Disneyland!

These are just a few and there will be more later!  We had a great time but we had the flu, Ben bumped into a pole with the back of my car, I forgot our free tickets at the condo and Ben had to drive 4 hours to get them, then I forgot my cell phone and we drove an hour and a half out of the way, and last but not least we accidentally drove to Vegas on the way home!  It was a crazy trip but I loved being with the whole family!  I don't want to travel for quite a while though!!!

14 YEARS!

Happy anniversary babe!  I love you!

Flagstaff girls weekend!

So my friend Jessica decided we need to go to Flagstaff for the weekend.  You know just the girls.  No husbands and no kids!  Ben was happy for me to go and excited to enjoy the time with the kids!  So we are leaving soon and I'm really excited but I'm really gonna miss Ben and the kids!  I just love love being with them even if they make me a little crazy!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR BABY BOY!!!!!!

Ray is 2 today!  I can't believe it!  He has been really excited all week!!  This little guy never stops talking!  He is full of energy and has the sweetest spirit!  We all just adore him!  He and Emmerie are the best of friends and he always has to share everything with her!  If I give him a cracker he holds out his other hand and asks for one for Emm!  He loves to give hugs and sit on mine or Ben's lap!  He has a special place in his heart for Nolan!  He always asks where Nolan is and wants Nolan to hold him over all the other kids.  We just love this little guy to pieces!!!  Happy Birthday buddy!  Pictures to come......

Spray Paint in Hair

Emmie's new hair!

She was very nervous to get her hair cut!  I told her she could give her hair to locks of love for a little girl with cancer who needs a wig.  She listened to me explain this and then said " No I'll just bring my hair home instead and wear it whenever I want."  She was a little confused!

She wouldn't speak the whole time she was getting it cut!  She was very unsure about this!  She says she likes her hair now but still misses her old hair and plans to grow it out again.  I really miss her old hair too!  She shocks me every time I see her!!!  She sure is a beautiful, sweet, wonderful girl no matter how long her hair is!!

What is the worst thing you have ever found on your carpet?


I have found many horrible things on my carpet.  Such as gum, a spilled blue slushie, poop, vomit, a new box of cereal poured out, milk, a smashed banana, my broken clock with glass all over, nail polish, soda, and many other big gross messes!  Most of them caused by Ray!  (He is a bit of a monster)  I think what I found this morning trumps all the others!

Big, blonde, clumps of beautiful hair!!!
There was more but I cleaned it up and then found this clump under the couch so I decided to post about my sad discovery!  I know all kids cut their hair well at least both my girls did.  Emmerie is different though because she has never had her hair cut not even trimmed!

Look how long and beautiful it is!!  She had really long hair when she was born and I never cut it.  I have often threatened to cut it when I was brushing it because she would cry but she would always say "No Mom don't cut my hair.  I love it long!"  So I couldn't believe she did this!!

See the little chunk on this side?

This side is worse!  I'm so sad and not sure if I should cut it all off or make her wear pony tails for a while until the shock wears off!  I'll let you know.............

Apple pie filling

I spent 2 1/2 hours and now have 12 jars of yummy apple pie filling!  I love our trees!  Btw I have great picture taking skills but when I made it big it got all crooked....and I can't fix it so it is my blog skills that are suffering!

APPLES!!!!

We have 5 trees full of apples so we have been really busy!  The cousins helped pick and I started with applesauce and juice.  I still want to do apple pie filling and try apple butter!  We love our house!  It's busy and messy at our house but when I see the jars on my shelf it makes me really happy!

Guacamole!!!

I went to a Zumba class the other night with my friend Holly (which was super fun!) and when I came home our kitchen smelled amazing and Ben and the kids were making guacamole.  Ben had sauted the onion and a yellow pepper.  It was so yummy! 

Bailey's bruise

A few weeks ago Bailey was roller blading down a hill in the street. (I did not know she was doing this) Needless to say she fell pretty hard. I was told she flew up in the air and landed on her tooshie. Ouch!!!

First day of school

More PA pics

Uncle Rick with Emmie
Baby Tanner James
Bailey holding her nephew
The kids were eating popsicles at Uncle Rick and Aunt Sara's and I told Carter and Nolan to get in the picture and this is what I got!
Emmerie and Ray

me and my sweetie!

I'm so lucky to have a husband that can still melt my heart every time he walks into the room! What can I say he is totally hot and such an amazing guy! we have so much fun laughing at this crazy busy life that we have!

Pennsylvania.....finally!!

We wanted 2 take a picture of all 12 grandchildren. Kirah, Carter, Tanner, Grace, Kent, Hunter, Nolan, Mattea, Bailey, Hannah, Ray, and Emmerie. My sister has 6 kids and we have 5 so now that Tanner is here there is an even dozen!
We had a great day of visiting with my grand parents! My Grandma made my favorite meal Yummy!
My Grandpa with Emmerie!
My Grandma with Ray.
Just visiting.....boy i look huge.....must be the angle right? Anyway....I drove the kids to PA Yes all by myself! The kids were amazing! I was so proud of them. We were there for 8 days and then Ben flew in, stayed for 3 days and then we drove all the way home. We had so much fun visiting with all the family and were so super happy to meet baby Tanner! He is such a sweet heart and I really wanted 2 steal him and take him home with us! I miss that little guy so much! Thanks everyone we had an awesome time! I finally got to posting Uncle Rick sorry our computer is broken but I will post more pictures from the trip soon.

trip to Pennsylvania

Emmerie Ray and Hannah playing in the grass.
Emmerie Grandpa Ray and sweet little baby Tanner!
Aunt Brandy with Tanner.
Uncle Derek Baby Tanner and Kirah.

We had a huge family get together at my sister Julie's house. Thanks Julie! We ate lots of yummy food and had tons of fun visiting with the fam! Bailey, Grace, Erin, Wade, Ben, Ray, Kirah, Hannah, Mike, and Aunt Sara.

BBQ

We had such a fun bbq yesterday! We had about 10 families come and we grilled and ate and chatted! Lots of kids played! It was a good day! Sadly no pictures.

Miss America Pageant....VERY DISAPPOINTED!!!!!

So I never watch this show but when I turned on the t.v. last evening it was on. I only watched for about 5 minutes because as they were spotlighting each girl they had a super risque photo of them on the right. What the heck! I understand the swimsuit competition I still don't like it but I get it. So why did they have them dress so sexily for a side photo of them? Rating must be down so they thought hey lets have them dress almost naked with fishnets and corsets oh and make sure you can see their naked legs and sure have one girl spread eagle. That aughta work! I guess I'm a strange girl. I don't like all those girly things! I don't wear make-up except cover up, I haven't had my hair professionally cut since Nolan was a baby, (yes he is almost 9) I don't color my hair, never had a pedicure, don't like fake nails, and I hate jewelry! Ya I guess I'm weird!

Ray is 18 months old!!!

I can't believe my little guy is a year and a half already! He went to nursery on Sunday and was asleep in the chair when I went back to get him! He did really well and when I stood up to leave him in a room of strangers he waved and said " bye bye". He's such a funny, sweet, messy, boy that we all love so much!! He is always happy when he wakes up and loves to cuddle! He has learned so many new things in the last few months! He is an all out Daddy's boy that just settles for me when Dad is at work. He cries every morning when his Daddy leaves! He also really loves Emmie (sissy) and Nolan. He always calls out to Nolan and wants him to hold him. (he does not do that for Bailey or Carter. I have written down all the words that each of our kids use regularly on their own at 18 months for their scrapbook so I will post Ray's on our blog.......

Dadda

Pepper

dinner

peek-abo

belly-button

Momma

cat

ear

diaper

truck

Nolan

dog

eyes

shoes

kids

Carter

baby

teeth

hat

Bailey

up

feet

Sissy

down

Dora

Ray

milk

bite

granola bar

help

out

paint

Elmo

dirt

stick

bubbles

Ray is such a fun little boy and we are so glad that he was sent to live with our family! We love you little buddy!

Sick Sick Sick

We made it all through the winter with only a few sniffles here and there, but then came spring.....Sick Sick Sick! We had some sort of stomach flu and then the very next day a yucky cold. Sore throat, stuffy noses, coughs, sinus pressure you know the works. The worst part is it won't seem to go away. It's been a week and a half and we are still yucky! I blew my nose so many times the I have a huge gross sore under my nose......so no pictures!!!

Going Private!!!

I am going private because weird people are leaving me comments. Please leave your email if you want an invite! Thanks!

Cute kids!

This morning I asked Emmerie to get dressed while I was getting Ray dressed and she said "I don't want to play the beat game." I said what is that and she said " the game where you beat people." I said Emmie that doesn't sound very nice and she said "Mom you know where you try to beat someone getting dressed." I guess she's not very competitive. I often say " Hurry Emmie or Ray will beat you. That Mom strategy doesn't work for her.......

Good thing it is working with cousins. Jeanette and I often talk about how hard it is to get Jamie and Nolan up, dressed, and to school on time. They just don't seem to care. I told Ben the other day that short of rewarding Nolan for getting to school on time I have tried everything and I didn't want to reward him when I've been fighting with him for almost 2 years now. He also has no problem getting up on Saturday or Sunday. Ben thought it was a great idea to turn the tables and reward him when he was on time and I talked to Jeanette and we decided to make it a competition between Nolan and Jamie. The first morning we were at a stop sign when Jeanette drove by in front of us and Nolan said "hurry mom we've got to beat Jamie!" Maybe this will work!

A birthday and a steak!!!

I'm so behind on my blog. I'm still having camera computer issues! Sorry! I'm also crazy busy these days working out and preparing food! Gosh being healthy and getting in shape is super time consuming! Just wanted to say Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband! He is the greatest! It's so fun to have spent the last 16 birthdays with him! I am taking him to Outback Steakhouse tonight his very very favorite! He is super excited! Thank you Conny for babysitting the munchkins!