Vacation Pictures

Huntington Beach, CA

The Frame's girls helped us with the kids a lot (thank you!).  Kali is in the pictures below with Jackson.  He called her Cat Woman, since you know, he is Batman.  Just ask him!

 Here is Moose and Gage, another one of the Frame's kids.  They were swimming out to see the dolphins!

 Logan did not want his picture taken, as seen in the next two pictures :0)

 Just getting to Seaworld!

 Shamu was first...

 Toucing the sting rays...Jackson pretended he wanted to touch them but freaked out when they came close!

 Petting the dolphins!

 Close ups!

 You can't see very well, but there are sharks in the tank behind them.  Boys are being goofy!

 The new, beautiful Sea Turtle exhibit.  We miss the Manatees though :0(

 The boys LOVED the rides!

 The Beluga Whales

 Isn't he cute!

We're back!

Sorry it's been a while...We just returned from California, a much needed vacation.  They boys loved the beach and hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa Longfield and the Frames, who are friends of my parents.  And they LOVED Seaworld!  I will download pictures soon.  Payton broke his arm the second day we were camping, although he never complained.  We thought it was just a sprain and wrapped it up until it started to swell above the wrist.  When we returned to Phoenix, an xray confirmed he broke his radius, the large bone in the lower arm.  Luckily it wasn't bad enought to require a cast, so he is in a rigid brace that pretty much acts as a cast.  We take it off only for bathing.  He was a trooper!  So other than that, we've just been catching up on work, housework, homework...that sounds like too much work!  I promise to post pictures soon...farewell for now!

We keep on truckin'...

Well, to update from the last time I posted, we have officially started getting the house prepared to move into.  We've painted, cleaned and are waiting for the flooring to go in.  This should be done by Monday!  Yea!  Hopefully, if all goes to plan, we will move in Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.  Unfortunately, the white car has been "diagnosed with cancer".  We can nurse the engine/cooling systems until it one day won't "wake up".  The head gasket/engine needs to be replased and being that it is a 1990, it's not worth the cost of repair.  So for a while at least, we will be a one car family.  I've got some pictures but I need to upload them and I have no idea where my cords got packed!  So that will have to wait. 

We've got the Keys!

We got the keys to our house on Friday!  We spent some time there yesterday ripping up carpet and taking nails and curtains off the walls.  There is a lot of work ahead but we are excited to make this house a home!  I'll post some before and after pictures as we start completing work.  That's all for now...

Is it over yet?

Well, we've had a very interersting, busy, tiring few days!  The bug guy came, confirmed we have bed bugs, and gave us a gazillion instructions on how to prep the house for treatment.  Here's a look at the list...

1. All clutter picked up and put away. 
2. All food put in oven, microwave, or dishwasher.
3. Wash everything that is washable (which included 9 hours, 20 loads, and $77 in quarters)
4. All upholstered items that aren't washable needed to be vacuumed.
5. Vacuum carpet.
6. All furniture pulled away from the walls and baseboards vacuumed.
7. Everything off the walls and boxed.
8. Cover boxes and loose items with plastic.

And do all that in 36 hours.  Are you exhausted yet?  Then there was the post treatment list...

1. Do not enter apartment until 3 hours after treatment.  Open window and turn on A/C to ventilate.
2. Change air filter.
3. Vacuum all carpet and baseboards within 24 hours of treatment and everyday for the next two weeks.
4. Clean all surfaces where pesticide could have settled.
5. Steam clean carpets 12 days after treatment.

Ugg!  I've had to miss two shifts at work to be able to get all this done with help!  Because we are so close to moving into our new house, we packed everything we won't need in the next 2 weeks and took it to my sister's or my in-law's house.  Bed bugs are killed most effectively with high heat, so all our furniture will be taken to a storage unit in the next few days here to bake in the AZ heat.  We are currently living with my in-laws who were nice enough to have us!  I couldn't have gotten all this done without the help of our families!  They've helped box, pack, move, clean, vacuum, transport, and store our belongings and watch the kids so I could attempt to handle this mess!  Thank you guys!

Our closing date for the house was extended to next wednesday although we are hoping the paperwork will be finished by monday...

And if you were wondering about the car...it doesn't look good.  The $100 fix was done but now it won't start.  The mechanic is still working on it, so I haven't lost hope yet.  But if you have some extra prayers, send them our way!

Been a while...

Well, here is a run down of the last couple weeks.

• I started back at school, an easy computer class to satisfy a degree requirement
• Moose is still working both jobs, staying busy!
• Kids got sick, the up and out disease, if you know what I mean :0(
• We got bed bugs, double :0(  We think Logan brought them home from school.  We caught it early so we think it is confined to the kids' room.  Know more tomorrow after the bug guy comes.
• The white car died...again.  Should know by the end of the day if a $100 fix will get it going again or if it is gone for good.

But all of that is okay because...

• We close on our house on Friday!  Pray for no hang ups!  All the paperwork is at the underwriters for funding.
• And God is in control and everything good is a gift from HIM!

Thanks for visiting!

Easter in Prescott

We were able to spend some quality time with Stephen, Kelley, Mason, Mylie, Jennifer and Carter Easter weekend at Stephen and Kelley's home in Prescott. Bert and Stephanie were able to join us on Friday night for dinner but unfortunately had to go home that night.

The kids relaxed watching a movie after playing hard outside.

Hanging with the cousins!

Saturday morning openning their Easter baskets from Grandma Shorty and Grandpa Burp (aka Bert and Stephanie!)

Jen and Carter

Jackson and Mylie

Easter Basket chaos!

Mason hunting for eggs

Moose and Jackson. You can see the fort down below where the kids spent a lot of their time.

Payton and Mylie

Jen, Kelley, Payton, Logan, and Jackson (behind Logan)

I think we found them all! Thank you to the Moose and Stephen for getting up at 6am to hide the eggs so the animals wouldn't run off with them!

Ready, set, GO!

Boy's Birthday Party

I am a little behind, but here are some pictures from the boy's Angry Birds Birthday Party!

Thanks to everyone who celebrated with us!

A Place To Call Home

Well, our house hunting is over! Yeah! That was a stressful 3 weeks I really don't want to do over again! We will be closing on our new home at Union Hills and the 51 Freeway the end of April and I am super excited to get my hands on this house to make it our own. The kids are excited to sleep in their bunk beds we bought them for their birthday and even more excited to pick oranges from the tree in the backyard! We were even blessed to have a park right across the street! We couldn't be more happy at this blessing God has given us. I will post before and after pictures as we begin to move in and complete rooms and projects!

News

So, I promised that I'd share our big news...Looks like no new is not always good news. I did not get contacted for the ultrasound program this year, which was kind of expected. So I will finish my associates degree and try again next year. As for the surprise news...We got approved for a mortgage! We are house hunting! Wish us luck and I will post updates as we go...

Kristy

Big Week Next Week

We have a jam packed weekend with laundry, work, church and more work...but next week is one we (or I!) am looking forward to! I don't want to jinx us so I am only going to tell you one of the things that's going to happen next week. By Thursday, I will know whether or not I am accepted into the Sonography Program at Gateway this year! Realistically, I think next year will be my year, but I have applied and there is a chance I will be starting full time school this August. And that is exciting! The other new will have to wait, but it is just as exciting or more exciting than school and we should know early next week! Stay tuned...

Oh yeah! And I'm pretty excited that Spring Break is over and the boys are back in school next week :0) That may sound bad, but I haven't slept too well after my graveyard shifts since they've been home. Thanks, babe, for keeping them occupied and quiet while you're home with them!

50's Fun...The Main Event!

Here are some of the pictures from my mom's 50th Birthday Party!

Boys being boys!


The whole gang!


Mom, Dad, Me and Kelly (In case you are wondering, Robert, Kelly's husband, got all these fabulous 50's diner bars you see in the pics! Thanks, Robert!)

Uncle Richard with eyebrows and Cory with a mustache!

Mom and Dad lookin good...

Ryan and Robert rocking the stashes and candy cigarettes...

Dave and Diane (my mom's parents)

Elaine with Roger in the background (my Dad's parents), and Jackson

Dad and Jerry lookin tough!

Mom rockin out with my boys before the party

This video is Nancy, Cindy and Dave doing Twister to break a three way tie for movie tickets from Mom's "How Well Do You Know Patty" quiz.

Don't Forget!!

You've only got one week left to get your costume together for Patty's 50th Birthday! Get excited!

Happy President's Day!

Make a Simple Poodle Skirt

I am going to show you how to make a simple no sew poodle skirt.

What you will need:
1 1/4 yards of felt fabric, any color
Poodle patch
Tape measurer or string
scissors

The felt fabric and poodle patch can be found at Michaels, Joann's, or Hobby Lobby. You want to stick with felt if you are doing no sew because it does not need to be hemmed. Also, make sure the bolt of fabric is a tall one, not a short one. You will notice most of the printed fabric is one the smaller bolts. I purchased the fabric and poodle patch at Hobby Lobby for a total of $12.50 including tax. You can do better if you wait for coupons. Michaels frequently has 40% off one full priced item coupons in the Sunday paper. So lets get started!

1. Open up the fabric and fold it the other direction. It will come folded off the bolt but you don't want it folded long ways. We want to cut out the largest circle we can.


2. After folding it once, fold it again. There will be 2 sides of folded fabric and 2 sides of unfolded fabric. Measure the shortest folded side and measure the same distance along the other folded side. Cut off the excess fabric. This will leave you with a perfect square.


3. Now that you have a perfect square, we want to cut off the unfolded sides in a circular fashion. This will be the bottom of the skirt. I used the white rope below to indicate how to cut. Make sure the point farthest from the rope is the folded corner or you will end up with 4 seperate pieces and a lot of sewing to do!

So this is what you will be left with.

If you were to open it up, it would look like a large round table cloth. I thought about skipping all the above steps and just buying a round table cloth, but the fabric is usually not stiff enough. For now leave it folded as is.

4. Measure the smallest part of your waist. If you don't have a flexible tape measurer, use the rope and a ruler.

5. Mark the folder corner. I used a clothes pin. This marks the center of the circle.

5. Open up one fold, so you have a half circle. Take the waist measurement you got and divide it by 4. So in my case, I used a 32 inch waist and cut out the half circle below at 8 inches. This may be a little small for your waist, but remember, you can always cut it bigger and the fabric will stretch. You cannot make it smaller without sewing.

Now you can open it up and try it on! (Forgive the picture! I was still in pj's!) Make any adjustments to the waist or to the hem. Sometimes the hem will have points where the corners were and those can easily be rounded out.

If you accidentally cut it too big, you can add peices of elastic to the waistband. This would require you sew.

7. Then add your poodle! This one is iron on, so no sew! You could also use hot glue. To add to the look, you could sew or hot glue a leash on too!