More Christmas catch up

We went to an extended Christmas party on Zachs side of the family last weekend.  It seems like since Zachs mom passed away, we don't get to see them very often.  It was a VERY fun party and I am glad I got to see everyone.  

David gave little miss Jocie a soda and a candy cane.  I think she was pretty happy about that.

The kids did a white elephant gift exchange at the party.  I brought a package of silly putty for one gift and a package of play dough for the other...so what does Logan do?  He picks our silly putty gift!! He does love silly putty, but I cant figure out if he knew it was ours or not....
                                          Me, David ( Zachs brother) and baby Stormie
                                                       Thanks Lissa for the pictures!

christmas fun catch-up

I have been super busy lately and I havnt had any time to post.  I dont really have any realyl exciting stories to share( I do the same thing every day...clean, work, cook etc.) but a lot of fun pictures!

This picture is the result of Railynn helping us put ornaments on the Christmas tree.  She put every ornament she hung on the same branch.  We let her have her fun and just cleaned it up later:)

Lissa and her family came to spend the day at our house and helped me put up my Christmas tree.  We had so much fun as we always do!!

I am Thankful

So my sister in law Melissa had a thankful Post and I decided to copy and have a thankful post of my own in the spirit of Thanksgiving!  

1.  I am thankful for my beautiful baby Stormie.  She is such a blessing to our family.  She turns 4 months old on the 6th and she has been sleeping through the night for about two months now.  She is a very happy baby and she is on a great schedule which makes it really easy for me when i go to work! She has a beautiful smile and is a very special part of our family.

2.  I am thankful for my little Pheonix.  She always wants to spend time with me which makes me feel pretty darn great.  Her heart will break for you if you are sad and she will do anything she can to make you feel better.  She will always be the first one to give you a hug or kiss when you need it.  I love my Railynn.

3.  I am thankful for my WOLVERINE boy.  Logan is such a burst of energy and he is so funny! He is such a smart little boy.  He just turned five but you would think he was so much older by the way he understands and speaks to you.  He loves to spend time with the family, but especially with his dad.  What a sweet boy Logan is.

4.  I am grateful for my husband Zach.  He is such a hard worker and soooo smart.  ( I guess that is where Logan gets it!)  He has so much patience and continues to teach me everyday how to be a better person just by his example.  He is a wonderful father, always making the time to make each one of our kids feel special. 
5.  I am grateful for my family and Zachs family that we were able to spend time with for thanksgiving.  

6.  I am grateful for my friends Nicci and Greg.  They are letting us rent their home which is helping us to be able to save a little money and pay off our debts!

7.  I am grateful that I am able to work with my parents and take my baby to work with me.

8.  I am grateful that my kids can go to my good friend and neighbors house  while I go to work.  They absolutely adore her.

9.  I am grateful for our Disneyland vacation we get to have when Zach graduates.  Our family needs a vacation!

10. I am grateful for my dads car that I can drive every once in a while.  It is nice to have two cars so I don't have to worry about the beater truck breaking down...Plus it has heated seats!

Sunday Fun

Today was such a fun day!  Lindsay and Kete came down from Utah to visit for thanksgiving so I had the whole fam over for dinner.  Grandma, Grandma, Lin and Kete came to my ward  ( it was so nice to have the help during Church, I was actually able to stay in the chapel the whole time)  Then everyone came back to my house to hang out until the rest of the clan came over for dinner. It was so much fun.   I love Family!!  ( We missed you BJ Min Toby Ann Jamie and Steve+ kids!  We wish you could have been here!)

Saturday Fun

I am so grateful for family!!  Toby had his senior recital on friday..( he did amazing and I LOVED it), so Lissa came out to watch my kids for me so I could go.  We had a spend the nighter and it was soooo much fun.  We were going to so a garage sale, but we didn't.  Instead we made my house look wonderful.  It is really hard for me to decorate since I am just not that creative.  Not to mention, I have a tendancy to start a project and then not finish completely.  While I was gone on friday, Lissa hung up all my pictures thatI have been meaning to put up all week, pulled random things out of my garage that I would never have thought to use in my house and put them up,  and she rearranged Logans room!!  She hates it when I tell everyone the things she does to my house but I just cant help it!!  ( HA HA Lissa now EVERYONE knows! :)  On Saturday we organized my bedroom.  I cant say how much better it is to be in my house now that it looks so pretty!  

                                                The causins...

Thank you Lissa for such a fun weekend  ( and for watching my kids, and cleaning and decorating and rearranging my house :)  Next time I will go out to Cali to see you!

Terrible Twos

Railynn is 2 now... and the hardest of all my children at the moment.  We are working on sharing and not screaming about everything.  She continues to learn and get better.  Every morning for breakfast I make her a yogurt drink.  Yesterday morning we had run out of yogurt, so she had to settle with a Nutrigrain bar.  She didn't scream, she didn't throw a tantrum, she was just very sad.  At least she didn't get mad right?

She is such a sweet little girl.  She has her moments of course, but she is such a caring little thing.  

Keeping secrets from mom

Zach wanted to take Logan to a movie tonight but I didn't want him to because he had been gone all day.  Zach got on the phone with Logan and this is how the conversation went:

Zach:  Logan, I am going to take you to a movie.  Go get dressed and don't tell your mom about the movie.

Logan:  What MOVIE are we going to see?

Zach:  Logan don't talk about the movie!!

Logan:  Why can't I tell mom about the movie?

 I didn't hear any of the conversation they had because I was in the other room.  I went to see what Logan was doing.  He, of course, was changing...

Me:  Logan what are you doing?  ( He had already been in pajamas for the night)

Logan:  I can't tell you.... we are going to a mooov...

Me:  Zach he just told me what you guys are doing.  ( I was on the phone with Zach still)

Logan:  No I didn't!!  Not all the way.... Will you let me mom?  Because I Will tell you if you will let me...

Family Fun

We don't get to spend that much time as a family because of Zachs work schedule.  So it is always a blessing when we can even just watch a movie together!  We just got Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3D.  Such a good movie and so much fun to watch with the fam!

     Don't they look just like father and son in this picture?  Logan is such a miniature Zach.

My Bug Boy

Logan has always wanted a pet...we have tried a few times, but I am just not an animal person.  We just recently gave our Great Dane to my sister in law, so Logan has been asking for several different pets...a farret, smaller dog, lizard, tutle etc.  His newest find for pets are bugs.  I hate bugs!!  For a long time I would freak out if Logan tried to touch even a beetle or a grasshopper but I have come to realize that I need to let my little boy be a boy!  He knows how much I hate bugs... so he told me that when he grows up he will still like them!  We will see!

The Church is TRUE!!!

Every week I toy with the idea of not going to church.  As most of you know, Zach can rarely go to church because of his work/school/clinical schedule....this of course makes it so I am pretty much a single mom taking 3 kids with me to church.  It is definately not fun.  I usually end up in tears by the end of sacrament meeting because I can't keep a handle on my young kids.  Luckily I know the church is true, and I have such a strong desire for my children to know the same.  Every week is a battle and a struggle, but We can all leave uplifted and hopefully have a better week the next sunday.  Zach and I took the kids to the temple last week to practice being reverent.  We took them through the visitors center, and they actually did really well.  Today I took another try at sitting in the Chapel with  my kids...we only lasted about 5 minutes.  I am happy to report, however, that after we moved to the couch in the hallway, Jocy stopped crying and was amazingly ok with sitting in her car seat, and Railynn and Logan sat quietly on the couch most of the time.  I dont know why moving to the couch would make such a difference, but it really did.  Next week I will try again to sit in the chapel and hopefully one day I can stay for a whole meeting!  I am grateful for the testimony that I have to know that the CHURCH IS TRUE!!!  It keeps me going to church every Sunday!    

                                                      The kids in their sunday best!  :)

My Stormie... The thumb sucker

So just a few days ago Jocie starts sucking her thumb.  I don't know how I feel about it....well actually I do.  I don't like it at all!  My other kids always did just fine with a binkie.  Now that Jocie has found her thumb, she never wants to take her binkie!  I will stick the binkie in her mouth and leave the room, I can come back literally 10 seconds later and she already has her thumb in her mouth.  Everyone I have been talking to lately says it is a lost cause.  She is going to suck her thumb. Any suggestions??? I have been using the little mittens on her hands to try and break the habit.  Hopefully it won't stick...  

Well do you???

Do you like my new background? Lissa made it herself....special for ME!!!    :)

Baby's first Halloween!!

I know this isn't a great picture, but it is all I had of her in her cute Halloween onesie. It says babys first Halloween on it. ( Thank you Kristin for letting me borrow it!) She had a blow out, and I wanted a picture before I had to take it off. She wasn't happy!

Halloween!!

Here are a few halloween pics. We went to mom and Dave's trunk or treat with Char and Bri. We all had so much fun!! My kids dont get to see grandma and grandpa very often so it was a good excuse for us all to get together!

Logan and Davis.

I love this picture... Railynn and grandpa having so much fun!!

Logan, Dalty B, and Davis

Railynn and her "baby". They are only 2 months apart, but she is insistant on calling him baby.

( Railynn and the pumkin she and Logan carved with Kristin)

I am so grateful for the power of Prayer!! I have been working for my parents for the past year and a half. It has always been very hard for me to have to leave my kids with a daycare person. Logan and Railynn have always had a very hard time with change.. especially when they have had to change daycare people. I am so grateful for the power of prayer. My sister, Charai, was able to watch them for me for a few months.. which was wonderful for me. They were able to play with there cousins, and they didn't have a problem with the change because they already new and loved their family. When Charai decided that she couldn't watch them any more, I have to say I was a little panicked. I didn't want to have to change again...I called my good neighbor and friend Kristin to see if she new anyone that was doing daycare in the ward. She just had a baby herself, and the other 3 of her kids are in school. She has been able to be a stay at home mom since her new arrival. My children absolutely adore her. I was suprised when she said that she might be able to watch my kids for a while. What a blessing. My kids have been going to her house for about 3 weeks now. It hasn't been a hard change for anyone because they know and love Kristin and her family so much. I am so grateful! She has been so much fun for my kids..they are always entertained, and since Kristin has been a kindergarten teacher, she always comes up with fun activities for them to do.

Thank you Kristin!!

The kids made paper plate pumkins at Kristins ....so fun!

Stormie's Blessing

We blessed Jocy on October 8th. We were able to bless her in our home. We have done it that way with all of our kids and I love it. I cant believe how old she is already!

She is almost 3 months old and already the biggest of all of my kids at this age... not BIG by any means...still in the 15% for weight. She is my beautiful baby!

NEW BLOGGER

HELLO!! I decided to try this blogging thing. I have had a page forever but have never tried to figure out how to do it! Heres to blogging!