life is good

Have you missed her??

2009-11-11T17:22:00.001-08:00

OK blogger friends, it has been way to long since I last posted a funny Ryanne story. I don't know that the following is so much funny as it is heart warming and oh so our Ryanne.

For the last year we have been trying to take Ryannes strong will and determination and give it direction and guidance. We have been trying to teach her that for every action whether good or bad their will be some reaction. If she is kind and loving to her sister then Morgan in return will return the kindness. If she does her chores she gets paid on Fridays. If she lies or oh lets just throw this out there, is say mean to the cat..........well, life gets hard from there.

So earlier today she decides to sit on and "squish" the cat. The cat yelps for help and of course mama runs to the rescue. As I get to the scene of the crime Ryanne has run and hidden somewhere. I can't get her to tell me the truth about what shes done and so after being warned many, many, many, many , many (you get the picture) times to not be mean to the cat Dan spanks her bottom and sends her to her room. I can hear the anti-spanking cult now! Save it please.

Anyways, after Dan goes and talks to her she comes to me sobbing and her little face is hanging on the ground. "Mama, I am so embarrassed of my behavior. *sobs, sniff* I'm so sad I did the wrong thing and my behavior embarrassed me!" Waaaaa-haaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!

It took everything I had not to dance around the room and jump up and down screaming, YES! YES! YES!!!!!! Thank you Jesus the child has a conscious. Instead I hid my grin, held her and forgave her. Something familiar in that huh?

OK and last but not least, Ryanne had to write why each family member was so special to her for her social studies last week.

Morgan- Morgan is special to me because she is such a good friend AND sister.

Daddy- He's the best because he loves me and I just want to hug on him.

Mommy- Mommy is great because she loves me and blesses me and pleases me too. She also watches out for me.

(ahhh, be still my beating often stressed out, hoping my kids turn out to love and serve the Lord mama's heart)

Backyard Show

2009-11-07T17:31:00.000-08:00

I was taking the trash out a couple nights ago and stopped dead in my tracks when I looked up and saw the sun setting and sky going crazy. God was painting this beautiful image and I dared to stand still long enough to breath it in. After I grabbed my camera of course. ;)I've had allot on my mind and heart the last week or so; some of it serious and some admittedly is petty but when I saw this I was reminded that whatever it is that is going on in our lives we are to take it to the Lord all the same. Oh and not just take it and walk away with it like I've been known to do; but leave it there at his feet trusting that he knows and has our best interest at heart. I think of all the qualities I can honestly say knowing that God has my best interest at heart and who he wants me to become is one of my favorite things about my God.
Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!
Psalm 150:2

Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. Psalm 145:3

Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy. Psalm 61:1-3

Let me dwell in your tent forever! Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings!

Psalm 61:4

Please pray and pass it on.........

2009-11-03T16:25:00.000-08:00

I have posted many times asking for prayer for Morgan's friend Angle. Never have they needed you more than they do now. Sarah has asked for prayer in that Angle is going through rejection from his transplant and is in the ICU getting ready to start rejection meds. that will make him very sick at best. This family is heart broken and in need of your faithful prayers. Please pray for healing in his little body and for strength for Sarah and Nick and his little brother and sister. He had been doing really well so this is a rough blow to the family. Pass on this prayer request, my blog link whatever you need to do to get the request out there. Thank you.

Halloween Update

2009-11-02T10:35:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday everyone and happy November too! I love November, warm days and cool nights. So fun. We had a fun busy weekend. We made goodies from http://www.picky-palate.com/ and delivered them to the neighborhood kids. If you have never checked out her web site I encourage you to do so and be prepared for some YUMM-O treat ideas. We started off our Halloween morning by visiting Hampton Manor retirement home with some other home school friends and handing out home made cookies and other fun stuff. The people LOVED having the kids there in their costumes and getting treat bags just topped it off I think. ;) All the kids had great servant hearts and all the parents who showed up and helped out were amazing as well.
Saturday afternoon my mom helped the girls decorate cookies she had bought them and fun was had by all.
While the girls were making their cookies I was sneaking around planning a fun Halloween dinner. I made mummy hot dogs, baked pumpkin ziti, salad with pumpkin seeds and we had the girls cookies for dessert. Dan's mom also came down to spend the day and after all the good food we went with our neighbors trick or treating till' the kids (and myself) were worn out. ;)

Ryanne dressed as a ballerina and Morgan was a Greek Goddess. They were super cute and so excited to be with family and friends.

Morgan's Recital

2009-10-24T15:38:00.000-07:00

Morgan played at a little Fall recital this weekend. The girls also had a circus show which for some reason would not down load so I will try and post it next. ;)

Pray

2009-10-22T10:54:00.000-07:00

I am posting to ask that you pray. It's actually something very specific I need prayer for and although I rarely talk about my health on here I wanted to ask you to lift it up something that is important to me. If you are new to reading my blog it will be 7 years this coming April that I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid arthritis. It's not the mild, I feel "yuck" every so often kind of arthritis; it's the "hard to get out of bed and dress yourself or write or hold a toothbrush kind." I have been on just about every drug they offer,only to become VERY ill and most recently (last April & May) spent 8 weeks in and out of the hospital, and in bed.

It will be 5 months this week that I have been treating myself naturally with food and supplements. I have been seeing a Homeopathic Dr. once a month who has been a life saver along with me doing acupuncture and getting massages all of which are helping but there is still always this constant underlying pain that I deal with all day every day and night. Not to mention our insurance won't pay for anything that is NOT traditional medicine so it is getting VERY expensive.

My friend who works at Loma Linda mentioned to me on Sunday that they have a pain management clinic there and she knew the people who ran it and would see if they would take me. She called Monday and said our insurance would cover it and the Dr. did want to take me on. The only thing was I had to get my regular Rheumatoligist to agree to send me there. I prayed and called this morning and they said they would put the request in today. Please pray they follow through and I am accepted. If I can get into this pain clinic they offer acupuncture and also pool therapy which I really believe would help with some of the daily pain and weakness I am having. I am VERY committed to staying clear of traditional drugs they use for RA due to the fact that I am convinced they made me VERY ill and I have no plans of riding in an ambulance again anytime soon. ;) I am committed to taking care of myself for my husband and my family and to be positive through it all. The hardest part really is looking fine on the outside and yet being in pain 24 hours a day. It starts to wear on your nerves and sleep and everything.

Please pray my referral goes through. Pray the clinic can take me. Pray they have ideas to keep my joints limber and moving. Pray for my heart as I struggle through living with this crazy disease and seeking Gods will in how he desires to use me in that. Thank you so much and I will keep you posted on what happens in the next few weeks. :)

Oh Baby!!!

2009-10-11T07:47:00.000-07:00

I hosted a baby shower for our good friends (well minus the husbands) this past Saturday and what made it even more fun was that it's their first baby; oh and it's a girl which I know a thing or two about. ;) I did a tea and cake shower, notice however I put fruit on the table for good measure. :) And yes Stacy I was good and stayed away from all the tempting sugar. I can actually walk today. ;)
Me & Ruth

Ruth's Grandma drove out for her special day as did lots of other friends and family. It was fun because allot of people from the church I grew up in and we were married in were there so I got to visit with some great people who we miss dearly.

Ruth's mother in law made her this sweet sweater along with some other amazing gifts. I'm glad you had a good day friend and we are SO looking forward to meeting that sweet babe of yours. Love you guys!

OK speaking of babies you know I couldn't sign off without a story about Ryanne right?

The conversation went something like this:

Me: "Man, it'll be so fun when baby Taylor gets here huh girls?"

Ryanne: "ya'."

Me: "Whens that baby coming? Ryanne are they gonna go get her at the hospital soon?"

Ryanne: Blank Stare

Me: "Noooo, they gotta go shopping and get her at the store right Ryanne?"

(As if I haven't learned not to bate Ryanne)

Me & Morgan start kinda giving her hard time in the car Friday like,"Ry, when is that baby gonna pop out of her belly?"

Ryanne: spreading her legs points down south and say's,"Look, there's some holes down there, she comes out of one of them but I don't know which one OK?"

Can I just tell you I learned many important things that day on the way back from Lake Arrowhead;

1. NEVER ask your kids questions about "that stuff" unless you are ready to hear the answers.

2. Never and I mean NEVER ask those kind of questions when your husband is driving 60 down a very steep mountain road. Almost killed us all.

3. NEVER, EVER bate Ryanne with cutsie, I want a 5 year old answer about life's happenings.

Why I LOVE To Home School......

2009-10-07T12:00:00.000-07:00

Art........The whole family (including furry friends) gets involved.......
P.E. Rocks.........................

Can't beat the science field trips with daddy...........

Family field trips aren't half bad either. :)

Monday Dan was home so after school we surprised the girls and drove up to Oak Glen and had hot cider and warm apple pie. The off the pumpkin patch to pick pumpkins and look at all the different kinds of pumpkins and colorful gourds. So fun to be out in the cool Fall air.

Happy October 1st!!

2009-10-01T08:35:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to be the first to tell you happy fall! Happy October 1st! Oh and don't hate me but other than a few things for my kids I am D-O-N-E with my Christmas shopping!! Yahoo-weeeee-(picture the back flip here) freaky dance move!!!!

I made a list back in July of everyone in our families we bought for and what I wanted to get them and then every time I saw something on sale that was on my list or got a coupon to a department store in the mail I went out and picked it up. Little by little I marked off the moms, the nieces, the friends.................aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh; I will so NOT miss the stores in December.

I am not done with the girls entirely but we told them the cruise we are going on in April is their Christmas gift so other than some fun stocking stuff and a couple little things, I put together "cruise bags" for them complete with new swim suites, flip flops, sun dresses, underwater cameras etc. It was a really fun gift to put together.

Will you hate me if on Thanksgiving I tell you all my gifts are wrapped??? :)

Family Time......

2009-09-26T08:27:00.000-07:00

We stole a few days away with our kids last week and headed to the beach. We loaded up some school work, did very little of it and had a GREAT time together. Playing in the sand, boogie boarding in the warm water and Morgan falling asleep on Dan in front of the camp fire; priceless. :)
Seriously it was just what the Dr. ordered for everybody in our house. Dan was burnt out from work, I was feeling cruddy from the heat, and the girls? Well, they just wanna get away and play with daddy.

We have been taking the girls picture on this bench since before Ryanne could walk. Now she RUNS down the 100+ steps and always beats us to the top. It happens so fast.

On a side note I was sitting on the beach enjoying the warm sun and cool breeze watching Dan play with the girls and I started thinking about all the "stuff" we have been through over the past almost 13 years of marriage. I don't know why but I truly believe more than ever this is a VERY difficult time to be married. Actually scratch that, I DO know why. Satan wants the church to fall apart and the best way to do that is to get to the heart of the family and ruin it. So many couples that I know are struggling with big, ugly, hurtful things and when I am listening to them share and thinking back on our marriage I feel badly that I can't give them a time frame for it to get "all better." Dan and I struggled no lie for the first 8 years of our marriage. I would literally beat my head against the wall wondering where I went wrong. Marriage is life and life has storms. Some last a few hours, days or weeks and some storms are crazy long and leave a path of craziness BUT the good news is God is good and faithful and the only thing you really have to decide when in the midst of that storm is if you are gonna stay or flee. You choose to stay and God will honor that faithfulness and when the storm clears you will have joy. All that to say when I was watching Dan with our girls I got that lump in my throat that you cant swallow down and goose bumps. I LOVE that man. That imperfect, hard headed, driven, amazing man! :)

If you get a chance go over and click on my friend Crystal's blog and read the letter about marriage she posted. My favorite quote from it is "marriage is fabulously hard."
Have a blessed day and go hug your spouse! It's probably hard being married to us sometimes too! ;)

Fresh Produce

2009-09-18T17:07:00.000-07:00

Yuuuummmmyyyy..........my friend sent me this link www.washingtonproduce.com so I decided to try it out this past week. It's super easy to use and oh so convenient. You just go to the web site, make an account (for free) and place your order online. You pick the day AND time you want to pick up your goodies. We ordered ALL organic stuff and it is SOOOO good! I typically buy all organic at Clark's and Trader Joe's but I thought I would give this place a try and see if I saved any money. I chose the variety box of organic goods and got all this plus not pictured was a huge thing of cherry tomato's that I gave to my grandma and mother in law. The corn tortillas were 3 dozen for like $1.60. So fun! You walk in, pay and they carry it all out to your car. Oh and before I ramble any longer they are located in Redlands. Try em', pass it on. :)

Hi, Peter nice to meet you.

2009-09-14T08:14:00.000-07:00

I was having one of those weeks last week where I totally took my eyes off the prize. Do you know what I am talking about? Where you focus on earthly things and not eternal things. Where you let people rule your heart as apposed to the Lord who molded your heart. Where you let others actions dictate your mood or events cause you to look around as apposed to looking up. *sigh* The worst part is when I go "there" it affects my patience with my kids, the way I talk to my friend in small talk over the fence, the way I respond to my husband who is not home often to begin with...........................ya' it was one of those weeks.

So with all that being laid out here is the funny part; I was in the shower Sunday morning moving slowly and trying to convince myself to skip church. I prayed,"God I don't want to go today. Dan is gone, I am tired physically and emotionally and now on top of that I have to get three people ready and out the door. Two of whom seem to undo everything I am trying to get done. Please God reveal yourself to me this morning through Pastor Chris. I ask that I would be still in the service, focused and attentive to what YOU need me to hear. Amen."

(fast forward an hour or so)

I am sitting in church still kinda wishing I was home in my robe and slippers when Pastor Chris started talking about Peter and how often he just got "side tracked" if you will. In Matt. 16 Jesus even rebukes him and says,"DUDE! You are not setting you mind on the things of God!!" OK minus the dude part but he calls him out on the fact that he is not focusing on eternal things. Pastor Chris wanted us to think of how much we have invested in things that have no real value. It could be anything. Conversations, how we spend our time and money. Relationships etc. The funny thing is God used Peter for greatness but man was Peter ever slow to learn. I swear to you a light bulb went on. I AM PETER! I am slow to hear, quick to speak. Slow to learn. I do the same stupid things over and over. I let the same things tear me down over and over. I spend endless amounts of time that is lost forever on worrying instead of praying. Oh the list goes on.

I am Peter.

I love when you sit in church and you are CERTAIN the pastor wrote the sermon just for you. LOVE IT! I decided to keep my eyes focused the rest of the day and start today in the word. Oddly enough I am studying Esther with our home school moms and it was all about the King and the party he threw and all the riches and fancy-smanchy stuff that went into throwing the party. The author asked us what we were setting our focus on. hhmmmm.....see a pattern here? No worries though you wont come to my house and find lavish furniture or gold goblets instead more like trying to keep the furniture together till' the kids leave and cups that the kids have destroyed. Instead it's where my heart is that I struggle. Allowing my thoughts that don't honor the Lord to creep in. Allowing other people's often stupid choices to dictate how I feel, as though I can control other people duh.........................so from now on you can just refer to me as Peter.

Then to top it off I get home and decide to read a few blogs. I am reading Erica's blog who I have been encouraging to go to church alone even though her husband wouldn't go with her. I told her God had a purpose for her there with or without her husband. I told her I go alone all the time and just cheered her on to take the first step. Well, she did and she was so excited and her husband was going too! All this from the girl, I mean "Peter" who didn't feel like going alone yesterday. Isn't God good! Thank you Erica for encouraging me back with my own words. :)

"The world is empty, pale and poor compared to knowing you my Lord, lead me on and I will run after you, lead me on and I will run after you."

9-11 Tribute

2009-09-11T18:31:00.000-07:00

I know it's been 8 years and I don't know about you but I can remember where I was, what I was doing and the exact feeling of seeing those planes crash into the towers. I remember looking into the eyes of my 7 month old wondering what her world was going to look like after that day and feeling helpless for her. Even though people have moved on, the ground has been cleared and our days are back to normal; we still have people with holes in their hearts & soldiers away from their families fighting for our freedom. Please take a minute to remember that day and how it affected our country. This link below is a great tribute to the men and women who lost their lives that day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8t5d6UCZnk

Tough Love and Circus Clowns

2009-09-07T12:03:00.000-07:00

We firmly believe the punishment should fit the crime around our house so with that said don't go turning us into CPS OK? Since Ryanne was about 1 year old she has thought it was funny to throw things from the moving car window. Oh yes, trash, expensive shoes I had just ordered her (let it go Christy, just let it go) hair bands, toys, food etc. So on the way to teeter board Friday night she rolled down her window and threw her band-aids that she had removed from her leg out the window. *sigh* Dan in all his parenting wisdom (cause frankly I just want to freak out, cause that's what I do. I'm a yeller, a "freaker-outer") he decides the next morning to make her walk around and pick up any little pieces of trash she can find on the street. I am a bit sad to report that our street is VERY clean but we did manage to find a few specks. :) After a few minutes Ryanne said,"dang, why is there trash on the ground mom?" I of course replied,"DUUUHHH, cause people like you throw it out car windows!!" I then asked her if she hated picking up trash and if it didn't totally stink? She said,"nah, I kinda like it." And you people wonder why I am a "freaker-outer" Is that a word? It should be, just slap my photo next to it in the dictionary. ;)Here is just a cute picture of the kids driving Morgan's race car on Saturday. This was just before Morgan slammed her big toe into something, it swelled up, turned black and blue and I spent the next morning in the urgent care getting it x-rayed? She's fine, just jammed it REALLY good. Seeeeeeeeeeee, "freaker-outer." :)
See below for some good clean clowning around.

2009-09-07T11:50:00.000-07:00

Hey people the circus is not just for clowns anymore. You have to be buff, stronger than nails and afraid of nothing! :) Here is a shot of Ryanne and Dan doing the cool down work out. Notice Morgan in the background laying on her face resting? ;)We firmly believe that all good parenting skills are learned at the circus. Think about it; there is allot of trust that goes into these stunts here. Notice she didn't ask me to catch her.
Morgan is learning a new move here. After being launched off the teeter board she is to land on that platform. Do you love the lady in the pink t shirts face? Its like,"oh crud, I know this kid only weighs 60 lbs. but this is gonna hurt!"

Ryanne's face is priceless here. Her little lip sticking out so sad. She is not a huge fan of heights so this took allot out of her. She tried something new though and did great.

The girls got their daddy into the act this past Friday night and they loved it. Its a family affair. They work out I take pictures. :) Hey, I have arthritis. Morgans little friend stayed the night with us and that is her in the brown pants. I think she loved this class as well. I mean what kid doesn't want to walk all over the adults? ;)

This morning...........

2009-09-01T20:46:00.001-07:00

I know my posts are kinda out of order here so for a better update see post below. This morning we were told that the fire was pretty much out and just had a few hot spots. We were under the impression we would be allowed back up the hill by late afternoon. My friend Stacy and I decided to just drive up a bit and make sure there was no activity. We didn't get very far when the winds started to pick up and we were told the road was closed. I was a bit freaked by the site I was driving up to and told them I had to get my animals. The Sheriff let me through and this was the view from our front yard.
I gotta' tell you I was pretty sure it was over for this house and the one above (not in the picture because it was fully engulfed with smoke) We just stood there waiting for it to go feeling very badly for the families. The firefighters got on the roof, drove tankers around it, the DC-10 came roaring back and the fight was once again on. They saved both homes. You should have seen it I was so proud of them. Again, you can't know how thankful Yucaipa is right now. I was thinking if my house smells as bad is it does I cant even begin to imagine the smoke damage to those two today. :( Please remember to pray for the families of the 2 fireman who lost their lives and for God to sustain the wife of the one who is due to deliver their first baby soon. God is good and I believe that even in the worst of times; he will reveal himself to these families. God bless and have a good (peaceful, quiet, non-fire night) ;)

THANK YOU FIREFIGHTERS!!!!!

2009-09-01T20:19:00.000-07:00

OK, you will have to bare with me cause I am working on very little sleep in the last few days but I wanted to post some pictures and update you all. It really started on Sunday when the Oak Glen fire rolled around behind us. It was all good and blowing away until about 10pm and then the wind shifted towards us which caused us a little concern for a bit. They really got the air attack on it though and it was all but knocked down on Monday afternoon. I went to run errands and had only been home shortly when my friend called to say she saw smoke on the other side of us. I looked out the other side of the house to find that indeed we had another problem.

Lucky for us the air tankers were near by and jumped right on the flames. It was a great battle and effort on their part but once the sun went down they were gone and let me just say that was a very bad feeling.
My friend Stacy kept insisting we might have to leave and I kept saying,"naaahhhh." She decided to ignore me (thank you Stacy) and bring her truck up before the roads were closed. It's a good thing she did because about 15 minutes after the sun went down the winds picked up and we had a neighborhood full of firemen and police officers "suggesting" we leave. There is only one way in and one way off our hill, very scary when you are talking about evacuating.

This was the last shot we took before our girls started freaking out and the neighborhood became a circus with firefighters, tankers, bulldozers on the hill and the news channels. I of course had not packed a thing and had not even thought through what to take. Stacy thank you for walking through the house with me and being the voice of reason.

Josh, thank you for taking all the pictures of my kiddos off the walls and loading my car. Becca and Lauren thank you for walking the girls in and packing their bags and loading them in the car. Thank you honey for reminding me that freaking out does not help and staying calm is a good example to the girls. Thank you, thank you, thank you Firefighters for battling it out and saving our neighborhood. We love it here and love all 8 of our neighbors. We look out for each other. Take care of each other and each others kids and homes. This is a good old fashioned American neighborhood where we all have each others #'s and in some instances keys to each others homes. Thank you police officers who have our neighborhood blocked off tonight to keep looters away. We feel much safer tonight seeing your lights at the end of the street. In the 5 years we have lived here this is the closest a fire has come to us and it gave me a new found appreciation for what my husband does everyday.

Evacuation updates

2009-09-01T14:33:00.000-07:00

thanks for all the emails, calls, text, etc. our house is fine and I was allowed up this morning to tend to animals. the fire flared up again this morning and the power lines were down so we are still not allowed home. dan is back at work and we are safe and fine, just REALLY tired and a little displaced for the moment. As soon as i get home i will post some pictures. thank you again for praying for our neigborhood.

Evacuated

2009-08-31T22:03:00.000-07:00

due to the fires in wildwood canyon we have been evacuated. The girls and i left at 830pm and are safe at friends. In true firefighter fashion dan is manning the home front. he said they are setting back fires and it looks like so far our house is safe. Please pray the winds dont shift tonight. Will keep you posted.

Why I Don't Twitter.........

2009-08-29T14:56:00.000-07:00

7:00 am- Just woke up. Moving slow. joints swollen from eating half a tub of soy ice cream last night while watching biggest looser.

7:30 am- Almost made it to the bathroom, have to pee really bad.

8:00 am- Fed kids breakfast and broke up two fights over remote control. Dan lost! ;)

8:30 am- started load of laundry, made the beds and took a shower.

8:35 am- Brushed teeth, rubbed some organic deodorant under my pits and slapped on some face lotion that is supposed to make me look "refreshed!"

8:50 am- Yelled at Morgan for yelling at her sister.

8:55 am- started school. explained math for the day to kids.

9:00 am- explained math to kids AGAIN.

9:05 am- answered the question,"BUT WHHHYYYYY DO WE NEED TO KNOW THIS STUFF?" for the 12th time. (you probably won't use half of it, duuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhh...)

9:15 am- Had my breakfast; rice cake with almond butter. Don't be fooled this can be a very satisfying start to your day..................if your FREAKIN' BUGS BUNNY!!!!

9:30 am- Taught Spanish to the girls and answered the question,"WHY DO WE HAVE TO LEARN THIS STUFF?" (because you live in CA dduuuhhhhhhhhhhh........)

10:00 am- Answered emails, read a few blogs and returned text message while girls worked on school work.

10:15 am- explained math for the third time today. :)

You see my dear blogging friends, this is why I don't twitter and half of the free world should not as well cause guess what Ashton? I don't care if your walking your dog or filming a new movie! OK? I know I have issues but me and my therapist are working them out. Be blessed if by nothing else the fact that I DON'T Twitter. ;)

Day 1 of our home school year

2009-08-24T20:51:00.000-07:00

Well today was the day. Our first day of school. It was the first time I would have BOTH girls home for school. I would love to tell you all ran smooth, we started at 9am sharp with no bumps in the road and the girls were perfect angels but that would mean you weren't reading MY blog. ;) Nope, instead my curriculum didn't come in time so I had to peace meal subjects together. The service light on my air bags on my car came on and they could only get us in at the dealer TODAY. Ryanne threw a royal fit complete with screaming and throwing herself on the ground when I told her it was time to start school. See evidence below.I REFUSE TO LEARN!!!!! I will say once I started going over the rules and rewards end of completing a good day with mom and sister she perked right up and finished strong.
This is what 3d grade looks like when you home school with Calvert. We L-O-V-E this curriculum and though it takes up lots of our school funding cause its expensive it is very organized and down to the day on where my kiddos should be in each subject. Now I have lots of friends who don't use structured day to day curriculum like we do but I am kinda paranoid about jacking my kids up or not teaching them the right thing at the right time so this works best for me. :) Oh where are the days when all I had to do was teach them to hold a spoon or drink from a sipper cup. *sigh*

This is what Kindergarten looks like at our house.

Daddy (aka principal daddy) came in with some yum-o popcorn and waters and got mauled in the process. Unruly children, someone should do a better job teaching them some manners. ;)

Did I mention I lost control at the end? Oh well it was only day 1. More stories to tell of in the weeks and months to come I am sure. :)

Our final week of freedom before school starts.............

2009-08-23T12:37:00.000-07:00

This is a horrible picture but I couldn't get my camera to work in this gym where the awards ceremony was so it's all I came away with. :( I still love the look on Morgan's face as she receives her 100 point trophy and is looking up at all the big kids. She was so proud. She really wanted that trophy last year. Way to swim Morgan! We went to San Diego and spent the entire day with Dan's sister and the babes. They are getting so big and FAST! I was exhausted when we got home. :) Hats off to my sister in law for chasing twins all day. We got to be part of their first carousel ride, ahhh so fun. :)

We had to chase Nate down, grab him and hold him while Dan quick snapped a picture. :)They are so fun and cute and animated.

On another note I forgot to mention after 2 and half years Morgan has decided to take a break from swimming (much to her daddy's sadness) and has joined the circus. We have a ONE thing at a time rule in our house and a once you start you have to complete rule so pretty much all season Morgan has been asking to join the trapeze program up here. I told her to pray about it and she could do a trial class and if she had peace about dropping club swimming she could. Well, needless to say the girl knows what she wants because she LOVES it! She is SUPER strong and just grins from ear to ear the entire class. I on the other hand get to sit indoors where it is warm and dry and stress about her falling from the ceiling. ;) I'll keep you posted and let you know when she runs away with the circus.

We snuck in a beach trip last week with some friends as well. The weather was AMAZING and fun was had by all. The little girl to the right is my friends daughter and Ryanne L-O-V-E-S her. She follows her everywhere. These kids are part of our home school group as well. So fun!

We are off to one last fun day up at Forrest Falls for a lake day with our church. Then home to get ready for school tomorrow. I am excited to get started and although by books have not come in yet I think it will be a good day. Wish me luck! :) Be blessed.

Kid Woot

2009-08-18T10:52:00.000-07:00

You know I am always talking about the DEALS I find at www.woot.com? Well, they just started www.kids.woot.com and its the same kind of deal but for kids stuff. Every night at 10pm they post a new item and it's there till' they sell out. Oh and just FYI if you get this in time today's kid woot is a great deal. Its the hand held gaming toy called Didj. We bought one for Morgan for Christmas last year and paid $90 for it without games and now it is $40! The nice thing about this and why we bought it for her is it plays games but they are learning games so she plays but learns and is not just mindlessly plugging away at a video game oh, say like she is right now with the Wii. :) Anyways, hope you find some fun deals for Christmas on that web site. :)

Our Friday

2009-08-16T15:17:00.000-07:00

Friday morning my friend Jess and I decided to take the kids to the park before the heat set in. It was really nice outside, almost felt like fall. I love this picture of the kids. Ryanne is saying,"don't' worry Ethan you can trust me." And Ethan is saying,"NO WAY! I read your mama's blog!" Morgan is saying,"Welcome to my life buddy." :) In other Ryanne news; Ryanne just completed her second year on the star fish swim team. They swim from May 1st through to the end of August. She did wonderful and was so proud of herself when she swam all the way across the deep end in 12' of water.
Since I am on a "Ryanne kick" today let me tell you how she took another 2 years off my life. At this rate I should be dead by next Tuesday. *sigh*
Yesterday she woke up not feeling well so with Dan working we decided to hunker down in our PJ's all day and just veg out. I had told Ryanne like 3 times to just lay down and watch the movie and to leave the kitten sleep under the recliner. I was loading laundry when I hear the cat cry out for help. I turn the corner to see the chair in the recline position and Ryanne's little body sticking out from the waste down. I yell,"Ryanne! What the heck are you doing under there?" What does a 5 year old do when they realize they are under a chair in trouble? They try to back out. Well, Ryanne starts to back out when she realizes she is stuck. She starts to scream bloody murder and I don't know what the heck is happening under the chair. At first I think the cat is clawing her face or something so I grab the chair lifting it thinking I am going to free her little body. Nope, she starts to scream as I move the chair and that's when I realize her head is stuck between two bars along with her arm. She's screaming, Morgan starts screaming, I'm screaming for everyone to STOP screaming. *sigh* I then do what any good mother does and realize I am still in my jammies with no teeth brushed, no bra no nothing so we are not calling 911 to have them saw my chair in half. So with one swift yank (I know, I know, thank God I didn't break her neck or arm and yes I can babysit for you anytime.) I yank her free and leave only minor cuts, bar rash and scrapes on her face and arms. I was so mad when I found out she was OK. Seriously? I mean seriously God? Who does these kinds of things? *sigh*

Soak City

2009-08-11T08:06:00.001-07:00

Monday we braved the 111 degree heat and went to soak city with our friends the Holmes. We just took the big kids so we could run and play and go on all the water slides with them.Joanna, Sarah & Abby (Sarah's friend) were crazy enough to go on the drop out water slide. The rest of us passed on the "wedgie maker." ;) This is true commitment from Joanna though, I mean look at that form!
Sarah, not so much this spread eagle dismount and open mouth scream will leave a mark on the buttocks the next day! He,heee! So funny! Although I will say she's braver than me.

Here we are before we got sweaty, soaked and *blah* sick from the greasy food. :) Also before Joann said I would be sick of her, hmmmmmmm....wonder what she meant. That night Dan was asking Morgan about the day and she was telling him about Joanna going on the drop out and she said, "ya' know dad, she is a crazy red head!" Too funny. :)

The kiddos pausing long enough to indulge me.

Thanks guys for a fun day, I could barely move this morning but well worth the care free fun day in the water with friends. :)