Happy Birthday Terry!

Today is Grandpa's birthday and he is doing what he loves most, fishing! :)

We love you tons Terry and we are all so grateful for you, all you do for us and the love you show for each of us! We hope you are having a great birthday!

A great day...

Yesterday was a great day! Uncle Norris is in town and he is so much fun!!! He plays with the kids and they love to play with him. He plays video games with them, chases them around the house or outside and plays basketball with them.
Yesterday morning at 5 minutes to 8:00am the doorbell started ringing and ringing. What the...? I ran to the door and it was Uncle Norris. I told him to sshh because my Ashton was still sleeping and then I turned around and Ashton was walking down the hallway. Not any more! :) Norris stayed and played with Ashton, I took Sierra to school. When I left they were going to play with military toys and when I got home they were playing Hotwheels on the computer. Norris got addicted. Ashton left to come have breakfast and Norris was still playing on the computer. :) I started doing Pilates and then he had to go meet cousin James.
We were babysitting Ava and I decided since it was a beautiful day that I wanted to take the kids to the park. I called Sophi and she joined us. It felt so good to be outside. When I babysit for days at a time and I don't leave my house it gets depressing. I was so happy yesterday. We ate our lunch at the park and then just played. Then Uncle Norris called and we decided to go back to mom's house and play with him.
We were outside almost the whole day. I love that we can finally enjoy some spring!!!
Then I made cornbread muffins and honey butter for Pack Meeting. They were so good and everyone at Pack Meeting thought so too because they were gone.

Softball Champions!

I can't believe I forgot to post this. Last Thursday night Jake and his team, Father and Sons, won their softball championship! The kids and I love to go and watch him play but on his later games we can't because the kids have to get in bed. Unfortunately, we were not able to go to the Championship game because it was to late but we love that they won!!!

Usually they win t-shirts but this time they won a duffle bag.

I am his biggest fan. I love to watch him play! He is a great outfielder and loves to catch those fly balls, he'll dive for them too, he makes it interesting! I also love to watch him hit, he's talented and I'm very proud!

Rag Curls!

I got this idea from my friend Mary, who is the author of the blog, Crafter's Guru. I wanted to try it on my Sierra. I love to do sponge curlers on her for church on Sunday, she has great hair. I love trying new hairstyles on her. I tied the rags in her hair last night and she slept in them. I did bigger chunks of hair hoping that in the morning her curls would not be quite so tight. I think her hair turned out beautiful.

Thanks Mary for the great idea!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Saturday...

Today we participated in Mormon Helping Hands. We went to Castaic Lake and planted ground cover. There were tons of us there. We all were assigned different areas and different tasks. We all wore yellow vests that said Mormon Helping Hands, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We have recently planted a garden and a few days ago we planted some flowers and the kids really enjoy digging holes and planting. They were having fun planting this morning however, they did get a little tuckered out after an hour. It was a great experience, I'm glad we took part in it!

Then, the kids had finished their job charts so off we went to get them a special toy as a reward for all their hard work...

Then, Jake had to work to do so the kids and I watched "Beverly Hills Chihauhau". Cute movie, fun day!

Homemade Bread!

Today I made homemade wheat bread. Didn't it turn out so beautiful, it actually tasted yummy too! :) I love it toasted with butter (I will cut the piece fat so the outside is toasty and the inside is moist and soft), Sierra likes it plain and Ashton likes it just cut and put butter on it. Jake loves it in French Toast form for breakfast (SO SO YUMMY), he also loves it toasted with butter and a sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar (a very yummy treat).

Letters to Elder Blake Mendenhall...

On Tuesday I typed Blake a letter on the computer. Our ink was out so I could not print my letter out. Jake had the brilliant idea for me to email it to his work and he would print it out and bring it home. So Wednesday he brought my letter home and a letter home that he, Jake, wrote. Jake said, "here is your letter and I wrote him too." GREAT!!! Then the kids heard Jake say that and they both said "I want to write a letter to Uncle Blake." So on Thursday I put 4 letters in an envelope for Blake when initially it was going to be just one, mine.

We love this missionary and are so grateful for his service to our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is a great example for each of us and we are so proud!

LOVE YOU BLAKE!!!

Braces here we come...

Sierra had her first official appointment with the orthodondist today. She had her pictures taken, x-rays done and plaster molds done of her teeth. The process is taking to long, she can't get them on fast enough. She is so excited!

What we were up to today...

Babysitting and Baths!

Today we babysat Baby Blake and Coby and tonight we babysat Lincoln and Rocky. Tonight we were playing outside in the backyard after Spaghetti and Meatballs and the kids were filling up the watering can with the hose to water the bushes and it turned into Uncle Jake (Daddy) squirting the kids. They got in the bath to get cozy because that hose water is cold. Sierra didn't want to miss out on the party in the bathtub so she climbed in too. Soaped them all up and then we watched Curious George and they all got their own chocolate milk on the couch in a Sippy cup, yes even Sierra. :) Ashton asked me "why is Sierra using one of my sippy cups" I said "because it is a straw cup and so she can be on the couch too!"

Hot enough to play with the hose!

This morning Jake told the kids. "Kids it's going to be hot today so when I get home from work we are all going to get our bathing suits on and play with the hose." Well, kids don't forget a great idea like that so right when daddy walks in the door they told him "okay dad go get your bathing suit on!" :) The kids were laughing the whole time, they had so much fun with their dad!

All done and drying off. My heart is filled with joy when my kids are so sweet with each other, they are just sitting together talking.

Our first strawberry of the season! It's turning RED!

My Nana would be so proud!

I was sitting on my computer this morning blogging and my friend Megan inspired me to make my bed, so I got up and made my bed and then went in my kids room's and made their bed's too. (I know that's cheating because I should be teaching them to make it themself, we'll save that for another day). I feel good, this is a rare occasion so I thought I should document it. They all look so good when they are made. I really should be in the habit of doing it everyday. My nana has said "I always make my bed everyday, you are just lazy if you don't make your bed." Well, most days I'm lazy but not today! :)

Kids say the darndest things!

Ashton 2 years old August 2007-He lifts up my shirt to see my tummy and he sees my garments and says "Mommy, you have your jammies on".

Sierra 6 years old August 2007-She whispers in my ear "I know how milk gets in our boobies." I said "how?" she says "when we drink alot of milk then they just get filled up."

Sierra 6 years old August 2007-"My boobies are getting bigger."

Sierra 6 years old August 23, 2007-We were talking about how to have a baby. "I think it would be easier to lay eggs."

U is the letter of the week!

I have been slacking on doing our letter's but we did take a break during Spring Break so now I'm trying to get back into our routine. Not to many things start with the letter U but we did our best.

Ashton cut out the Uu and then we put a rain cloud and painted rain drops with a Q-tip. I drew an umbrella for him and I drew Ashton "u"nder the "u"mbrella.

It wasn't raining but we went outside and played with umbrella's.

Happy Easter!

We had a fun weekend! Yesterday we went to our friend, Kim's, annual Easter Egg Hunt... (photos courtesy of Briana, Thanks Briana!)

Ashton found two prize eggs and gave one of the prizes to his sister! :)

...and then we colored our Easter eggs and then we went to my dad's for dinner and a fun chocolate egg and chocolate bunny hunt. This morning we had Jake's mom and dad and Travis and Miriam over for an Easter Egg hunt and breakfast. We started off the morning with a special Easter thought that Jake had prepared to remind our kid's that the true meaning of Easter is Christ's Resurrection. Then we went in the backyard to hunt for our colored hard boiled eggs. We had an Easter Challenge for our kids this year. The Easter Bunny hid the first clue in a plastic egg outside and then each clue took them through the house until they found their Easter baskets hidden under our armoire. The activity was really fun and it was nice for them to have to wait until they got their goodies. Then we had a yummy breakfast filled with waffles, blueberries and strawberries, hash browns and bacon and sausage (that Janelle and Terry brought). It was a great morning. We then went to church came home and made chocolate chip cookies and headed out to Aunt Ruthie's. Got to visit with cousin Kristy and Aunt Rosie and cousin Stacey and her family, she just had a baby 2 weeks ago. I spent time with the kids on the trampoline and inside with the grownups, it was a great balance. :) We had another Easter Egg hunt out there and there were eggs everywhere. We all had a great time!

We are coloring eggs...

I love the tongue... :)

I helped Ashton draw trucks on his eggs...

Easter Morning...

Heading off to church...

What goes on in a 4 year old's mind?

The other day Ashton was going #2 and I noticed he was covering his eyes with his hands. When he was all done I asked him "why did you cover your eyes?" He said "because I didn't want the water to splash in them!"

Science Center and more...

Yesterday we went to the Science Center in Orange County, Me and my kids, Sophi and her kids and our mom. We all hopped in mom's car and headed down the 5 at about 10:15am, we sat in traffic for 2 1/2 hours-what the...? The science center was very cool, very hands-on and my kids had a great time (it was their first time). The highlight of the day though was the Bubblefest show. OH MY!! This guy was so cool and was doing like magic tricks with the bubbles, using a smoke machine to put smoke in the bubbles, putting kids inside a giant bubble. I was so proud of my kids and Lincoln because before the show started they told the kids that they had to stay on their bottoms and stay inside the yellow box (there was a yellow box made with tape right in front of the stage for the kids to sit in). I had to reinforce the rules and remind them one more time before the show started, they stayed on their bottoms the entire show, what great listeners- I was so proud!!! Most of the other kids kept getting up and trying to pop the bubbles and the workers kept having to seat them back down, it was very distracting and annoying. GREAT TIME!!!!
Sierra is laying on a bed of nails! Ashton would not do this one.:)

Ashton is the Weather Man!

Sierra made this snowflake!

Ashton made this one!

The wind was blowing and circling around them at 78.4 mph.

Sierra is playing virtual volleyball! Her team kept winning, she was having so much fun!!!


This is them on the TV screen. Her team is on the left. She is toward the back and has her hands up.
You could hear the dinosaur's heart beating as the kids would turn this crank.

We then went to Briana's and hung out there for a little bit and then we went to Sharky's for dinner, got a fish taco-YUMMY!!! We were outside eating and a Firetruck pulled up, the kids were all waving at the Fireman and he waved back and then turned on the lights for the kids. He then came over to our table with a Junior Fireman hat for each of the kids and a Fireman sticker badge. WOW- so fun and so nice!!! We then went to Tutti Fruiti-so FUN! You get to squirt the frozen yogurt in your cup yourself and whatever flavors you want and put whatever toppings on that you want.