Wordless Wednesday - Merry Christmas!

Funny quote Friday

Ok - I was going to try and use someone besides Kenzie this week - but this is just so appropriate for the season...

Like many of you we have a Mr. Goody. Today, he hid on top of the curtain rod...

This greatly concerned Mackenzie - she thinks it is too high - so all morning she keeps saying the same thing...

she has also stood under him with her hands together just in case - if she hadn't been holding a juice box when I was shooting the video she probably would have demonstrated.

Answers to quotes have been posted below.

Wordless Wednesday

Snow Day

*Tyler didn't want to come play in the snow - so he was in house - this picture is through the window

Can you guess? He was playing on the computer!

Funny quote friday quiz

Ok - so guess who said...

1. "I'm a rockstar" Mackenzie
2. "that's ex post facto - its in the constitution for gosh sakes." Morgan
3. "we are going to cool down the chili with applesause?" Sierra - she had miss understood what we were having for dinner.
4. "gees - do we have to walk 100 miles for a tree? what's wrong with this one?" (pointing to a 3 foot scrawny, half dead tree) "or this one?" (about 12 foot high) (all about 2 minutes after we got out of the car - including the minute and a half that it took us to get everyone bundled up) Tyler
5. "that is definitely a funny quote friday" (this is said about once a day - usually by the same person) Morgan - although when she read this she said "who says that? Kaylee?"
6. ......"but it isn't Friday - it is Sunday" (yeah - we are all a little scarcastic around here) Kaylee
7. "Just keep breathing" (I think someone was choking on milk from laughing while drinking) followed by a chorus of "Just keep breathing. Just keep breathing. Wh-at are we going to do? We're going to breath!" (yeah they were laughing/choking even more) Mom started with the just keep breathing to Lyndsey after some one mentioned something not even remotely gross except to her (I'm a little anxious about that now with the seizure and all this summer) and then just about everyone joined in with the chorus - originally from Dorie for Nemo sang "just keep swimming" - Mackenzie's favorite movie
8. "yah dead?" "I've been mostly dead all day!" Mom (from Cool Runnings) and then Dad (actually from Monty Python - although Princess Bride has a similar quote of "you've been mostly dead all day" Fesik to Wesley after Miracle Max heals him) Funny because of the "our parents are crazy" looks from our kids.
9. (while watching a movie) "so if the living-dead are killed are they than dead-living-dead or just dead-dead?" (Uncle Nathan cleared this one up for us - they are redead.) Kaylee while watching the new Indiana Jones (Crystal Skull) what really was funny was Morgan busting a gut laughing at her.

Bonus points if you know the movie/tv show that it references (not all are from movie/tv - some are Richmond Originals:o}) If I was "smartical", I'd be able to make a button that would show the answers after you picked yours. But I'm not that "smartical" or I just don't have time to figure it out - either way I'll post the answers later. Oh and "smartical" is a word/quote from one of the kids that we thought was a Richmond Original - but then I saw it in a TV show - do you know which one (kid and show)? Smartical is from Sierra - who when asked how she knew something she said it was because she's "smartical" I thought it was like Andrea and the Guessy-lucker. But it is actually from the Disney Channel's Suite Life with Zack and Cody - London says it.

sorry this is a day late - I started it yesterday - saved it to double check something when everyone got home and forgot to come post it.

Wordless Wednesday

Santa's the Man

Everyone is posting such cute pictures of Santa and their kids. We had the opportunity to see Santa after the Silverdale tree lighting. The younger kids were pretty excited to see him come in on the fire truck, but when it came to actually seeing him, none of them really wanted much to do with him. When I asked Kenzie if she wanted to sit on his lap she said "No. Santa weird" I tried to convince her that he was like a grandpa but with a beard. She said - "no- weird grandpa"
Here's the best pic we got... Sad I know - but when you only get two shots you are really playing against the odds.

Even funnier (and slightly embarrassing) was a couple of days later when she saw a man in a parking lot that had a long white beard and she starts pointing and say very worried "weird grandpa, weird grandpa" I think she thinks he is stalking her. We were far enough away that I don't think he or his wife heard us.

Here is Lyndsey singing "Santa's the Man" with her school choir.

Funny Quote Friday - or maybe not - Ideal Cuteness

Ok - I have six kids (and grew up as one of 6 kids) and a really tall husband - so I'm use to being stopped in stores with comments like "are these all yours?" and "so what about 6'5"-6'6"?" (he is 6'10" for those of you who don't know - oh and yes they are all mine :o} )
But it has cracked me up over the last few months how many times I get stopped by people saying how cute Mackenzie is (on vactation this happened at least 6 or 7 times and only once did anyone comment on the six kids in tow when we went into the tiny shops at Long Beach - and it was to say that they were very well behaved - thank you very much!) Anyway, I get comments like "she is so cute" and "I love the glasses" (which in itself is a funny statement to me because it is always said in a way that I choose to put glasses on her 0r that maybe it should be the next baby trend) But the one that I get the most and cracks me up everytime is "I love those curls - is it natural?" or "Her curls are great - did you perm it?" Now I always thought - "seriously - she is 2"
Well this week I was at Target with Kenzie when two ladies stopped and gave me the usual comments about how cute she is and they loved the glasses and her curls are just great. Then one of them goes "it is natural, right?" (first time it has ever been phrased quite like that) I said "yes" She then tells me that when she was that little her mom permed her hair - she had watched too many Shirley Temple movies. The other lady said "ha - me too"
So I started thinking about it - every lady who has ever asked me if Kenzie's hair is naturally curly - is about the same age ("grandma age" like my kids say - which is to say older than say my mom - because she is a mom to me not grandma and I really don't see her as "grandma age"- but I have to admit they were younger than my grandma who turned 90 this year - way to go grandma!). So maybe this question isn't so funny after all - but a sad comment on what mothers do to kids to make them fit the ideal of cuteness.
Now I always thought "who would perm a 2-year-olds hair?" (really, since Kenzie is so big I'm not sure the ladies realize that she is 2). But apparently some moms would and did. And although I wouldn't go that far, I do remember wrestling Morgan and Kaylee's hair into braids, pony tails and "cutes". I also remember sleeping in rags or foam curlers - and having my girls do the same. I like to think I've gotten better as I've gotten older. But it just may be one of the following:

• my kids are grown and won't let me anymore (seriously 2 are taller than and me - and I know SiSi could so take me.)
• I've decided it isn't worth the fight
• SiSi and Kenzie have enough curl that I don't need to worry about "extras" (that and curls really are just as much work or more in Kenzie's case to just get them combed through)
• I don't have the time or energy

But then again - I almost cried this summer when Sierra cut her hair - not because her new look with bangs isn't cute - but because it wasn't what I wanted for her hair. And I also fight the urge to have all of the kids be matchy-matchy - spending way to much money, time and stress trying to make it happen (I think I have managed win the fight this year - I don't know if at this point the older kids will get anything new - the only one who needs anything is Kaylee and she just wants a "skirt that can go with most anything". And although Kenzie and Sierra will match this Christmas, that is more because Kenzie picked the dress she liked at Costco and then when I took Sierra back, the only one in her size was the same dress.)

So I guess I'm saying to all the moms - let your kids be naturally cute! Because they are and in the long run the fight, stress, money, etc really isn't worth. Spend the time just being with your kids instead - because take it from me - they grow up way too fast.

(ok - don't abandon all cuteness - they still need their hair combed from time to time - and if they are into all the fuss - great! Moms just have enough to be stressed about without inventing new things. Just know there is a time for it and sometimes it is just better to let it go)

**this is me climbing off the soap box :o)**

Wordless Wednesday

Funny Quote Friday

OK - so we are sitting at dinner the other night and Kevin is talking about something that happened at work, so we were all being a very attentive family and looking at him :o) Well he suddenly gets this funny look on his face - he was looking at Mackenzie (I might need to explain the seating arrangement at our table - Kevin is at the "head", to his right is Tyler, then me and Mackenzie; on his left is Lyndsey, then Sierra and Kaylee; Morgan is at the "foot" - so that if we are all looking at Kevin - Mackenzie is pretty much not being paid attention to at all). So I turn and look. Mackenzie has taken handfuls of food and is rubbing it in her hands like it is soap and she is washing her hands. She then takes a handful and starts wiping her hands all over her face. (she is oblivious to us watching her at this point). She then picks up a piece of chicken and proceeds to try and mash it into her forehead to make it stick (kind like you would try to make silly putty or play-dough stick to something). At this point my ability to talk returns and I say "Kenzie - what are you doing?" She jumps a little, looks at me (and everyone else now watching her - we were all seriously dumbfounded at her antics), she looks back at her hands and says "oh messy" and shows them to me. And then smiles and says "bath now?" I'm all "ya think?" I seriously sat there for a few seconds trying to figure out if I could get the White Chicken Lasagna and broccoli off of her hands, face, neck, etc and out of her curls without a bath because I really didn't want to encourage her behavior - we are pretty sure she was trying to make herself so dirty I'd have to give her a bath. I've had other kids do this - and I must say - I'd would just wash them off in the sink (and at least two tried it with spaghetti) but Mackenzie's curls tipped the scale - there is no way I'd be able to pick the food out of them to the point that I'd let her go and then give her a bath much later like I did with the other kids so that they wouldn't connect the bath with the mess-making behavior.
ok - for all you people who actually noticed - this was really posted on Saturday - sorry if I missed you on Friday - but things were a little crazy here with Black Friday shopping, going to Twilight, and dinner with my family that is in town visiting. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!! We did!

Wordless Wednesday

Funny Quote Friday - Tyler Classics

Ok so here are some of our favorite Tyler quotes from years gone by...(thanks Aunt WeeWee)
Both are from when he was between 2 and 3...
Tyler hated to get dressed. After another day of trying wrestling clothes on him, I told Ty that if he wanted to be naked he needed to stay in his room. After he was in his room for about 5 minutes, I decided to check and see if he had calmed down and was ready to get dressed. I come up the stairs and he is standing at the top crying like he is hurt or scared. I ask "what's wrong?" Tyler answers through his tears "there is water coming out of my peepee!!!" (he wasn't potty trained despite my efforts - this explained a lot - he didn't realize what going potty was!!)
Next one... Tyler came to me crying one day and I asked what happened - he said "I hurt the wrist of my foot!" (apparently he didn't know what an ankle was).
Gotta love that kid! At about 4 he also told me "he was using his mandible to chew his food" and "Lucy broke her femur but it grew back together" (this was to Grandma Jan) and since he knew several of his bones at that point - I had to learn mine so that I'd know what he was talking about when he'd say "I bumped my clavicle and it hurts" or "my ulna is sore"...(you get the point and once he figured out I didn't know my bones as well as him, he'd have the grin in the picture below - just testing me to see if I could figure out what he was talking about - I never knew if he was really hurt or just trying to see if I knew where that specific bone was)

Wordless Wednesday

Funny Quote Friday - "I ate it"

OK - so Mackenzie has been a real trooper this soccer season - going to all kinds of games in all kinds of weather - or spending all kinds of time riding in the car going from one practice to another. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, we had two early games - I was taking Kaylee to Port Orchard for hers and Kevin was taking Morgan to hers (and actually Grandma and Grandpa Richmond were taking Tyler third early game - he had spent the night there). Mackenzie was coming with me, and so I took her out of bed, in her jammies, wrapped in her blanket and buckled her into the car. I then get in and start the car and then say, "oh wait, where is my cell phone?" From the back I hear a very sleepy "I ate it" from Mackenzie. I was all "you ate it?" thinking maybe she was trying to tell me she wanted to eat. She says "yes, I ate it" I ask "you ate what?" she answers me "I ate your phone"
Yeah - I pretty much busted up. Now that is a pretty funny thing for a two year old who just recently started talking in whole sentences to say, but what made it even funnier is that these were literally the first words out of her mouth that morning. She was so sleepy, I actually thought she'd gone back to sleep after I put her in the car seat - I think her eyes were actually closed when she first answered "I ate it."

Wordless Wednesday

That had to hurt!

Ok - so Friday night, Kenzie ran into the bread board (the cutting board that pulls out from the counter) and her eye instantly started swelling an turning purple. We call the nurse and since it wasn't bleeding, they said to ice it and give her Tylenol for the pain. This is what it looked like Saturday afternoon - she saw me with the camera and told me to take a picture - and then actually closed her eye so that I could get a good shot. Couple of funny things - when I was talking to the nurse she says "are her eyes tracking together and straight?" I laughed - because without her glasses her eyes never are tracking together and straigtht. I said "no but that is normal for her" That totally confused the nurse. Also, you really can't notice it when she has her glasses on, we aren't sure how she did it - the bruise looks like it lines up with her glasses - but she didn't damage the glasses at all - no scratches, not bend at all. Tyler says it looks like she is wearing eyeshadow (ok - the boy has too many sisiters). Oh - and she had just gotten out of the shower - that is why she has no shirt on.

Narnia

So many of you know that Lyndsey has been taking voice lessons for the last several months. Her teacher is the vocal director of an upcoming production at C-Stock (local theatre) and he encouraged Lyndsey to try out. Well, we decided to let her, and on Tuesday she made it to callbacks for the part of Lucy (the youngest girl) in Narnia (based on the Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe). Although she didn't get that part (we think the fact that she was taller than she kids trying out for Edmund -Lucy's older brother - might have played into the decision - her voice teacher told her the same thing), she did get a part as a Dryad. One of her friends from school is one of the Lucys (there are two families that alternate weekends). Performances start the weekend of February 13th, and run through March 8th (Friday and Saturday at 7:30, Sunday at 6:00 p.m.) You can check out C-Stock's website at http://www.cstock.org/

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

new tag

Ok - so I wasn't really tagged - but my sister was and I thought this one looked easy and fun - so I'm doing it - you can to if you want - here is what you do -
Go to "My Pictures" and look at the fourth folder down, inside that folder, choose the fourth picture down - post that picture and a short explanation.

ok - I fudged a little - this is the actual picture - I think it is when Morgan, Kaylee, and Lyndsey went to Canada with my parents -

but that was date of the folder was July of 2006 - so here is a better pic (it was also in the 4th folder down - I just had to skip the pictures from other people's cameras) Man they grow fast - Here are some pictures I took a couple of weeks ago at the pumpkin patch with Sierra's preschool class - the are listening to stories by Teacher Sue

ok - the little boy that Sierra is holding hands with in the third picture is named Ryan and he and Sierra are so funny - they play together all the time, hold hands, and "have" to sit next to each other at snack and at circle time. His mom told me that he said "Sierra is ok for a girl - I like playing with her" When I asked Sierra if he was her boyfriend she says (as only Sierra can - imaging a teenager's voice coming from her little face) - "No mo-om - we are too young to do that - we are just firends. We will worry about that when we get bigger." (don't forget to add in the hip thrust and rolling eyes) Ok - smart girl but should I be worried? Kevin and I were actually in the same preschool class.... Of course there is another set of kids in the class that hold hands but they also hug and I caught him trying to kiss her the other day - and she wasn't fighting him off. He says "she is hot" so at least Ryan and Sierra are "just friends" ahh young love - who knew Sierra would be the first one I had to worry about?

Cavewoman Guitar Star?

Here is Kaylee's video - the cavewoman playing "Addams Family" on guitar. It was hard to get a shot of the whole group. Again, her teacher Kim is playing with her as well as Kim's brother Tim, an unknown zombie is on drums (yeah - can't really see him - but he is there and you can hear him) and a noFeel free to "snap" along at the appropriate moments - the audience wasn't real great at it and I was to busy taping and keeping track of the other kids (Kevin had to take Mo home because she wasn't feeling good).

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

OK, OK I got tagged. I have reset my password so I can actually log in and complete the tag this time.

8 Favorite TV shows:
1. Numbers
2. Chuck
3. Monday Night Football (although I never watch anymore)
4. ESPN
5. Law and Order (the original)
6. Biggest Loser
7. Amazing Race
8. Desparate Housewives - its something Kristi and I can actually watch together :)

8 Things I did yesterday:
1. Got up at 4:30 am and took Morgan to School, the rode the bus to work
2. Cleaned up an employees cubicle - he has been the poster boy of messy and my raise this year hinged on getting his cubilce cleaned up - at least he is on vacation this week :)
3. Ummm anything else at work at I would have to well ....
4. Ran kids to soccer practice
5. Coached soccer practice with Kenzie being a cheerleader
6. Ate dinner
7. Cleaned up the Kitchen
8. Talked about our new chore chart

8 things to look forward to:
1. Not going to work
2. Kenzie being potty trained
3. Basketball Season
4. Spring
5. A clean house
6. No one injured/sick at my house
7. Ice Cream
8. Retirement

8 Favorite restaurants:
1. Spaghetti Factory
2. Whiskey Creek Steakhouse (in Keyport)
3. Red Robin
4. Famous Dave's BBQ - I am the big fan!
5. Red Lobster
6. Wells Kitchen
7. Cheesecake Factory
8. Mexican Food

8 Things on my wish list:
1. Family Vacation
2. Bathroom Remodel
3. Kitchen Remodel
4. Yard In Order
5. A Clean Garage
6. Debt Free
7. Fishing
8. One of those auto cleaners that Kristi wants

8 people I tag:
1. Umm I dont know 8 people that have blogs that have not already been tagged.

Tagged...

Mom tagged me... as you can see in her post below.
8 Favorite TV shows:
1. Numb3rs
2. Biggest Loser
3. Chuck
4. Amazing Race
5. Extreme Makeover Home Edition
6. The Mole
7. Wipeout
8. Food network Challenges

8 Things I did yesterday:
1. woke up at 5 am.... sort of
2. scramble around trying to get ready - and trying not to forget something!
3. went to school
4. rode on the bus for an hour
5. did my chores so i could have dessert!
6. went to soccer practice
7. ate dinner
8. did homework

8 things to look forward to:
1. My birthday!!!!
2. the weekend
3. the next pep assembly
4. Thanksgiving, veteran's day, christmas break - any day without school!
5. Wells Reunion that is (semi) planned for 2010!
6. Driving!!!!!!
7. Braces coming off
8. Turning 14!!!

8 Favorite restaurants: (I don't think i've been to 8 different restaurants, not counting fast food places)
1. Spaghetti Factory
2. Red Lobster
3. Red Robin
4. Cheesecake Factory
5. Azteca
6. Chung's
7. Dream Dinners ( I don't care if it's not a restaurant - close enough!)
8. I'll steal my mom's and say Grandma and Grandpa Wells' kitchen

8 Things on my wish list:
1. Texting!
2. my own room
3. to make the soccer team
4. Snow hard enough school's delayed, not cancelled
5. my brain to actually function
6. get decent candy for holloween, and enough to last me longer than a week or two
7. money
8. not get/be sick

8 people I tag:
1. Daddy
2. and
3. i
4. don't
5. know
6. 7
7. other
8. people

Tagged again

Ok - thanks to Diane - I got tagged - at least the questions are different than the last one - and it has been a while so here we go....

8 Favorite TV shows: (not sure I actually watch that many...)
1. Brother's and Sisters
2. Grey's Anatomy
3. Private Practice
4. Numbers
5. Law and Order (the original - although I miss Dect. Green and Lennie Briscoe)
6. Biggest Loser (although I haven't seen much of this season)
7. The Closer (although I think I missed all but 2 shows last season because I never remembered it was on until the next day)
8. The Commish (not on anymore - haven't even seen it in sydication for a while - but man I loved it when it was on)

8 Things I did yesterday:
1. Got kids ready for school - sent them out to bus (yeah!)
2. Took Ella (girl I babysit) to Kindergarten and Sierra to preschool (12-1)
3. Went to chiropractor (2:15 pm) and waited for 30 minutes before leaving without seeing him to
4. pick Sierra up at preschool (3pm)
5. Dropped Sierra and Kenzie at home and took LuLu and Kaylee (had to pick her up at patrol) to voice/guitar lessons and
6. back to chiropractor (actually saw him)
7. took kids to soccer practices (last week for most of them - yeah!)
8. cook dinner
(I also typed the preschool newsletter and calendar for november, instituted a new chore tracking system, folded laundry, cleaned a bathroom, etc.)

8 things to look forward to:
1. Soccer season being over
2. Kenzie being potty trained
3. Seeing Annie, Scott, Elaine, Nathan, Jessica, Kaymbri, Grandma Joyce, Nic, Bill, Nico, Lucy, Noah and Brooklyn at Thanksgiving (I'll see other relatives too - but they live here so I see them more - but I'm still excited to see them at Thanksgiving)
4. Not being in pain from the crazy driver that hit me
5. The new neices/nephews that are coming (and finding out which it will be)
6.Finding a new hairdresser (any suggestions? everytime I find one I like - they move so you may not want to share)
7. A second computer (probably a laptop)
8. Girl's Weekend next year (I know I just got back - but it is so much fun!)

8 Favorite restaurants: (in no particular order - my very fav changes with my mood)
1. Spaghetti Factory
2. Whiskey Creek Steakhouse (in Keyport)
3. Red Robin
4. Famous Dave's BBQ (I'm actually not a huge fan of BBQ - but Kevin loves it and so if we are there it means we are on a date and that makes it one of my favorite restaurants)
5. Wells Private Kitchen (not really a restaurant - but my dad is a great cook and I love trying the new things he creates)
6. California Pizza Kitchen
7. Cheesecake Factory (mostly for thier desserts - duh)
8. Azteca (or other mexican place)

8 Things on my wish list:
1. My bathroom fixed
2. New kitchen floors, counters, cupboards, layout, backsplash - ok new kitchen (although I've replaced most of the appliance)
3. A different second car that would hold more people and still get good gas mileage (we have a Malibu - which I really like - a mini-van or something with more seatbelts would be nice)
4. Great family vacation
5. My yard to be professionally landscaped and usuable (we have lot of property but because of drainage proplems a good portion isn't usuable)
6. Be out of debt
7. Have enough money to send my kids to college and on missions
8. Ok - since it is a wish - a self cleaning house and a washer/dryer that sorts and folds the clothes

8 people I tag:
1. Andrea G.
2. Scott G.
3. Jessica W.
4. Wendy Jean
5. Wendy Kay (come on - you can do it!)
6. Morgan R. (love ya!)
7. Summer C.
8. Nichole J.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Ok - so Kaylee got more than enough money (between saving and birthday gifts) to get the new guitar she wanted. She had an acoustic, and wanted a classical. Her is her first "gig" - she played at a local coffee house with her teacher - Kim (sitting next to Kaylee with dark hair); Anna (another student in Kaylee's ensemble class - who is moving to Germany the end of the month); Rick (Kim's dad and also a teacher at WAM where Kaylee takes lessons) and Adrienne, another student (bleach blond sitting on the other side of Kaylee). Excuse the background noise - as mentioned I was in coffee house where, surprise, surprise, they were making coffee and other drinks (if you are into that kind of thing - it was at the Global Bean in Silverdale - and their smoothies were pretty good).

The name of the song is "Happy Cat" (thier name for it) They also played a song called "Nachos in the Mountains" (again thier name) People kept walking in front of me while I was taping so the video isn't great - but I'll upload it if enough of you'd like to hear it. This weekend she is playing the "Adam's Family Theme Song" at the student appreciation Halloween party. I'll try to post it next week.

WooooooHooooooooo!!! Happy Day!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok - So last Thrusday was a happy day at our house - our van was finished (although over the weekend we noticed a piece of black trim on the rear bumper is missing) so we got it back. Although the surburban was big and drove nice - it was a pain - my kids were squished and the ones in boosters couldn't buckle themselves because the buckles kept going back into the seats - so it took me an extra 5-10 minutes to get everyone in the car and buckled -climbing and twisting over the seats all with my sore back. Everyone was happy the van was back (and I have to admit the DVD player was really nice Friday morning when SiSi and Kenzie spend a good hour and a half in the van - I know because they were able to watch Toy Story 2 from beginning to end) getting kids to and from dentist appointments and back to school, along with other errands.

And the biggest news - Our road opened back up!!! Yippee!!! And (although there was some doubts) I got to send my kids out my door and up the driveway to stand in the rain. They didn't seem to mind a bit.

I love buses!

Yes - I'm not sure you can understand how happy this makes me. As Kevin said after I got back from Girls Weekend "I hate Mondays. They are crazy" I said " only slightly more crazy than Tuesday and Friday, the about the same as Wednesday, and Thursday." He was all "I'm amazed you get anything done - you just get home and then get ready to go again." Of course he may now expect me to get a little more done. Which I'll be able to do - it is only 9:17 am - I've already done my computer stuff (including this post) and now I have a good 2 1/2 hours to fold laundry and get lunch for the girls before taking Sierra to school (I'm still her bus driver)

:o) :o) :o) :0) :o) :0) :0)

I love big cars...

Ok - so I'm not always so thrilled with the fact that I have to drive my big van. But it really is a good vehicle - gets us where we need to go and my kids actually fit. But I have never been so glad to be driving it. I was trying to get back into the swing of things after my wonderful girls weekend, and headed over to my mom's house Tuesday afternoot to print some pics with her laser printer for the Beehive activity that night. I was stopped at the light on John Carlson/Fairgrounds. I checked my rearview mirror to check on the girls like I usually do at a stop and I notice that the car behind me is moving really fast and I think "hmm I'm not sure she is going to stop in time" The next second I'm thinking "oh my gosh she isn't even slowing down..." And then BAM. She hit me. She pushed my car into the car in front of me (BAM again) and then I felt a third BAM which at the time I thought was the car behind her hitting her. That turned out to be wrong - it was her car actually finally stopping. She was driving a mid-size sedan - but her bumper was low enough that it went under my bumper (the first bam) The third Bam came when her car finally stopped - with her entire hood crumpled up and most of her front end under my car. Let me just say - that Mackenzie and Sierra were scared but appear to be fine. (SiSi actually told me to stop it - she didn't like the banging. I told her I didn't like it either - but that there wasn't much I could do since the car behind us was the one doing the banging) She does have a new respect for the importance of wearing seatbelts/sitting in booster seats. She had some intially pain where the seatbelt tightened down on her - but was joking with the paramedics and firemen within about 20 minutes. I intially thought I was ok - but in that same amount of time, I was hurting more and more. I apparently was grabbing my neck a lot, so the paramedics and state patrol officer finally convinced be to allow them to check me out (my mom was there to take care of SiSi and Kenzie by that time) and they put me in a neck brace, strapped me to a back board and took me to the hospital in the ambulance. The x-rays were all "clear" so they sent me home with pain killers and told me I'd feel worse Wednesday, and to take it easy (yeah right).
Here are the few pics we have of my van. They had already started to remove things to assess the damage ($8000 worth) and we have disk with the pics they took before they removed stuff - but it is a 3 1/2 inch floppy - and I'm not sure how we will ever be able to see them. There was more damage to the drivers side of the front because the car in front of me was a small SUV with a spare tire cover on that side.


So far the insurance companies have been good - we had a rental by 6pm (the accident happened at 1pm) that actually "fits" our family (it has 8 seatbelts - it is a Suburban - but I don't have average size kids and they are already missing the van which has a lot more leg room) The other driver's insurance took full responsiblity and has agreed to pay back everything that our insurance has already (will) pay. Our insurance told us to replace only the carseats that had kids in them at the time of the accident - but hers said "no - replace them all - and fax us the receipt."
Did I mention the lady that hit me was 80 years old and that she saw smoke coming from the top of the Burger King and thought the restaurant was on fire? As far as we know - she broke her leg (which with the damage to her car is amazing if that is all the injury she had) and the car in front of me appeared to have very little damage and all its occupants seemed fine (she had a couple of kids in her car as well) I apparently am allergic to the pain pills they gave me - I woke up itching like crazy about 2:30 Wednesday morning - so then I was on Benadryl, Advil, and Tylenol. I have also been to the chiropractor Wed and Thurs, go again this afternoon, and then 3 times a week for at least the next couple of weeks. Today, I'm not in as much pain - although it is getting to me since I've been sitting at the computer for a while. I haven't taken any meds this morning because my stomach was kind of upset - I'm sure from all the meds. But I might need to break down and take some.
So all in all - we faired ok. And I really love big cars! I don't even want to think about what would have been the outcome if I had been in my small car.

Girls Weekend

Well, it is girls weekend - I'm at Seaside, OR with my sisters, mom, and Grandma Joyce (who turned 90 in August.) Thanks to our husbands and Grandpa Jim (who is helping out with the Jessee kids), this has become an annual thing. The past couple of years we've gone to Leavenworth but decided to try a new location this year. Thanks to Nichole, we all rode down here in the same car - which had GPS - which came in handy trying to navigate around the accident on I-5 which made the trip down here closer to 7 hours than the 4 it was suppose to be. We are having a great time - laughing a lot, visiting, shopping, and today we will do some crafting and games. The weather hasn't been the best but that hasn't slowed us down. Nichole wanted to go for a run on the beach - Andrea said she was game - Wendy and I tagged along - but we more walked than ran. I'm not sure this picture does the weather justice - it was extremely windy with cold, pouring, rain blowing in our faces. This picture was taken at the beginning of the outing - we really should have gotten one at the end. It jut goes to shows - we can have fun no matter what. (And that we are all a little crazy) The sky was actually blue for about 30 minutes while we were shopping - We are staying in the "Cowabunga" house - which isn't as nice as the places we've stayed at in Leavenworth the last couple of years - but none of them had this - our favorite feature. They should list it in the amenities with the hot tub and wi-fi. The best part is how well they did centering it on the fire place.

Ok - I know it has been a long time. Let's see - since my last post I got a new calling (2nd counselor in the Young Womens - over the 12 and 13 year-old girls - next week - two of the eight beehives will be related to me - and 3 of the remaining ones will be related to the advisor.)
We have also spend a lot of time driving to Tacoma to see specialist because LuLu had a possible seizure on day during lunch (had to call 911 and everything) She has completed her blood work, the sleeping EEG (had to keep her up until midnight and then wake her up at 4 am and then not let her sleep until the test - yeah that was fun. Especially when she decided she wanted me to stay in the room with her so I got to watch her sleep for an hour in a dark room. Needless to say - I was very sleepy myself. Luckily I had an i-pod that she had been listening to on the way down in my purse - so I listened to my book. That helped for a while, but sleep was still winning out by the end of the hour. I had hoped I'd be able to come home and sleep for a while -but it was right before we were leaving for vacation and stuff came up (a windshield that had to be replaced before we left being the big thing) It was also our 15th anniversary and the first YW activity I was suppose to go to. Fun day. She also did her MRI last Friday. Now we are just waiting to go back to the neurologist to see if they found anything.
We then went on vacation to the ocean. We stayed in a house in Seaview on the Long Beach Peninsula. We had a great time. I hope to get some of the pics up before too long.
We came back Labor Day weekend - and then school started. A few hiccups there - they had to rearrange some of the classes at the elementary school because of some unexpected enrollments after school started. It didn't affect every class/grade - just the ones I have kids in. And Mo had to figure out her exciting schedule that involves a zero period class at the high school, joining a PE class half way done (she likes this as so far she hasn't had to run the mile), and having a locker on the complete opposite side of the school from any of her classes.
We also started soccer - been crazy but we have good weather so far, and the kids are doing good - Mo got a yellow card the first game, but her team won 4-0. Sisi scored 5 goals her first game and 2 her second game. Kaylee's team is doing good - winning their first game and tying their second against a team that had won 9-0 the week before (and would have definitely beat Kaylee's team last year). I have yet to watch LuLu - she is having fun although her team hasn't won. She is taller than her coach which is pretty fun. Ty is funny to watch because he has such a big smile on his face that his dimples make his eyes almost close completely - so I 'm sure it is hard to see the ball.
With all of this - the most exciting thing for me is they are actually working on our road!!!!!!!!

Here is a link to video that a member of our ward took - he happens to work for The KitsapSun. http://www.kitsapsun.com/videos/detail/illahee-road-repairs/
It is suppose to be done mid-October - I'm hoping the finish early. And I will be on the phone to the district transportation department the day it opens to see where the buses for my kids are. (I've actually already talked to them, and they said that when they have an opening day, they will send home letters with any route changes - but they will try to keep the routes pretty close to what they are now. Yeah right. I really doubt they will continue to double back through routes in order to avoid Illahee Rd. I really doubt care what they do with the rest of the routes as long as it involves buses coming past my house and picking-up/dropping-off my kids!)

Hilarious!!

Yes, we survived vacation and there are no posts yet. Let me do this one first!!!!

Last night, after scriptures, we started asking Mackenzie where everybody is, and what their name is. For example:

"Where's Lyndsey?" Mackenzie points at Lyndsey. "What's her name?" Mackenzie replies in her cute little voice "wuwu" or LuLu.

We asked her everybody's name, and Morgan became "momo," Tyler was "tyty," Sierra was "sisi," Daddy was "daddy," and Mommy was "mommy!" Everytime we asked for Kaylee's name, she would say "bob!" It was pretty funny, no "Kaylee" or "kaykay" it was simply "bob!" She got asked this question several times, and by the end she was kind of like, um, hello! her name is STILL bob!!
We also asked little cutie Mackenzie what her name was, and Daddy would point at her bellybutton. She would look at he bellybutton, point at it, look up and with a smile, say "kenzie!"

Aren't two year olds hilarious? Mackenzie beats everyone by a landslide.

Mackenzie guards her ball at the bowling alley we went to in long beach
more pictures will come later!
I need to work on laundry!!
(oh wait.... That's Mom's excuse! shoot)
I need to go do.................. something!!

Richest Mom

OK - so last night I'm in my room folding laundry and Sierra walks in with a big grin and says "Here Mom". I hold out my hand a little cautiously (anyone who has ever had a four-year-old say this to you will understand) She put 27 cents in my hand. I say, "uh, Thanks. What is this for?" She answers "Because you are the best Mom ever. Thanks!" and gives me a big hug.

Yep - I'm the richest mom ever for sure!

LOL :o}

What sound does an owl make?

So we were reading scriptures last night and Mackenzie starts making this funny sound - after about 5 minutes - we got the camera out to record it.




As soon as she saw the camera she stopped but we did manage to get her saying it a couple of times. Now keep in mind that she just randomly started doing this - and none of us had ever heard her do it before or had any idea where she got it from. It was a little distracting during scriptures - and we were all laughing so hard trying to figure out what she was doing. The hand motion was throwing us off - we thought she was trying to sing a song or something (she loves songs with hand motions - and learned "5 little monkeys jumping on the bed" yesterday in nursery that she had been doing all afternoon) Finally, someone said "is it an owl?" and Kenzie got all excited and said "uh huh" (yes) and started doing it even more. Until we got out the camera that is - then we got back to reading the scriptures!

A month of memories!

Please note: To turn off music, click on speaker icon in top left corner of slideshow window (in between "Slide" and "More") Enjoy!

Second note: I turned off the auto play for this slide show - if you want to hear the music, just click the little speaker icon in the top left corner.

oops -

I forgot a couple of things with my posts last night. First, the lady that passed out at church is doing fine last we heard. Our bishop is a doctor and there are a couple of nurses in our ward as well. They were able to stabilizer her in the foyer, and then she was taken to the hospital in stable condition. She has Alzheimer's and it could have been anything from a very mild stroke, to the fact that it isn't uncommon for Alzheimer's patients (especially women at church for some reason) to pass out after/during mild panic attacks.
Also Mackenzie went in for her 2 year check up yesterday, and measured in at 38 1/2 inches. There is a theory out there that you double a girls height at 2 to see how tall she will be when she grows up - that would make her 6'5". In comparison, Lyndsey was 36 1/2 inches at 2 - making her 6'1", and Sierra was 37 making her 6'2". Kaylee was the shortest at 34 3/4 inches so she would be about 5'9 1/2" (yeah she is already about 5/5" and since she is still 2 months from her 12 birthday, I'm not sure that will hold up) and Morgan was 35 1/2 so she should be 5'11" - she about 5'10" now and will be 14 this fall -so that might work - although she says that 5'11" is a weird number, and since she already past 5'9" (that number "sounds good") she'd just as soon reach 6' (teenagers). We'll see - I was my full hieght when I was 14. Sadly, this theory put Ty at being about 6' - I checked some other theories online - and most of them said he'd be about 6'2" -to maybe 6'5" - not sure how he will feel about being in the same height range as his sisters (one even put him at 5'10" which would make him the shortest in the family - besides me.) After having such tall girls, I was always afraid that I'd end up with a shorter than average boy - not normally a big deal -but with 5 very tall sisters, and an extremely tall dad, I think he might have some issues with that. ok - I rechecked Ty's numbers - I think Kevin had them a little off - but I can't really read his chart (engineers) but I did find this website http://parentcenter.babycenter.com/child-height-predictor?scid=pcbulletin:20071224:0:0:0
which seems like it would be more accurate - since it takes into account the childs age, height, weight and the parents heights. Using his current height and weight, it says he will be about 6'6" - which what I've always thought he'd get to - not sure he will make 6'10" so he can "be like dad" but it will be close. Everyone always guesses Kevin as being 6'6". This calculator also says that Kenzie will only be about 6'1" but we (Mo and I) think that she will fall into the 10% that can be wrong with this method. If anyone remembers that info for someone that is already grown - it would be interesting to check it. The closest I came was plugging Mo's numbers in for when she was 12 - it put her at being 5'11" at 18. Since she is already in their window of error (read the fine print) - it works for her. I'm sure that isn't a very scientific but it is the best I got right now!

A week in our lives...

Ok - I know that I haven't posted in a long time - but things have been a little crazy here (shocker, eh?) So I'm putting a post in for every day last week. I didn't do a post for Sunday - although it had it's moments - an older lady passed out during church (her grandkids were sitting in front of us - and I felt so bad for them - their mom wasn't there, and their dad went to help - they eventually all left with the help of one of their primary teachers and the bishops wife) There was some other stuff that made the day pretty stressful, but I won't go into that.

Things haven't calmed down this week - Morgan is doing a volleyball camp at OC (she loves it) everyday this week; Kaylee has guitar ensemble on Monday nights; Kenzie and SiSi have Kindermusik camps they are doing on Tuesdays; I went to DreamDinners tonight, Kaylee and Lyndsey have a Faith in God for Girls hike/picnic tomorrow, and then guitar/voice in the afternoon, and Morgan has Dance Festival practice that evening; but - get this - besides Morgan's camp there isn't anything scheduled for Friday! I might just have to break down and get to my laundry! (you knew I couldn't post without mentioning it, right? I should change the name of my blog to "I should be doing laundry but....")

Monday June 30

On Monday (June 30) we had Mackenzie's 2nd birthday party. It kind of snuck up on us - something about the month of July following June and that the 2nd of July is right at the beginning of the month really confused us. Anyway, we had it at Evergreen Park. She was hilarious opening gifts. The first two were clothes and books (which she loved) from WeeWee and the Richmond Grandparents. That was pretty typical for a two year old - although she wanted me to read the books (or at least look at every page) before she'd go onto the next present. Then she opened a bubble mower, a Dora doll with baby bottles and hair brush, and an inch worm riding toy. Yeah - we are calling it the "sixth child syndrome" - once she opened a present, she wouldn't let go of it. So she is there holding the bubble mower in one hand, while she uses the other hand to open the next present. At one point she was sitting on the inch worm, holding onto the bubble mower with one hand, with the two baby bottles and the brush for Dora and the Curious George figure from the top of the cake in the other - we had used one of the many wire ties they use to keep toys in their packages (for once I was glad they use so many of those things to keep toys in their packages) to tie Dora to the bubble mower. Now the whole time, she isn't really enjoying herself - at least she didn't smile at all - she was concentrating too hard on making sure no one (SiSi, TY, etc) touched one of her toys. Everyone else is laughing so hard we can hardly stand it. Getting all the stuff home was interesting - since she still didn't want to let go of them. We finally got everything in the van - but she had to still hold onto her "bug".