live at the pool all summer! Especially Moose! :0)

Well, it was brought to my attention that I never gave a follow up to Ironman. Payton "earned" enough money after about a week and we took him to Target and bought an Ironman riding a motorcycle. It was difficult trying to explain that he couldn't afford the big Ironman. He only had enough money for the little Ironman. It was still cute when he handed his bag of money to the cashier! (We didn't make her count all the coins!) :0)

School for me is going well. Just finished my EKG and Clinical Procedures classes and all I have left are Medication Administration, Phlebotomy, then my Externship! It is going so fast and I am not sure if I am emotionally ready to begin searching for a real job in September. I've got a few more months to think about it.

Moose is moving his store this week...again. Hopefully the new spot will still have as much traffic as the last one and that they get to stay there a while longer.

Payton and Logan are out of school for the summer. Poor kids...their routine is going to be so off this next week with no school then the move. We've already started to prep them...but I am sure they don't realize what "move houses" really entails. We are just going to prep and pray!

On a side note, we are still trying to find new homes for Lily and Winston (the turtle). We'd like to find someone by word of mouth versus posting an ad. We want to be sure they go to safe, happy homes.

Well I guess that all folks. Sorry there are no pics...Jax got hold of the digital camera and now Best Buy has to fix it! :0) See ya all soon...

Savings

I had a great shopping day today! Our house was bone dry. We had almost nothing to eat and I filled the house for $150. I don't think that was too bad, since that will last us 2 weeks or so. Here are some of the deals I got using Coupon Sense...

Albertsons

• 6 - 4 roll packages of Marcal toilet paper --free
• 2 bags of Chex mix -- free
• 3 bags of Bugles -- free (Moose was excited!)
• 2 boxes of instant pasta salad mix-- free (but I had to buy 2 boxes of pasta @ $1.49 each)
• 4 bags of Steamfresh microwavable frozen veggies -- free
• 3 Nivea body washes -- free
• 1 Physicians Formula Bronzer/highligher/eyeshadow --clearanced at $3.99 (originally $15.99)
• 1 vanilla -- $2.39 because I needed it

Total with tax: $11.39
Savings: $72.60!!

Safeway

• 2 brownie mixes -- free
• 4 cake mixes -- free
• 4 frostings -- free (they had them buy 2 get 3 free! Then I added coupons, and since they will take coupons on the free items, I got them all FREE!)
• 1 box Ziploc storage bags -- $.49 (in ad coupon making it $1.49, limit 1. Then added my coupon from the newpaper)
• 3 Del Monte 4 pack fruit cups -- $.49 (again, in ad coupon made them $1.49, then add my newspaper coupons)
• 3 boxes of Capri Sun pouches and 2 Welches Grape juice --$2.00 (had coupons for each product and Safeway has a juice promo buy 5 save $5.00)

Total: should have been around $5.00 but I wasn't paying attention and they didn't take off the $5.00 for the juice promo. Even still I paid $10.50 including tax which was a savings of 82%!

I finished up my grocries at Fry's. There I got...

• 1 bag Kroger baby carrots -- $.33
• 1 Bag Lay's potato chips--free
• 4 boxes Raisin Bran cereal--$1.22 each
• 2 watermelons--$2.77 each
• 3 milks--$1.68 each
• 3 Sunny Delights --Free
• 1 Frenches mustard 20 oz--$1.00
• 5pk Kraft MacNCheese $3.49 (box had coupon on outside for free Capri Sun)
• 2 Capri Sun--Free (lady in front of me at check out gave me the coupon off her MacNCheese too! Score!)
• Plus $5.50 off my frozen food purchase (Fry's mailed me this coupon, probably because we spend too much of frozen foods!)

There was much more to this list, a lot of the stuff was not on sale but I needed it (like those frozen meals!). Another reason I shop mostly at Fry's is to get $.10 off per gallon (when you spend $100 in groceries) at their gas stations. I filled up the other day at only $2.61 a gallon!

Total: $125.15

Saved: $80.08 (39%)

I love Coupon Sense! There is nothing better than getting stuff you can use for free!!

Jackson Videos

He was being especially cute today...and kinda a turkey at the same time. I'm not sure if being a turkey was just a phrase my family used, but for those who don't know what being a turkey is, it means he was pushing my buttons :0)

Ironman and the Diaper Disaster

I took the kids to Scottsdale Fashion Square 2 days ago to play. When we go there, we always have to visit the Disney Store which is only a few doors down from Moose's store. While there, Payton discovered Ironman. And he is in love! It's funny because he has never seen or heard of Ironman before! Well, I didn't want to just buy him the toy so now he is earning money to buy his beloved Ironman. He is adorable! He gets giddy when he talks about buying it and Moose and I have been using this to our advantage! Moose made a chart of 16 squares and everytime he does something around the house, he gets paid and a square colored in on the chart. He won't raise all the money by himself because I want him to see a light at the end of the tunnel but we also wanted to show him that we have to work for what we want. So he has helped unload the dishwasher, put soap in the laundry and switch the loads, and it is amazing how quickly he cleans up his toys. I know why so many kids get spoiled because I want to go out and buy him that toy now! Maybe next weekend would be enough time...

So on to the diaper disaster...I am at the mall, with no diapers. Jax had pooped and it was coming out the side. Wonderful. What would you do? Well, I went to the bathroom and grabbed a stack of paper towels (the pull out one at a time kind) about a half inch thick. There were also the rolled kind, so I waved my hand over the sensor several times to get a long piece. I thought about changing him there, but I could imagine myself walking through Scottsdale Fashion Square with a half naked baby...or one all rolled up in paper towels. So I stuffed my loot into my purse and headed out to the car. In the cargo space, I cleaned him up the best I could with dry paper towels, put the remaining stack over his "area", and wrapped the long piece around his waist to keep it all in place. I laid a blanket on his seat and buckled him in hoping that he wouldn't pee. Or at least that I had done enough so I didn't have to take apart his carseat to wash it. Well, no such luck...I ended up doing just that. So, I'm not sure what I could have done different, but that is how not to make a diaper.

P.S. I now have a hefty stash of extra diapers in my car!!

Playing in the Fort

Aunt Jennifer made the boys a fort in the living room and they boys had a blast!

Jackson Clicking

Jax has learned how to click his tongue...very cute! Then he gets mad at me for not letting him have the camera...not so cute :0)

Garage Sale

We had a garage sale 2 saturdays ago...it was HUGE! It was mostly our stuff, but my mom and sister had brought over some of their stuff too (along with some other random donations). Here are some pictures...

Yes, a few of the toys ended up back in the house. Payton told me (with an arm full of toys) that he wanted all the people to go away :0)

As you can see, there were tables all over our driveway and yard. Overall it was a success, although we had a truck and car full of stuff for Goodwill...

Bibles

What do you do with your old bibles? I can't imagine anyone wanting the ones I've highlighed in and marked up. But I don't think I can throw them away either. And it doesn't seem practical to have 5 or more copies. Any ideas???

Kristy

Easter Pictures

Here are the kids opening their Easter baskets. Jax got a couple balls and the big boys got sunglasses. Such cool kids!!

Then we went to the Hunt's after church. I didn't take any pictures, but Stephanie did and they are on her blog at http://www.grandmastimeat5.blogspot.com/

Then off to the Rice's! Here are pics of the egg hunt...

Jax was getting a little overwhelmed :0) So cute!

Jackson walking

He's been up on his feet for almost 2 weeks now, but here is the first real walking

Payton & Logan's Birthday Party

Here are some of the highlights...



Here's Moose measuring the cake to make the building for Spider Man. Did I mention we are doing this at 11:30 at night!!



The final product!


Logan loving his ballons! He made Mickey Mouse :0)

Our building is starting to sag but it was really yummy!! And the boys loved it!

And thanks Mom for the bounce house! The boys were exhausted from 5 hours of jumping!

Happy 4th Birthday Payton!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Logan!!

Kids Lie

So this is the conversation Payton and I just had...
(FYI: Moose is at work)

Payton: "Fruit snacks Mom? I want fruit snacks."
I was busy thinking about what he had eaten that day and dressing Jax after a bath, so I didn't answer him right away.
Payton: "Daddy says okay."
Me: "Oh, Daddy says it's okay?"
Payton: "Yeah, Daddy says okay."
Me: "Did you call him?"
Payton: "No."
Me: "Then how do you know Daddy said okay?"
Payton after a moment of thought: "I talk to him."
Me: "How? Where is daddy?"
Payton: "Daddy at work."
Me: "And you talked to him? Did you call him on the phone?"
Payton: "Yeah!"

Happy Anniversary to my Hubby...

You are my best friend. You are always there when times are tough to be my STRENGTH when I just can't anymore. You are a man of HONOR and integrity. You care about not only your family, but for all people. You are a man of GOD and I am proud to be your wife. Happy 7th Anniversary!

Love you always!

P.S. Thanks for the roses :0)