Happy Birthday!

Today would have been Tina's 23rd Birthday. I can't believe that it's already been 2 and a half years since she passed away. Every day just seems to go by faster and faster. I look back and wonder where all of the time went. It's crazy how fast our lives pass us by. I don't live close enough to go to the cemetery today so I had to find another way to acknowledge her special day. happy Birthday Tina! We love you and we miss you!

Over the river and through the woods, to grandmothers house we go....

I haven't seen Staci and Chris's family in about 8 months, so when my mom told me that they were going to be at her house over the weekend, we decided to make a quick trip to go see them. I finally got to meet my cute new niece, Kyrie. It was such a nice day. It was so warm, the kids played outside all day. And today it's snowing again! I wish it would just stay warm! We were all there except for Erick and Leslie's family and Dallas. It was fun to see everyone.

Avery LOVED being outside. She just sat on the grass and looked around at everything.

Grandpa got out his big kite for the kids. They had a blast!Kenzie, playing in the wind

Hayden
Rylee

Grandpa helping Gavin fly the kite

Joye, Playing in the grass

All the kids were so excited to help Grandpa make home-made ice cream.

Hayden and Grandpa

Rylee, Sara and Grandpa

Mackenzie, helping Grandpa make the ice-cream

Alek, taking his turn

Look at that face! Jaxon glaring at his dad

Yummy! ice Cream!

Alek, eating his ice cream

Dusty Boy

Avery, still sitting on the grass. Happy as can be!

Great Grandpa AndersonThe four Babies! Avery, Joye, Taylor, and little Kyrie

BOYS.....

Gavin has not had the best week this week. He's come home grumpy from pre-school, he's been having nightmares, which is probably why he's been so grumpy, and today he was playing with his bow and aarow, he took the rubber end off of it, so it was just the plastic tube, and I guess had it in his mouth, which we have told him not to do, anyway, he had it in his mouth and fell on it. He came to me crying and holding his mouth. I asked him if he bit his tongue, and he said yes, but when I looked in his mouth, there was blood in the back of his mouth, not the front. Then he told me that his aarow did it. I looked at the top of his mouth and there were 2 big gashes. They bled quite a bit for a few minutes, he kept gagging on the blood. He wouldn't let me look at it again. But after a few hours, I made him let me see it again because he won't eat anything, his voice has sounded different, and he has been having a harder time swallowing. I got a flashlight and looked at the back of his throat, and it's totally raw too! One side of his throat is all cut-up. It looks so sore. I feel so bad! He looks miserable! He has wanted to be held all day! Poor Avery has been completely neglected! It's a good thing she's such a happy baby.

Gavin+Bedtime=Nightmares

Gavin has been climbing into bed with me and Dallas a lot lately. He always says that he is scared. I have tried talking to him about it, but he wouldn't really tell me anything. Last night, he did it again, and again, I asked him about it. He said that he came in because he got scared again. This time when I asked him what he was scared of, he said, "my dreams." He told me that he has been having scary dreams. He said the one last night was about Wolves. He said that they jumped on our car when we were driving and it was really scary." The look on his face when he was telling me this was so cute! Mackenzie was about the same age when she started having bad dreams. There was one night she started crying and when I went into her room she told me that a scary man came into her room and tried to talk to her. I asked her "what kind of man?" She said "a black one." I asked her what he said to her and she said "I don't know, I didn't want to talk to him." At this point, I was a little panicked by the thought of someone being in our house. I woke up Dallas and we searched the whole house. All doors and windows were locked. I was in bed, but had not gone to sleep yet, so there's no way anyone could have come in without me hearing them, so we knew it was just a dream. But, to her it had seemed so real.

Our Weekend

Me and the kids went to Utah for the weekend. My friend Constance is having her first baby Yay!! So friday night, we had a baby shower for her. We didn't have a huge turnout, but it was a lot of fun.

Taylor, Avery, and Joye at Grandma's house. Look at Joye, smiling big for the camera.

Daddy and Mommy according to the kids.

Cut and paste these questions and ask your kids their answers....it is a RIOT! Answered by Gavin age 3 and Mackenzie age 6.

DADDY according to the kids..

1. What is something dad always says to you? G-He is mean to me, K-mean words.

2. What makes dad happy? G-Deer, K-When we give him stuff.

3. What makes dad sad? G-When I jump on him, K-When we be mean to him

4. How does your dad make you laugh? G-tickles me, K-Be funny.

5. What was your dad like as a child? G-Like me, K-A cowboy.

6. How old is your dad? G-5, K-26.

7. How tall is your dad? G-5 feet, K-100 inches.

8. What is his favorite thing to do? G-Go hunting, K-hunting.

9. What does your dad do when you're not around? G-sleep, K-watches TV.

10. If your dad becomes famous, what will it be for? G-I don't know, K-win a prize.

11. What is your dad really good at? G-work, K-Digging holes.

12. What is your dad not very good at? G-Shooting at coyotes cuz he misses, K-Riding bikes.

13. What does your dad do for a job? G-Work, K-works on stuff.

14.What is your daddy's favorite food? G-Ice cream, K-Burritos.

15.What makes you proud of your dad? G-I don't know, K-When he plays with us.

16. If your dad were a cartoon character, who would he be? G- A Dog, K-Bambi

17. What do you and your dad do together? G-Feed the horses, K-Play.

18. How are you and your dad the same? G-We are boys, K-We both like hot dogs.

19. How are you and dad different? G-Dad is big and I am little, K-He doesn't like Mac n Cheese and I do.

20. How do you know that your dad loves you? G-cuz, K-cuz he is nice to us.

21. Where is your dad's favorite place to go? G-Fire Department, K-To the zoo.

MOMMY according to Gavin and Kenzie.

1. What is something mom always says to you? G-I love You, K-I Love you.

2. What makes mom happy? G-Avery, K-When I am good.

3. What makes mom sad? G-When we let the cat in the house and feed it downstairs, K-When we are not good, and when dad is mean to you.

4. How does your mom make you laugh? G-tickle me, K-being funny.

5. What was your mom like as a child? G-You weren't a kid, You are a mom, K-You played with dolls and I don't.

6. How old is your mom? G-5, K-26.

7. How tall is your mom? G-5 feet, K-50 inches

8. What is her favorite thing to do? G-On the computer, K-clean.

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? G-Clean the house up, K-clean.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? G-I don't know why, K-Being a good mom.

11. What is your mom really good at? G-Taking care of kids, K-Cleaning. I like how you make my bed. It's more comfy.

12. What is your mom not very good at? G-Driving trucks, K-drawing pictures.

13. What does your mom do for a job? G-Clean the house, K-nothing.

14.What is your mom's favorite food? G-meat, K-hashbrowns.

15.What makes you proud of your mom? G-tickles, K-Be nice.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? G-A bunny, K-The bird looney toons.

17. What do you and your mom do together? G-Cook, K-clean. (I am seeing a pattern here..)

18. How are you and your mom the same? G-We are never the same, see, we don't have the same hair, K-We both like food.

19. How are you and mom different? G-I go that way, and you go this way, K-You like hashbrowns, I don't.

20. How do you know that your mom loves you? G-cuz, K-cuz your nice.

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? G-the store, K-To the grocery store.

He is my child

I've always wondered If Gavin had gotten any of my genes in him because he is just like his dad in every way. Well, on Friday, I realized that he did get a little bit of me in him. My mom came up to visit for the weekend. After she got here, I had to run to the bank and post office. While we were out, we stopped at the cafe to fill up the bubble-gum machine. Mackenzie had gone in first, while I was getting the baby. Gavin had tried to follow her in. She didn't hold the door open, so he tried to grab it as it was closing, and got his finger pinched in the door. He didn't cry or anything. A minute later he said "look" and it was bleeding a little bit so I went in and got him a band-aid. He kept saying it hurt. My mom said " He's looking a little pale." We asked him if he wanted to lie down for a few minutes and he said no. I didn't think anything of it. He wasn't crying or complaining. So, I was trying to get the lid off of the gum machine and the next thing I know, my mom had him in her arms, and is rushing him to the bathroom. As she walked out the door she said"He threw up." I hurried and dumped in the gum and went into the bathroom. He was laying on the floor and his face was completely green. He had no color at all. It's a good thing my mom was paying attention to him because I wasn't. He had passed out!! She caught him and as she picked him up, he had thrown up all over himself and her. The poor kid wouldn't even talk. He just layed there on the floor and looked around like he couldn't figure out what had happened. I carried him out to the car and let him lie down in the back seat while I drove home. I took him in and he just wanted to lay on the couch and watch a movie. It took him quite a while to get back to his ususal self. So, apparently he inherited the passing-out gene from me. Poor kid.

Pay it Forward

Brooke had this on her blog and I thought it looked really fun. I was lucky enough to be number 3!

Here are the rules:
Pay It Forward Exchange is based on the concept of the movie "Pay It forward". I will send a handmade(or not) gift to the first three people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join the PIF exchange. All the gifts need to be sent out 'sometime within the next year' (how easy is that?). And how exciting to not know when your surprise package will arrive! What you need to do in return, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog, giving handmade (or not) prizes to the first three commenter's. Easy huh? This exchange is only open to those with active websites or blogs, and you must be willing to give your mailing address in an email because how else will I send you your gift?
So if you're interested and can promise to pay it forward to three people on your blog, be one of the first three to leave me a comment, and you win. Who doesn't love giving or receiving gifts???

Mackenzie

Mackenzie's pictures turned out pretty good. The lighting was horrible when I took them and she is so funny. She's got the cutest little smile...Until you ask her to smile for a picture. Then, suddenly she gets this cheesy fake smile. I had to wait until Dallas got home so he could make her smile. What I really want, is to do their pictures outside when everything greens up a little bit. I like outdoor photos much better.

She loves to do anything artsy/crafty. She loves to learn new things. She enjoys school, reading, writing, and most of all, she loves to play with her friends.

Gavin

I took Gavin's pictures today and this is how it went:


He would not sit still. He kept rolling around and pulling faces. I took over 150 pictures and there were only about 15 good ones. I would get him ready and as soon as I would start taking pictures, he would start wiggling and pulling faces. He is such a boy.

He LOVES playing outside. He loves to explore. When the weather is nice, he stays outside all day long. I am so excited that is is finally starting to warm up! YAY FOR SPRING!

6 MONTHS OLD!

I can't believe my baby is already 6 months old! She is growing up so fast! I wish she would slow down a little bit, but I do love to watch her learn new things. It is so much fun! She has such a fun personality. She loves to laugh and smile. She Loves to watch Mackenzie and Gavin play. When I took her pictures today, I had to kick Gavin out of the room because she wouldn't look at me. Her eyes were hooked on him. She wasn't thrilled about getting her pictures taken again, but I got some pretty cute ones. My goal for tomorrow is to do Mackenzie and Gavin's pictures.

I promise I really don't dress her like this in the winter. I just wanted something that would show her feet and her chubby arms.