Special Day!

I should have typed this up yesterday, but yesterday was kind of busy!  Eight years ago yesterday our Jeffrey was born, and he chose to be baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints yesterday.  I haven't heard of it happening before, although I am sure that it has, where a child who was born in the church so to speak was able to be baptized on his birthday.  What a present!!!  It worked out with out stakes baptisms and General Conference next week that Jeff was able to have this special event happen right on his birthday!
He had a lot of family come support him.  Grandpa Kelly, Grandma Swann, and Aunt Misty all came from Dayton (South East Idaho, West of Preston) and spent the weekend with us.  He also had support from local grandparents, aunts and uncles, great-aunt and great-uncle and many, many cousins.
After the baptism we went to a local pizza joint that Jeff chose because of it's collection of video games, and ate pizza, watched the Boise State game, visited, and just had fun!
We thank everyone that came from near and far to be with us physically, and also those that were only able to be with us in thought and spiritually!

"Stay at Home" Dad

After five years or so of working from home, Amber recently went to work at the medical office that she has been typing transcription for.  I know that "stay at home" moms work their butts off and I know it's not as easy as some make it look.  However,  being the one responsible for all of the goings on throughout the day is kicking MY butt.  It only took two days for me to screw up and forget something.  Luckily it wasn't critical and I was able to get my oldest to cub scouts late!  I don't know how those ladies go shopping, do laundry, do dishes, run other errands, and make dinner! It wears me out!  To top it off, Amber gets home from work and I leave for work within about 15 minutes of each other.  Life is crazy, but I LOVE being able to be home with Jaden who will be 15 months old here in a week or so.  He is a character!  Jake is loving kindergarten and he gets home in time for lunch.  This is good for me, because there is someone to entertain Jaden a little bit!  Well, that's it for now.  My "free time" is up.  Hopefully I can keep posting and not wait for three years until the next post!

Austin

Austin had a great year at school this year. He loved his teacher and making new friends. He kept begging me to ride the school bus and eat brakfast at school so I finally let him and I think that it spoiled me. I decided to keep some of the memorable things that he did at school this year but a lot of the artwork was just too big and getting too handled too much so I decided to just take a picture of it, so here it is...

He was in the Fruitland Spring Fair this year and was soooo excited to be in the parade. Here are some of him singing and some of the parade. The theme this year was Dr. Suess Is Loose In Fruitland and the Kindergarten kids were The Cat, In The Hat Turns Orange and Black. It was cute...

He obviously got toothless this year...

And this is Austin during our family trip to Preston. Austin loves it here. He is such a free spirit and here at Grandma's farm, he can roam and play with the animals. His favorite horse is and old horse of the family's named Brownie. The day that we were leaving, he made his mom and dad cry as he had to pet each horse and talk to each one and tell each one goodbye with little tears in his eyes. It broke our hearts. The last picture of the baby horse was actually born the day that we got there.

Which is which?

Lets see who can get it right?

Catch some rays today?

.....apparently WE did!



OOOOHHHHH! My poor baby!
So we were at the park the first couple of hours of the afternoon and I brought hats and Jake just kept taking his off. After the first couple of times of him taking it off I just didn't worry about it. Apparently I do need to! After the park we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening working in the yard. It wasn't until I was just about done mowing the lawn that I noticed poor Jakey's skin. Later in the evening I went to scratch an itch that I had on my arm and just about went through the roof. I also got some rays. I guess it is already time to break out the sunscreen!

Easter 2009

We had nontraditional easter baskets this year. We loved these little wagons! We thought they made perfect easter baskets! The Easter Bunny still found them to put candy in! We had a good Easter and hope yours was wonderful as well!

Stuart Little

A couple of months ago we rearranged the house a little bit and we have all three boys sleeping in one room. This has actually worked much better than I had anticipated. The boys like to be read to before they go bed but I was really having a hard time getting them altogether to read and I was tired of reading the same book three times because they would each pick the same book. So I finally decided that since they are all in the same room, that I would read to them after they were in their beds. THEY LOVE IT! It also helps them calm down and they get the time that they want with mom.

We have quite a few books, short kid stories, but I decided to start a longer book to see how they would do with it. I saw Stuart Little and decided with that one. They have had so much fun listening to the story line and I am surprised at how much they understand. Jeffrey asks lots of questions which is good, it lets me know he is listening. Austin is VERY good at remembering what chapter we are on. Jake likes to just babble in his crib. :) We are having a very good time with this. We will let you know what our next book is!

Top 10 Things to do Instead of going to bed

10. Look at your blog and decide you want to change it, but aren't sure how to impliment the changes you want.
9. Find a website that walks you step by step through making the changes you want.
8. Play Mafia Wars on Facebook.
7. Play myFarm on Facebook.
6. Send super Flair to your Facebook friends.
5. Spend 2 hours fine tuning the code that was supposed to make your blog look the way you wanted just by doing a simple copy and paste procedure.
4. "Accidently" fix the problem you are experiencing because of the copy and paste procedure you performed.
3. Spend the next hour figuring out the "accident".
2. Google HTML and perfect your changes.
1. Make a blog post about what you did instead of going to bed.

Pictures

Check out the new slideshows. Yes, they are from Halloween and Christmas. Give me a break, at least you get to see them!

Messing Around

I've been messing around a little with the design and what not of the blog. If you notice something that is different and like it, tell me. If you notice something and don't like it, tell me and I will do my best to change it back. Although I make no promises about being able to get it back to how it was. Further, if there is something you would like to see, tell me and I will do my best to implement it. Keep in mind, I have a very limited skill set. Thanks for viewing.

Dangerous 4-letter word

"MINE" Yes, our little Jakey who is now almost 20 months old has now learned to say the word Mine. With two older brothers, this word is very valuable to him. :) With his cute little personality, he has definitely used this word to tease everybody a lot and he makes us laugh. Other words to go with this one is Elmo and More. Elmo does definitely go with the word Mine. He says, "Mine Melmo" which is so very cute. But we are pretty bias. He says "Mo" for More which we all love too.

Jake also has also started with an obsession with Elmo. We got him these Elmo pajamas for Christmas and it has been no big deal until two weeks ago. One day he just woke up and started saying "Elmo". He saw these pajamas and insisted on wearing them. Holy Cow! He did not want to take them off! Yes, he got to wear them all day. Austin got a big Elmo for his birthday when he was 2 years old that we still have and so Jake has claimed this as his own now. Also, we were walking through Walmart and he spotted these Elmo slippers. WOAH! The world was going to end as he knew it if he did not have these Elmos. Yes, we gave in and he got the Elmo slippers. So he is all decked out in Elmo now. I know, I know I keep promising pictures and sooner or later they will come and I will get one of him in his Elmos :)

Question...

So I was doing the boys' laundry the other day and I was taking the clothes from the washer to the drying, I was just chuckling at the funny things that are left in their pockets that are at the bottom of the washer or end up at the end of the dryer; rocks, chapstick, toys, pennies, just stuff they found around the house or outside. This also got me to remembering when I worked at a dry cleaners in Pocatello. It was part of my job before doing anything else with the clothing, that I check all the pockets of the clothing. It is funny the things that was found. One time I stuck my hand in a pocket and felt something totally weird and I totally freaked out. The hilarious thing is it was only a coushe (sp?) ball but it was the scariest feeling when I did not know what it was.

Anyway, so my question is, what is the funniest, scariest, most interesting, whatever thing you have found in the washer or dryer after doing laundry?

For Your Birthday?

Yesterday, Jeffrey and I were handwashing the pots and pans that could not fit in the dishwasher. He kept begging me to let him use the scrubber to help wash. I should have let him do it but I was in a hurry so I just wanted to get it done. His job was to rinse the soap off in the next sink. Jeffrey is always full of funny comments and out of no where he said, "I wish I could have a scrubber for my birthday so I can help wash the dishes." I couldn't help but smile and giggle inside. I guess the boy really wants to help!

Trying to get back

Sorry I haven't been on here for awhile. Life decided to happen even more quickly than it was before and I have been trying to get used to a new schedule.

For those that were wondering, I did not fall off the face of the earth :) I picked up another transcription job and so just busier than ever. It is definitely hard to keep up with it all and not feel burnt out. I really like my new job that I have. I am now typing for some local providers and also typing for a company based out of Salt Lake City who have an account with the Universtiy of Utah, so I am doing a couple of accounts there also. I really enjoy it! I am just trying to figure out how to balance it all now.

I need to get Josh to teach me how to download pictures so that I can do that too. We have cute pictures clear back from Halloweed that we need to get on here.

More to come soon!

"Mom, I called Fred"

What an interesting statement to come out of your 3 year olds mouth as he approaches his mother with her cell phone to his ear. Amber grabbed the phone from him thinking he dialed some random number and was talking to some random stranger. She looked at the screen to see the number and it turns out the random number looked a lot like 911, and the random stranger was Fred the 911 operator. She instinctively closed the phone which effectively hung up on "Fred". A few seconds later she got a call from county dispatch just to make sure everything was all right. I guess that's what we get for having an older child that is learning all these cool things to do in an emergency. Although Austin denies having anything to do with it, Jeffrey blames his knowledge of 911 on Austin.

But, I guess we've learned a valuable lesson from this. Calling 911 from Amber's cell phone will get us to the correct dispatch center, so in case of a true emergency or problem we won't have to worry about some random 911 operator taking the call and not being able to find us.

A Break in the Clouds

So it rained most of the night and into the morning, but quit about 8 or so and didn't rain the whole rest of the day. I took advantage and raked the carpet of leaves. They were way too wet, but with more rain in the forecast and a busy schedule I had to take advantage of the situation.

Jakey played outside all afternoon while I worked in the yard. He decided he was a big enough boy that he could follow the rest of the kids down the street to the neighbors house. It was pretty cute to see him walking next door all by himself. I called after him and he came right back. I can't believe how big he is getting. His latest thing is waking up in the middle of the night crying and asking for "da da" until Amber lays him next to me. He is definitely a daddy's boy.

Austin is loving school. He experiments with math all by himself. Last night he came to me and said, "Five and four is ten". I told him he'd better count again, so he did and came up with "Five and four is nine." I told him good job and he proceeded to tell me what five and three was. Then said, "I'm doing grownup stuff." I'm thinking "yes you are, but you need to stop. You're my little kid." But I said, "Yes you are" and asked him who told him that. He tells me his kindergarten teacher did. I'm sure glad he is learning. He loves to read, and has several books that he can read all by himself. He also loves to practice his math.

Jeffrey likes school when he gets there. Getting him there has proven to be quite the adventure for Amber each day. I'm glad that I can be at work and not have to deal with it. I've got it pretty easy. He calls Jakey "His best buddy", and is so concerned whenever he hears Jakey in the crib even if Jakey has just been put there and is supposed to be going to sleep. Jeffrey will go in and play with him and tell us "Jakey is awakey".

Well, enough of the boring life of me. This post has gotten tons longer than I anticipated. I was just going to write about the leaves, but then decided that nobody cared about me raking the leaves and decided to add a little about the kids and stuff. As soon as we take some cute pictures, we'll get them posted. Until then . . .

Rain, Rain, Go away. . .

We have an entire trees worth of leaves in our little tiny front yard. I've been putting of the chore of raking them because I haven't had time during daylight hours. Finally, I was looking forward to this afternoon when I would get off work earlier and be able to rake the leaves and do a few other outside chores that have been put off. Alas, mother nature has had other plans as it has rained most of the day, and it is no longer suitable to be outside raking. Although the kids sure love being out in the rain, it's just not my cup of tea anymore.

I guess maybe mother nature is telling me my laundry needs done more than the leaves need raked. There is a rather peculiar smell coming from that corner of my abode. . . .

New Slide Show

Check out the new slideshow. All photos are courtesy of Jeffrey: age 4. He likes to use the digital camera when we aren't looking. Some of his pictures aren't half bad.

P.S. Slideshow is on the right. ;)

P.P.S. I know that the "new" show looks vaguely similar to the one that was already there, but I can't get Picasa to talk with Blogger as quickly as I'd like. I think they need to go to counseling so that they can share their feelings quicker. Check back soon, it should be working correctly before too awful long.

P.P.P.S. Ok so it was all fine and dandy in the time that it took me to write and post the last p.s thing. I guess I could have gone back and just deleted it and left the original post. But then you wouldn't have been able to see the inner workings of my mind. Enjoy!

Bravery!

No this is not a post about the bravery of one my three sons as they tried something new for the first time. It's a post about me! It's a post about the first of, I'm sure, many nights waiting up for my kids to get home from where ever they are.

The neighbors, who we love to death, had a halloween party put on by the wood mill where the husband works, and invited Jeffrey to go along. They have a little boy about his age so we let him go. Then, one of Austin's friends invited him to go over for dinner and watch a movie, so . . . a little nervously because it's the first time, we let him go. About five minutes later I yawned and wondered if my kids were too young for me to be waiting up for them to come home. Keep in mind it was only 8.

Anyway, I guess parenting is all about the "firsts". There are so many that we look forward to, and yet, so many that we wish would never come and some we hope don't come that do. So, to my first night of "waiting up" I say cheers. And here's to many more.

Turn off the faucet!!

So, I usually do pretty good about staying a couple steps ahead of the sicknesses that go around my house. But, this time something snuck ahead and ambushed the heck out of me. My head is all swimmy and light and my nose runs like a faucet! Literally! I am constantly wiping it and it hurts! I wish I could turn it off like you would the water faucet. But enough of the gross details. I need my sleep!