Surprise!

I'm back already.

Don't get used to it.

I wouldn't want you to get spoiled.

I hate spoiled people.

Anyways..... Blogger is being stupid and not letting me position my pictures in the order I want so this is going to be all out of order.

I don't like things that are out of order. It makes me all...all...dumb feeling.

Anyways... (again) Carson had his football jamboree on Saturday. They played five mini games, and it was so fun! I think it was extra fun because Carson played running back about half the time and scored eight touchdowns! In this league they have a rule that kids over 90 pounds can't run with the ball so all the little squirts like Carson get to do it.

We did have to give him the talk tonight about humility. We reminded him that if it weren't for his teammates blocking all the other guys for him he wouldn't have been able to score at all or even gain any yards. In fact, he probably would have had a ride in his dad's ambulance if it weren't for his team. So hopefully that helps. We'll be watching closely. It probably doesn't help that his parents are so dang proud of him.

We gave ourselves the humility talk too.

Somehow this face isn't very intimidating, is it? You're looking at 68 pounds of....

my little bookie boo. (Someday he'll kill me for putting his nickname on here, but for now I think I'm safe. Please refer to the part where I tell you he's only 68 pounds.)

Also on Saturday we had Jantzen's first soccer game. She had a blast! It was kinda funny because I had to tell her she couldn't just go in the game whenever she wanted. The coach took her out for a couple of minutes and told her to rest. She took a drink and then said, "I'm ready to play some more." Then took off running onto the field! Too funny.
This is her celebration after her team scored.

Next up we have...(drumroll please) the first day of school!

**imagine me running in circles and screaming for joy**

I love school.

This is Jantzen and her friend Lilly in their kindergarten classroom. So cute! She loves school just as much as I do.

Keaton and Carson wouldn't let me take pictures of them in the classroom. Something about not being cool, blah blah blah.

So here's our token first-day-of-school-on-the-front-porch picture.

And I guess that's about it for now.

Ten-four good buddy.

Over and out.

I just came across these pictures from Christmas. They were on a camera we don't use very often. I got a kick out of them.Every Christmas Eve we give the kids new pajamas. We call them their "magic pajamas" because they make Santa come. Here they are modeling them.

Aaaaaaand....I'm not sure what they're doing here.

Carson and Jantzen had their first track meet of the year last week.Apparently, there was some "down time" in which Jantzen could practice warming her ears with her legs.

Check out her smile! You can even see it through the blurry picture.This is Carson running the 1500. He loves this event, but I'm not sure why. I can't figure out if he loves the winning part or the actual running part. As Carson would put it, he "owned" this race. The next kid was almost a minute behind him and he beat his personal best to finish in 6:25. I love this picture because it shows his friend, Parker cheering him on. His friends would run around the inside of the track and try to run along side so they could help encourage him. Carson is so lucky to have a good group of friends at church and at school. On Sunday he and Nick kept laying their heads in each other's laps and then stroking each others hair. Weird, I know but I think they just did it so I would laugh while I was trying to lead the music. It worked.

Anyways...

Keaton wasn't too excited about going to his little brother and sister's track meet but I reminded him of how they came to his tennis match to support him and that he should return the favor. To that he replied, "Tell them they don't need to come to any more of my tennis matches." Very funny, Keaton.

And because I know you haven't heard enough ramblings about our kitchen...

What do you know? It's still not done! A million dollars goes to the person who can guess what's missing.

But seriously, folks I can't complain about not having a dishwasher or a complete backsplash. Mostly because I'm the one doing the tile on the backsplash so complaining to myself gets me nowhere. I'm afraid there might be retaliation if I file a complaint, anyways. Plus, after living for a month with nothing but a microwave, this is small beans! Washing dishes by hand is a pain, but I've definitely lived through worse!

I'm really happy with the way things are turning out. Chris and I were talking tonight about all the yard work that needs to be done, and how we can't afford to do it now because of all the money we spent on the kitchen. But we decided it's okay. We'll just camp out in our kitchen all summer and try not to look at the yard.

There is a faint glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.

Well, you can't tell from this picture, but A LOT of work has been done this week on our kitchen. Since my last post we have done some more electrical work, finished hanging sheet rock, taped all the seams and textured the walls and ceiling. We also scraped up the old linoleum floors and took the old carpet out of the dining room. Today the kids and I primed and painted the walls and ceiling. Whew! I am tired just remembering all the work that's been happening.
So now we are getting to the exciting part... putting everything back together. It's funny how you grow to be thankful for the little things when you've gone without everything. Right now I am so excited to have my pantry back come Monday. There's a possibility that we will get more pieces installed on that day but I dare not get my hopes up.
We are really tired of eating frozen food. It just doesn't satisfy the appetite that we have when we've been working all day. And I'm starting to feel kind of crummy from all the processed foods. Don't get me wrong-I'm not some organic eating health nut, but I'm used to home cooked meals and gosh darn it, I MISS THEM! Our friends Jake and Karen were kind enough to have us over for dinner one night this week so that was a really nice break from our pathetic food we've been eating here.
Friday we're leaving for Utah to spend spring break with Grandpa Tom and Grandma Fay. Grandma Fay is the queen of home cooked meals. It will be such a treat for us. Can't wait to come and eat all your food, Fay! hehe
Keaton has decided to go out for tennis this year. In the past he's always done track, but he thought he'd try something new. So far he's enjoying it and coming home tired and sore. Their first match is March 30 and I'm excited to be involved in something new.
Carson had his last basketball game today. His team went undefeated (again). I think the closest game they played was 6 to 24. One of the games was won 0 to 34. That poor team! I felt so sorry for them, I kept wishing our team would just let them have a basket or two. I think it's just a matter of time until the city puts an end to this team Carson always plays on.

Right after spring break is when the track season starts and Jantzen is finally old enough to do it this year. Yippee! She's so excited to finally be able to do what her brothers have been doing every spring. I'm dreading the three hour track meets in the cold and wind, but I guess that's just the way it goes. Until I save enough money to move to Hawaii I guess I'll just have to get used to it.

Here's a few cute pictures from the last week:

Nice safety glasses, huh?

Jantzen LOVES to help clean the bathroom. It probably won't last long enough for her to actually get good at it.

Poor Kamber, she endures so much humilitation!

Oh, man! I'm a blogging slacker! It's not that I don't have anything to write about. It's just that, well, um, nevermind the excuses. They're boring anyways.
So the best news is that SCHOOL STARTED THIS WEEK!!!!! I used to complain that we had to start before Labor Day, but now I'm wondering...What was I thinking? This totally rocks! All the boys head out at about 8 and then it's peace and quiet around here. Well, except for Jantzie. But she'll be starting preschool in "six sleeps." I had forgotten what it was like to clean a room and have it stay that way for more than 15 minutes. I could swear I did the dishes at least 20 times a day during the summer. And nevermind how many times I wiped the counters. My dishrag wringing calluses were getting really big, I tell ya!
Ever since Daniel arrived the kids have been extra... well...let's just say...energetic. They love having a big brother to wrestle with and to exchange wedgies and titty twisters with several times a minute. (Is that how you spell titty? Now that's a word I've never put in writing.) Anyways, they're worried that they'll get "man-boob cancer" from all of this, but apparently not worried enough, because they haven't stopped.
We were lucky enough to have visits from Grandma Shanna and Grandma Fay in the last couple of weeks. The kids always love to show them what they've been up to. Mostly all at once within the first two minutes of their arrival, but hey what can I say? They're excited!
Things with my Scentsy business are really taking off. The booth I had at the fair turned out to be very beneficial, and now I just have to figure out how to fit it all into my already full schedule. All of a sudden I have a kid in preschool, a kid in elementary school, a kid in middle school and a kid in high school. Whew! This is gonna be hard to keep up on! My calendar looks like graffiti on the side of a bridge with everything trying to squish into the boxes. Tonight at dinner Chris asked if maybe I'd like to have a palm pilot or something (maybe because I triple booked myself for two separate days next week), but my first thought was that it would just take too much time to use. I rather like my old fashioned squish it into the boxes on the calendar method. Besides that, I think I'd rather have one of those rockin' nike plus things that works with your ipod to tell you how far you've run, how fast, and whether your butt is still jiggling like it did three months ago when you first started running regularly. OK, just joking on that last one. And speaking of running, I'm still doing it. I'm not sure if I'd say that I'm enjoying it or not, but I like that I'm about 10 pounds lighter while still eating whatever I want. In the past I've heard runners talk about how good they feel afterward, how they grow to like the pain, how it's not really that hard to run far, etc.. And I've always rolled my eyes and thought that they are just some weird breed from Neptune or something. But I'm getting to where I feel like that too. I started running for the first time just shortly after Jantzen was born, and I was so proud when I could run a mile without stopping. In all my years of playing sports growing up, running was always really hard for me. But now four miles is considered a short run, and I don't even bother bringing water with me. A while back I bought some of those energy cube things with electrolytes and stuff in them for my long runs. And it's funny that I haven't used them yet because I don't think I've had any long runs yet. Three years ago I would have thought seven miles was a long run! It's amazing how your perspective changes when you set your sights on 13.1 miles rather than the 3.1 I would always run in races. Anyways, I guess what I'm saying is that it's true what those crazy runners say. You just gotta get out and try it.
And oh, yeah, Chris is going to be gone all next week for HAZMAT training in Portland. But don't worry. He'll be home for a whole week before he leaves again for more of the same. Now would someone please spill some chlorine or gasoline or acid somewhere so that he can put all this knowledge to use? Then at least we would feel like these FOUR WEEKS of training in Portland are not wasted. Thank you very much

Cliche Summer

Today the kids were playing outside enjoying summer, and it made me have a flashback to my childhood. Jantzen and her friend were in their swimming suits, eating otter pops in preparation for running through the sprinkler.

To me that is just the perfect thing to do on a summer day. I remember wearing my swimming suit all day long, not even caring who saw me in it. I would be happy to go to the store in it, and so is Jantzen. Aah, the good ole' days.

The boys were down the street selling juice to passers by.

(Notice Carson in THE SHIRT again?)

They started out in front of our house in the shade of our big maple tree. But soon they realized that the stop sign provided them with a captive audience. So they moved in front of our neighbor's house. Before too long, she had provided them with an umbrella for shade, and even bought some juice from them. What great neighbors we have! I didn't think that this pursuit would last too long, but they had a steady stream of customers and made $20 in just a few hours. They can't wait to do it again tomorrow. My boys have been known to be quite the entrepreneurs around here. Last year they sold our surplus of tomatoes from the garden. They have been door to door selling rocks and old matchbox cars. They have held bike washes in our driveway. And once, when Keaton was about 5 or 6 he went door to door selling stickers that came in some junk mail. They have no problems using their cute little sister to gain customers. They just bring her along whenever they're selling stuff. It works like magic.

This is the stuff that summer is made of. Yeah, vacations are fun. Who wouldn't want to take a trip to some amusement park or go camping in the mountains? But I really like this day to day stuff too. The times when you don't know what day it is. You have no thoughts of homework, teachers or grades. You look at your calendar and the day is totally blank. Yeah, summer totally rocks.

To the Top!

On Sunday my mom finally decided to give the kids back to me. I think they had finally worn her out. Either that or they ate all her food. Probably both. Along with other things that she won't tell me about for fear that I would actually PUNISH them for what they did. (How could I dare?) So after church I drove to Multnomah Falls to meet them. That's about halfway between her house and ours and it makes a good meeting place. We used to have a tradition of hiking to the top every summer, but we haven't done it in a few years. We always seem to be in such a hurry when we're traveling that we don't want to stop. But I thought that this would be a good time for the kids to spend some energy before getting back into the car for the 2 1/2 hour drive home. They did so well with little to no complaining. It's only about a mile, but it is uphill the whole way with several switchbacks. Jantzen was really excited to get home to be reunited with our dog so she wasn't too excited about taking the time to hike, but I stashed a few candy bars in my backpack and told her that people who don't whine get candy at the top. It worked like a charm, and no, I'm not above bribery. She ended up loving it in the end, which is usually how it goes with my kids. They don't want to try something new but when they do they're always glad that they did. Such has been the case with snowskiing, innertubing, roller coasters and now hiking.

Carson and Jantzen wanted me to take their picture with their candy bars. I guess they really loved them?!

This is our "more bars in more places" picture. Cute, huh?It was a race against the clock because the sun was going down, but we made it just in time. This picture was taken at the top, just as the sun was going behind the mountains. I love the way the colors look. We hurried down and got to the car at 9:30. Then we made the long trip home, arriving home at about midnight. I'm still wondering why the lines on the road were so wavy.

Gone Baby, Gone!

What's gone? You might ask...

The hair on my legs? No.

The weeds in my garden? No.

The little blades of grass on the floor of my car? No.

The pile of dirty laundry? No.

The five-years-old applesauce in my freezer? No.

SO WHAT'S GONE? MY KIDS!

Yes, folks that's right. I loaded them into a minivan with a strange man. Okay, only a little bit strange. But I didn't notice any guns, duct tape or rope in the car. So I figured it was okay. We said our goodbyes, then they drove off to Grandma Shanna's for the week. YAHOOOOO! Now I know that it may sound like I don't love my kids. But that's not true. I LOVE my kids. What I don't love is cooking for them, cleaning up after them, buying groceries for them and breaking up the incessant fights betweent them. This is my one week per year to rest, rejuvenate, eat popcorn for dinner and do some sort of project on the house. I think my project this year will be replacing these tiles:

I know, there's nothing wrong with them. They're beautiful the way they are. Well, that's what their mom tells them. But I'm not too crazy about the fact that some of them broke off and ran away. Then there's the paint they got all over themselves. I just turned my back for ONE SECOND and they had gotten it everywhere. I tell ya. Tiles these days are terrible. When I was a kid we didn't act like that. Well, I suppose I'd better go. I've got some serious popcorn popping to do.

Magic Treehouse

(Sorry about the sideways picture. I'm new to this blogging thing.)

Have you ever read those children's books called Magic Treehouse? The brother and sister climb into their treehouse and are magically transported to places all over the world. I think we have one in our back yard. Carson realized this weekend that he could climb our maple tree, and he thinks it is the best thing ever. Keaton helps lift Jantzen up into the tree, and it becomes this magical place where Carson and Jantzen actually get along! On Sunday after church, they packed themselves a lunch of PBJ's and whoknowswhatelse. They put it into a bucket then pulled it up into the tree with a rope. Then they sat there for about an hour feasting together. It was so sweet. If they had been sitting at the table together eating they would most definitely be fighting, but not in the tree house! Hooray for trees! I'm an official "tree hugger" now.

Blown Away

Today I went to Tri-Cities to go to Costco while Chris stayed home with Jantzen. Man, I love that place! Why does everything look so irresistible there? Like rhododendron bushes. At Wal-mart I would have walked right by them and not even noticed. But at Costco, well I bought as many as I thought I could fit in my car. Good thing I had the small car. Tonight the boys had a track meet. They were very excited because Grandma Shanna arrived here today in time to come with us. Unfortunately, like so many spring days here, the wind blew the whole time we were there. We were so cold! Finally, when we were waiting for them to start the 100 meter race that Keaton was going to run in, he said, "Let's just go home. It's too cold." None of us argued. So we came home and ate ice cream. Go figure.
This weekend we will be having company for Keaton's ordination to the priesthood. Tomorrow, Chris' parents and his sister will be here. Then on Saturday his other sister and her four kids will be here. We are looking forward to spending time with everyone, especially because the weather is supposed to be sunny and 80! I am so ready for nice weather. We're planning on hanging out at the park and doing lots of barbecuing. Yum!