Independence Day

Soooo... I am a few days  behind.

We had a great 4th of July! 

The kids all had long naps and then we went over to a friends house

 for a bar-b-que and hanging out

some fireworks in the street and the local fireworks show.

Brandon loves the sparklers. Being his normal silly self.

Alyssa and Brandon and friends in the background

Hayden and Mom

He was a little scared still of all of the loud noise. He was okay

if he was right next to me though.

Alyssa was pretty amazed. Her faces were all pretty much like this one the whole time.

except some she was holding her ears. 

this is what she thought was so amazing! 

More amazement.... Brandon being cheesy

This is Jill and Casandra, We were at Jill's house

just a couple of friends that were there.

We really missed Dad this year. It wasn't the same witho

ut him. Last year was such a fun 4th with him doing the HUGE show for us in our driveway and just being together... He had to be at work though, but at least he was able to watch the fireworks with the kids there. 

Hayden's big scare

Wednesday we had a playgroup at the city pool. I was nervous about taking the kids without dad like I usually am, but figured it wouldn't be so bad with Alyssa not with us. I love taking them swimming and playing with them in the pool. My kids love the water. 

Well, we weren't there that long when Hayden 

did have an accident..... 

He was face down in the water for only a short time but he wasn't moving. He was breathing  when he was pulled up. He threw up lots of water and he wouldn't open his eyes. When we could finally see them they were very dialated and kept rolling then they would close again. He was pretty blue around the mouth too.  I had to go to the lifegaurds to tell them what had happened. Then the girl had no clue what to do!! She had to go get an adult life gaurd to help.

When the paramedics checked his oxygen it was below normal. One said his lungs didn't sound good and the other said they did.

We did take him to the ER and had X-rays done and blood work.

We found out the next day that he did have a lot of fluid in 

his lungs and his blood was very diluted and his counts were low. 

They transfered him up to Columbia to the children's center.  

Here he is getting on the ambulance to be transfered.

These are out of order, but, 

He was not happy to get on that stretcher.

He had fallen asleep on dad just after they did his IV.

By the time I got up to the hospital (they were just over an hour ahead of me.)He had already changed a lot! he was standing up in his bed jumping around and crashing on purpose. He was so happy to see his own pillow and blanket. 

The next morning they took more 

X-rays and checked his blood. 

His blood was normal and his lungs just barely had a trace of something in them. They originally told us we would be there for 2-3 nights. Well, we showed them! They were really surprised how fast he healed.

I am so thankful we were able to give him a blessing and for all of the prayers and support every one gave. I know it really helped in healing him faster.

They were wonderful at this hospital. It was a really nice place, they really made it better for having to be there. 

They had toys for him to play with and when he was finally disconnected from all of the machines he had a playroom to go 

to and a room full of goodies just for him. 

Thanks to all of our good friends who helped and made everything go so smoothly and a lot easier!  

It was so hard to see him go through this. 

I am so thankful for and love our sweet Hayden so much and I am very glad nothing worse came out of this.

Just me and the boys

While Alyssa was away I had a lot of fun one on one time with my boys. We didn't do a whole lot, but it was fun. We went out to eat and for treats.  

We played a lot of board games like..... 

And...

that we normally can't play yet with with a little sister who doesn't quite get it yet. 

We went on fun walks to the dock to throw rocks in the water. (the boys could sit and do this for hours!) 

We went on car rides and rescued a huge toad from almost becoming one with the road.

on a side note:

On this same car ride I had a good conversation with Brandon. 

B: Mom. Can we go to the gas station and get bug juice?

Me: No, it is Sunday, we do not shop on Sunday's. 

B: But, it's not shopping and it's not a store it's just the gas station. 

Me: A gas station is a store and you have to buy, or pay for anything you get there. 

B: Oh. (kind of confused)

Played at their favorite pirate ship park!

They got to go to spend some quality time with dad and then go to friends houses all day

while mom got some much needed time off from mommy duties to refresh.

I am sure there are other things I did not include. It was a good time spent with them.

Alyssa's on vacation

Here is my sweet and Sassy little girl. 

She has really been enjoying herself at Aunt Becca and Uncle Matt's house with her cousins Alex & Izzy. Here are some pics Becca took of the girls. 

As you can tell she is not scared of anything! Which really scares me. I have always been terrified that she would pick up a snake at home. Someone was helping her there. I love this picture because she is all sweet and innocent in her dress but holding that snake like it is nothing.

A little baby pig. She loves any animal, creature, anything with legs that moves she will hold it... yes including spiders and bugs. Ewwww. She is so girl, but just so adventurous.

Being dramatic with her cousins. Look at how tall Alex is compared to Alyssa and she is a year younger than her! she is definately taking after me. 

I love and miss my little Sassy girl. I started a whole post on her a month ago and never posted it, so maybe I will just add it to this soon... stay tuned....

Brandon's school

This summer is already going by way too fast! 

Brandon was able to do Summer school academy. 

He had so much fun. It was great because, he picked the classes, they were all fun, he was able to ride the bus, it was only half days, and best of all it was free! 

His first class was storybook cooking- they read books and also learned how to cook different things. On his first day they made smoothies, other things were... pancakes, noodles, pizza's. I don't ever get the full story from him. It comes with having a boy I think. 

2nd-Spanish fiesta- he learned Spanish while doing some really fun activities.

3rd- Make-it-take-it- They made all kinds of crafts and did 

other really fun activities. 

Today his Spanish fiesta class had a family fiesta. All of the families were invited to see what they learned and play some fun games with the kids, all in Spanish. 

First all of the kids greeted each on of the parents with a hand shake and in Spanish they welcomed us and told their name. 

We played Simon Dice. (Simon sais)  

wit

h the body parts. 

Played musical chairs....  

and they did the macarina with the 

months of the year.

At the end the kids hit a pinata 

and we had punch and sopapillas.

I am really glad he could do this. What a great thing to 

have for the kids. He really has enjoyed it. Tomorrow is the last day. 

But he gets to just enjoy his summer vacation 

now for the next 1.5 months! 

A child's mind is so simple and innocent

I recieved this in an email and wanted to share it, because it made me laugh. (thanks Sarah)  I just love a child's mind and how they really do see the world completely different than we do. 

Why We Love Children…

  1) NUDITY   I was driving with my three young children one warm summer evening when a woman in the convertible ahead of us stood up and waved. She was stark naked! As I was reeling from the shock, I heard my 5-year-old shout from the back seat, 'Mom, that lady isn't wearing a seat belt!'

 2) OPINIONS    On the first day of school, a first-grader handed his teacher a note from his mother. The note read, 'The opinions expressed by this child are not necessarily those of his parents.'

    3) KETCHUP    A woman was trying hard to get the ketchup out of the jar. During her struggle the phone rang so she asked her 4-year-old daughter to answer the phone. 'Mommy can't come to the phone to talk to you right now. She's hitting the bottle.'

 4) MORE NUDITY     A little boy got lost at the YMCA and found himself in the women's locker room. When he was spotted, the room burst into shrieks, with ladies grabbing towels and running for cover. The little boy watched in amazement and then asked, 'What's the matter, haven't you ever seen a little boy before?'

 5) POLICE # 1   While taking a routine vandalism report at an elementary school, I was interrupted by a little girl about 6 years old. Looking up and down at my uniform, she asked, 'Are you a cop? Yes,' I answered and continued writing the report. My mother said if I ever needed help I should ask the police. Is that right?' 'Yes, that's right,' I told her. 'Well, then,' she said as she extended her foot toward me, 'would you please tie my shoe?'

    6) POLICE # 2    It was the end of the day when I parked my police van in front of the station. As I gathered my equipment, my K-9 partner, Jake, was barking, and I saw a little boy staring in at me. 'Is that a dog you got back there?' he asked. 'It sure is,' I replied. Puzzled, the boy looked at me and then towards the back of the van. Finally he said,

'What'd he do?'

 7) ELDERLY     While working for an organization that delivers lunches to elderly shut-ins, I used to take my 4-year-old daughter on my afternoon rounds. She was unfailingly intrigued by the various appliances of old age, particularly the canes, walkers and wheelchairs. One day I found her staring at a pair of false teeth soaking in a glass. As I braced myself for the inevitable barrage of questions, she merely turned and whispered, 'The tooth fairy will never believe this!'

 8) DRESS-UP   A little girl was watching her parents dress for a party. When she saw her dad donning his tuxedo, she warned, 'Daddy, you shouldn't wear that suit.' 'And why not, darling?' 'You know that it always gives you a headache the next morning.'

 9) DEATH    While walking along the sidewalk in front of his church, our minister heard the intoning of a prayer that nearly made his collar wilt. Apparently, his 5-year-old son and his playmates had found a dead robin. Feeling that proper burial should be performed, they had secured a small box and cotton batting, then dug a hole and made ready for the disposal of the deceased. The minister's son was chosen to say the appropriate prayers and with sonorous dignity intoned his version of what he thought his father always said: 'Glory be unto the Faaather, and unto the Sonnn, and into the hole he goooes.' (I want this line used at my funeral!)

 10) SCHOOL   A little girl had just finished her first week of school. 'I'm just wasting my time,' she said to her mother. 'I can't read, I can't write, and they won't let me talk!'

 11) BIBLE    A little boy opened the big family Bible. He was fascinated as he fingered through the old pages. Suddenly, something fell out of the Bible. He picked up the object and looked at it. What he saw was an old leaf that had been pressed in between the pages. 'Mama, look what I found,' the boy called out. 'What have you got there, dear?' With astonishment in the young boy's voice, he answered, 'I think it's Adam's underwear!'

Summer: some random thoughts

I have really enjoyed the weather the past few days. It has just been beautiful. It is really cool in the morning then warms up in the afternoon. But, the best part of it is the humidity is low enough that long periods of time outside is not a problem.  It has been great. 

  This is how I love summer. I have always loved summer, It normally is my favorite time of the year. I love the sun and the warmth, playing in the water and you can do so much more in the summer than in winter. 

 This is one reason I chose the background of our blog that we have now. It makes me think of Summer, also, the other reason is I really love palm trees. I don't know why, I just always have. I grew up in Arizona and they are everywhere there and they are just so different from every other tree. They are kind of exotic and fun looking. I know it's just a tree! But, I love nature and just about everything in it, so it really stands out to me. 

These are a few pics from Hawaii in 2005

 I love the beach too. I have only been to a beach a few times in my life. In fact, the first time ever was.... When I was 17, I went to Mexico with my best friend Rachel. It was so fun. I remember waking up early and seeing and hearing the dolphins. I had a lot of fun. 

Then to the real coast line after I was married we just walked along the shore in California. Then, in Hawaii 3 years ago I really got to be on the beach and play in the water and really get a taste of the "real" beach. 

It is just a peaceful, carefree feeling to be on a beach listening to the rolling waves and the sea life, & palm trees all around you. I just love it!  

The dad's in our lives....

(I started this on Sunday and didn't get it posted, so here it is.....) 

I started thinking about all of the amazing dad's I have known in my life. There are way too many to list them by name, but there is my husband, my dad, uncles, brother-in laws, grandfather's, and all of our friends and just people we know.

My Justin is an amazing dad! My kids love him so much. He is always good at spending quality time with them and just being a kid with them and making things fun. All three of them love being with him.I did a video of the kids and asked them a bunch of questions about their dad. (I don't know how to post it sorry)  It was fun to hear what they thought. Hayden was all shy and kept saying "I don't know" until he finally just said "Petco" because he likes to go there with dad and see the turtles. And he loves to go bye bye  anywhere in the truck.  It is obvious that Hayden loves his daddy because he is way more attached to him than his mommy. That is okay though. 

The others had answers about, their favorite things they like about him, to do with him,  etc.... like.....   

   

    when dad takes me to get ice cream,  petco,  to the park, to see a 

movie ( just me and dad not        Alyssa or Hayden)....

     when he snuggles me and tickles me and makes funny faces and makes me laugh. 

     when he gives me hugs

     he takes me to get a bug juice at the gas station. 

     Brandon said he is 19 yrs old, 500 lbs. with blind or bland hair, blue eyes. 

      Alyssa said he is 6 yrs old with black hair, brown eyes. 

That is all I remember now. 

It was really fun to do with them.

My dad is also great! I did a post not long ago on his birthday that you can see here.

 And my sister did a wonderful post on my dad that I agree 

with all that she said. (of course it all doesn't have to do with me but for the most part)  here.

Thanks to all of the wonderful dads out there that chose to be a dad and for being in our lives.  

Dads are amazing!  Happy Father's Day! 

     

The past Year

Hayden always makes us laugh

Some may appreciate this and some might not, but we thought it was hillarious.... Justin and I were watching a movie in the living room, and we hear the boys door open. Justin gets up to check on whoever it is, (I wish I had a picture of him in what he was wearing) there standing in the doorway was Hayden. He has on these yellow fleece fireman pants (that he loves, and had to take his original pj's off to wear these to bed) and Justin asks what's wrong, because he won't look at him, Justin said his naked bum was hanging out the backside and he had just peed on the floor in the doorway! okay, normally this would not be at all funny! It is gross, but what makes it so funny is that, he is not potty trained and he had a diaper on when we put him to bed, okay, and the little naked bum hanging out. So, he obviously decided he didn't need a diaper. So after some laughing and changing the bed and scrubbing the carpet we got him back into bed. but, that wasn't it. One more thing.... a little while later he got out of bed again and came out saying he peed! I had to reasure him he had a diaper on now. This was a first for him. He gave us a good laugh. I was thinking how nice it was to be able to laugh through this. had it been one of the other kids... How would I have acted differently.... hmmmm. I have been trying really hard lately to just get past things without getting too bothered, you just can't take something back that already happened so why make it worse by being so upset, and then everyone else feels even worse. I am not always good at this, but I am trying.... Life's little lesson's.

One Year!

Taken with my phone.... This was the last family get together before Kelsey and Laura left out on there new journey in life a year ago also!
Last night we were talking with some friends and it just clicked with me that it was exactly one year ago that our whole family moved here.

I still remember my thoughts and feellings and what happened that night as we came into town......
I was a little excited to start a new adventure in our lives, but nervous and sad and scared to be in this very strange, very smallish town, (someone once told me it was too big for them ha,ha) after living in cities my whole life.
The kids were wonderful the entire trip up to the last 45 minutes or so Hayden just had enough! He was done! It was fine because this was the only time I could remember him crying the entire trip. It took us two full days. Thank goodness for dual DVD players!

Even traveling with the two cats was good. We finally rolled into the neighborhood right about 10:00 pm.
It was so dark! That is all I remembered is how dark it was. and Justin driving the huge Uhaul in front of me turning onto our street, I was actually kind of nervous, Our streets are very narrow and are really meant for one car, and there was a ditch on one side and it was a big hill! It at least seamed big to me because I was used to no hills. Then pulling into the driveway was another hill!

The best part was stepping out of the car. The moment I opened my door and the air hit my face, I just wanted to get back in the car and stay there. The air was so thick and it was so HOT! I felt like I couldn't breathe. I knew the humidity would be bad but it was a shock. I guess for some reason I thought it would not be so bad at night after the sun went down. I guess I just didn't know how it worked. Then, the bugs! They were swarming everywhere.
That really was the worst part. I always think it is fun to get to your house and go in and explore it for the first time. This was the first time with the kids that we had to do this.

For some reason Justin has always moved into every place we have lived before I have. Well, except "our" house, we were together on that one. I guess that is not too many though, this is the 5th place we have lived in the past 7.5 years.

After exploring everything the kids hunger set in and realized they needed a snack. As I was sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor, I heard voices out in the garage, I really thought nothing of it. I just figured it was the neighbors coming over to say hi. ( I couldn't really even see the neighbors houses because they are so far apart and the darkness.) I still sat there doing my thing when a women walked through the door and said hi, I looked up with a smile and said hi, but kind of confused wondering if my husband was going to introduce me or what.... when I pulled my head together and realized it was my own sister standing in the doorway!!! Boy I must have been tired! That gave me a good laugh though.
I kind of forgot about her family coming because she wasn't going to even be there until the next day. It was such a wonderful surprise. I am really glad they could come and be with us our first few nights in our home and help us get all moved in. It was much better having mattresses to sleep on rather than the floor the first night. even though it was a late night.
the next morning when I could actually see everything, it was really beautiful.

This past year has been really fun. We really don't have a whole lot to do around here, but we have a whole lot of outdoors, if you can handle the extreme heat in the Summer or cold in the Winter. We have really enjoyed getting to know so many people here and have made some really great friends. I will be sad and it will be hard to say goodbye when the time comes.

Matt and Becca

Happy Anniversary Matt and Becca!
The two of you are wonderful together.
You guys have had an amazing 12+ years together.(counting those dating years)
There have definately been ups and downs...... And you have been through a lot together. I am just always amazed at your strength to keep going when you have hit those downfalls and work through them together and help each other to be better. You are both wonderful parents and Aunt and Uncle and brother and sister and friends! :)
I think as we get older our personalities change or other things about us change most of the time for the better and I love how you guys have learned to work together to stay connected through any changes you may have had. I know it's not always perfect or easy and you have had a lot of moments where it hasn't been like that, but I have learned a lot from watching this in you guys.
My sister is not just a sister, she is my best friend, and we are all so blessed to have her and her husband and children be a part of our family!
Love you guys!!!!

Family and friends weekend

This weekend we had a little fun family getaway to KC.
Mike and Melissa were so nice to let us stay with with them, Thank you! They have such a cute little family. Cole is a cutie.
The night we got in we had to let the kids run their little legs tired, We took them to a mall and they all laid down like this. Alyssa was pretending to make snow angels? She does this everywhere though, in the grass, dirt, etc... We took them to a park afterwards, They kept trying to roll side ways down the ramps in the mall like they were grass hills.

This is Natalie, Alyssa and Hayden

We ate at this yummy, yummy restaurant called Cinzetti's. We met with all of our friends Jacob, Rob, Kelly, Kiersten, Jennifer & Natalie , Joseph, Justin, Lisa and Hayden. Chris was helping Brandon take the picture and Tara was at her recital. Sorry it's not so great that back lighting doesn't help. These boys all grew up together, it's not very often that they are all together at once, so that was kind of fun.

Rob, Jacob, Joseph and Justin

We met back at Joe and Tara's house afterwards. I was glad we were able to see Tara. The kids all had so much fun together! This picture was taken on my night setting, so it is a little weird. Kind of matches their silliness.

All kids love to dress up!

We saw Justin's Grandparents on our way out of town. The kids had fun on the toys and eating ice cream cones in the front yard. I love being able to take our family on these little trips places. They have all turned into quite the little travelers. It's good to get a break but it always feels good to come home.

Camping at the Farm

I am finally finding time to post this! So, Two weekends ago (May 24,25 etc...) Brandon and Daddy took a much needed camping trip to the Hinds farm. Brandon had so much fun. He was in a little boys paradise. He had friends to play with and explore and so much to do.
Here the boys caught a little ringneck snake.
Here is Brandon, Clayton and Graham with the snake. But look in the background. Brandon tells me he learned how to ride that tractor all by himself! We don't have pictures because it was dark.


Brandon and Claire
A snapping turtle Justin caught

Fishing, Fishing, Fishing....
Brandon caught 22 fish! He loves fishing. Justin caught_____.



The ride home. Can finally rest. He was able to stay an extra day. He called me Monday night begging to stay one more day. He had his last day of school on Tuesday and really wanted to be at the farm more than going to school. So I gave in and let him. I am glad my boys had time together and had fun.