converstation with my six year old

I was talking today with Jacob about someone in our lives that has made some bad choices in his life and was trying to help his understand what happened and why. Our conversation when something like this.. 

J- "Why was that guy in Jail?" 

M - " He made some bad choices in his life." 

J- "what did he do? Did he steal something without paying for it?" 

M - "Well, yes he has done that." 

J- "What else has he done?"

 M-"Well, he was driving really crazy and broke some of the laws." 

J-"I broke some of the laws. You know what I did?" 

M- "What did you do?" 

J- " I climbed up the slide backwards" 

M- "Oh,

Gutter washin

 
For the record, I do not usually allow my kids to lay in the gutter during a torrential downpour... however, I was not home when these were taken by my trusted babysitter... My sister Dana!

Paige did not want to get her clothes dirty, so she sat on the curb the entire time. Smart Girl!

 However, the kids had a blast and I was left with a pile of wet clothes.

Vegas Baby!

My dad and Donna (my dads new wife... my "step-mom" ) took my family and I to Vegas for my birthday in July. Neil and I were just going to go with them, but it is hard to leave the kids... so they came along. We were down there for a few days and had a great time! You may ask... what is there to do in Vegas when you bring the kids? Well... not alot... but we were excited to get to see a show!

We all (kids included) went to see Blue Man Group @ the Venitian and the kids loved loved LOVED it. Jacobs comment when it was over was "this is the best day of my life!"

Stupid Glare on photo!

 

We also went to a Malaysian Returant which served food that brought back ALOT of memories. I lived in Malaysia with my family while I was in High School for 3 years. I loved the culture and the people and I loved the food. I have had dreams about some of it ever since I left. This stuff was just how I remembered. Blast from the past!

We all went to "China Town" where the kids got to find their treasure! Donna got a picture of the kids and the sweet lady from the store.

There was a store called "Paige" at the Venetian

 While we were waiting for our show to start we watched these Mimes at St. Marks Square inside the Venetian. They look so real and suddenly you will see one move or wave. Always fun!

These statues were remarkable!

Dad and Donna watched the kids the second night so Neil and I could go see The Phantom also showing at the Venetian. It was AMAZING!! Absolutly amazing! The music was excellent and the set design and staging was unbelievable. This is a must see if you are going to Vegas.

So where we are now... a quick update

It is late Saturday night... the house is finally quite after a long day. With school starting in only 2 days, I am looking forward to the change that is headed our way.

Jacob ~ 8 years old and starting 3rd grade... yea, I know! 3rd grade! It really hit me when I was reading the old posts tonight and saw the first day of school pictures from two years ago. I blinked and here we are. I think this is the first year where I can see he is nervous to go back. He has some friends in his class this year, which I am grateful for.

Paige ~ almost 6 and starting 1st grade. This means I am going to have 2 kids gone all day. I think I am going to go through some kind of shock on the first day. What do I do with myself? She is soo excited. She got the same first grade teacher (Mrs. Jensen) that Jacob had... and we LOVED her! She also had the same Kindergarten teacher he had too. Paige is growing and changing so much. Suddenly her interests have changed and she wants purses and makeup. Really? Already? Slow down sister!

Kallie ~ just turned 3 and starting preschool !!! :)  Love her to death, but this girl keeps me going. She is one that can smile and trap you with her charm while doing the opposite of what you say. She is so excited to start school. She asks everyday if she can go, while looking up at me with her backpack in hand. I am looking forward to the next year and all the time we are going to spend together while the others are in school.

Neil is still working in corrections. He was promoted to Sargent a little over a year ago. He is excellent at his job and I am proud of him and all he has accomplished. 

We recently bought a RV camping trailer. Never thought that would be me... but we have really enjoyed it this summer. Posts to follow soon about our summer adventures.

This summer has been fun for us. Neil's scheduale is great for traveling and taking quick trips. We are now looking forward to ending our summer fun with a trip to Disneyland in 3 weeks!!

I guess it is time

Two years. I know. It has been almost exactly two years since my last blogging post.

It was too hard for me to make entries about my life when I felt like everything was at a stand still after my mom passed away. I did not know how to shift attention to other things when I felt like was I was frozen in time. How could I talk about my day to day's when I all I felt was empty and forced?

Now, two years later, so much has changed... so much... and I failed to record most of it. I just got done looking over alot of my older entries and I realized how much I have missed. My kids have grown, changed and learned so much. It is time I put my life back in gear and record some of these daily adventures. I still miss my mom. Everyday I miss her. I realize that that will never change, but everything else in my life can and I need to continue to with it.

So... here I go... my first entry in so long... I guess it is time.

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**  I am going to play catchup on a few events from our family.

They are going to be backdated to help me record a better timeline. **

Jackson Hole & Yellowstone National Park ~ July Trip

Our first real maden voyage on our new RV trailer the first week of July. I was a bit nervous pulling this huge thing behind us and up and over a few mountain passes, but we made it!!  We enjoyed spending time together doing simple things. I was surprised the kids did not even miss friends or TV!

Our first few days we spend in Jackson Hole, WY. We enjoyed the shops and the scenery. We drove out to one of the first mormon settlements in the area called "Mormon Row" where we came upon a HUGE herd of Buffalo. We were able to walk right up close. It was awesome!! We then and hiked Jenny Lake... Kallie only whined some of the way.



The beautiful Teton Mountains just off Mormon Row

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK

We then moved north and stayed a few days around Yellowstone. All I wanted was to see a bear! It was really high on my list... so I looked.... and looked... and NO BEAR!! We say Elk, Buffalo, Eagles, but NO BEAR!!! The day after we came home we read on the news that a man was killed in Yellowstone, just a few miles from where we were. Maybe I am glad I did not see my bear.

Old Faithful. We even brought Toby with us!

So Beautiful!

Elk. Right off the side of the road. We were only about 30 feet away from them

Things NOT to do on a Saturday afternoon with the family...

HIKE MNT TIMP!!

I was told this was an "easy" hike.

I was told that kids do well on these hikes.

I was told it was paved the whole way and you can bring strollers.

NONE of this was true!!

Neil and I thought that since the summer was quickly coming to an end and the weather was starting to cool down, that it would be fun to take the kids on a nice Saturday hike up in the mountain. We could hike up Mnt. Timp and go see the caves, something I have been wanting to do for years now. Paige and Jacob could walk and we could push Kallie on the stroller. It would be a fun thing to do.... wrong. It was not until we got there that we learned we could not bring the stroller. The path was too steep at parts and it was too easy for something like that to fall off the side... nice thought. So, we decided that since we were already there, we would just carry Kallie and do it anyway. For some reason I never was told or I never listened when it was mentioned that it was 2 miles each way. 2 miles up and down STEEP hills.

For the most part the kids did great! I had to carry Kallie the whole time. We did not have a carrier for her, so it was all in the arms. By the end, our backs hurt, our knees hurt and we wanted to be home!!

Here are a few pictures from our adventure.

This is Paige no more then 20 yards from the start of the path. She started jumping up and down, crying and whining to be held, that her feet hurt and she was tired.... all we could do was laugh!

*** Now it is a real fun joke to tell Paige that we are going hiking that day. She immediately starts to whine. ***

First day & Last year of Preschool

Another year is here and this one will be her last. Paige is back with Mrs. Heather this year. We loved her last year and Paige learned so much that we are excited to have another year again. She HAD to have her picture taken just like Jacob did for his first day of school.

Happy 4th Birthday Paigie!!

Paige is one child that can make me laugh and make me mad at the same time! She is a whitty child who knows how to get her way, but she also has the smile that can melt and capture any heart.

This year has been one of such learning and growth for you. It has been fun to see you learn new things about life and about yourself. Happy Birthday my sweet girl Paige! 4 years old!! You continue to be a joy to your whole family.

FIRST GRADE!!

I find myself constantly asking... "am I really this old?" Please do not answer that.

Jacob started first grade today. Wow! FIRST GRADE! Now, he has all day school. Eating lunch in the cafeteria. The "big kids" playground. His own desk. My mom would always look forward to school starting. She would tell me that she was going to take herself to a movie and lunch to celebrate! I would think... "man that is sooo rude!" Now, I understand! We are back to a regular routine. Although I am going to miss him so so much, that routine sure is nice!!

Good luck this year Jacob! I know you will be great! We love you ~ mom

SCRUNCHY FACE !

So Kallie has always had this "thing." Whenever she is mad or frustrated, she squishes her nose up and breaths real fast through her nose.... yes, I am doing it now as I type this.

It is the funniest thing! So, I had to take a picture of it...

$2 for Tuesday.... Thanksgiving Point Museum

Ok, so I thought that if I waited until the day before school started then the lines and crazy mobs would not be as bad.... and... I was wrong!!

Every Tuesday in the month of August, Thanksgiving Point has $2.00 admission to all of their venues. Since the Dinasour museum is usally $8/child to get in, I was going to take advantage of this. We had already went the first Tuesday of August and the line was soo bad, we went to the petting zoo instead. So this time, we waited until school was about to start and we went earlier....

Still we got this.....
The line was out the door, around the side and down the back of the building. Fortunetly, we were towards the front of the line and it only too 30 minutes to get in. The line was still like this when we were finished and walking to the car.

Although it was crowded, the kids had fun and it was a good finale to the end of summer.

SHE LOVES ME!!!

I was sitting outside with the kids the other night as they played. This is what I caught Jacob doing..... and he was mouthing...... "She loves me. She loves me not. She loves me......."

Hold on! WHO IS SHE?

My baby is ONE!!!

It is really true... what they say... in the blink of an eye, your children are going to be grown and out on their own to face the world. I want my babies to stay little as long as possible and they are growing too fast.

My sweet baby Kallie is one today. ONE!! Really, where did time go? Life was so different a year ago. The future looked so different. It is hard for me to understand that Kallie will not know her Nama, but I promise that she will know of the love she had for her. Kallie, your nama loved you so much! It was so hard for her to know she was leaving you behind here on Earth. I remember a time shortly before she passed, when she just held you and kissed you. The tears were in her eyes and she rocked you back and forth. She whispered softly to you, "my sweet Kallie, my sweet baby Kallie." She did love you honey. You will not know her while here on Earth, you will not remember her, but know that she loved you. I know that she watches over you and protects you.

I am so greatful for this sweet baby in our lives. What a joy she has been. I truely believe that the Lord blessed me with her and her sweet gentle ways to help in my times of trial. Kallie has a sweet spitit. She has a mellow temperment and is the most easy going child I have had... by FAR!! We are so glad she came to our family. Kallie- I love you! Your family loves you. Thank you for choosing our family! Happy Birthday baby girl.