Luke's time with our camera

Luke loves to take pictures. We bought Aubree the Fisher Price digital camera thinking the kids would love taking pictures with that and it would keep them from our camera. They still love our camera and any chance Luke gets he steals it. I often find random pictures. This week Luke's model was our couch. There are about 30 pictures similar to this. What can I say, the boy has talent! Ha!

Super Why!

Do your children watch PBS? It is sad, with Disney and Noggin on satellite I have forgotten all about this channel. About a week ago in the morning I turned on PBS and there was a show called "Super Why" it is a spelling show. It is perfect for Aubree but Luke and Ryan LOVE it too! When it is on Luke says "oh boy, super why! Thank you Mommy!" Ryan does the happy dance pretty much the whole time the show is on! Check it out www.pbskids.com, it's a great learning show!

Holy Cow Jamie's 40 Now!!!

Okay, I am kidding. He is 34 but he is only 6 years away! Last year Christine put a sign like that up for his birthday and to this day there are still believers that Jamie had his 40th birthday last year. Happy Birthday Jamie! We love you!!!!

Happy Birthday!!!

Yes! Jamie and Christine have the same birthday! Happy Day Christine! Everyone should have a Christine in their life. She is so talented, kind, and FUNNY!!!! The picture is of her and her boys last year at the hospital when Kayla was sick. It's the only one I have that I think she would approve of.

We are feeling the love!

Luke's friend gave him this Thomas shirt. His new little friend
has become his best pal!

My gal pal stopped by the other day to drop off a eye patch she bought for Aubree. I have great friends who are so thoughtful! Aubree loves it! Aubree hates to wear a patch in the evenings but all the positive comments from friends have really helped!
Jamie finished one wall in the main room. I love how it turned out! I guessing the next 3 walls should be finished in about 3 years! Ha! Ha!

A new look...

Aubree got her glasses today! She has to wear a patch for 3 hours a day. I started looking for cute patches online and we found a cute one. She says she likes it but not on her. All I have to say is I am glad she only has to wear it at home. Her glasses are cute but because of the huge difference (20 in one eye 200 in the other) it makes one eye look a little bigger. We should get new glasses in 6 weeks so we hope the next pair will look better. She is cute in them! I am glad we caught this when we did! Poor Aubs! :-)

Walls

My friend Deb had this great color in her old house. I finally called her in Utah to get the name. She gave it to me and here it is! Jamie has one wall down and 3 to go. The room is pretty big so it may take time...

Ryan

Ryan is growing up fast. Is he really almost 2??? Time is flying!

Our mornings alone while Luke and Aubree are at school.

I know I look horrible in this picture but, there is no shame in my game! I'll post an ugly picture of myself to show a cute picture of my boy! By the way, I don't remember fixing my hair like that....

How could I not post these pictures? Ryan really is such a easy little boy who pretty much smiles all day! I am lucky to be his Mom!

Tagged by Jen! I am only doing this cause I love you Jen! :-)

A- Attached or Single: Attached, my body is attached! I have been married for 8 years.
B- Best Friend: Jamie and my Mom
C- Cake or Pie: cake
D- Day of Choice: Sat. everyone is home!
E- Essential Item (s): toothbrush, clothes, chocolate and good running shoes.
F- Favorite Color: Baby blue- but not on the walls in my house.
G- Gummi Bears or Worms: Bears for sure!
H- Hometown: Hayward, California
I- Indulgence (s): Shopping
J- January or July: July , July, July! Will it ever come?
K- Kids: Aubree (6) Luke (3) and Ryan (2 in June)
M- Marriage Date: Feb. 19, 2000
N- Number of Siblings: 5 brothers, 4 sisters
O- Oranges or Apples: Oranges, especially orange juice
P- Phobias or Fears: someone I love dying
Q- Quote(s): The B's I have that in my kitchen!
R- Reason to Smile: My family and laughing whenever possible.
S- Season: spring/summer/fall
T- Tag six: I don't know whoever reads my blog(if you haven't been tagged by this already)
U- Unknown Fact About Me: I use to sing in public a lot. Weddings, floats, school, talent shows. If you hear my voice now you would have never guessed!
V- Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: I ate steak last night.
W-Worst Habit: Eating right before bed. I also say things that I do not know are bad. ie: Last year I wanted to stop saying "that sucks" I don't want my kids saying it so I wanted to stop. In the place of it I started saying "that blows" Jamie informed me that is not a good sub for the other. Oops! No wonder I was getting some crazy looks.
X-X-rays or Ultrasounds: Ultrasounds, they are awesome!
Y-Your Favorite Food: Mexican
Z- Zodiac: Tarus

8 Years!!!

Today is our 8 year anniversary! It seems like yesterday I walked into the Atlanta Temple and saw Jamie pale almost a yellow color sitting in a chair. He claims he was sick but for some reason right after we were sealed he got his color back and he was fine. Can anyone say wedding jitters? I love to tease him about that. Jamie and I met at a church dance (lame, I know!) he told me I could sit next to him if I went to his singles ward. I said no thanks! I thought he was cute but was a little sure about himself. He thought I was pretty but a snob. Later I realized Jamie is just nice. He really meant I could sit next to him so I would not have to sit alone. He realized I was NOT a snob, I was just shy around cute guys but I also had some fire in me. We actually started to hang out because our friends liked each other and we were just tagging along. I thought he was cute but refused to act like I did. We hung out almost everyday. There was a Halloween dance and I was supposed to go out to dinner with a guy and then another guy asked me out so I was trying to decide what to do. Jamie called me at work and asked what time am I picking you up? I gave him a time and called the other guys and cancelled. We went to the dance and then hung out at my house after with friends. I remember when he asked me to dance my heart raced a little. He asked me out the next day and we pretty much were together from then on. 3 kids and 8 years later here we are. I am happy to say, I love when I see him in public during the day when I am not expecting to see him (like at Kroger or something) I still get that little heart race. He is so handsome in a suit. I love when I walk into church with the kids and he greets me with a smile and asks how my morning was (he is EQ Pres and has meetings before church). I love that he loves the gospel and he cares so much for us, his family but he also has compassion for others. He really does care about people. We have 3 great kids, we hope for maybe 2 more through adoption and years and years of fun!

Presidents Day

My kiddo's are out of school today because it is Presidents day. I found a cute website (www.mistergworld.com) to get fun facts about all the Presidents. I went over them with Aubree and Luke. Aubree thought it was really funny that Rutherford B. Hayes our 19th Pres. of the USA was the first Pres. to use a phone and that his phone number was 1. Luke was thrilled to hear Andrew Jackson was the First Pres. to ride a train. I am sure most of what we talked about will not sink in but I thought it would be fun to go over it. I find it funny those little moments (like teaching my kids some fun facts) I feel a strong confirmation from that Lord that this is where I am supposed to be. I have never regretted being a stay at home Mom. I love it. I love that I can be there for everything. As I grow older and see my children grow and think of my future children and think of my relationship with my best friend (Jamie) I feel so thankful to know there is direction in my life. Yesterday our awesome new Young Woman’s Pres. Kim gave a lesson and I know it was for the girls but it really touched me. She talked a lot about prayer and blessings and listening to the answers to your prayers. At times when I pray I do not get the answer right away and then later I will feel the love from my Heavenly Father and the answer is clear. I am thankful for that. Okay now I am started to get some tears flowing so I better stop. I hope all you Mom's are having a great time with your kiddo's today!

The snow is melting and Valentines Day has come to an end...

So we are just getting over our two days off school due to snow and ice. My house was trashed due to me just taking the last few days off and playing in the snow with the kids. Today started with getting the kids off to school, coming home getting ready. Jamie giving me a gift after we said no gifts (last May when I got my 3rd wedding ring, yes this is my 3rd from him. long story! he said he was not buying a gift for me for a whole year. He has not stuck to that. He tries to be tough but he's not.) We dropped Ryan off at my friends house and then we were off to meet with the adoption agency to um I don't know touch base. It was a good visit, I had a few questions and Jamie had a few so it was good. After, Jamie met his business partner and I took off to pick up Ryan and Luke. Little Ry greeted me with a high pitched "hi!" I love his sweet voice. When I picked up Luke he said "Happy Valentines Day Mommy!" So sweet. When we got home he saw my card and said "no fair!" I knew Jamie got something for him but wanted to wait so that Jamie could give it to him. We cut out hearts and wrote letters to Dad and taped them on his office door. Aubs came home and I started to clean. Aubs and Luke wanted to help (oh, joy) I let them do a few things but they only wanted to help with things that could make more of a mess. For V-Day dinner I planned steak, cheese potatoes, greens and chocolate covered strawberries. We forgot to take the steak out of the freezer so we had chicken nuggets to replace the steak, oops! Jamie gave the kids a box of chocolates and some stickers. They were thrilled. Luke took a bite of the chocolate and kindly re-gifted the chocolates to me. It was gross chocolate. We hope everyone had a great Valentines Day!

Snow day and last post of the day... I promise!

Today is the 2nd day off school for the kids due to snow and ice. We had a blast this morning sledding down our hill. I took Ryan out and he did not enjoy it as much as Luke, Aubree and I. Jamie walked out to watch and take pictures and then had to leave for a few closings (business). We had fun. Heck, I had fun! I went down really fast and was heading for a tree. Luke came running down the hill after me and said "you okay Mommy?" Little boys, you gotta love how protective they are of Mommy! Aubree ran into a tree stump. She cried, I gave kisses and then she kept crying so I told her if you keep crying your tears will freeze. She stopped crying and got on the sled for more fun!

Update..

I asked Aubree who the other person was in the heart of the sign she made for her door. She said that is our new baby! She is so sweet even when she is trying to be

mean :-)

Can you pick a color for my walls?

I cannot figure out what color to paint my walls in the main room. I picked this pretty muted goldish looking yellow that turned out to be bright yellow. Jamie picked out and boring blah color and the other day my good friend came by with a color that I like but still cannot figure out if it looks green. My kitchen is green so I do not want a green great room as well. Help! I am very open to suggestions!

Vision testing

There is a mandatory vision test in our state for school age children. I missed the dead line (oops!) and got a nice note from the school. Jamie set the appointment for Aubree. The appointment was about a half an hour before her ballet class. Annoyed, I told him to change it. He told me they told him it would only take 15 min. So today after she got home from school she changed for ballet and we were off. I figured it would be a short test, they would fill out the paper for school and we would be on our way to her class. When they started the test she was doing horrible out of one eye. It was like she had never seen a letter or a number. Mature Mom giggled a little out of shock. They tested the other and she did great. They continued tests for the next 1.5 hours and then said "Aubree you get to pick out some pretty glasses". The Dr. told me she would need to wear a patch as well. In my head I shouted NOOOOOOO! I did stay calm and said "oh cool Aubs, you get to pretend you are a pirate" She did not seem concerned. I was so sad just thinking of her possibly being teased. I already decided I would take her in her class the first day just for extra support. Then the Dr. said she will need to wear the glasses all day and the patch for 3 hours a day after school. I shouted YESSSS! Well not shouted but I was well enthused. Aubree just gave me the look of "you are weird Mom". I think as a Mom I worry about things that do not worry my kids. Another thing to add to my list of things to work on. I called Jamie and he did not believe me. He really did not believe me. I guess that comes from us being jokers in our home. We got home and I showed him the papers. He was shocked. She has like 20 vision in one eye and 200 in the other. She has never complained about it. Hmmm. I feel bad but the Dr. said not to. There was no way of knowing. So Aubree will have glasses in the next week or so! I will post pictures once she gets her glasses. I hope she never has to wear the patch to school now that showed a little too much enthusiasm when the Dr. said she didn’t have to. I wear all my emotions on my sleeve. Gotta work on that too :-)

Random blogging...

Just a few things to share that have happened today, and the other day and about a week ago...
Luke is still doing well with potty time. Just a bit ago he went and I gave him some toilet paper. I know he is a boy and they don't use paper for potty time but he like's it. Anyway, a thrill for him is to flush the potty. Today he said to the paper "bye, bye paper, your my best friend." Hey everyone needs a friend :-)
The other day was Crazy hat day for Aubree at school. She put on her pink pimp hat. When she got home she said a lot of kids pulled off the feathers and vowed to never wear it to school again. Just now she came in the room with a picture she drew. I glanced at it. It looked nice from afar. Hearts, different little people on it. Then she explained it to me. "Mom, this is me in the heart. These two little guys over here are my brothers. They have big X marks on them because I am putting this on my door. They come in my room (voice getting louder) and mess things up!" The girl is drama :-)
About a week ago the kids were in bed and Jamie and I were enjoying our shows. I have two dogs that Jamie refuses to call dogs because they look like cats to him. Minnie my white dog knows when she is being ignored and will sit near you for attention. We have had her about 3 years and he is warming up to her. The black and white dog is Mylee. Aubree named her after her sweet friend that moved a few years ago. And yes we use the same nick names for our dog that Mylee's Mom uses for her. Sorry Jen! Okay, Ryan stinks I better go change him :-).

Potty time and other ramblings

Luke wears big boy underpants now! We started him Saturday and he is doing great. We gave him candy the first few days and now he does not ask for it. He goes potty just fine and has not had any accidents. Go Luke!!!!
Ryan, in just the last few days has started saying words along with the sign language that goes along with it. He says: eat, more, hi, bye, and baby! It is so cute. The sign that goes with baby is really cute and the way he does it is so sweet. We have been asked a lot as of late if we have "heard any news" I am sure everyone knows we are waiting to be chosen by a birth Mother/Couple. The answer is no news yet. This is really in the Lords hands and that is what I tell myself when I get the feeling of when is that call going to come. We have been so blessed with 3 great kids and we are so thankful for that. We are also thankful for the answer to our prayers in really knowing that adoption is the right path for us. I personally am so thankful to have prayer. It is such a blessing to go to my Father in Heaven and just thank him and ask for help with things. On Sunday a lot was said about our sweet late Prophet. The impression I kept feeling was I am so thankful for order in the gospel. Although there was sadness in losing this wonderful man there was not fear. We knew another Prophet would be called and in the words of President Hinckley "oh it will be alright." I love that man and I am so thankful he was our prophet. I really listened to his words and he made me want to be a better person. I am so excited about President Monson. I have always loved him. As a youth my ears would always perk up to hear his words. He is a sweet man and I look forward to his leadership. Okay, enough said I am going to join my husband in watching American Idol!!!

Mom and Aubree alone time...

When Aubree got home from school we decided to do each others makeup. It was family movie night so I new I was not going to leave the house. She got her makeup and went to town. It showed up pretty light. She put purple eye shadow and pink lipstick on me with star stickers to top it off. I put on my makeup on her. The lipstick is too dark but she liked it. It was fun, she loved it and it was a look into our future, her eyes are gorgeous and we are going to have to guard her from all the boys!!! Speaking of boys... last week Aubree brought home a chocolate egg and was kind enough to share it with Luke. He then thought all eggs must be filled with chocolate. The other day he was asking for an egg. I got out a hard boiled egg and he said "No chocolate?" I tried to explain to him real eggs do not have chocolate in them. I guess he thought that egg was a dud. Later in the day he called for me and then pulled me to the kitchen where I found several eggs cracked on the floor. I said "Luke what happened?" He said "I squeeze!" All I could do was laugh. The kid has charm...