Thankful

I need to write this down before I forget.
The other night while getting ready for family prayers Casey was helping Olivia think of some things she is thankful for that she could say in her prayer. They named a few and Olivia said she will thank him for everything.
Casey thought she was going to repeat everything they said but she just said,
"Thank you for everything."
At the end of the prayer Casey told her that we need to name the things we are thankful for.
Then Brooklyn chimed in and said,
"Yeah, because if we were thankful for everything we would be thankful for cigarettes, and we are NOT thankful for those!"

Tag...I'm it...

Fouth file, fourth picture. You get the idea...

This is a picture from the Blazer game Casey and I went to last April. We got tickets from his boss. It was a much needed date night, I was 8 months pregnant. We were in the 7th row. It was sooo fun! We watched Shaq and Steve Nash and the Suns play the Blazers. We were so close you could hear them talking and everything! I've only seen them on TV so this was pretty cool, to see them in real life. They're like real people! Crazy!

I tag: Allison P., Rebeca L., Lacey B., Melissa J.

Olivia's Last Game of the Season

Halloween

What a happy Halloween! Beautiful weather, 4 happy kids, good food, no accidents.

This was the first year I actually went "trick or treating" with the kids. It was so fun to watch them. All three of them totally get the concept and are so excited to say trick or treat. Cody was even in a good mood the whole time! The weather was PERFECT, dry and not even cold! I had my family over for dinner, I didn't do the usual "dinner in a pumpkin" but we had yummy white chili and mom made some delicious mud pies! Mom and Dad manned our doors so that Callie and I could go trick or treating with our families. Here are some pictures of Pocahontas, Iridessa (Tinkerbell's fairy friend), Batman, and our little Jack-O-Lantern.

Boo Who

We were "Booed"! That means some one in our neighborhood left some yummy goodies and a note on our porch. The note tells us that now we need to do the same to 3 other people who haven't had it done yet. I have to come clean, in the past we've slacked and never booed back... I know we're lame/lazy. But this year the girls were so stoked about doing it so we gave it a go.
Good clean family fun. Right?
Wrong.
It was fun decorating the bags, picking out the goodies to go in, and deciding who to "BOO". But when we got to the house and Nathan was supposed to leave his bag at he flipped! Brooklyn took the bag and left it and ran back to the car, but Nathan just stood there in the driveway screaming/crying! He wouldn't move. I jumped out and ran and grabbed him, threw him in the car and we took off. He continued to cry for the other 2 houses, saying he wanted "his" candy bag back. The whole time he thought he was packing the bag for himself. We didn't realize he didn't grasp the concept. Needless to say, Mom and Dad had some explaining to do as to why we gave HIS candy away.

Curb Appeal

For awhile now I've felt like my front yard looked like a rental home. It was maintained and very symmetrical but also very boring! I thought about adding different plants or throwing in a few rocks or something but none of it would really change the look. So I had to call in the Pro's.
Mom & Dad Custom Landscaping Co.
My mom thought of what to do, and my dad lifted the HEAVY boulders. They brought me the dirt and everything! So awesome! Then my mom and I went and picked out some nice plants at Shorty's. I took down the (plastic) railing and got a cute table and chairs. It turned out so beautiful! Love it! No more rental home, it's mine now.

Before

After

Pumpkin Patch

It was Olivia's turn to go with her pre-school to the Pumpkin Patch. She was so excited! She remembered that when Brooklyn went we packed lunches and ate at the picnic tables. So she helped me pack everyone a lunch. At the end of the trip she got all settled at a table and was ready for a picnic. The problem was that nobody else was staying for lunch. I felt so bad. I told her we could go get frostys at Wendy's instead and she took it well.

Nathan came along with us. This is ALL he cared about. TRACTORS. He was very upset that we had to look at the animals first. Then he went from tractor to tractor and was so busy he wouldn't even look up when he said "cheese".

Slugs!

This is who we found trying to sneak across our driveway one morning. He wanted my flowers! This is the biggest slug we've seen at our house. I went to go get a shovel to get rid of it and Olivia had already gotten a plastic bag and picked it up and tossed it in the grass. I thought about putting salt on it but wondered if that was something we just did as kids for fun and to torture slugs. So I scooped it up and threw it in the street. That was probably just as bad, but at least I didn't have to watch it die.

A Weekend at Liberty Lake

We had the chance to visit Melissa's family last weekend. We hadn't be out there for quite awhile. We had a very nice visit. Our kids finally play with their cousins with out needing Casey or I to chaperon. The girls had such a blast. Even Nathan talks about his cousin Chase and how big/cool he is. (Nathan is still working on playing nice and his admiration for his cousins didn't always show. Nathan thinks people like to be teased and wrestled.) Anyway we had fun just relaxing and visiting. And we had the chance to watch Breck get ordained. Thanks Jensen's for inviting us to visit! I only took a couple pictures.

Olivia's Pumpkin Party

Olivia had here 5th Birthday party. I decided to let loose and let her invite anyone she wanted. She had so much fun, but it was a pretty big bunch of girls! She got to dress up and play some games with her friends. She loves being 5!

Brooklyn wanted to dress up as a pumpkin. This is what she came up with. She is so creative.

Oktoberfest!

On October 3rd our ward had an Oktoberfest instead of the usual "Halloween" party. It was a blast and the girls still got to dress up. I took my cran-apple pie and the girls dressed up in "German" attire. I lost to Callie in the Marshmallow contest. Now we know who has the bigger mouth!!!

Some of Callie's pics

Hobbies?

I have always hated it when I had to fill out something and it asked what my HOBBIES or talents are. I've really never known what to write. When Casey and I were dating I would joke with him that I wasn't really good at anything, but that I wasn't really BAD at anything either. (I've found the later to be incorrect occasionally). Anyway, I guess that I've always been a dabbler. I like to try everything, but I always change so I never really excel at anything, which doesn't bother me except when I have to fill out those questionnaires.
So I think I know what my hobbies are these days. I'm back into scrapbooking, photography, and blogging (obviously). I also still LOVE running, but I am way too disorganized right now and don't have the FEAR of Hood to Coast. Hopefully I'll pick it up again after soccer season. I kind of quit scrapbooking because I just couldn't keep up. Plus all my pictures are on the computer now so I don't have to worry about filing them or remembering when I took them. Photography I gave up on because I got myself this really cool film camera a couple years too early, right before digital became the rage. Anyway, I am a slow learner with the lighting and such, and that is a very expensive way to be on a film camera.
So here's why I'm back into them. Photoshop. I love it! I've decided that is the real hobby. I can make my mediocre pictures look really cool (well I think they're cool) and now that I figured out how to download scrapbook papers and embellishments, I can scrapbook without making a visit to the craft store! I've helped Ashley get started too, it's pretty fun working on pages and showing each other what we've done.
I also had the chance to take some pictures for a friend. It is so fun to see how I can tweak a picture to make it look just the way I want.
So here's my new problem. Now I want a new camera. A digital one that can do all the things my film camera did. I think I could learn a little faster on a digital camera. My sister-in-law, Natalie's pictures are so cool, and I thought how great it would be to just take the picture right in the first place. I wouldn't have to spend quite as much time on the computer...

These are a few of my favorite pictures of my friends girls!

Soccer Pictures

For Olivia's team we decided to take our own team pictures. I'm trying out digital scrap booking so I used some of my stuff to do the page for the team. I think they are way cuter than the Professionals and way cheaper.

Soccer Witches

Another soccer practice. The girls were helping Casey put the cones away and found a better use for them! Olivia made sure I got a picture of her "silly face".

Soccer Season in Full Force

So the girls had their first games this weekend. And Casey says I'm an official "Soccer Mom" now.......oh no what have I done/become!? Brooklyn had her game first and is doing so great. Her team is getting pretty fun to watch. They actually have strategies and plays, instead of just chasing the ball, like last year. She was able to make 3 goals in this game. She was so stoked!

Then an hour and half later Olivia had her first game. She is a natural! I just hope she isn't too aggressive! She loves stopping the ball and taking it down the field by herself. She also made 3 goals. Both girls had a blast. I think one of their highlights were the snacks though! They loved comparing what each got. At the end of the day though, I think Casey and I were the most tired!

Getting Schooled

The day has finally arrived! School is in! Woo Hoo! School started on Sept. 3rd. Brooklyn started 1st grade and Olivia started pre-school.

The day started out smoothly. We were out the door right on time (quite a feat for me given my history of tardiness). We live close enough to school that we don't get a bus, but we are too far away for Brooklyn to just walk by herself. So all 5 of us headed out to Brooklyn's school. They wanted to ride bikes, but Brooklyn was in a dress, so I compromised and let the girls ride their scooters. I thought that would be safer... WRONG! About 50 yards from school Brooklyn takes a spill and cuts her hand open! She's screaming and everyone has to go around us to get to school. Luckily the playground aide had a "magic" band aid. The instant I put it on her she was better. All the while I'm having flashbacks of the first week of Kindergarten, when she crashed on her bike and missed school. I think Brooklyn is going to have to stick to her feet for awhile! A bus would be so much safer!!!

Anyway, she thought she was going to get a school lunch and was a little disappointed when I made her a sack lunch. But when she came home she told me that she's glad she had a sack lunch because she gets to choose what she wants and that at school she would just have to eat what they gave her. (I think she saw what the other kids got and didn't like the looks of it) Such a picky eater!

Olivia started pre-school with Miss Carolyn. She was so excited. She doesn't start until 1:00pm but got ready early in the morning with Brookie. She told me all about the "time out" chair and how she is never going to sit on that!

This is all exciting to me because for 3 days a week I am only going to have 2 kids at home for 3 hours! Prime errand running time, or sleeping, or cleaning, or blogging, or ... the possibilities are endless! And next year will be even better, when Nathan goes to pre-school! Although it is exciting, it is all happening soooo fast! I'm trying to still enjoy this time with the kids at home, because it'll be over before I know it.

Coach Casey and the Soccer Sisters

Soccer season has begun! Brooklyn is playing again, and Olivia is playing for the first time. Olivia's team didn't have a coach so Casey volunteered. She is pretty excited to have her dad as the coach. And from what Casey says she wants to take advantage of being "the coach's favorite". This is Casey's first time coaching soccer, and I think it is a little trickier than he thought. He says all they want to do is play tag, duck duck goose, and pick each other up. Their first game is still 2 weeks away so we'll see what happens. I just figure with 4 kids he is going to have to coach at some point, and he might as well get the hang of it while they are young.

Coming out of Hibernation

This is just a cute picture of Brookie yesterday. I know everyone has seen what static from a trampoline can do, but it is still cute!
Anyway today I came out of hibernation, and dared to go to Costco with all 4 of my kids for the first time in 2 years. I was pretty nervous. You never know what is going to be the trigger that gets ruins the trip. Cody getting a poopy diaper, Nathan having to go to the bathroom, Olivia accusing me of not being fair when I buy things for people other than herself ( we call her Mrs. EvensStevens, she is always watching to make sure she gets her fair share), Brooklyn just saying she's tired of walking and usually all of the above. Well I chanced it. And... believe it or not they were soo good! We even stayed and got hot dogs! Which they ate with out complaint (the majority of conflicts in our house is over food). Then this older couple sitting next to us actually complimented them, saying that they are such well behaved children! I was so stoked! This was a first! I think I just might be able to start taking my kids out in public again!

Today was a good day

Sunday, August 24th 2008
Today was a good day for Nathan. His nursery teacher actually said he was wonderful in class today. This is far removed from the past comments that he did "alright" or "he's doing better" or he "got into a few fights". He is alot different than our girls were in nursery, alot more physical. But finally, after 2 years of nursery, we got a good report. Nathan was pretty stoked too. I asked him to give me a "thumbs up" and this is his version.

Hair today, gone tomarrow

Cody with all his hair, in June.


Cody with much, much less hair in August!




On Saturday August 16th Cody got his 1st haircut. When he was born he had so much hair! He looked like Captain Kangaroo with his sideburns! But now that he is 3 months old, he has the bald spot all the way around his head and his hair has thinned out... so it looked pretty shaggy. So, since we live next door to a cosmetologist, my sister Callie, he was able to get a professional haircut. As you can see, he took it very seriously!

Ready to Run? Portland's Rock' N Relay

Rock'n Relay August 2nd, 2008

This is a Marathon Relay split between 4 people up by OHSU in Portland. The kids came with us because they have it at a park with bounce houses and face painting. The kids played in the bounce house for almost 4 hours! This was my first race after having Cody. It hurt! I didn't run while I was pregnant, unless it was to catch Nathan. And I was lazy and haven't run much since. Anyway, I paid the price. I thought it wouldn't be bad, a 2 mile loop 3 times. I didn't count on the hill! It was all uphill the first mile and all down the second. I was so slow! And I hurt pretty bad the next day. Oh well, now I'm motivated to get back into shape. I totally want do it next year, and maybe focus on my time, not just surviving!