I'M BACK!!!! And So is School!!

So apparently I am not as good of a blogger as I thought I would be. What can I say, it has been a couple of busy months. So my next few entries will be a little out of date, but better late than never.

Lets start with the first day of school. While I truly enjoy the lazy days of summer, I believe everything in moderation is good. School started and I am happy to say the house stays picked up for at least half of the day (yea!)

ABIGAIL: "abby-Girl" is home with me this year. I get her all to myself for the whole morning until Jonathan gets home a little after noon.


JONATHAN: WOW! Look out kindergarten here comes my sweet boy. Jonathan informed me the first day of school that there are lots of blonde girls in his class.

JORDAN: 2nd Grade is looking good for Jordan. He has Mrs. Stone and loves her. We think she is great too.

JOSEPH: The smile says it all, "Your suspicians are correct" Hello 4th grade!!

JESSICA: Practically a woman! Jessica is set out to thoroughly enjoy her last year in Elementary school. Watch out Jr. High... She's coming!

JACOB: Being in 8th grade is way to cool to get your picture taken on the first day of school. Actually Jacob was already gone when the cameras started clicking. We'll catch him again soon.

The kids are growing so fast. I was just thinking the other day how I remember 8th grade like it was yesterday and now we have an 8th grader (weird). Aside from a few (O.K. alot) of daily mishaps, I have to say, I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Our Cute Girls!

Ivan's Mom and Sister Jessica are in town and so yesterday we went out for a "girls" lunch to my favorite, Rumbi Grill. Auntie Jessica got this cute picture of Jessica and Abigail on her cell phone so I thought I would share it.

Happy 9th Birthday JOSEPH!!

Joseph's Birthday started early (around 6:30 a.m.) to be exact. It is the only day aside from Christmas when he wakes up willing and smiling. Can you blame him?

He recieved lots of great presents. One of which was a water gun that shoots balls of coloed water. But nothing topped the pure joy on his face as when he opened his new Pokemon Platinum Version DS Game.

He had a party a couple days later. It began at our house with lunch, cupcakes, and presents. Than we went to Boondocks fun center.

Joseph was a terror on the bumper boats...despite the fact that he seemed to only aim for his Mom.

Jacob and Jaden (cousin) fight it out on the bumper boats.

Joseph and his friends raced to the finish!

and his party was a HUGE success!

Jacob's Swim Meet & Jonathan's Preschool Graduation!

Jacob looking so calm before his first race! On your MARK...

GET SET...

GO BABY GO!!!!

He came in 4th place out of about 28. That is pretty good considering he was one of the youngest in the race

Jonathan with Mrs. Taylor.

Jonathan's Class!

Jonathan had a great day when he graduated from preschool last week. We can not believe he will be in kindergarten in the fall. He is excited to be able to "finally go to the same school as everyone else." We are so excited for him.

Sorry the video is sideways I can't figure out how to flip it.

LDS.org - Media

Ivan and I listened to this talk today given by Elder Bednar at a CES fireside earlier this month. It's a very interesting talk of things we have already been aware of but from a different angle.
LDS.org - Media

FREE KITTENS!!!

What is it about the word FREE that makes me want it? My guess is it is the lack of funds in the bank account right now.
So yesterday I had to make a quick run to the bank. In the parking lot this cute family had a sign that read "free kittens". I decided to stop and look with Abby. The next thing I know I am the proud new mommy of 2 baby girls kittens. They will take up residence in the garage and outside. Because we adopted a stray temporarily last year we already have all of the kitty stuff. I definitely have never been a cat person, but I guess I am changing in my older age!!! The kids love them, the dogs tolerate them & Ivan hopes they will help with critter control. Just for the record, if Ivan had brought home 2 kittens without talking to me first he would have been in big trouble. I am lucky he is alot nicer than me and I think he is a bigger animal lover than anyone I know. P.S. We have not officially named them, but we're thinking "Sissy & Sassy".

Happy Birthday Jordan!!

Jordan had his 7th Birthday last Thursday. He invited all of the boys in his first grade class over for a party on Saturday. We were surprised when a cute little girl from his class showed up. She felt very special to be the only girl Jordan had invited. The funny thing is he didn't mean to invite her. He did a pretty good job playing it off. Now the little girl goes out of her way to acknowledge Jordan -LOVE starts YOUNG!!

Having a horse was very convenient for his COWBOY Party. All of the kids went on horse rides around the backyard. However, now there are little wholes all over my yard from "Babe" taking a few snack breaks. They roasted hot dogs over the fire, threw wet footballs at Jessica, tried to throw snakes into cowboy boots, shot out candles with squirt guns and of course what party would be complete without a pinata?

Next year is Jordan's BIG 8!!! He is already talking about how excited he is to get baptized. WAY to go Jordan!

Happy Birthday Jacob!

WOW!! We officially have a teenager. Can you believe Jacob is now 13? As with everything else, when Ivan and I married we discussed different family traditions we had both grown up with. I really liked one his family did and so we also do it. The birthday child (in this case Jacob) is woken up at the crack of dawn with everyone singing "Happy Birthday" in English and Spanish. Last night Jacob slept on the couch in the basement since it was Saturday. Birthdays are one of the only days where it is not difficult to wake up the other kids. They seem eager to share in the excitement of the birthday child. So Jacob opened his "family" presents and than we all went and had birthday breakfast (Ivan cooked bacon and french toast). Tonight some friends came over for Jacob's favorite dinner (BBQ Chicken Pizza) and Strawberry Shortcake. Jacob is waiting until next week when the new Star Trek comes out to celebrate his birthday with his friends. All in all it was a great day for Jacob and another milestone for Ivan and myself. Just think, in 3 years he will be driving...aghh!!

So I didn't get a picture of the haircuts I gave the boys yesterday. But you get the idea with Jacob's, not so bad right?

Sammi's SHOCK!

This week entailed weeds and cookies. The weather is getting warmer, so every spare minute is spent picking weeds. Ivan is consumed with trying to make the grass grow and the weeds die.

On Wednesday Joseph had his space derby with the cup scouts. He didn't when but "silver bullet" looked cool! My friend Lara and I decorated 72 rocket sugar cookies for the event. Joseph also earned his Wolf that night, we are so proud of him.

We have a Standard Poodle named Sammi and a toy poodle named Emmi. Despite Sammi only being one year old, she is huge. Well she escapes out front every chance she gets and I get to play a fun game of chase. Somehow she always wins. Our neighbors Dave and Amber took pity on us after seeing me chase that dog what seemed like 20 times on Wednesday. By Thursday Sammi was sporting a fancy new "SHOCK" collar (borrowed from the neighbors). I was hesitant to use it, but it has changed everything. Only twice has she been shocked by me and she is like a new dog. Sammi actually comes in the front yard and plays without a leash on and comes when we call her. I do not think she will even need the collar by the end of the week. If only our kids could learn so quick!!!

We have been trying to find ways to cut back on expenses, so Ivan taught me how to cut the boys hair. Every one seemed a little skeptical except for my very trusting five year old, Jonathan. Together we actually did a pretty good job. Ivan was a little nervous when I told him I would be cutting his all by myself. It looks pretty good despite a few places (good thing his hair grows fast). I will post pictures of the new cuts tomorrow.

Abby's Haircut

Abigail was thrilled to model her new "self inflicted" haircut. Hopefully the attention doesn't encourage another. It definately will not be as easy to fix.
I have decided I actually really like the new cut!

Living Each Day To The Fullest

I finally caved and decided it is time to join all of you bloggers. I am excited to use my blog as a way of capturing some of the unbelievable and beleivable things that happen daily in our home. Many of you will be able to relate and many of you will be grateful for the calm lives you live. Enjoy the journey we call "Living Each Day To The Fullest".

Let me paint a picture for you. Friday was the last day of spring brake and so I decided to clean the house so we could go play in the afternoon. All of the kids were busy doing little things throughout the house while I finished cleaning in the kitchen. Jacob walked in and said, "Mom, I think Abigail is cutting her hair in the bathroom". Sure enough my sweet, independant 3 1/2 year old decided she wanted a "bob" style haircut. She had managed to cut the hair on both sides of her head to about the bottom of her ear before she was caught. Suprisingly enough it was fairly even. Unfortunalely the "mullet" haircut went out of style years ago. I bit my tounge and asked her why she cut her hair. She replied with her little giggle, "I want to look like Jessie!" At least she didn't cut it to short. We finally ended up with a very cute little"bob" haircut (after two professional haircuts).

Soon after this event I Had to take Ivan to the Dr. for a knee he hurt the previous week in a soccer game. We dropped him off at the Dr.'s office and headed to Alpine to feed our horse. I did not realize Jordan had the door open as I was driving slowly thru the gate to the corral. Once I realized it I slammed on the brakes a little to hard. He bit right thru his tounge and blood was going everywhere. Jessica fed the horses quickly and we headed to the Dr. where Ivan was already (how convenient for Jordan). Luckily for Jordan you can't get stitches in the tounge. The popsicles they gave him seemed to do the trick. Ivan however was not so lucky. He gets to see an orthopedic surgeon next week to see if his knee requires surgery to get heal. The Dr. says it might be time for him to retire soccer, but I have a feeling he would like a second opinion.

Needless to say the afternoon we planned to spend playing was delayed until Saturday. Despite everything, it ended up being a very memorable day.