R to the 4th Power

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!!!

2011-11-06T20:32:00.000-08:00

My mom and dad celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary this year! I feel so fortunate to have such long standing marriages in my family. Both sets of Grandparents have been married for 50 years and then my parents with 30. John and I are working up on 9. I sincerely hope that 20 years from now I love him as much or more than I do today.

To celebrate mom and dads anniversary we all went to Brian head Utah and stayed in what has to be the most beautiful cabin I have ever seen. This place had everything from a kitchenaid standmixer to central heating.We arrived at the cabin to a lot of snow!! Had to shovel the driveway for us to even get into the house. It was such a great weekend. All the kids sans Jack had a blast with me and my dad out in the snow. Well they had a blast with dad, I was taking pictures.

Grandpa pushing Mariska down a little hill

AVALANCHE!!!!!

"Mariska, it would be easier to make a snow angel if you were laying down."

Mariska and Matthew

Dad throwing himself down the hill.

The aftermath.

The driveway was not that steep so the kids didn't go very fast but they usually made all the way across the street before they came to a stop.

I went too!

Mom brought some craft projects for me and my sisters to do. The kids had fun playing with all the toys that the cabin had including the Foosball and pool tables. On Saturday night we had a family home evening. Each individual family had to prepare a little presentation to share. It was so nice to be in such a beautiful place with the people I love, and to feel the spirit as strongly as I did. I tried to make waffle from a brownie mix that night. I didn't like them that much, they were just really hard cookies. On Sunday Dad offered a devotional and that afternoon we came home.

I sure do love my family! Thanks mom and dad for bringing me into it, and thanks for letting us celebrate your big day with you! Happy 30th Wedding Anniversary!!!!

Dance Class

2011-09-25T20:25:00.001-07:00

Guess who started taking dance lessons!

She really surprised me by picking the blue. I thought for sure she would pick the pink. It is really fun to see her dancing and she loves it. The class that she is in is a tap/ballet class so she has both ballet and tap shoes. It's so fun to have a girly girl.

Springs Preserve

2011-09-25T20:20:00.000-07:00

We found a fairly new place to visit and had a lot of fun when we went. Very kid friendly and kid oriented but plenty to do for adults also. The kids had a blast hanging with Grandma and Grandpa and their cousins.

First day of school 2011

2011-09-25T20:17:00.000-07:00

We are one year away from Kindergarten. Cannot believe how time has flown.

Nap time

2011-09-25T20:15:00.000-07:00

My sweet little boy

Flynn Ryder

2011-09-25T20:01:00.001-07:00

Just had to brag, I have met the real Flynn Ryder. Would you believe he auditioned for the part at Disneyland and didn't get it because his nose wasn't right? I'm just saying.

Aurie's Wedding

2011-09-25T19:36:00.000-07:00

July 9, 2011, the day my baby sister was married. What a sweet occasion. She made such a beautiful bride! I was so happy that we were here to be apart of the occasion.

It was like a Fariy Tale for Mariska seeing her Aunt at the temple. She wanted so badly to give Aurie a hug as soon as she walked out of the temple with Austin but you know how it goes pictures have to be taken and so Mariska waited. We were fortunate enough to get pictures from both angles of the hug Aurie gave to Mariska.

This little girl sure loves her Aunt Aurie!!!! I think the feeling is mutual!

Welcome to the family Austin Jennings!!!!

April Fools

2011-05-13T13:15:00.001-07:00

April first was a day full of adventure. The kids and I along with three other moms and their kids drove down to Salt Lake. We had 4 moms, 3 cars, and 11 kids. It was quite the ride. We were on the road at 7:20 AM which should have put us in Salt Lake around 7:00 PM. We didn't arrive until midnight. Mariska got carsick for the first time ever. We came upon a pretty bad accident just out of Ontario Oregon. We were at a complete standstill for about an hour and a half. We let the kids out and had them clean up the trash that was on the side of the road. Finally after all the waiting we were directed to a turn around and went back about 10 miles to highway 201. We finally got to Ontario grabbed lunch and were on the road again.

In Mountain Home, Idaho we stopped for a bathroom break and my friends van started making an awful noise when she started it. Two gentlemen came over to help. As I got talking to one of them I found out he was LDS and had just moved into our ward. He stayed, with his wife, for a little to see if we needed anything. Before they left, to get back on their way, they pulled out a set of cars and tracks for the kids to play with. It was intended for their Grandson but they insisted we take it so the kids would have something to play with while the car was being fixed. The other gentleman that helped us actually replaced the part was broken in the car. His name was Charlie and he said that he had never stopped at that station before but as he was driving he became so thirsty that he had to stop for a bottle of water. The car was fixed we were on the road again, several hours behind schedule. It felt good to know that the Lord was watching out for us. I really appreciate all the prayers that were said on my behalf. I joked with my friend about it being April Fools day. The joke was apparently on us.

Like sister, like brother

2011-05-13T13:07:00.000-07:00

It was really fun to walk into Mariska's room and feel like I had traveled back in time. It is amazing how different my children are from each other, but sometimes Jack does things that remind me so much of Mariska.

Field trip at the farm

2011-05-13T13:01:00.000-07:00

Back in March we went with Mariska's school group to a farm. The kids had a blast and it was fun to see the baby goats. I think the highlight was getting to ride on the horses. Thanks Kate for taking the pictures. The picture of Mariska and Jack has become one of my favorites.

Mariska Mariska Mariska

2011-02-21T13:47:00.000-08:00

What can I say about this little girl. She makes me so happy and frustrated all at the same time! Most the time she is such a good girl but she has her moments just like we all do.
She walked out of her room the other day with the Mr. Potato Head glasses on her face. she then went to the rocking chair with a couple of books and sat down to read. I was laughing so hard it was so funny.

Primary has been a lot of fun for Riska. She gave her first talk last Sunday and did a really good job. i felt bad for the leaders having to use the Microphone. I am sure all kids put their mouth on it the way Mariska did. The Sunday after Halloween she got a new teacher in Sunbeams. When the Sister asked Mariska what her name was she told her "I am Tinkerbell" and refused to tell the teacher what her real name was. So during class time Mariska was called Tinker bell. A few weeks later there was a substitute. Again when asked what her name was she said "My name is Sally Car." The sub asked what her "What do your mom and dad call you?" Mariska then said, "My Grandma calls me cupcake." These poor teachers. A couple weeks ago Sister Riggs the music Leader asked a question. Mariska raised her hand and when called on immediately forgot what she was going to say. Her answer became this, "Um, um, um, I love you." Sister Riggs, bless her heart, said well I love you too and moved on with singing time.
I have to say she is such a good little girl. I lead the music in Sacrament Meeting for the last time last week. Jack was sick so John stayed home with him. Mariska sat in our Pew all by herself during the first part of Sacrament meeting. She was so quiet and reverent. I had several people come to me after and tell me how good she was. She is also a really good sharer (most the time.) We had a sister and her two daughters sit with Yesterday. She is a new member and was just baptized last weekend. Mariska shared her cookies and crackers along with her papers and crayons. It really did my heart a lot of good.

She loves to sing and has sung this song over and over again since she learned it.
Mariska knows just how to make me smile and I am truly grateful to have her in my life. I love you Mariska and I am so glad you are mine!

Visiting Teaching

2011-02-21T13:33:00.001-08:00

I have really grown to Love Visiting Teaching. I really appreciate my visiting teachers and I am sad that one will be leaving me this summer. I decided this month to do something special for my sisters that I teach. I wish I could say it was my idea but it wasn't. I found a website that I love called small and simple things. That is where I got the idea for the cone. I had already made the roses and was looking for a way to utilize them. This seemed to work great.

Getting Healthy

2011-01-23T20:06:00.000-08:00

I started working out in the mornings. It has been great. The best part is Jack and Mariska started to work out with me.We are doing Jackknives. Mariska has always done them with me but I first noticed Jack doing them this last week. It is way fun to have them "helping me" stay motivated.

Never to young for music.

2011-01-23T19:53:00.000-08:00

I love to play my Clarinet. It has been 20 years since I started playing and I am so glad that I have kept it up. Mariska has really taken to my Clarinet. She asks every time I play if she can play and I tell her she can when she is older. So for Christmas she got her own Clarinet at least that is what she calls it. I found a recorder that was $10.00 and almost got it but then I saw the $1.00 shelf and it was loaded with Recorders. I am so glad I went with the $1.00 one. She lost the first one and we have yet to find it, so I bought another one. She left that one down and Jack threw it into the kitchen and Jasper tore it to shreds.
I think I will get another one for her just because I love that she plays it when I play my Clarinet.

Pasco Childrens Museum

2011-01-23T18:23:00.000-08:00

There is a Children's Museum over in Pasco. I went with a couple of freinds and their kids not too long. It is a very relaxed place. I wouldn't really call it a museum but the kids had a lot of fun!!

Jack, of course, spent a lot of time at the car track. I was a little irritated with the two staff members that worked there. They took the track set to another room (I assume to be cleaned) and didn't bring it back. Jack was having so much fun I wish they would have waited until we were gone.

Jack followed Mariska everywhere. He loves his big sister so much. I am so glad that they get along the way they do.
Mariska carried this box with her for a long time. It went down the slide with her. It went in all the cars with her. I think it has a dog in it but I am not sure.

Getting good on those feet.

Don't mind me. Riska really wanted to take a picture of me as the princess. She did a good job. It was very uncomfortable, I didn't fit into the space very well.

Mariska ran around as the dragon for 30 min. She was dripping sweat and it took a lot of talking to get her to take it off. She thought it was really cool.
Jolie and Sara are two of the most incredible women I have ever met. I love them dearly and am so grateful to have both of them in my life. Thanks Ladies for being who you are to me and my family.

To tired to function.

2011-01-23T18:15:00.000-08:00

Riska has Preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays so it is just me and Jack on those morning. It is nice to spend one on one time with him. The only problem is he starts getting tired around 10:30 and we go and get Riska at 11:00. I try to keep him up until after lunch but he was just not going to make it this day. This is before we had to leave to get Riska.

Disconcerting

2011-01-17T19:50:00.000-08:00

I took the kids to the store today. I normally don't that because it is hard to deal with both of them by myself. We needed an outing though and Mariska has done fairly well the last couple trips the store. Jack was sitting in the front seat of the cart and Riska was riding on the end. She has this bad habit of jumping off and on the cart. I asked her twice to stop and just as the words were coming out of my mouth the second time she fell and I almost ran over her leg with the cart. Then the tears started to flow. I explained to her that this was the exact reason I didn't like her playing on the cart like that. I told her she had lost her privilege of walking and had to sit in the cart for the rest of the trip. This started more than tears it started full on yelling and the beginnings of a tantrum. I know I am not the first one to have kids that do this but it throws me every time it happens. This was the first time it happened without John being there. I thought I was getting a handle on it by telling her that if she didn't stop we would leave and go home and I would come back after John got home from work. Then some creep came up to us and, I kid you not, said this, "You better do what your mommy says little girl or I can take you. Do you want to come with me?"
I wish that my brain had been working better at the time because I have come up with a lot of things to say to him but my main concern at the moment was Mariska. I grabbed her face and told her to look at me and ignore the man. As he is walking away he says "It's no problem my daughter is in the next aisle and she always acts like this."
Who in there right mind does that? John said I did the right thing but I am not so sure. I have things planned out to say when I hear of things like this happening to other people and then it happens and my mind goes blank. In my defense I was worried about getting my kids away from him and the situation.

New Years 2011

2011-01-09T21:51:00.000-08:00

We had so much fun this New Years. We went to our friends the Mason's (Thank you so much for having us Sara and David!!) Sara was really my first freind here in the Tri-Cities. Mariska loves their Daughter Sammy. They are really cute together!
How can you not love this face!!
I swear this boy is always eating
Happy New Year to you all!!!!! We love you and hope that 2011 is a great year!

We are Walking!!

2011-01-09T20:54:00.001-08:00

Christmas 2010

2011-01-09T20:19:00.000-08:00

This was the first Christmas that John and I have had without any family. It was very quiet. I missed being with family but it was really nice to be just us. We did something every night the week before Christmas as a family. It was fun to have a week full of family home evenings.
I was nuts this year and did the after Thanksgiving sale and basically got all of our Christmas done. It was nice to have it out of the way and the prices that I got everything made it worth the entire night without sleep. (That and John taking the kids to his brothers so I could catch up on the sleep that I missed.
We had our usual Christmas morning breakfast, Breakfast Pizza. I cannot imagine Christmas without the Breakfast Pizza. The kids slept until 9:00. I was awake at 8:00. I was way excited for Christmas morning this year. It was hard waiting that hour for the kids to get up. It reminded me of when I was growing up and having to wait for mom and dad to get up and say it was OK to go and open presents. We were never allowed to go into the living room until we had had family prayer. I really like that tradition and John and I will be using that with our kids. It is easy to do when you wake up before they do. :)
Mariska loved her Christmas PJ's, Jack was indifferent.
I was really surprised at Jack he tore into his presents. It probably was because of how excited Mariska was and he was feeding off of her. It was fun though.

I hope that you all had a grerat Christmas. Know we love and pray for you all!

Thanksgiving for Preschool

2011-01-09T20:04:00.000-08:00

Mariska Loves Preschool!!! How could she not when they do such fun activities like this one. they are really fun kids to be around and Mariska has a great time.

Thanks for the pictures Karrie!!!

Happy Birthday Mariska!!

2010-12-22T14:45:00.000-08:00

I am a bout a month behind but it has been a busy month. Riska turned 4 at the end of November. We were in E-burg for Thanksgiving and since her birthday was three days later we just celebrated with the family and a couple of her friends.

The big item this year was a bike. She loves it. I feel a little bad giving her something she can't use right away because of the snow. It will be fun to see her finally ride when the snow melts.

Grandma Gail gave her this Princess dress up kit but I think the way she gave it was the best. She had pictures of all the Disney princesses on clues that she hid throughout the house. Mariska had to find them. She couldn't read the clues so her cousin Jimmy helped her out. It was a lot of fun to see all the kids running from clue to clue excited to hear where the next one would be. The final clue led her to the gift. She wears it all the time. Especially the hair. She loves the hair.

John would probably shoot me if he saw that I posted this but I thought it was so funny! He would make a great punk rocker.
Happy Birthday Riska!!!! We love you so much!!

Catching Up

2010-11-04T20:16:00.000-07:00

Bear with me there is a lot of information and pictures.
October was a bit crazy and a lot of fun. Mom and Aurie arrived here on the 7th and stayed until the 24th. I am so glad mom remembered her camera. The day they got here my camera broke. All the pictures you will see in the next posts were taken with her camera. Thanks again mom!
One morning on the way to preschool mom saw a sign that said free grapes. We had to pick them but they were free. Yeah!!!!
Yes Jack is in a pink stroller. We ran over the gender neutral one with the car... by accident.

Riska was a lot of help. She couldn't get the grapes herself so she went from me to mom and then to Aurie asking us to give her grapes to put in the boxes.
I think Aurie was a bit disgusted. :)
Riska had her first Primary program. At our church, once a year, the children (3-12) put on a program during the first hour of church. All the kids are assigned a small speaking part. The program is a summation of what they learned over the year. I was so proud of Mariska! She ran right up to the stand and said her little speaking part. My favorite part was when she was walking back to her seat. She looked at me and I gave her a thumbs up. She gave me one right back. I was glad mom was there for that.
Jack has become a great mimicker. He copies everything we do. This is good for us because we have been teaching him sign language and he is really getting good at the words we have taught him. The funniest thing he has imitated so far is covering his ears. Thank you Aurie. I swear she is the best teacher. ;) Not sure what the spinning around is about

Speaking of Aurie, My kids love her!

I was so glad she came with mom. Riska was too. Dad would talk to her and ask if he could come see her. she would tell him that Aurie was. Sorry Dad. I wish you could have been here too.

We had a fun time at Lowe's building a fun house mirror. Mom helped me sew on the patches Riska has received hopefully I will remember how to do it with the new ones. We went again this saturday and saw two kids with at least 100 patches on their aprons. We are building a shelf in Riska's room to display all her projects.
Jack isn't much of a cuddler unless he is sleepy then he gives all the cuddles a mom could want!
John is really enjoying his job. The people he works for are awesome! His boss came to him last week and asked if we were interested in having some meat. Keith (John's boss) brought home a good sized moose this year and they have more meat than they can handle themselves. They gave us two coolers filled with all kids of meat from his moose. He even gave us some gear meat. I am a little nervous but excited to try it all. He wants us to find what we like so he can give us more. Tonight I am trying some ground moose in my moms chili recipe.
I love being at home with the kids. I taught Riska's preschool group for two weeks and had a blast. They are a good group of kids.
I have asked Santa for a new camera and I am hoping to get it soon. I miss having one that works. Feels like I might miss something important.
I was glad to have mom and Aurie here. I miss my family a lot right now. I miss living close to John's family and I miss our friends. I know this were we are supposed to be and I have seen the Lords hand in everything we have done. I am grateful to all of you for your love and support. I hope you know how much you mean to me and my family! Hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving!!!

Pumpkins 2010

2010-11-04T19:56:00.000-07:00

I love carving pumpkins! I have no idea why. Everything about it is so fun. This year John thought it would be fun to do something different. I am glad we did. Love how the pumpkin turned out.

Just in case... We are big baseball fans our team being the Seattle Mariners.

Success At Last!!

2010-11-04T19:30:00.000-07:00

The last two years we have tried to do a ginger bread house. I say try because we failed miserably! Both times we ended up with something that looked more like an homage to Hurricane Katrina.
This year we finally figured it out. (Thank you mom!)

I did the frosting and Riska did parts of the candy. She was more interested in eating the candy!
Can't wait to do it again for Christmas!

Pumpkin Patch 2010

2010-11-04T18:50:00.001-07:00

This was the first year Riska has been to a pumpkin patch. We went with her preschool class and had a blast! Riska was so excited to pick her very own pumpkin. We kept it in the kitchen on the counter when we frist brought it home but I ended up moving it because it would disappear. i would always find on the top bunk of Riska's bunk bed. Hmmmm. I am still wondering whether she actually climbed up the ladder with the pumpkin in her arms, or threw it up there. Would have been a site to see either way.
It was nice having some one on one time away from the house with her. She is such a little character.
The Pumkin Patch had a pyramid built out of straw bales. It was big! I was very impressed with all our kids. they were so excited to climb it and even more excited when they got to the top.
I couldn't beleive we got all the kids to line up and stay at the top so we could get pictures.
I will be honest I wanted to do the corn maze. I was a bit disappointed when we arrived at the straw maze instead. I get it. They are little but I would have gone with her. She did have fun trying to find her way back out.
Mariska's school class plus 3. She loves the kids in her class. I do too. They are a fun little group.
I thoroughly enjoyed teaching the past two weeks.

Jack man turns 1!

2010-11-04T17:48:00.000-07:00

I have no idea where this year went but Jack turned one on the 23rd of October.I can't take credit for the cake but it was really tasty!When we gave Jack his cake we expected him to dive right in but he didn't he picked at it at first.It didn't take him long to figure it out. :)This is about where I pulled the plug on the cake eating festivities. He was a mess and there was cake everywhere. He got more cake on the floor and down his shorts than he did in his mouth.Mom and Aurie were here for the party. John's mom and dad were able to come for the day. It was so fun to have all of them here to celebrate!
I love watching a baby figure out the whole present thing. Jack was of course more interested in the packaging than they toys and I don't think I have ever seen a kid get so excited about clothes.
Jack is already learning to share. Most of the time it is by force, but he really loves to play with his big sister.
Love you Mom!
I have to say that I am so proud of Mariska! She had a couple of moments on Jacks birthday but for the most part handled it very well. She is a really great big sister and we are lucky to have her.Happy Birthday Jack!!!!!!! We love you!

We are MOBILE!!!!

2010-11-04T17:35:00.000-07:00

Jack started doing something that resembled an army crawl. He would literally pull hiself across the floor with his hands. Then about three days after mom and Aurie got here he figured it out and nothing has been safe since!

Jasper

2010-09-25T19:08:00.000-07:00

"And they call it puppy love." After a very long day of traveling we arrived home safely with the newest member of our family, Jasper. He is an Airedale and is only 6 weeks old. He is our family Christmas present this year. A little early but it happens. We are very excited to have him home.
He has a very mellow temperament and seems to enjoy the kids a lot. He has been a little nervous all day but it is understandable, everything that he has known is no longer there.
We were not sure if Riska really understood that we were getting a dog but it was very clear to her when we started the drive back home. Everywhere we stopped she would tell us to not forget the puppy.
We have to be a little more careful with Jack and Jasper. Jasper is only a puppy and has some sharp teeth that Jack finds very interesting. Every time we bring them together Jack puts his fingers into Jasper's mouth.
I was a little nervous about getting a dog but as soon as I saw Jasper I fell in love with him and new he was going to be a great addition to our home.

New bed

2010-09-15T19:34:00.000-07:00

We have been looking for a new bed to put in Mariska's room and we finally found one. I loves Craigslist! They family we bought the bed from was so nice and they even brought the bed to our house because we had no way of transporting it. Mariska loves it and has already told me that my mom and sister get to sleep on the bottom when they come and visit. We shall see.

First day of PreSchool!!

2010-09-15T19:29:00.000-07:00

That's right! Riska started Preschool. John gave her a fathers blessing for the first time the night before and it was incredible. I can't believe how time has flown! We joined a preschool co-op so I will be one of the teachers. Wish us luck!

Kittitas County Fair

2010-09-15T18:54:00.001-07:00

Since we have been married we have not missed the Kittitas County Fair and we sure as heck weren't going to miss it this year. We splurged a bit and got Mariska and me a ride all day bracelet and did we get our moneys worth. I had a good time but I am not a teen any more and couldn't do the rides without a motion sickness pill. :( Oh well a good time was had by all.
I personally think this is the only to go when you go to a fair. It brought back memories of when my dad would drape us over his shoulders.
Riska loves anything that is chicken and I mean everything! I wonder if she knows that the chicken we eat is the same thing running around in Grandpa and Grandma's backyard. Mmmmmmm.
We spent most the day with John's sister Anna and her family. It was nice to have them around. John took Jack home and I stayed with Riska at the fair. We did a lot of the rides with Anna and Levi. Thanks again Anna and Jared I really appreciate you!
Anna and I entered Riska and Levi into the Junior Rodeo. It was so fun and way cute. Jack ended up joining in the fun when not enough kids signed up. Glad I have no qualms about looking like an idiot so my kids can have fun.
My Two boys! Love them so much!
Riska did the Barrel Racing. She was a little nervous when everyone started clapping for her when she came out of the pen. This picture is just after she threw her horse. The best part of the Junior Rodeo was the two guys doing the commentating. They were so good with the kids and seem to have a good time. We were laughing pretty hard during the whole thing.
She didn't want to do the barrel racing but was a little upset when I tried to bring her back to the pen. It is so funny how she can be so outgoing one min and so shy the next.
Jack did the bucking bronco's. I felt like an idiot but at the same time was laughing so hard I really didn't care.

Jack was more interested on chewing on the ears and the horn. It was a long fun day and I have ridden enough rides to last me awhile but I am really glad we went!

Blue Ribbon

2010-09-15T18:50:00.001-07:00

I entered my Dragon Counted Cross Stitch into the fair and got a blue Ribbon! Yeah!

Job meant for two

2010-08-31T20:48:00.000-07:00

We went to the Benton County Fair last week. When I say we I mean me and the kids. John had to work so I thought it would be fun to take the kids. It was but it was work. I don't think I will do it alone again.
Riska had a really good time on the big slide.
She caused a bit of a back up. I wanted to climb up and kick some kids for how pushy they were being. If I didn't have to keep my eyes on Riska I would have been at the other end giving them a piece of my mind (another reason to have a partner when going to the fair.)

First Sign

2010-08-31T20:07:00.000-07:00

As we did with Riska, we have been using signs when we talk to Jack. Mostly when we say more, Please, thank you, help, drink, eat and sleep. Jack responded for the first time today with the sign for "more." I love how he claps when we say yeah!
The sign for "more" is done by closing all fingers on your thumbs and tapping the ends of your fingers together. Jack this morning was doing it with both hands but for the video he would only do it with one.

If you give a guy a cookie!

2010-08-15T14:00:00.001-07:00

Unbeknownst to us Riska shared her chocolate chip cookie with Jack. Lets just say that his face was mild compared to his hands and shirt.

Our little Handy girl

2010-08-15T13:51:00.001-07:00

Since we moved to the Tri-Cities I have been getting the kids involved in different activities around town. My sister told me that Lowes and Home Depot have kid craft days so I looked into and Riska and I have been to two. The first one we went to was at Lowes and she built a spaceship. She was so proud of it. The second we went to was at Home Depot and she built a school bus.
I Love the Goggles. They set out little hammers and aprons for each kid. The best part is it is totally free.
The spaceship has a working light on the top. So Cool!

Missing Daddy

2010-08-15T13:30:00.001-07:00

We were gone for three days this week in Ellensburg. John had to work so he didn't go. Jack is a daddy's boy and asked for dad dad everyday we were gone. When we pulled into the driveway and John came out to help get us in Jack flipped out. He was so excited to see his daddy. I couldn't keep him away from his dad the whole night. Sure made John feel good.

Glow Stick Fun

2010-08-15T13:12:00.000-07:00

Last week when My Aunt Toni and her boys Bryce and Drew were visiting they taught us a really fun game. We tapped Glow Sticks to our bodies and went outside after dark to play. It was so fun and way cool. I had so much fun with them that when I went to visit family and friends in E-burg we did it again with all the cousins and our close friends the Ramsey's. This was Bryce and Drew in the light. The pictures I got of them in the dark didn't turn out but I got a lot of the little kids when we were playing in E-burg.
The kids all lined up before we let them run around and play tag. From Left to Right. Jimmy, Levi, Riska, Joanna, Jaclyn and Audrey.
It is hard to tell who is who in the dark but I think the tall on is Jimmy the one in the middle is Riska and then I think the others are Jaclyn and Joanna. My nephew Jimmy thought it was so cool that the pictures only showed the glow sticks.
All the kids had so much fun we will surely be doing this again!

Construction!!!

2010-08-15T12:23:00.001-07:00

This last week the kids and I did a bit of traveling. We drove to Portland on the 2nd to pick up my Aunt and her boys from the airport. We drove them back to Portland on the 9th when they were going home. Then we went to Ellensburg for a couple days to visit with family and Friends. My kids are pro's at traveling! It is 3 1/2 hours from our house to Portland so the entire trip would be about 7 hours plus stopping. The way to Portland on the 9th was fine no problems the way back home was another story. Traffic started to back up as i was passing a sign that said Road construction in 14 miles. It was stop and go with a lot more stopping than going. Finally came to a sign that said "Construction next 15 miles." It took us 1 hour and 45 min to go 30 miles. That was brutal. But we made it and we stopped at the Dalles Dam for a break and a treat. Like I said my kids are pros at car rides.

First Haircut

2010-07-20T18:03:00.000-07:00

I forgot to take a before picture but the pictures in the post before this one was taken a week ago so that should suffice. I also didn't get pictures while we were buzzing his head. I should have. He was so cute. I sat him on the counter in front of the mirror. he was so fascinated with the baby he was looking at that it made it really easy to buzz his head. I was a little sad because he had these really cute curls at the end of his hair and his hair now looks more blond than red.
He is starting to look more like his daddy but with the haircut I think he looks like my dad.

My little Guy Fieri

2010-07-15T22:06:00.000-07:00

I love Guy Fieri. He is one of my favorite chefs on food network. He is the host of Diner Drive-ins and dives or the Triple D. My Aunt got Jack this outfit when he was born. It is an 18 month outfit. I think it makes him look my own little Guy Fieri. Guy always wears shirts like this one.
The funny part is jack is playing with Riska's food set. It has become one of his favorite things to play with.

Backyard happiness

2010-07-15T21:57:00.001-07:00

Here is a picture of our house from the back. Riska loves having a backyard to play in. The back deck needs some work and we have done somethings to the yard since these pictures were taken.Here is our fabulous backyard. It needs work I know but we plan on being here a while so it will be a fun little project for us. The only thing Mike our landlord has said we cant do is paint the inside of the house. The yard is free reign. Our yard ends at the wood fence you see in the background. I think we have about a half acre. Not bad for being in the city.

Blessings

2010-07-15T21:10:00.000-07:00

I know it has been awhile since I blogged but now that things are starting to settle down I figure it is time to jump back into it. I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for how he has blessed me and my family in the past month. John had been looking for a job since January of this year and two days before graduation interviewed with William Charles West General Contracting. He was so excited aboiut this job and told me it was his dream job when he got out of college. They told him that they would make their decision by the next day, so Friday June 11. We heard nothing on Thursday and nothing on Friday. It was a little disheartening but John had two more interviews lined up for the following week. The first was on Monday the14th. He called William Charles West and left a message thanking them for the interview and asked if they had made any headway in making a decision for the position. Since we hadn't heard anything from them we went to the interview in Yakima at a place called Systems West. Systems West called and offered John a job about 30 min after the interview ended. Without hesitation he accepted the job. I was happy but had a nagging feeling that this wasn't it. I asked John if he would be happy there and he thought he could be. I was really worried about him settling. I figure if he spent 5 years going to school he has the right to enjoy his job. his thinking was with a bad economy we don't have a choice and what is the likelihood of another job offer coming to him. So we went home thinking that we were moving to Yakima. John hops onto the computer and there is an E-mail for William Charles West. It started off saying they were confused with Johns phone call because they had sent him a job offer via e-mail on Friday but that a glitch in the system had prevented the email from being sent. It was a little surreal for the next couple of hours as we decided that we would all be happier with the William Charles West job. He called Systems West and in not these words told them to take a flying leap. So John is now the project engineer at William Charles West in Kennewick Washington.
We began our search for a place to live immediately because Johns start date was the 21st of June. We started out looking for apartments but we were finding houses for less rent on Craigslist. After a day long trip to Kennewick and nothing we decided to take a day off and pack. John by divine intervention got onto Craigslist and saw a house that had only been posted for an hour. He decided to call on it and was the very first person to call. Mike the owner asked if we could come and see the house that night. Of course we jumped at the opportunity and went. When we got to the house there 12 other people there to look at it. I figured that if it was that hotly contested then there was no chance for us getting it. As we were leaving we filled out the rental application and Mike told us he would be making a decision by Monday. This all happened on Thursday. Friday afternoon we got the phone call. Mike said that since John was the first to call he would offer it to him first but he wanted to make sure we were planning on living there for more than 6 months. We told him we could see ourselves there for several years. He said great and asked if we would like to be the new tenants of his house.
We went two days later to sign the rental agreement. There had been 42 applications turned in for the house. Mike said there were three reasons he wanted us to be the tenants.
1. We were the first to call and that meant something to him. We were honest and didn't try to make him choose us by saying we would pay more in rent like others had done.
2. he wanted someone that would take care of his house and love it the way he did. He built it from the ground up and he felt we would take care of the place.
3. the last thing he said about it was "Plus I fell in love with that little girl of yours and how could I not give her this house."
So john started on the 21st. i stayed in Ellensburg and packed up house for one week and then we moved on the 26th. So we know we are meant to be here. It feels so right and this is really starting to become home to us.

GRADUATION!!!!

2010-07-15T20:24:00.000-07:00

I am proud to be the wife of a Central Washington University Alumni. On June 12, 2010 My husband and best friend graduated from college with a degree in Construction Management. I am so proud of him and all he has accomplished in his years at school. I will admit that it was hard at times and totally frustrating but 5 years and 2 kids later we are at the end of the tunnel.

This is the Graduating Class. The weather was beautiful. (Would say it was a little too hot but I don't think I will get much sympathy from some.)
I know that some of these are terrible pictures. I tried to get in as close as I could to see John. John is sitting on the far right in the second to last row. He is the top right of the 4 wearing hardhats.
Here he is Shaking hands and getting his diploma or rather the folder his diploma would go in. They will mail the diploma to us who knows when.
The tassel turn.
Mr. Johnathan M. Richmond AC (Associate Constructor)
A huge thank you goes out to all family members and friends for their love, concern and support. I am eternally grateful to John's mom and dad, Jim and Gail. They were a huge help to us during Johns school years. It would have been even more difficult with out them.
I guess it's my turn.

Beam Signing #2

2010-06-19T17:42:00.000-07:00

I was on a walk with a friend and walked by the beam that John had signed. I still think this is a way cool way to leave your mark on something. I am so glad John was able to be a part of this. It is strange to think that he is done with CWU.

Beam Signing

2010-06-08T10:36:00.001-07:00

The Hogue building at Central is being refurbished and an addition is being built on the existing building. Hogue has been John's home at school for the last two years because that is where all the courses for his major are. They are building the addition first and then moving everything into it so they can gut and redo the original building. Yesterday the final structural steel beam was being placed. The program had a BBQ for all the seniors that are graduating this week and at the BBQ they all got to sign the beam before it was put in its final place atop the building. What a great way for John to leave his mark on a place that has been such a big part of our lives the last four years.
So cool to see all the signatures.

Books and Songs

2010-05-31T15:36:00.001-07:00

To help encourage good behavior at home I had to come up with something a little different for Mariska. Very few things phase her. Timeouts do not work and taking toys away doesn't seem to work either. One of the only things that really works is to take away books we read and songs we sing during our bedtime routine. She loves to read books and sing songs. So to help track it I made this poster.
The little girl at the top is Riska.
There is a piece of Velcro on each book and on each music note. The red packets at the bottom store the books and notes when they are not being used. I am working on her name to go in the blank spot at the bottom of the poster.
Riska starts with two books and two songs everyday with plenty of opportunities to earn more but when bad decisions are made we also take them away. So far it has been doing wonders for her.
Thank you Gail for letting me use your awesome Cricket. Made this so much easier than it would have been. You are the best.

Outside Fun

2010-05-31T15:06:00.000-07:00

Jack had his first time at the park yesterday. The weather was nice and we decided to go out back and play.
Riska always has fun when we go to the park but this was Jacks first time in the swing and on the slide.
We attempted to have the kids go down the slide together but that was not the brightest idea of the day. They rolled over by the time they got to the bottom of the slide, with Riska onto of Jack. I wanted to get a picture because it was so funny but I was worried she was squishing him.
I am not to sure about this mom!
I am so proud of Riska. There is a little cubby area at the top of the jungle gym that she always wants to get up in but has a really hard time getting back down. I cannot tell you how many times I have had to climb up and rescue her. This time she figured out how to do it herself. She spent a long time going up into the cubby just to turn around and get back down. It was really awesome. She is getting so big.
By the end Jack was having a blast in the swings.

Work!!!

2010-05-31T14:59:00.000-07:00

I am a firm believer that children should be put to work as young as possible. ;) No I am just kidding. I left the cheese on the table and had moved on to something else. When I turned around my little helper was attempting to grate the cheese. I love that she likes to help me in the kitchen. Not to long ago she tried to help with the dishes. I washed and she rinsed and set them on the towel to dry. I ended up cleaning up a lot of water by the time we were done and the dishes that were drying had to be moved to another towel because Riska had decided to rinse them off after she put them on the towel. I shouldn't complain to much because if I keep nurturing this side of her she may never fight me when we do chores. :) Yeah Right.

Mommy Moment #9 Something Right

2010-05-31T14:51:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you but sometimes I wonder if the things I teach Mariska ever sink in. Yesterday I had an aha moment at church. Her primary teacher came up to me and said that she held up a picture of President Monson and asked the kids in her class if they knew who he was. Riska was the only one that could tell her it was the prophet. I may be a little biased but my little girl is so smart. It really made me feel like we have done something right. Silly I know. We have probably done more than one thing right but it sure feels good to see or hear the positive things that a child has done because of something you taught her. My experience has been that you really only hear about the negative things that your child does and if you are like me wonder where in the heck she learned that. :)

Jack's eye part 2

2010-05-29T21:32:00.000-07:00

So we went to Children's Hospital in Seattle on Wednesday for a checkup appointment on Jacks eye. I was hoping to go and find out when they would want to do the surgery because Jacks eye has not gotten better and has in fact gotten worse. The droopy eyelid has now started to cover a very small part of his pupil and his pediatrician says we may want to look into doing the surgery sooner than later. It is really neat to watch them do the vision test on Jack. Obviously he cannot respond vocally to them so the test are a bit different than the ones that are done on older children and adults. Dr. Herlihy is great and Jack (being the flirt he is) loves her. She was very honest with us in regards to the surgery. She could tell that we had concerns about his eye but assured us that the droopy eyelid has yet to cause a problem with his vision. He is still not favoring one eye over the other and he has figured out that if he tilts his head back or raises his eyebrows he can see a little better out his right eye. Dr Herlihy told us that we could do the surgery now but the chances of Jack needing to have a secondary surgery is pretty high because of how young he is and how much growing he has to do. She also said that if at any point there is even the slightest question that his eyelid is affecting his vision we will do the surgery. Jack will never have full use of his eyelid because of the muscle being deformed but the two surgeries that Dr. Herlihy told us about would definitely help him.
The first only works 3/4 of the time and rarely does it correct the problem fully. It stretches the deformed muscle, to make it tighter, and they attach it to the brow muscle. The pros of this surgery is it is cosmetically more appealing meaning less scaring and eyes may appear a bit more symetrical. The second surgery is called a sling. They would take donor tissue and sling it around the deformed muscle and again attach it to the brow muscle. There would be three incisions above the eyebrow and three incisions on the eyelid. He would still use his brow to help raise the eyelid all the way with both surgeries but the second surgery would help with the resting state of the eyelid, it wouldn't seem droopy.
We have decided to wait since it is not impairing his vision. We have another appointment in a couple months and will continue to go every couple months to monitor that status of his eyes.
I feel truly blessed to have such healthy kids and I am grateful that Jack is only having to deal with Ptosis (droopy eyelid.) I do however hate Having to make a decision about surgery. I hope when the time comes we make a good decision in regards to what surgery we will have done. At our first appointment Dr Herlihy said that Jack may grow out of it but becasue of how severe his ptosis was not to count on it. This appointment we found out surgery would be imminent. I guess I was still hoping he would grow out of it because I was kinda bummed after the appointment. Just hope eveything goes well when the time comes.

Mommy Moment #8 Forget your fears

2010-05-22T22:16:00.000-07:00

I used to be a really big wuss. The thought of touching animals like cows and horses freaked me out. I had bizarre images of these animals biting my hand off. (Don't ask. I am not sure where it comes from.) Well people I am proud to say I am over my fear. Since we have lived in a place that has a county fair every year I made it a point with Mariska to not be scared of animals the way her mother is. She isn't for the most part and loves to pet any animal that will let her (except chickens she just likes to chase those.) We have been to the fair every year and she loves to see the cows and the horses. She has ridden a horse before at a friends birthday party and loved it. A good friend of ours has horses and when we were celebrating his birthday a few weeks ago we got to ride the horses. Riska is a pro. I on the other hand had to have someone guide the horse for the first little bit I was on it. Eventually I took the reigns and although I was a little intimidated at first I had a blast and cannot wait to do it again. I can see why people do this for fun.
I was a little nervous. Held on really tight to the saddle horn.

18 Things

2010-05-19T23:09:00.000-07:00

Somethings you might not know about me. Then again you might.

Ten things I love...
1. Clean sheets on the bed
2. Stepping out of the shower on to freshly washed bathmats (John's not allowed to take the first shower after the mats have been washed.)
3. A babies laughter
4. The smell of rain
5. The look of the clouds at sunset
6. Hugs and kisses from my hubby and children
7. The stars
8. An ice cold glass of water
9. Orchids and Tulips
10. Reading a good book in a day or two (hasn't happened in a long time.)

Five things that make me mad
1. People who don't stop for pedestrians
2. When a fuse blows as I am blow drying Mariska's hair before bed.
3. Whenever I don't need a pacifier for Jack I find them everywhere. When I need one they are nowhere to be found.
4. Being late when I got up earlier and tried so hard to make it early or just on time
5. Overeating because it just tasted to good to waste. (I have been really bad at this lately.)

Three things I wish for
1. John getting a job before he graduates.
2. Living a little closer to my family.
3. That laundry did itself.

Can you see any differences?

2010-05-07T22:55:00.000-07:00

I had jack a little over 6 months ago and Johns sister Anna had Zack about 6 weeks ago. I know there is about five months between the two but I can't help but laugh when I see my "little" guy next to hers.

I had to put a picture of my little mommy. She loves anything that resembles a baby.

Acting Out

2010-05-07T22:40:00.000-07:00

My poor little baby has his two bottom front teeth and is now getting his two top front teeth. Not just poor him but poor me also. He has bitten me more than a few times while nursing and twice now has made me bleed. I am torn between stopping and just pumping or suffering through it. I have gotten pretty good at telling when he is about to bite and can pull him off before he does but I really have to pay attention. My hope is that once these two teeth break through things will be better. I might be kidding myself because once those teeth are there he will have four instead of two. Even the thought of it makes me fold my arms.
Two nights ago I was singing with Riska at bedtime. She was sitting with her baby in her lap and I was laying on her bed looking at the ceiling. When I looked over at her she had pulled her PJ shirt up and was holding her doll to her chest. I asked her what she was doing and she told me she was "nursing her baby." I asked if she wanted to feed her baby a bottle and she said, "No. I need to feed her with my boob." Not really sure what I was supposed to do at this point I continued the song and suddenly I hear Riska pushes her doll away from her and says, "Ouch! That's it your done!" I about fell off her bed I was laughing so hard. I guess she has heard me say that more than once. :)

Walk to the park

2010-05-02T21:03:00.001-07:00

I have been walking with my good friend Pearl and not long ago our walk took us to the park. I had Riska in the stroller and Jack on my back. It was hard, but a good work out. Jack was comfortable he fell right asleep.
Riska enjoyed the park the best.
This was the first time I took Jack in the pack. My next door neighbor has let me use her double stroller a couple times. Most the time I only take one child and John stays home with the other. It has been nice because he has had some really great daddy daughter time with Riska. Thanks Pearl we love you!

Mommy Moment #7 Oh the Power!!!!!

2010-04-06T11:26:00.000-07:00

I think the vindictive side of me started to show yesterday. I had a really hard time getting out of bed due to a late night and a son who felt it was necessary to eat every couple of hours. I put in a movie for Mariska then Jack and I fell asleep while she was watching. I woke up to Riska asking me to open a Easter Peanut Butter Egg. I told her no that we needed to eat breakfast first. As she left the room I could hear her trying to open the packaging which she succeeded in doing. By the time I got to her she had literally stuffed more than half the egg in her mouth. I was really irritated that she disobeyed so as punishment she was not allowed to have any candy for the rest of the day. Now this is going to sound bad but I think about it and I think it is funny I felt this way yesterday because I have never felt like this before. There was something almost satisfying about eating a piece of candy in front of her and telling her she wasn't able to have one because she disobeyed. I know!!! I am terrible! I think I was mostly irritated because she would not listen to anything I said yesterday. So what did I learn in this experience? Sometimes having power feels good! :)

Solid Food

2010-03-28T14:41:00.000-07:00

So in my research of when to give your child solid food I found that 6 months is not always the age that babies will have their first solid foods. Jack is sitting while being supported and he actually drools and grabs at my food when I eat. These and a couple of other things told us he was ready and sure enough, he has taken to it with ease. This is his first taste of Rice Cereal. He loves it!

Easter Time

2010-03-28T14:21:00.001-07:00

I Love this time of year! The colors, the feelings that I feel. I love the clothes. This was Riska's Easter dress this year. Since Easter is next week and next week is General Conference we wore our Easter clothes today. For those who do not know what General Conference is. We do not go to our regular meetings on the weekend of General Conference. Instead we have the opportunity to hear our prophet and other leaders speak to us from the confrence center in Salt Lake City.

Jack is wearing a 12 month shirt and pant set. There is a tie that goes with it but Jack's neck is too big and we could not get the top button done up. Both kids looked really cute. We decide to go to the park and take pictures. Not sure if this was a good idea. Riska was more interested in the playground and refused to focus on the task at hand. Oh well it just shows off the personalities in our family.

Jacks Eye

2010-03-17T22:06:00.000-07:00

So a comment I made in the last post probably needs some clarification. Jack doesn't have a bad eye. He actually has whats called Ptosis in his left eye. It is a deformity in the eyelid muscle that causes it to look lazy or partially closed. We have been to a specialist about it which is where we got the diagnosis. They will do a minor operation on the eyelid when Jack is about 5 or 6 years old. They will only operate sooner if it becomes a problem for him. We have to take him in to the specialist every 4 months to have his eye checked. The doctor said that their is a slight chance that Jack will grow out of it, but she also said that it is unlikely because of how pronounced it is. We asked her about some type pf physical therapy and she said that because the muscle is not weak it is deformed that no amount of therapy will help. So we will wait and see if he does grow out of it and if he doesn't we already decided that we would do the surgery. Now when I refer to Jacks bad eye this is what I mean.

Peek-A-Boo

2010-03-17T22:01:00.000-07:00

He is so funny. You would think he would be unhappy with the hood covering his eyes. Instead he was happy and all giggles. Maybe its because his bad eye is the one that is covered. Or it could just be that he was perfectly happy eating his coat.

New Toy Take 2

2010-03-17T21:55:00.000-07:00

I think Riska likes this almost as much as Jack does. She is a little more inventive in how she sits in it though.
She is going to be a big help (I hope) when it comes time to feed Jack solid food. 1 more month, times sure flies.

New Toy

2010-03-07T19:59:00.001-08:00

It is not really a new toy because we had it with Riska but it is new to Jack and he loves it. We actually had to move it up to the 2nd setting because his weight makes it sag to low on the first setting. He is four months old and weighs 22 lbs. I am sure building up good muscles in my arms. :)

Blessed

2010-03-07T19:25:00.000-08:00

Just thought I would let anyone who reads this know how blessed I am in my life. I am very fortunate to have John who still loves me when I am at my worst.
These two children drive me nuts sometimes but I am grateful to have them entrusted to me for our time on this earth. If you are reading this thank you for your love and support!

Rough week

2010-03-07T18:52:00.000-08:00

So it has been an incredibly rough week at our house.John has been getting ready for finals, building a bridge, and preparing for an eight hour test he has to take on Saturday. Plus Jack has had RSV and Bronchitis, and he just cut his first tooth yesterday. Riska caught some version of what Jack has and so to say the least I would very much like this week to be over and never replay itself again. :) On the positive side of things I got a lot done. I made Cherry Pie filling, rearranged furniture and deep cleaned the living room and two of the bedrooms. Oh and I did all of the laundry. Yeah for clean clothes!!!! Back to the not so positive parts of the week. Last Friday Jack woke up with a really nasty cough. He had a low temp and was a little fussy. I called the doctors office to see if they could see him. I called first thing that morning and still had not heard from them by three, so I called and asked to talk to the triage nurse. When I told her what was going on she told me "you know you really should have called early in the day." When I told her I did and was waiting for the doctor to get back to me she decided to get us in with the on call doc. As John put it "I would rather let my sick dog die than take it to Doctor Vaughn" (On call Doc.) The doctor saw Jack said that there was nothing wrong with him. When I questioned further about the coughing and the fever he again said that Jack was fine and probably had a little cold. i asked about Jack's congestion and he said that it would go away in a day or two. Let me just say that last weekend was a little scary for me. Jack got progressively worse as the weekend went on and by Sunday night I knew there was something more going on than a little cold. I was up all night with Jack and as soon as the clinic opened I called and asked to talk to our doctor or his nurse. They were both with patients so I left my name and # and asked for a call back asap. When Debbie our nurse called me Jack was having a moment and Debbie heard him in the back ground and told me I needed to get him to the clinic right then and that Jack didn't sound good. So I drop Riska off at Anna's and took Jack to the Doc where we find out he had RSV Which caused bronchitis. FUN!!!!! For the last week we have been using a nebulizer (machine that turns liqued into a gas) and Jack is doing much better. He got his appetite back and is starting to get back to a somewhat normal schedule of sleeping. I am so glad things are getting back to normal.

Singing with Daddy

2010-02-28T11:50:00.000-08:00

A friend and I decided to have a movie night last. I took Jack with me and that gave John time to get homework done without interruptions. I left while Riska was taking a bath so John did the whole bedtime routine. The only part of bedtime that she insists on is me singing her songs, the rest can be done by either of us. Since I was gone she let John sing to her. About a year and a half ago I started asking her what songs she would like me to sing. The very first song she requested is a lullaby my dad wrote when I was a child. It is called Child's Lullaby but Riska has changed the name to Grandpa's Song. I started singing it to her when she was a newborn. For some reason it is the song she always wants to hear. Grandpa's Song is the only song that gets requested every night. A couple weeks ago the primary chorister stopped and asked me what Grandpa's Song was because Riska had requested it during Singing time. She sings it all the time, to Jack, her stuffed animals, and sometimes she will sing it with me. John had to learn the words to Grandpas Song for nights like last night when I was not home to sing to her. So John got her hair blow dried he read her books and then asked "what song would you like me to sing?" Of course the answer was Grandpa's Song. Well apparently Riska didn't like John's rendition of Grandpa's Song because as he is singing she is doing the actions to Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree. John said it really looked liked she was singing Popcorn to herself, while he was singing Grandpa's Song. He also said it took everything he had to not laugh. Kids!! :)

Thumb sucker

2010-02-14T13:13:00.001-08:00

Looks like we have a thumb sucker. Not sure how I feel. It is nice that he can comfort himself. I just wish it was with a pacifier, you can eventually take that away. But I do love how cute he looks when he sucks his thumb.

Future Missionary

2010-02-14T13:04:00.000-08:00

I have been looking for a button up shirt for Jack to wear on Sundays and cannot find one that is his size. I was complaining to my mom about this and she found these onsies at her work. They are so stinking cute. The tie is embroidered right on the shirt. He looks like a baby missionary. Just got to get him a name tag.

Movie Quotes

2010-02-06T20:40:00.000-08:00

One thing that my family does is movie quotes. Say a line from a movie and guess what the movie is. John and I have taken it to the next level in out marriage. We use movie quotes in regular conversations with each other. The best is when one of us starts with a quote and the other can quote the next line. Weird but fun for us and we always get a laugh. Newest favorite quote comes from the movie Surfs Up. "Good ol Shiverpool!!! (raspberry) this place sucks bro." All we do is change Shiverpool to the city we live in and it rings very true.
Our fun game is starting to rub off on Riska. She loves Surfs Up, and has started to quotes from it. Her line is "What's with the boom chicka boom?" she said it over and over again and it was so funny. No she is pulling lines from other movies that she has watched. Her favorite quotes are...

"Jack Jack doesn't have any powers"(always said to her brother.)

"Gaston. Can I please have my book back?"

and my personal favorite "Papa's not crazy! He's a genius!"

Can't tell what 2 movies we watch can you?

Mommy Moment #6

2010-02-03T12:49:00.000-08:00

It took some time for me to come to this conclusion but I have been feeling really stressed out and I have not known why. Well after a conversation with my hubby it downed on me where the stress was coming from. John is finishing school next quarter and will graduate in June. He has been applying for jobs all over the place, not just in Washington. He has people doing some networking for him down in Vegas and Utah. So we are in a state of the unknown. I have no idea where we will be in 6 months and this is a little scary for me. I know that if we keep living the way we are supposed to the Lord will provide. It felt good pinpointing what I was stressing about because I have been able to get a handle on it.

Opps!!!!!

2010-01-29T18:27:00.000-08:00

We had my mom and dad come up for a visit when Jack was blessed the day before they left my Aunt Toni and her son Bryce flew in for a 9 day visit. We had a lot of fun with my family and I already miss them dearly. Mariska loved Bryce and he was way cute with her. One of the games that they played was a form of hide and seek. Bryce would hide and Riska would try to find him. If Riska got close he would jump out and scare her. In the video Bryce thought Riska was going to go a different way. Nobody was hurt (thank goodness) and we all got a really big laugh.

Mommy Moment #5

2010-01-22T17:40:00.000-08:00

I have a sister and a sister-in-law who are (along with my mother) extremely talented seamstresses and I am envious. I really struggle with the sewing machine. I wish I could just sit down and whip up a pair of jammie pants, but I cant. I know if I practiced I would get better but there is always something on my list that is more important. As I grew up my mom made almost all of my high school dance dresses. She made all of our Easter Dresses and I knew that someday I was going to have a little girl and would want to do the same thing. Easter is just around the corner and I find myself torn between buying Mariska a dress or sitting down and trying to figure out how to make one. This has been a cause of stress for me in past years. So mommy moment for today is.... I will continue to try and make things with the sewing machine, but I am going to buy the Easter outfits and save myself from the tears of them not turning out the way I want them to. I will not stress out about it and I will not regret the time crunch of finding a dress for my daughter (like I did last year when I remembered a week before Easter that I had not made Mariska an Easter dress.)

Mommy Moment #4

2010-01-12T06:42:00.000-08:00

We splurged and got Wii fit. I talked john into it by telling him that in the long run it would cost less then a gym membership that we might not even use. I promised him that I was committed to an exercise routine. I have worked out every morning except for Sunday since we got it. Some workouts have been more strenuous than others but this is the first time I have rally followed through when it comes to exercise. We have company coming for the next two weeks, I hope I can stick to it.

2009 in a Nutshell

2010-01-04T13:26:00.000-08:00

I didn't have it in me this year to send out Christmas cards so I figured a post to the blog would have to do and we could try again next year.
The last year was a busy one for us. We decided to start trying to get pregnant at the end of December 2008 thinking it would take a few months. To our surprise we got pregnant immediately. We were living on the bottom floor at Johns parents and decided it was time to move on. we moved into our current apartment in March and have enjoyed being in our own space.
John was busy with school all year long. He became the Secretary for the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) student chapter at CWU. He was chosen by a professor to represent the construction management program on a traffic flow redesign committee also at CWU. He served with the boy scouts for awhile and now he is the Sunday teacher for the deacons. John turned the big 30 this year. He is in good company because most of our friends turned 30 this year also. He is very excited for graduation in June and is looking forward to finding a job in his field.
Mariska turned three this year. She has learned to count (almost) to twenty. We are working on letters and it is amazing how fast she picks these things up. She has stopped taking naps (boo hoo) and she is completely potty trained (yeah!) She is a great big sister and loves Jack, sometimes to much. She is always willing to help and loves to cook in her kitchen and also in mine.
Jack was born on October 23rd. He is even more mellow than his sister was as a baby. I feel very fortunate. He is a happy baby and loves to smile and giggle. He loves to watch Riska and really puts up with a lot of what she does to him when I have my back turned. He is a very chunky baby, He was 8 lbs and 7 oz when he was born. Two months later he weighed 15 lbs 8 oz. I think I am looking forward to him crawling and walking because then he might fit into some of his clothes. I cant help but fall in love with him again every time I look at him.
This year was a good year for me. I spent my pregnancy trying to finish projects that I knew I would never get to once I had Jack, one being the cross stitched dragon for my living room. I am the Mia Maid adviser in our ward and I love working with the young women. I am looking forward to John being done with school. I am also a little scared because I have no idea where we will be after he finishes. He is going to look everywhere but the one thing I am fairly sure of is we will not be here in Ellensburg.
My Aunt Toni visited us in June and my mom and sister Aurie visited the week Jack was born. Riska and I took a trip to Vegas in March for ten days. It is always so good to see my parents and the rest of my family. The only thing that would have made the trip better was if John had come with us. John did come with us when we went down to Vegas in August. We drove down and spent two weeks with my parents then drove to Salt Lake to see my extended family. This was a hard trip because I spent the whole first part of the trip sick then John got it, then Riska. I was 7 months pregnant and that was a lot of traveling for me. It was worth it though because of all the time we got to spend with my family.
We are grateful for our family and friends. We are looking forward to 2010 and what it will bring for our family. Hope you all had a very happy New Year! Know we love and pray for you.

Mommy Moment #3

2010-01-03T19:00:00.000-08:00

I knew this one already, I am such a boob! Today was Riska's first day as a sunbeam. I was so excited for her and she was so excited to go to primary. It wasn't until we got to the primary room that I realized my baby is not a baby anymore. I am not the type of parent who hates to see her children grow up. Each stage Mariska has hit has brought different experiences and new levels of fun. I just think it is funny that I cried over her going to primary.

Mommy Moment #2

2009-12-24T09:45:00.000-08:00

I already knew this but it has been reaffirmed over and over latley. Anything I say to my kids could eventually come back and bite me in the butt. I pulled out my clarinet earlier this week to practice and Riska was fascinated with the instrument. She asked to play it and of course I said no. She looked at me with a sad face and said "Mommy you have to share." It really doesn't seem to matter what I say it gets repeated by my daughter sooner or later.

Paralyzer-Finger Eleven

2009-12-16T00:37:00.000-08:00

John was dancing with Jack when he started giggling. It is right in the middle of the video. I love that my children seem to like the music we listen to.

Mommy Moment #1

2009-12-15T23:40:00.000-08:00

We watched Julie and Julia last night. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It got me thinking about what I do with my blog. Most the time I only write about my kids never about what I am thinking or my experiences. So I have decided that once a week I will look for what I like to call mommy moments. When they happen I will write about them. It will of course involve the kids and my husband but it will be my thoughts and things that I have come to know through the experiences I have.
I did the laundry on Friday and since we live in an apartment without a washer and dryer I had to take it to the little laundry room next door. I had just finished and had all the stuff in the entryway next to the couch. Riska unscrewd the lid to the laundry detergent and then i think she used the bottle as a step stool to the arm of the couch. When I caught it we had already lost half of the bottle, which was nearly full, into our carpet. I now understand the meaning of seeing red. I have never been that angry with my daughter. Even though I was angry I reigned in my temper and did not yell at her which would have been my first reaction. My sister in law took the kids that evening so I could take John out to dinner and that is when it happened. Pulling myself away from the situation gave me new eyes. It occurred to me that it was an accident. I am sure that Mariska doesn't go around all day looking for ways to make life harder. Then I thought yes it is a mess and it will take a little time to clean up but at least it can be cleaned up. Plus it was my fault in the first place for not putting the bottle away. So here is my mommy moment. I have complete control over my temper, or I should say I have the ability to have complete control over my temper. Glad it only took me 27 years to figure it out.

Sisterly Love

2009-12-15T21:15:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to share how much Riska loves her baby brother. It warms my heart so much.

Happy Birthday Riska

2009-11-22T14:13:00.001-08:00

With Mariska's birthday falling the week of Thanksgiving I thought it would be wise to have her birthday party the week before to ensure her friends could come. Riska has fallen in love with the Disney princesses so we had a princess party. I can't believe that she is going to be three. She has really turned into a fun and beautiful little girl. We love and adore her so much. Happy Birthday Riska I Love You!!!!!!!!

Food included princess juice ( Raspberry sherbet and lemon lime drink) and home made castle cake. She asked for one and I really tried. Not to impressed with it but John reminded me that she is only three and will love it no matter what because it is cake. She did love it and even told me that I did a good job. Bless her little heart.
Mariska let me be a princess after the party was over.

Visit to Grandma Dolly

2009-11-22T14:06:00.000-08:00

We decided to head over to Wenatchee to see John's Grandma before the weather turned for good. The drive was pleasant and we enjoyed sitting with Grandma and John's Aunt Sissy. I am really glad we were able to take Jack and Mariska for the visit.

Jack and his one eye!

Mariska and Jack

2009-11-07T19:44:00.001-08:00

Little miss cheese ball!!!!!!

She is not picking his nose, I use my knuckle to see if Jack is hungry she is doing the same.
I love how sweet she is to him.

One Eyed Jack

2009-11-07T19:26:00.000-08:00

As of Yesterday Jack is two weeks old. He still prefers to only open his right eye most of the time. The left eye has finally opened but only half way. I was concerned about it but after talking to the doc he said that sometimes babies prefer to use one eye more than the other. I thought that was interesting. I love when he looks at me with his one eye. Mariska finds it absolutely hilarious.

Swing Time

2009-11-07T19:02:00.000-08:00

I remember with Mariska how I always wanted to hold her and I was fine just letting her sleep in my arms. Don't get me wrong I love holding Jack and I love letting him sleep in my arms but it just isn't possible to do it as often because I have Mariska and she needs mom time too. We borrowed a really nice swing from Johns brother and his wife. It has been a great thing to have. Several times I have found him in the swing surrounded by an assortment of Mariska's toys. At least she is willing to share even if he can't play with them.

Halloween Pumpkins

2009-11-07T18:52:00.000-08:00

With how close to Halloween Jack arrived and how young Mariska is we decided it would not hurt anything to skip it this year. We already had the pumpkins so I figured why not carve and paint them. This is what we came up with this year.

Gingerbread house Take Two

2009-11-07T18:42:00.000-08:00

I don't know if you recall the disaster we had when building the gingerbread house last Christmas. Apparently we are not meant to build gingerbread houses. My mom found this really cute Halloween haunted gingerbread house kit when shopping in Yakima. Since we didn't dress up and go trick or treating we decided to put the house together instead. It stayed together until we started to put the candy on it. At least Mariska enjoyed herself. Guess we will have another go at Christmas!

Jack

2009-10-25T21:05:00.000-07:00

Announcing the arrival of our newest family member, Jack was born on Friday the 23rd at 4:26 PM. He was 8 lbs 7 oz. and 19 inches long. He is beautiful and I am already so much in love with him. I am so grateful for him. I am grateful to my father in heaven for giving me the this little angel to look after in this life. I am glad he is mine forever. My love for John and Mariska has increased over the past couple days. I was worried I wouldn't have enough love for both of my children but I do and I already feel that life just wouldn't be right with out both of them near me. Thank you for all the prayers and the thoughts.

Just One Of Those days

2009-10-22T09:17:00.000-07:00

So Monday I went to the Doctor and found that the progress we had been making with the baby moving down into the birth canal had been reversed. I felt so depressed. My mom is coming today and I wanted so badly to have a baby by the time she got here. Well, I tried to be positive and I think what I ended up doing instead was suppressing feelings that should not have been suppressed. I slept lousy Monday night and woke very grouchy on Tuesday. Riska didn't get the amount of sleep that she needs to have a good day so we were at each others throats all day Tuesday. The best part of the day was when I got out of the shower. John was on the phone with the cell company and Mariska was quiet as can be. I hollered for her and she said "I'm in mommy's bedroom." I asked what she was doing in there and she replied, "Eating M and M's." I have acid reflux when I am pregnant and chocolate really sets it off so I had a regular bag of M and M's in my night stand that I was saving for after the baby. Mariska the little stinker ate the whole bag. I completely lost it. I sat on the edge of the tub and sobbed. John came in worried that something was really wrong and when he asked all I could say was "Mariska ate my M and M's!!!!" I wish I was lucid enough to actually see his reaction to my emotional outburst. It had to look pretty funny. A grown women crying over candy. I laugh now because it is funny. It just didn't seem funny at the time.Oh the things that will put us over the edge.

Mommy's Belly

2009-10-12T19:15:00.001-07:00

With the due date looming aroiund the corner, we have been talking to Mariska about the baby. John keeps telling her that the baby will come out of my tummy soon. I wasn't sure if she understood, until yesterday. She brought over her little construction tape measure and measured my belly. She was very sweet about it and told me that my belly measured 9 inches. :) As I sat there she got a concerned look on her face. I asked her what the matter was and she responded with "Jack come out of mommy's belly?" I told her yes and that it would be soon. She still looked concerned so I proded again what was wrong. "Jack break mommy's belly?" was what I got. My little sweetheart is totally concerned about how Jack is going to get out. I never really thought how that would look to a three year old. Luckily assuring her that my belly would not be broken that it would be better did the trick. Can't wait until the real answers have to be given.

Baby Blanket

2009-09-27T17:21:00.001-07:00

So after finishing my four year long project of the dragon, I could not wait to get working on the next project. I had some baseball material that I got really cheap one year after Thanksgiving. This is what I came up with. I am excited that it turned out to be what I wanted.I have to find the right material for the backing but the front is done. Great thing is I will soon have a little bundle to wrap in it. Yeah!!!!!!!!!

Stickers

2009-09-23T17:33:00.000-07:00

Mariska has an infatuation with stickers. I have never seen a kid love stickers as much as she does. Forget the candy and sweets, if we need a bribe we do it with stickers. I gave her a page of stickers that my Aunt brought when she came to visit. I turned my back and this is what I found.

I think that she used the whole sheet!! I just love my little girl!

No Fun!!!!!

2009-09-17T11:27:00.000-07:00

My poor little daughter. She ended up sick at the end of our vacation. When we got home she started to complain that it hurt whenever she peed. We took her to the doctor because I was sure it was a Urinary tract infection. Let me just say how fun it was to get my two year old to pee in a cup. We ended up taking the cup home and trying there. Got the sample back to the lab and got her on antibiotics because the doctor said it was obvious that she had an infection. So she has been on antibiotics that say she should spend minimal time out in the sun. It is hard to explain to her why we can't go outside for more than 30 to 45 min. We got the results back from the culture they did on her urine and she does have a urinary tract infection caused by e-coli. YUCK!!!!! After doing the math we figured she picked it up somewhere between Salt Lake and Ellensburg when we drove 14 hours straight. Plus with her immune system already weakened it just made things worse.
So we went to the doctor today for a second test to see if she is rid of this nasty infection. Again she had to pee in the cup. She was such a big girl. We went into the bathroom i got her all prepped and ready and before I could get the cup in position she started to pee. I said NOOOO!!!! and she actually stopped. She got the littlest amount into the cup after that. when we left the bathroom she ran to her dad yelling for the whole office to hear, "I peed in the cup, I peed in the cup!!" Such a big girl. Should find out by toomorrow if she is better.

Trip to Utah

2009-09-06T13:24:00.000-07:00

The last week of our vaction was split into two parts. We stayed with Grandma and Grandpa the first couple nights then with my Aunt Toni. Thanks to all family family members who came to see us and let us stay with them. It really made our vacation worth while.

Mariska and my two cousins Drew and Bryce reading the book Toni got her.

Mariska with Cooper.
Mariska loved my cousin Tara. Thanks Tara for the bubbles and taking Riska to the park.

My grandpa took us to the Jordan River and showed us a great place to feed the ducks. When we went with Grandpa the ducks were being shy. When we went the next morning it is was the opposite. The ducks were walking between Johns legs. Mariska loved to feed them the bread.

2009-09-06T12:59:00.000-07:00

We took Mariska bowling with Brandon and Aurie. She was so fun to watch. she actually got a strike in this video. I love that she stomps her foot and says yes.

Cedar Breaks

2009-09-06T12:42:00.000-07:00

Riska was so proud of the flowers that grandpa helped her pick. Thanks dad!

Dad, John and Riska played Frisbee after we lunched.
I can not wait to have this picture of Riska and my dad blown up and framed. It is a perfect example of love between a grandparent and a grandchild.

Vegas Childrens Museum

2009-09-06T12:16:00.001-07:00

Riska and I went with Grandpa, my sister Nicole and her family to the Leid Children Museum. It was a lot of fun to be with Nic and her kids.

Riska can have a one track mind. I sat and watched her for 30 min paying with the ball machine. Then the only thing she wanted to do was play with the bubbles.

Museum had a bubble exhibit. We are not sure who had more fun. Grandpa or the kids. Grandpa got really good at making the big bubbles.
Thank You Nicole and Jake! We had a great time at the museum. I am so glad we could share that with you.

Visit to Vegas

2009-09-06T11:55:00.000-07:00

Once Mariska saw the other grandkids playing and wrestling with Grandpa she decided that he was alright and began to give him her attention. Yeah!!!!!!! Thanks dad we love you.

A trip to Vegas would not be complete without a trip to the Bellagio Fountains. Riska loves to watch the water show.

Riska saw Grandpa read the newspaper everyday. Notice that she is reading the comics, girl after my own heart.
My brother Brandon has a lot of fun with the kids he sat with Riska for awhile teaching her to play sorry. She loved it.

Finally Finished

2009-09-06T11:32:00.000-07:00

Four years ago I stated a project that turned out to be more than I bargained for. It got put away for about two years and then worked on periodically over the last couple years. I was determined to finish it by the time the baby came. It has been a lot of work but it is finished and framed and now I can put it on display in my home. Feels good to have this finished. Now I can get back to blogging. Be prepared for several entries with lots of pictures.

Sickness defeated.

2009-07-11T16:47:00.000-07:00

After a full week of being sick, a visit to the doctors, completely losing my voice, a few boxes of tissues, an entire bottle of Robitussin, and a very concerned two year old, I am finally on my way out of this junk that decided to take up residence in my body. What started out to be allergies turned into a very nasty virus. Thank goodness for priesthood blessings. I was so worried that if I was as sick as I was what would it do to the baby. John's blessing was wonderful and gave me peace of mind. Baby is healthy and I need to concentrate on getting better. Thanks again to Jim for coming over and helping to administer so late at night. I have always been a firm believer that priesthood blessings work. I received a fathers blessing every year when school started and my dad never hesitated to call our home teachers when we were in need of a healing blessing. I am so glad that John is a worthy priesthood holder and I am glad that we have family and friends who are worthy and willing to help aid him when there is a blessing to be given.