Kadee's 9th Birthday!

Sunday we had a Valentine's Dinner at Derk and Debbie's and celebrated Kadee, Devin, and Debbie's Birthdays.  Kadee made the cake and it turned out so cute, she was so excited to blow out her candles until Devin and Zac started fighting over the lighter and ended up hitting her in the forehead with it.  I was kind of upset and she was really upset.  I had a stern talk with my kids later to let them know we don't ever play with fire and that we never try to grab something like that out of someones hands, especially when there is an open flame. 

Yesterday we celebrated Kadee's 9th birthday, I can't believe it!  She woke up at 6:00 am to open presents and that is HUGE for her, I'm usually dragging her out of bed and then rushing around so she won't be late.  I made her a delicious home lunch and then took cupcakes to her class and had everyone sing to her.  Her best friend Jordan came over after school and they jumped on the tramp and played for hours.  Finally I took them to the college to get pedicures and we went to McDonald's for dinner and Oreo McFlurries.  She had such a fun day but then woke up in the middle of the night with the stomach flu.  Her and Matthew were sick all night and all day today.  It was so sad and an exhausting day for me.  Matthew had a hard time puking in a bowl so I ended up cleaning all the bedding, carpets, and couch.  Needless to say the laundry situation in our house was out of control.  Thankfully Debbie took some laundry home for me and helped me get most of it done.

     

Matthew & Kinlee had their Valentine's parties on Monday and Tuesday.  These are the cute Valentine's we made. 

Rory's new plaque on his door, I'm so proud of him!  He has worked so hard to get this position and has waited a long time to prove he has what it takes to do well.

Models and cookies

 We've had a fun week.  Monday I got a text from a lady whose daughter used to be in my preschool.  She is a professional photographer and asked if Kinlee would like to be a part of a photo shoot for a clothing line for Costco.  She had so much fun and loved hamming it up for the camera.  I'm not sure when the ad will be published, but it was a fun experience.

Kadee joined Girl Scouts (again) and started selling cookies.  She loves to be busy but hasn't quite decided what she wants to be busy with.  She's also been really into babysitting lately.  She had my cousin Ashlee's little girl come over and she did all sorts of crafts with her.

Connor received his Webelos badge and had a great pack meeting about people with disabilities.  A lady who was deaf and her husband came and spoke to the kids and then they had obstacles that they had to do without some of their senses.  He also got a king size candy bar from his math teacher for being the only kid in 4th grade to work on the math website at home.  He got to eat the candy bar in front of both fourth grade classes and he loved it.

Matthews highlight of the week was when he got Bella to jump in the tub with him.  He was so excited and they splashed around together and played with bath toys together.   

Helper in house gymnastics meet

Tonight was Pineau's in house tumbling meet in Helper.  Connor, Kadee, and Kinlee all competed in their individual levels and did great.  Kinlee went first and rocked it.  She did so well on her passes and she took 1st overall.  Connor and Kadee were next.  They both did their individual groups and each took 2nd overall in their own groups.  They had lots of support there too,  Connor's math/science teacher was there to watch him and Shalyce, and grandma Debbie came and brought Landon, Valyssa, and Zac.  I am super proud of them, they did great and have worked hard.  A couple days ago Connor crashed hard on his bike, so that's why he looks beat up in all my pictures.  He flew over the handlebars and landed on his face, it was pretty miserable.    

Some other exciting news is our drywall is being hung. They finished the upstairs today and will be done with the garage and basement next week.  We also went and picked out our cabinets and counter tops today and they are gorgeous (if I do say so myself).  As soon as the drywall is done in the garage we can get our garage doors installed and our brick will be delivered next Wednesday.  I am so excited to get out of this rental and into our home.  We've loved living across the street from Derk and Debbie, but it is ridiculously hard having four kids, a dog, and a husband in a single wide trailer.  I feel like it's never clean and is so crowded.  The countdown is on, hopefully we will be done and moved in by the end of March.

Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday to 12.4 years ago.  I can't believe how fast time goes.  Even through our ups and downs, Rory remains my best friend. We have been through a lot in a little over a decade. 
We've:
Been married for 4,521 days
Lived in 7 homes (8 when our house is done)
Had 4 kids
Had 7 different cars (we have a problem, we keep trading cars in looking for the perfect one, I don't think it's out there)
7 different trucks (I guess we have a problem with trucks too)
3 camp trailers
Several turkeys
6 dogs (we currently have our German Shepard Bella and have unfortunately had terrible luck with dogs.  2 died from Parvo, one we had to give away when we moved to a rental, one was hit by a truck, and 2 ran away)
3 cats
2 trips to Disneyland
1 Mexican cruise
Have traveled several different places
Countless camping trips

And much more!!

Insulation!

Insulation went in this week, they start on dry wall tomorrow, the house is coming right along!

Welcome to 2015

So far so good!  We spent New Year's Eve with Derk & Debbie, Jeff & Emily, Miles & Chris (and their kids), Derek & Nicole (and their kids), and Logan, Kella, & Landon.  We had a meat tray, doughnuts, dips, and all sorts of goodies to munch on.  We played some games and visited while the kids ran around in the gym and put on a parade for us to ring in the new year.  Connor, Logan, and Devin didn't leave the gym all night.  They played basketball and soccer until we made them come out to go home.  It was a low key night but we had a lot of fun.

The Friday after new year's we rode up to SLC with Jeff & Emily and went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and then to a Jazz game.  The game was a blast!  We always have such a good time when we go out with our friends.  We got home late, late, but Kadee was so nervous she insisted we come and get her from Kyle and Candee's, the other kids were already asleep so they had a sleep over.

Saturday morning we got up and headed back to SLC with the kids.  We went to see grandma Bet and grandpa Earl and then went and had lunch at Wally's restaurant.  He is such a great guy.  He bought our lunch and we were able to visit with him for a little bit, but not nearly long enough.  After that we went Ice Skating at the Gallivan Center.  It's a lot harder than I remember it being as a kid!  Connor and Rory got the hang of it pretty quick, but the rest of us stayed near the rails and took our time going around.  Finally we made our way to the Stay bridge Suites (the hotel with the big red water slide) and went swimming.  The kids swam until they were starving, so we ordered room service and all of us crashed and were asleep by 9:00!   The next morning we headed to the Living Planet Aquarium.  Aunt Susan got us a year membership there for Christmas and we wanted to go check it out.  It is a great place!  The kids were mesmerized and got to touch a live star fish, cross a rope bridge, and watch a 4D movie about life under the sea.  The highlight was the shark feeding.  Kadee said, "it feels like we are underwater!"  It was such a great weekend, it was so hard to come back to school and work.  When's our next break?!

 

New years resolutions

Every year I make resolutions I sometimes keep and sometimes don't.  I love it though,  so I make new resolutions every year.

These are mine for 2015:
1. Be more patient
2. Be more crafty
3. Learn basic Spanish
4. Do things to exercise my brain
5. Eat healthier,  workout at least 4 times a week,  and lose 15 lbs.
6. Spend less time on my phone and more time in the moment.

Rory's are to:
1. Swear less
2. Lose 20lbs.
3. Finish the house