A camping we did go!!

We had a fabulous weekend!! This was our home away from home.

Hershey was our faithful watch dog, even though a coyote could probably swallow her whole!

Our first night around the camp fire.

Friday morning we went on a hike. Ellie's first hike ever, I need to work on my picture taking skills. ;) Don't ya just love her sunglasses!? I think she is the cutest baby ever!!

The kids loved the hike, they were dancin and singin the whole time, Hershey just sat and watched.

Dane and Kaleb bringing up the rear. Kaleb was so distracted by the trees and rocks Dane had to slow down so he didn't get left behind.

The kids found this really cool log that was pulled up the the roots, they loved climbing on it and I thought it was a pretty cool place to take pictures.

We took the kids kites knowing there was an open field they could fly them in, they loved it. Kaleb got a little frustrated cause there wasn't enough wind to fly them for long, we decided he just doesn't have the patience required to fly a kite.

I took this one right after Kaleb decided to wash his face with a pile of dirt!! That's my boy.
Sateraday morning, Ellie was bright eyed and bushy tailed, it wasn't as cold the second night so she slept a lot better.

Dana and Cody Mulleanux from our ward made the kids bows from sticks and someone else had some arrows, the kids thought this was the coolest thing ever.

And ya thought Kaleb was dangerous before!!LOL

Family picture right before we left, the kids were so tired and hungry so this was the best shot we could get.

Ryne was the first to fall asleep about 20 mins or so after we started home.

Then Ellie pooped out.

And last but not least Kaleb konked out.

Even Hershey slept all the way home.

Me enjoyin the quite ride home.

Kaleb enojoying the windey down hill road home. He was yelling "wheeeeeeeee".

Home at last and ready for baths. This was before they got cleaned up.

Kaleb decided he needed a shave.:)

And this is after the bath.

I really have to wonder if they left any dirt behind.

One of the most memorable things that happened was on the way home Kaleb was yellin " I need a tree, STOP the car I need a TREE!!" it didn't take us t>long to figure out that he needed to use the bathroom, and he was use to just going behind a tree. It was hilarious Dane and I couldn't stop laughing, we did pull over and let him do his thing once he was done and buckled back in his seat he said "AAAHHH that's much better, tankto mommy." What a funny boy.

We had such a great time and we decided that we aren't going to wait another yr to go camping again we are gonna start planning more trips!! Ellie did awesome on her first camping trip, she loved being outdoors. Marryne loved just being able to run around with Hershey, collect firewood and just hang out with her mom and dad. And of course Kaleb loved climbing a mountain, getting dirty and just running wild. It was a very succesful trip, it was very relaxing for both Dana and I we loved just spending un interupted time with our kids.

Before we go

Ok so Dane will be home in like less than 2 hrs and then we are on our way!! The kids are so excited Ryne was jumping up and down and Kaleb told me " let's go climb a mountain!" silly kid, Ellie is surprisingly happy today she has been cranky lately cause she is teething so it's a nice surprise, she probably senses how happy the rest of us are and she can't help but be happy too. I just wanted to post a couple of cute things the kids have done in the last couple of days.

Ryne has been helping me pack for the trip, yesterday we loaded up the car and she was so excited she couldn't contain her self, she kept running in the house to get things, when I asked her what she was doing she said " MOM I can't leave all my important things!", she came back out with a purse with a cell phone and play keys inside, 2 other small bags stuffed with toys, a bunny rabbit with a belt for a leash, a few books, her princess pillow and her blanky, I couldn't help but grin she was disappointed when we couldn't fit everything in the car so she could only choose 1 toy.

This morning I was getting together some last minute stuff and Ellie was crying, I stopped what I was doing to go check on her before I could get to her I could hear Ryne sining " You are my sunshine", Ellie stopped crying as I started to cry such a tender moment between 2 sisters.

Ryne was so excited this morning when she asked me "are we goin campin today"(she has been askin everyday for a week) and I said "yup daddy will pick you up from school and then we are goin campin." She was so excited she couldn't contain herself she ran all over the house cheering when Kaleb heard her he got excited too, he came over to me and said "Campin we are goin campin" I said "yes after daddy picks up sister from school" he replies with "YEAH, YEAH campin now I can get dirty, and I don't have to take a bath!!!" boys will be boys.

My favorite thing that Kaleb did today was very EARLY this morning when Dane was leaving for work. Dane brought Kaleb in my room cause he had woken up it was 4a.m. I heard Dane tell Kaleb to be quiet and let me sleep, he said ok and gave Dana a kiss goodbye and told him to "be careful" (no that's not my fav thing he did), after Dane left Kaleb snuggled closer to me put his hand under my head and kissed me on the forehead then he told me " I wove you mommy your da best." even though I was half a sleep I shed a few tears, he can be so sweet when he wants to be.

Ok so that's it till we get back from campin. Hope everyone has a fun and relaxing weekend.

Work it out

Last week I started doing some yoga and I love it, I feel so good when I am done even though by body is complaining! This week I started adding some exercises with an exercise ball so far that is going great in fact today the time flew by and I couldn't believe my time was up and I wasn't even breathing hard, even though my body aches it seems to be a good ache cause I feel great, I have also been sleeping better too(even though Ellie is getting up every couple of hrs:P).

Our ward camp out is this weekend and we are sooooooo excited!! We love camping Kaleb loves it cause he can get dirty and he doesn't get yelled at, Marryne just loves being outdoors, and Dana and I just love spending some quality time with our family with no outside distractions. Yesterday I pulled out and organized all of the camping gear, it was quite a task since the kids kept getting into everything but after I threatened that we wouldn't go if they kept getting into the stuff( I MIGHT have also threatened to burn their camping chairs, only after I tripped on one falling on my face cause my hands we full and I also really hurt my foot.), anyway everything has been out in the living room and they have yet to touch it!! Today we hit the .99 cent store and got most of the food stuff we need, we are making most of our own snacks like Ranch Cheese Chex mix, banana muffins, rolls, rice crispies etc. Tomorrow my plan is to get the house clean, laundry done, and then pack the car, then on Thursday we just have to worry about last minute food and stuff and then we will be on our way!! I am planning on taking tons of pictures especially since this is Ellie's first camping trip. I probably won't be bloggin for the next few days cause we are gonna be very busy so I hope everyone has a great and safe weekend!

Learning and Growing

Ellie is almost 7 months old!! I can't believe it I feel like it was just yesterday we were at the hospital getting ready for her to come. She is such a good baby,I love her smiles and laughter and even when she gets mad it's pretty cute. A few people have been askin about her milestones and wandering what new things she is learning to do, so I will try my best to up date everyone. This is what she is doin at the moment;

She is rolling over like a mad women! She rolls to get were she wants to go, she has gotten on her knees a few times but figures that it's just as easy to roll.

She loves to hold the spoon and try and feed herself she does, pretty good too.

She is sitting up with very little help, in fact last night we put a toy in front of her and she sat herself up so she could play with it, here is the picture!! She was so proud of herself. Sorry the picture is so dark and those 2 little beady white eyes are not some strange monster it's just our dog Hershey(it creeped me out a little at first) ;)

She is teething, and cranky as can be!!Her favorite thing is to chew on a dry wash cloth the rougher the cloth the better.

She is always experimenting with her voice and making all source of cute and not so cute sounds.

She has discovered that it's best NOT to roll over in the bath tub!!

She's learned that she doesn't like the couch much, she's always bumping into it and we swear the other day it seemed like she was giving the couch a piece of her mind!

I love watching her learn new things, and even though I wish she could stay small I love watching her grow,

While the house is quiet

I figured since everyone else is taking a nap I would do some blogging. First I will start with yesterday, I had an appointment for Kaleb to get him tested to see if he qualifies for the same pre-school program that Ryne is in well it turns out that he just might!!! Now I can't say if I am happy because he qualifies or mad because of the way he acted during the testing let me explain, I made sure he took a nap long before it was time to go figuring he would be nice and rested and ready to go, well apparently I was WRONG! The appointment was for 2, Dana gets off at 12;45 and is home by 1:30 so I figured we would have plenty of time to get to the school since it's only about 10 mins away from my house WRONG AGAIN, Dana called me at 1:20 to let me know that he ran out of gas and he was now stuck on the side of the road AND he called roadside assistance and it would be about 45 mins before they could get there to give him gas!! What are you SERIOUS!!!?? I wasn't very happy I tried calling the school (just knowing that they were going to re-schedule and it would be another 2 weeks before we could get in again)but all I got was a voice mail so I left a message. Dana finally gets home at 2 so I grab Kaleb and we are out the door!! I got Kaleb all excited about going and let him know what they were going to do and he seemed to be on board. We got there and got right in (after the secretary wasn't very nice cause we were late) and that's when it started Kaleb was AWFUL I have never seen him behave that way before. They sat him in a special little chair that had a chair that went over it(to keep the kid in thechair) well he climbed out of it 2, so then the gal that was doing the eval called in some reinforcements 3 more people came in. Every time they put anything in front of him he would chuck it across the room, and when he couldn't chuck it he would sit on it. He did NOTHING that they asked him to he just plain refused, they asked him "Would you like to color!?"figuring all kids like to color not him his response was "No sanks" (at least he was polite that time!!), they thought he might like to play with a car nope that went flying across the room as he explain "I said I didn't want the car.", now he was VERY vocal and the speech therapist who is also the director that the school was writing down all of the words that he said and he even said dammit a few times talk about EMBARRASSING! Finally after they got all they could out of him they let him go play by himself and we was so happy, while I was sitting there with the teacher answering questions Kaleb kept coming over to the table and doing things that they had tried to get him to do earlier like color he brought over some chalk grabbed a piece of paper and said "Look Mommy I can draw and line, and a circle", he also threw and kicked a ball (which he refused to do earlier). What can I say he is a defiant little bugger. As we were nearing to the end we were making an appointment to come back for a speech eval, and the director said "I'm pretty sure he qualifies for the program, let's also schedule the final appointment on the 21st of Sept and then he can start school on the 22nd." It's technically not "official" yet they have to complete all of the evals and then get together and decided how they can help him and fit his needs, then they bring in the parents we register him and he starts!! So that was my day yesterday.

Today has been much different and very relaxing. The missionaries called us last night to remind was we were feeding them today, and that they had a baptism in the evening could we do lunch instead, and of course we said yes. We all were up by 8 I fed the baby and kids while Dane went to get a few things we needed for lunch then he got home and we did some Yoga and man that was super nice and relaxing, the kids even did a little here and there. After we were done with yoga we got to work on lunch, we decided to make chicken quesedellas(?), just to add some flavor I put some ranch power mix in the chicken and WOW did that add some flavor, it was wonderful, everyone chowed down. After the missionaries left we all sat down in the living room and took naps, well all except Marryne she kept trying to wake us up, I finally did get up when Dana's cell phone went off. I figured I better get the kitchen cleaned and the laundry folded and Marryne even helped with out being ask what an awesome girl I have!! And man has it been nice to just sit and put my thoughts down with out rushing. Hopefully tomorrow will be a nice day too.

Things on the brain.

Yesterday we had a scout activity, we played Frisbee football(we just ended up tossing it around) with the boys and their siblings in the sprinklers everyone had a blast, although Kaleb was having a coronary because one of the other boys had a light saber and wouldn't let him play with it, so that ruined poor Kaleb's night. By the time we got home last night all 3 kids were asleep we didn't even bother to bathe( they did get baths this morning) them we just put them to bed!! That was super nice.

I made a bunch of hair bows yesterday with a little free time I had. I have quite a few now, a gal I know thinks I should sell them and I just might later down the road, but for now I think I will just make them for my girls and collect more ribbon. I have been having fun, I've learned a couple of different techniques and I am going to have Dana make me a bow maker. I was going to buy one but once I saw what it was I knew we could make one for a a lot CHEAPER, so that will be my next project. Ryne is loving all of the bows and flowers especially the ones that were made to match some of her clothes.

Next week is the ward camp-out we are so EXCITED we love to camp we just don't get to do it a lot, Dana is taking Friday off so we are going up on Thursday after he gets off work. The kids can't wait Kaleb says that he "wants to get dorty", and Ryne can't wait to make s'mores and play with the flashlights and glow sticks! It will be Ellie's first camping trip we will see how she does. I am just looking forward to no t.v., computer and other things that distract from my family. We are going to take up some games and stuff I love camping!!

Ever since school started things have just been falling right into place (knock on wood), both Kaleb and Ellie take naps in the afternoons, leaving me to do what I will. I am not use to having a lot of free time, so it has been wonderful to take a nap, a bath or just to sit and create something, it really helps for me to be able to take a breath and relax and when Marryne gets home and the kids wake up I can handle whatever comes my way. The house has also been surprisingly clean too, the kids have been sticking to their chores, I'm sure that mom standing over them helps too!! Ellie is pretty mobile now and so we vacuum everyday cause we have these little stickers(the little prickly kind, not one ya get for a job well done) that get on our shoes and then get all over the house, and I really don't want Ellie to get hurt on one or put one in her mouth, so we have been keeping the house really nice. Well those I just some random thoughts for ya today. I have been thinking about all this stuff for days and just decided to get everything off my brain.

Not such a great evening

So ya today was awesome as I explained in my other post but then it all went to crap around 4 p.m.. We were all doin great the kids were being nice with each other, Ellie was playing on the floor, I was folding laundry no drama at all and then Dana walks in and all hell brakes loose. SERIOUSLY what is that all about!? Kaleb and Ryne started screaming and yellin at each other, Ellie decided that since everyone else was crying she should be too. I figure my hubby would help out a little with the kids or help me with dinner NOPE! I ended up juggling all 3 kids while trying to finish folding and putting away the laundry, making dinner, and feeding the baby!! It was a mad house, and I was getting so ticked cause Dane was on the computer with no offer to help me. He finally came out cause I had to just let Ellie cry( I just didn't have enough hands) and apparently that made him feel bad, he felt sorry for her! What about ME!!!? I was the one juggling everything, she was just crying cause she wanted some one to hold her she wasn't hurt, or poopy don't get me wrong I totally love my baby in fact she was my silver lining tonight, but still I think ya get my point. Anyway after playing with her for a little bit he finally came in to help me (even though by now I had everything under control), I had him take over cookin the meat while I fed the baby. Then after dinner Dane unloaded the dish washer, while I gave the baby a bottle, then I cleared the table put away the food, loaded the dish washer and swept the floor while the living room wasn't clean and I had asked before I even started my work for them to clean up their toys and stuff. I asked Ryne and Kaleb to pick up Ryne came up and told me "NO we want to play and that's what we are going to do!", I was about to yell and scream but decided against it I just looked at her and said "Fine" in a calm voice and she ran off and continued to play. Once I was done cleaning up the kitchen I grabbed a laundry basket and started piling everything in it when Ryne asked me what I was doing I just told her that I was cleaning up and that they wouldn't get to have the things that were on the floor (toys, shoes, backpacks...) she got really up set over it, cause her new shoes and stuff were in there. I just reminded her of the rule " If you don't pick up your toys when asked, it becomes mommy and daddy's property and you have to earn it back" she started yellin and screaming at me (like that was gonna help), and surprisingly I said nothing I just continued to clean up. She finally came into her room while I was putting away all the books that were on the floor, and talked to me I was telling her about being responsible and asked her about the books, of course she told me what I already new that Kaleb was the one to pull them out. I asked her if she was in the room when he did it and if she was then why she didn't come and get me right away like she is suppose to? Her first response was " well I told daddy and he didn't do anything.", well I knew that wasn't true cause daddy wasn't home when it happened, so I asked her again she just shrugged her shoulders, so I told her that if it happened again then I would take away the books even though she wasn't the one to dump them on the floor she was there when it happened and she didn't do anything she looked at me and said " Wait, Wait, Wait we need to talk about this!" I had to turn my head and smile, but my response was that there was nothing to talk about she knows the consequences next time it happens the books are mommy's property.

After all of that I decided to go sit in the dark laundry room and say a little prayer and just plain calm down. It took about a 1/2 hr before anyone missed me. By then Dana had all the kids (including Ellie) in bed. He went out to run a quick errand and came back with chocolate for me that was really nice and it did make me feel better. So I guess my day wasn't too terrible and I am sure that it could have been worse, and I did finish all of the laundry today and I can't even remember that last time that happened, so tomorrow I really won't have a ton of work to do, and hopefully we will continue our awesome mornings.

Back to school ROCKS!

Today was just as nice as yesterday. The bus picked Marryne up a few minutes early today, after she was gone, Ellie and Kaleb both took naps! It was wonderful, the only thing I had goin was the laundry and that was easy to keep up with considering my "helper" was asleep and the clothes stayed folded until I could put them away. After I folded some laundry and was waiting for more I took a nap! I woke up just in time to get Ryne off the bus, and when we got in the house the other 2 woke up and we have all just been chillin. Kaleb and Marryne are being really nice to each other and Ellie is content in the jumperoo, I'm gettin ready to make dinner Dana should be home soon. WOW everything seems to be going so much better now that school has started, it's like they all decided they needed good schedules or something, whatever it is I hope it doesn't stop.

Ryne came home today and told me she got a lot of "comliments" on her hair bow and dress today (she wore the rainbow lookin one with a new bow I made) she was so giddy and happy she told me all about what she did today and even sang me some new songs that she learned!! I really hope Kaleb gets into the program I think he would do so well and I really think it would help him to focus better. Well I am off to make dinner I hop everyone is having a great day!

Back to School!

Today was Ryne's first day back to Pre-School. Everything went smoothly at home but not so smoothly with the school. The bus was 10 minutes late picking her up, so we only had enough time for 1 picture of her by the bus. And then I guess there was some confusion at the end of the day and some kids were on the wrong buses and they were down 1 driver. They had to take all the kids off the buses and basically label them so they new which bus each kid belonged on, needless to say they were 15 minutes late dropping her off! We got a little concerned and called the school to find out what was going on, luckily while we were on the phone the bus came.

She was saying " back to school" instead of cheese. Kaleb was just bein silly.
I made this korker bow for Ryne last night, and then I realized that I hadn't made the shirt that matched it yet, so I stayed up even later to make the shirt it only took me an hr I got to bed around midnight.

First day hair style, ya can't go to school without cute hair!

Isn't she a doll? She is definitely worth staying up for. She looked super cuter and she was so happy and giddy.

After Ryne was off to school Kaleb and Ellie both surprised me by taking naps!! The silence was so nice and a friend came over and we made hair bows, ate pizza and just chatted. It has been a great day! I hope tomorrow is just as nice. ;)

SUPER BABY!

Kaleb got a hold of the baby towels, ya know the ones with the hoods, he likes to use them as capes. Ellie was on the floor he ran over put one on her head and said " Look it's SUPER BABY!" he was so excited, Ellie seemed to like it too. She was a very happy Super Baby.

Shoes glorious shoes!

We took the kids shoe shopping today. Ya know ya can't start school with out new shoes! Ryne and Kaleb each got to pick out 1 pair of shoes , they were having a sale by 1 get the other 50% off, so it was a good deal we got 2 pairs of shoes and a shirt for me for $30 not to shabby I love K-Mart. PayLess was having the same sell but K-Mart had more to choose from.

Marryne (with no help from me) picked these:

How I describe them , wild, crazy and super cute just like Ryne.

Kaleb (with a little help from Dana) chose these:

He really only wanted these cause they have Bumble Bee on them, and he is Kaleb's favorite transformer.

After we got the shoes I ran over to Sally's Beauty and got some clips so I can make some new bows, I also got tons of compliments on Ryne's hair! The kids actually did really well shoe shopping and all, Kaleb didn't even need to be strapped in a cart. We did have one little incident on the way home Kaleb decided to throw part of a tooth brush holder out the window! I laughed Dana was pretty ticked and Kaleb was too cause we didn't pull over to get it. All in all we had another great day. Tomorrow is going to be a long day Dana and I have a scout training that is all day long,the older kids are gonna be watched by some kids from our ward and then we are going to drop Ellie off at a friends, we figured a whining teething infant that needs breathing treatments on top of the other 2 kids was a little much for the kids in our ward.

GOOD Morning!

I didn't get a chance to blog about our day yesterday, it was a busy but good day. The morning started off great Kaleb crawled into bed with me around 7 gave me a kiss on the cheek and said " I love you mommy" SWEETEST thing ever!! Then about 15 mins later Ryne crawled in on the other side of the bed, I gave them each a hug and told them that I loved them and they both at the same time (although I am sure they didn't plan it) gave me a hug and a kiss and they each said " I love you too mommy" Seriously I was almost in tears, that just never happens, so I decided instead of getting up right away I would take in the moment so we cuddled till about 7:30, then the baby woke up so we had to get up. What a great way to start the day with a hug a kiss and and I love you!

After that awesome good morning my day seemed to go pretty smooth. Ellie went back to sleep so I took advantage of that and cleaned the kitchen while the older kids had their breakfast. After the kids were done, they did their chores with just a simple reminder, then I swept and mopped the kitchen and laundry room, while the floors were drying I cleaned the bathroom, and then Marryne mopped the floor all by herself ( I didn't make her she was begging to mop.) Then we picked up the living room, had to take a break Ellie woke up so the kids watched a movie while I took care of her. We got so much work done by 10 it's was awesome.

Marryne begged all summer to get a hair cut and we promised her that she could get it cut when school started so after Dana got home yesterday Marryne and I went to get her hair cut. She was so excited, I told her she could decided how short she wanted her hair ( I did draw the line at " I want it to look like daddy's" his head is shaved). She did great, she was smiling the whole time, I on the other hand was gritting my teeth and almost whimpering at the length that was being cut off. I think Marryne's favorite part was getting her hair shampooed! Once the gal was done she gave Ryne a lolly pop and we were on our way home, but first we stopped to get some pizza. While the pizza was cooking I blow dried and styled her hair and ya know what? I Love it once I was able to get it styled. What do you think?

After we had dinner our neighbor came over to watch Ellie while we took the older kids to the school for the open house and to meet Ryne's new teacher. When Marryne found out that she was going to have a new teacher she was "not happy" to put it in her words, so we hopped that being seeing her new classroom and getting to actually play with the teacher and the assistants that she would warm up and she did. They told us to bring Kaleb cause he may be starting in a couple of weeks, so they figured it would be a good idea to get him acquainted with the school. They had a blast the kids went to the class room while the parents went to the library were they just went over some info with us and some parents had to fill out the registration forms (I am so glad I filled them out before we went.) After the parents we done with our meetings we went back to the class rooms and had refreshments and then we got to go for a bus ride!! I thought that was such a good idea to get the kids use to the buses. Kaleb had been dreaming about riding the bus since Ryne went to school last yr! Ryne chose a middle seat while Kaleb chose to sit right up in the front. I kicked myself for not having my camera. Anyway after the bus ride we came home the kids were exhausted and went right to bed!

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH that was a successful DAY!

And today started really good to with hugs and kisses and I love yous all around. I hope it will stay just as nice all day. We have to go get shoes for the kiddos and also stuff to make hair bows! Anyway I really hope ya'll have a good day!!

"SEW" DONE! ;)

I finished all(well most) of Marryne's school clothes, I still have 1 skirt and 1 shirt to finish but I am waiting to get some ribbons for embellishments. This is the bulk if it!

The first shirt I made, the one she didn't like because it didn't have pink in it!

Capri's I wasn't sure if I liked these at first but now I love them!

At first I didn't think this shirt really went with the pants, once I saw them on her I thought they looked cute together.

I loved this fabric and even more it was $1 yd at Wal-Mart (now it's $1.50). She has a skirt out of the same fabric but she wore it to church on Sunday so it's dirty, I'll post pics of it later.The cutest Capri's in the world (well at least in MY world).

Shirt and pants together.

Next are just close up of more shirts the pants are the same as the ones above.

I absolutely love this shirt!! I am still going to add something to the front, but have to wait I will add pics later when it's all the way finished.

The back.

Another one of my favorites!

Cute knit dress (normally she would wear a shirt under this one but Ellie was asleep, so we couldn't get one.)My favorite out of the knit dresses!! It fits her personality so well.

And last but not least the last knit dress, simple but cute.

So what did you think? Do you have any favorites? Let me know I would love some feedback. I thought they all turned out really cute I will probably add some embellishments to some (and I will post any changes). Marryn love them all she even told me with her hands on her hips and a little sigh "MOM! *sigh*, you have made to many cute clothes now I don't know what to wear on the first day! *Sigh* I think you need to make hair bows then I can decided!" She is so cute I love it and I will make bows, but that won't be right away. Anyway I hoped ya liked them.