Master Chief - The Fisherman!

Master Chief is about to celebrate a birthday. He got his present early!!! He invited his dad and some friends out to a canyon a few hours away from here, hired a boat, and went steelhead fishing. In years past he's not been extremely successful. (read between they lines, he didn't get much) This year was totally different. They pulled in several HUGE cat fish and quite a few nice steelhead. Between him and his dad, they brought home 4 cats and 2 steelheads, leaving several back at the river. Way to go!!!!



Master Chief's Dad
Master Chief and his fishy.

Isn't he cute! (I can say that, I'm the Mama.)

Baby Girl is 18 Months

Baby Girl has grown up way too fast. She's now a nursery loving little girl! What a joy she is in our lives.

Here are her current stats as of Wednesday... She's grown!!! We think it's from all the halloween candy!

Weight 20lbs 5oz - 4% (Up from 2%)

Height 32 inches - 53% (Up from 26%)

Head 47cm - 72% (Up from 25%)

I'm wondering if they measured her correctly. But, she is head heavy. We have to watch her very carefully in the bathroom because she loves the toilet and the bathtub. Infact, just last night after she got out of her own bath, Master Chief got her dressed and she went in the bathroom and jumped in Kermit's bath... clothes and all.

Baby girl is an amazing talker. But don't give her the phone unless you don't plan to get it back any time soon. She'll take the phone and run, talking people's ears off. Her list of words would take forever to list. I'm sure she quadruples Kermit and Miss Piggy's at this age, plus she's putting words together. We think it's because of having older siblings around.

Wuv You
Tandy (Candy)

What's that?

Read a book

Tank you.

Go Out

Get Down

Yay

Hi
Bye

Mom

Daddy

Papa

Gampa (Grandpa)

Gamma (Grandma)

Brubber

Siser

ball

eye

ear

nose

mouth

shoes
socks

and then anything you ask her to say, as long as she doesn't have an audience, she repeats.

Baby Girl has an love for shoes. Oh my goodness does this little girl love shoes. I had no idea a baby could love them this much. She will wear anybody's shoes, no matter the size.

And can she ever give kisses. She freely gives kisses away left and right. She's very compasionate. If someone is hurt, she is right there giving hugs and kisses. She loves to say her prayers, folding her arms and bowing her head.

Baby girl also has a love for all things sweet. She is almost worse than me when it comes to chocolate. And she could eat you out of ice cream any day. (Like mother, like daughter) Then there's the halloween candy, excuse me... "tandy". A word I hear all day long as she grabs my hand and leads me to the pantry. She's an eater. She will only feed herself though. A little independent already. She eats more than her big sister (though that's not hard to do, lol). And she is not picky about anything she eats.

She's also started to climb. Just today she scared me to death with her 'simba truck' (long story, but it's a princess ride truck). She pushed it over to a wall, climbed up the seat, then on the steering wheel just so she could reach the light switch.

She keeps us busy! We adore her and are so thankful for her and the special place she has in our family.

Halloween 2011

My pics are rotten - blury and just yukky, from my phone. We trick or treated on Kermit's birthday since Halloween fell on a Sunday this year. Kermit was a ghost, Miss Piggy was a ballerina and Baby Girl was Piglet. We drove from house to house because not everybody was handing out candy. As we'd drive Baby Girl would fight to get in the drivers seat (we were driving house to house in my quiet neighborhood, getting out at each house). Then once we'd stop she'd make a beeline for the door to my arms so she could go get some candy. She is a candy girl and thought halloween was a pretty cool idea! Hopefully my mom has some good pics on her camera from the event and I will post them later.

Kermit Turned 6!

Isn't he cute! I wish I had pics from his party, but my camera is not working and the pics are on my mom's camera and she's been just as busy as I've been.

We had a fun swimming party at the rec center, shared with a friend in their class. It was a halloween party and we had a blast until I stepped on something rather squishy in the pool and found out it was poop. So the pool got cleared and I got to scrub my foot down.

Kermit has had a great year. He's started kindergarden and loves going to school to play with his friends. His favorite part of school is recess and lunch. He has a girl friend. She's a 2nd grader and very cute. We've had to have a talk with him to make sure he knows he can't kiss her, lol! I have caught him carrying her bag after school though! He's a sweetheart. He loves food and will come home from school with a full lunch box and when we ask him why he didn't eat it, it is because he wanted to either spend time with his girlfriend on the playground or with one of his buddies.

Kermit lives to be outside playing with his friends. Since school has started I've learned that he and his sister are pretty popular kids. They are constantly having friends come to the door to invite them out to play.

Kermit is reading very well and is ahead in his class. He and Miss Piggy get taken out during class time to a special class to teach them reading and writing while the other kids work on their alphabet.

Kermit's favorite things lately are Star Wars. If you know me, you'll know that I HATE Star Wars and this has been quite the adjustment for me. I'm constantly asked questions about characters on there and I haven't got the first clue. But I support him in his interests, so I am invaded by all things Star Wars.

Kermit is an awesome big brother. He is always helping Miss Piggy with things and constantly playing with Baby Girl. He loves to go get Baby Girl out of her crib in the morning and giving her candy.

We love our Kermit with all our hearts and are so thankful for him and for the blessing he is in our lives.

The End of our House Project... Carpet!

We finally got everything moved back in and things gone through and put in their place. Here is the living room carpet. We have this carpet throughout our house in each room. We love it. It is so much softer and CLEANER than the old carpet! Now that we have that done, I have time to do 1,000 other things!

Happy 10th Anniversary! Our Kitchen is Complete!

Our renovations are to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary!!! Yesterday was our special day, Master Chief, Mama and Baby Girl went to lunch while Kermit and Miss Piggy were in school! Then we came home and finished our kitchen!!! We LOVE it!
BEFORE AFTER

Pictures As We Go! Kitchen Cabinets

The kitchen cabinets are done! Well, almost... those doors need their fronts done but I'm waiting until the backs are totally dry before flipping them over to do the finish coat of paint! I feel like I'm in a mess! I can't wait to get it put back together.... in about a week. We need to let the paint set for a good 5 days to dry so we don't ruin my lovely paint job! But that's okay... we have other projects starting next week while the cabinets dry.... stay tuned!

We Are Alive!

Alright, so my laptop has been in the shop for what seemed like FOREVER! It is back home with me now and that makes all of us happy here at our house!

So it would seem an update is in store....


Sorry! No updates. But very soon! We are in the process of playing around with our house and I've taken on a painting project! Here is a sneak peak.. Check back soon for updates on our projects!

A Conversation With Kermit

Today during sacrament meeting Kermit leaned over to me and whispered in my ear...

K: "I want to be the bishop when I grow up."
M: "Really?"
K: "Yep, I really want to be the bishop."

I guess there could be worse things to want in life!

Baby Girl is 15 1/2 Months... Time to Update!

Baby Girl is a hard kid to take a picture of! She is too interested in other things than slowing down to look at me and of course not smile!

Baby Girl just likes to run with the big kids. If Kermit and Miss Piggy are doing anything, she's got to be right there involved with them! She loves to go pick them up from school. As we walk onto the school grounds she starts saying "Brower, Brower" (Brother, Brother) She just adores her brother and sister!

Baby Girl is cutting her 1 year molars, she's got 2 prongs of 1 molar broke through and we hope the others come VERY quickly. She's miserable with them. We are hoping she likes to use her molars... it seems everything she eats she just swallows!

Baby Girl is talking a lot. She's putting words together even. When we were visiting with the dr for her 15 month check up she grabbed a book, sat down and said, "read a book." The Dr asked us if that's what she said because she was shocked to hear her so clearly and with combining words! She can tell you where her nose, ears, belly button, mouth and feet are. She knows what a doggie and cow says. She is just very aware of what is happening and what the right things to do are. If she wants to go outside, she'll grab her shoes, back up to you, sit on you and give you her shoes! Today she even said "Shoe". She loves to bring you bottle of lotion or hand sanitizer and have you put some on her hands to rub in by herself.

As for her stats... she's still a small one! But the Dr is pleased with her growth and says she doesn't look scrawny! And she doesn't, Baby Girl has a little pot belly that we love to blow raspberries on! Okay, the details...

Weight: 18lbs, 7oz - 2%
Height: 30 inches - 26%
Head: 45cm - 25%

We simply adore Baby Girl. To think that we never imagined we'd have another baby, we can't imgine life without her! She's so kissable!!!

1st Day of Kindergarten!

The first day of school was fantastic! Mama and Master Chief got to attend with Kermit and Miss Piggy to help them get to know the school rules and the way the lunch room works. The kids quickly recognized a girl from their preschool class as well as a friend in the neighborhood! The kids are going to have so much fun this year at school together in the same class! It's an all day long, every other day schedule, so they are long days, but the kids are adjusting very well. Their favorite times of the day are lunch time and recess! Mama didn't even cry the first day of school! (the second day she did though)

Angel Baby's 8th Birthday

Angel Baby August 1, 2002 - August 10, 2002 We celebrated Angel Baby's 8th birthday with many of Master Chief's family. It was a special day for us! Her cake was so much fun to make!Kermit and Miss Piggy got to blow out her candles.Purple balloons for our purple loving Angel Baby!We wrote messages on our balloons.Then we went outside....Mama, Master Chief and the kids released our balloons first.Then everybody else released theirs! There she goes....Here she comes!!!We all had a great time. We miss our Angel Baby so much, and this year was extra hard. She would be baptized this month because she turned 8, the age of accountability. We know where she is, we know she is busy and happy, and we know we will be with her again someday! We can't wait for that day to arrive, but until then we are going to be the very best people we know how to be. We are striving to become more like our Savior everyday and be an example of Him.

We love you, Angel Baby!

Cute Kiddie Updates!

I've slacked off in my blogging! So here's a catch up...

Kermit is doing great with basketball. Last night he had a game and he made the first basket for his team! He blocked a shot from the other team and had a lot more ball time. He was on fire! And then he found a girl from his preschool class and he was smitten with her and I think the feeling was mutual. One time the ball even hit him in the head when a teammate passed to him but he was too busy watching this little girl! Of course he had a few dance moves out there as well even though he tried to get them all out in the parking lot. There was tons of improvement in his game though! He rocked it!

Miss Piggy is super awesome in her gymnastics class. She's been working on the beam a lot, learning to climb up on it, stand up on it, walk across it and jump off. Plus she's been working on the uneven parallel bars. This is strengthening her muscles so much! She's actually able to pull herself on a bar and flip over it now without any help! We got her a new leotard and she thinks it's the best thing ever!

Baby Girl is getting too big and is way too much of a helper! She is 14 1/2 months old and says many words now. Her vocabulary includes Mama, Mom, Dad, Dada, Doggie, Woof, Papa, Cheese, Wow, Uh oh, Woah, and we've heard her say buber (brother) and wub woo (love you) one time. Her favorite thing is the toilet. Gross, I know. I've caught her scrubbing it with the brush, and I've found my fingernail polish, her sippy cup and my belt inside of it. This morning Kermit was cleaning the bathroom and Baby Girl was helping him by scrubbing the toilet with Miss Piggy's toothbrush. We leave the lid down and she lifts it up. We shut the door and one of the other kids opens it and forgets to shut it. What are we going to do with her!!!

And Angel Baby... we are celebrating her 8th birthday on Sunday. We will be with Master Chief's family. I'm making a gorgeous cake, we will have a party and we will release balloons for her because 8 is such a special birthday.

Kermit Plays Basketball!

Kermit is enjoying his basketball season. It is by far the funniest and cutest thing we've ever seen. The first game the kids had no idea what to do and were running in circles! Here is Kermit's second game, he's in blue.

Miss Piggy Can Do It!!!

Miss Piggy has been so excited to get her training wheels off. Today we took them off and she just took off! She starts and stops on her own as if she's been doing it her whole life!

Way to go, Miss Piggy!

Videos of The Kids at Swim Lessons

Kermit and Miss Piggy have really done well with their swimming lessons this summer. They still have Monday -Thursday next week and I'm sure they'll learn even more! The first time they did swim lessons we wondered if they'd ever pick it up. 2 years later we're trying again and the age difference is HUGE! They are truly swimming now! I know the videos are blurry, but that's okay! These are mainly for Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts and Uncles! The first is of Kermit swimming... he's the kid not staying with the group, to the left! The one where they are floating, the teacher is counting while her arms are there, they aren't touching the kids, so they are doing it by themselves. Kermit made it 7 seconds that time (usually he goes longer) and Miss Piggy made it 18 seconds!

Baby Girl, The Walking Chocolate Thief!

Baby Girl took off walking on Friday, at 13 months old! Kermit and Miss Piggy both walked at 16 months, so we were surprised she rushed to it so quickly. She's so much fun!!!

Today at church they gave all the men a Mr. Goodbar. During our Sunday School one of the men had left his bar behind his chair, Baby Girl found it and tried to steal it from him. Then another guy passed his candy bar around and shared with Baby Girl. There was one piece left and she darted over to it, stealing this guy's last piece of chocolate.

The next hour Master Chief takes her with him to Priesthood but I couldn't find Master Chief so I sent her with a friend. When Master Chief got to her, she was scarfing down this friends candy bar! The little stinker stole 2 men's candy bars today!

We got home from church and she hit her dad up for his candy bar. And of course he shared! She put her 8 little teeth to work on that chocolate and had some fun!

Happy Fathers Day to Master Chief and to our fathers! You 3 men are the greatest men in our lives!

Our Vacation in Picture... Many Pictures!

We traveled to Mama's house for our vacation this year. Her little brother was graduating from High School, receiving his Eagle award and his Duty to God. We drove long enough that we were able to get a hotel each way and swim, which of course made the kids excited!

On our first day there, we took the plunge and got both of the girls' ears pierced!!! They both did really good and we are happy with the outcome! Miss Piggy also got her hair cut. This pic also shows a lovely rash that came with us due to immunizations on Baby Girl!We visited a local zoo. It is hands down the best zoo we've ever been to. Gram-Gram took them on the carousel! The pics of Kermit and Miss Piggy didn't turn out.The kids got to pet a baby wallaby.The kids rode in style... convertible style!We attended the Children's Museum and everyone had a ball! Baby Girl had her own huge play area and loved every minute of it!Kermit had some fun assembling a tractor with his uncle made out of recycled goods.The kids had an art studio with aprons and all!There was a fun dance studio with costumes.A bubble lab where they put on scientist clothing and went to work.There was a grocery story where you could either buy food or be a cashier along with a restaurant they got to cook at!A vet clinic where some poor kitty cat of Mama's had a bazillion shots!It was so much fun!!! We of course went skydiving as well... but you've already seen those awesome pics and my video!!! Mama wants to go again!