Fantastic Four!

6 month update

2011-06-18T09:42:00.000-07:00

Summertime is here! Eliza just finished Kindergarten with all A's only one B. We worked so hard together with all her homework and studying. Yes, in Kindergarten! Benjamin Franklin is an excellent school. Eliza won two awards for her reading 200 hundred books! She was so proud of herself. She is a fantastic reader. I loved helping out in her school with volunteering for the zoo, field day, Christmas parties, end of the year party and daily school activities. I wanted to be there for her and help her out with making and KEEPING friends. She can make friends but is still learning some life lessons about keeping them. Aren't we all!
Eliza also just started piano lessons! I am her teacher.... something I said I wouldn't do to my kids. I tried to get her a teacher but it all lead me to just teach her myself. She is picking up on it rather quickly and is proud of herself to already playing 4 songs. If she does well this summer with her playing then she gets to go to Sunsplash with her cousin Yvette. Incentives are fantastic!
We are also doing the summer reading program with the library with both of my kids. They are liking getting prizes and putting stickers on there chart. It helps keep us both motivated with reading this summer.
I just bought a Groupon for Gymnastic for both of my kids. After taking them I realized that this is exactly their forte. They loved being able to be active. We will maybe pick it up some more now that school has started.
I know I wrote more on this blog and I don't see it so ... I guess I have to refill it in. That stinks! It is always best to fill it in when it kind of happens so you have a clue what went on at that time.
ON a better note. .... Eliza just started 1st grade! So far so good. I don't even worry about her. She has the swing of things at her school. Plus she has a lot of friends from last year. It is back to memorizing poems, math facts, reading, phonograms, homework, and special projects. Plus trying to keep up with piano.... there is hardly enough time in the day after school lets out.
Samuel is now in preschool and has the same teacher he just started with the last semester. He loves his school. He has an ear infection now so we are working hard to get it fixed. Poor kid!
We also went on a couple of trips this summer. First one was to Colorado for a Eames reunion. It was fun doing activities on the way up..... Lava Caves, Four corners, Montecello Utah for the temple, and then Grand Junction. It was nice getting to know some of Dale's cousins. They were all super nice.
Second vacation was to Disneyland/California Adventures, beach and a water park hotel. It was super fun and wish we could have stayed longer. The hotel was nice...Howard Johnson right across the street. I love it! It was so relaxing. They have a heated little water park. We loved just relaxing!
Well I better get ready for bed! I will have more time later!

catch up time... pics to follow

2011-01-20T08:14:00.000-08:00

Well my dear blog you have been neglected. So much has happened since May of last year. We finally moved into our house... it was a very hard move bec we had twice as much stuff and very small space. What did save us was our 4 storage sheds in our backyard.
We did the whole Disneyland thing with our kids this summer. It was everything I hoped it to be with my kids. Within the first couple of minutes Samuel ran off bec he saw a Mickey bench. Every few seconds he would scream Mickey. Eliza has lived in fantasy land so long with all her princesses... she was in awe of disneyland as well. Dale made these shoes with inserts to make the kids taller to go on all the rides. Needless to say we didn't need them bec most of the rides they could go on anyway. Also by the time Eliza got to the Indiana Jones ride the foam inserts they shrunk enough to not to make her go. Bummer! We also did a cookout on the beach. The kids had fun digging in the sand and finding treasures. Once the sun started to go down .... oh man it got too cold. It went down hill from here.

One big thing that I almost forgot to mention was Eliza and the start of Kindergarten. She is going to Benjamin Franklin East and is in Ms Willis Class. She is doing well. She has learned a ton. So far she is getting pretty much straight A's. Luckily she is pretty smart.... so it is easy for her. Which makes homework time go really quick. If we could get her to concentrate and pay attention. She is kind of a space cadet with her attention. Who could blame her it is ALL DAY Kindergarten. So it was a huge step for her. She is learning all her phonics, adding, subtracting, and learning to get along at school. She can make friend and lose them just as quick. It is a great learning experience for her to learn to give a little to get along. She is also turning 6 this year! She went from NOT eatting too much to eatting us out of house and home. Samuel as well! They must be going through a growth spirt. I am already buying her 6T pants which is weird bec she usually stays in her 5T till she is 6. So he is getting big. I can't wait to start her in piano, karate, and possibly dance, gymnastic, voice and swimming. There is so little time and money so we will see. She enjoyed swim team this last summer and got to be really fast! But on the down end it was everyday. So I am not sure I want to put forth the effort to do it again. She also did a singing group with Athene and Kassie... Dale's cousins. She loved that as well! She is still young! So there is time!
Samuel turned 3 on Oct 30th! Chuckie Cheese quick party was all the energy we could muster up. He loved the CHOCOLATE cake.... he is obsessed with chocolate. Ever since he watched that video on Percy Chocolate. Everything must have chocolate on it. So he picked out his chocolate cake at Costco. It doesn't take much to impress a 3 year old. Thank goodness! Rachel and kids came, Brooke and kids, Reanne and Gabe and family... esp a new adopted baby! Karleen and her clan of 4! She was a trooper to bring them all with her new baby! Carolyn and Craig and kids, Becca and kids, and my parents all came. It was a good time. Samuel got a ton of toys! Now Samuel is getting ready for preschool. Can't wait. Also we are fine tuning his potty training abilites. He is trying to learn to enjoy Sunbeams... which can't be too much fun when you had NURSERY. Poor kid misses nursery!
He enjoys torturing his sister, and playing with trains! He is a lot of fun. We are glad he is growing up and his immune system is up to date. He got sick for about 6 months off and on from Jan to July 2010. Also when he was one he was sick for 4 months straight. This year is already looking good!
Halloween was fun! Eliza was a mermaid and Samuel was Thomas the Train! We went to two trunker treats. Halloween was on Sunday this year so we didn't do all the festivies. So on Halloween we went to Christian's house and had a bonfire. It was a ton of fun!
Christmas this year brought us a trampoline! WE had one in the past that fell apart bec it was used. Dale is now having fun making some play equipment from all the parts. We will see ... and post some pictures when it is done. The kids had a bunch of fun of course and loved all their toys. Wed was my mom's house Christmas, Thursday was Dale's family Christmas, we did Grandmas's as well. Then Christmas Day was just our family. It was relaxing. Hopefully we get caught up with our bills so we don't have to be so stressed for money. It takes a bit of the fun out.
New Years was going to the snow! We got great snow in Payson. So we loaded up and played in a great park with hills. The kids had a blast with their snow suit, sliding down the hill, and making snow angels, and snow fights. We left in just enough time to go to Christian's house for the new Years celebration. Good times!
Samuel and Eliza was so cute... they couldn't stop talking about snow!!! Glad they got to finally play in it again.
This week has been the barrer of bad news. We got an ultrasound last wed and found the baby had no heart beat. Yesterday I had surgery at a D & C clinic and it went well. It has been an array of emotions for the long awaited baby. I was 16 weeks pregnant. The baby died at 14 weeks. Hydrops was suspected. We are very sad for our little one, and can't wait to see our little one again. This has been the 4 miscarriage in a row. So we are off to the specialist once we can get our insurance squared away. Eliza has been drawing pictures of our little one.. she says is a girl. Then the day I found out about our baby she came home with a picture of our baby girl as a angel. It was so amazing to me that she felt like to draw that. I will post the pictures on here soon. The cord to my camera has been missing since we moved. I think I will order another one online!

Well hope to talk soon!
Raina

painting

2010-05-14T23:27:00.000-07:00

Well today with lots of help we got half of the house painted. It was a slow process. I was hopeing to get it all cracked out but it wasn't happening. So tomorrow my helpers will come back and finish it up. I am so tired and don't think my arms can pick up a paint brush if i wanted to. Dale got the cabinets and is putting them in this weekend. I am hopeing he can get it in. Unfortuately our counter tops we ordered were accidently sold to someone else. So that is another 2 weeks off we are set back from moving in. It doesn't surprise me on the set backs it is unevitable. So I just expect them and move on.

In the meantime we are living at Bart and Suzy's house. They have been very accomodating and we are having a good time. I think though it will be nice to finally move into my own house. I have most of my things in storage, so it can be frustrating not to be able to get to it. So I am a little burnt out of living out of suitcases. I am sure though is some ways I will miss living here. The kids love it here and love their cousins. I love never for a second being bored.. always constant people walking in and out of the house. Never a dull moment!

Well I am excited for the summer Eliza is now old enough to do some classes. She is enrolled in competition swim, sing, and dance classes. So I am sure I am going to be busy!

Part 1 of the move and Eliza's birthday!

2010-05-01T06:34:00.000-07:00

Hi so we have moved to Mesa! Part 1 of the process is done! We are living in my in laws house at the moment. Part 2-Our house is still in the process of renovation. It has been a slow process in the hopes of saving money. We are in the process of tape and texturing it. That should be done today. Painting will then start! We just finished raising the ceiling, electrical for the whole house was redone, removed AC vents and revented the whole house. This way it was more centralized for each room. We also changed a door to a window in the kitchen, put in plumbing for the sink, gutted the kitchen and all the flooring, put in a nice mailbox on the street ( Post office won't deliver to the houses anymore). Cabinets will be here on Monday so we have to start hurrying! It is going to look so nice when it is done. I need to post a before and after picture of the house. I just don't have my camera plug. So maybe I will grab Dale's and get some new pictures on here.

Of course it has had it hard moments living here but for the majority it has been very nice. It has been a bit of an adjustment with everyone. Monday and Wed I travel back to Johnson Ranch to take Eliza to preschool. I decided to leave Tues out due to the drive. This is nice because it gets us out of the house and I get to visit friends. Unfortunately it is during kids nap time from 1 to 3ish. So I don't get to play that much unless I come early. Which I really don't feel like most of the time. Friday has been sleep over day usually with Yvette, Eliza's cousin. Which Eliza is in heaven about. Eve for short, is Eliza favorite cousin. Also drum roll......
Eliza just celebrated her 5th birthday on April 8th. We took some professional pictures with her holding a 5. She first got to have a preschool birthday party with cupcakes. On her birthday Karleen and I took her to the zoo. Karleen is one of the my dearest friends. She has a daughter Eliza's age, Jayley. These little girls grew up together. This was a blast and it was soooo nice not to have to drive to and from JR (my previous home) to get there. It made the trip a much nicer visit. She then played and had a sleep over party with her cousin Yvette and celebrated Eve's birthday. The two cousins have birthdays a day apart. Sunday I topped off her birthday weekend by having a party at the park with family. I kept it low key and didn't invite anyone but family. It turned out nice and she got some presents and had a good time. There was 18 kids there without inviting friends so I thought that was plenty!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

2010-03-17T22:38:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Patty's Day!
We took the day to go to the Phx Children's Museum and the Arizona Science Center. I of course start the day bad and forgot to dress everyone in green. Oh well... will be sure to do it next year especially with Eliza in school. Samuel and Eliza are the perfect age for this center. Which made it so nice. We loved it and being that it was a holiday it wasn't as crowded. Thank goodness! Spring break and going out with kids anywhere is difficult. It is always so packed. Well we made St. Patty crafts, played running threw the noodles, played with dried split peas (Samuel loved), played grocery shop, and decided Brooke's older kids were pretty bored. We walked over to the Science Center and had lunch. It was great seeing the kids expressions with the cow eyeball. I bribed my niece with a granola bar if she touched it (with gloves of course). I knew if Emmy would touch it, Eliza would follow. Yup! Eliza will never forget the eyeball.
Well it has been nice with the help we are receiving and hopefully will keep on getting. Suzy-Mom, Lottie and Brittany surprised me with packing my kitchen or most of it. I was so excited... I hate packing! Tauni and kids will come on Friday and help pack. I hope to get the house packed up, it is going to be a beast! Barton-Dad and Eric has done a lot to help as well. It is a miracle with all the angels we have had in our lives! Honestly!!! I cannot express my gratitude enough.
Here is some new pictures of our kids taken a couple of weeks ago. Samuel is 2 and Eliza is 4 almost 5. As you can see Samuel loves his train and it was very hard to get him to pose without it. Eliza is a natural model! So glad they turned out!

January sicknesses, Feb Valentine, March is moving

2010-01-25T20:03:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we got to celebrate Syndey Jones-my niece's birthday.... Happy 11th!
We had a fun family dinner at Christian and Brooke's house. Tyler and Jen Flake came over as well! Now they have become part of the family especially being next door. My Dad and Mom brought in a 100 balloons to help celebrate the occasion. They got the balloons from a wedding the day before. Sydney got a few gifts and Brooke put on a extravagant dinner. It was only a week ago we celebrated Cedar Marie Jones baby blessing at the Jones's house. Brooke left nothing unbeautified! She has such talent with decorations and invitations. It felt like a wedding! Cedar was born Dec 3, 2009. She is getting so big already! Brooke is trying to adjust to a colicy baby and juggling the other 4 kids. She is so happy her baby girl that she has wished for is finally here. There is about a 5 year age gap between her last two. Hopefully my next will be Cedar's new playmate! It is in the works already!
I got to teach my Valiant 7 class the last couple of Sundays. I am loving my new class and enjoy getting to know my kids! I think this is just the perfect age for me. I had another group last year of 7 year olds. I absolutely loved teaching them. It is such a fun age. I find it amazing how the kids just love you and how they want to impress you from the first day. I can always feel very appreciated and loved from these kids. They can't wait to see me and hug me and say hi from whatever the distance. I am so blessed to have such a great calling!
Today I got the opportunity to serve a couple of sisters in the ward by making food. I absolutely love cooking! I have very few passions in life but cooking is one of my favorite things to do. Also I love getting and buying cooking gagets. I can hardly contain myself at Pamper Chef parties bec I buy almost everything. I have the book memorized! HA! I like to be able to enjoy the process of perfecting a recipe. I only do serious cooking once a week to avoid the pounds being gained. Tonight was Lasagna night! Dale's absolute favorite! I really like using fresh items to avoid the salt intake and it just tastes better! Dale prefers the Stoffer's lasagna but honestly with 35 to 40 percent salt.... ugh ... it makes my body freak out. So there it is my secret passion!
Samuel recieved a blessing today due to his constant coughing. Thanks Bro Cotter! The poor kid can't stop. I am doing humidfiers with the vicks vapor med, cough and congestion med, warm baths, vitamins, lots of sleep, lots of vitamin C. He has been coughing so much that pukes all over himself regularly. This has made him not eat. This is what Eliza just got over. Well we are hanging in there, just on house arrest until the sickness get better around here. Dale and I are trying our best to avoid getting sick. Like I said January is the month of sickness!

Sorry no pics I need to work on that! We have family pics in a couple of weeks, hopefully!

The winds of change!

2010-01-23T19:58:00.000-08:00

Well this has been the month of being sick for the kids. Samuel has had the stomach flu twice this month. We have decided to keep him away from nursery until the sicknesses calm down. Eliza has now been sick since Wednesday with fevers, congestion, coughs, pink eye, and now nausea. Luckily the fever and pink eye is dying out. Samuel luckily just has the cough. I am going to be glad to be able to get out of the house a bit more. Dale will be glad for me to get back to work with the short sales. I am way behind on that for sure! Luckily Dale can't fire me, and you know he has tried!

This month I have noticed a few items Dale and I purchased have been breaking down. I figure we bought most of these appliances when we got married almost 6 years ago. So maybe it is time for an update. So hopefully we will slowly replace them all when the budget can afford it... vacuum cleaner, phones, washer, and microwave. It is just funny that it is all happening all at once. I do want to try to fix our 1,100 dollar washer if we can. It cost way too much to just toss aside. So if someone knows of a good repair man let me know!

Samuel has now figured out how to get out of his crib. Yes, he is 2 years old and could definitely had figured it out a long time ago. But we had his portacrib in the closet. It was a tight squeeze but it helped him sleep. We figured out the closet worked really well when we visited Denney and Jonnie in Illinois a year ago this month. Also it kept us sleeping a lot as well! Samuel is my insomniac kid. He has a hard time falling asleep.... so we try to do what we can to help him sleep. Well I was so sad to see his portacrib go! Fortunately Samuel is a really laid back kid. Now he will just hang out in his toddler bed with books till he falls asleep, which can be a long time. I have told him if he gets out he will get a swat on his butt. Which is hard to do because he is such a cute kid. Well 3 days into this toddler bed and it has been really nice! He has been so easy to train! I think having a #1 has helped #2 know what to do. NICE! He actually just grew out of his naps for the most part so it does make going to bed pretty easy as well. HE IS EXHAUSTED!

Also Samuel my little 2 year old and I have been practicing with potty training since he was 12 months old. I don't let it take over my life it is just introduction and usage before the tub. This worked really well with Eliza so I feel like a pro now. I figured now since he has grown out of naps and his bed. Maybe he is ready to really practice being potty trained. Plus I am home bound due to Eliza being sick. Today is day 3 and he has had 3 accidents. Not one the first day if you can believe that! He can hold it like I have never seen. Day 2 was in training underwear.... he was in shock about that. Today he has been drinking 5 - 8oz cups of milk. That doesn't help the bladder so that is when the accidents has happened. I feel he is not mature enough to be potty trained at this point. I think I am going to just keep on working on it though. I figure I am saving on diapers... at least!

I am now seeing Samuel vocabulary and comprehension double every month for the last 2 months. It has been fun to see him talk and grow. He told me that the baking soda on the floor is snow! Is snow ..Mom? I am like no... he gets so mad. Eventually I just say it is snow because it there is no point arguing with a 2 year old. He has learned duck, "is anyone home?", Raina (NINA), choo choo, cake, cookie, sorry, sleep, hello, stop, no, mickey of course, pee pee, is poop mom?, nana, papa, baby, puppy, dog, swing, car, tv, cracker, and tons more. Also he is learning a ton of sign language... milk, all done, more, thank you, please, food, dirty, bath, wash hands, car, shoes. He is learning so much and so fast. It is fun to see him grow and understand what we are saying.

This month has also been the first month without our personal assistant. Stephanie has been working at our house for the last 5 months 40 hours a week... helping with kids, cleaning, cooking, and errands etc. I first had two jobs when we hired her and then it went to one part time job. It was getting hard to justify having someone so much and the money we were paying. It was nice my house was always emaculate and someone I could trust with the kids. Well one things lead to another and it didn't work out very well for both of us. So starting Dec 28 or so I have been trying to keep up the house to the amazing standards as before. I have been doing great... but now I have been slipping keeping up with the sick kids. I honestly before just lacked motivation and had a hard time with depression. It is hard day after day same routine. Stephanie helped relieve so much stress! I am now trained quite a bit with the office. Which is suppose to help Dale with his work load. Unfortuately it hasn't quite touched it. Hopefully soon next week I can get back to work when the kids get better. My neighbor and I trade and I pay her a little to watch the kids. So hopefully I can get on the ball and the kids can get use to the routine.

Eliza has had two preschool teacher this year... Rebekah and Cortney. Cortney is moving and is pregnant. So I have decided to enroll Eliza in Rebekah's school. Eliza needs constant interaction and social events. If not she gets rebellious and starts acting out. I notice the busier I keep her the less trouble she gets in. This school so far has been nice. I hope Eliza can learn not to just attach herself to one kid, especially when her one friend is having a bad day. She tends to get in fights that way.

Hopefully we will find out soon if our offer is accepted on our Mesa house. It is in Dale's parents neighborhood. It can be scary neighborhood I know.... but we are excited. We will be more excited if we get the house for 35,000! Cool, for sure!

Pics and more to come

2009-11-18T09:52:00.000-08:00

I'm back!

2009-11-18T09:28:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! Well there is no easy way to get back in to blogging but to just start writing. Facebook and life has taken over for sure. Honestly the thought of starting to write something on my blog overwhelms me. I got so behind that I have had a million ideas to write on here and pictures to post.
Dale is officially a real estate broker.
As of right now I am working assisting him in his new company Professional Real Estate Negotiators. Which has been challenging learning everything there is to know about real estate and short sales. This should help him become less stressed and be able to free up more of his time. Also I can be able to train someone else to do short sales processing and train other real estate agents that sign up under Dale. Yesterday I drove Dale all around town, while he worked on his computer looking up information for his clients and answering phone calls. So basically I was his glorified chauffeur. Also I was working at Vista Dorada Dental. I needed to get back in the swing of things with my career and catch up on all the technical computer programs. I worked there for about 2 months and it became painfully slow. I had 3 hour lunch breaks and some days only seeing one patient. It was a relief to finally get laid off and be able to focus more on my family and my other new job. I did enjoy the new experience and loved the office. Everyone was exceptionally nice and fun to work with. I want to go back and visit the office and see everyone again, it bitter sweet goodbye. It is hard in this economic time for dental offices. A lot of them are closing. It is very sad.

Eliza celebrated her 4 birthday this last April. We threw a huge birthday party for her. One was on her actual birthday at Chuckie Cheese with just immediate family. The other one was at my in-laws house where we invited her entire preschool and half the neighborhood. I rented a water slide combo bouncy house and a snow cone machine. I also made Eliza a princess castle birthday cake. Which became very challenging and eventually took the help of entire Orton family and Dale to pull it off. It was called at first the leaning town of Pisa, and eventually with Dale's natural engineering skills became upright. This cake was a huge surprise for Eliza and I couldn't wait for her to walk in and see the awe in her face. It was way worth it! I have a video with her mouth falling open. It was perfect! About 50 people came and it was a big hit. Bart and the guys help put up a canopy outside with chairs and tables. We had a pinata and tons of food. The kids went swimming even though it was a little on the chilly end. I hired a babysitter to watch the pool and be a lifeguard. Which was completely worth it, no one died... 0). I have to thank Eric, Tauni, Bart, and Suzy. This party was the best I have ever thrown and was a huge success. This party was suppose to be Eliza's goodbye to sucking her fingers. We spent several months earning stickers and talking about how she is going to be big now. She told me that she wanted to earn a birthday party for stop sucking her fingers. So I thought awesome .....her birthday is coming up so I will just incorporate this in my plan. Well needless to say she isn't ready to give up sucking her fingers. I had a fun time putting this party together!

Samuel had a birthday as well on the 3rd of November at Chuckie Cheese. He is now officially 2 years old. We invited my family and some friends to come. The party was nice because no one was at Chuckie Cheese and we had the whole place to our self. He loved singing Happy Birthday.... yes he knows the song. Just as he was going to blow out the candle he knocked over his cupcake on the floor. Luckily we had another ready to go for the finale. I also made him a Mickey Mouse cake for him as well. He is such a joy and I just love every minute of playing with him. He is still my little guy! He loves to copy his big sister and wants to be just like her. No one is cooler than she is. He loves wearing her headbands, her princess pink pajamas, princess shoes, and her Dora shoes as of last night. He has decided his plain brown shoes are not going to work for him. I am not too worried he loves all his cars, video games, and especially playing with all his boy cousins and friends. But this is going to be funny when he gets bigger and I can remind him of the girlie things he use to do. He loves Mickey Mouse and anything with the movie Cars on it.

Well I am running out of time but I will catch up more the rest of the week!

My Diary

2009-03-27T08:20:00.001-07:00

I just got back from our last zoo adventure yesterday with my favorite friend. It was such a windy day, but nice that the park was empty. We had a good time. I was lucky to be able to put Samuel to bed and have Dale work from home. So I knew with one child less that the zoo was do able. My friend has to be careful bec she was miscarrying and I had my broken toe. Which I would take the broken purple toe any day then have another miscarriage. I hurt my toe stepping over my broken baby gate. It came down as my toe brushed it and I landed on my toe wrong. Then the rest of the day Samuel, Eliza and Dale all managed to step on it. So fun times!
I am glad to be done with the zoo bec my kids are now getting bored with it. So if they aren't having fun what is the purpose of going. So maybe next year I will get a membership!
My baby Samuel is doing some cute things these days. He likes wearing Eliza's headband. He will go into the bathroom and rummage through her bows etc and grab the headband. He feels so big when he has it on. Dale was like did he put that on himself? Funny. So I wanted to take a picture of him with it on but Dale was like he is wearing Eliza's pink sweats. So he said no pictures bec he didn't want to tramatize our child. Maybe next time!
Also last night we were doing our family prayer and I got him to fold his arms. It was so cute and he felt so big and started giggling at himself. Everytime I would say fold your arms Samuel he would do it. Such a cute kid!
Well I am off to go to the temple tonight with Dale's family. I am having a new friend watch them. So I am a little nervous bec I am not sure how the kids will do. It is hard letting someone new watch your kids.
Goat milk? I just started my kids on whole goat milk. It has been great change because my kids are lactose intolerant, so tummy aches happened quite regular. Goat milk does not have lactose in it... is is very similar to mother's milk. Easily digestable, and has the natural immunity in it. So they have been as healthy as a horse lately. I am lucky my sister Rachel has goats so I can get it fairly inexpensive. I can't wait for my brother's goat to have her babies and we will be able to have another goat producing milk.
I just went to my good friend Julie Larsen's wedding this last weekend. She is in the middle of this picture. This is a few of my friends at my bridal shower. Such a cutie! I am so happy for her to find her perfect match.... she is 32 and he is
35. So they know perfectly well what they are getting into at this age.
Also I saw this picture of my grandmas and I miss them. My Grandma Gardner died January of 2007, and my grandpa soon followed. This is a tribute to my Grandma Gardner.

Pay it forward!

2009-03-15T21:04:00.001-07:00

Thanks Julie for the idea!

Pay It Forward

This should be fun!!!

Here is what you do. . .

The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive, at some point during the year, a handmade gift from me! What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise! The catch is that you must participate as well. Before you leave your comment, type up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going. Then come back and let me know you are going to play! Then sit back and anticipate the arrival of your gift! (Please leave your e-mail address in your post to me!)

Let the fun begin!

Zoo membership

2009-03-09T23:23:00.000-07:00

Sonja sent me her membership to the zoo. Thanks Sonja! So for the rest of March I have unlimited access to the zoo.
Tauni and I went for Doc birthday. It was a lot of fun! Eliza loves lions. So Samuel and Eliza took turns sitting on him.
Then their was the clam shell. So Eliza is practicing being the little mermaid.
We got to go on the train and it went around the whole park. Samuel loved feeding me chips. He was laughing histerically so I had to have Tauni take a picture.
We have gone now two more times since. I got to get my use out of the card so I have 5 more outting planned for the rest of the month.

I am doctor now!

2009-03-09T22:43:00.000-07:00

Eliza is playing Doctor with her animals. She got to dress up as a Vet for preschool on career day. We talked about all the things she could be when was big. She said that she just wanted to be big like me. So we talked about being a teacher, a animal doctor, a firewoman etc. She didn't seem too interested. So I told her I think she wants to take care of puppies. That got her attention! After I gave her gloves, stethoscope, and medicine... she was on her way! Then later she told me "Mom I don't want to be a dog anymore now I am a doctor." I thought that was too funny! That is one of her favorite thing to play is a dog.

Bread recipe

2009-02-03T14:17:00.000-08:00

Thanks Jennie-Lisa! This recipe turned out a lot better than the one I got off the wheat flour package. So I wanted to always keep it so it now on my blog.
Dale even moaned as he took his first bite. Last week I made 14 loaves of bread this week I have made 7. Dale has now asked me to stop making bread due to the mess.

Bread Recipe-

5 C. warm water ( bath warm, not too hot)
3 T. yeast
2 T. salt
2/3 C. olive oil ( you can use any.... just what I use)
2/3 C. honey ( I alternate oil and than honey so the honey won't stick to the cup)

Mix all above for a few seconds in your Bosch or Kitchen Aide and then turn off and let it sit and bubble for 10 min. ( I set the timer every time so it's exact and I don't have to worry about forgetting.)

Turn mixer on the first setting and add:
10-12 C. Whole Wheat Flour ( I just watch the sides and as soon as almost all the dough pulls away from the edge stop adding flour. Turn mixer to the second setting and let it knead for 10 min.)

After the 10 min. turn of mixer and crack open the lid or put a towel on it leaving a small space open and let it rise for 10 min.

While it's rising get out loaf pans and spray generously with cooking spray. Also spray a large spot on the counter and when it's through rising, place dough on counter and spray your hands and divide dough into loaf sizes.( I believe it is worth it to buy glass loaf pans.... I think it bakes alot better.)
It makes about 2 lg. pans and 2 sm. pans.

Turn the oven onto 350 degrees and place the loaf pans onto top of stove and cover with a towel. Let it rise for (can you guess?...) 10 min.

Cook for 30-35 min. depending on your oven. Let them get golden brown.

After you take them out, butter the tops... it makes for soft crust and then I take them out of pans right away and let cool all the way before putting in zip lock baggies.

( I use White Wheat, it is a little lighter in flavor and texture. It's not as heavy as Red Wheat. But if you use Red Wheat or flour from the store it might be too heavy and not stick together well so you might have to replace 2-3 c. of the wheat flour and use white flour.)

bread, tomato saver, superbowl, and -18 degree temp

2009-02-02T23:52:00.000-08:00

I have been on this bread kick lately. I have a friend who like to make bread all the time and I decided I want to start making mine. So I went to the grocery store and decided that I will just grab a recipe off the whole wheat flour. Wala! Honey whole wheat bread. Such an easy recipe! It has been fun passing out all the bread to everyone that comes over. So last week I made 14 loaves of bread, and I gave them all away. So now I am making 2 more, one to give away and one to keep. Way fun!
Also my new fun thing is my tomato saver. It is in the shape of a tomato and you unscrew the plastic tomato and a great place to put your tomato. It stores it so it won't go bad or mushy. Plus you know right away that it is a tomato stored in there, so it gets used faster.
SuperBowl...... wow what a game! We celebrated Doc's birthday at Mom and Dad's house and had a Super Bowl Party. Dene and kids came over and I have never screamed so loud. It could have been anyones game, but it went to the Steelers. Which I was disappointed with the poor sportmanship of the Steelers. Also that 100 yard touch down was unbelievable... that was the big down fall of the Cardinals. Hopefully we can come back next year!
I will post some pictures of our trip to Illinois soon. I can't get this new computer to download pictures! But check out the blog on my site. H2Oengineer13... it has a video of Dale and nephews making snow angels in -18 degree weather. Crazy! It is called making your own entertainment! Dale's hair actually froze!

speeding ticket fines and community service

2009-01-27T19:27:00.000-08:00

Well I got a ticket, the first in awhile. I was going through a school zone, very bad area to speed of course. Well this school zone had a photo radar, which I saw. When I hit the first 15 mph sign I was going 18 then hurrily slowed down to 15. By the time I hit the last sign a few yards ahead the van took a picture of me. This kind of annoyed me because I was going 15 through the whole thing, except the beginning of course. Then to get a ticket at the very end for going 3 over seemed ridiculous. So I decided to fight it in court. Well the court hearing was to be the day after New Years and I was going to be out of town. So I faxed in a request to have it changed for another day due to being out of town for the holiday. I didn't check to see if it was accepted, and just went on my trip. Well after I got home I found out it was denied and I needed have shown up to my hearing two days ago. Crap! So they decided that I missed my day in court and needed to pay my 200 dollars fine. But what really makes me happy is that I asked to do community service and it was accepted. 5 dollars and hour and 40 hours of service needs to be served. But what is the kicker is that I get to choose where I want to do my community service! It just so happens that my church calling can count as community service. So being in the nursery 2 hours every Sunday is completely acceptable! So I am so excited I saved 200 dollars! I think I am going to ask for community service every time! I probably will spend some hours working in the cannery or the church warehouse, just in case you are wondering. So I am just counting my blessing to be able to get off so easily!

Christmas

2008-12-27T12:45:00.000-08:00

It is hard to know where to start because this month has gone by so quickly.
We finally did our christmas pictures with Brooke and it turned out great. So I am way behind on getting them out. We were doing the South Beach diet for a couple weeks. This was suppose to help us look a little more in shape for our picture. It was hard not eatting sugar for over 2 weeks during the holidays! Especially with every night with parties and goodies. But I made it! So we put off our family picture until the last minute. Everything else this holiday season was actually on time. We got the Christmas tree up right after Thanksgiving, thanks to Dale's sister kids (Tauni). That was awesome they loved decorating and I had my tree up in minutes. Sweet! Lights on the house were up a couple of weeks before Christmas and the wreath on the door. I bought most of my presents 3 weeks before Christmas. So this year was smooth sailing except for the cards. Also Costco made our picture a little dark so we got another 50 free.... so now we have 150 cards! Let me know if you want one!
It was easy with our kids because they are still young. They are just excited to get candy and a toy to play with. This is the first year Eliza understood Santa and the whole present thing. So I don't know who was more excited to see Santa this year Eliza or I. My ward had a Christmas party at the Bishop's barn. Santa came from the sky in a decorated crane. So it was so funny to see the kids scream as Santa came from the sky. Wow, it is so fun having kids! I think I actually teared up watching them freak out. Ok, so I am a little overly emotional! I practiced with Eliza to talk to Santa about getting her make-up. I laid out the plan for her so she could have it ready. She then chased Santa down as 150 people made a line. She butted in front of the whole line and ran up to Santa to tell him what she wanted. Afterwards she told me Santa said ok to make-up. Way fun!
We got to go to the Christmas lights with both of our families. It was fun but crazy bec there was too many kids and a couple of them got lost. So it was hard to relax and enjoy. But the sunset on the way to the temple was awesome. Arizona has the best sunsets!
We got to go to Eliza's preschool party. Ms. Amylin and Sherri had the kids sing, Rudolph, Silent Night, Up on the housetop, We wish you a Merry Christmas, and one more I can't think of. It was cute. I didn't get a good view so my pictures aren't that great. Then afterward Eliza got to see Santa. It was kind of funny bec it was one of the Dads. So one of the kids reconized him and said that is my Dad. So Eliza came home and said I saw Santa and it was Dad. We decided to take some pictures of us in front of our tree before the preschool party. So wa la!
The big new is that Dale bought me a van for Christmas! He was sweet and I had no idea that he was planning this. He sent me on a treasure hunt on Christmas starting at my house and ending on a maze at his parent's house. I am still in shock and awe of Dale for pulling this off (plus his little elf Suzette). Plus he got me exactly what I wanted! I am so not into having payments so he was able to buy it for the cost of what my car would sell for. So I am excited to start driving!!!
Sorry no pictures yet!

High School Reunion, Bella birthday, and dog bite

2008-11-30T23:15:00.000-08:00

Bella's 3rd birthday party! This last Monday we had Isabella's princess birthday party. I dressed up Eliza in her princess party dress to head to Rachel's house. Rachel out did herself with a castle birthday cake, princess PB & J castle sandwiches, italian sodas (complimentary of Brooke) and other great food. We did a craft and put together (too too's). Great fun for the adults, kids had a hard time trying to tie it up. Bella gave each of the kids a purse with make-up, candy necklace, and stickers. Bella then got to blow out the candles, but froze under pressure so Rachel took over.
You will see the two buddies in the photos below.
We also got to attend a little get together of Dale's High School friends. It was fun seeing everyone, and all the old love triangles. Everyone was so sweet! I finally got to meet Dale old flame. It was rather awkward at first. Dale hasn't seen her in 10 years. They both seemed to blush and kind of found it funny. Anyways, she is really pretty and looks like Lana Lang on Smallville. Most of us stayed till one in the morning going out to eat at Chili's and catching up on old times.

2008-11-30T21:05:00.000-08:00

Well we are just wrapping up after Thankgiving. We have been getting over colds over here. Samuel has been sick for awhile. He had a cold, teething, and what apparently looked like chicken poxs. I was bad and was behind on his vaccinations. I guess that he can check that one off his list. He has become high maintance with his now toddler phase. Very cute though anyways. He loves getting to his miniature car, brushing his teeth, playing outside, trying to sweep the floor, toliets (as soon as a door is left open he b lines to it to see if he can play), baths, movies, kids, and babbling. He is almost never quite. Today he was saying tickle, tickle tickle. That is what I say before I pounce on him and he thinks it is great! He also likes to say Dadda, Mama, and once he said "this" in reference to something that he wanted and pointed to it (the remote control, what else of course).

Eliza has has a couple of incidences this last month. We have weekly get togethers for the Jones family. My sister Rachel was dog sitting this Shitzu. The breed is very well known to be good with kids and very docile. I was warned by the kids that this dog was mean. But I needed to go to the bathroom and asked the kids just to keep an eye on Eliza. So my mistake! Eliza decided to touch this dog's food. That is when it bit her face. It is in two areas. Luckily it didn't leave permanent damage! It could have gotten her eye. But just some teeth marks and a ulcerative like sore in her mouth. She seemed a little shaken up for awhile and had night fretts for the next couple of nights.
My last scare was her and Bella decided to play barber two days ago. Dale was working on some door hangers to advertise for our area. So we decided to make a day out of it by having a play date. Rachel and Karl went out for their anniversary that night so they were happy we were wanting to hang out. Well the night was wrapping up and I told Dale I was going to take the kids home. Eliza didn't want to go home and was having a great time playing Princess with Bella. So Dale offered to just take her home after he was done in about half hour. Well that is when the mischievous girls got into Arianna backpack and took her scissors. Bella just got a haircut the day before. With the two head of their put together they came up that Eliza needed her hair to look like Bella's hair with sparkles. So they both took turns chopping away at eachother hair. Karl called and wanted to know how the kids were doing and Dale decided to check on them. Thank goodness because they were just getting started. Eliza had 1/3 of her hair chopped in the front. So basically some crazy bangs. Bella was left with a couple of rather short areas in her already very short hair. Bella was pretty shook up after the events, Rachel had to spend an hour calming her down. She was a little tired and shook up with Dale getting upset. Eliza thought it was great and said I just cut with scissors ( no big deal attitude)

2008-11-05T22:10:00.000-08:00

Look at Samuel on his birthday! He has a little heart birth mark on his left shoulder. What a sweetie!

Halloween, Elections etc.

2008-11-05T20:27:00.000-08:00

Samuel had his 1st birthday, on the 30th. He is turning into such a toddler. Getting into everything, whinning quite a bit (the way of communication), loves hugs and kisses, especially likes the men in our family (Vaughn, Dale, Papa, Grandpa, Uncle Rex). They say that your sons will follow more after their father. So true! Samuel knows he is a boy and wants mostly men to hold him, except for me of course. So it has been hard getting a babysitter bec he will cry for them. But Eliza likes mostly ladies, Grandma Jones, Nana, Mom, Rachel, and really likes Brooke. Anyways, I thought that was a weird observation.

Halloween was fun Eliza was a little doll and Samuel was a lizard. I didn't let Samuel go trick or treating bec he had a stomach bug. But he really liked his sucker though! Eliza had fun with her cousins going up and down the street in my mom's neighborhood. We both got so tired. She was like " mom I am so tired, I don't want to anymore candy." When do you ever hear that!
Nana and Papa made such a drive to come see both of them so they could get pictures. Eliza was so excited to see her grandparents.

Can I tell how excited I am about the weather! My kids played in the backyard today for over an hour. We now have a Little Tikes playground equipment thanks to Christian and Brooke. Thanks Vaughn for helping Dale put it together. Samuel is just happy as a clam if he is outside, preferrable chewing on rocks. I usually just let him, bec the rocks are big. I just keep a eye on him and make him spit them out every so often. I am thinking I should just water my rocks just so I can get all the dirt off so it isn't too bad. But he will eventually figure out that they don't taste good. HA!

My ground squirrel is doing good. He recently chewed up my mop we decided to put in the backyard to let it dry. It was kind of irritating bec it reminds me of having a dog. I like my squirrel only if it doesn't chew up stuff. I think this might the beginning of a bad relationship. I will keep you posted!

Elections, wow, what to say! I am so glad all the marriage amendment props passed for Florida, California, and Arizona! It will be interesting to see how Obama is going to run the country. Since he has both the Senate and the House, I am sure a lot of things are going to be done. Rather scary though with the plans he has. I just don't trust him. I wonder what his agenda is, and where his loyalties are. Plus he completely straight off lied when McCain confronted him about his past. I don't like liars. That is strike one.

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

2008-10-25T02:06:00.000-07:00

Hey check this out!

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Hospital visit #2

2008-10-25T01:23:00.000-07:00

Well I woke up with a phone call from the hospital. They informed me that they didn't shoot me up with enough Rohgam(?). I have O neg blood and Dale has positive so I always need to get a rohgam shot everytime I have a baby. So I decided to go to the hospital with a mission. 1st- get the proper amount of rogam so I can possibly have more children. 2- get copies of the baby's ultrasound. 3- let them know that the PA on staff yesterday was a pervert. I honestly couldn't tell you how gross he was. After the 3rd comment I felt violated and so did my mother. He was going to give me a prescription for 3x's a day chest rubs from my husband to perform. A joke of course, but close your porno book and come back to reality. 4th- ok I am not going to wait for a bomb to go off, do a D and C... and now. What were you thinking letting me go home. I could die! That is not from pain either, hemmoraging, infection... Man I shouldn't have come to the hospital shell shock. I found myself agreeing to all sorts of stuff.
Ok so I was PO, and you don't mess with someone having a miscarriage. You liable to get your block knocked off. Also there were three guys lined up bored stiff when I was going in for my ultrasound. Bored as can be. So I guess they decided to congratulate all the people having miscarriages. I told them man aren't we all comedians today. Where is the tact?
So today when I went in with very low expectation, I get the completely professional very nice staff. Very understanding and nice as can be. Thank goodness! I told the nurse lady yesterday that I wasn't going to sit any longer and I am going home. Yeah she was pissed. I told her I have two kids to watch and my husband is going to work. So what am I suppose to do, I have been here for 5.5 hours. So she got the picture and started getting the ball moving.

Well I am recovering from the surgery. I am on heavy meds, so I pray I don't have to erase this post tommorrow bec I am not making sense. Love ya!

Miscarriage

2008-10-23T23:22:00.000-07:00

I just got use to the fact that this baby has made it well past the point of a miscarriage....17 weeks today. So we have already stenciled this baby in as part of the family, then the unexpected. I started cramping and having all the signs of a miscarriage. I thought I must have worked out too hard at the gym, so take it easy. But after a full day of denial and rethinking everything, I came to the conclusion the next day it could only mean one thing. A miscarriage. So Suzy-Mom came over to watch the kids, and my mom and I went to the hospital. It was the longest 5 and half hours of my life. The ultrasound confirmed my realization, the baby had died. It was a little boy, I believe.
The craziest thing is I have never been so sick like during this pregnancy. I literally laid on the couch for 2 months. I finally got to the 2nd trimester and realized I got to the good stage. But not the case!
So pass the word along, that makes it easier!

Death of friends

2008-10-13T20:05:00.000-07:00

Dale made two new friends through business... Dr. Jim Crosby and Michael Perry. They are best friends that Dale and I met through Meritt Perry. Dale has been meeting with them and talking to them on a regular basis. They are such great Dad's and people in general. We were just shocked to find out they got in a airplane crash Saturday night leaving New Mexico from an airplane show. Our thoughts are with their family and kids they left behind. Jim Crosby had 5 kids, and Michael Perry had 3 kids. They will be truly missed!
http://www.ktsm.com/news/local/30875459.html?video=YHI&t=a

Family reunion

2008-10-13T18:38:00.001-07:00

This last weekend was the Tenney reunion! I didn't expect much, or more like I didn't know what to expect. This was my very first Tenney reunion I have ever been to. Nikki Coon and Dene Buxton planned the whole event, after a whole year of planning. It was at the Anderson's Carter School- Heritage Academy. I think probably 300 people came to the event, so an awesome turn out! The school had a fence with a playground and a huge soccer field area in the back. It was every parents and kids dream. So the kids ran wild and had a blast, and the parents mingled and hung out.
The weather was pretty good until Saturday night it got really windy. So windy enough it busted down tents. Luckily Dale got us a classroom. So we slept comfortably, and didn't have to pay for a hotel. It was awesome, I love free! That was so nice of the Anderson's to have us stay in a classroom and have the reunion be at their school.
I didn't participate in most of the activities since Samuel had to take naps and he was a little sick. But Sam, Siara, Cousin Lane (can't remember his first name), and I sang a song for the talent show. It turned out great! Lots of fun talents and Tenney spirit! It was great getting to know a lot of new people and just relaxing with the great weather and good food.

2008-10-02T22:53:00.000-07:00

preschool, birthday, new pet!

2008-10-02T20:55:00.000-07:00

Eliza is now in preschool. She started in June at the YMCA, but was not meant to go there. She just got sicker and sicker going to that school. Plus her obvious lack of excitment. Finally at the end of June I withdrew and decided to wait for ms. Amy's preschool. She is in our ward. I have been so impressed with the school and how organized it has been. She gets so excited to come to school and loves her new friends. So it makes me happy that we have a new outlet for her!
Dale's birthday was yesterday! He is now 31 years young. We had a little tradition in our family that when it is your birthday it isn't for a day it is for a weekend plus or minus. So he let me know on Thursday that his birthday was coming up and he needed to start his birthday weekend. Mind you his birthday was on Wed next week. But hey my birthday last July lasted a whole month! Crazy! So I couldn't really complain. So I got a babysitter for Thursday night and we went out with Dale's fam. Friday it was Dale is right today bec it is his birthday, plus I got up with the kids so he could sleep in. Saturday, we had family day and I got another babysitter so we could go out. We went out to Freestone park and feed duck and Eliza rode all the rides. The train was real fun! We later we went to Bart and Suzy-Mom's house and went swimming. Way fun especially since we were so hot from the earlier events. Papa (Bart) was so nice to watch the kids so Dale and I could go to the Indiana Jones movie (Dale's choice) and grab a quick bite. Sunday I let Dale sleep in till 9. Then I cleaned up the house so my fam could come over for Rachel and Kimball's birthday. Monday I made his other favorite food lasagna. Tues I went grocery shopping to get ready for the big day and cleaned the house, did yard work, and took the trash out. Then I made Dale one of his favorite foods- tacos! Wed- his birthday I made him ceral, and strawberry/banana smoothies, he went golfing with Vaughn, I made subs for lunch and we did his birthday cake with Vaughn and Eliza. Eliza was so excited about putting all the candles in the frozen key lime pie. It was so fun seeing her get so excited! Ahh kids make everything so much more exciting! Then Vaughn took Dale shopping for shoes and then they went to Eagle Eye the movie. We ordered pizza for the night and got to relax watching our favorite TV series Roswell. We get net flicks and love TV series! Then I sent Dale a e-birthday card. So that wraps up his birthday in a nutshell, until Sunday when my family celebrates his birthday!
We finally have a new pet......drum roll...tatatatatatat a ground squirrel! We absolutely love it... so far. It made it's habitat by our air conditioning units. So I put some food on the porch in hopes to catch the little critter. Waa la! Here it is! We think it is pregnant and soon to have babies. So low maintance, doesn't poop or pee in the house, can entertain itself, doesn't need us to feed or water the critter. So perfect pet for us!

Natural diaster, no

2008-09-12T23:38:00.000-07:00

Well I am past the head cold! Yeah! It seems to last forever when your pregnant. I will be officially 12 week on the 18Th. Yeah I have been slacking due to energy. In fact my in laws felt my stress and came over and helped me sort through our mounds of paperwork. Well we do have 8 houses with renter etc and my inlaws paperwork too. So it isn't the norm of one house of bills to keep up with. I have to get organized.... and Dale's office was a sight to be seen. I couldn't find birth certificates, not where I thought they were, SS cards gone, titles to cars, ok well you get it. Disaster! Yeah so completely stressed out... what really frustrates me is Samuel's ultrasound pictures are gone. So when you think your not going to slack with #2, just you wait.
So on a postive note, the papers are now finally organized, most things are found. I got rid of mounds of junk and the neighbor is having a garage sale with it to earn money for gasoline so her husband can get to work. So she is happy she has my good junk, and I am happy not to have it clutter my house.
On to greener pasters!

Eliza is now completely potty trained through the night as of this week. I just started to see if she was ready and one accident and not one since. She has been potty trained for a year now. But I was so exhausted from that I didn't want to bother for night time potty training. So yeah for Eliza! Boy that sure saves on diaper and smelly trash cans!

Events and my head cold

2008-08-28T12:15:00.000-07:00

Well lately I have been struggling due to my head cold and being pregnant. I always say when you get sick when your pregnant it is death by pregnacy. Not only do you have all the symptoms from being pregnant then you are twice as miserable with being sick! So my life is on hold for a little while until I get this wrapped up.
But it was fun this last Sunday seeing Dale's Aunt and Uncle at their farewell. They are leaving to Japan on Saturday to serve a mission for the LDS Church. They both served missions there in the early years. So it has been a dream of theirs to serve there when they are retired. So best of luck!
Plus we also got to celebrate Bridger's 8th birthday this Sunday! Sorry no presents, I am getting too broke. But I will get him something at his baptism. He even asked me where is my present? Yeah it was sad! But Brooke and Christian hosted a little family dinner at their new home. Man it is a gorgeous house! I can't wait for Brooke to post pictures on her blog for everyone to see. Hint, Hint.
Well all the Eames clan has left to Sonja and Sean house for the baptism of Jason! So I am glad I didn't push Dale on going, bec I would have been miserable with this cold!

Gold Metal Olympian for 2021

2008-08-22T00:06:00.000-07:00

Dale and I were just talking not paying much attention to the kids. Then out of no where Eliza jumps off the slide falls onto the couch ( which she does regularly)and then back hand springs over the couch and lands on the floor and was like ta da (that part was new)! We were so in shock we tried to get her to repeat it without luck. Needless to say we have been enjoying the gymnastic part of the olympics, but we didn't know how much Eliza must have liked it.

Dale's big Surprise!

2008-08-21T23:43:00.001-07:00

Dale came home from work and school today about a little after 10 pm.... he was like what is this box. I sometimes do the occasional buy from ebay lately hairbows. So he wasn't expecting too much. Just to get irritated! LOL
Well much to his surprise A TOM TOM! First it was complete shock, then he freaked out, laughed, then balled like a baby! Ok I mean he got something in his eye.
A Big Thanks to the Eames family! PS- I like jewelry 0)

Attack of the crickets!

2008-08-21T23:03:00.000-07:00

It is dark as I am walking into the room. Just when I thought I was alone, the floor moves....not in one area but in several. I jump and run for cover at the same time I scream for Dale if he is home. My electric fly swatter is broken due to constant use againist these boogers. So the second best bet is Dale shoes, yes not mine! So I hit one while dodging the other... one dead, two still alive. I chase the other one trying to get it from going under the couches. Couches are a safety zone. I finally get it to the center of the room away from any furniture... BINGO! Now for the last, but it is a baby. But a sick cricket at that... its got to go. Yup Dale's shoe did the trick! The sad thing is... is the constant chirping noises I still hear. Well we will start tommorrow!
Any ideas on great bug killer?

My kids top 10

2008-08-16T12:13:00.001-07:00

Hey I don't have any new going on. But I wanted to write about Samuel's favorite things to do.
1. Grabbing Eliza and following her around 2. Pull all the wipes out of the wipe container
3. Pull himself up onto anything he can 4. Eat, eat ,and eat. 5. Taking a bath. If he sees that I am starting the bath, he arches his back and tries to slide in. 6. Having his mommy hold him 7. Loves toys! That sounds strange but Eliza didn't like toys, just whatever we had. (pens, hangers, phone) 8. Daddy's remote control, and mommies phone. 9. Watching movies 10. His Daddy ticking him and playing with him.

Eliza's top 10
1. Movies! 2. dressing up like a ballerina/princess 3. swimming 4. Playing with friends/ or any stranger she might find 5. Her lipsticks and make-up ( she says don't kiss me your going to get my lipstick)
6. Fruit- loves strawberries, blueberries, bananas, peaches, pears, apples, oranges, etc. She eats it all day long! 7. For breakfast she always asks for ice cream, popsicles, and ketchup! In fact she will eat almost anything if it has ketchup!
8. Daddy (yes, she is a Daddy's girl) 9. bike rides 10. making Samuel's bottle

Surprise!

2008-08-10T09:18:00.000-07:00

Well I haven't been updating as much as I should. But I just put a comment on everyone eles's blog. Uhm... I hope that was a great hint.
Well we have been just surviving over here. I am going to the gym 4-5 days a week now. It is great bec it puts all the happy energy in me and it is a great pep for the day. But it has been a struggle bec I am so nauseated. Yes, you are saying why are you so nauseous. Yup, I am pregnant again!
Two and a half weeks ago I broke down and took a pregnancy test. The first one was expired and it showed two faint lines on half of it the rest was well... check it out. The second expired one ( only by two months) showed nothing! Third time I went to the store and bought the digital in hopes for better results. Well I managed to move the darn thing and shrewed it up. So the final and last one came out pregnant! I was in shock for days and in disbelief! Bec I have miscarried twice in the past so I wasn't too sure if this was for real. But now 7 weeks along and the nausea is going strong. The last two times I wasn't ever sick. So I have a feeling this one is going to stay. So my babies will be 16 months apart and born in the same week of Eliza's birthday. April 2!

Birthday dinner for Mom

2008-07-29T15:58:00.000-07:00

These pictures were last month for my mom's birthday party. We always have a birthday dinners on Sunday. The first one is my Mom and Grandma. No that isn't my camera- the second picture is a little smokey from all the candles.
Dad and Grandpa Lloyd sporting a smile.
We did a group girl picture- my sister Rachel, my Mom, Grandma Fuller-Smith, Brooke and Me.

Jason, Jackson, Tyler, Eliza and Samuel playing with Grandma

2008-07-29T15:55:00.000-07:00

This is the last day we got to hang out with Sean and Sonja's kids. Sean and Sonja were busy moving and we were getting ready for the party to say goodbye. Sorry no pictures of that, sorry you had to be there. Suzy Mom was teaching Samuel to crawl and the cousins were helping. Samuel was 7 and half months. He got the hang of it pretty quick!
Papa and Nana enjoyed the last week of watching their grandkids so their parents could get the house ready. What great grandparents!

2008-07-29T15:51:00.000-07:00

2008-07-21T23:30:00.000-07:00

2008-07-21T22:40:00.000-07:00

This a few pictures from our California trip. We went to California the 5 through the 11th of July. We got spoiled by our 5 star resort on the beach. I really honestly wasn't sure how it was going to turn out. We shared a place with Tauni, Eric and kids. It was a blast! But it didn't stop the drama! The first night Dale accidently woke our family up by using the bathroom. I am not a morning person esp at 5:50 am. So he was being a good Dad and decided to help and take Eliza for a walk and grocery shopping. They walked to the pier and she saw a guy catch a little sand shark. She later became more frightened when the shark grabbed the guy's hand and bit it! Dale came back to the resort and saw that Doc was awake so he decided to let Tauni sleep in and take him to the store. But he forgot one detail! He didn't tell anyone he had Doc. So at 6:30 Tauni woke up in a panic and couldn't find her son. So she woke up her whole family only to come to the conclusion after talking to me that Dale must have taken him. We all got a good laugh!
We went swimming at the beach, went for a bike ride, played games and took turns making dinner every night. It was a blast! Tauni watched our kids for my birthday. Dale got a hotel for the night and we had a relaxing night with no kids. But after a few hours we missed them too much. So we had cake and ice cream with the kids, and put them to bed. But it was nice relax the next morning. We didn't see them till noon the next day. It was a nice birthday!

2008-07-02T12:19:00.000-07:00

More of our photo shoot!

Bike Ride and Photo Shoot

2008-07-02T11:54:00.000-07:00

Eliza and Samuel taking a ride with Daddy! We just got this bike from Sonja and Sean. Thanks! They loved it!
This is part of my little photo session with the kids.

Funny Faces

2008-06-27T10:54:00.000-07:00

I have been reading other blogs and getting caught up with all the cool stories. This got me thinking of stories I could tell on my blog. Some of the stories have been deep and very revealing about their personalities and experiences. Other blogs are very informative and day to day experiences. So I have been brain storming ideas for things that are interesting I would like to keep for my own journaling.
Brainstorm story #1-
On Eliza's 2nd birthday we had a Easter egg hunt with friends and family because her birthday fell on Easter. So I thought that would be creative and fun to do a pre-Easter egg hunt. Plus it is a good warm up for the kids who don't have a clue on how the whole easter egg hunt goes. So her birthday came and went and it was a success! Then Easter Sunday came with the full Easter dinner at my sister's house. It was a great day and we invited a neighbor friends over to enjoy this day with our family. Then the unthinkable happened! Well Eliza's favorite uncle is Uncle Christian. She finds him absolutely facinating. So according to my brother Eliza was making funny faces at him. That was her big thing was the song "Funny Faces" from a Sesame Street video, and they all make funny faces. So for the next few months she went around making funny faces at people. Well Christian was like well was is good for the geese is good for the gander. So he flipped his eyes lids inside out and made a funny face at Eliza. The events after that is a little hazy but Eliza just covered her eyes and screamed. For months if she even heard Christian's name she would flip. In fact that day I had to leave early because I couldn't get her to calm down. I think she was afraid that Christian was going to do that to her eyes. Bec I couldn't get her hands off her eyes, and she was scared beyond anything I have ever seen. It has now been a year and a few months and Eliza is still afraid of the eye lid flipping routine. Luckily time has healed this scary event from her life. Christian has spent months regaining Eliza's trust. He is now her favorite uncle again.

2008-06-26T09:50:00.000-07:00

This a picture of Sonja, Mom and I. We are celebrating at Joe's BBQ. I believe it was for Jason's birthday also Denney was in town.

Tag- Story Time

2008-06-25T15:04:00.001-07:00

Story Time- This is fun! My friend Tessa had this on her blog.

1. Post a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2.Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.

pictures, and haircuts

2008-06-24T22:51:00.000-07:00

Here are a few way over due pictures that Dale took of Samuel and my new haircut. For the FEW people who hasn't seen it! I donated my hair to lock of love, and little Samuel had a mow hawk before the trim. All is well over here. Eliza woke up with a fever, so I will be laying low today. I really want to just get out and save my sanity. Luckily she is sleeping on the couch! I am surprise bec she doesn't even take naps anymore. So I will take what I can get. Ever since she has been in her preschool class she has been sick. She has a terrible habit of putting her fingers in her mouth, so it is really easy to pick up something.

2008-06-20T15:17:00.000-07:00

I always keep thinking that I should post something on my blog, but since I can't seem to get my pictures off my photoshop editing software it makes my blogging very boring to view. Hence no one made a comment on my last blog. Which is understandable.
We have been very busy over here lately. We had Brooke and Dad's birthday, my Mom's birthday and Father's day all within a week and a half. So it was party central! Usually for birthdays we do a Sunday dinner and a I decided to get all the brother-in-laws, brother's, father's all electric fly swatters. I felt that is was the cheapest and lastest toy gadget that was cool. I bought a 10 pack on ebay. I can't wait to get some batteries to try them out. I hear they are great for camping. I can't stand misquitos and flies! Well ran out of time!

Cleaning etc

2008-06-03T00:22:00.000-07:00

All day I planned on going to the gym.... but this morning I felt just exhausted. The best I did was getting everyone ready and putting my gym clothes on. But I did eat pretty healthy, and low portion size. Plus I watched Oprah and about losing weight. Does that count for a work out?
I have to pat myself on the back, bec I did clean all day long. I must have folded 7 loads of laundry, organized and clean Eliza room, the play room my room to a certain extent, a load of dishes, vacuumed 1/2 of the upstairs........... and mind you I had Eliza to help. She did great and I felt like I was giving her a great education in work ethics! So her treat was that she finally got to watch her movie. By then she past out and didn't make it for dinner from exhaustion. At 10:00 at night I woke her up and gave her a quick dinner and put her to bed.

What a great mom I am! HA

Well I got Eliza's room and a few rooms of the house partially decorated. I bought a bunch of cool dec clearance 2 years ago and I had yet to put it up. I have a hard time trying to visualize how I want my decor to look. But I finally got Dale excited to help and we put up a butt load of stuff on the walls. The toy room is suppose to be a under the sea theme. I have some metal sea creatures that I hung up. Eliza room is pink and purple, I hung a boutique cutsie mirror, her name in pink and white, and a ton of other cute things. In fact when she went to bed she was like wow my room is pretty! Her bed is now butterflies comforter and set, which I got at a garage sale for 10 bucks.

So anyways, it was a eventful day! The sad thing is I only cleaned 1/3 of the house... we have 5 bedrooms upstairs, and a loft. I am still trying to organize this house. But I have noticed that the more Dale sees the house looking better and better.... the more he wants to help make it that way. Before he could care less or so he seemed. But since I have had a little more pride he actually wants to make it look nice too. We actually hired a yard guy today. I couldn't keep up with doing the yard. It is Dale's job but he hates doing it and has bad allergies to grass. So Dale finally gave in. It is pretty expensive, and mind you our yard is so small esp the front. We almost don't have a front yard. So 75 dollars the first time, and 45 dollars every time they come, a( 2 times a month). But for me it is piece of mind.

Well I am trying to figure how to get my pictures of my windows photoshop on my computer. I got this cool program form my sister in law and now I need to read the directions and how to operate. I tried for about 30 minutes on trying to download a few of my recent 300 hundred pictures and 20 video clips... no luck!
Well I better get to bed Eliza has her first day of preschool.

Cleaning, Mother's Day, Jewelry

2008-05-13T14:00:00.000-07:00

Dale has taken Eliza for the day so I could clean the house a bit. Ok, well every room was a disaster! Now that I have spent two hours cleaning... I needed a little break to blog. It seems though that I always start cleaning in the same way. First things first.... Do the front living room. That way if someone stops by unexpectly it looks like my house is always beautiful. Second room, kitchen! Do all dishes and put all dishes away, second, counters washed, third, try to organized all the toys, bills etc pileing up on the counter. Of course trash, everyday! Then which I never want to do... wash the kitchen floor. Without fail it gets dirty seconds after it is done. So why ever clean it? Then pick up the TV room and vacuum... and maybe get laundry start so I can have my favorite clothes to wear. So after that I never make it to all the other things in the house. So my upstairs and bathrooms suffer. Does anyone else have this problem?

Well we just got back from a lovely fast weekend get away. One of my favorite friends lives in Taylor, Julia Brimhall. So after cancelling and moving things around this was the only weekend we could get this in. We got eat at Burger House in Miami. Which is my absolute favorite place to eat at. I love their red mix burritos! So my last meal before I die will be that burrito. So write that down.
We let the kids run around.... Eliza and Ethan (Julia's son). And finally we made it to Taylor 5 hours later. The kids got to feed and sit on the horses. Then we all went craw fishing. Eliza only took a few minutes before she decided this was a lame activity. They were not biting today! She said I hate fishing! So she made some new friends at the river and played with them.
Dinner was great fun and we slept at the hotel. We have very low expectations with two little kids in one room at a hotel. So we were not disappointed when they kept us up at night. Dale was so sweet and had both kids in his bed and I got my very own bed... until 4 am. Yes, there is no romance with kids. Dale can attest to that. We got back Sunday after church for Mother's Day.
My mom would feel very unloved if I didn't stop by on Mother's Day. I made my family earrings for Mom Day. If someone wants to do jewelry making I have a friend in the ward who will let me come over anytime.

I lost my baby weight!

2008-04-18T23:53:00.000-07:00

Well with only a couple weeks of doing this workout routine, and trying to eat healthy. I mean trying. I eat pretty healthy anyway, but it is a struggle. I always feel good after eatting healthy but my natural instinct is fatting foods. I relucently eat my fruits and veggies. I have trained Eliza to eat mostly fruits and veggies all day. She loves it! Like yesterday, she ate oranges, a banana, snap peas, carrots, celery, strawberries, 3 all fruit straps (we were in the car), and of course ceral and a sandwich. So with her example it is easier for me to try to do the same. I have shed off all the pounds from having Samuel! I can't believe I finally did it!
Well on to toning and getting back to the weight I was before Eliza!

Samuel's new room

2008-04-18T23:43:00.000-07:00

Well I think my life is going to be lot easier. I just put Samuel in his own room for the first time. He has graduated from bassenet to crib. I told Dale last night that I was going to have a break down if I didn't get any sleep. So this little boy is almost 6 months old and he is done. Eliza was in her own room at 3 months old and pretty much slept through the night ever since. So I was like well if Eliza lived through it so can Samuel. So last night I didn't get up with him once. I was so tired nothing could have woken me up. So Dale got up with him and patted him back to sleep once. But he didn't eat all night long! Sweet success!

Birthday Success- April 12

2008-04-18T23:12:00.000-07:00

When I asked Eliza what she wanted for her birthday she said a pink cake. I said anything else, she said presents. So it was really easy to do a birthday on those two recommendations.
Eliza had a combined birthday with her favorite girlfriend Jayley. I felt very over loaded with doing this birthday since it was her third birthday party that week. But if you know me I love parties! I wouldn't have felt so overwhelmed if I was getting any sleep. Samuel had been teething so he was getting up 7 times a night.
So I called up my mother-in-law and Mom told them how depressed and stressed out I was, so they had some sympathy for me and came over early that morning to help. Thank goodness they did because Dale came down with stomach flu that morning! Yes, I would have cracked. So that morning I had them juice three bags of lemons. I love fresh lemonade! But I didn't have a juicer so it was all by hand. Then we made mac and cheese, and cut up oranges, and threw together the salad, and brought cheetos and pretzels. Karleen Conover, one of my favorite friends and Jayley's mom, made the cupcakes, chicken salad sandwiches, and did the treasurer hunt. Johnson Ranch my HOA was having a party the same time and they provided hot dogs, for our group as well. Don't worry I asked ahead of time.
It was a blast the weather was perfect, and around 50 people came. Mind you we invited over 100 people! Crazy hu? But I feel the more the merrier.
Toward the end a magician juggler came and did the coolest tricks. He juggled swords, blindfolded, on a unicycle. That is some serious skill! He also juggled fire, and did some tight rope act. I didn't get a chance to watch it all bec I was too busy hostessing the party. But it was nice to have everyone entertained that way my job was easy!
Eliza had a blast! Even after 4 hours of being at the park the kids were having so much fun they cried when they had to go home. Let's just say Eliza had a great nap when she came home.

My hair and Eliza- sorry this is mostly for Eliza

2008-04-10T21:48:00.000-07:00

Well were do I begin! It was Eliza's 3rd birthday a few days ago. We have had 2 parties for her already and we are going to have one more for her this Saturday to finish off her birthday week! Ok, so I love parties! We had a birthday party for her on Sunday, bec Cynthia was in town. But it was conference, so I don't count that one. Then on her actual birthday day we had a party for her at Chuckie Cheese with the Jones cousins. She had a blast with that! I don't think she ever wanted to leave. Now this Saturday we are having a everyone birthday party with her best friend Jayley. She was our neighbor, but just recently moved. Eliza hasn't yet figured that out. Her best friends include, Jarom, Ty Ty, Jayley, Jessica, Ethan (when she sees him), and Mary (her cousin). Most of the list are her cousins except for a couple.

Oh yeah, I also was going to add that I donated my hair. I had 12 inches of hair cut off and I donated 10 inches to Lock of Love. It looks better than what I thought it would look like. So I will have to post pictues! It took me a year to finally just go in a have it done. I kept thinking that I would grow it out a little longer. So I would, almost to my rear. But it was so annoying having it that long so I would cut off 6 inches. Then I would grow it back then it would bother me and I would cut off 4 inches. So I finally said I don't care if it is short. So I was walking by a Cost Cutters and said hey I can get a free haircut. So I called Dale up and he was a little shocked, but said do whatever. So I did! I have not missed my hair for one second. It is such a relief! I can get ready in a few minutes, instead of a hour. I have had long hair pretty much my whole life, so I was ready for a change. Samuel was always pulling on it, and it was falling out from having a baby. I will eventually post pictures. But it will be a little while until I get my pictures off my broken computer and I get another computer.

Well I am now doing a new workout from the book Body for Life. I didn't know how to properly weight train and this book teaches you. I am so excited! I have been doing it for about a week, the best I can. I have already dropped 3 pounds. Watch out everyone. I have before pictures and will have some fabulous after pictures. Just give me 12 weeks! The funny but sad way this got started was from going to the community garage sales in JR. I got a set of dumb bells for a $1.00, then I got the book, Body for Life for a dollar. So that was all it took! I also bought from my friend a huge trampoline for my backyard and a large slide for 40 dollars! She is moving and couldn't take it with her. I hope I don't become a garage sale junkie! But I love good deals!

I have been having Eliza go to preschool at Johnson Ranch Mommy and Me class. It has been fun, but it has been too hectic with Samuel there. So I think I am going to take a break for a little bit. Eliza wasn't listening and was running around too much and managed to bust her lip open on the slide. So I think she needs a different setting with an actual class where I am not there. That way I get a break and she gets a break. She is so ready to learn. She can count to 30, she knows her shapes, she has most of her colors down, she is potty trained, she knows 20 sign language signs, body parts, animals and sounds, alphabet and some sounds, and I don't know what else. But I don't really have a lot of time to spend with her like I use to. She loves other kids and works better that way. So it will be a lot of fun for Eliza. So I am going to have to do some investigation.

Well talk soon!
R

Y-M-C-A

2008-03-26T14:31:00.000-07:00

My first day back to the gym! I haven't gone to the gym for 7 months! Boy I felt I need to relieve my stress that has been building up in my body. My baby blues were hitting hard, and I felt I had absolutely no patience with Eliza. So the gym is the perfect solution. The motivation is the hard part. The kids did great in the daycare. But unfortunately they can only go for an hour because of little Samuel is a infant. Eliza was so cute, she was like I love you mommy. Are you coming back? She was nervous because her old friends were not there and the old teachers were gone. So it was a little scary. Too bad Samuel isn't old enough to play with her and keep her company.
It was nice going out to lunch with Dale today we ate at Daddy's backyard BBQ. It is a nice little restaurant. My friend Cynthia owns it and they needed a little more business. It is so hard since the economy is going into a recession. Or so it seems. So it hurts everyone.
Dale is now off to do our taxes. I just cross my fingers!

Computer problems- and Easter

2008-03-25T21:13:00.000-07:00

It has been a little while since I posted. I use to post like every other day. But now my computer is fried and I am afraid that I won't be able to get my pictures off the hard drive. I wanted to get this computer fixed awhile ago, but my husband informed me that it wasn't necessary bec he needed a new computer for work. So I was going to get his lab top.
Anyways, not much has been going on. We went to the Easter pageant twice. Eliza loved it both times, and was amazingly good. The first time was for mutal, and the second time was with the Eames family. I absolutely loved listening to her say I want to see Jesus Christ. She is use to saying his name like that because of the daily prayers. But last year when I took her she just blew my mind away with how much she took in. When the angels blew there trumpets she stood up and clapped and jumped up and down with excitment. Everyone thought she was so cute. She loved seeing Jesus. When Jesus was getting beaten she stood up and screamed NO with her fists in the air. She wanted me to go up there and stop them. She started crying and saying that she was sad. It made me cry. It was so real to her. Then I told her Jesus is now all better and came back. At the very end Jesus when up into heaven and we waived bye bye to Jesus. I was glad I took her to the pageant, and to think I didn't want to take her bec she was too small. The memories were priceless. This year she was upset, but wanted to go up there and hit the people who were hitting Jesus. But seemed to take the pageant overall very well.
The Easter bunny came and visited and Eliza found bunny hair all over the house to prove it. AKA- cotton balls! The bunny hair led to her easter basket filled with goodies. She spend a few hours chewing on a chocolate bunny bigger than her own head. So yeah, no candy for a few days. She really doesn't need anymore energy. Plus she only has two volumes loud and louder! We also got to have Easter brunch at my parent's house and we did a big easter egg hunt. She got to show off her cute easter dress. Like I said I hope I can get my pictures off my other computer. But lately it has been impossible to get Eliza to look at the camera or to even smile. It must the be the 3 year old curse. My sister in law Jonnie, seemed to have the same problem with Jessica. I remember her princess birthday party, not one picture would she smile for. But then Eliza was so photogentic. I thought that was amazing, only now to find myself in the same boat.
Today it was nice having a picnic at Freestone with Sonja, Cynthnia, Mom and kids. It was nice to sit around. But I was always leary of one of the kids being killed by falling in the lake. So it was hard to completely relax and go into conversation.

Garage Sale Success

2008-03-15T22:33:00.000-07:00

Well we just got done with doing our a garage sale for the Young Women fundraiser. I think we are all completely pooped out! We did a sleepover Friday night to help get the girls to get the garage sale ready. Then most everyone was up all night long for one reason or another. The big garage sale we raised over 500 dollars! Thanks to all the help of everyone donating their items and their money. I am so impressed by everyone.
But it will be a long time before I have my own garage sale. I am all garage saled out!

My 4th anniversary!

2008-03-12T15:48:00.000-07:00

Well today is my 4Th anniversary! Dale took a little break and we took the kids to the park. I decided to grab my friend Karleen's daughter, Jaylee. We trade ever so often. Jaylee and Eliza can't seem to live without each other. But unfortunately for us they are moving to Casa Grande. That stinks, Eliza and I are both going to be short on friends out here.
Later we are going to go to the temple for a little date. Dale's parents offered to watch the kids so we could go. It will be nice not to have any kids with me. This will be the 2ND time in 4 and half month with no kids. We usually just get babysitter for Eliza but we always take Samuel. Let's just say my patience is wearing.

Eliza is a good kid, but she is entering the 3 year old stage. So that should say it all. Yesterday she pulled a whammy! I told her not to touch the keys in my drawer. She said that she just wanted to play with her toys in the drawer so I told her that was ok. Well in just a few seconds I got in the refrigerator and got some toppings to make myself a salad. I hear this blood curdling scream. Eliza had managed to put three keys in the outlet. I started to scream as well because I thought at first she must have broken a bone. So now we are both screaming at the top of our lungs. I see no blood no broken libs, but a bright red hand. I turn and see three keys shoved in the prong part of the two plugs. I am freaking out because I am not sure how to get them out. Luckily she blew the circuit. So I grab a paper and pull them out. They are in pretty deep. Then I run her hand under cold water. After a few minutes she managed to calm down. I talked to her about how electricity lives in the plugs and it can bite. So don't ever put anything in the plug.
I figure she learned a valuable lesson and she didn't die and the house didn't burn down so all is well.

Lori's birthday dinner

2008-03-07T19:05:00.000-08:00

I went to a birthday dinner last night. My Lori invited a few close friends to dinner that played a significant role in her life in the last 6 years since she has lived here. Well there were some catches she pays, also she wears her traditional sombrero to dinner, and no man trashing. It was so nice catching up and I got to meet her other close friends. I can see why she was friends with all of them. I just felt so honored to be on her list. Being married you tend to fall away from the friends that were in the single crowd. I decided that I wasn't going to let a few of them go, and fortunate they still wanted to hang out with an old married person. I use to have fun things to talk about and of course the latest dating story. I seemed to create so much drama for myself. Oh I don't miss the days! I was a emotional roller coaster. I probably still am but less of one. Well let me see if I can post a couple of pictures from last night. Love ya Lori!

2008-03-03T17:58:00.000-08:00

How to add music

2008-03-03T16:34:00.000-08:00

Music-

Alright, a few people have asked me how to put music on their blogs so here is how...
1. Go to playlist.com
2. At the very top, click SIGN UP
3. Fill out the information with the * by it.
a. Remember your username and password
4. Some advertisement will show up. Ignore it and press "Continue to my Project Playlist account"
5. Sign in with your new username and password
6. Click on "search for music" near the top
7. Type in a song that you want
8. Results will come up (it doesn't have all songs, so don't get frustrated)
9. A play button and an add sign will appear by every result. Press play to make sure that it works (a ton don't work).
10. If it works, press the plus button to add the song to your playlist.
11. Something will pop us asking you to create a playlist. Click on it and it will create a playlist for you.
12. Continue to add as many songs as you would like (if you want to add more later, you just sign in and add it here and it willautomatically add it to your blog)
13. Once you have the songs you want, click on "post my playlist" at the very top of the screen. (If it is not there, press "my account" first and then it will show up)
14. Alot of posting options show up. If you are posting to a blog, you click on the "E" option.
15. Then a page with your playlist name appears. Click on your playlist name.
16. Choose your color and other options and press "get code"
17. A window with a bunch of confusing text will appear. Copy this (either by pressing ctrl+C or copy it into a word doc or however you want to copy it)
18. Now, go to your blog.
19. Sign in and add a page element in the middle column of your blog.
20. Choose the HTML/Javascript option.
21. Paste your confusing text that you just copied from playlist.com
22. Give it a title, save it, and enjoy!

Saturday activities!

2008-03-01T16:28:00.000-08:00

Dale and I went on a little date last night to Waldo's BBQ at San Tan Villages in Queen Creek. It was my honey's pick. I love Mexican food. It was kind of fun. The baby ended up being sick so we just did a Costco run and came home.
Today I went to my friend Shelly's babyshower and then went to Mylie and Lexie's birthday party. Eliza had so much fun! I love parties and love ideas. Ok picture this! It was a garden party. The kids picked carrots, brocolli, and lettuce, and got to eat them. They planted there own little garden in buckets for boys, and little flower boxes for girls. The kids participated in wheelbarrow races. Eliza got her face painted with flowers and butterflies. They made and decorated there crowns. Then all the food was the cutest decorations. They had juice with fake little bugs in it. The sandwiches had carrots for feet and toothpicks with green olives for eyes. The back wall had flowers, bees, butterflies you name it on the fence. The birthday cake was the carrot cake from Costco with little carrots all across the top.
Anyways, I love cute birthday parties!

Decorating Ideas?

2008-03-01T16:05:00.001-08:00

Any ideas on finishing up these two rooms?

My picture

2008-03-01T15:53:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to show off my picture that my Grandma Fuller/Smith painted for me! It is a wedding gift but I just got it in January. Thanks Grandma!

New Calling

2008-02-27T16:22:00.000-08:00

My talk on Sunday was the best I have ever given. Dale and I felt like we won the Olympics! It was so nice to be over. Plus I also had to give a lesson in YW and that turned out awesome as well. The reason I felt they turned out so good was because of the spirit. I had prayed a lot before that I would be able to do well. It definately wasn't my preparation. Let's say 30 minutes of prep and three days of stress! But my house did get a lot cleaner.
Dale got a new calling of cub scout assistant! I am excited for him to do some fun things with the young men of our ward. He will be good at this calling. Plus he hasn't had a REAL calling in a few years. I think heavenly father heard my prayers. Dale can do pretty much anything. He is just a naturally gifted like that, but not perfect by any means. I make sure I let him know that on a regular basis.
The one set back is that scouts is on Wed nights, that is hard to pull off with mutal. Actually impossible to pull off some of the times. Next month we are going to the temple and we are also doing the Easter pageant. That is impossible for us to do with 2 little kids! I am sure that our prayers will be answered and we will have someone that will help us out! Hint Hint....
The last few days I have been just doing the mom job of trying to take care of kids, shop at Costco, and a play date. So nothing to write home about!
Love ya!
R

"Tutt tutt it smells like rain"- Winnie the Pooh

2008-02-23T08:46:00.000-08:00

I am just hanging out at home today. I have a lesson to prepare for YW and I have to talk in sacrament meeting. Ugh! I was just asked on Thursday and Dale answered the phone. The Bishop told Dale to talk about repentance and for me to talk about forgiveness. I told Dale that it was because he is suppose to repent and I am suppose to forgive him. LOL. Oh well I hope with this cold my voice can hold out. I haven't started my talk. I almost want to switch bec I found a cool story that would take up all my time.
Yesterday Eliza's good friend came over and we did lunch and had fun. It was raining outside so they got to go outside with their umbrella. One of the pictures Eliza is showing Jaylee her boo boo. She said " Jaylee look my owie, please kiss me." Samuel is now rolling as of a week ago. There is one picture that shows that. That is what the pictures are.
I can't wait for Brooke to show me how to use her photo editing software. I have so many fun things to do with pictures. That way I don't have to bug her so much to try to do mine. She has done the coolest pictures! Plus I keep messing up on taking pictures with the light. So maybe I could fix them!
Well hopefully Dale and I can go out tonight if we get everything done.

Little more energy!

2008-02-20T13:48:00.001-08:00

Well I didn't lay in my bed as much today. I have a little more energy. I will be another week before I get better. Eliza and Samuel are both down for a nap. YIPPEE!
So a little time for myself. Samuel is getting pretty big he is now 17.5 pds/26.5 inches long/3 months old. That places him in the 95% for height and weight. I am wondering where he is getting the large genes from. I am thinking it is from my side of the family. Where else! Just kidding, both of my kids look like Eames kids. But I am excited bec Samuel does have my mom's blue eyes.
Well not much is going on around here, I have a meeting tonight and mutal which I am not going to stay the whole time. Hurrah! They are going to play broom hockey with the young men. I am bring the lemonade.
Well enjoy the pictures. It is my mom and Samuel and Eliza making cookies!
-Raina

Laying Low

2008-02-19T12:25:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! I wish I had some exciting news over here. We have been laying low trying to get over our colds. I think it is mostly me that is sick. Sunday my family came over and I made them all get a blog. I made them all dinner and Brooke demonstrated how to make jewelry. I am excited to start. Today I didn't officially get up until 11:30. Yes, I couldn't move. I did the bare essentials and made Eliza breakfast and started the TV shows. Well the baby is crying and back my official job of being a mom!
Love ya!
Raina

Family Fun

2008-02-16T19:36:00.000-08:00

This has been a fun day! We went to look at my sister's new house, by accident but it was an awesome looking house. I love the one level design, and especially the neighborhood. I saw chickens, horses, and geese. What a great place to raise kids, who needs the zoo!
We then went to Freestone park. I loved feeding the ducks and birds. I ran into a lady who granddaughter died last year and they had a race to earn money for her organization to help other children. It was a disturbing story and very sad. Jackie something was her name. She was 19 years old and went out with a man who she didn't know enough about. I am glad they had a great turn out for the race and lots of support. What a nice grandmother! Sad story!
We then went on a few little rides at the park. The ferris wheel, the carosel, the jet ski ride, and of course the train! Eliza loved all of it. We loved walking around the park. There are a couple of pictures of us rolling down the hill with Eliza. Man, that was fun! I haven't done that since I was 12! Maybe it should have stayed that way. I figured I am not pregnant, so what the hey! Dale was afraid that he would get dog poop on him, but I reassured him that it was just dirt. What a nice day!
Yesterday Dale and I went to the ward Valentine Dance. It was at Nevitt's barn. It was so fun country dancing, eating, mingling, and getting our Valentine pictures taken. The money earned for the pictures was donated to the YW camp fund. Which I am in YW so I needed to show my support. But it has been so long since I went dancing that I am glad I went anyway. There wasn't a huge turn out because of the rain, but it definately was their loss. Also Eliza and I made Valentine cards for her friends and of course Daddy.
Happy weekend! I better run for the computer shuts off again for the third time! Ahh

Valentine Day

2008-02-14T14:15:00.000-08:00

Today is Valentine's Day!
Dale made me some heart shaped pancakes. He is so sweet! Some of the pictures are Isabella (my niece) and Eliza playing today. They had a great time fighting and then playing and then fighting. They haven't had a lot of one and one time, so they are learning to play.
I had mutal yesterday and there is a picture of some of them with my girls and I. We did some heart attacking and decorated and delivered cookies.
Eliza also helped make her house and was playing peek-a-boo. Then the last photo is Samuel and how much he spits up. It is always like a constant flow of lava. He has gastric reflex, so eventually he will grow out of it.
Well I better get ready for my date that Dale planned, it is a surprise so it should be interesting!

Valentine Tag! Tag your it! Please fill out the questions

2008-02-12T21:47:00.000-08:00

What is his name? Dale Henry Eames
How long did you date? 10 months, but we were friends for 2 years.
Who said I love you first? I did, kind of. I told him I loved him as much as I could for only dating 2 weeks. I didn't want to make him freak out. He told me he felt the same way. But I was pretty sure he was scared and wanted to run. He did later for a couple of weeks.
Who is smarter? Who's to tell? We both have our strengths.
Who does the laundry? I do. It use to be Dale's job, but then he never did it. So we talked and decided that he has too much work to do to do laundry. But Dale was great at doing dishes when it was his job!
Who does the dishes? I do. Unless he senses that I am too stressed out.
Who sleeps on the right? If you're facing the bed I do. If you're lying down in the bed he does.
Who pays the bills? I do. I pay closer attention to details.
Who mows the lawn? He does. But if it isn't done in a timely manner my obsessiveness comes out and I will mow it 8 months prego.
Who cooks dinner? I do. Dale works at home. So I usually make him breakfast, lunch, and dinner up in his office. But if I don't he doesn't even complain. He looks for scraps, like he is doing right now. Sometimes he begs me not to make dinner, bec it is probably too healthy for his taste.
Who drives when you are together? He does. I can't stand Dale's back seat driving while I drive. I have learned to tolerate his race driving skills. He is pretty good I have to admit. So most of the time I am closing my eyes when I think he is going to get in an accident.
Who kissed who first? He did! He wanted me to kiss him first but I was like heck no.
Who asked out who first? He asked me. Emily his cousin forced him to ask me out on a dare. He had me as #1 on his list, but was too chicken.
Who's more stubborn? It is pretty close. I would say it is a tie. Dale says it is me, I really think he is a little more than me.
How did he propose? Thanksgiving dinner at 54th ward's activity night. He asked me in front of 150 people. I about died! He got me mixed up with his ex-girlfriend who wanted to be asked out in front of a large crowd. I told his whatever you do don't ask me in front of anyone bec I don't think it is romantic and very embarressing. But he forgot. It is all on video. You can see me crawling under the table in the video footage... JK.

All within a week!

2008-02-11T13:58:00.000-08:00

Time flies!
This week was so busy that I didn't get a chance to post. Sunday I went to Tessa and Rob's house and we had a awesome Super Bowl party. It was so fun seeing there brand new huge house. We ate and played card games with a few friends.
Monday we went to a playgroup at Tami's house. That was so much fun. Rachel, Katie, Karleen and of course Tami and kids were there. We sang happy birthday to Jace Conover. He is my sister's nephew, and my good friend's baby. Tami has all the cute toys and decor for her house. It was so inspiring to look at her house.
Tues I voted! Yeah! I of course voted for Romney. I hope I spelled that right. Unfortunately he lost! The media didn't give him any justice. That was a pretty rough deal.
Wed- I had Mutal at my house. For anyone who doesn't know what mutal is it is for 12-18 years old girls. We did a birthday party. It was three of the girl's birthdays this week, so what the heck. So I cleaned till the cow came home, which made me tired and crabby. The girls seemed to have a blast. But as the hostess with the mostest it is never really fun. But hey it was for the Young Women. The girls made pizzas, salsa, and helped make a baby shower game for a lady in the ward. I think it was a record for the most girls showing up this week- 13! Two of the girls are not members and come just to have fun. I am just starting to get to know them. They seem really sweet. But they are a little shy and the youngest one is really picky with her food. When I mean picky, I mean a little over the top picky.
Thursday- I went scrapbooking at the church. Shelly in the ward does the best scrapbooking projects!~ It is hard to put it into words until you actually go. I tried talking my family into going for the last 9 months and they finally came. My mom and sister were star struck! Basically it is a party. We play games, we make 2-4 projects, and we eat. This time we made Valentine Cards, and a Valentine scrapbook page, we didn't get to the calendar. Shelly puts together kits. Then all you do is put it together to make it look like her demo. It is the coolest thing. We learn a new technique each time. This time it was foam and dye.
My computer is going nuts. My in-laws were so nice to let me use there computer, but this computer is haunted. It has shut off on me 6 times since I have been typing this. Do you sense the frustration? I swear this computer is haunted. I have had a computer repairman come over twice to fix it with no luck. I think the more I type the more it shuts off. If anyone has any ideas let me know.
Friday- We out to lunch with some friends at Cravings, then went to family surprise party. It was his Uncle Marsh's birthday and they are leaving on a mission in August. Sherri and Keven's house was amazing. There were parts of it I loved. Esp the parking lot in the backyard. That made it so easy to hide all the cars.
Sat-I did the games for a babyshower and Dale and I went on a date. Our first date in a few months.
Sunday- Surprise party for Papa at my house. Dale's dad turned 67 I think. We invited Rex and Vicki and had a fabulous dinner.
Well I better post before the computer shuts off again.

California vacation

2008-02-02T23:22:00.000-08:00

We decided to take the family to California last summer. We visited Sea World, beach and Tauni house. It was a blast! I figured I wanted to have a little one on one time with Eliza before the baby.

Saturday is a special day, a day to get ready for Sunday!

2008-02-02T22:11:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of a few of Eliza's friends. Jaylee Conover, and Ethan Brimhall. Ethan moved a few hours away now so we are a little sad. Eliza is such a outgoing popular girl!

Well today was a good day. I never quite got the date I wanted with Dale, but we tried. I had a lunch date planned with some old single roommates and a couple of good friends for life. It was pretty good. I didn't quite feel the love from the roommates. But I know I am a little sensitive after having a baby. But I think they are little jealous of my cute baby, who wouldn't be.
Dale and I then went to Julie and Dave's house and hung out. They are the sweetest couple. I think I caught them a little off guard that we were coming. Which is the story of my life! But we had a good time hanging out. Poor Issiac got hurt pretty bad and got a bump on his head. He took it like a pro though. Hopefully they will get this sweet house with a POOL, we will see if the bank accepts there offer. Now I want a new house with a pool, or just a new house all together. I feel I live too far. It is far when you have kids that scream only after a few minutes in the car. My single roommate didn't seem to think it was far and believe me I feel every minute in the car when my 2 year old screams all the way. No relaxing car ride for me. Do you sense the frustration? Actually I am still a little frustrated from lunch. Breath slowly...
We decided to stop by Sonja and Sean's house. It was a short but sweet visit. Sean has been gone all week, so his kids were thrilled to see him. He wanted to just veg and relax with family. Thanks for the pizza! I need to bring all the food next time. Sorry to eat and run.
We decided to drop our plans with Dene's family and not do a sleep over at Mom's (Suzy) house. We were all too tired. But we will plan for Friday night sleep over, then a big Saturday breakfast. I didn't know we had plans with Dene tonight but I thought it was tomorrow. But we stopped by for a minute to say hi and then took our babysitter home.
It is so hard paying babysitters. I think it is bec I am cheap at heart, plus being very short on cash doesn't help. But I also want to make sure the babysitter feel well compensated. So I always over pay. So what does everyone else pay? My babysitter says a dollar and hour per child, but she is only watching one child. So I can't pay her that. Thoughts anyone?

President Hinckey and life

2008-02-01T15:21:00.001-08:00

Both of my kids are asleep, so I finally get sometime to try to figure out my blog. Eliza had a playdate with our neighbor friend Jaylee. My friend Karleen and I trade with the kids so we can get things done. I brought out all of the toys from Christmas that got tucked away and had the girls go crazy.
I am hoping to go to the service tomorrow for President Hinckley. I am surprised by his death, even though I shouldn't be. He was 97! But I felt he would live forever. He was a great example, and will be greatly missed. My sister Rachel was on channel 12 news. She took her kids to the temple on Monday and they asked to interview her. They asked how she felt about the prophets death. She said that she wanted to honor him by bring her kids to the temple. He built so many temples during his years and she thought that would be the best way to honor him.
I need to contact some of my old acquaintances bec we have a lunch date tomorrow. It is basicly me and some of my single friends. So I need to call them and see if we are still getting together.

A day with the kids

2008-01-30T07:17:00.000-08:00

Well it is early morning on Wed. We have eye appointments today. Eliza has an anomally on her eye that is in the sclera ( white section) of her eye. So I am going to get it check out. It doesn't hurt her but with all the eye site problems I have I want to make sure that she will be ok. Then later tonight I have mutal. My girls are the best! We are going to be learning some hip hop moves on my exercise video and having smoothes. I am pretty tired, bec we stayed up late watching a rerun of the amazing race. I love that show. It is the first season of the show. Dale is off showing houses- about 25 houses to be exact. It is his old mission buddy and his wife. They are a great couple. We did a double date with them a few days past.
Well I better cancel my playdate which I scheduled and forgot to put in effect.
Hey Sonja let's do the zoo one of these days- or chuckie cheese.
Hasta!
Raina

2008-01-25T14:31:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! Not that I have a lot of people who are going to be reading this, at least not for now. I need to convince more people to have blogs. Well as we are speaking now, the baby is crying and Dale just left to St. George to go to his uncle's funeral. I decided not to go bec it would be way to hard with 2 little ones. Eliza absolutely hates being in the car for more than 20 minutes. Which is funny bec we live in Johnson Ranch and almost everything is 45 minutes away. So we have thought of activities to do in the car. When Dale and I go into town, we basicly pack the house. Bec it we forgot something there is no chance of going back. So we double check our belongings before we go.
Well slowly and surely I will get my blog figured out. I will have to play around with it, maybe when Dale is doing x-box and the kids are sleeping at night.

Let start at the very Beginning!

2008-01-24T20:57:00.000-08:00

Here it is...welcome to my blog! My sister in law is trying to convince me that I have time for this so we will see how it goes. Stay tuned for more exciting news from the Eames family!