Halloween 2010

Taison - Grave Protector
Daimon - Alien
Jaison - Puppy

Taison and Daimon loved picking out Jaison's costume. I loved having a the chance to finally dress one of my kids up in a costume that wasn't scary, or didn't have masks.
But, my kids are set on "being cool"
Taison and Daimon specifically pick out costumes that are cool.
"cause we don't want the other kids to make fun of us, mom..."

I'll get a few more years from Jaison that i will get to pick out cute costumes instead of "cool" ones.

First Hair Cut

Jaison's First Haircut.
Poor kid.
Only 7 months old...
he didn't seem to mind though

County Fair

The Knox County Fair comes around once a year...(duh)
And we go every year.
The fair here is nothing like the ones back west.
At least in both Idaho Falls and Coeur d' Alene
They are way way bigger and better then the one here.
but, we still go.
and we still have a good time.

This year the boys got to milk Elsie The Cow. They each rode a few rides, played a few games and they actually brought home a pet... I don't have pictures of the pet quite yet...
Normally if you bring home a pet from the fair, it's like a gold fish they win at a game... Oh NO. Not this family. We go all out! LOL.
Stay Tuned for more info on Zeke...

Here are just a few pics I snapped while at the fair. I didn't get near as many as i would have liked... but, oh well.

Zipping!

My family and I went zipping last sunday... yes... on sunday. My brother, Brian, and his girlfriend, Christina, work as tour guides. My cousin Jesse also works there. So, mid summer i went down with them and went zipping over the tree canopy. It was so much fun. But the rest of my family wanted to go as well. So, sunday we took a trip down to Gatlinburg to enjoy the day as a family. Dave was in town so he was able to go as well. We stopped first at a watering hole. we had a picnic lunch and played in the water. Then we went to the zip line place. It was so much fun. Taison and Daimon were able to strap on with an adult and go as well. Daimon is apparently the littlest one to go ever. so he was excited about that. We had such a good time. Such a rush... And what a beautiful view! You look out right over the Smokey Mountains. Dave took a few pictures of everyone. If you have never been zipping before... you should go! it's worth every dime!

Utah

As i quickly mentioned before, we made a impromtu trip to Utah this summer for my grandfather's funeral. The reason for being there of course sucked, but what a great chance to see family that i haven't had a chance to see in years. I had such a good time. I wanted to stay another few weeks... but, work is work... My mom, Steph, and my kids and I drove my van out. We hit construction and bad weather both ways... but, really it wasn't a bad drive.... and that's with 3 boys...

At the funeral and the lunch afterwards was when the whole family was together. i can't believe i'm related to so many people that i don't know!!! everyone looked familur... and i could usually guess who's kid went to what parent... but, there just wasn't enough time to catch up with everyone.

My favorite times while we were there is when we would sit around my Grandma's back deck and visit. That's when I felt like i really got the chance to get to know everyone so much better. Kim and Matt are about my age... but, we've never really spent much time together since we've been adults. It was so nice being able to bond with them and get to know their kids a little more. We have so much more in common then i thought we did. It was so much fun rememinsing the old days and hearing stories of their families. I was able to spend a little time at Debbie's house as well. I went to her house for a tour. But, in each room I was able to hear a different story about her, or her family. it was fantastic! Of course, we stayed at Julie's house. because they lived the closest to us for so long we know their family, it seems, the best. It was so good to see them, and see how old Julie's kids have gotten, but how young Julie still looks. We were able to spend a little time with Dan's family and Lori's family. I spent not near enough time catching up with Brooke (who was always my bestest cousin.) Dave and Jon were able to come into town as well. It's always so much fun to spend time with both of them. i don't get to see them as much as i would like. I'm so glad that my siblings and i are so close.

And then, of course, Grandma. She is such an amazing woman. She has raised such a fantastic family. She held up so well at the funeral and throughout that week. She was so funny. She would tell a story about Grandpa from years ago. She would have us all laughing so hard, and then she would end up with tears. Laughing to crying and back again in a matter of seconds.

She has such a fantastic heart. She spent one evening playing board games with a few of the great grandkids. they loved it so much. Grandpa and Grandma were so happy for so many years. Grandpa was such an amazing man. He was funny and extremely smart. The only problem was that as kids we knew he was brilliant, but he would tease us so much that we didn't know whether or not to believe what he was telling us. He had such a strong testimony of the gospel. Of family, and the importance of it. He left behind an incredible legacy. He did so many things in this world. Did the world know who he was? no, but, they should have!

These are some of my favorite pictures that were taken that week.

"I'm bored!"

If you have kids like mine, by now all you are hearing is: I'm Bored! There's nothing to do..."
So, i thought i'd try out a list. (i'm a list freak. i make lists for everything)


I made it very simple. that way they could decorate it if they wanted to. (of course they didn't want to)
Then i laminated it so they can check off with a dry erase marker what they've done so far.
Then, everytime they are bored, they can look at their list and see something that they wanted to do this summer, and do it!
I'm not sure if it's going to work or not, but for now, it's keeping them occupied!

Silly Bands

Silly Bands, Silly Bands, Who's Got the Silly Bands???



My kids are obsessed with them. I hope they aren't the only ones. (I doubt they are though since just about every kid i see has them lined up their arms)

My kids just got a few more of them with their own money this weekend.

They decided to be nice and share with their little brother. He didn't seem to care about them either way. (though, he's only 4 months so i wasn't expecting a huge response to it. lol)

But, here they are, posing together showing the camera their bands!!!

Does that mean i'm a part of the "in crowd" since they gave me the "dumb girly ones" to wear????

Eating for Real

Jaison is 4 months. Yes, he is eating. Yes, its real food. Yes, he is a mess...
This is his first time eating out of a spoon.

He's not sure if he likes it yet. sometimes he is okay with it. other times he just wants a bottle!

The Middle

Have you ever seen the TV sitcom, The Middle? if not, you should watch it. atleast one time. I think its pretty funny. Well, the son, Brick, has few personality quirks. One of them is repeating himself under his breath, and saying to himself "I'm Lying"

Well, Daimon, I think, looks a lot like him. I guess several of the teachers in school also think he looks like Brick...so....We got Daimon to do a scene of his...

This is the video... And yes, that's me laughing in the back ground.

Enjoy :) its not a funny video if you have not seen the show...

Jaison

He is starting to giggle. He is smiling like crazy. Especially at his Dad and brothers. I think they will have a special bond! (called sports lol)

Everytime I get the camera out he stops smiling though... oh well. soon i'm sure i'll get some good ones... but, here is one until then.

He is getting so big.

So THIS is how it's going to be...

we are part way through month 4 this year... and this is my first post. So much for New Year's resolutions. I have all of these great ideas for posts and just don't get to them. My biggest hold up on this one was pictures. I wanted to post pics of baby Jaison. I have a brother who is a photographer... do you think i have any pics yet of my baby? NONE. well, that's not true. A few weeks after Jaison was born, Dave came down and took like 200 pics... He put it on a zip drive for me... do you think i ever remember to grab the zip drive on my way to work? no, of course not. I keep thinking when my life is more organized i can get pictures done... And just when i think that's going to happen.... my computer breaks down, my washing machine breaks... my toilet starts leaking... and work - well, work is a whole other story...

So, i've come to the realization that chaos is my life organized. Organized chaos... as long as i can handle that... I'm set! LOL

So, with no further Adu -

BABY JAISON

He was due on Feb. 6th. On the 11th I went in for a stress test. I wasn't dilated at all. But, the doctor said that we could induce... Well, of course i said okay! So, I got settled into the hospital. Sean went back to work. I told him i'd call him when things started happening... They started the pitocin about noon that day. The doctor came in shortly there after and broke my water. A few hrs later I got my epidural. And Sean came back in later that evening. My mom and Stephanie came as well. To make a long boring story short... I went from nothing to all the way in a matter of a few mins. And at 10:30pm Jaison Michael was born. He weighed in at a hefty 6 lbs 12 oz. We stayed in the hospital for 2 days. I came home Saturday. Sunday was my day off work... And Monday morning i starting working.... Okay, well... I answered the phones from home. So, not really working... but, still had to deal with work stuff. The following week I went back to work... Short maternity leave. But, that's what i get for having the baby during the busiest time of year.

The pics below are from a few weeks later.

1st Bath!

Look at all those curls!

school projects

Last nite, Sean and I worked with the boys on their first school projects. Of course, they were both due on the same day, so we had two projects to do in one nite. But, we had a great time together.

Taison had to do a shoe box habitat. He had to pick his "favorite" habitat to learn about then create it. (didn't we all just love those projects growing up) He actually wanted to do a swamp as his habitat, but do you know how hard it is to find swamp animals in the toy section. lol.

So, he settled for an African Savannah. Sean and Taison spent time on the computer researching all about it. They came up with a plan of attack and with the help of my trusty hot glue gun and our long/dead grass in our lawn... we created the best grassland ever!

Daimon is learning about reading, and characters in books. His assignment was to choose his favorite book and dress up like the main character. Of course, the first thing he said was that Star Wars was his favorite book so that he could dress up like Darth Vador... we killed that one real quick. Thank goodness his teacher said that she didn't want to see a bunch of store bought halloween costumes. So, we settled with the book "Put me in the Zoo"

He looked great in spots. We took some felt circles i had cut out earlier that day and Daimon hot glued them all over a pair of pants and a T-shirt. Then we painted spots on his arms and face.

I think they did a great job on their first school projects... They were proud of themselves. Taison was nervous last nite about presenting his habitat and couldn't fall asleep. And they were both so excited this morning that they were up 30 mins before the alarm even went off. Sean and Taison practiced his presentation a few times, while i painted the spots.Sadly, some of the kids in the other grades made fun of him in the halls and at lunch calling him the 'spot boy'. He was very upset about that. But, his teacher told him that out of all the costumes in the class, his was the very best. Thank you Mrs. Jones! You saved Daimon's self confidence.

I hope all school projects go this smooth.

Sweet Boy

Yesterday afternoon I received a phone call from Daimon. He is 5. He was at grandma and grandpa's house while i was at work. I answered the phone and he said " Hi Mom." but, it was not his usual happy self... so i asked him what was wrong. He said he was sad. I asked him why....

"there are people killing each other." he said...

My first thought was where? who? what is going on? am i missing something?

I, of course, asked him who was killing who, (never know with him, it could be on a video game or something) He said that just regular people are killing each other in the streets, and it's so sad. why would they want to kill other people for real?

I asked him where he saw this.

He said he was watching the news.

Come to find out, it was a news story about the war going on in Iraq. They were showing footage of bombings, fighting, etc... And he was really upset by this. Not that it was messy, or Gorey... but, that people were killing each other. how do you explain the politics and reasoning's behind a war to a 5 year old?

Here's to keeping a 5 year old innocent as long as possible..

.

County Fair

This year we were able to take a few hrs off of work to go to the fair. we went on a Wednesday afternoon. It was a very rainy day, but i'm now convinced that that is the best time to go. It wasn't hot, it wasn't crowded, and there were no lines for the rides. We even got a magic show to ourselves. Everyone had a great time. I just got a few pics... but, i thought i'd share...