Where Have I Been?

It's not like me to let a couple weeks go by w/o some kind of post. We have been really busy and haven't even been home much lately. We spent a long Easter Weekend in Island Park and had sooo much fun. Then we came home for a few days and left again for Boise for Donevan's Uncle's Funeral. So, now we are back and Spring Break is over. It's snowing here today. Nice hu!!! I was glad to send the girls out the door to school today. We have spent a lot of time in the car traveling and we're all ready for life to get back to normal. So, when I unpack all our bags and find our camera, I will post some Easter pics and pics from our trip to Boise.

Advice Please!

So now that DJ is one, I know that it's time to start weening him off the bottle. The only problem is that I can't get him to take a sippy cup. I have tried many different types of sippy cups and he takes a sip and then spits it out. It's like he can't figure out how to drink out of a sippy. I introduced the sippy about 6 months ago and tried giving it to him at mealtimes. After six months, he still isn't interested and just makes a huge mess. Any suggestions from all you professional mom's would be greatly appreciated!

Stocking Up!

So I have been stocking up and working on my food storage. My friend Emily and I drove to a case lot sale the other day to take advantage of some great deals. It feels really good to have a pantry full of food. I'm sure many of you have noticed the increase in the cost of groceries lately. The news the other night was interviewing a grocery store and the clerk was saying that just about everything has raised in price since 2007. I have also noticed that all the restaurants have raised their prices and gotten new menus. I was even surprised to see that Wendy's dollar menu is a lot smaller and most items that used to be a dollar are now 1.19 or 1.29. Yikes!!! When you're feeding a family of 6...this all adds up quickly.

Well this is putting me in gear to stock up and be more frugal with my shopping. Last summer as I was talking with someone about food storage and how I needed to work on it, she said something that has stuck with me since. She said that she could handle a natural disaster, etc. and not being able to eat, but to think about having to watch her children starve is enough to make sure that she was ready for anything that comes her way. That really struck me. Ever since, I have been trying to stockpile and be more prepared in all areas. It seems like more and more these days there are so many disasters striking and no one is prepared. And with our economy the way it's heading, who know's what's in store for our future?

Blogging Slacker

Yes, I have been a slacker lately with my blogging. I haven't been feeling well the last few days. I think I got a case of the flu. I haven't wanted to leave my bed. I am feeling a little better today...but I didn't sleep well last night. We watched a scary movie last night (that new Jody Foster movie from cleanflicks) and I had nightmares all night. I can't remember the last time I have had nightmares. Crazy!

Reality TV Junkie!!!

So, I have to do my little ramble on my favorite TV shows! I love American Idol, but I only get into it when it gets down to the final 12 girls and 12 guys. So, I 've been watching for a few weeks no and I definitely have my favorites. I love this kid. He is so innocent and I love his voice. I am also a big fan of Brooke. Her performance playing the piano was amazing!! I thought it was one of the best performances of all time!

I only saw the first week of Oprah's Big Give, but I loved it. I have the other two episodes on TiVo. When I get a chance I will definitely watch them. If the other two episodes are like the first, it might become my favorite show. Finally something good to watch on Sunday Night.

Survivor, Survivor, Survivor!!! So, I love Ozzy from the favorites!!! He looks so different this season though. I don't like his looks as much. It must be his hair. I can't wait to see if anyone uses the hidden immunity that he made! So funny!


I only have one thing the say about Apprentice. If Trace Atkins doesn't win it all, I will never watch the show again.....(well maybe until next season)
I am really a reality TV junkie. I do look forward to the summer when we NEVER turn the TV on. I might even cancel my cable for the summer. We are so busy and spend so much time outside that we never watch anything. Let me just tell you that if you lived in Idaho during these long depressing winters, you too would become a tv junkie. I am blaming it on that and that's my final answer!!!

Getting Into Trouble!!!

I can't even keep up with this boy! He is into EVERYTHING. Is this normal for a 1 year old? I thought this was more like 2 year old behavior. I will let him play in his room and the next thing I know he has pulled all his clothes out of his drawers, all his shoes out of his closet and then he's made his way to the bathroom to pull all the shampoo out of the tub and start pumping it out onto the floor. (That was fun to clean up) He's started unraveling all the toilet paper in all three bathrooms. In the office he pulls all the paper out of the printer. Yesterday he pulled the lamp off my end table onto himself. In the master closet, he pulls all the shoes off the shelves. He has the time of his life in the kitchen. He's into every drawer, pulling out all the Tupperware and when he's lucky enough to see that I have left the pantry door open, he's in there pulling all my cans of food off the shelves. He won't stop going. He's like the energizer bunny! He is understanding "No". He's just so cute, I can't ever be mad at him.

Weekend At The Cabin

We took a much needed quick trip to the cabin last weekend. It was really nice weather up there. There is still almost 4 feet of snow, but it was sunny and warm. As you can tell from this picture, the girls could barely keep their eyes open for the picture, it was so sunny. It's kind of nice to get away from the world a little bit and enjoy nature and eachother w/o the telephone ringing or the TV blaring. We enjoy quiet moments up there playing games and just relaxing.

We are really looking forward to going up there in the spring. We are so ready for Spring around here. The last few days the weather has been pretty nice and I love all the kids out in the neighborhood playing. My tulips are even starting to come up. Yeah! I was a little nervous about them since I haven't ever planted tulips. I will really appreciate them this Spring!

DJ's 1st Birthday Party

The girls were definitely more excited about DJ's birthday than he was, but he felt pretty special. In the morning when he woke up, I could hear the girls singing Happy Birthday to him as they greeted him. It was pretty cute! He got lots of fun new toys that he loves playing with.

Cute Cake!!! They're free at Albertson's for 1st Birthdays!

Best thing about turning #1!!!

New Haircuts!!!

On Friday I took the girls in and they all got haircuts. We were getting to the point where their hair was a lot of work. I originally was only going to cut Brittany's off because her hair is so thick and difficult to take care of, but then Ashleigh wanted to cut hers off too. These are pictures of Ashleigh and she had the longest hair. She donated her hair to "Locks of Love"! She was very excited about that. More pictures of the short hair to come later!

Please Excuse The Mess!

My blog is under construction for who knows how long so if things look funny, that's why!!!!

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY TO MY D.J.

I can't believe my baby is a year!!! This picture was taken when he was just a few weeks old. Wow how the time just flies! I am so blessed to have this sweet boy and he makes me smile everyday. I love you DJ!!! More pictures to come from his birthday party!

HAPPY 18th BIRTHDAY BROOKE!!!

A Little Bit of Journaling about one of my favorite people:

My niece Brooke is 18 today. I still remember the day that she was born...and with me being the youngest in my family I was so excited to have her as my niece. One of the reasons why we have such a fun relationship is that we got to live together when I was younger. Her Dad was in school and so her family lived in my parents basement. We would fight like sisters and we loved like sisters too. She would get into my makeup and I remember being so mad when I would get home from school and I could tell she'd been in my room. I remember always seeing her in the bleachers at my basketball games. She was one of my best fans.

Brooke is one of the most talented people I know. She was sewing at the age of 5 and cooking way before that. In college I called her to ask how to make cookies and I think I called her once about making French Toast. She planned and ran craft summer camps for children and made lots of money doing it! She is an excellent Basketball player despite her severe asthma. And I can't not mention her organization skills. Everything in her room is labeled. (When she visits, she always organizes for me...this is a bonus with her moving here). She is also an excellent student, great big sister to 5 brothers/sisters, awesome Niece and Aunt...and much much more.

One of my most vivid memories is of Brooke when she was a baby. I probably remember it so much because it was one of the scariest moments in my life. I was feeding Brooke her first bottle of formula with her parents and unbeknown st to us, she was allergic to milk and had a very serious reaction. The ambulance came and I just remember being so scared. Another scary incident happened while were were at the mall shopping together (she has always been my shopping buddy). We were getting our favorite strawberry slush drinks from Fresh N' Fruity at Tysons Corner Mall (that we had gotten millions of times before) and somehow they gave her the wrong drink and it had milk in it. She started getting really sick again and didn't have her benedryl with her. So luckily, there was a drug store in the mall and I remember sprinting to the store, grabbing the benedryl and throwing the money at the cashier not standing in line or waiting for change. I caught up with her just about as she was throwing up at the Clinique counter in Hecht's. Luckly, she was ok after getting her medicine! Bring allergic to milk hasn't been an easy thing for Brooke and probably one of her biggest trials in life, but she is always so positive about it and just has her special treats that she can have!!

I am so excited for the Fall when Brooke and I will be living close by each other again. (She's moving here for school) We haven't lived near each other in 9 years!!! I just can't wait to go shopping together and watch her mature and enjoy some of the funnest times at College. Happy Birthday Brookie!!! I love you!!!

My Neice Brooke

The best news I have gotten in a long time is that my niece Brooke has decided to come to Idaho and go to BYU-I. I couldn't be more excited! Brooke and I are like sisters and it's been hard to live so far away from one another. The other bonus is that this means my brother Ron and Sister in Law Beth will be out here more to visit. YEAH!!!!

More Sickness!

What? How is this happening to me. We were so good this year and all got our flu shots, but this has been the worst winter for sickness for our family. In the middle of the night, Brittany woke up throwing up. I can handle just about every sickness and believe me, we've been through them all this winter, but throwing up I can't stand. So Brittany 's been sick all day...hopefully no one else gets it! We'll see if were lucky.
P.S. DJ, Donevan and I still have head colds. Yucky! It just seems to go from one sickness to the next.