Week #23: Two Graduations & a Mission Call

This week we...

...went to my Nephew's graduation party and a mission call party. I cannot believe that the oldest grandchild on my side is already graduated. It was fun to get together with my family and be silly. It's such an exciting time of life for my Nephew. 

My brother Kirk and his wife Sharee

My brother Kent and his wife Julie

 Looking at old family photos and reminiscing

SIL Sharee, Kirk, Sis Shelly, Sis Cherice

My mom, Grandma Payne, Kathy

Jordan - The Grad - on left, visiting at the party

Jordan also got his mission call this week. So we gathered once again to hear the exciting news of where he will be assigned. He will be going English Speaking (he was relieved about that) to the New Mexico, Albuquerque Mission. He leaves September 19th, 2012 for the Provo, Utah MTC.

...got Paul's blood drawn. He was such a brave boy. They needed his blood to test for G6PD, something related to his severe jaundice as a baby. Even though he was crying when they drew the blood, he didn't pull away or throw a fit. He was kicking his feet back and forth, but that was it. It also helped that a woman from our ward works there and came in to help. A familiar face is always nice. 

As we left the lab, I knew that this experience would also be a great precedent for the rest of my kids. If Paul could do so well with something so scary and hard to do, so can they.

We went out for ice cream as his special treat

...went to Paul's Kindergarten graduation. They called his name. He walked in the gym. He shook his teacher's hand. He walked across the risers to his spot. He moved his toes even with the front edge of the riser and planted them squarely and firmly together. He kept checking his feet as the other kids filed in. He made sure not to move them. He wanted to do just exactly as he was told.

Signing an alphabet song

with his teacher Mrs. Collins

enjoying cinnamon dusted snickerdoodles with Lainey

...enjoyed our fruit from Fresh Picks. We have been eating fresh apple and pear slices a lot around here. And there's nothing so wonderful as popping a fresh strawberry in your mouth, yummy!

...played with snakes. I guess I should rephrase that...I did not play with snakes, the kids did. I do not care to have snakes near me thank you very much. My brother Corey has two at their house, and since we were there so much everyone had to hold and pet the snakes.

...bought some stools for the island. We have never had so much fun eating lunch or dinner, or just sitting for that matter. The kids really enjoy sitting up at the counter...and I like it too. It's more fun to talk with them as I prepare everything, I can reach across and give them drinks or food, and the table stays clean.

Week #22: $5.00 Jewelry

This week we...

...hosted a $5.00 jewelry party! I went to a party at my friend's house and had such a great time, plus everything was only $5.00. That is fun enough! So I hosted one at our house on Providence Lane. It was even more fun! I enjoyed visiting with friends and browsing the goods. I loved seeing what everyone else picked out. My consultants are Leslie Egli and her daughter Madison (Madison puts what she makes in her college fund - so cool!). If you want to book your own party here's her info: phone - 460-7292 and e-mail - klegli@pocketinet.com.

...put up a bird station. Jason made a bird house with Paul and Benjamin and Grandpa Erickson gave us the Hummingbird feeder to try out. We're all excited to see if any birds come to visit. Jason and Benjamin researched how to make Hummingbird food and then set about doing it. It involved sugar and boiling water - tasty!

  

...went to an open house for the Spectrum program. It was a lot to take in. It was great to learn a little more about the program, see the classroom, and meet the teachers. We got a lot of our questions answered and met and re-met some of the parents of the other students. Jason was working tonight, but was able to come for the bulk of the evening. It was so nice to have him there with us.

...have had a sick toddler. I do not like the barking cough and rasping breath. This kind of sick is always a little scarier for me to deal with because their breathing gets so labored...and the little one is in so much pain. By middle of the day, I abandoned all chores and to do's to sit with Lainey, rock gently back and forth, and watch Tangled. It was really the only thing that kept her from crying. She was just so miserable. Thankfully, I had put dinner together earlier and it just needed to be baked. I got to cuddle Lainey and we still had something going for dinner.

...received new opportunities to serve. I have been put into the Young Womens as the Beehive Adviser. I am SO excited! I love to be around the girls, to talk about the young womens values, to inspire them to develop their talents and look to the temple. I just got online to order the new manuals so that I can get to work on the program again as a leader. What's also more exciting is that we've had three young women convert baptisms over the last several months. They bring new life and spirit. It's awesome to hear them talk about what they're learning and how glad they are to be members. 

So we have the yellow tulip below for good works, opportunities to learn and grow through service, and Believe in Yourself because that is one of the messages of the Personal Progress program, gain knowledge, talents, and experience to understand who you are and what you can become. I LOVE IT!

::Source::

my front yard...hahaha!

Week #21: Rattling Jack

 This week we...

...worked and played at the school book fair. The school does a trash to treasure book fair. The kids bring in books to exchange for book bucks that they can use later at the event. I went through their books first and got what I thought was a good amount of book bucks for them. However, once they saw all the books and experienced the fun of picking out new ones, they came home and pulled out MORE books to take in to the school. It was so funny because they selected books they wouldn't even let me touch the first time. :)

 Emma was having fun taking pictures

 Emma showing much enthusiasm for all the good books

 
...resolved the annoying rattling issue in the van. I was so happy when I figured this out. I could not stop repeating how glad I was to finally investigate and figure this out. For the past year and a half to two years, we have had this annoying rattling sound in our van. It was constant and drive-you-crazy-till-you-want-to-pull-your-hair-out kind of annoying. I would bring it up and Jason would say it was this or that. Recently, I was in the back of the van because Claire's seat belt was locking up (most trying). As I fixed the seat belt, I was right next to the sound and so I pulled off this nifty panel to find the cause. This is where the jack and tire changing tools are secretly stored. I pushed on the jack and found that it was indeed moving back and forth. What was this?! It was not secured tightly. I couldn't believe it. Could this annoying, plaguing sound be done away with this easily? Sure enough, there was a way to tighten up the jack against the side of the van and banish the sound FOREVER!

I thought we would have to put up with that rattle sound indefinitely. I was ecstatic to finally figure it out.


...finally fixed Emma and Paul's bikes. Their tires have popped so many times...and it's always agony when they have to wait for them to get fixed. Jason is a great handy dad, but it takes us a while to remember to get the parts and fix them up. This time we used green slime to help protect their tires. I had heard of this once before we used it. I was very surprised to find that it was indeed a green colored tire sealant with a brand name slime.

...learned that rhubarb isn't so scary after all. I got some rhubarb in my box from Fresh Picks and was a little nervous to try it. I was able to get a great crisp recipe from my visiting teaching companion and I now can say that rhubarb isn't so scary. It was actually quite good.

Week #20: A Second Birthday

 This week we...

...learned what to do with a birthday card. Lainey got a card in the mail from her Aunt Shawnee. It had a cute little puppy on the front that Lainey just loved. She was acting so cute with the card that I took some pictures.

...celebrated Miss Lainey's happy second birthday. I can't believe she is two years old. She is talking so well. Her favorite things to say are: "Lion scary!", "Airplane scary!", "Benny meanie!", "Give it me!", "Stop it!", "Love you Daddy!", "ALVIN!", "Donald's!", "Benny did it!", "Oh, dang!", "Oh, poop!", and plenty more. She loves babies. Wednesday I went grocery shopping and she was helping me carry in the oreos. A short time later I saw the oreos on the porch and no Lainey. She was two houses down at our neighbor's looking at their new seven week old baby. When she sees a baby she runs through the list of what a baby needs - baby needs milk, baby needs binkie, baby needs blankie, baby needs mommy. Every grown up she sees is either a mommy (female) or daddy (male). It's so funny!

She was making a nice 'H' sound to blow the candles out on the second try. Funny, but it worked. She also gave us some good faces during the present opening.

 

Doesn't it look like she's telling a secret to her Aunt Shelly?

She didn't like the string in her hair, Aunt Shelly was bugging her.

We thought we got her boring old shorts.

She showed us!

...went to a birthday party for our friend Paxton. Lainey was in charge of holding the presents. Silly kid!

...had tin foil dinners for dinner. They were SO good. ALL of my kids liked them but Paul. Lainey got started on hers right away. Emma exclaimed over hers and Ben and Claire ate without complaint. Oh, wait. There was one complaint - not enough left overs. Yummy!

...went to a luau! It was so much fun. Our friends, the Cooks, were in charge of the luau for the ward party. Someone roasted a pig on a nice Traeger BBQ. We had a live band, a hula performance, a haka performance, a limbo contest, and a Hawaiian shirt contest.

Chris Cook up there leading the band.

This is the roasted pig

That food was goo-ood!

 

Jason - back left

Lainey thought the limbo was pretty cool -

 Check out her moves!

...had frontier days at school. Emma and Paul were so excited for this day. They spent most of the day outside going to tons of stations that centered around the western theme. It was so well prepared and the kids had so much fun. There was roping, riding, milking, and dancing.

  In their chutes waiting for the signal to break out in wild riding.

 

 Paul was ready to go home.

Emma was ready to play.

...put some vinyl on the walls. We put some in the bathroom and along the stairs. I saw something on pinterest that I really liked for the stair vinyl. It was of course for couples, but I liked the message for my kids also. I want them to be reminded that I will love them and be with them every step of the way, no matter where life goes. Their reactions were great as they discovered the vinyl on the first couple steps. They were so worried and called me over...Ben said, "Mom, someone wrote on the wall!" I assured him that it wasn't just any writing, it was vinyl. Then I told them what it meant. Their eyes got big and you could tell that they felt and understood. Emma and Claire gave me big hugs. Ben and Paul had big smiles on their faces. It was cool!

pinned

 Mine's not as flashy, but I love seeing it there.

 The vinyl in the bathroom is just a border of words around the top,

 

and I added a silly word just for fun.

...took another trip down memory lane. I can't believe they were ever this little. This was the summer that we took some money and had our vacation close to home in the Tri-Cities. We took the kids to McDonald's and the movies. We got donuts and orange juice for breakfast. We took a bike ride and played at the park. It was so fun and we didn't have to go far away to enjoy a vacation. Once again, I found these pictures and don't want to lose them. So here goes...This would have been Summer 2009.