success

A lady from our homeschool group posted this, and I thought it should be passed on:

You can use most any measureWhen you're speaking of 'Success'.You can measure it in fancy home,Expensive car or dress.But....the measure of your REAL successIs the one you can not spend.It's the way your kids describe YOUWhen they're speaking to a friend!

- Martin Buxbaum

"Inconceivable!" "You keep using that word. I do not think it means, what you think it means."

For the past few days the kids have been walking around the housing yelling about how they lost their voice..........

getting ready for good times and great memories

I picked up these two cookbooks at Costco today for $10 each, and they are so neat. The first one is called Keeping Good Company; A Season by Season Collection of Recipes, and the second is called Goodness Gracious; Recipes for Good Food and Gracious Living. They are beautifully put together, have some great sounding recipes, and some really fun ideas for life/parenting/holidays. Being my mother's child, I don't often pull out my cookbooks, but these I could see myself getting out a lot. I may even give them their own special spot in the kitchen. (after all, the covers match my new house colors!)

The Dyson is coming! The Dyson is coming!

Almost two weeks ago we ordered a DC15 (got a KILLER deal on it), and it is coming today! UPS says it's in our city and out for delivery! WooHoo!!!

Update: The UPS guy dropped it off about 2 hours ago and I LOOOVE it! (well, as much as a person can love a vacuum that is) Works so much better than our other one.

The hat

This is the hat that Genna got for her birthday from Auntie Vickie and cousing Cali. It's a Hannah Montana hat from Disneyland. She has worn this everyday for almost a week now! She LOVES this hat!

these are the projects that never end, they go on and on my friend.......

In all the hub-bub of the birthday party, I forgot to post project updates!

Here is a list of what got done:

painted living room and dining area

kitchen is 90% painted

bathroom is 95% painted

95% of fence removed

entry way painted

hung pictures

new tile on kitchen floor

table was delivered

hung new school boards

hung new chandelier

put in new heater vent covers

heater cover

candle lanterns

school boards (yes, there is coloring on the white board)

Pictures above couch

chandelier (bought on craigslist for $15!)

close up of shades, they are tortoise shell

sign above arch entry way

Here's a list of what is left to do:

finish painting trim

finish painting bathroom

finish painting kitchen

paint ceiling (as you can see from the pics above)

replace couch

refinish dining table

refinish fencing that is going to replace the old fencing

put down new transition strips

clean out bedrooms

get new beds for the oldest 4 (I think this may end up being a Christmas gift)

put decorative touches in kitchen

get curtains

I'll post pics of the kitchen (and the new kitchen color) later when I get it jazzed up a bit!

(I've had to edit this post twice because I've thought of other things still needing to get done! See, it really never ends!!!!)

D.O.A.

Last night for no good reason, my phone bit the dust. My phone has survived a swim in the tub with Isaac, a drool fest with Nahshon a couple times, the kids repeatedly dropping it, and multiple button loses. Oddly enough, it was just sitting quietly next to me last night when it decided to no longer work. Every time I push a button it turns off, and then it takes me 10 minutes and some serious pushing to get it to turn back on. So, if you need to get ahold of me over the next couple days until I can replace my life line, please send an email. If it's really important, call Jeremy- although I cannot guarantee he'll pick up. Anyone know of any good deals on T-Mobile phones?

A great way to enjoy rainy days

If you have a little girl, and have not yet checked out American Girl , I highly recommend it. For the past couple days we've been playing the games on-line. Bella has been loving Samantha's scavenger hunt game. It's great that they can learn something while playing games in the historical girl section, and the coconut games are so cute and fun. It's so fun to sit with the kids and play; even Elijah likes them! The American Girl books are just great too. They are short, entertaining, and educational. When we read through the Molly series, we started discussing war and soldiers, which is especially great since we have a family friend that is in the army and Jeremy's younger brother is at USMC boot camp. We are currently reading Kit, which is so fitting because it's opening up discussions about today's economy. (something they hear a lot of every time we watch the presidential candidates) The movies are wonderful, and completely appropriate for children. (something that can be hard to find these days) We own Felicity, Samantha, and Molly, and will be buying Kit when it comes out on DVD too. I'm also very impressed with their other products. The girls have their bath and body items, which are good quality and smell great. Normally products marketed to young girls smell way to strong and leave a rash. We also own a couple of the other books American Girl has put out, and they encourage girls to be confident, develop lasting friendships, and encourage relationships with their families. We do not (yet) own any of the dolls they offer, but Bella is making her wish list off their site this year. (I've heard they are great quality) Genna was given the American Girl 300 Wishes game for her birthday from a friend; it is such a neat game and a great way for girls to get to know each other more. (or even for mothers and daughters to get to know each other) I am just so impressed by what this company has to offer young girls. Our only dilemma is deciding which historical girl we are going to read about next!

what?

The neighbor boy was tossing a bone out to his dog (some sort of animal bone, not a cute little doggy bone), and it landed in our yard. Bella picked it up and brought it into the house to show me. Elijah took it from her and threw it back over the fence and this is the conversation that followed:

(with a pouty face) Awww, I wanted that bone for my collection

huh? what? you don't have a bone collection

well then I want some bones so I can have a collection

wish it and fish it boy!!

Today Elijah told me he wants a snake for his birthday. He said he wants it in a box with holes on the sides so it can slither out at him. HA! In your dreams buddy!

Where'd my baby go?

I am truly shocked, I cannot believe my baby is already 7 months old!!! Where did the time go? It seems like I blinked and 3 months passed me by! He started standing up recently, and it just starting to get brave enough to take a couple steps while holding on to our hands or the couch. His personality has reminded me so much of Genna when she was a baby, he's such a sweet little cuddle bug. His new thing now is when he gets happy he smiles until his whole body shakes, it's so funny to watch. I love seeing all the kids growing, learning, and trying new things, but could I pleeeeaaase just put him on pause and ejoy him being a baby a bit longer???

It's monsoon season!

Well, our party got rained out and we didn't even get to play half the games we had planned, but I think Genna had a good time anyhow. She got to play with her friends, visit with family, and the build your own fruit cabobs seemed to be a hit with all the kids. Best part is that she didn't get any loud, obnoxious, or single player gifts which means all the kids have quietly been playing together this morning with the new loot!

rain rain go away

come again another day

we want to go outside to play

on our birthday party day

Bella grew this sunflower! She got seeds in her Easter basket this year. I didn't think we were going to get anything since it snowed a few days after we planted them, but this one is almost twice as tall as she is! We have a few more coming up, but this is the only one that has bloomed. She is so proud, and so am I!

Go Annabelle!

Little Annabelle is going home! We could not be happier for her and her family. Congratulations Annabelle, keep up the good work!

THINK SUN!!!

king5 is reporting a sunny day for Sunday, but the Weather Channel is reporting rain. Yes, we are repainting everything, but our house is not big enough for 3-legged races, a pinata, and volleyball!!! Keep those sunny thought going please!!!!!!!!!!!!

earning her keep

Genna went up to Stanwood to stay with my parents at their property for the weekend. She's working as their dog sitter while they get some things done around there. She's so good with animals, especially grandma's dog. I can't wait until she gets home though, I miss her helping hands around here!

activities!

I sent in the registration paperwork today for Genna to start gymnastics at Leading Edge this September. She's wanted to do gymnastics for a few months now, and she's been getting antsy to do something since she didn't get to play baseball this year. Leading Edge is starting up a homeschool class for only $28 a month! Can't beat that! Bella has wantede to do "balalay" for a while, so she's going to take a dance class at The Little Gym right up the street. The class is part ballet, part tap, and part gymnastics. She's going to do a trial class on Monday morning to see if she likes it, but I'm sure she will. The Little Gym has very gentle instruction with easy going teachers, so I think it will be a perfect fit for miss Isabell. I wanted to sign up Elijah for swimming classes, but our local pool is booked until mid-November. Now we are either looking at a sports skills class at The Little Gym, or going somewhere else for swimming.

funny stories?

Do you have any funny stories or jokes to share? If so, please send them to me! My brother-in-law is at USMC Boot Camp, and could probably use a little laughter to lift his spirits. The kids and I try to write somewhat often, but it's very easy to run out of things to say when the other person doesn't have time to write back! So please, send me the best you have!!!

love you sis!

Hopefully my sister won't be mad that I posted this, but since I found it on her (our?) aunt's MySpace page, I think it'll be OK. This is my 13 year old sister, Austyn. She wrote this song for her mom. Enjoy! :)

what a wonderful day

Today we had a social gathering at Forest Park with our homeschool group. What a wonderful day it turned out to be! The weather was beautiful, and the kids had a great time. They really seem to be building friendships with the other kids in the group, and I could not be happier. The kids in our group are a really fantastic group of kids, I'm so glad God brought them all into our lives. The park has a petting farm, so I took a group of the kids down. They got to pet cows, goats, horses, and bunnies. (actually, Isaac just poked the bunny's tail a few times) We also found a little group of goats hanging out by the fence, and all the kids fed them dandelion leaves. Every time one of the goats would eat from Isaac he would throw his arms in the air and yell "I did it!" There was a Chinese family also feeding the goats, and they thought Isaac was so funny they kept picking leaves for him to feed the goats! They also just put in a sprinkler play area at the park, which was packed but fun. All in all, a great way to spend a Friday afternoon. (and so nice to get away from the painting mess!)

sun........maybe?

Ok, the current report is partly sunny for August 24th, which is the day of the birthday party. So, think sunny thoughts everyone!!!!

Olympic fever has hit!

Genna is in sports heaven right now! She's always loved sports; watching sports, playing sports, making up her own sports.... anything to do with sports! (which I always think is so funny because she is such a girly-girl too) I remember once in Best Buy they had a boxing match on the TV. Genna was about 4 years old at the time and was screaming her heart out cheering them on! She'd never seen boxing before, but like I said, she loves sports! With the Olympics on right now, she is practically glued to the TV. I'm surprised she hasn't lost her voice yet, she's been cheering like a mad man for the USA. It doesn't matter what event it is, she tries to be the number one fan every time. In the past I've never really been big on watching the Olympics, but I have to say, Genna really makes it a lot of fun!

AMAZING!!

Do you need proof that miracles do happen? If so, read about Annabelle!

http://thedawgrun.blogspot.com/search/label/Annabelle/

Specifically, read the post on August 13 called This little piggy went to............. Just a warning though, you might need a tissue!

Call the paper, this kid is amazing!

Silly me, this whole time I thought Nahshon was just an average baby, but it seems he's a genius! When going through the laundry pile I found a blanket and a pair of Jeremy's pants that had holes cut out. When I questioned the children about the newly altered items, everyone started guessing who and why. Finally, Bella spoke up with the "TRUTH" of what happened. It seemed, our box of scissors, which is in a container with a lid high on the top of our school shelves, fell down all by itself. When it fell, Nahshon crawled over to the box and opened it all by himself. He pulled out a pair of scissors, crawled across the room, and cut the pants and blanket, all by himself. Then he buried the items in the clothes pile, and put the scissors back in the box all by himself. Since he's just a baby and can't reach the top of the school shelves, he put the box of scissors on top of the fire place (which is about 4 feet high), all by himself. Then he crawled back to the middle of the room before anyone could catch him..........all by himself. There you have it folks, my 6 month old baby boy is a sneaky genius! And best of all, he did it all by himself!

Somehow last night I hurt my ankle, and wasn't even able to walk. Today it was a bit better so I took the kids to my mom's house to get away from the painting mess. I was outside and asked Bella to go ask grandma to get me some Tylenol. She went into the house for a moment, then came back outside, held up a bottle of medicine and exclained "here's your TIE IT TO THE WALL"

Where are those caucasian gentlemen anyhow?

I just remembered this one! In the spring the kids and I had to run an errand in old downtown Everett. Because our destination did not have a parking lot, we had to park a couple blocks down and walk. When we reached the corner, I was talking to the kids about crosswalk rules. I told them that the red hand means we must stop and wait. Then I told them that when we see a white guy, it's safe to cross. At that moment, a group of caucasian gentlemen appeared on the corner across from us. Genna then pointed and shouted "look mom, there's the white guys! Let's go!" I guess I should explain things a little better next time!

the projects have begun!

Well, the living room is in shambles because the house projects have begun! We got the living room about half painted last night, and I'm loving the new color! (I'm not going to tell yet though, you either have to come see it or wait for pictures!) The new table is here, but needs to be refinished still. And our steal of a deal Craigslist chandelier looks beautiful! We have so much to do that it's won't be able to all get done before the birthday party on the 24th, but it will still look a lot different! Everything should be done or purchased by mid-September. WOOHOO!

a quiet day

As many of you know, Genna walked in the March of Dimes this year in honor of baby Annabelle. This week Annabelle made her entrance into the world. (her blog is on the right) In honor of Annabelle and all that she has already overcome in these early days of her life, we are having a quiet day of prayer, reflection, and thankfulness at home. Please take a moment to visit her blog, look at her beautiful pictures, and say a prayer for her and her family.

That's all folks!

Just wanted to share this one last photo to wrap up our trip

Who are you talking to?

I heard Bella outside chatting away about our family, our trip, her favorite things. etc..... So I went out to see who she was talking to. This deer was either very patient and obliging to her, or couldn't figure out a way to escape

just hanging around

In classic Bella style, I came out of the shower and found her just laying around waiting to go outside.....

just around the lake house

Just a bunch of pics to show our trip