Today we celebrate

that He lives! Happy Easter to all we love.

Deep thoughts

...Today my sisters getting married and I am not there. It truly stinks.

...We finally got some sleep last night making me feel only semi-zombieish.

...The dog has figured out that riding in the car with your head sticking out the window is the ONLY to ride.

...I have figured out that the only way to drive safely is to put said dog in the back with the kids.

...The price of produce is killing my food budget.

...I have an un-natural affection for Swedish Fish.

...Kahau needs a trim but is fighting me on it b/c she thinks I will make her look like a "girl"....*gasp*

...Braley informed me this morning she is going to go to a very, very expensive college. I informed her she better win the lottery.

...Jason's working in Florida this week. Unfair.

...Speaking of haircuts. I need one super bad.

...My friend Meg is looking into the church. That makes me smile.

...The only thing in the world that can make me drink more water is the current price of milk.
...I wonder if I am a good example of the Church. I sure hope so.

...I think Spring should get off her arse and get here already.
...I finally found a jelly bean that doesn't make me want to run and hide.

...Easter candy (namely, Peeps) give me the shudders.

...I am going to Mexico in 4 days.

...I have already packed. 10 bathing suits, a pair of slippa's and 2 sundresses.

...My carpets need to be cleaned.
...Playing favorites can really hurt peoples feelings.

...Even if you aren't a fan of someone don't make them or their family feel inferior.

...Lime juice in tacos is not only necessary but heavenly.

...My blog needs a new look. I am growing tired of this one.

That's all the important things rambling through my head. What ya thinking?

Germs=no sleep=no fun

So Ansen has pneumonia. Awesome, right? No. Not really. He can't sleep because he is up all night coughing. Poor guy. He is on some drugs and an inhaler to help the wheezing. He has taken lots of naps and lots of baths so we are hoping he is back to his old self as soon as possible.

3rd grade project: Book Report

When assigned to do a book report Miss Braley went directly to her favorite book and began re-reading it...again. That book, Taylor Swift: Country's Sweetheart, is now turned into a diarama that will be on display tonight at school. I am also impressed at how creative Braley is. She designed the layout, choose her pictures and put it all together. My job? Covering the box in pink. I rocked it if I do say so myself.

Good job Braley!!!!

Taylor might be Country's Sweetheart but you are ours.

"Clean up on asile 16"

I really wish I would have heard those words yesterday at Wal Mart as Ansen was barfing. But, I didn't. I did hear the word "vomit" and that is not my favorite word. It's not my favorite thing either. And it's really not my favorite word/thing to clean up. Especially in public. But that's what I did yesterday at Wal Mart. Poor Bubs barfed on the floor of Wal Mart and guess what the friendly workers at Wal Mart did? They just stood there and watched me while they muttered things like,

"Oh gross"

"Glad it's not my kid"

"Ugh, the smell"

What was even better was that as they were spewing their judgements they were also giving me scornful looks.

Thanks guys, thanks a lot.

On a happier note Ansen was not sick he just coughed so hard that he made himself throw-up. So that's good.....I think.

"Puke check on aisle 16"

Boy or girl?

Ansen's teacher used to work at the Oregon Zoo which makes her in charge of any animal-y thing that happens at the school. When anything animal-y happens at the school people tend to think of my children. As well as anything loud, disruptive or mildly dare devilish--they think of them then too, eh...you take the good with the (not so) good, right?Anywayyyyy- last Friday Ansen's teacher invited the kids and myself to help her with a small project. The pond in the center of the school is home to quite a few turtles and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife requested (told) the school to figure out if the turtles were little boys or little girls when they got a chance (ASAP). So we went turtle catching and we learned a few things whilst catching said turtles: 1. Turtles do not want to be caught. 2. Turtles are not as slow as the cartoons make them look. 3. Turtles have very long, very sharp nails. 4. Telling if a turtle is a boy or a girl is pretty darn near impossible. Each turtle was marked with a number and set back free into it's pond.

They kids loved the experience and we ended our afternoon with a nice leisurely walk home.

Ahhhh, sunshine.

***

ps...we determined they were all girls. I dare you to prove us wrong.

Crisis averted

Ahhh, Purex 3-in-1! About a year ago I fell in love. Hard. I hate to say it but it was pretty much love at first sight. I just knew this relationship would be good for me and those around me. I told Jason right away so I was being honest but recently....Friday to be exact, my new relationship was at total risk. You see, this past summer Wal Mart stopped carrying this beautiful product and I pretty much died inside. When Wal Mart put the last of their inventory on sale I bought every last package I could. That was in early July. On Friday I used my very last sheet. It was sad, very sad. Wal Mart didn't have any on their shelves and I was facing the sad truth that I would soon be back to gritty granules or sticky liquid detergent.

This afternoon I made the lonely trek over to Wal Mart to buy the other, messy detergent when I hit the jackpot. On their sale rack there was 1 package of 3-in-1's and when I went through the check-out the checker lady sent someone to the the back to bring me 6 more boxes. And the best part? They were on sale! So I bought them all.

Oh happy day.

My laundry is saved.

I now have 140 loads of peace of mind.

Play Ball!

The Tigers. Well, some of them.

(l to r)Isabella, Hailey, Ansen, Devon, Zack.

The season has begun! Ansen's first T-ball game was today and he was excited. Even more exciting was the happy fact that his friends Zack, Hailey and Devon were on his team. I've assigned Ansen, Hailey and Zack all nicknames. Of course I am calling them all names of Red Sox players. mini-pappelbon (above) mini-pedroia (below)

and mini-big popi

I am so excited to see them play this season!

They ladies are in the pool (brays) and in robotics club (kahau) but they do have time for some neighborhood stick ball!

The weather is getting nice and we are happy to be outside.

Long drive

It was a long, long drive to John Day. The weather made it even longer. Thankfully the kids were happy to just hang out and go with the flow as we trekked along. They only watched one movie the whole entire trip. That is real progress since all three can now occupy themselves with big kid activities. Ansen spent a vast majority of his time drawing picture after picture. Each of us got a picture of ourselves, the scenes out side of the truck and monsters. Lots and lots of monsters. The ladies (and Rammy) are reading the last Harry Potter book. They are so eager to be done. Our friend Tish has let us borrow the book on cd and while it plays they must read along.

On our way home they were exhausted. Just plain tuckered out. I can't blame them. I think Jason and I were just as tired. As you can see Ansen is out and Kahau is "listening with her eyes closed"....I think she gets that from my Dad. But Braley, oh Braley. She is our energizer bunny. She thoughtfully acted as her siblings pillow while she read her book. I love that she is a book worm!This is how Ansen feels about long car trips.

I believe he may be right on this one.

Snow-finally!

We waited all winter long to get dumped on. We waited and waited and waited and when I had finally given up we got some! But, not at our house. Up in the mountains over by Bend. But snow is snow and we were happy to see it. Even happier to see it with a bright blue sky overhead. We had zero snow clothes with us so we were limited to what we could do but we made snowballs, threw snowballs, ate (WHITE) snow, ran and frolicked.

Oh and we picnicked out of the back of the truck.

This little thing was a complete maniac with his running and jumping and attacking snowballs. Not only is he a beach dog but a mountain dog too.

Again, he's perfect for our family.

Ansen asked to be thrown in the snow.

Request granted.

I think next year we may learn to ski because the kids love being out in the white stuff.

Do you ski?

Well, duh!

Of course we found a pool while we were gallivanting around and of course we spent *endless* hours in both said pool and hot tub. I will just let the pictures speak for themselves.

They~love~to swim!