Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

Spencer's First Orchestra Concert

2009-12-10T08:21:00.000-08:00

Well after a lot of screetching and scratching, fights over practicing and painful fingers last night was the first concert for Spencer playing his viola. I thought they all did a great job for just starting back in September. Spencer looked so grown up tonight and it is hard to believe that he is almost 9 already and doing all these new things. Right now he is getting ready for basketball tryouts too. Here are a few pictures and a video from lastnight.

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Thanksgiving Pictures

2009-12-09T08:33:00.000-08:00

This was the first Thanksgiving in quite a few years that most of us were able to get together for Thanksgiving. It was such a wonderful day, except for Aunt Janet and her family was not there, then it would have been perfect! Here are a few pictures of us all hanging out for the day.

Wow its been awhile!

2009-10-23T18:39:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the long hiatus from my blog. I seem to be running out of time daily anymore. Once the boys started school it kind of just went haywire around here. So I will start back with some pictures from raking leaves today. I will try to be more productive with my blog again.....no promises, but I will try at least.

Hiking with friends

2009-07-15T15:11:00.000-07:00

Another day another hike here in Colorado. This time we took some friends and had a really good time. Plus I didn't have to go to the gym then that day! We could have spent the whole day there if it was not so darn hot and the boys constant need to eat. LOL Growing boys are never ending pits when it comes to eating.

Random Pictures of the boys this summer

2009-07-15T14:58:00.000-07:00

We have had a very busy summer like usual around here. Here are a few pictures of the boys from the past couple of weeks.

Cameron learned to ride his bike without training wheels or our help. He wanted to do it all on his own and wanted no part of Tim or I running beside him. Great job buddy! Although we are sure going through the band aids now with more crashes.

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Baseball has started

2009-07-15T14:43:00.000-07:00

Well the baseball season has started and this is Cameron's first year playing. He has been so excited to be able to actually play. Spencer this year gets to play coach pitch this year and that will make it more fun to watch with him, and more fun for him to play. Cameron is on the Cubs this year and Spencer is on the Minnesota Twins. Here are a few pictures from their first games.

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I feel bad I did not take any viedo of Spencer hitting the ball like I did Cameron........Sorry buddy!

Aunt Carol's Visit

2009-07-15T14:31:00.000-07:00

We were lucky enough to have Tim's Aunt Carol come and spend the week with us this summer. She lives in Southern California and we usually go out there to visit them but this year she cam e to us. We had a wonderful time once the rain stopped. I'm pretty sure she did not get a whole lot of relaxing done as that is just not possible in this house. We had a wonderful time with her anyway, and she says she had a great time here too, but she could be just being polite. LOL

Spencer and Tia playing Uno Attack....they played that a lot!

Cooper throwing rocks and scaring the fish away.

Happy 2nd Birthday Cooper!!!

2009-06-10T09:57:00.000-07:00

Wow has time flown by or what? Cooper, my baby is now 2. I can not believe he is that old already. Since he was recovering from what was left over from the croup we just met a few family members at Chuckie Cheese for his birthday. It was pretty low key but he still had lots of fun, with his cousin Savanna before she had to go back to Alaska. Thank you all for all his wonderful gifts. I still need to take some pictures of him in his new car and all the cute clothes he got. I have read all his new books at least 50 times so far.

Then......

Now.....

Savanna and Uncle Keith

Creede 2009

2009-06-10T09:40:00.000-07:00

We had out annual weekend at Creede and of course we had a blast, well most of us did. Cooper decided to get croup so him and I spent lots of sleepless nights and long boring days inside the cabin. Poor kid! We did manage to get out a few times a day though to save our sanity. Hopefully next year will be a lot better for him. Spencer and Cameron on the other hand were in heaven! We only really got to see them at meal times. Cameron caught his first fish ever and Spencer caught fish as well. Kenna also caught her first fish this year. Our rule if if you keep them you have to eat them, well they ate theirs and they loved it. Can't wait to go back next year.

2009-06-10T09:36:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of the last few days of school. There was a music program, a class play, and a final playdate with cameron's classmates.

Happy 3rd Birthday Treven!!!

2009-05-20T09:22:00.000-07:00

We spent the afternoon at Kyle and Kelly's celebrating Treven's 3rd birthday. It is getting more and more fun watching the kids play together. They have a blast together. Then there is Spencer always trying to beat Uncle Kyle and something, and usually a money bet is involved. Tatum is getting so big and crawling all over the place and not far off from taking his first steps.

My stair step boys

Setting up the new train stuff

battling it out at the Wii

Happy Easter!

2009-04-14T07:48:00.001-07:00

Well we got to wake up to snow on Easter....boo! It was good to get the moisture but it also meant that there would be no hiding eggs outside this year. We still were able to make it to church though and Mom and Dad met us there. Then after church the rest of the family came over for Easter dinner. Which was so yummy and we all ate way to much, oh well it was worth it. It just means an extra day at the gym for me this week. I hope you all had a good Easter as well.

Coloring Easter Eggs

2009-04-14T07:36:00.000-07:00

They boys had a blast coloring Easter eggs this year. This was cooper's first time doing his own eggs and he was so excited and loved all the colors. Everything was "lellow" though, as is everything else when you ask him what color it is. Spencer is now to the point that he likes to make more designs on his eggs instead of just coloring them. Cameron managed to spill his blue cup all over the table, so I guess he is going to be like his mom was as a kid......always spilling something at the table.

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Little Drummer Boy

2009-04-14T07:32:00.000-07:00

Cooper is also loving the new drum set........little prodigy?

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy 8th Birthday Spencer!

2009-04-07T23:05:00.000-07:00

My little boy is not so little any more. Spencer turned 8 today and I'm in total denial over it! It really is going so fast. I'm so proud of what a young man he is turning into (most of the time). For his birthday Tim and I decided to get him his own drum set. We are signing him up for lessons as well at a local music shop here. He was so excited when we gave it to him, he could hardly believe we actually got him "what he wanted", too funny! So I'm pretty sure I will be needing stock in ear plugs and aspirin. All four of my boys are enjoying them, yes that includes Tim. Cooper is pretty impressive I must say.

Then tonight Spencer wanted to go to Red Robin for dinner. He got sang to, and Cooper got to see the red robin bird that walks around, he was not sure if he liked it or was scared of it. It was so funny. So we had a pretty good day with Spencer. Oh and his favorite part was that his bed time got pushed back to 8:30 since he turned 8.

Spencer's Birthday Party

2009-04-07T22:42:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we had Spencer's birthday party at Skate City. He had a great time with all his friends, and family there. It was one of the easiest parties thus far, they did everything for us even the cake and ice cream. I might have to talk Cameron into having his there also this summer! LOL Treven also got to try out skating for the first time, he was so cute out there.

A day with Nicole's family

2009-03-22T06:24:00.001-07:00

One of the ladies that I have had the honor to meet online came to Colorado to visit one of her friends and we were able to meet up as well. Her husband is deployed to Iraq right now and they live in Texas. Well it was her kids Spring Break this last week and she came here to visit. We decided to go the the zoo and it turned out to be a beautiful day! She has a lovely family and our kids got along great. We might just have to make a family trip to Austin to meet up with her again.

Silly faces!

2009-03-22T05:52:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure how Cooper has learned this, but I'm pretty sure it has to do with his two older brothers. He has started making silly faces. It is so funny cause he yells at you to look at him and then he does it, but the funniest is when he tries to get Tim's attention he yells Daddy a couple times and it he does not look then he yells "Tim, Tim, yook!" Little stinker!

Oh and then with our kitty getting older she has decided that she no longer wants to use the doggy door to go to the bathroom so we got a new cat box, to bad Cooper thinks it is another sand box to play in. Luckily it was brand new litter! Yeesh!

Good Lunch Great Friends!

2009-03-22T05:48:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago a few of my High School friends met up and had lunch together. It was so much fun catching up with each of them. There were a few from our "gang" that could not make it but we still had fun with out them....sorry guys! Emily, Rhonda, Alicia and Michelle came and we had a great time. Thanks Em for putting it together!

Let the Races begin.....

2009-03-22T05:30:00.000-07:00

Well the Pinewood Derby is here again and Spencer, Tim and Cameron each made cars to race in it. Last year Spencer's car took 2nd over all, this year he tried a different design and did a great job, but it was just not as fast as last years car. But he did really well at not getting upset about it and just had fun with it. Which is a huge improvement for him cause he is SO competitive. Cameron and Tim raced in the open class. Tim took 4th place and little Cameron took 1st place!!! He was so excited. So he got a metal, a race pin and got to stand up in front of everyone.

Spencer's Car

Cameron's Car

Tim's Car

Yay Cammie!

Spending Time with Uncle Kyle and Family......

2009-03-04T08:30:00.000-08:00

On Sunday we went out to Uncle Kyle's to have him help the boys cut out there Pinewood Derby cars. Yes it is that time of year again, getting ready for the races. Once we had the cars cut out we went out to check the cows. It is calving season on the farm. So there were babies everywhere, and some mama's ready to have babies any minute. Those babies are so darn cute. There were even a couple mama's that had twins this year, and a couple more that have not had babies yet but look big enough that they to might have twins. Then the boys had to climb all over the tractors and run across the hay bales. On the way back home we got to drive past the old farm house I grew up in and show it to Tim and the boys. Wow lots of memories driving back there. It was probably close to 20 years since I had seen it. I didn't even think to stop and take a picture of it though.....duh! Oh well! It was still a nice and relaxing day.

Cooper just wanted to throw the ball for the dog

One of the Mama's that had twins

This one was just about and hour or so old when we found it.....so cute!

She looks like she is ready to have that baby!

My Wolf is now a Bear

2009-03-04T08:16:00.000-08:00

Spencer has completed the requirements to go from being a Wolf to being a Bear in Cub Scouts. This past Saturday was the annual Blue and Gold dinner to honor those that have moved up in rank. We had a great time at the dinner although it can get rather long. They did have a magician there this year that did a great show for the boys this year. Cameron even got to go up and help with one of the tricks. He loved that! Way to go Spencer, I know you worked hard at getting that done! Y

Spencer puts a wolf pin on Tim first then...

Tim give Spencer his new badge

Spencer's best friend Jack. These two spell T.R.O.U.B.L.E!

Then you always have to end with cake of course!

Beautiful winter weather

2009-02-26T08:36:00.000-08:00

You really would not know that it is February in Colorado with the way the weather has been. I mean 60's in February is just plain crazy! Tim and I have decided that we have gotten no snow this winter really because we bought the boys new sleds for Christmas. Figures! Oh well at least I can sent them out to play more. Cameron and Cooper have been plating outside a lot the last couple of days and in true boy fashion they end up filthy dirty! That is a sign of a good day for a boy. Here are a few pictures of them outside yesterday. I would also love to know when all this illness is going to stop? It seems like at least one of the boys has something this winter......enough is enough!

Getting ready for summer already!

2009-02-26T08:17:00.000-08:00

This last weekend we went to see Rich and Carol and drove up to the land to check out the tent trailer for camping this summer. The trailer is an older one and has been sitting for a few years but with a little elbow grease and touch ups here and there it should work just fine for us for at least this summer. The boys are super excited and want to go camping NOW! They have yet to understand that it gets COLD at night here! Here are some pictures of the boys running around the land, it was a beautiful day. Once we are off the main road there is a long dirt driveway up to the house and we let the boys sit on Tim's lap and "drive" to the house. I got pictures of Cameron but forgot to get some of Spencer. Darn it!

Valentines Day Party

2009-02-12T11:54:00.000-08:00

Today was Cameron's Valentines Day party at his school. I was able to leave Cooper with our neighbor and go up and spend the morning with Cameron. We played silly games like a version of musical chairs but instead of being out if you don't find a chair, you just sit on some one's lap. We got to frost and decorate sugar cookies, and got to look at all of our neat Valentines from our classmates. When we were all done we had to sing our special song before we left. It was a very fun morning!

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Blog slacker!

2009-02-10T21:20:00.000-08:00

OK Grandma here is the update that you have been begging for. I'm so sorry I have been such a slacker! The worst part is I have no real excuse except pure laziness. I have found it hard to get motivated this winter when our routine is well......routine. We are not out doing as much for some reason, I think it has to do with half the day is spent with Cameron in school and once he gets out it is time to eat and put Cooper down for a nap, so that has been limiting us I guess. Tim said that I need to take pictures of us watching TV, doing homework and playing on the computer and you would get the idea of how boring our life is right now. But I would hate to bore you that much. So I guess what I'm saying is that I will try to make a more conscious decision about getting out and keeping you all entertained. Thanks for still visiting my blog though.

Swimming Lessons started again

2009-02-10T20:53:00.000-08:00

Well the boys decided to do swimming this spring instead of soccer. Well the lessons started tonight.

We were a little worried about Cameron. He has never liked the water. Taking a shower and getting his hair washed is always a struggle. When we were in California back in September he would not go past the second step in the pool unless we forced him to come out deeper with either Tim or myself, even then he had a death grip on our necks. Well much to our surprise he was so excited to start his lessons. He splashed, put his face in the water and even let the instructor help him float on his back. I was amazed! So maybe we are going to get a handle on this fear of his.

Spencer on the other hand has always been our little fish from early on in his life. So he started in the classes that focus more on the actual strokes. He did great, no surprise. The only bad thing was his ankle was pretty sore tonight after using it more without a splint in the water. The water is suppose to be really good for helping rehab it at least. Oh but he won't let that keep him out of the water, he made sure to let me know that.

You can kind of see his yellow ankle

Who taught this kid to eat?

2009-02-10T20:43:00.000-08:00

Cooper is by far the messiest eater of all three boys I think! Oh my gosh I can not turn my back for a second if he is feeding himself. Which by the way is all the time now, as he refuses to let me help without going into a full blown temper tantrum. Well Sunday I made some mashed potatoes and gravy. I was busy fixing the other two's plates and turned to see this......

I think he has more of his dad's genes!

Trip to the ER on Superbowl Sunday

2009-02-10T20:27:00.000-08:00

Well on Superbowl Sunday we went to our friends Lisa and Jim's house to watch the big game. We were all having a good time until Cameron came up to Tim and I and said that Spencer had fell down the stairs and couldn't walk. So we find out that he had slipped on the stairs and twisted his ankle. As time went on it kept getting more and more swollen, until Tim and I decided he needed to go get a X ray. Well luckily it was not broken but he did tear all the ligaments in his ankle. He had a splint cast on for a few day and was on crutches. Then they switched him to an air splint with his crutches and now he has just the splint to wear everyday. It is still pretty sore and looks bad, but he is getting around really well now. It is amazing how the young heal so fast!

Here are a few pictures of his ankle over the past few days.

Day 3

Day 3

Day 8

ewwww!

Life through Cameron's eyes

2009-01-30T15:36:00.000-08:00

Cameron had a firld trip yesterday to a local resturant. The owners have a son in Cameron's preschool class. He has been begging to use my camera a lot lately, so I decided he could use it at the restaurant with his friends. So the following is his recount of the day.

Today I got to go to Tyler's mom and dad's restaurant called Indigo Joe's. We got to sit where ever we wanted. Rachael sat with us. She has a baby brother like I do. I like Rachael. We looked in the kitchen and watched them cook our food, it was neat. The freezer was big, and really cold in there, I would be scared if the door shut me in there. We got to fill up our glasses with what ever we wanted to drink, that was cool, cause I got to have a soda! Then we got to eat our food, I got chicken strips and french fries. I had a fun time. Mom let me use her camera and took some pictures of my friends.

Mom took some of these too.

Here is Rachael and her little brother Caleb

This is my teacher Mrs Campbell

This is Gillian

My friends Christian and Gage.

Gillian took this of me!

This is Madison

This is Riley

This is another teacher Mrs McClain it was her birthday.

There were TV's everywhere. They had Noggin on all of them it was so cool!

Cooper got sleepy while we were there

Here are my shoes

Here are my shoes up close

Here is dad changing Cooper's diaper, hahaha!

I'm trying to see up my nose, and my teeth, cool!

So that was Cameron's post for his day. He thinks he is pretty special for getting to put it all on the Computer. I thought I would also put up a couple of Cameronisms also.

Cameron: Mom can you sit here and watch a movie with me?
Mom: Sure what do you want to watch?
Cameron: I don't know, I guess just find a rated R one that we can watch.
Mom: ??????

Cameron: Mom, I'm not going to say shut up or stupid while I stay at Nana's house tonight, OK.
Mom: That sounds good, please be on your best behavior.
Cameron: I know Mom
Mom: and please use your what?
Cameron: (blank stare)
Mom: It starts with a M, (me making the mmmmmm sound)
Cameron: Mayonaise?

How dare you Mom!!!

2009-01-21T12:25:00.001-08:00

So many of you know that Cooper has a blankie that he goes nowhere without it. So today was laundry day and I tried to sneak it into the washer, but failed! He some how saw it go in and then the full on fit started. He kicked and screamed, threw his binkie over and over, pulled all the CD's off the shelf, tried to climb up the washer to get it, and cried to the point of sobbing. Yikes it was ugly. Once I got him calmed down and distracted doing something else he still did that hiccuping sob for about 5 mins. It was kind of sad, but not sad enough for mom to not take pictures of it! Hehehe.

Then once it was all clean and dry I called him into my room to get it, he was so excited!

All is well in the world again.....

Happy 6th Birthday Makenna!

2009-01-21T11:56:00.000-08:00

We went to Boulder this last weekend to celebrate our niece's 6th birthday at Chuckie Cheese. The older boys went up early with grandma and grandpa since Tim had to do the soundboard at church. Once he was finished we headed up there with Cooper. The kids always have a great time there. Cooper was a big bear though, as he was still recovering from the croup and a possible ear infection, so I did not get to take a lot of pictures. But here are a few.

Cooper loves skee ball, except he thinks he needs to climb up it to chase after the ball he just threw.

Kenna's friend, Kenna and Cameron riding the roller coaster ride.

My little cowboy! He loved, loved, loved the horse!

Poor Spencer the girl in front of him just won the jackpot of tickets!

Kenna playing Deal or No Deal.

Happy Birthday Makenna!!!! We love you sweetie!

Thanks Hayley!

2009-01-15T12:11:00.001-08:00

So last night I decided to try a new recipe that my friend Hayley suggested. It is called sticky chicken. So I got out a package of chicken wings and cut them up to make little drumsticks and wings(she says you can use any type of chicken) Salt and pepper (I added some garlic salt) the chicken really well and roll it in brown sugar. Put it in the oven and bake it at 350 till chicken is done. It comes by its name honestly, it will be sticky, but oh so good. So thanks Hayley for the yummy idea and for it being easy!

Cameron's face afterwards, he must of ate ten of those things!

Sticky Chicken

Just some random pics and updates...

2009-01-15T11:46:00.000-08:00

Well these past few days have been a little long. Cooper has come down with croup. It is a nasty bug for such a little guy to get. The coughing is horrible but the wheezing is just plain scary. I was very happy to hear from the doctor that he was in no real danger of his air way completely closing, thank God, still scary to hear though. He seems to be doing a little bit better today, but still has his episodes here and there. I have been running 2 humidifiers in his room to keep it moist in there and cooler. That seems to be helping the most.

Cameron seems to be going through a growth spurt lately. All his pants are getting to short. He got a hair cut last weekend and we cut off all his curls. He looks so different but it is so much nicer combing his hair for school in the mornings. He has turned into the one that I really have to keep an eye on, his has gotten just down right ornery lately!

Spencer is doing great in school. He got some new books from Papa bill for Christmas and he has already finished them all. I love that he has fallen in love with reading. He still can be a bugger getting him to start the book but once he does he won't put it down till he finishes. He is still so active in his Cub Scouts and has started Awanna's at church on Wednesday nights.

So as you see we are just as busy as ever around here. Hope all is well with each of you!

Look at those dark circles under his eyes, poor baby.

Growing up....

2009-01-09T21:46:00.001-08:00

Cooper is getting so good at feeding himself. I can pretty much give him his food and a fork or spoon and he goes to town. He has less patience when he is really hungry, he just shovels it in with his hands, but most of the time he likes his utensils.

He has really started talking more and more in just the past couple weeks. So I guess what I'm saying is.........My little baby is growing up into my little boy. (Boohoo!)

Cooper feeding himself

Awhhh how cute.....

2009-01-04T22:15:00.000-08:00

Tim and Cameron were playing their guitars together the other night and I thought it was so cute.

Here are a couple extra cute pictures

Who says cat and dogs don't get along? Look they are spooning!

They are doing the same strech here......awhhh

Happy New Year!

2009-01-04T22:04:00.000-08:00

I just want to take a moment to wish you all a very happy and healthy 2009! May God bless you in all that you do, and may he bring many blessings to you and your families!

Here are just a few pictures from New Years Eve with a few friends.

I asked Lisa and Jim to scoot closer for a picture and this is what they did. Funny! But you can see Tim and Eric in the background at least.

Our Friends Lisa and Jim

Jeff and Becky

Cooper still up!

The next morning cleaning up and taking down decorations, I had a "helper".

Christmas Round 2 and 3

2009-01-04T15:52:00.000-08:00

Round 2

Well on Saturday the 27th we got to celebrate Christmas with Tim's dad, brother and his daughter. We had a great time eating and hanging out, but the kids just wanted to presents. We also got to open the gifts from Aunt Carol and Great Grandma Settle from San Diego. The boy got a lot of great new stuff. Spencer has already read two of the Magic Tree House books he got from Papa Bill and we have been playing with the chemistry set Aunt Carol gave him. The giant jiggly crystals are his favorite so far. Cameron has been playing with all his new Iron Man action figures and a new game that Aunt Carol got him called Snakes, he is good at it too! Cooper got some new clothes and some Clipo blocks from Aunt Carol and find they are more fun to play with than Lego's cause they are easier to put together.

Open the blocks.....NOW!

Hey Andy you look natural playing with Kenna's Barbie! Keep telling yourself you were "putting her together".

Telling Papa Bill something?

Cooper thought his new ornament was a cookie!

ROUND 3

After Bill had left we all went to Tim's Mom and Step Dad Rich's house for the night. We got to spend some good time with the family, again eating (way too much!) and I stayed up way to late with Andy on Saturday night, but it was a good time! Then on Sunday we let the kids open their gifts from Grandma and Grandpa. We even surprised them with a picture collage of all of us kids and grandkids. They loved it and asked for a new one each year. We then got to have a great lunch of prime rib and all the fixings....yummmmmy!

Bring on the presents!

Cooper got good at unwrapping his gifts.

I wonder what the exchange policy is on this?

Merry Christmas...Santa Came!

2008-12-26T12:41:00.001-08:00

Santa made his way to Nana and Papa's house for Christmas this year. The boys has strict orders to not come out of their room until at least 7:30. So at about 7:00 I heard them rustling around in their room, and in and out of the bathroom. It was killing them to not go out and see if Santa had come. Well I finally went into their room and told them they could come out at 7:20. Spencer got his Nintendo DS, and a game he was wanting, and Cameron got the Pirate ship he wanted. Spencer played with his game most of the day and Cameron had fun shooting the cannons on his ship at the pirates. Cooper was a sleepy head and slept through most of the early morning excitement. When he finally woke up he found that Santa had left him some Leap Frog toys. He loved them, but spent most of the day with that darn ball he got the night before from his brothers.

Cooper loving Sayde!

Chilling in the snow tubes that Uncle Kyle and Aunt Kelly gave them.

Dressed and still playing!

Christmas Eve (Christmas Round 1)

2008-12-26T08:38:00.000-08:00

This year we spent a couple days at my Mom and Dad's house and celebrated Christmas with them, my brother's family, and my Dad's sister and her son. We have started a new tradition the past few years of having soup dinner, we each make a different type of soup. It was very yummy. Then after that the kids got to go to town on all their presents! They got some really neat stuff. Spencer is getting to the age where he like all his gifts but the gift cards really excite him. Cameron was loving his Iron Man figures, and Cooper was in love with the Dollartree ball from his brothers. Humph! We spent more money on him, and all he really wanted was a $1 ball. Hehehe, of course!

Tatum and Spencer.....How cute is that?

The look on his face is priceless!

No Holiday is complete without Broncos stuff!

My new pots and pans set....I love them!!!!

Only an Aunt and Uncle could get away with getting two boys lacross sticks.....The stiches and new window bills will be going to them!

There is Cooper with that $1 ball!

OK so Mom and Tim will kill me for putting these onhere but they were far to funny to not share. Oh and no Mom is not passed out from drinking.......she was just tired. LOL! (Sorry Mom!!.....kind of) Oh and Tim is always asleep so that one is not as funny.

Merry Christmas Mom!

2008-12-21T15:41:00.000-08:00

What do you get the person that has everything? Well Kyle, Kelly, Tim and I decided to give my mom's living room a makeover, and surprise her with it this weekend. Mom has been staying with a friend while she is working such long hours for the holiday's, so we took advantage of that and got to work. Kyle started on Thursday night after he got off work and took the old tile down and rewired a light switch. Friday I dropped Spencer off at school and headed out to help out. My arms are sore from all the painting, but boy was it worth it, I love the new colors. Tim picked up Spencer and came out after he got off work, and he got to work on painting the end tables and where ever else he was needed. Then Saturday was a rush to get it all put back together(I'm sure dad did not think we were ever going to get his house back in order). Kelly did a great job getting the pictures on the wall and the furniture arranged. We had to make a couple calls to mom and give her a list of a few things we "needed" before she got home, just to buy us some more time. I worked cause we got it all done just in time for her to get home. She was, lets just say overwhelmed and super happy. Merry Christmas Mom, we love you!

These are the before pictures....

The after pictures.........

The reaction pictures......

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Remember there were only white walls before. Kyle took before pictures but I have not got those yet, but I will try to add them for you to see what a BIG difference this was.

Holy Spaghetti Batman!

2008-12-21T15:30:00.000-08:00

So spaghetti is naturally a family favorite around here but Cooper goes above and beyond with his love of this messy meal! I literally sat his plate down walked to the stove and served the other two boys there food and glanced over to see Cooper like this!

He has never looked like that after eating spaghetti, I have no idea what was different but he looks like a pumpkin! Oh and notice the noodle on is eye lid, ick!

Cameron's Roller skating party

2008-12-21T15:15:00.000-08:00

For the last day of preschool before the LONG Christmas break Cameron's class got to go roller skating. I was a little apprehensive about getting on skates again after at least 20 years since my last time on them, but it did come back to me after the first couple times around. Now Cameron apparently has his dad's skating ability genes, cause he was zipping around there like he was a pro. Most of the parents could not believe how confident her was out there.

Christmas Card Assembly Line

2008-12-10T12:30:00.000-08:00

What to know how to get the cards out quicker? It is called cheap labor.......or better yet free labor!

Some one has to supervise!

All decorated

2008-12-10T12:20:00.000-08:00

The boys did a great job working on the three this year. I just put the lights on and they did the rest. They had so much fun doing it and I know that it does not look the greatest but hey they did it and they are so proud of it so that makes it the most beautiful tree in my book! Great job boys! Now I just need to get the presents all wrapped and put under there.

Hey helpful harry......where are your pants?

Chopping down our tree

2008-12-10T11:58:00.000-08:00

We started the tradition of hiking in with the boys and chopping down a Christmas tree each year. This year we had great weather and there was not to much snow to have to tread through this year. The boys are notorious for picking out the best "Charlie Brown" looking tree in the forest. This year was no exception but it does look a little bit better than the last couple of years trees. I guess it is all about the tradition, time spent together and picking a tree out of love. That is what makes our tree so special each year, and the reason we keep doing it.

I love bathtub time

2008-12-04T14:49:00.000-08:00

I had a night alone with Cooper last night because Spencer was invited to the Pikes Peak Council Cub/Boy Scout pizza party for all scouts that sold over $1500 in popcorn. So Tim and Cameron went along with him, and Cooper and I hung out here, after his 18 month check up. He is now 22 pounds and just about 34 inches, tall and skinny. Funny little fact is that my nephew Tatum just turned 4 months old and had his check up on Monday and weighs 21 pounds and 27 inches.......he is going to pass Cooper right on by. What a chunky monkey. ( There are pictures of him in the Thanksgiving post). More of him to love I guess.

Well after dinner I put Cooper in the bathtub to pass some time before bed, and let him have some fun since he loves the water. Here are a few pictures from that.

Look at those eyelashes!

I love his muscle shot

Mom please put that camera away already!

He is saying "CHEESE".

Look at him jump!

2008-11-28T21:37:00.000-08:00

Cooper has this love of jumping for some reason. He jumps into the bean bag chair, he jumps when he dances, he jumps off the couch into the bean bag, and he will not stop jumping on my bed, no matter how many times he gets in trouble for it. So the other day I was out working in the yard and he was begging to get up on the trampoline (I use to use it more for a way to get him out of the way and kind of like a "playpen"). Well once I put him up there he took off doing what he does best........jumping! Oh and jabbering away.....

Cooper Jumping

No worries he was just eating what was left of his roll, and I made him get off to eat the rest......no choking here! LOL

It snowed last night

2008-11-28T20:49:00.000-08:00

We had a long drive home last night from Kyle's, the weather was not very good. But this morning the boys were ready to go out and play in what little snow we had gotten. They even got the sled out and made a couple runs down the hill in the back yard. I forget how cute they look in all their snow gear. To bad Cooper is not feeling very well so mean mom made him stay inside and watch. Next time buddy....

We had a great Thanksgiving......

2008-11-28T19:56:00.000-08:00

We have so much to be thankful in our lives, mainly our family! We spent Thanksgiving day at Kyle and Kelly's, and had a great time. Of course there was lots of great food, especially the desserts! Yummmm!

After dinner we played a little Wii. This was the first time for me and I found out that suck at tennis on the Wii just as much as I do in real life, hey it IS really hard to hit that little yellow ball! (even though Spencer made it look pretty easy!) Cameron picked up on it faster than thought he would, but he was still fun to watch, he thinks kicking is allowed in boxing apparently. Mom has the bowling form even playing Wii, but Tim inched her out in the final round.

We were able to get some family pictures taken with the timer on the camera, and you know what think they all turned out pretty darn good. I need to get copies from Kyle of the whole family ones. I'll get them up here as soon as I get them.

The crazy thing is that now we get to do it all over again with Tim's family on Sunday. Yahoo more food! That means twice the work to work it all off though....oh well! I'll be updating you all on that dinner too.

Getting ready for dinner.....

A little fun with the Wii.....

Uncle Tim tickling Treven

Watch Cameron's form.......hahaha!

Nice form Mom!

Cooper and Tatum are about the same size..........14 months difference in age though.

Awwww how cute is that!

Thanks Kyle and Kelly! We had a wonderful time like usual. Love ya!

What 75 degrees in November?

2008-11-19T10:46:00.001-08:00

We had a mini heat wave here the past couple day, so we took advantage of that and headed to the park cause the cold and snow will be back for the weekend. I like having a couple nice days here and there but going from the 70's to the 30's is hard on the body, no wonder why we are all sick around here. Oh well nice weather is nice weather around here this time of the year.

Still have not prefected that darn action shot!

Then Spencer and I were messing around and pinching things....don't ask but he thought it was hilarious.

Oh and then just a pretty sunset......

More Cub Scout Activities

2008-11-19T10:34:00.000-08:00

Monday night was the pack meeting and the scouts put together bird houses for the National Forest Service. These were bird houses designed especially for the Blue Birds. They had a lot of fun with that project, and it was for such a good cause. After they finished they gave out the awards for the popcorn sales this year. Spencer ended up coming in 2nd place with over $1600 in sales. They gave prizes to the top 6 sellers, and out of the top 6 sellers, 4 of them were in Spencer's Den 5. Way to go guys! That won his Den the big ice cream party from the Pack. Spencer ended up winning a new scooter, 1st prize got a new bike, but he just got a new one last year so he was happy with his scooter.

The four boys here except for the little boy standing sideways are all Den 5.

What have we been up to????

2008-11-19T08:38:00.000-08:00

Well some of you I'm sure might be wondering where the heck the updates have been.......well I have no excuse! I have just been hanging out around the house and trying to keep the boys entertained. We really have not did much of anything except for.......

Hang out and watch a little TV.......

Did a little house cleaning......

(please don't tell Spencer I put this picture up he might kill me! Shhhhhh)

Played a little music......

and watched it snow a little.....

So see not a whole lot to blog about I guess.

Who doesn't love to....

2008-11-10T19:24:00.000-08:00

Jump in a pile of leaves. This was Cooper's first time enjoying this fall tradition and he loved it. So last Thursday we did some raking together, he wanted to do all the raking so it took awhile to get the pile for him to sit in. Then once he was in it he had to "swim" his way out, but he never got frustrated. It was a bit chilly and that didn't seem to bother him either. We had a good morning while the other two were at school.

Oh and Cooper also got his first styled haircut this weekend.....he got a bowl cut. He looks so much older with it cut like this. Still cute though!

My trip to Maryland and Pennsylvania

2008-11-05T20:29:00.000-08:00

Well, I spent this past weekend in Maryland and in Pennsylvania meeting up with two of my two very good BBC(babycenter)friends.It really felt like I was going on a blind date. I have been chatting with Pauline for almost 2 years now so I was pretty sure she was not a hairy overweight bald dude trying to pick up on a mom with 3 kids. But still when left on Friday afternoon I was so excited but also so nervous to meet her. Once I saw her and gave her a big hug, I knew we were going to have a great time. We stayed up until after 1 am talking and laughing, like we had known each other all our lives. Then on Saturday we headed out to PA to meet up with Hayley, she too was not an Internet freak, so I was two for two on trusting my instincts. We had dinner and went back to Hayley's house and stayed the night with her and again was up until almost 1 am. After spending time there that morning we headed back to Baltimore to pickup Pauline's family, and headed down to Washington DC. This was my first time there and Pauline's husband was a great tour guide. We had a wonderful time walking around and then driving around to the different sights. We ended our evening at a seafood buffet, we had to have that being in Maryland and all, yummm crab! After getting home and talking to the wee hours again, I was really starting to get tired. Monday my flight did not leave until that evening so I was able to go out and meet some of Pauline's friends for lunch, they were all so nice and had beautiful children. Speaking of beautiful kids, Pauline's girls were an absolute joy to be with. They are so cute and so lovable, they were pretty sad to see me go. Oh and Hayley's little Ethan is one cute little boy, and boy can that kid stack blocks, sweet, sweet, sweet!

I got home late Monday night so the boys got to see me when I woke them up for school. They were so happy to see me, especially Cooper. Although he has yet to let me out of his sight, even to take out the trash he has to be with me. I feel regenerated, and am ready to be mom again.

I am so blessed to have a husband like I do that would even let me go and take a break clear across the country. So thanks Tim, I love you!!!!

Thank you Pauline and Glenn for having me out there to stay at your house. I had such a wonderful time. Hayley and Garrett thank you for also opening up your house for us to stay there, oh and thanks for the wine Garrett! I can't wait till you both can come visit me out here.

My trip to meet friends

2008-11-05T19:24:00.001-08:00

Halloween

2008-11-05T17:57:00.000-08:00

As the years go on you start to find out that you have less and less to say about what your kids want to be for Halloween. The years of elephants, frogs, and cowboys are gone, and now have been replaces with ninjas and movie character(not the cute lovable ones either). I do how ever still have a say about Cooper's hence the reason he was a giraffe this year.

I did not get to go out with the boys this year cause I was able to take a mini vacation to Baltimore to meet a really good friend of mine, some of you may know her as the RoseQueen, the rest just call her Pauline. So I missed Trick or Treating with them, but by the looks of the candy stash when I got home, they must of had a good time. Thanks Grandma Carol and Grandpa Rich for helping daddy out with that.

The boys found the Halloween Box and found a couple wigs. So this is what my kids would have look liked if they were girls, Cameron would have been a pretty cute little girl!

Who knew that giraffes hate to be held still for pictures to be taken?

Oh I'm getting pissed!

Dad did you see what they were doing to me? Thanks for the rescue!

Surprise Uncle Kyle!! Happy 30th Birthday!

2008-10-28T11:30:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we had a surprise birthday party for my brother Kyle. He turned the big 3-0! We had a great time. Our Grandma and Aunt Lynne flew in from Arizona, his best friends Aaron and Brent came, and tons more family and friends. Happy Birthday Uncle Kyle we love you bunches!!!

Cooper waiting for Uncle Kyle

Cooper loving his Aunt Lynne, he even shared his celery with her.

My Nephew Tatum.....he is only 3 months old! Such a big boy, but more of him to love!

Surprise!

Happy to see Grandma

Surprise......Aunt Lynne is here too!

Kyle and his best friends Aaron and Brent.

My Sister in Law Kelly and Tatum

My Nephew Treven, enjoying a cupcake! Cutie Pie!

Lynne, Kyle, Grandma, and my Mom

Kyle, Grandma and me.

Happy Birthday Kyle!!! <3

Spencer at Cub Scouts

2008-10-28T11:17:00.000-07:00

Spencer's Den was in charge of the skit at the Pack meeting, they did a a skit dressed like Native Americans. He also received a bunch of honors for finishing a bunch of his electives and also earned a bunch of belt loops. The pictures are a little blurry, but I'm going to blame that on Tim since he took the pictures. **wink** wink** He also sold the second most of all the kids in his pack, selling almost $1600 worth of popcorn. Good job my little scout!

Santa's Workshop

2008-10-23T15:02:00.000-07:00

Cameron's preschool class got to go to Santa's Workshop for their field trip this month. It was free for family members to go as well. So I wrangled my dad to go with me to help out with Cooper while we were there. We lucked out cause the day before it was rainy and foggy all day, and then the day after we went we woke up to snow, but while we were there it really was perfect weather.

This place is kind of like an amusement park for younger kids, with a north pole theme. It is really cute and the kids have a blast. There are all kinds of rides and big slides for the kids to do. I learned really quick why again Tim goes on the spiny rides with the kids and not me. It seemed like that is the only thing that Cameron wanted to go on. I had the biggest headache and tummy ache the rest of the night. Oh well Cameron had a blast, I guess it is one of those small sacrifices that a parent makes.

The giant pepermint slide.

Cameron riding the tilt-a-whirl with his teacher Mrs. Campbell and classmate Gillian.

Cameron giving Papa a lift!

Cooper on the gondola ride with me........it made me nervous cause he did not want to sit still.

This is the the northpole, it stays frozen year round.

Cameron and his friend Rachael on the Christmas tree ride.

Cameron riding with Mrs. Campbell again

I think he wore himself out. The funny thing was Cooper did not sleep the whole way home but Cameron was out in the first 5 miles.

A beautiful fall day

2008-10-18T17:42:00.000-07:00

Today was absolutely beautiful, the weather was perfect. We started off the day getting ready to go to Nana and Papa's house so I could go to work for a little bit this morning. The boys just wanted to stay in my bed and not get ready. Then once we got back home Cameron got his motorcycle out and was giving Cooper rides, it was very cute. Tonight Tim took the older two to the movies and Cooper and I have hung out here, until about 20 minutes ago when he fell asleep on me watching Go Diego, Go. So hear I sit in peace and quiet, and let me tell you it is heaven!

Just had to share........

2008-10-14T21:25:00.000-07:00

Tonight I went in to cover the boys up before I went to bed, and I found Spencer in Cameron's bed, and BOTH of them with their "lovies" Spencer has had that bear as many of you know since he was 7 months old and still loves his "teddy". It has changed names a couple of times, like when he was little and could not say bear or teddy it was "der rah" then to "der rar" and now just "teddy", This poor bear has been "lost" a few times and in a few lost and found boxes at grocery stores. It use to be a pretty baby blue color, now....not so much, more of a greyish/blueish/brownish color depending on when his last bath was. He has been stitched up so much and now is getting to the point where there really is very little good fabric to sew holes shut anymore and that would explain why the little silicone beads are falling out all over the floor and his bed. But how do you take something that is that loved away.......you don't I guess!

Cameron never latched onto a "lovey" when he was young. But in the last year he won this Incredible Hulk out of one of those crane machines and has not slept with out it since.

Cooper has both a teddy and a blankie. I think he leans a little more towards the blankie right now though. He likes to grab the edges and rub it on his cheek. I will have to wait until the morning to get a picture of him carrying it around cause there is no way I'm going to wake him up taking a picture just for this blog......I'm no dummy, let a sleeping baby sleep! But I do have to post a picture of him in his Av's jersey(which by the way...come on Av's pull it together!).

So again when I saw this I just had to take the picture, not just because it is so darn cute, but heck it will be a great blackmail picture to go along with those bathtub pictures when dating starts!

Oh then there is the one of him loving Cameron's Scooby Doo

UPDATE:
Here is Cooper with his blankie this morning, he loves putting it on his head and try to not walk into a wall. Silly Boy!

Have you done?.......99 things

2008-10-14T21:01:00.000-07:00

This has been on a few of my friends blogs and now I think I will put it here on mine.

99 Facts about me. Copy and paste this into your blog, as well! Just highlight the things that apply to you!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child(does a cabbage patch doll count?)
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run(I'm pretty sure I did in softball)
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (I wish!)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke (unfortunately)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible (A lot but not all)
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Pretty boring....

2008-10-14T12:56:00.000-07:00

Wow weee we have been pretty boring lately! I'm not sure why, it seems like we are still on the go all the time, just nothing really interesting to tell you all about. I did make it out last Friday to the zoo with Cooper and Cameron. It turned out to be a good choice to go on Friday cause it has been COLD here ever since. Right no it is 39* out right now, and that has been a warm up from this mornings 30* when I took the boys to school. Oh man I'm so not ready for the real cold yet! Although the mountains now have snow on the peaks. So pretty!

Here is Pikes Peak with snow on it from this spring, but it looks like that again now, It is just to cold for me to go take a new picture, I'm a wuss.

Here are the boys riding the train at the zoo.

The hair is gone!

2008-10-07T14:40:00.000-07:00

Well I was not sure if he would ever decide to get a haircut again or not. Spencer's hair had gotten so long and so thick, but this weekend he asked Nana to finally CUT his hair. So I have my nice clean cut little boy back! I love it! he looks so much older too. I told him that if he did not like it he could let it grow back, but so far it is a hit. My favorite part is getting ready for school in the morning, no more comb your hair conversation. Oh and Cameron got his trimmed also, so he is as cute as ever as well.

Some random pictures

2008-10-07T13:50:00.000-07:00

Here are a few random pictures I have take in the past week.

Spencer and Jack's Lincoln Log house

Andrew and Cameron

Cooper thinks he is ready for the blow up bed at Nana's house.

Nana's Pretty flowers......Look at those mums!

Spencer is done having his picture taken

The pile of hair after Spencer's haircut. WOW!

Grandpa Charlie

2008-10-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

Well today would have been Grandpa Charlie's birthday. I can honestly say that I had one of the best Grandpa's in the world. He was so loving, and so funny. I remember him sitting in his recliner either sleeping or smiling at us all the time. He helped me buy my first car, was at just about everyone of our sporting events cheering us on, letting us stick suction cup arrows to his bald head(leaving bruise marks when removed), telling dirty jokes to my brother Kyle, and always enjoying our family time together. We miss you Grandpa, and only wish you could have seen our kids growing up as well.

This was the one outfit that he got Spencer that he loved him in. I still even put Cooper in this outfit and think of Grandpa when I do.

Grandpa and Aunt Lynne about a month before he passed away.

I wish I had time to go through all my pictures and find more, but Cooper just wants my attention today. I guess that is what Grandpa would have wanted, me playing with my boys and not pining over him today.

WE ALL LOVE AND MISS YOU!

Cub Scout Picnic

2008-09-28T12:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Spencer's Cub Scout Pack 386 picnic. We have had a number of new scouts join this year and it was a great way to get them all involved and us parents get acquainted with the new parents as well. We had a great turn out, and the kids also were able to get some of their objectives done as well.Tim and Spencer won the three legged race and Cameron and Andrew have a lot of work to do on their timing. Spencer and Ethan gave it a good shot as well.

Popcorn sales have started and Spencer is out to try to sell the most. He is doing very well so far and looks to quite a bit better than he did last year. This is when it is nice that he is a social butterfly and has the gift of gab, he is quite the salesman. I will update his final total after the 13th.

Rudy Ridgerunner of the month

2008-09-28T12:52:00.000-07:00

Spencer was awarded the Rudy Ridgerunner of the month for September. That makes three years in a row that he has recieved this award in September(the first one awarded of the year). Way to go buddy, keep up the great work!

Our final vacation day...with family

2008-09-22T20:24:00.000-07:00

What better way to end a great trip than to hang out and BBQ with more family. We had the BEST dinner at Pat and Rich's beautiful house on Saturday night. The kids had so much fun playing together. The weather was perfect and the food was so yummy. I really was a perfect evening to end a pretty prefect trip. Minus the 2 hour delay in the San Diego Airport on the way home, the kids traveled pretty darn good. It also helped that the airline gave us all free DirectTV for the trip back because of the delay. So the kids watched cartoons and once Cooper woke up he watched Animal Planet with Daddy so Mommy could watch the Broncos game. Now I think I need a vacation from my vacation....I'm exhausted!

Pat has my dream kitchen!

Dinner with family

2008-09-20T09:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was spent at the beach, the pool and having dinner with Grandma(Nana) and Aunt Carol(Tia). It was so nice sitting and talking to them both and getting pictures with each of them as well. We had another wonderful day here, and it is and that today is our last full day here. Today is going to be last minute shopping, packing and one last visit to family. then packing like crazy tonight for our early morning departure tomorrow.

Sea World

2008-09-19T13:38:00.000-07:00

Well on Thursday we spent the whole day at Sea World. The kids did GREAT! We all had so much fun. The kids loved being in the splash zones, and boy did we get wet at the dolphin show. Cooper thought it was so much fun getting wet too! All the kids except Cooper of course were tall enough to ride all the rides, so that was so much fun for them. Their favorite was the Ship Wreck Rapids......and again we got SOAKED! Oh well they had fun and that is what all this is about, right?

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Family and tide pools

2008-09-18T13:38:00.000-07:00

Today we had Bill's cousin Pat and Rich over with their granddaughters to play with the kids and catch up on each other's lives. The kids hit it off, and played like they had known each other forever. Later that day we took the kids out at low tide so they could explore the tide pools. they saw hermit crabs, sea crabs, anenome, and LOTS of muscles. Oh and we found out that no rub spray on sunscreen really could use a quick rub. Hehehe!

A day at the beach

2008-09-17T11:36:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday we spent the better part of the day playing at the beach. Spencer the fish loved it, Cameron surprised me and spent all most the whole time in the water, while Cooper just wanted to eat the sand all day.....ughhhh! Makenna and I enjoyed looking for seashells, it is nice having an extra girl around this week. Tomorrow the plan is to go to the tide pools and swim here at the complex, sounds relaxing to me!

San Diego Beach
q

Swimming....

2008-09-16T23:02:00.000-07:00

Well we managed to make it to the pool twice today and the first time Cooper and I stayed back so he could get his nap in. So when the afternoon swim session came up we decided to go.

Now that is a sign of a good day!

On vacation....

2008-09-16T22:47:00.000-07:00

Well we are on vacation but it seems that I will never get a vacation from being mom! Oh well that is life and I really wouldn't have it any other way. We left on Sunday for San Diego and I was so worried about Cooper on the plane and how I might be the next mom kicked off a plane for having unruly kids, but I got my self worked up for nothing I guess. The boys all did great. When we finally got our bags and cars rented we made our way over to Grandma Settle's for lunch and a very nice visit. We then made our way up the coast to Carlsbad to the house we are renting for the week that we are here. Here are some picture of the place we are staying and the grounds here in the community. It is very nice.

Just some cute pictures of Cooper

2008-09-10T08:29:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy getting for our trip to San Diego I have not even been takeing many pictures. But you can be rest assured that I will be taking tons of pictures on our vacation to share with you all. So if you don't see a post from me for awhile, it is probably cause I'm enjoying myself at the beach! So here are a few pictures that I took of Cooper the other day being a super hero and also in my favorite PJ's from Aunt Lynne.

Canning Tomatoes

2008-09-07T20:22:00.000-07:00

Talk about walking down memory lane......

I so vividly remember going down and picking bushels and bushels of tomatoes each year and then spending a whole weekend canning them all. It was something that we never missed doing until we all got older and we had less time to do it. Well Mom and Dad went and picked 3 bushels last weekend and after I was done working on Saturday I stayed out there to help her and my grandma can about 25 quart jars and another 15 pint jars of tomatoes.......and start cooking salsa so it could be canned.

Mom chopping stuff to make the salsa, and one of the biggest onions I had ever seen.

Yummmmmm salsa!

After doing that all day on Saturday, we then went to Tim's parents today and peeled and bagged chilies for the freezer, sorry I forgot to take the darn camera for that. Lots of work this weekend, but man it will taste good this winter!

Off to school......

2008-09-02T10:45:00.001-07:00

Well as most of you saw in the previous post Cameron was going to be doing his PreK learning here at home with me since he did not get into the free preschool at Spencer's school. WELL.......last Thursday I got a call from the school saying that they had an opening open up and wanted to know if I would like to still enroll Cameron.....ummmmm.......YES!!!! So Friday was spent getting paper work and going to the doctor for a physical(which is a whole other story...poor kid had to have a blood draw) so that he could start school today. He did great with me leaving, had to even be told by the teacher say goodbye to me. He was just to excited!

So after we dropped him off, I was kind of at a loss of what to do with only one kid again. So Cooper and I went and got a Jamba Juice smoothie and just hung out all morning.

Bird houses

2008-08-31T20:41:00.000-07:00

Spencer and Cameron wanted to do a craft the other day so I found some bird houses at the dollar store and I let them paint them. Spencer loves using as much color as possible, where Cameron would have been happy to just use red and black although Spencer did talk him into using a few extra colors.

Spur of the moment trip to the zoo

2008-08-27T21:09:00.000-07:00

Well when Tim got home from work yesterday we decided to pick Spencer up once he got out of school and head to the zoo for the afternoon. We had a great time! It was not busy, and the animals were all so active. The baby gorilla was cracking us all up pestering all the other female gorillas. Cooper had a great time and wanted nothing to do with his stroller so he walked almost the whole time. When we got home at 6:00 he ate dinner and went strait to bed, poor guy was all worn out. Here are a few pictures from our afternoon, and a video of Cooper at the lions, he was so cute.

Cooper the Lion

Slime.....

2008-08-27T11:28:00.000-07:00

Today Cameron and I made slime for him to play with. We learned about recipes, ingredients and measuring things. Oh and we also learned that playing with slime in a cup makes a fart sound. Nice!

Cameron then thought we should probably make Spencer some for when he got home from school so we made him a batch of blue.

Slime

Cooper Love his Corn on the Cob

2008-08-27T11:21:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of pictures of Cooper enjoying his corn from last night. I totally forgot to take an after picture, but he had corn in his hair and the cob was almost picked clean. He LOVES his corn!

Here is Cooper with his slippers on and Cameron making him mad......an everyday occurrence around here.

Cooper with his slippers on

My Second Grader

2008-08-21T14:30:00.000-07:00

Well Spencer has started back to school. He is in second grade this year, and is looking forward to this school year. His teacher this year is Mrs. Kovacs, and this is her 27th year teaching. Spencer loves her so far. Here are some pictures of him going to school this morning since I missed taking his picture on his 1st......... 2nd.........3rd......days of school(bad mommy).

Spencer found my old college bag and wanted to use it this year for school

Here he is walking home today

Cameron's new space....

2008-08-19T20:36:00.001-07:00

Well like most of us today, money is very tight here and the one thing that has to be cut out is the extra expense of sending Cameron to Pre-K this year. So I have taken it upon myself to be his teacher this year. I knew I wanted it to feel special for him and get him wanting to learn and have fun with mom while Cooper naps so we decided to make him his own "school". He seems really excited about it so far. I guess it will work until we can maybe get him into something at the first of the year.

Cooper thinks he is ready for school too

He is so darn cute!

2008-08-19T20:23:00.000-07:00

Cooper was just being Cooper today but he just looked so cute in the new shirt that his great grandma Bonnie had given him. He loves his Lightening McQueen car and is on it most of the day it seems like. He has also gotten to the point if he even hears a beat of music he will start dancing.

Cameron has had enough of me taking pictures I think

Cooper dancing

Cooper the movie lover

2008-08-15T13:06:00.000-07:00

Well at least he like throwing them all over the floor for me to pickup anyway. Spencer was looking for a movie to watch the other day and started yelling at me to come and look at Cooper, so this is where I found him. He is such a busy body and into everything so it was no surprise to find him there.

Some things never change.....

2008-08-15T12:50:00.000-07:00

Spencer was back at the snake catching yesterday. I really think that he believes that one day I will give in and just let him keep one.....yeah that will NEVER happen! So he will just have to settle for looking at them in pictures!

Here is a short video of him catching it, sorry it is pretty grainy but had the darn camera on the wrong setting and didn't realize it until I played it back.

Snake catching

Cameronisms....

2008-08-14T21:51:00.000-07:00

Well I have been such a slacker on my blog these past few weeks. Spencer will be starting school on Monday so I will try to get back on track once we get him back into a routine. But I had to get up a few conversations Cameron and I had just today.

Cameron is friends with our neighbor's little girl, but at times it can be a love hate relationship. I have been teaching the boys that no matter what the situation is you can NEVER hit, pinch or push a girl, just tell and adult and we will help resolve it. Well this morning Cameron and Alyssa were playing and I saw Cameron push her. So he had to come into timeout. Once it was over he came over to me and we discussed the reason for his timeout. I told him he needed to go outside and apologize to Alyssa. So he said, "OK mom then once I do that I will tell her I'm sorry." I guess he still needs to learn what apologize means.

Spencer was at it again today and caught another snake. So he put it in his usual bucket and was getting grass and whatever else he wanted to put in there with it. He then was looking in the bucket and was talking to the snake when Cameron said, " hey Spence, I don't think the snake speaks English". It was so funny!

Then one more thing today. We had just finished eating Spaghetti, and I had Cooper's shirt off so that it did not get ruined. I was saying to Tim that it looked like Cooper's belly was getting bigger. Then Cameron chimed in and said " it looks like he is going to lay a baby". I guess that is across between lay an egg and have a baby.

Man that kid cracks me up on a daily basis!

I will get more stuff put up on here tomorrow, I promise!

Just hanging out

2008-08-08T09:30:00.000-07:00

Well the past week has been pretty uneventful around here. So we have been just hanging out around the house, going to the park, and we made it to the zoo yesterday. I was cleaning the boy's closet the other day and found the chargers for the remote control cars Spencer and Cameron got for Christmas from Uncle Kyle and Aunt Kelly. So that has been a big part of their days lately. It is funny to watch them drive them. Spencer has gotten pretty darn good at it, but Cameron on the other hand still pushes the throttle and runs after it at the same time, plus he has a hard time remembering to steer it at the same time as pulling the throttle trigger.

It has rained here for the past 3 days and it has been so nice! We have had maybe 2-3others days this summer that it has rained, which has resulted in lots of wildfires. We even had one in the vacant field just to the north of our house like less than 2 blocks away....way to close!!!! So this rain is more than welcome to stay around for a few days!

Spencer got his face painted at the zoo, he was a tiger.

Racing Cars

A day at the races

2008-07-31T20:11:00.000-07:00

Well a few weeks ago Tim, Spencer, Papa Bill and Uncle Andy got to go the the races up in Denver. Uncle Greg had tickets that he was unable to use so he passed them along to the guys. They had a great time cause they were special guests of Steve Johnson, he races the motorcycles. He ended up coming in 2nd place, but it was so close of a race. The whole Steve Johnson team treated the guys so good and that made the experience all the more special. Here are some pictures that Andy had taken cause Tim left the camera in the car.

Please let me cut your hair!

2008-07-31T10:07:00.001-07:00

Spencer and his best friend Jack have been growing out their hair this summer. They want that 70's shaggy hair look, and they are well on their way. I'm hoping he will let me cut it before school starts. If not I guess it is just hair and he is finding his own way of expressing himself. Just stop going to bed with a wet head, that would help out the most or else this is what you look like.........

Tatum Lee is here!!!!!

2008-07-29T21:03:00.000-07:00

Well after many hours of laboring Kelly and Kyle have welcomed a new member to their family. Kelly worked so hard to try to be able to have him without having a repeat C-section, but after stalling out at 8cm and a drop in Tatum's heart rate the decision was made to go ahead with the C-section. It turned out to be a great decision because his cord was wrapped around his little neck 3 times, oh and then there was the fact that he weighed 9lbs 4oz and was 21.5 inches long!!! YIKES!!!! No wonder he was in there so long. He looks just like his older brother Treven, I mean just like him. When Treven was shown a picture of Tatum today he said, "baby Tate, zoo". He wants to take his baby brother to the zoo, how sweet. Well everyone is doing very well, Kelly is tired but in great spirits, and Tatum is a pro nurser already. Welcome to the family Tatum! We love you so much already!

Getting his hair washed

Look at those feet!

Daddy giving him a kiss

Kelly's first time holding him

Kelly and her nurse Dawn

Baby Tate

12th Annual Margarita BBQ

2008-07-27T18:38:00.000-07:00

Another year, another BBQ, another success! Well yesterday was our annual BBQ and we had a great time. We had about 60-80 people here through out the day. Tim manned the grill like usual and everyone brought some great side dishes. We managed to go through all of our Margaritas (about 5 gallons) and just a few beers left. The weather was GREAT! The clouds rolled in and gave us a nice cool down and no rain so it was perfect this year. I really didn't get to many pictures taken this year, I was to busy socializing I guess. So if you were there and not in a picture I'm really sorry, my bad.....oops! We can't wait until next year!

Baseball Is Over...

2008-07-27T18:27:00.000-07:00

Well baseball season is finally over. We had a great year and the boys did so much improving throughout the season. Spencer has got his batting down, and definitely got better at knowing where the play was when the ball was hit to him. He worked really hard on catching pop flies in the back yard with Tim and I and really got pretty good at them. He is looking forward to being a little more competitive next year, and well I guess I look forward to that as well. Here are some pictures of his last game and then the team lunch at Fargo's Pizza where they handed out the trophies. They were really cute this year, they were bobble head doll trophies with their names engraved on them. Great job this season Spencer!!

Aunt Janet with the boys after the game

Cameron being silly at the lunch.

A day at Pump It Up

2008-07-27T18:10:00.000-07:00

It has been so hot here this last week that a couple friends and I decided to take the boys to Pump It Up. This is a place full of bounce houses, inflatable slides, obstacle courses, and of course the best thing of all air conditioning. The boys had such a great time with their friends, and even us mom's got in on the action. Cooper wanted to go on the slide over and over, so I must have climbed those stairs at least 5o times. I think he even suckered my friend to taking him up there too. It really was funny to set all the boys down to get a picture taken cause I really didn't realize that all of the friends that my boys hang out with only have brothers. Spencer, Jack, Ethan, and Chase are all 7 and Cameron, Andrew, Joel are all 4. I guess that is why they all have so much fun together they have two age groups and the older ones play good with the younger ones cause they are use to having younger brothers around. Time and money well spent!

Happy 4th Birthday Sweet Cameron!

2008-07-21T21:31:00.000-07:00

Wow he is already 4 years old, how can that be?

Cameron Turned 4 on Saturday the 19th and was able to spend the day just playing around here and getting his birthday present from Mom and Dad. We got him a Power Wheel motorcycle, he was so excited. Then on Sunday we had a party for him at one of his favorite parks here in our neighborhood. This year he wanted a spider cake, in his words "not a Spiderman cake mom, a spider". So I gave it a shot and thought it turned out very cute. He had a great day and I just want to thank everyone for coming. With a special thinks to his great Aunt Janet from California and Great Grandma Bonnie(granny) from Arizona for being there too! Here are a few pictures from our weekend. Happy Birthday sweetie, I love you so very much!!!!

Kite flying

Just enjoying the day

Looking over some of his loot

Aunt Janet and Nana

Jack's Mom Lisa and Grandma Carol

Cooper kissing the girls already!

The day after playing with his race cars

sidewalk chalk....

2008-07-18T09:17:00.000-07:00

The other day the boys were drawing with the sidewalk chalk. I love Cameron's little person. He really is starting to be able to draw things that make sense now. Then they wanted me to draw an elephant head. Well for those of you that don't know this, drawing is SOOOOO not my greatest skill or even one of my skills at all. But I tried it anyway and that is what the other pictures is of.(just in case you could not tell what the heck you were looking at.)

Surprise!

2008-07-18T09:02:00.000-07:00

We had a little surprise baby shower for my Sister-in-Law Kelly. Poor Kelly she really had no idea that we were going to do this for her so she showed up in her cleaning clothes cause her and Kyle have been getting their rental property ready for their new renters to move in. She still looked great though. She is due this Saturday, same day as Cammie's birthday. We decided that for the theme this time we would do a casserole and Diaper/wipe party. So we were able to fill their freezer with food for after the baby comes and got them stocked up on diapers. We had a great time. OK baby Tatum we are just waiting on you now........so hurry up we want to meet you!!!

Another day, another hike.....

2008-07-12T15:26:00.000-07:00

We have been cooped up for to long, so we decided to go on a hike. Man it was almost to hot for a hike but we had fun anyway. Then afterwards we stopped at the park to play for a little bit.

Spencer trying to catch a lizard

I need to get better at action shots apparently