I Miss the Sticker!

So, in Spokane we have just the mail-in ballots and Eric and I were talking today about how they jip us on the "I Voted!" sticker...I know it's just a sticker...but still...I miss it and it was Eric's first time voting so he really felt jipped! Maybe someone could mail us one (grab an extra one or two at the polls)...I turned my ballot in last week...you think they could have something there that when you put your ballot in the box...a sticker pops out...but NOOOOO! Oh, well...I will get over it...Get out and VOTE! Until next time...

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to all! Hope you had a fun (yet safe) day! The kids had a lot of fun. Yesterday we went to Spokane Community College's Family Fun Day and the kids got a lot of fun things. Then tonight we went to our ward's Trunk or Treat. It was a lot of fun for them...their favorite part was one car we went to was giving out cans of pop...they thought that was cool...the things that make us happy! Anyways...here are some pics of our fun few days...tomorrow we are off to a birthday party...costumes are a must! Maybe this holiday will never end...

Hailey went as a princess! People came up to her and said how beautiful she looked...we think so too!




Cayson went as a Dragon Warrior Ninja...he only wanted this costume because it came with 3 swords and a chinese star... boy, I was excited!





Jaxson went as a cowboy...people thought this costume was so cute that they took pictures of Jaxson and he decided after a while that he didn't want to wear it anymore because people were laughing at him... it took a lot of persuasion to get him back on the horse(hahaha)

Deni went as Alice in Wonderland...lots of compliments on this costume..."she looks just like her" people would say!








The whole gang!




Happy Halloween...Until next time...

A Little Behind...

So here are just a few pictures from the last couple of months I have failed to post. Hope you enjoy...





Hailey and Cayson's 1st day of school! Hailey is in 3rd grade and Cayson is in 1st!







Jaxson's 1st day of school...he is in his second year of Head Start!








Deni's 1st day of school...she is in her 1st year of Head Start and goes to the same class as Jaxson...






Jaxson and Deni had a field trip to Walter's Fruit Ranch in Greenbluff...they got to pick an apple and a pumpkin. They also learned how they made apple butter and apple cider and got to sample both...they were in Heaven!!!







Farmer Mert showing the kids the crown on "King Red"...AKA Red Delicious...the #1 sold apple in the world!

Keep Your Mouth Shut...

Okay...so you would think that by now I would learn to keep my big mouth shut...so not the case...I think it was July 1st that a ban in Spokane County (all of WA by 2010) was put into effect that you could not use dishwashing liquid that contains more than 0.5% phosphorus in it...so they took ALL of the dishwashing liquid off the shelves. Within a week or so they came out with some new phosphorus free stuff...well...I hated it! It left a white film on all of our dishes and it was taking me 2-3 cycles through the dishwasher to get them clean. Anyways...I would offer my opinion (shocking, I know!) about the ban to anyone who would listen (or pretend to listen). My neighbor's mom was visiting and she was complaining that she would have to buy a new dishwasher because it wouldn't clean her dishes...I gave her a bottle of Cascade (I had my mom pick up a few bottles of "real" soap on one of her visits from AZ to WA...) I told her to try the soap and see if it got any better...that was a month ago. So yesterday, I got a phone call from her saying it was the soap and she was happy that she didn't have to fork out money for a new dishwasher. She then informs me that she works for KXLY (Channel 4) news and they would love to interview me about the soap...OH CRAP!!!! Anyways, after scrubbing the kitchen so they could film in there...they came and did the interview...here is a link to the interview (after you click on the link there is a little camera icon on the right where you can watch the video)...Anyways, I hope you can take a couple of things away from this...1)Learn what people do for a living before you offer your opinions & 2)Keep your opinions to yourself...Yeah, right...I will never learn! Until next time...

As if I didn't torture him enough....

So, as many of you who read my blog know, I took Eric to see Mamma Mia a few months ago...he said I owed him big time! Apparently, he didn't learn his lesson the first time because tonight I took him, along with our good friends, Patti and Andy Alder, to see Phantom of the Opera. Oh, am I in BIG trouble! You would think by now he would learn to say no...(he tried...he asked one of his co-workers at the hospital to go in his place...she apparently doesn't like dating other peoples spouses...expecially women!...hahaha! At least I fed him first (Olive Garden...yum!) It was a good evening for all of us (eric even got a nap in during the show...after he was caught holding Andy's hand :-o!!)What a good man he is...he cancelled his class for tonight and it was a lot of fun being with friends who aren't afraid to act like toddlers with us! I swear they aren't going to let us out in public together anymore! The show was great...not my very favorite broadway show but I was happy I experienced it! There is a very long list of Broadway shows I would LOVE to see...I just may be watching them alone! Anyways, when we got home, Hailey had written a message on our dry-erase board in the kitchen that said "mom and dad...I hope your date was really really great tonight...love, Hailey" how sweet...then lower on the board it said "mom and dad kissed on their date!" and then, at the very bottom it said "mom and dad love each other" yes, we do...thanks for noticing! And we love our kids too! Until next time...

Grandma Duncan

Happy Birthday, Grandma Duncan! We hope you love your flowers! Love, Hailey, Cayson, Jaxson, & Deni

Twilight Movie 11/21/08

Okay...take a look at this and tell me you aren't as excited as me?!?! Oh, the things in life that make us giddy...Until next time...

If you have my autograph...better hang on to it...it could be worth something someday!

Okay...so I was picking Jaxson and Deni up from school on Wednesday when Teacher Valerie gave me a sheet of paper asking if I would be one of the parents involved in meeting Senator Murray at the kids' school on October 17 to discuss HeadStart and the resources available to us as parents. Sure, no problem...until I read that there will be media involved...a little more hesitant, but, hey...why not?!?! Then the next day (Thurs) I was picking up kids again (you think I would learn and let Eric do it from now on)...when Teacher Valerie runs out after me saying..."Janel needs you to call her". Janel is a social services specialist from HeadStart that is also over the policy council of which I am the current president so it is not unusual that I would get a phone call from her. I was loading the kids up in the van and since Eric had the older kids I was in no hurry to get home so I sat in my van on my cell phone and called Janel...she had called to see if I would be so willing as to join her and another HeadStart employee on Oct 22 to be interviewed on PBS for a piece on education something or other. I know it is only PBS and not a lot of people watch it...but still...I was excited that they thought to include me! I guess my next step is the BBC...(just kidding!) Anyways, I am happy about it..HeadStart has done a lot for our family and we have made lots of lifelong friends from the program...I recommend it to anyone who has kids...(it makes me want to have more...well, that may be overreacting just a bit!) Until next time....

Glenna

Happy Birthday, Aunt Glenna! We Miss You! Love, Hailey, Cayson, Jaxson, & Deni

Kim

Happy Birthday, Aunt Kim! We Love You! Thanks for being our friend! Love, Hailey, Cayson, Jaxson & Deni

Thanks for trying to help...but next time don't!

Okay...it's Tiphaine here! Hello to all! So, the other day I was putting groceries away in the pantry and I smelled something rotten. I couldn't quite figure out where the smell was coming from so i started cleaning off the shelves. I started at the top and worked my way down...sorting and tossing and organizing and wiping things down. Still the smell was awful...when I got done with the last shelf...I still couldn't find the smell so I started removing the 5 gallon buckets filled with flour, sugar, and such. When I moved the last bucket...I found the smell...an almost (but not quite) empty bag of potatoes...ROTTEN! Yuk! They were not put back in their spot...someone decided to hide them apparently. They were so rotten that they were leaking all over the pantry floor and the purple print on the outside of the potato bag was now staining my pantry floor....I went to go get the mop to clean it up and Jaxson (the big helper) said, "Mommy...I won't let Deni get into it!" "Thanks, Jaxson...you stay away from it, too!" was my response. When I came back into the pantry from getting the mop wet, I turned around and was immediately met with purple footprints going from my pantry to the bathroom to the kitchen and back to the bathroom...AAAGGGHHHH!!! Jaxson and Deni, both, decided to "dance" from the pantry throughout the rest of the house and thought the purple footprints were the coolest thing ever! Oh, I could have beat them both...but instead, handed them each a wet towel and told them they had to clean it up! They were not too happy that I was making them mop up their masterpiece. Oh...I can't wait until the next adventure....perhaps it will be a mudpie in my bathroom sink (oh, wait...that already happened last week...I sure do wish those two had school on Fridays!)

Twilight Saga (this is a long one...)

Okay...so I need to find a Twilight Anonymous meeting to go to. Can anyone help me? For those of you who don't know what I am talking about...where have you been? The Twilight Saga is a series of 4 books, written by an LDS author named Stephenie Meyer, about a vampire who falls in love with a human. That is the jist of it....kind of. Anyways, I really didn't want to get started with these books in the first place because I have seen friends get addicted to them to the point that they had a countdown of when the next book would come out...that is way out of my comfort level (and one of the reasons I did not read Harry Potter...) I can't read part of the story and wait a whole year for the next part of the story...I need it all at once...Well, my mom came for a visit and had read the first one she had borrowed from my neice. So she bought herself one and left it for me to read (I hope she knows she won't be getting it back!) She left at about 10-ish am and lucky for me, it was a rainy day...the kids sat on the couch and watched tv most of the day...and I read! I was done with the book(400-ish pages maybe) by 9-ish pm...I decided I could wait until the next day to read book 2 (until I read the first chapter of book 2 at the end of book 1). I called Eric at work and asked him if I could get book 2 from Barnes & Noble across the street from his work (class doesn't end until 10 but b&n closes at 10...do you see my dilema?)Anyways, I got the book that night (spoiled, I know!) and had it finished by noon the next day (it rained...thanks, mother nature). I got on the computer and checked to see if my Borders coupon had been emailed to me and lucky me...in my inbox was a 40% off coupon...hallelujah! I rushed over to Borders in the rain and got book #3 and #4(book 4 was on the bestsellers list so it was already 40% off). I had books 3 &4 read in the next day and a half...that is 2500 pages in 3 days. Not only that, but in the next 3 days, I had them all read again...that is 5000 pages in 1 week (Eric said it is not something to brag about and my neighbors kept asking me if I had fed my kids..."yes", I would say...and I also did 4 loads of laundry daily!) I am an official "Twilighter". They are great books for those of you who are readers (they are even great for you non-readers)...it is a great story and you really get into the books. There are several ladies at church who read them and on Sundays we have a discussion on them...I think all of my books are currently out on lend right now...I even have a waiting list (I feel like the library!) I can't wait for the movie to come out! I am way excited! November 21st...you can find me in line at the movie theater...I already have a sitter lined up (thanks, eric!) Pathetic...I know...but at least I am willing to admit it! Until next time....

Oldie, but Goodie...

Okay, so Eric fixed me up with another computer (he has a multitude of them at his office) so he decided to bring me one home...how sweet! Anyways, I still can't promise that the postings will be any closer together! I could have put this posting under "they said what?!?!" but I chose to do it this way instead....

Last year while staying at Gma & Gpa Nelson's house...the kids were getting ready for bed and Cayson came in and said..."Mom, Deni pulled some black stuff out of the rectangle CD!" Not knowing what in the heck he was talking about...I went to investigate only to go back into the Family Room laughing so hard...Deni had pulled the ribbon out of the cassette tape and poor Cayson had no clue what the darn thing was! Are we really THAT old!?!?! Anyways, it is this story that inspired my new cassette tape on the blog that plays some of my favorite songs...let me know what you think! Until next time...(hopefully it will be sooner than later!)

P.S....Happy Birthday, Dad! Thanks for being the greatest dad anyone could have asked for! Lots of Love!

9/11

God Bless America!

Papa Mike

Happy Birthday, Papa Mike! Thanks for being our friend!
Love, Hailey, Cayson, Jaxson & Deni