Eric's "house of hormones"

Random

2011-03-01T08:07:00.003-08:00

Today I decided I would browse through our pics and tell you about some I find...

Miss K has always been great at dirty looks - as you can see from this old pic... Can't believe she turns 7 this month! She is so excited to be growing up and is so full of cute giggles.

This one of the guys elk trapping is a site a lot of people don't get to see. Don't worry - they don't hurt the elk when they do this. They just have to use brute force to hold them down so they don't break a leg by getting kicked by an elk. The elk are about the size of a horse most often. Eric has been under one a time or two as well. The hazards of having such a cool job I guess. They take some samples to help determine their health, collar them to monitor their movements, and then release them and wait for the collar to drop off at a pre-set time. It's pretty cool to see the data trends. I'm so lucky to have such a cool hubby - (who is not in this picture by the way- he took it). I can further explain the process of trapping if you want... One of these days I'm going to go too.

This picture of my old kitchen is from right afer I painted it. I miss that nice open space... I loved my red wall...

Ooops

2011-02-26T20:54:00.000-08:00

So I think my house is just as messy w/ me being home as it was when I was working all the time. Mainly because little boy and I are pretty content to sit and chatter, read books, eat snacks (too many), play the computer and watch cartoons. I am so blessed!

When the weather is warmer (in a couple months probably) I'm planning to majorly de-junk/de-clutter... My "mud room" is full of things because it's been cold and I've been bad about returning things to the shed where they belong instead..

Flippy it is

2011-01-28T09:49:00.000-08:00

What a difference a day makes...

So - I am bad and once I get an idea in my head I just go with it - After seeing the first few votes on the hair cut or not poll roll in I knew I was a gonner - mr. C was actually the only No vote (trying to help me with my cause I guess). So, today after my shower - (when I was just putting my hair in a pony tail AGAIN), I decided Eric is probably right - short is good because then I actually do something with my hair...

So I went ahead and chopped it off this morning... Miss M doesn't like and mr. C didn't even notice a difference... haha - No one else is home of course to see it yet.

And I have to admit - that when I was looking for pics. of my hair at different lenths the ones I did seem to think I looked better in were w/ it short..... Now I'll just have to go in sometime and get it fixed by a professional. :)

poll pictures

2011-01-27T09:27:00.000-08:00

So - I have dug up some pictures of my hair at different lengths - Okay - actually I just took this first one of me -today- fresh out of the shower as I didn't have other recent ones (yes I showered at 10 a.m. - so fantastic...)

Wondering if I should cut it shorter again (Eric likes it short and flippy and highlighted too)

OR should keep growing it? I like it longer... :) I like it even longer than in this family picture but after looking through my pics. over the years it's very apparent I am not in very many pictures... so this is the best image I have of my hair being longer.

What do YOU think? Vote on my poll to the right. :)

Year of parties

2011-01-27T09:00:00.000-08:00

Last March miss K had her first birthday party - turning 6 - We decided to have 2010 the year of parties. The older girls had each had one other party before last year.

When I was growing up we got parties every other year - when we turned an even number (I think... or was it odd?) Anyway -we decided to do the same thing - except we decided to do a year of parties and then a year off w/ just fun for the family.

She got to invite about 8 friends - not all could come - but she loved it -even though you can't tell from her look in some of the pictures.

She chose her cake from the picture on the back of the cake box and was so excited for it - so I was I as it was very easy to do. :) She loved it.

She is such a sweet fun girl. I can't believe she will turn 7 in just a few more weeks!

still here... :)

2011-01-17T20:37:00.000-08:00

Can't believe how long it's been since I posted!

This past year has been CRAZY busy! So much has happened! I loved making a book from my blog the last time and would like to do that again so I am going to try and post more often - I'm afraid there will be a lot of "catch up" to do though so bear with me if you're checking in - Just be warned that I might be writing about Christmas in July... ;)

The BEST NEWS of late is that I am back to being a stay at home mom! I am so excited! A little nervous as we really don't have excess money or anything to allow for it - but my being gone 40 hours a week just for a few hundred bucks was NOT worth the loss of time at home. Not only are the kids and I happier (and Eric because I'm actually cooking dinner regularly again) but my house is loving it too! I am finally decluttering the last year of piles...

Eric just switched jobs - but not really - as he is the same thing (Wildlife Biologist) but just has a different management area - his big move is in moving his stuff across the hall to another office. :) He will have different focus species - no longer big game - and a diff. location for field work - but we aren't moving or anything. He accepted the transfer in order to make more money - a small raise which will help my transition to being home.

I am so blessed. My life is so good - Heavenly Father loves me and gives me so much to be grateful for. :)

change

2010-04-15T21:11:00.000-07:00

So, one of my newest quotes I like is "If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies." Change is good and constantly happens. I've found I'm most happy when we "don't sweat the small stuff". Life is so precious and we are so blessed. I am so grateful for my family and for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am grateful to have a living Prophet on the earth, Thomas S. Monson and the other faithful servants and apostles of the Lord. I love that new technology allows for great messages and that they make such great "Mormon Messages" on youtube.

I am so grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord in my life and hope we can always take the time to realize what we are blessed with.
I'm just so grateful. :)

I finally found our camera battery charger and was so glad to be able to take pics of my kids. They're the best and I'm so blessed to have them as mine. I love my life. Now, when I find the camera itself (haha) I will post the pics. Nothing fancy, just every day life - I took some of them watching a movie together I think...

fun times...

2010-03-21T16:24:00.000-07:00

So we survived a short time with a few little kids over for the latest birthday time. K had a great day and loved having friends play, and designing her own cake, games, and party.

She saw the picture on a Betty Crocker cake mix several months ago of a cake like this and wanted one. Thankfully with a spring birthday there are lots of cute things to choose from to add - like the paper flower picks. Made the cake a breeze to throw together. I had a scouting meeting all morning and got home about 1 1/2 hours before party time. We frosted the cake, blew up balloons, finished the game plans, and were ready with 20 minutes to spare (all because I forgot what time the party start - thankfully it started later than I thought so I bought myself an extra half hour of time).

I taught the kids the "Heavy Heavy Hangover thy poor head..." She liked it.
Of course Grandma A always sends presents for everyone so little boy lined up his new cars.

Website to check out

2010-03-10T19:38:00.001-08:00

Graciecare.blogspot.com

Check it out.

Prayer

2010-03-06T16:49:00.000-08:00

When you're saying your prayers, please pray for my sister's daughter Gracie. They found a cancerous tumor this weekend. She has already been through a lot of testing and a sugery this weekend, currently undergoing a blood transfusion, and scheduled for chemotherapy to start soon.
Also pray that her parents will continue to have the Lord buoy them up and sustain them at this time.
I am so grateful for the gospel, our Heavenly Father, and his son Jesus Christ, and the blessing of having the spirit to guide us. I am so grateful to be part of such a wonderful family, and have the added blessing of friends. Love you all.

white sauce

2010-02-22T06:33:00.000-08:00

So I have finally made a yummy white sauce - that became cheese sauce - last night! I was so proud of myself. It was so yummy. We had baked potatoes, broccoli and cheese sauce. That is seriously one of the best things around. Yum.

2010-02-12T08:35:00.000-08:00

5 weeks down and counting!! I have always loved school and learning. I still love learning but I am not really enjoying much about this semester of classes. I now realize how hard it must be for a lot of people to make it through every semester. I have finished 5 weeks now and only have 11 more to go! Wahoo! Then I have my associates. I can hardly wait! I think it's largely because I'm working now too and can easily see how my job could provide long-term opportunities.

I can't find my camera battery charger anywhere so I have no new pictures to post. I wish I had that battery charger though as I'm helping with K's Valentine party today. She is so excited. :) Me too.

full swing

2010-02-04T21:04:00.001-08:00

So, I think I am about caught up with things at work, just in time to learn some additional duties. :) I love my new job and am grateful to have it!

The kids are doing really well with going to the neighbor's after school and have been playing well together on the weekends. I think they're glad to have the time to be in their own rooms with nothing that has to be done. Those rooms of theirs are totally trashed about now but there haven't been too many fights so I let it ride. At least my dishes and laundry stay caught up. :)

Eric and I are in full swing now with the school semester. We are already counting down to May...

My parents have just accepted an offer on their house (tonight) and will be moving next month to sunny Arizona where most of us kids were born! I'm excited for their new adventure. They're so cute in planning it. They will only be about 100 miles from Vegas so we'll just have to start hitting both grandparent houses in one trip from now on I guess.

We "just keep swimming, swimming, swimming" and praying, praying, praying. :)

If I had my way...

2010-01-10T12:17:00.000-08:00

So I'm learning that I have a love for the simple things in life. I was handed a large order supply book at work this week to see what office supplies I will need and found it interesting that I have some pretty cheap preferences.

I like the cheapest pens in the book (Bic medium point ball point)
I like the cheapest post-it notes - with a little bright color thrown in
I like the cheapest tape dispenser (it's just like my one at home) - along with the cheapest 3-hole punch, cheapest scissors, cheapest paper clips, etc.

Is this because it's pretty well all I know or because others are fooled thinking that the higher the price - the better things must be? Is this a case of the "greener grass" for others or the reflection of my cheap, frugal life? Haha.

They'll probably think I'm some sort of odd duck when they get my list tomorrow - but they'll probably also be grateful that I won't hurt the bottom line too much. :)

growth charts

2010-01-05T18:17:00.001-08:00

It is true that kids grow like weeds! I have the proof (well not for the rate of weed growth-just the kids). Thanks to my measuring board (thanks again for the idea Christine!!) we captured the crazy growth rates of my kids this past year- (they are fairly short for their ages too believe it or not. - well maybe not Maiah)

From 12/31/09 to o1/04/10 here are the totals:

Christian grew 3 1/2"
Maiah grew 3 1/2"
Kathryn grew 3"
Erica grew 2"
(Maiah passed her last year and has stayed ahead by a few inches)

The real crazy thing is that 1 1/4" of Christian's inches happened since his birthday Nov. 8th! I had bought him some new pants around then and they are already becoming "floods".

I love having the board to keep track - then we can just take it with us whenever we move (whenever that might be).

2010-01-04T10:05:00.001-08:00

So here's a pic (taken by little boy) of me in my new glasses. I still can't decide if I really like them or not. I liked them the best out of what they had but they're way different to me than my last ones... What do you think?

And a pic. of the little boy himself - he's such a doll. And some other pics. he took too. He was quite proud of himself. :)

First Day

2010-01-04T07:25:00.000-08:00

Wahoo!
School is back in session for the girls! :) They weren't too excited this time around. They had too much fun playing this past week I think. I am excited though. :)

Today is also the first day of a new job for me! I'm really excited! I got a part-time office assistant position up north at byui. I think it will be perfect and great!! I can hardly wait to go find out more about the rest of my life. haha. We're hoping it will be great and will be long-term so that in the future I can work full time and get education benefits for our kids there or in Provo.

I can hardly wait! I think it will be a position that offers a lot of change and responsibility so it will keep me busy and I like that! Plus - I don't think you could find a better atmosphere for working! :) It will be a welcome change!

I finish my last semester of my Associates degree (as an "Office Professional) in May and Eric will finish his Masters in May...

2010 should be a great year!!

Wish us luck!

Snow day!

2010-01-02T14:00:00.000-08:00

So today will probably go down as one of the greatest snow days in history for the kids. They spent HOURS outside with dad making an igloo - which Eric later added stairs and a slide to. They also had a snow ball fight with our neighbor. They all got a few good shots in but when you've had snow ball fights for over 60 years you get some good experience on your side. It was fun to watch them. I just home he doesn't get pneumonia now. :) They were all soaking when they were done.

I also used our movie feature on our camera - I'd never tried it before but since our regular video camera has to stay plugged in I didn't take it out to catch the slide action. I couldn't upload them though. :( It was fun.

some catch up

2009-12-31T08:48:00.000-08:00

So I just realized I wasn't posting during the great summer we had. So here are few bits of it - just backwards...

First of all -my mom is amazing!! In case you didn't know. She made the cute, cute skirts for 15 of their neices for the wedding, as well as the wedding dress. She also made the wedding dresses for me and my two sisters, plus tons of other things over the years for all of us. My girls LOVE to have skirts from grandma because she makes sure they always fit right.

We got to go to my little brother's wedding in Sept. (he's not so little anymore - but still the baby). It was great and the kids love their new cousins!

I also got to do a national youth leadership training and had a great time. I was gone for a week in August and had a blast with 13 teenagers and 2 other adults. My favorite was our overnight backpacking trip of 25 miles. It was fantastic. I love hiking. It was perfect weather and I had a great time! (THANKS to Eric and my mother for taking care of things so I could go!!)

I got to drive the awesome 15 passenger van with the 13 kids in and it - and me. Fun times. They sang and laughed.

We also had a family reunion with ALL 7 of us kids in attendance and ALL 27 grand-kids. It was fun but we were sad two of the uncles couldn't come. Darn jobs anyway... :)

Another big THANKS goes to Auntie Adri who came out for a week in June so I could be the ward Girls Camp Director. Fun times!! I miss being in YW but am enjoying my new teaching callings. Amazing what we learn through serving others. :)

Arm and a leg! (or two or three)

2009-12-30T15:13:00.000-08:00

So the two older girls and I had eye exams today and all 3 of us needed new glasses as well since our eyes are always changing. Can you say - ouch?! I'm still in shock over our grand total!

I'll NEVER take in 3 of us at a time from now on - we'll have to spread the 4 of us blind ones out over the year - once per quarter or something. :)

Fun times!

trip time

2009-12-28T18:13:00.001-08:00

So we took a trip to sunny nv and saw some cousins, grandparents, aunties and uncles. It was fun but a little a the long side. (just a little). And for our friends in sunny nv. (or on the way to and from nv.) that we didn't get to visit... SORRY!

Jill and Christian loved to play in grandma's cabinets. :) I think every house needs some spare cabinets for kids to play in.

We spent time with gr & gr G on the way down -- we're bad grandkids and hadn't been to their house in over 2 years!

We also spent the afternoon at the ancient history museum near Provo ut.

It was fun - we had never been before. The kids loved it.

Here are some pics from the past month of random things. Christian likes to jump from the couch to the chair and the chair to the couch. :) It's amazing he hasn't had more injuries than he has...

It's so nice to be home again- the kids could hardly wait to sleep in a bed again! :) What good kids we have! They sure are fun.

They were completely spoiled this year. Not sure how that always seems to happen.

nov

2009-12-17T11:44:00.000-08:00

So little brother turned 4 in November! Crazy how time flies ~ Hard to believe that this month is our 11th Wedding anniversay. Fun times. :)

Here are a few pics from the Nov. b-day. He helped make the cake and loved it. He just wanted one with his toys on it so he chose some random ones from his room. He's pretty easy to please.
He did get a hair cut recently so don't worry. :)Haha.

I'm Baaaaack!

2009-12-10T14:36:00.000-08:00

So, after several months of not posting I'm missing my own updates. Haha. This is such a convienient way to make "journal entries" about life and the kids and I've missed keeping a better record.

I totally LOVE my book I made by slurping my blog through blurb. It was so easy and turned out great!

I plan to post regularly in 2010 so I can make another family book at the end of the year next year.

In the mean time... I have a job interview tomorrow and I'm really excited about it. It's at the collge in Rexburg so it would be a commute... but it's part time hours and starts at a good rate. So we'll see!!

I have my last final tomorrow too for the semester. Only one more semester to go for my Associates! Wahoo!

2009-06-05T20:40:00.001-07:00

so it just said there were multiple attempts to edit my post... hmmm
anyway, just saying how nice my book from blurb is. you should try it. :)

2009-05-20T21:18:00.000-07:00

in fact... i might try writing a book or two again, having Eric taking some photos maybe, or draw some, and publish our own books someday... they even have ways to sell them in their bookstore and automatically earn a profit by setting your own price.... hmmmmm. don't hold your breath waiting though. I haven't written for a loooooonnnnng time. :)

done....

2009-05-20T21:04:00.000-07:00

so after some real crazy stories about life and technology and blogging and such.... I'm going to abandon ship on the blogging scene... sorry. It's been a fun way to stay connected and such. You'll have to call me for updates or shoot me an e-mail sometime. if you don't know my e-mail, ask me, or a mutual friend if they have it....
I've "slurped" (i think that's what they call it) my blog to blurb.com and it will be a fun family journal/photo book so I'm looking forward to that.
I'll just have to keep a journal still and get books from walmart.com or somewhere like that from now on... it's so slick though using blurb. I highly recommend it! Thanks Tina for the advice!!