A New Post!!

Well, it has been a month so I thought I would post something! I am sure you are tired of looking at water bottles and Alexyss' room (which is still FAIRLY clean by the way). Anyway it's been a busy (or should I say steady) last month. I work every other week so every other 7 days is kind of shot for me posting anything. Anyway we have been to LG about every weekend or randomly for dentist appointments, Em's baby shower, and a weekend with grandma Teri. On Monday we stole the kids from school and went on our annual christmas tree hunt! We had a lot of fun as usual however we didn't get to play as long because Nojah forgot his coat. Yes he was asked 4 times to get it from his room :0(. We decorated the tree and house a little that night. I am not sure if we will do outside lights or not this year even though we have a great tree outside for it. Neither Tob or I seem to want to tackle that task. Besides having 2 teeth extracted, Alexyss is losing them on her own like crazy. In about another week she will be missing about 6! She already has 2 or 3 permanent ones in and her 6 year molers in completely. You would think looking at her mouth that she was 7 or 8 not 5. Yesterday, Kiley came up here and we got to go for a snowshoe jaunt up out of the east fork of the wallowa river. It was beautiful. It was Myah's first big trip and she let us know when she was done by tugging on my pants, snowshoes and grabbing her leash to go back down the hill. It was really funny. She is getting so big and is pretty cute. Well, that is a quick update for now with some photo's. All in all it has been a pretty good month. Even though it is the holiday season, things are truly starting to slow down for us, which has been nice.

A couple things I LOVE!!

I LOVE water bottles! Mostly Nalgene bottles but Camelbak as well! I love hydration packs and most would say that I hoard these things. I can't help it. My kids each have 2 or 3 and they love water! This morning they were fighting over which water bottle they were taking to school. They are fantastic. Washable and unbreakable! We were at REI this weekend and Tob only let me get one. I survived but I did have at least 2 more in my hand as well as a fabulous coffee mug, which he said I didn't need. Alexyss stated this morning that she would like a new one like mommy's for christmas :0) I just bought the camelbak with the flip up lid in a darker blue color (top left hand corner). What more can I say, I love them.


A clean BEDROOM! Need I say more? Taking a pictures helps see what is lacking too! I think a bed skirt would be good and a little decor on the wall. But seriously a clean kids room. AHHHH~! Feeling relaxed and happy this morning and thought I'd share a couple of my favorite things. I was tagged a bazillion years ago but I thought I would share as they come to me so here are my first two!!

Life

Well, I guess I haven't done a very good job keeping up with the blogging. As of Nov1st I worked for 6 nights while Tob was in California, shuffling kids to and from La Grande as well as other places here at home. They had 6 nights of sleepover fun at 4 different homes! Thanks again to everyone who helped out. Toby got home late Wed or Thurs night after a very interesting trip to Southern California. He was able to help save a turtle pond, managed to lose his big radio (which someone did find and turn in, thank goodness for good people), witness a screwdriver stabbing at a California park, and breakdown near Klamath falls prolonging the trip by 2 days. Anyway, it was a great 2 weeks for both of us. My car had battery problems (which I have to dismantle each night so my car doesn't die) and ball joint issues, Dakota appeared to be on the downside, although he is doing ok right now, my washing machine broke and flooded my floor twice, my ceiling in the bathroom is leaking, and beside shuffling the kids the puppy got to go to work with me each night to add to the adventure! I have decided to not let him leave anymore. When he got home we were able to fix the washer. Les Schwab fixed the ball joint problem for FREE! Which Legacy ford charged me a ton for the wrong diagnostics. Don't recommend them so much. The ceiling is still leaking but we have a grasp on the problem, we think. Tob and I left to go to Tri-Cities in hopes of a new car however the amount that they wanted to give my for my explorer was RIDICULOUS so we left feeling ok with it and did the majority of our Christmas shopping amongst other fun shopping. My parents kept the kids and Dakota for us which was a nice night away (with the puppy :0). Thanks Mom and Dad for everything! Speaking of my mom, her birthday was November 8th! HAPPY 54!!!! Got home from Tri-Cities and Alexyss had broken off one of her teeth at her gum line which sent me back to LG yesterday for dental work. They extracted that tooth, and have another one to extract due to a TERRIBLE cavity and two other cavities to fill and seal her 6 year mollers (spelling?). Then her check up, etc, etc! I feel like a Horrible mother. I guess I figured her teeth were spaced enough flossing wasn't a necessity at this age. WRONG. Well we now will do all of our kids brushing, they can brush after we are done and daily flossing, and fluoride rinsing. Poor thing but she loves the Dentist. Before we left the house she wouldn't come into the bathroom to brush so I said "Alexyss do you want to go to the dentist or not?" and she said with a sad little face "yes" and came to brush her teeth. I don't know why my kids love the dentist but they do. Good thing because she's going back a couple more times. Advice of the day, BRUSH YOUR KIDS TEETH TWICE A DAY FOR THEM AND USE FLOSS (even if you think they have big gaps between their teeth) !! I just got a call from Tob and said another friend who felt the same way when there child had 11 cavities at this age. I guess some kids are just prone. I have to admit though I am scared to take Nojah, although so far every year he has been good. So there is my update! Have a great week!

Playing Catch up!

So here is my last week/weekend in a nutshell! Saturday my co-worker Tasha and I did a yard sale with 3 whopping customers, then Tausha (Tersh) came from Boise and we visited and let our puppy's play (milo is awfully cute although he learned a new little trick to do to Myah :0). Sunday was my lazy day. I hung out and watched Miami vs NY in London. I sported the Dolphins jersey for Tob, but unfortunately they lost however I think lately they alway's lose. No offense to both my dad and Toby who are huge dolphins fans. Too Bad they stink the majority of the time. Anyway then Shaun came up with MaKenna, we hung out and then went up Bear Creek to let the dogs and kids loose. It was great fun to hang out and visit with them for the day. After dinner they left and I watched the last of the world series which I have already blogged about.
My week since Monday has been absolutely crazy. I spent Tuesday all day in LG so that I could get my stupid car fixed and they did NOTHING and managed to charge me $188.72. I asked what for? They said the diagnostics! Anyway I won't get into it. It was a mess but I did get a great hour to hour & 1/2 trail ride in with Sandy which was awesome until I got a flat, however that was at the end of the ride anyway. I was late picking up the kids but thanks to great friends (Tasha & Andy) I was saved again.
Halloween was good. I made the world's ulgliest pumpkin cookies for Alexyss' class and went to the school to hang out between both of their parties. They had a great time. Alexyss' class had all junk food and Nojah's was all healthy. The teacher planned the 2nd graders and Alexyss was on the planning committee of the kindergarten class which is why everything was unhealthy. We went trick or treating until about 7pm or so and now the kids ate a bunch of candy, brushed their teeth and are in bed. I know my week was a lot more eventful and busy then that but I should go clean the house or get kids ready for my crazy weekend. I start work tomorrow night and then I have to get off Friday morning take them to Melissa's in LG, come back work Friday night, Saturday night, go back to LG on Sunday and pick up the kids from my mom and dads and bring them back home so that Mon, Tue, and Wed nights our friends (Annette & Mark) here can watch them overnight while I work! Thank God for Family and Friends. We sure do appreciate everyones help when our lives go crazy! Well I should call it a night I have plenty to do before I drift off to sleep! Hope everyone had a happy halloween! HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA! WE LOVE YOU!! ALSO CONGRATULATIONS TO LLOYD AND RACHEL WHO HAD THEIR BEAUTIFUL BABY GIRL YESTERDAY AFTERNOON!

Yikes! Boston had a fantastic, kick a** series! I have got to say I don't think I have ever got into the world series like I did this year. I really enjoyed watching the games although I was a little disappointed with Colorado's performance in the series with a winning streak of 21/22 games during the season. I guess I expected a little more out of them although I really wanted to see Boston win anyway. They have a great team and play well together! Hope everyone has had a great weekend!

So Thursday night we carved our big pumpkin that Grandma Teri and Grandpa Wes brought us home from their vacation. We spent the evening carving the pumpkin, watching the Colorado/Boston game, and eating whopper milkshakes that Tob whipped up. All in all pretty good evening. Alexyss has been begging for the past week to carve pumpkins. I am glad we did it that night because Tob got was dispatched to California (San Diego area) friday morning. He was going to take the day off to help me get yard sale stuff ready for Saturday and then got a call at 9am and was gone by 1045. Should be gone for about 2 1/2 weeks. Huh, so much for spending the weekend with him. Oh yes you are all probably wondering why I said yard sale. A friend and I had a brilliant idea to have a yard sale this morning in her barn so actually a barn sale. It was roughly 15 degrees outside while we were setting up. The sale started at 8, we got our first customer at 1037 and then our second and third customer around noon when we decided to bag it. So maybe this isn't a great time to yard sale. Oh well the kids got to play, I made $7, and we had a great time visiting inside by her fire.

LEAF MAN

Picture #1
The other day Alexyss asked late in the evening if she could go outside. I said that was ok as long as she was going out back. She said "OK" and headed out into the back yard. She was gone for probably a 1/2 hour so I checked on her and there she was outside wandering around. Then she came in with the leaves that she would shortly turn into "LEAF MAN". She then proceeded to get out the tape, stapler and whatever else she needed to put him together. It was funny. These are the things she does all the time. So Leaf man sits on our fridge now. I don't know what inspired it but heck what inspires half her ideas, we'll probably never know.

Picture #2
Nojah and Alexyss waiting patiently for our family pictures to be taken yesterday. They looked so sweet sitting there so I took the photo.

Picture #3
Here is toothless! She has lost 3 teeth now at the ripe age of 5. Her first in Thailand when she was only 4. She lost one about 2 days ago and the other she pulled out on the drive to pictures. I asked her to just wait until after family pictures but apparently that was too much to ask. HUH??

Picture #4
Nojah and Lex roasting marshmellow's after pictures. Actually we were stuck on the other side of the pond for awhile as a group of elderly people drove in and did a baptism ceremony. They dunked the lady in the pond when it was only about 45 degree's out with winds. I wasn't sure she would live through it. But they put a coat on her she jumped in the car and off they went (probably to Grande Ronde Hospital).

Picture #5
Nojah and Lex with Grandma Val on Saturday up at Buckhorn lookout. Her, Tob, and the kids went for a drive and on the way home his fuel hose fell of the truck and they lost all of their gas. Besides the fact that they had lost a lot of money and polluted the environment they were stranded 30 miles from home. Cell phones (as well as cell service) are great things. Friends are great too. His friend Adam brought him some gas and he fixed the fuel line and off they went. Anyway that is our past week in a nutshell. I am on my week of work so since all I do is sleep, and work (and eat of course) I don't get a lot of time to post.

Australia v.s. New Zealand

I was going to go mountain biking today, however Nojah's school called and he didn't feel well so here I sit while little man sleeps. Anyway got to thinking about our next big adventure. I have the travel bug now and if we don't start saving and planning then it won't happen for a long time. So for the past several months we had decided that our next destination would be Australia, however the more and more I think about it New Zealand is more appealing. I think it is the mountain's and lush greenery, waterfalls, etc vs ocean and desert. I think that tramping (aka hiking/backpacking in U.S. terms) would be great fun. They have lots of trails that have small cabins to stay in along they way which would be great with the kids. We are planning another 1-2 month trip if work allows for that. Probably more like 4-6 weeks, which we have considered a month in New Zealand and 2 weeks in Australia or vice versa. Nojah studied Australia in 1st grade last year after we returned from Thailand so he is really set on going. Hence he is the reason we are headed in that general direction. I know we will do one or the other or both, I guess I need to do more research! The plan is right now March or April of 2009 which gives us 18 months to save and plan. That's about how long we spent getting ready for Thailand and it comes up quick. We would love to hear any thoughts or ideas from all of you out there.

Foofal Doodle

OK so I didn't know what to title my post! Yesterday was the kids last soccer game of the season. They were undefeated this year and had so much fun. After the game the coach bought pizza and then we played kids vs parents. The other team thought that looked like great fun and jumped in as well. It was a blast. We had a few Dad's with cowboy boots kicking pretty hard. Even though I was a little fearful that somebody would get killed there were no injuries while we were there. It was kind of fun to watch all the parents participating. After the game we went to Grandpa's Neal's house. The kids fished in his bathtub pond outside for the majority of the time. It kept them pretty busy. After that we drove back to LG and dropped off the fish for Grandpa Wes and Grandma Teri except they were gone and their pond was empty. They had had a unfortunate accident a few weeks or so ago where some monster ate all of the fish. My guess is raccoon??! Anyway point is no water was in the pond so we just left the bucket o fish and left. We still had a drive in front of us and it was late but I did call them this morning and warn them they have some new friends for the winter :0)

WoW hOw TiMe FliEs!!

Wow, I just looked at the date on my last post and realized it has been a week and a half! Oops. Well I have been working for the past 7 days but now I have 7 off so maybe I can make up for it. Last night we went to Enterprise for the kids soccer game. I love having soccer in the fall. They had a great game. I don't think they have lost a game yet actually. After the game we went to the Enterprise vs LaGrande (4th grade-6th grade) football game. La Grande did awesome! My nephew Jake had a great game with a touchdown. I think the score was 42-0 (ouch, considering in a couple years that enterprise team will be Nojah's). Hopefully there is some improvement between now and then. This is their first year offering Elementary school football in the county so we have room for improvment I think. Myah is doing awesome, she has her first vet appointment later today. Let me tell you crate training sucks, but now that we have had her for a couple of weeks she is doing really well. I called my friend Tausha almost in tears after the first 4 days of NO SLEEP and she helped me through it since she is going through it as well. They have a 9 week old Chocolate lab. Thanks Tersh! Dakota is hanging in there. He doesn't really care for the little fluff nugget but he is getting better. She tugs on him and bites him all the time so I don't blame him. We just try to give him lots of love and space from her. Anyway, not much else is going on besides kids games, dogs, and work.

Meet Myah

Good Morning!!
Sorry I haven't posted anything since last week. We had a busy week with a long weekend. On Saturday I ran the 10k Grande Ronde Rehab Run and the kids had a soccer game over here at home so Tob drove over after the game and we took off to St Helens OR to pick up our new sweet Myah. She is a 7-week old Alaskan Malamute. We weren't suppose to pick her up for two weeks but the breeder said that she was doing really well and we could come get her whenever we were ready. So we drove over to St Helens on Saturday afternoon, picked her up Sunday morning and got back home at about 8pm last night. She is very sweet (for now anyway) and we are glad to have her. Dakota is still plugging along and seems to tolerate her just fine. If he lives very much longer I have no doubts that he will fall in love with her as she has already with him.

Luna, Gilbert, and Friends!

Ok that is it I have had it! See this cute little thing (and I don't mean the cats). We find at least 2 of them a day in our house and no we don't have a mouse problem. We have a cat problem. When we purchased our new home we were so excited about the 2 cat doors. One from inside to the garage and one from the garage to outside. The litter box lives in the garage if they need it but they never use it, which is nice because they go outside. However getting back to the point. When they go outside they find furry little friends and bring them home to play with. Sometimes they kill them, sometimes they kill them eat half of them and leave the bloody guts for us, or they just let them free. I am not sure what the deciding factor is on the fate of the critter but I think they should just be left outside. Today was the breaking point when a cute little furry diseased mouse poked his head out of my running shorts, saw me and slipped into my sports bra. I caught him like all the rest and flung him as far as possible outside. I know many of you would say just kill it. How exactly do you kill a mouse. It's like trying to step on a tarantula. Eeewww. I told tob to buy traps but I don't think that is the problem. I think the cats catch them and bring them in because not once have I found mouse terds except for the one who crapped all over when we were trying to get him from under the couch. I would say we have had over 30-40 mice in our house dead or alive since June. Oh yes, since we brought the cats home. HUH?? I am closing the outside cat door and they will be let in and out and can't come in with a mouse in their mouth!

Game 2

Well we have had 2 soccer games now! My family came up yesterday for the big event. I wasn't much fun as I worked the night before and felt like a zombie, but I stayed awake nonetheless :0). The game was tied 0-0. Wahoo for the mustangs. Alexyss did better this time actually chasing the ball vs the other players although the second half she chose not to play. That's alright though because there are a lot of other kids always itching to get out there and play. They play 6 on 6 here which makes more time for the other, older kids to play. In LG at this age they played 3 on 3. Next year Nojah will do 11 on 11. I love watching them play. It just gets better as they get older.

Soccer season has begun!

So here they are! They had one game yesterday, pictures today, and an early game tomorrow. They are both doing great and love playing. This is Nojah's 3rd year and he has proved to be very competitive and is improving each year. It has been fun to watch the changes. This is Alexyss' first year and she thinks it's her job to chase the other team members around talking to whoever she was originally positioned by. At least she's not sitting down and picking grass. However sometimes she forgets why she is out there but thats ok she is still cute. Hope all is well with everyone. I will try to continue to post pictures!

Update: Dakota is doing well on his pain medication at this time so we expect to have him around a little longer then expected. We just spend our time overfeeding and spoiling him. Thanks for all your comments and phone calls. I know he is just a dog but we love him!!

ALL YOU READING THIS ARE NOW TAGGED!

1. Who is your man? TOBY
2. How long have you been together? ABOUT 10 YEARS
3. How long did you date? 1 YEAR OF DATING, 1 YEAR OF ENGAGEMENT AND 8 YEARS OF MARRIAGE.
4. How old is your man? 33
5. Who eats more? WOW THATS A TOSS UP.
6. Who said "I love you" first? I DON'T REMEMBER BUT IT WAS MUTUAL
7. Who is taller? TOB
8. Who sings better? WE BOTH SUCK
9. Who is smarter? DEPENDS, I TEND TO THINK I AM BUT WHETHER THAT IS TRUE OR NOT I DONT KNOW.
10. Whose temper is worse? WE'RE BOTH PRETTY EASY GOING BUT IF I HAD TO CHOOSE I WOULD SAY ME.
11. Who does the laundry? BOTH
12. Who does the dishes? BOTH
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? ME
14. Who pays the bills? Me
15. Who is better at the computer? TOB
16. Who mows the lawn? THATS WHAT I WAS JUST DOING. I MAINLY DO IT BECAUSE TOB IS GONE MOST OF THE SUMMER.
17. Who cooks dinner? USUALLY ME SPRING, SUMMER, AND FALL AND USUALLY TOB IN THE WINTER.
18. Who drives when you are together? USUALLY ME.
19. Who pays when you go out? I AM NOT SURE IT MATTERS IT ALL COMES OUT OF THE SAME ACCOUNT.
20. Who is more stubborn? OH YA THAT WOULD BE ME.
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? WELL, NOT ME.
22. Whose parents do you see most? MINE
23. Who kissed who first? MUTUAL, (HONESTLY I DON'T REMEMBER BUT IT WAS GREAT)
24. Who asked who out? TOB ASKED ME OUT! I REMEMBER THAT
25. Who proposed first? TOBY
26. Who is more sensitive? WOW, PROBABLY ME, IT DOESN'T TAKE MUCH TO PUT ME IN TEARS.
27. Who has more friends? WE BOTH HAVE LOTS OF GREAT FRIENDS.
28. Who has more siblings? THE SAME, WE BOTH HAVE 1 BROTHER.
29. Who wears the pants in your family? I SAY I DO BUT IF HE SAW THIS HE WOULD TRY TO PUT A STOP TO THAT SO WE BOTH DO :0).

OK, SO ALL OF YOU OUT THERE SHARE YOUR STORY!!

Dakota

On Monday morning we took Dakota (our 4 1/2 year old pup) to the vet for what we thought was a sprained or broken ankle, or possible torn tendon. He ran with me about 5 miles the week before and did fine except for the exhaustion and sore hips he usually exhibits. On Saturday afternoon he started limping and Tob stayed home from work with him on Sunday because he was wouldn't put any pressure on that back left leg and when I got home from La Grande that night I could see some swelling so we took him in first thing Monday morning. We found out that he has Osteosarcoma(Bone cancer) and has about 2-3 weeks to live. He is such a HUGE part of our family so we are struggling with this right now. We have looked into other options but they only seem to be a temporary or painful fix so we have decided to keep him on pain meds until we have to let him go. Anyway haven't felt like blogging and probably won't for a little while. I told the kids yesterday which was hard but I feel like it's better to tell them sooner then later so they can give him lots of love and attention. The kids started soccer this last week and when they start playing games I will get some pictures. We were luck they let lex play, she is doing great (even though all the kids are older) and loving it.

Our Past Year

Good Morning! As I was sitting here by myself I was thinking about what a busy and sometimes stressful fantastic past year we have had. There have been sooo many changes in our lives so I thought I would put together a slide show to capture some of the fun times we had.
Some of the biggest changes were:
1. Myself graduating from Nursing school
2. Getting a job, which I love
3. Going to Thailand for 2 months
4. Toby's new job
5. Moving away from La Grande
6. Buying a new home
Anyway, I just wanted to share some of the pictures. Enjoy!! Rachel if you want to give up your secret on how to place the slide show to the side that would be awesome :0)

1st day of School

AHHH Freedom! Both kids are at school. I am sooo excited. When Tob and I dropped them off Nojah went to class first and when he walked in about 3 or 4 kids yelled his name so he hung up his backpack, ignored our goodbyes and off he went. Alexyss was next she hung on my leg for about 4-5 minutes until her she found her desk and went off to play with Natalie (her little friend from down the street). Everyone was very friendly. I love the small school atmosphere. When we left Alexyss' classroom we hovered for a minute because all the parents were there and I wasn't sure if we were suppose to just leave. So one lady came up to us and said "I understand, sometimes it's harder for the parents then the kids." Are you kidding me I have been waiting for this moment! I just wasn't sure with it being a new school what if anything I was suppose to do besides run. Speaking of running. I think I may go for one. Oh the possibilities without children!!?? I'm really not a bad mom. I LOVE MY BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN!!

Check out my Slide Show!