September, October, November

Wow time flys when I look back. We have been non stop around here-mostly me I guess. I've been begining to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown since August hit, but then I seem to get a few days break before we go again. It's Thanksgiving weekend, we went hiking, spent ALL day at Grandma Sandy's, pie making, Christmas decorating, family picture taking-and now on Sunday I have a cold from it all. But, I decided to skip out on church for the first time in-well-I can't remember the last time we skipped church. Davy's working and this cold wasn't going to fly getting everyone dressed, wrestling them at church, and being YW president. We set up our new Christmas tree and it looks so much better than our Charlie Brown one we had for almost 8 years!

We welcomed another Bodine baby. Little Afton Kasey Klein was born at the end of October. Kasey had a hospital stay a week after she was born, but I was happy to watch the new baby. She is getting fat quick. Kasey hasn't lost her marbles yet, but is very tired and tied down at home. I've been the Ultimate Aunti between everyone's kids, I'm just glad I can serve my sisters when they have done so much for me in the past.

Soccer is over hooray! Even Will was excited for it to end. It was EVERY Tuesday and Saturday! He imporved this year though on the Teal Tigers.

Halloween was normal. We went to the ward carnival where half my laurels flaked out of their booth job, but the kids had fun. On Halloween we went with Kristen to her trunk-or-treat because Davy was working-the kids had a blast and it was fun to be with Kristen.

We took a trip to Pinedale with Grandma and Grandpa. Davy worked and earned a little cash. Will worked right along side him and Grandpa the whole time, he had so much fun. I was bored with the girls so decided to take a trip into Snowflake with them. We saw the Standifird house, the cemetery, the temple, went to MacDonalds, and went to a pumpkin patch. It turned into a very fun outing for me and the girls.

We watched the Bodine kids for a few days while Ty and Steph were out of town. Little baby Andrew was sick the whole time I had him, but he was the best sick baby I've ever taken care of. He has such a good nature. We also dog sat the few days before Bodines came over October break. Poppy and Harly Heaton-will loved it, the girls, not so much.

My piano recital "Night of Classics" was fabulous, and they all did well. It was a lot of work for me-as usual-but the students were beaming with pride.

I've been working on my Grandpa Warren's life history. It's been a lot of work but also a great blessing. I finally have everything compiled and now it's time to start typing. I've done interviews, got photos, memories, stories, and journals. It's a huge project. The more I learn about him, the more I realize how much like my Dad he is. Fun.


And now, here we are in December. I've been worrying about Christmas presents and paying for Will's upcoming dental bill. The vacuume broke this week, the lawn mower broke a month ago, my car side mirror has been hanging with duck tape for 2 months, our tires on the burb are so bad it's illegal and dave won't let me drive it, and so on, and so on, and so on... (but at lest we were able to roll up my car window for $300!!!! I guessing it's better then what I was doing-getting rained on)

I'm dreading the spring-dragging my kids to piano every day, cleaning houses, trying to potty train Holly (which I'm failing at miserably), trying to keep up with Will's school stuff, doing YW, and Davy working like a mad man. The laundry sits in an eternal pile on my bedroom floor waiting to be put away.But-I'm grateful that I get to wake up every day and be the one taking care of my kids. I'm grateful that we are all healthy enough that we can do all these things. And I'm grateful for this great house that we have. Of course, I'm extremly grateful for my Davy. Not only do I have a husband, but he a extraordinary one. So luck am I. Truly, the Lord has blessed me and my family. I have it so good.
Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

Allison is 4

Allison had her 4th Birthday, this girl had 3 days of parties, one at Grandma Sandy's, a swim party with the Bodine's on Labor Day, and our day at home. Her and Jacob's cake turned out cute, she got spoiled by her family, and got to go on an outing to Macdonalds and the store with Grandma. How I love my Allie, she has the best personality. She sings all the time, and tells long crazy stories. What an imagination. She also is the most easy going and happy in the house, gotta appreciate that!

Flagstaff

Mom and Dad sponsered a trip to Flagstaff the first week school started, the last hooray to our summer. It was wonderful! We didn't want to go home. We stayed in a super nice condo and our uncles came along too. Will, Dave, and Dad went to the lava tube, they were a little cold and hit up a museum with dino bones on the way home.

Luke, Mic, Mom, the girls and I hiked up at Snow Bowl then rode the ski lift. It was a wonderful time! I was so worried the girls would freak out on the lift but they loved it, especially this little one. She kept scooting to the very edge! She talked and giggled the whole way. I held her with the death grip.

We also went to the arbertarium (not sure how to spell that one). William, Allison, and I all got to be part of the falcon show-which was really cool. William and I got to even hold the falcon. Very cool. My Dad was in his element and loved the owl.

Will's Been Busy!

William had his 6th birthday, right before school started. Grant got to sleepover, and Dave fixed up an old bike from craiglist for him. (he still hasn't learned to ride it yet!) He had celebrated his birthday with Faith (as ususal) and we had root beer floats.

This is William's first day of kindergarten. His teacher is Mrs. Stradling and his bus driver is Bruce-he's the best! He's been learning a ton! He has homework every night (which usually turns into tears) and I volunteer in his classroom. He is very well behaved and is on his way to reading soon. Franklin is going ok so far, he's pretty tired when he gets home. But he loves school, especially PE, music, library, and computer lab. Zander sits right next to him in the back too! He loves riding the bus too.

And-he started soccer again. He's on Rigley's team which is fun for us. They are the Teal Tigers. He even made a goal the first game! Which was awesome!

Camping

We took a camping trip this June to Upper Canyon Creek. The kids had a great time. We were so glad Grandma Sandy came with us too. We were also glad we got to borrow the tent trailer. Will and David went crazy with the fishing and couldn't get it off their brains. They each caught their first fishies in the creek. We went to the fish hatchery which was fun, hiked around, and ate a lot. A skunk visited us in the middle of the night, and none of us adults slept a wink. I was pooped! But, it was a fun family memory!

Allie sayings

Last night when I was tucking Allie in, I gave her a big hug and she whispered "can I tell you something special?" Yes, I replied "I'm never ever going to leave you" So cute.

ruined stuff

So, I FINALLY got matching white furniture in the girls room, the crib is gone. The girls got a hold of a permanent black marker, all over BOTH beds and 3 different walls. They also colored over their bodies. Everything I've tried to get it off is not working, making it bleed, and removing the paint.

Looks like we are going to have to paint everything. Feelin pretty down about it. I can't even find time to get the laundry folded and now have this huge project looming over me. I keep trying to remind myself that it's just stuff-frustrating considering how long I've been trying to have a nice looking house, oh well, I suppose having my girls is more important than having a cute room.

These past few weeks have been absolutly CRAZY! Stuff everyday. Being a school mom stinks! Between kindergarten, YW, piano lessons, starting a new budget, and Dave working like a crazy-I've been ingnoring my kids! No time for potty training Holly, starting mommy preschool with Allie, all the projects around the house!

Ok, I think my venting is done for now-back to work!

August is here!

So much to blog about, so little computer time! Will's birthday, first days at Franklin, trip to Flagstaff, new piano students.


All that will have to wait, but I had to write this one down. After church Allie's primary teacher told me this one. The lesson was about being sorry and saying sorry. So he asked each student to think of something they did wrong and practice saying sorry. When he got to Allie, he said "Can you think of something you did wrong" She innocently responded "I don't do anything wrong" Ha! ya right! Too cute!

Baby Jonathan

Kelli had her 5th baby-baby Jonathan (she refuses to call him Jonny but I told her I'm going to!). I was lucky enough to go visit her and brought Allison along. On the way I said "Allie we get to meet the new baby!" She responded with "Oh I loovvvee babies! But not my baby sister" I was cracking up. I hosted an Auntie sleepover and probably will do it again until Kelli is getting a little sleep. Man-I was the ultimate Aunt for 2 days let me tell ya.

We have been swimming EVERY day! My hair is in a constant state of awefulness! Will is a fish! The other day he randomly said "This is how I do my back flip" and totally busted out a back flip! No instruction-nothing! Now he does one every day for us!

Allie finally stopped SCREAMING during lesson time. Now it's just crying. Credit to Dave. he taught her to swim by throwing her in. Now he's onto Holly. Although I do take credit also because I'm out there every day working with them!

Today is the 4th. Davy is working so last night her did a private fireworks show for us. (I don't even want to know how much he spent!) Also we've been dog sitting Tyler's dog Marly. The kids love her-most of the time. Will and Marly have been best friends. Marly suprised us and jumps in the pool every time we swim-funny.

Central

I took a trip to Central with my parents and the Kleins. My cousin Chase got married and so I figured this would be a good time to tag along. The kids had a great time and keep asking to go back to visit. I even had my own room! And the kiddos slept on the hide-a-bed.

Easter 2014

I found these pictures and had totally forgotten about Easter this year! I think Easter morning Davy worked, I took the kiddos to church, taught, and then crashed when we got home! But the kids had a great time with the Bodine egg hunt and the Easter Bunny.

I Stand All Amazed

Last night when I was tucking Allie in, she told me she had a suprize for me. Then she proceeded to sing every word of "I Stand All Amazed". My heart melted, there is nothing sweeter in the world than that. She even recruted Holly and she was singing along too.

Lovely Day

We just had the most lovey day. Grandma Sandy watched the kiddos while Davy and I went to the temple and got lunch. They all fell asleep on the way home and ALL took a huge nap while Davy and I hung out and napped. Then we picked up the house and got a sitter for the night. We went to the movies, got some food. The sitter did the dished and clean up the house!

Wow! Maybe I'm just feeling refreshed because my house it picked up and I didn't deal with crying and whining all day.

I felt like David and I were dating again! Well, back to life!

We talked about what it would be like if we didn't have kids. Lots of money, lots of nice things, lots of dating, a nice and clean house, decent cars. But then we decided it wasn't worth it, gotta love those sweet kids! It would be fun for a little while, but there would be a huge part of our joy missing.

Grey like a Grandma

So, because finances have been tight for the past 5 or 6 years I can't justify the expense of getting my hair done. So I've been dying my own hair with $3 dye from the grocery store and cutting it on half off walk in days.

This past week I decided to dye my hair before a few things I had going-oh it turned grey! My whole head turned grey! I quickly called my friend Jamie and made an appointment for the next day with her. I wore a hat that day!

So, I went to Jamie and she thought it would be a 10 minute fix. The first thing she tried didn't take. She tried stronger stuff, it still didn't take. She tried a copper die-it started turning my hair orange! We called Lacey over, we dyed a few more pieces, Lacey cut it-and now I have to live with it.

It's not the cutest color-but at least it's not grey or orange! Seriously-when you spend 6 hours with 2 different hair dressers, you start to feel pretty stupid.

I think I'll have to have a talk with Davy about rearranging the budget to include my hair! Thats sounds so lame! But I think I need to take matters out of my hands and into a professional!

Mommy Diaries

Today is one of those days, I feel like my whole purpose in life is to clean up messes. Messes in peoples pants, messes from people's meals, messes on people's clothes, messes of bodily functions, messes from play, messes from fights, and messes from curiosity. Pretty much all I do is clean up and today I felt like all my talents are non existent.

Oh well, enough of that. Holly is so cute lately. She doesn't say a lot of things too clearly but one things for sure is "thank you". She says it all the time. She just said thank you for her ice cream. Sometimes I even get a "thank you mom" So cute, she's so special. Even in her 2 year old way she makes me feel appreciated. Thank you Holly!

Every time I feel it's safe to say Allison is fully potty trained she has an accident. But-I feel we are to a breaking point and she is doing great. Now onto Holly-I hope she's quicker than the other 2 were. This sounds so lame but I'm thinking of making it a personal progress project.

We recently went camping, we went to  Central, and went to Show Low. I even drove almost 4 hours with just me and no help with the kids! I realized that for the first time in 5 years we've had a trip with out a baby! It's been so super nice! The kids have been pleasant and very good-wow! Trips might actually be fun-at least until the next one comes along.

So everyone is screaming and bugging me-what's new! Bye!

Sunday

I love these dresses! Every Sunday it's so fun to pick something out for the girls! We especially love ones that our cousins have handed down, like these ones

Spring Break

For spring break we went camping. We were fortunate enough to have the Milletts tent trailer-which when it worked-it worked great. And when it didn't, it didn't!!!!! Lacey and Evan came with as well and we were so glad-it made out trip way more interesting and fun. Of course my Davy worked so hard the entire time, he did a lot to help us all be comfy.

 

Well, of course the tent trailer has a heater, so naturally we didn't need to pack for a cold night. Wrong! ya, it didn't work the first night. We were FREEZING! Like really really freezing. It was a terrible night with Davy literally up all night trying to fix it. The kids were so cold-thank goodness for the Uruguay blanket. And Holly slept next to me-that's a nightmare! When I got up and walked out of the trailer in the morning I remember getting warmer!

 

So the next day I sent Davy into Payson and told him to do whatever necessary to fix the trailer and get us stuff to be warm in case we didn't. Thank goodness our next night was more enjoyable. The kids were so dirty-but loved it. Will and Allison were so good! Holly was grumpy and out of her element, no surprise. Allison was so proud that she learned how to pee in the woods-it was a highlight for her. The banana boats were a hit, and the food was good. What more can we ask for! Davy and I were WASTED after not sleeping for 2 nights and it took me forever getting the house back in one piece.

The Zoo

Grandma and Grandpa Kolstad got us passed to the zoo and we got to go with Grandma in February. Oh how we had a wonderful time! I think Davy was the first one begging to go home-the rest of us were going strong. The kids LOVED it. It was so nice to be together, getting out, and doing something fun. Thanks Grandma!

Crazy Hair

Seriously-Allie's hair is crazy. It doesn't help that she is still recovering from her brothers hair cut a year ago. She has this spot on the back of her hair that is ratty all day long-even when I comb it. This is one example of how it can look in the morning.

Aunt Moonja

Aunt Moonja (I have no idea how 0poto spell her name!) and Uncle Daryl came to AZ this January. They are very special to us, there were a tremendous blessing to us during nursing school. Aunt Moonja is the cutest, funniest, and most fun Aunt. She has a special love for Davy. They even came over to check out our house. We keep telling them they need to get a winter home here. Aunt Moonja quickly won over the kids and pushed them for a long while on the swings-while Davy and Daryl did shop talk.

Family Pics 2014

2014

It's a new year. Here's Allie's first day in sunbeams! Brother was being a grump but the sisters look cute!

Stonehaven

When we got home from Tucson we turned around and went to Show Low! Once again we didn't want to come home! Stonehaven is always so nice to stay at and the kids keep asking to go back to Grandma Sandy's cabin. The kids loved the snow this trip! Allie was quite the snow bunny and didn't even get tired going back up the hill! William found his courage and started going down by himself and had a great time! Grandpa stayed in the car with Holly and that worked out good too! The kids loved having a big bubble bath and hanging out around the cabin.