The Middleton Family

Happy 5th Birthday Adison 9.11.11

2012-01-25T20:25:00.000-08:00

Last year we did a big party for Adison so she is on a break from those for a couple years. On the non party years you still get a special date with mom and dad and then a little fun with siblings at home. She even got a one on one movie date with dad before dinner. She was just as excited as the year before when we had a big princess party. Makes me wonder why I ever do those anyway?

We sure love having a 5 year old princess in our family!

She really is such a sweet little girl and adds so much to our family. I love her sensitive nature and her desire to do what is right. We love her endless cuddles and even her monsoon moments. Listening to her sing and watching her dance are daily joys. And if ever I need a glass of water or a small favor there is one kid I know will always be happy to do me the favor - my sweet Adison! Can't believe she is 5... where does the time go?

Shasta September 2011

2012-01-25T20:18:00.001-08:00

I want to at least highlight a few of the really fun things our family did during 2011 before I move onto 2012.

This picture was taken during our Shasta trip with my sister Tammy's family. It was SO FUN to be there with them and watch our kids hang out on the lake together and ride quads around exactly where we did as kids.

And here is a picture of my sisters beautiful kids. No they do not all have different fathers and no none were adopted.

Highlights from the trip were Kenyon, Adison and Avery all getting up on wake boards and knee boards. Adia wake skating for the first time. And although you couldn't pay me to show a picture of it Tammy and I got on the tubes to provide the days entertainment... I have NEVER seen all of our kids (and husbands) laughing so hard. BTW - it was nowhere near as fun as I remember!

Here is Adison on the kneeboard

We all wondered if she would be smiling after the fall - and she did!

For all my other kids that wouldn't be a big deal but for this little princess it really was... I was so proud of her for trying something new. She did great!

Grand Canyon - better really late then never!

2011-12-28T08:20:00.000-08:00

Okay so this post is about 5 months late but I didn't forget. I think I might try and catch up on some of the bigger highlights I have forgotten. Probably the BIGGEST is the much anticipated Grand Canyon Trip - and by much anticipated I mean Kyle has been on a waiting list for about 16 years for the family to get to do this again. And before I show how wonderful the trip was you all need to know the story behind me NOT being there.

About 11 years ago while we were engaged Kyle took me to dinner and told me he needed me to promise him something. He wouldn't tell me what, he just said there is something very important he wants to do with me and he needs me to promise I will do it before he tells me what it is. After much persuasion I gave in and promised. He then told me his family is on a waiting list to go on the Grand Canyon again (Kyle did this with his family when he was young) and he so badly wants to have that experience with me. After 10 years of marriage and 4 more kids when the time came for the trip he never mentioned me going. One day I said "Maybe I should go too just to see Adia have this experience"... I was quickly told "No. You wouldn't like it and not only would you ruin it for me you would probably ruin it for everyone." So I was uninvited and Adia took my place - WHATEVER!

But I was still SO HAPPY for them to have this opportunity and here are some pictures of the fun they had.

Getting read to go... hair station. Notice there are 2 people working on Adia. :)

Adia and Kyle ready to go!

Finally after years and years of waiting they are ON THE WATER! and they don't get to get off of it for 14 days!!!

The group was Kyle, Adia, his parents, 3 of his sisters (2 brought spouses), 2 brothers and their wives, 1 cousin, 1 nephew and 1 really old guy that is a long time rafting buddy of the family... he has done this trip I think like 30ish times.

Here are the guides - each responsible for one of the boats.

Group shot - when Adia got home she mentioned several times how lucky she is to have such a fun family...

but mostly she mentioned her love of UNCLE TY &

UNCLE BEN who kept her more entertained than the river.

And here she is with her wonderful Grandpa who pulled the whole thing together for everyone for a second time. Our family has so many amazing memories due to this man and his love of travel and water and nature and family!

The fun group again.

Here is what it looks like to set up a kitchen in a canyon.

Even chopping tomatoes is fun in there.

And what would they have done without all the card games???

Shaving is a mandate in our family... I was so proud of her for this picture. Kyle don't me that she probably wouldn't shave the whole time but I knew my girl would and I love that she did!

There is so much I could tell you about the trip and all the cool hikes they went on, the beautiful things they saw, the crazy rapids, the entertaining fights (yep, they are a real family) and more but I will just end with a bunch of adorable father daughter shots. If you can look past my two cuties than you will notice that yes indeed God is a marvelous Creator and his artwork in that canyon is truly awe inspiring. I'm so grateful Kyle and Adia had this opportunity!

The End!

A2 Piano

2011-10-28T11:10:00.000-07:00

I realize that i am forever behind on this blog but my life is more full than ever. I recorded this as a thank you to the man responsible for us having this piano, and that is how it moved up the priority list. Enjoy!

Typical Middleton Moment

2011-09-12T16:29:00.000-07:00

Just know, before you watch the video below, that Kaden looked like this about 30 seconds after the video and has watched it about 20 times. As soon as Adia told him she got it on camera he jumped up and started watching the video and cracking up. I have tough kids. :)

TURN THE VOLUME ON!

And now he has 2 nice little purple bumps on his face. One above and one below the eye. Am I a bad mom that this makes me laugh so hard.

Back 2 School

2011-08-29T11:47:00.000-07:00

Well, we are back to school around here. I am slightly mourning my lack of a summer break but I am so excited for all the things we will be learning this year. I have fallen more in love with learning than ever. I'm enjoying each and every subject now and that makes for such a better experience. I sound like such a dork sometimes when I get excited about the new things I am learning but I don't care. I'm a homeschooling mom and I like it! I am so grateful that God chose to put our family on this path. It might not be for everyone but it is, for sure, for me!

Adia was asked to fill out a short interview for the first day of her CC class and I thought her answers were really cute. So I am copying her answers in here and I am asking the little ones the same questions. I want to document this.

Adia Paige - 12 years old

7th Grade - Challenge A

Interview from Adia's first day... I stole this from her planner.

When do you feel happiest? When I'm riding my horse, playing volleyball or with my papa.

What makes you sad? Injustice towards children and women.

Have you ever been really scared? Yes, when I found out my cousin had cancer, it went away and then we found out it came back way worse... he's now in heaven with Jesus!

What is your favorite subject? History!!!!

Do you have a food that you absolutely love? Sushi and Brazilian food.

What did you do on your last birthday? I went shopping, went to a steak house and spent the night at a hotel with my Papa.

Have you done anything fun this summer? I rafted the Grand Canyon

If you could travel any where in the world, where would you go? The Galapagos Islands.

What Bible verse means the most to you? Matthew 28:19 & Colossians 3

Avery Taylor - 8 years old

3rd Grade

What is your favorite subject? Art and History because History helps you learn about back then and I just like to draw and am just really good at it so I like it. Oh and I like learning John in Latin.

What do you like least? Math and Latin Grammar.

How do you think you will do this year? Really good.

When do you feel happiest? When I am doing art with anyone I know.

What makes you sad? Knowing that there are people dying in the world and that there are kids in Africa whos parents died of AIDS.

Have you ever been really scared? When I was in the cavern in Shasta. I thought something was going to be collapsing on me.

Do you have a food that you absolutely love? I like Icing on the Cupcakes coconut cupcake and my moms lava cakes.

Have you done anything fun this summer? Arts Camp at church and summer camp with the high schoolers.

If you could travel any where in the world, where would you go? To France cause I like being fancy and France is fancy.

What Bible story means the most to you? Noah's Ark because God saved Noah's family.

Kenyon Kyle - 6 years

1st grade

What is your favorite subject? History Sentences.

What do you like least? Latin Conjugations

How do you think you will do this year? Good.

When do you feel happiest? Free time at CC.

What makes you sad? When Adia fights me or gets mad at me.

Have you ever been really scared? Yes. Nope. I've never been scared.

Do you have a food that you absolutely love? Fish, and apples, yummy!

Have you done anything fun this summer? Starting soccer.

If you could travel any where in the world, where would you go? China cause I have friends there.

What Bible story means the most to you? Adam and Ever because they were the first people on Earth and they were the first ones to do sin.

Adison Faith - 4 years

Kindergarten

What is your favorite subject? History Sentences and the songs.

What do you like least? Writing, spelling and math.

How do you think you will do this year? Good because I like doing school.

When do you feel happiest? When I play with my friends and my toys.

What makes you sad? When people like punch me and push me on the cement. That's what Avery did today.

Have you ever been really scared? Yes. When I had a bad dreams. One dream there was a big swimming pool and there were sharks and Avery and Kenyon were in there and they were tossing a ball around and then someone shot the ball far away.

Do you have a food that you absolutely love? Sugar stuff.

Have you done anything fun this summer? Going to Shasta and Arts Camp and that's all.

If you could travel any where in the world, where would you go? Mexico. I really want to go there.

What Bible story means the most to you? Kenyon's Bible and your Bible and Avery's.

Kaden John - 3 years

Just taggin along

When do you feel happiest?

Dinosaurs

Do you have a food that you absolutely love?

Cereal and pasta and cheese and chicken and am I still sick mom? am I?

What do you NOT like? Giraffes
What makes you sad? Elephant

Have you ever been really scared? Yes. I had a rattle snake who killed me. It did. My rattle snake is in the bush. I do have one. It's in the garage. I do.

Have you done anything fun this summer? Play at the park.

If you could travel any where in the world, where would you go? To that forest (pointing at his picture and I tell him it's the bush in our front yard and he says "yes, I want to see it")

What Bible story means the most to you? Kenyon's

Do you want to tell me anything else about you while you are 3? Go to CC. Giraffe.

How big are you now? As big as my thumbs. All my fingers are big.

How strong are you? This strong (flexing).

What is your best trick? Ummm.. a front flip. I did it when I was taking a nap. I was asleep and now I'm awake.

More shots from day 1!

I have a feeling this is going to be our best year ever!

Kenyon Posted!

2011-08-26T15:47:00.001-07:00

Click HERE to leave him a comment and make his day!

Carter Fun

2011-08-09T13:48:00.001-07:00

We got lucky to have Uncle Ty and Aunt Christie join us for a week (a month or so ago). The kids LOVED having them. While Aunt Christie worked hard for the money, Uncle Ty worked hard keeping my kids happy and even helping me school them. It was awesome! Plus Kyle and I even got a double date with them, and I got a few documentaries in with them. I usually have to watch them alone and it was fun having real adult people in my house to learn with. I think they are hooked and are going to want to come watch more soon (just kidding, I actually think they might think my movie choices are a bit odd).

Here is just 1 days worth of fun.... I didn't pull the camera out too much.

Notice who is on top! I love it!

We got Uncle Ty to join us at the aquatic center, that i never go to because it stresses me out but with Ty's help we all had a great time!

While the little ones played with me and had fun in the little kid area, Kenyon and Avery enjoyed time with Uncle Ty doing big kid stuff.

Avery went first on the big inflatable...

Followed by Kenyon

and Uncle Ty.

Then they headed to the other one where Avery didn't know Uncle Ty was waiting to scare her. He really is so fun for the kids and seems like he actually enjoys it, like he's not jut trying to be nice. Look at his sneaky position. :)

We came to watch the big 3 for a bit.

Kenyon was in HEAVEN!!!!

Last year Kenyon was too short for the slide but this year he got to go first!

He LOVED it!

Uncle Ty has great water slide form.

And my little Avery was all smiles as well.

This picture is SO CUTE!!! I had to share it!

THANK YOU Uncle Ty and Aunt Christie for being so much fun! We LOVED having you stay with us and can't wait until you get kicked out again.

He's AMAZING!

2011-08-07T10:17:00.000-07:00

Father's Day was super simple this year but I still wanted it documented on here.

Kyle had asked me to put the camera away for Father's Day but this was one of the few shots I got and I thought it captured some of the joy we all felt celebrating the fact that we have such an amazing dad in this house! The kids all put so much effort into their cards for him and it's getting to the point that no matter how good my ideas are, they seem to have the "perfect" plans already in store for him.

Every Sunday at our church, between services, they put out a table of food and everyone stands around, eating, snacking and chatting. For Father's Day I decided to make a "Donuts for Dad" table and it was a hit! I thought it would be a fun tradition to start and I think the kids agreed. I was busy keeping it stocked so Avery took this picture for me.

Well, that was it. But the simplicity of this post and these pictures do NOT reflect in anyway the feeling we all feel toward Kyle. He truly is an amazing father and I feel beyond blessed to be his partner in raising up our children to know, love and make known our Father in heaven. It's a big and overwhelming job at times but it takes a huge weight off my shoulders to know Kyle and I are in this together. :)

Carter Fun

2011-07-25T18:14:00.000-07:00

We got lucky to have Uncle Ty and Aunt Christie join us for a week. The kids LOVED having them. While Aunt Christie worked hard for the money, Uncle Ty worked hard keeping my kids happy and even helping me school them. It was awesome! Plus Kyle and I even got a double date with them and I got a few documentaries in with them. I usually have to watch them alone and it was fun having real adult people in my house to learn with. I think they are hooked and are going to want to come watch more soon (just kidding, I actually think they might think my movie choices are a bit odd).

Here is just 1 days worth of fun.... I didn't pull the camera out too much.

Notice who is on top! I love it!

While the little ones played with me and had fun on the kid area, Kenyon and Avery enjoyed time with Uncle Ty doing big kid stuff.

Avery went first on the big inflatable...

Followed by Kenyon

and Uncle Ty.

We came to watch the big 3 for a bit.

Kenyon was in HEAVEN!!!!

and so was I.

Random Summer Moments

2011-07-23T08:09:00.001-07:00

Cooking S'mores at Grandma and Papa's!

We LOVE Gavin!!!!

Swimming in San Jose... all time favorite!!!

We spend lots of time coloring or crafting at this table!

River Baptism! We love celebrating this day with our church family.

The boys did a service project for the girls. They made the cookies and practiced serving others. It was really cute and the girls were thrilled to get a break from school to enjoy their treats. Now, whenever Kaden wants a cookie he asks "can I make cookie for sisters".

Daddy BBQing moms latest recipe... Orange Thai Chicken... 4 out of 7 liked it.

Too much work for those kind of results!

Adia finally gave in and let my dad give Sierra to an amazing program that uses horses, therapeutically, to work with disabled children. It was such a hard decision but she knew Sierra would be great at it. Her only condition was that she gets to have KC and here she is riding her new horse for the first time.

Adia has been having recurring ingrown toenails since the begining of volleyball season. Here she is the day she got half of it removed. She was super tough for the 50 million shots they but in her toe.

NASTY!!!!

River day with Tati and Wellington. The kids sure love these Brazilians!

Adia did this project with the little ones. They LOVED it!

I LOVE that my kids know how to really ware themselves out...

I swear Adia wants to steal this baby from me.

One of the kids new favorites. I freeze a bunch of little toys in a large bowl and they get to use spoons to hammer them out. It gives me, at least, a good 30 minute break. It's been a big hit whenever kids come over too. I usually make a girl block and boys one!

Well, those were random moments but I've been SO BUSY. I'll post Father's Day, Uncle Ty and Aunt Christi's visit, the Grand Canyon and a few other highlights soon... I hope!

Mom CAN Do It!

2011-06-08T10:47:00.000-07:00

This all started a couple Mother's Days ago. I had wanted to go to Tahoe to enjoy the day since it was too hot in EDH. I said I'd love to go for a walk with the kids. I was envisioning a cement path (like sidewalk) that goes through the beautiful forested areas with views of the lake. I have since learned those don't exist. Anyway, on the way there we saw signs for Horsetail Falls and Kyle says we should do that hike with the kids. He had heard it was beautiful and leads to a waterfall and it was about a half hour closer than going all the way into Tahoe. I was convinced and we pulled over to start my beautiful Mother's Day walk with the kids. Not long after we started on the very natural trail (meaning dirt, bugs and sticks), just a way past the stinking bathrooms, we arrived at a beautiful rock area with a gorgeous water feature (not sure what nature people would call it). After a good photo opportunity and a near death experience with a small animal on my flip-flop covered foot (and a bit of screaming and a bit of Kyle embarrassed of me) I was done and ready to go home. The kids and Kyle were annoyed because I guess we hadn't really started the trail yet. I insisted it was Mother's Day and I should decide. So with tearful kids and a frustrated husband we drove home silently.

That brings us to the day I conquered the hike. I decided it was a beautiful day, the weather was gorgeous and slightly cool (which I love). I told Kyle I'd like to do that hike again. He kind of laughed and then when he realized I was serious said "let's do it". The kids invited Grandma Jenny, Uncle Ty and Sarah. I wore shoes to protect me from the scary animals found all over the ground and we were off.

Now that it is over, I kind of laugh. It was fun. It was beautiful. I really enjoyed being out in God's amazing creation, with people I love, and would do it again any day - well as long as it was cool outside. Here are some pictures of what I conquered. And before you judge me too hard, know that I have hiked half dome. Did I love it? No. Do I think I might actually enjoy it now? Yep. Well, that is if I could physically do it, but the point is, if I could, I would. Of course, I'm not in the pictures but just know I had to be there to take them.

This picture was taken purely to make Grandpa Paul jealous.

We were a bit surprised but so excited to see patches of snow all over the place.

My HANDSOME boys!

Feelin' Proud

Sarah, the big sister that all the kids adore!

Love it!

Yes, Kenyon jumped in the freezing water... and yes, that is snow all around.

Aww... brothers are cute!

Adison was amazing out there.

She had a blast and looked gorgeous the whole time.

See, I was there.

THE END!

Avery's Piano Recital

2011-06-03T18:07:00.000-07:00

Avery had her piano recital just the other night. She did a great job and it was fun to see her start the program off wonderfully. We are very proud of her and love watching her develop this talent. I can't wait to see how she uses it as she grows. Her teacher Mrs. Wanda is a beautiful woman with a heart for God and is so good with Avery (and Adia who she taught for a semester as well). Thank you Mrs. Wanda for being such a great teacher and thank you Avery for all your hard work!

Sorry the video is so dark but the lighting was bad and my new camera is AWFUL!

Happy Ascension Day

2011-06-03T17:58:00.000-07:00

After Jesus conquered death, I love that he spent some special time with his followers, before going back home with his Father, where He belongs, seated at the right hand of God. It makes me feel so loved that after all that pain and sorrow, He was still willing to be with us. He knew they/we still needed their/our hands held a bit and He is always so willing to do that. I feel so loved and had to honor Christ's overwhelming love for us with my gang Thursday night. We had a very special time and the sky couldn't have been more beautiful. We found the highest hill near our home and we read the story in Acts 1. We talked about the power to witness, that Jesus gives us, we talked about how differently we might live if we knew He would be back this week, and we talked about people getting ready because Jesus is coming! It was wonderful and a new tradition for sure!

Kyle, getting ready to have a blast!

The beautiful sky we sat under that so perfectly fit the occasion.

Adison and her beautiful face and craft.

Here is Avery's. She said it is her praying to Jesus while she waits for Him to come back and looks up for Him. She also told me that if we knew for sure He was coming back tomorrow she would call every phone number she could think of and beg people to please believe in him. It was cute!

Happy Ascension Day!

(some people choose to celebrate it on Sunday even though it is technically 40 days after the Resurrection)

Next is Pentecost... still dreaming up a beautiful way to celebrate that HUGE gift we were given.

Food Monsters

2011-05-13T13:35:00.001-07:00

We eat a lot of food in this house! In fact, the majority of my kids, I would bet, eat more than the majority of my adult friends. People with older boys always say to me, "just wait until they are teenagers". It doesn't bug me, but in most of those cases, I am confident my 6 & 12 year old already eat a bit more than their teenager! In fact, my FIL keeps crazy records of everything and he recently looked up how much he bought, when he had all 10 kids living at home. Well, it was no surprise to me that we matched him, in many areas, with only 5 kids and our oldest was 11 at the time. And we do NOT let kids eat as much as they would like. They eat a good portion and that is it. If we let them keep going, we would surely lose our home due to the grocery bill! We buy our eggs by the 5 dozen, we buy 4 gallons of milk at a time and considering no one in this house is allowed to drink milk, I think that is crazy, we buy flour in 25 lb bags and the list goes on! Any way, I thought it might be worth documenting how we buy our ground beef. It's a process that Kyle has down to a science. We bag it, to freeze, in 3 different sizes and every time I laugh. I can't believe, we really are THAT family! Maybe someday I'll show you the chicken routine. :)

Avery's Art Party

2011-05-02T08:29:00.001-07:00

She's ready to party!

Due to the fact that we spent a week out of town and arrived the night before the party.

This is what the house looked like before we left for Tahoe.

A close up of the favors.

When the guests starting arriving, I started painting faces.

It was actually really fun for me.

One of my models.

Then an art teacher came and did an art class with the kids.

Avery and her designed the picture ahead of time and they all turned out SO GOOD!

Danielle and Adia even got in on the action.

After that we had dinner and birthday cake!

The girls got "artsy" and decorated cupcakes

We made this fun garland for above the cupcake table.
I really liked how it turned out.
And, of course, there were presents!

Then we puff painted the shirts we wore for the art class.

And lastly we took a fun group shot, said good-bye and then I took a long, much needed nap!

But let's not forget the real birthday.... for both birthday babies!

5 days after Avery's party... We woke up to a Toy Story table full of donuts!

Kaden got most of the attention on the 21st. He thought it was his party day.

Then we had a pretty normal school day and picked up the celebrating again when dad came home from work, I mean, when dad got off the river.

Big Sister worked hard decorating a "Buzz Cake"

- I bought plain chocolate cake and had her fancy it up.

The twins had a great time opening gifts! Avery's favorite was her new Razor 360. Kaden got mostly Toy Story gifts and his favorites seem to be the 2 stuffed Buzz and Woody dolls sent from Aunt Stacey.

Avery thought it was important they sliced the cake together for a photo opp. I LOVE it!

Of course they loved having family join in on the fun. Thanks for stopping by guys and adding to the joy!

Happy 8th Birthday Avery!

and

Happy 3rd Birthday Kaden!

YOU ARE SO LOVED!!!!

He is Risen

2011-04-28T16:12:00.000-07:00

Not much time to blog lately. We have had 2-4 live-in guests over the past few months and that, on top of my normal life, leaves me a bit strapped for time.

But I couldn't forget to say that we had a wonderful celebration of our RISEN LORD over here. It has been a truly beautiful season of Lent and our family really tried to embrace the whole season and especially holy week. As usual, when we strive to meet God, He finds us and meets us. I can't describe some of the joy we all felt worshiping God together. But we did and I am so grateful for those moments. And I must add that having our friends from Brazil with us, has helped me be so aware of the Kingdom of God, here and now, and just so grateful for God, for having been so gracious to my family in drawing us to him.

Of course, I am only sharing the highlights I want to remember. We are a normal family and had normal and often outbreaks of totally NOT God honoring moments as well. No need to go into details on those though.

Here we are enjoying Easter Cinnamon Rolls and Treats.

My HANDSOME boys before church.

Group Shot! I LOVE it!

Hope you all had a wonderful Resurrection Sunday as well!

I hope to keep the Easter spirit strong around here and have our first family Pentecost celebration in a few weeks.

If you have ever done that and have ideas - pass them on.

Oh and we didn't forget our kids birthdays...

I'm just waiting on some pictures before I share how fun it was.

Avery Taylor

2011-03-21T21:03:00.000-07:00

I seriously am so in love with this girl! She is such a sweetheart! We took this picture today for a birthday invitation she is sending out this week. As I was looking at it tears filled my eyes. She is growing up so quickly and so beautifully! I can't believe she will be 8 in only one month from today! I'm not going to mention that the baby will be 3 on the same day because then I might fall apart. Can time stop now, please?

Stayin' Alive

2011-03-14T18:38:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to let it be known that we are alive and well. With 9 people living under one roof I have been more aware of my weaknesses lately and more focused on managing my home in a God honoring way. We have been trying to put a new schedule into practice that doesn't leave much time for blogging. But it does leave time for a few cute pictures of random moments in our crazy but wonderful life.

Adison was playing a game on the computer and when we came to check on her she was dead asleep in this position

The class I teach at our Friday co-op. Adia assists me in there sometimes and Adison is in it.

There is always time for cookies!

Kaden fell asleep like this while watching his FAVORITE movie - Toy Story.

What do you do with annoying little brothers???

Daddy leading the family time devotions at co-op.

It snowed for like 5 minutes and then hailed like crazy!

Of course school was cancelled for 15 minutes to enjoy the weather.

Adison's drawing of Jesse riding Bullseye (the girl and horse from Toy Story).

Kaden has a bad habbit of taking all of the pillows off of the couch.

Of course, if he falls asleep on the job he avoids a punishment.

And there is always time for dinner around here.

This was a hit among the 6 and over crowd!

Here is the recipe - thank you Stacey!

I used the romaine hearts and added purple cabbage for looks.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil (optional)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 (8 ounce) package dry chow mein noodles
1 head iceberg lettuce - rinsed, dried, and chopped
4 boneless chicken breast halves, cooked and shredded
3 green onions, chopped
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted

Directions

Prepare the dressing 30 minutes ahead of time by combining the brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, salad oil, and rice vinegar in a salad dressing carafe.
To prepare the Chinese rice noodles, heat a skillet with a few tablespoons of oil and break off a little bit of the noodles and add them to the skillet and fry them. They will puff up in the skillet, so only add a few at a time. As they begin to puff up, remove and drain them on paper towels. Be sure to cook long enough as the under cooked noodles will be like eating needles. Once cooked, add them to the salad mixture.
In a large bowl combine the iceberg lettuce, cooked and shredded chicken, green onions and toasted sesame seeds. Let chill about 10 minutes, and just before serving add the cooked rice noodles. Serve in salad bowls and offer the dressing in a pourable container so your family can add as much dressing as they want. You can also pour the dressing over the top of the salad, toss, and serve immediately.

Spring Semester

2011-02-02T10:50:00.000-08:00

This semester our family joined a new Community of homeschoolers in something called Classical Conversations. Classical Conversations (CC) is an academic program that seeks to come alongside parents and assist with Christian Classical homeschooling. CC is growing like a weed all over the country as parents discover how helpful it can be to homeschooling - 6000 students were involved nationally last year - that number is up to 30,000 this year!

It truly is an answer to prayer for us and is helping us so much in our schooling. We have never learned so much and had so much fun doing it.

Every Tuesday the day begins at 9:00. Everyone gathers together for a family presentation, review of our timeline cards, review of the Bible Memory work and announcements.

Then the kids break into their own classes. Each class is taught by a trained mom/tutor. There is no more than 8 kids to a "tutor". Adison is with all 4&5 year olds. Kenyon is with all 6&7 year old boys, Avery is with 7 year old girls and so on. While in class we learn a new History sentence (for example - "Watt's steam engine, Cartwrights powerloom and Whitney's cotton gin spurred the Industrial Revolution), a new science fact (ex-Newton's 1st law of motion), Latin Grammar (1st conjugation Present Tense), Grammar (ex - Adverbs), Math Fact (ex- The Area of a square = side squared) and a new part of the World Map (ex- Baltic European contries). We also learn 8 new timeline cards so that by the end of the year we can say a timeline spanning from creation to modern America, do an art project and a science lab and the kids give a short oral presentation on an assigned topic. It's a long morning but so rich in content!

Here is Kenyon presenting on his family.

Here is one week's art project. Avery's art always looks so advanced compared with her peers. Her's is the bottom right. They were instructed to use water color to paint a landscape like the famous Artist they had just studied (I don't remember who it was).

Here is Avery's class participating in a science lab.

Then in the afternoon all of my kids are in a playroom while the 3rd - 6th graders and their moms, take an intense 2 1/2 hour grammar & writing course. It's pretty intense! The teacher was an English major and says it's every bit as difficult as some of her college material.

Then we go home and for the rest of the week we practice all of our facts and get them memorized well. As well as do our regular math, phonics, and other subjects. The truth is I am shocked how much the kids are retaining and although I already was leaning to the classical education model - I am fully convinced now and look forward to being completely converted.

Here is what my whiteboard looks like each week.

And of course, we are still in our Friday (For His Children) Co-op. That is, all of us besides Adia, who is now too old to join in on the fun. She has too much going on between regular school, CC, volleyball and her Bright Lights group. On Friday mornings she joins dad at the office and gets her school done there.

Kenyon's new classes are - PE & Oddball History

Kaden's new classes are _ Preschool Playhouse & Bible Stories & Nursery Rhymes

Adison is taking Espanol 101 & Fruit of the Spirit FUN! (taught by mom)

Avery's classes for this semester are Sewing & Around the World Geography

We are super busy but we are Learning tons!!!

Daddy Can Dream

2011-01-26T16:47:00.000-08:00

Somebody is joining in the volleyball action around here!

Avery is joining a 16 week training team for girls to prepare for club. Practice starts tonight. She is so young to try volleyball already but we think it's in her blood. She is such a great athlete and so far she does really good at everything she tries. So, why not.

It was so cute listening to the girls get ready together and hearing Adia give her tips. Adia even ended up letting her borrow a matching shirt. I have a feeling Kyle is in heaven right about now and dreaming up some pretty big dreams.

to be honest though - so am i!

(don't forget to look at the post below for video of Adia)

Adia in Action

2011-01-25T19:41:00.000-08:00

Here are a few clips of our little SUPER STAR!

She really has matured a lot and her level of play has really been uped a few notches. She is still a solid server as well as a super setter this year too. She works really hard - practicing 3 nights a week and having 2-3 tournaments a month. She also plays open gym weekly with adults and it has all clearly brought her game to the next level. We LOVE watching her.

I really need to get more video of her in action on the court - not just her serves. She is a great setter and #19 is an AWESOME hitter (especially for a 12's team) and it is so fun to watch them work together.

Oh and don't be confused. She couldn't get her number 10 this year (dad's old number) so she converted to mine (#22). I keep getting reminded not to get attached because as soon as she can she is switching back.

Here she gets 2 aces for the game!

You will notice in this one how close she is to my camera. She looks down at Kenyon who is being a goof ball on the floor and it messes her up on the last one. Oh well.

These are clips from thier first tournament playing together. I can't wait to show the newer clips against some great teams. I will work on it at the next one. :)

Passport 2 Purity

2011-01-17T13:20:00.000-08:00

Recently Adia and I went away for a little Passport 2 Purity weekend. She has given me permission to share how it went so that other moms and daughters (or fathers/sons) could learn from our experience and hopefully do something similar. Many have asked me to share more details and so with her permission that is what I am going to do.

We had a great time, learned a lot and had some really good conversations to help her prepare for the tough years ahead of her. Passport 2 Purity is a kit that comes with 5 CD sessions, a parent manual and a student manual. It is meant for a father/son or mother/daughter to do together during a child’s 6th grade year. It covers topics like peer pressure, puberty, sex, dating and PURITY from a Christ-centered perspective! I doubted the timing many times but found out as we went through it together how perfect this age actually is for the retreat. Here is our Passport story…

Before I tell you about the journey we took I have to tell you about the prep work. The parent is meant to listen to all of the session ahead of time as well as prepare a little hands on experiment to help reinforce the point of each one. Weeks before I started listening to the CD’s, planned when and where we would go, gathered the needed supplies for the activities and PRAYED hard that God would meet us when we finally went away together.

One more thing before I go into the details is that going over this information with Kyle (my hubby) ahead of time was such a good experience. I wasn't for sure we would be on the same page with all of this and to be honest I was nervous that we were going to have to come to her with shared convictions and thought they might have to be forced. The truth is though that when Kyle and I spend a day preparing for this God totally met us. We had some great conversations in regards to the standards we want to hold in our home and also about some of the pain that came from our past mistakes. I know a few others who felt the same. The gift this program was to our whole family caught me completely off guard.

Okay, back to the point - Monday morning we headed out. Her dad and I had both written her a letter telling her how much we love her, appreciate her and look forward to watching her grow up. We told her we believe in her and that we know with God (and our) help she will be able to look back at her teen years as ones she can be proud of. After she read the letters we put the first CD on. Adia had a little guide book that it has her fill in the blanks to be sure she is following along. Each session ends with a memory verse and they are all put to music. The songs are cheesy but we had fun singing them and trying to memorize them.

We stopped and got some lunch as well as a couple treats to take back to the hotel with us.

Once we got to the hotel we got busy listening to the lessons, having great conversations and doing the suggested activities. I had kind of doubted this part of the program. I thought she was a bit old for some of them but once we got into the lessons I found them to be a great way to visualize the point and we enjoyed every one.

Here we are all setup at the hotel and ready to dive in. I actually laid the stuff all out like that and we both thought it looked staged so we decided to take a picture of her in the middle of it.

Enjoying her chocolate teacup.

Day 2 - Filling in her journal as she listened to the CD session.

And here is an example of the project we did on gaurding relationships. If you double click this to see it bigger you will see the lessons learned. Heart #1 represents a guy/girl friendship that has all the necessary safe guards in place to keep it totally pure and God honorhing. #2 is more of a guy/girl friendship that went too far. And I don't mean sexually - more of just getting exclusive/attached and the pain that might follow that. Then #3 was a long term exclusive relationship. Not even necessarily sexually speaking but more just major attachments made and the damage that can cause when the 2 weren't mature enough to begin with.
Adia, pretending to cry over the loss of innocence.After breakfast, we finished our last lesson and got ready to go out and have some fun. I had planned to have one of her best friends and her mom meet us at the mall where they could get their ears pierced together. Both of the girls have wanted to do this for years but both of their dads have been saying NO. It was so cute to see them do this together. They had to wait in line behind some 6 year olds but hey - no big deal!

After a fun visit with them Adia and I enjoyed a bit more one on one time. She knew we would be going out to a nice dinner that night. What she didn’t know is that her dad would be there also. Kyle had spent much of his last couple days searching for the perfect promise ring to give her. He had also worked hard coming up with a Purity Covenant for them to sign together. That dinner was such a precious time. I got to watch Adia squirm a bit as her dad shared his love for her and desire to always be there for her. Then they both entered into a purity covenant together. To top off the evening she was given a ring to wear that symbolizes our promise to her, her promise to us and all of our promises to God in regards to her staying pure and our role in helping her in that. She was pretty excited and so were we.

Here is our Purity Covenant (actually we revised this a little but I can’t find that document so I will share the almost final draft). I share this so you can use it to help you in writing your own. We loved reading other families to help us come up with this. The program comes with a Wait to Date contract but we didn't feel it captured our hearts/desires for this area.

Purity Covenant

To my parents:
I recognize that God holds you accountable to raise me in the
admonition of His ways.
I recognize that I am under your authority as your daughter.
I believe that you love me unconditionally and are committed
to my well-being.

I commit to God, my parents and my family:
To put Christ first and guard my heart to protect the gift
entrusted to me by the Lord.
To joyfully await the man the Lord will bring for me to marry.
To save all of my innocence and purity for my future husband.
To wait to until my parents believe I am ready to develop a loving relationship with a man.
To submit to my father's authority over my courting and marital intentions.

I joyfully and intentionally promise myself to these things.

__________________________________________
(your signature)

__________________________________________
(dad's signature)

Happy Birthday Kenyon & Grandpa

2011-01-14T09:37:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, another one of my kids got older. We had a regular school day followed by a fun evening to celebrate his special day.

Here is our birthday tradition of putting our new height on the ruler.

Kenyon is as tall as Avery was the day she turned 7.

After school Kenyon and Kaden helped me make the cupcakes.

When daddy got off work we took him out for a birthday date to Chili's. He was so excited. We were going to see a movie after dinner but he decided he would rather pick a new Lego set that he and dad can build together.

Kenyon shares his special day with Grandpa. When we got home from our date the other birthday boy was at the house (with his lovely bride aka Grandma). Aunt Rochelle and her boys decided to come over too so we could have some other boys at the last minute party.

They opened gifts together...

This was so funny because we had Kenyons face covered to surprise him with his new skateboard. Listen closely in the begining.... then ignore my loud laughing.

Had cupcakes together...

And of course they took pictures together...

Here are the cupcakes I made for our co-op. I saw this when my sister-in-law made them for my niece and thought they were SO CUTE. Mine didn't turn out too bad either.

Happy Birthday Kenyon!

We love you and you truly bring SO MUCH JOY & LAUGHTER to our home - Thank You!

And Happy Birthday Grandpa Paul!

We love you too!

Birthday Girl

2011-01-07T09:35:00.000-08:00

AYesterday something happened that seemed completely surreal. My first baby entered into her last year of pre-teen life. Although yesterday had some tough moments between the two of us (me no sleep - her hormones raging!) I have to say that I couldn’t be more proud of who she is, what she chooses to stand for and who she desires to become. She is truly amazing and Kyle and I feel so extremely grateful to God for how much he has stood in for us as we raise her. God’s word tells us that where we are weak that is where He is shown strong and oh my! That is so true in our parenting journey with this one!

Happy 12th Birthday Adia Paige!
Your dad and I love you more than you will ever know (well, at least until your first born turns 12).

and some random pictures of her...

and these are a sneak peek into the post I have been meaning to put on here for a couple weeks. This is from our Passport 2 Purity weekend. Several friends have been bugging me to put that on here but it's such a special story that it's hard to write in a rush like all my other posts. I promise I am working on it.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-31T11:03:00.000-08:00

Even though we arrived home from Tahoe on Christmas Eve we still managed to keep up our annual traditions. We joined our church family for a wonderful service full of great worship, a good message on the peace that Christ offers (something I really needed to hear) and wants to give through us and then we came home to do have a small Birthday Party for Jesus. We played some games, had a birthday cake and gave presents to Jesus. Each of us shared why we love him and why we are choosing to follow him. It was a precious time full of simple but honest answers. Including Adisons answer to why she loves Jesus - "because I get presents because of him".

Christmas morning we added a new tradition to help slow things down and get the focus more off of the presents. We told the kids that we were going to hide the little nativity pieces and they would not be allowed to open their stockings until they had found each piece. Kenyon was up at 6 telling me how he had already looked and not found anything. He was pretty upset. Kyle forgot our kids are 11 and under and decided to hide them for a group of adults. Seriously one of them was in the bread maker that is put away in our cabinets, to find one you had to take the clock off the wall and look inside it and others were taped or hidden in rediculously hard places. Eventually the kids found them all (with major hints) and they got to open their stockings.

Grandpa Paul and Grandma Jenny joined us for our omelet breakfast and the final reading from our Advent book. The kids enjoy the book and practically have the whole thing memorized by Christmas day. I love it!

Then of course, the presents need to be opened. Not my favorite part but I do see why the birth of Christ is worthy of such a celebration. I just look forward to the age when the kids enjoy the giving more than the getting. We give the kids 3 gifts each year in honor of what the wiseman gave to Jesus. 1 gold/best gift, 1 frankencense/something for worship and 1 myrrh/something practical. Disneyland was our gold gift this year so there wasn't much but it still always feels like too much. This was also our first year we did a stocking exchange (siblings drew names for whose stocking they would fill) and a sibling gift exchange. That helped minimize the chaos a bit and the kids had a lot of fun picking things for eachother.

Since this is also my journal I want to document what they each got from us...

Adia got a book called 8 great dates for moms and daughters that we will do together and an interactive globe.

Avery got her first real Bible (vs. the kid kind that only have short little stories), rainboots and an umbrella.

Kenyon got a boys devotional to start doing with daddy, the Adventures in Odyssey DVDs and a new backpack.

Adison got a new christian princess book, rainboots and an umbrella.

Kaden got the animate Jesus movie and some Hot Wheel toys.

Yes, Adia got an I-pod (thank you Auntie Ta Ta) - it's wierd when she has nicer things than me.

Grandpa got to be the first to read Adison her new book. It was a hit!

Kenyon got a new Michael Jackson ornament this year and both the boys seriously play it every day and practice their moves - obviously they still have a lot of practicing to do!

When everything settled, g'ma and g'pa went home and the kids sat around playing with new things the exhaustion from Disneyland, Tahoe and more hit and Kyle and I fell asleep. Of course we woke up to a disaster! But whatever. We cleaned up the house, took down some decorations (namely the big tree dying in my family room) and then took off to spend the evening at the river (kyle's parents). Uncle Ty and Aunt Christi were there and the kids were SO EXCITED to get to see them. We also got to see crazy Uncle Ben and Aunt Dara - always a treat. It was fun to hang out with just the brothers families - thats a rarity!

And that is about it. We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

For those of you family members we didn't get to see - we sure missed you!

Tahoe

2010-12-30T22:27:00.001-08:00

The week before Christmas our family enjoyed a lovely little getaway in Tahoe. It was SO NICE to be together with nothing to do. The ride up there was so interesting. When we left the house Kyle asked Adia to pray for our safety and boy are we glad she did! About 10 minutes into the trip the light on my dash lit up that says "service 4 wheel drive". We stopped at a mechanic who said they couldn't fix it. We then headed to Grandpa Paul's to switch Saburbans. The picture below is where we got stopped on the mountain. We found out it was due to some major snow fall and about 6 cars needed to be cleared off the road. It was at this spot that a news crew showed up and I was panicking because I thought you would be able to see me in the background of the newsladies report. I turned in my seat to face away from the news van when Kyle says "Amy, shes coming to your door". Sure enough I coulnd't get out of being interviewed and Kyle and I were put on the news for plenty of our friends to see - SO ANNOYING! I guess that is payback for all the pictures I have refused to be in for so long.

Anyway, we finally made it to Tahoe and had such a great time. Here are some of the highlights...

Good old fun in the snow.

Lots of beautiful photo opportunities!

Sledding!

Snowball fights!

Icicles

Snuggle Times!

Goofing around!

Spending time with GREAT FRIENDS

who joined us for a couple nights!

Looking cute in our gear.

Watching Lake Tahoe look like an ocean.

Watching the big kids!

Getting sick but feeling really loved when Adia delivered snow to play with inside.

There are so many good pictures I wanted to share but my computer is being funny and I have several more posts to complete in the next few days so I need to just get this on here. Overall we had such a great time. The kids got lots of snowboarding and sledding in and we all enjoyed some really precious time as a family. I wish we could go back next week!

Girlie Christmas Gathering

2010-12-17T20:48:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday (the ONLY night Adia doesn't have volleyball) Adia and Avery invited some girls over to have a little Christmas fun. We had a great time and I think we'll add it to the list of traditions over here. :)

We started by making Gingerbread houses. But the girls were WAY more interested in chatting with each other rather than decorating.

Then we made a little craft for them to give to someone they love.

Next, we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and the girls went around the table sharing a gift they want to give Jesus this year.

Adia is giving the gift of being more patient with her siblings.
Avery wanted to give the gift of trying to control her temper.
I told Him I Would spend more time with Him in prayer and in the Word.
Some of her friends shared they would be nicer to their siblings.
Adison said she would give Jesus the cake. Obviously she didn't get it - as usual!

Of course we had to take some silly photos.

These are Adia's BEST FRIENDS! I am so thankful to God for giving her such godly girlfriends. They are truly SO SWEET and SUCH GIFTS in her life. I love that they are getting older and girlie yet they still have a blast and act super goofy! It's funny sometimes she gets in trouble and I know I should take away the privelage of hanging out with friends but I LOVE the influence they have on her and the relationships they are building so I rarely stop a get together.

Avery had a fun night with her friends too but it's hard to be the little sister and ALL your friends think your older sister is really cool and try to hang out with her all night. This can be really hard for her. I hate it. But one of her friends is one of Adia's BFF's little sister so she never leaves Avery - she gets that they aren't so cool after all!

And to end the night they gathered on the couch to watch a Christmas movie. Adia and her friends enjoyed it to the end. Avery and her friends ran upstairs and went crazy about 1/2 way through it.

Over all it was a great night, with great friends and I think Jesus must have smiled looking down at all these young ladies who love each other well and Love Him a bunch too.

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Disneyland

2010-12-14T19:28:00.000-08:00

We just got back from our families first trip to DISNEYLAND!

Grandma & Grandpa helped us make that happen for our whole families Christmas gift. It was also mine and Kyle's gift to our kids this year. Everyone had a BLAST and it was totally worth the combined effort to make it happen.

THANK YOU!

Here is what we looked like on the LONG drive there. But we finally made it and had such a good time!

Splash Mountain!

I LOVED all the Christmas decor!

Lot's of shoulder rides! Grandpa was the best baby holdder ever!

Kaden is IN LOVE with Buzz but freaked out when he got close to him. Adison on the other hand LOVED meeting all the different characters. I love how she does her feet in pics!

He didn't freak out on the ride though - he LOVED it. Adia and I fought over who could go with him until we realized the 3 of us could all fit in together.

I kept trying to get the adults to look at the kids they were sitting with but all of them (besides me) were way too interested in getting points by shooting the silly guns! Dorks!

Adia and I on a fast ride that went down and around a mountain... not sure what it was called.

Jenny cracked me up - checking out her pictures before the ride was even over. She was a blast to be there with. I swear she knows that place better than I know the local mall. Crazy!

Daddy & Avery fighting their way through the park.

This is how the Middleton's keep entertained while we wait in the lines!

Adisons' favorite part for sure!

When I asked her who's castle it is she quickly said "mine"

I'll have to find the many shots of Kyle like this as a little guy.

Kaden was not feeling good at all while we were there but when he felt good - he felt REALLY GOOD!

Everything was so beautifully lit up for Christmas. I LOVED it!

Brad & Lindsey even stopped by to have some fun with us. Brad went on the Tower of Terror with the kids as well as the wet rapid ride (2x). Then G'ma and G'pa took the kids swimming at the hotel while the 4 of us went out for a nice dinner. It was a great treat to see them.

Everyones favorites...

Kyle - Pirates

Amy - California Soaring (or something like that)

Adia - Tower of Terror

Avery - The loop de loop ride (not sure what it's real name was but it's the roller coaster in CA adventure)

Kenyon - Indiana Jones and The Jungle Cruise (some random boat ride with tons of cheezy jokes)

Adison - The princesses & the honey pot ride

Kaden - Buzz

Cappuccino Christmas

2010-12-14T19:19:00.000-08:00

The Women's Ministry of our church has a HUGE event each year called Cappuccino Christmas. There is live entertainment, beautiful tables hosted by different ladies from the church and a wonderful dinner served to all. I wasn't going to go this year but Stephenie invited me to sit with her family and I couldn't pass up a night to chat with her while watching her hubby do a little drama stuff on stage. I'm glad I went!

It was a night full of good friends!

Cute Babies

(do any of you bloggers know why it keeps turning my pictures???)

Lots of fun tables to look at...

And for the entertainment this year they did a live radio broadcast of It's a Wonderful Life...

and they did a really good job!

Christmas Tree Party

2010-12-05T18:52:00.001-08:00

Recently we visisted a homeschool program that our family is joining in January. It is an AMAZING program that I will share more about later. For now you get to know that each time the kids meet there they each do a short presentation in front of their class to practice their public speaking skills. Well, since my kids were new they got interviewed in front of the classes they were in. Adia and Kenyon's teachers both asked them about the upcoming holidays and what traditions they most look forward to. I thought it was so cute that both of them talked about our annual Christmas Tree Party. I didn't get to hear Adia's answer but her teacher told me how neat it sounded later. Kyle and I sat in on Kenyons and heard him tell the kids all about the ornament we pick out for them and how it has to be something special about them and that we get to sleep in the room with our new tree. It was a sweet reminder that these traditions really are special to them and worth the effort it takes to make them happen.

So here are some pictures of this years Tree Party with my tutorial on how to make it happen for yourself.

1 - Go get a tree. If it is raining feel free to throw it in the car so your carpets don't get soaked when you get home.

2 - Unwrap your new pajamas, put them on and look very festive while you decorate.

3 - Have 1 new ornament for each kid. It has to be something that very much reminds you about them in that past year. Gather in a circle and let someone open the untaged ornament. We do it this way to add to the excitement of guessing who each one is for. The kids (and Kyle) LOVE it!

...don't forget to charge your camera so you can take pictures of each part of the evening.

...this years ornaments were as follows:

Adia - Volleyball

Avery - Kitty cat

Kenyon - Micheal Jackson (don't ask me - talk to his dad!)

Adison - Strawberry Shortcake

Kaden - Buzz Lightyear

4 - Have hot cocoa and donuts while mom gets the lights on the tree.

5- Put a Christmas movie (The Nativity was this years choice) on for dad so he will stay in the room and be part of the fun.

6- Let the kids help put all the ornaments on (even though it looks CRAZY when they are done).

... this part is so special because as each ornament comes out of the box you hear the kids talking about old memories. Things like how Avery used to LOVE Veggie Tales and say Bob all day every day. Or how Adia was such a great big sister to each of the kids. Or Kenyon's first Christmas and how chubby he already was.

7 - Enjoy your time together, talk about the Birthday Boy a lot, cuddle with each child and be sure to cherish every moment. I have been told that sooner than we would like I might have an empty house - can't imagine but neither could any of the people who told me it happened to them.

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-03T08:27:00.000-08:00

As always we have SO MUCH to be thankful for. I love this picture as it captures the heart of the holidays - a time to gather in recognition of all God is and all He has given.

But let's back up a bit... while Stacey, mom and I were cooking, Tammy was talking/cleaning and the hubby's and the kids kept very busy by...

playing in the play room (best part of the house for sure!)...

playing around in the great outdoors...
looking SCARY and getting work done...

driving around the property feeling free....

Holding baby animals...

(the vertical pictures keep flipping???)

fighting Uncles...

My dad keeps himself very busy these days buying animals, thinking of things to have built for the animals and then changing his mind, selling animals and making changes to what he has built. Here he is giving Kyle the latest tour. He grew up on a chicken ranch and I think somehow that is coming back to him. He now has around 200 chickens and has built more chicken pens, tunnels and even a play house - i don't get it?

Okay, now back to the main event... dinner was finally ready, everyone was clean and we all gathered together again to enjoy the evening. With Stacey's help my mom is making her home such a beautiful place to be and it set the perfect stage for a Thanksgiving feast.

As alwasy we went around the table, each one of us saying what we are most thankful for over the past year and I LOVE that part of the evening. We may make fun of people for their answers and make a joke out of parts of it but the truth is we have to try to keep it together because each year there are those of us facing hard things and those of us who have overcome hard things and all of us just truly grateful to our Saviour for giving us strength to face whatever comes.

not sure how this little girl made it to the grown up table this year... but I LOVED having her there.

Stacey's family...

The kids table...

After Dinner we took lots of pictures. Here are the cousins...

My crazy bunch...

My parents and Chanelle (my cousins daughter) who we were so lucky to have join us this year...

Tammy's multi-cultural family (or at least it looks that way)...

And here is Adia's highlight of the night. After years of Auntie Tammy torturing her and me not ever allowing her do anything back I finally said okay. Please don't feel sorry for Tammy - she has done this to Adia so many times (and much worse things also)!

Hope you all had a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Oh, and here we are on the way home. More to come on Adia's bunny experiment later.

Camera ?

2010-11-01T11:21:00.000-07:00

Well, my camera starting giving me problems a few months back with it's flash. Now it has begun to be very moody and somedays I can snap pictures and other days it won't snap a single shot. Being a mother of 5 beautiful children who do very entertaining things, who look extrememly cute and who create many moments that NEED to be captured I can not live with a camera like this.

So, I have a few choices that Kyle has enough State Farm points to buy. And I am hoping some of my camera savy sister in laws will give me an opinion.

Should I stick with one similar to my own who gives me great quality shots, offers me much to learn (that I keep thinking I will take classes to do someday but never find the time for) or should I switch to a smaller, no learning needed type camera with great zooming capabilities w/out having to buy another lense? The truth is I am having such a hard time learning anything trying to read on them. I need to take a class. I LOVE taking pictures and hope someday to grow in this area not just for the sake of my family but to bless others with family pictures like what Jill has done for so many of us. I also am trying to be realistic about my life as a homeschooling mom that leaves me about no extra time on a regular basis. I'm afraid I will be disappointed with the quality of the images I get on a small camera. Okay, I can vent all day on my confusion but I will leave you with some pics of the choices I have w/in the State Farm Point Catalog options.

Nikon D3000 or D5000

Canon EOS Digital Rebel 10MP

Canon Powershot G11 10.3MP
Nikon Coolpix P100 10.3MP

Please give me some honest feedback... I'm LOST!

Creation Field Trip

2010-10-20T10:37:00.000-07:00

One area of history that Christians and the world seem to be so confused about it creation. When scientist talk about millions & billions of years and carbon dating and so on it can feel very overwhelming and confusing to those of us who take the bible literally and stand firm that when God says he created the world in 6 days - that is actually what He means. I'm not the brightest girl in town either so although I trust God's word and choose to believe it over the ever changing views of scientist I am SO GLAD there are super smart people out there who can scientifically back up the reality of Creation and how it actually can fit into science just fine. Our family has really enjoyed a ministry called Answers in Genesis. We have several of their books and have found so much encouragement from the work they do. So this past weekend when we found out that Ken Ham (one of the founders) would be in San Jose teaching on the subject we had to go. Adia and I sat through 5 classes on things like Dinosaurs and how they fit into a 6,000 year old world, astronomy and creation, defending the Christian Faith biblically and scientifically, one nation- one race and more. We learned so much! There was even one class for Kenyon and Avery to join in on to learn about when Dinosaurs were created, what the fall of man did to them, why they are gone, how they fit on Noahs Ark and more. The kids really enjoyed it and were challenged to trust God's word and never to be swayed by the wisdom of this sin filled world. Of course I didn't take pictures during the conference so I will show you what we did between classes instead. :)

When we drove up to my moms fall entry I remembered why I have always loved holidays and I feel so guilty if I don't have seasonal things in my home. Now, I am pretty sure my sister actually did this for her but regardless she did it for our mom because for so many years my mom did it for us!

And friends remember my dad always planting new flowers and hosing down our cement daily. Our yard was always so clean and pretty. So of course it is no surprise that although he is now enjoying ranch life it is so clean and the entry to his part of the property is beautiful! This is just to the left of the picture above.

Adia really enjoyed giving the kids rides in this but I think she enjoyed it more when they all got out and she could go fast. She always asks us if she can drive our cars and of course the answer is no (except for once or twice from me) and her arguement is that Papa lets her drive these things and his truck. Of course if Papa wants to sign papers saying he will pay for any damage she does to our cars than she is more than welcome to drive ours also.

None of the girls are allowed to stand in the back of these things while they are going but for some reason my dad has decided Kenyon can not only stand while he is driving, Kenyon gets to dance with his hands in the air. And I'm not giong to tell you what I think my dads motives are for that!

Anyway, it was a great little field trip.

Fall Field Trips

2010-10-14T17:38:00.000-07:00

Although the weather has still felt very much like summer we did a couple Field Trips recently to ring in the fall!

Fog Willow Pumpkin & Science Farm

After explaining how they sheer a lamb, make yarn, then wool and told us to go home and find something wool we have one of the kids in our group says in a sad tone...

"we don't have sheep so our home won't have any wool"

learning to groom the sheep

Did you know alpaca's wait in line to use the bathroom in one place...

they don't like a messy living environment.

We deal a lot with Hay these days (Oat Hay, Alfalfa and more) but on this trip we learned how they make the straw bales for lining animals cages. I'm always surprised how interesting I find o

Learned about Goats and played with LOTS of themPracticing our poses!

And here is the group we went with. I met one of the moms recently at Awana's and she invited our family to join them. They were all very sweet and we are so glad we went. Adia was there to help me (and get out of doing all her school that day) and she was so embarrassed that the moms wanted her in this picture.

Obviously Kaden had a great time or he would NEVER have fallen asleep over 2 hours before nap time. He's SO CUTE!!!!!

Apple Hill

Denver Dan's Apple Pie Baking Class

The pies turned out great and all the kids had a blast!

The staff was so friendly and the lady who taught the class was AWESOME!

Oh and my kids would be so bothered if I left out there favorite part...

My kids are a bunch of hicks and they can't get enough animals!

And from our home to yours...

yes, there was candy in that dish - hmmm... where did it go? Kaden!

Lately...

2010-10-12T18:08:00.000-07:00

We are getting a bit animal crazy over here.

3 bunnies (one prego)

2 horses

1 guinea pig

1 robo hamster5 kids begging to have a dog but dad keeps saying NO!

(guess which bunny is Miss Piggy)

A day at the river...

Princess Adison

We got to watch 2 of our friends kids and had a great time the first day but the poor kiddos both spent the 2nd day at my house throwing up ALL day. SO sad!

Say cheese Kenyon.

Kyle turned 31!

We went and saw Mr. Despicable, hung out, and finished the night off watching

Karate Kid while eating Adia's homeade pizzas - yummy!

Crazy BOYS! Never use anything how you are supposed to. yes we keep boards, ropes and random tools in the backyard for their creative purposes.

Even our underwear gets used wrong. The pictures are always on the butt so he

ALWAYS puts them on backwards and I can't convince him he's wrong.

Well, this was random but so is my life!

One Lucky Lady!

2010-10-04T14:32:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Kyle and I took off early Saturday and stayed out until Sunday around noon. It doesn't seem like that long but while we were gone we enjoyed eachother so much! We laughed, goofed off, cried (well maybe just I cried), prayed, read books and talked through a couple decisions we have been having a hard time with. Every time we go away like this we leave wondering why the heck we wait so long to make it happen again. Honestly I am so lucky to be married to such an awesome guy and spending time together like that reminded me again how much I love him!

Here is the man (after me begging to get a picture of him)

who makes me feel like such a lucky lady so often!

And here is a better view from the hotel room (with the huge parking area cut out of the bottom of it) in far off Sacramento. We used that priceline.com and gave it a shot to try and get a 4 star hotel at a 3 star price and it worked. We'll have to try that again.

Hopefully tomorrow as we celebrate his Birthday as a family we will be able to capture some more exciting pictures. ;)

It's all about ME!

2010-09-30T17:45:00.001-07:00

I NEVER EVER thought I would have the nerve to put just a close up picture of my chubby face on here but I had to show you all... I finally tried something I have wanted to do for years!
I should have had Kristen do my makeup too before I took this shot but whatever. What do you think?

Poor Little Guy

2010-09-26T19:27:00.000-07:00

One of these days he's really going to regret all the modeling he did for his sisters. But as of now... he LOVES when they dress him up and call him a princess.

Seriously, this poor little boy has no chance.

Tahoe - Finally!

2010-09-23T08:33:00.001-07:00

When I was growing up my family spent about a week each winter with the same group of people either in Tahoe or in Bend, Oregon. I have lots of memories on the slopes with all of them and they are precious to me. Some of those memories we stayed at a place called Edgelake in Tahoe. It's a timeshare my moms cousin owned. Well, before he passed away, about 10 years ago, he made it known that he wanted to be sure one of my moms kids got to have it and keep using it. Somehow Kyle and I got to be the lucky ones. Although we have been making payments for a while and only looking at it as another bill - we finally completed ALL the paperwork to transfer it into our names and get to start enjoying it.

Last weekend we took the kids up to hang out for the day and check out the new place that hopefully we will build many memories enjoying. It was fun for me because my only memories there were in the winter and I had no idea what a great place it was! This year we got lucky to find some availability the week before Christmas but next year I hope to use our time during the summer... it is so pretty! I'm so excited about it and wish I would have realized how great this place is a long time ago!

This is a bad picture but the place even had a playground... it was so cute and I can't believe I hadn't even realized what a gem this HUGE GIFT is until now.

A Pink & Purple Princess Tea Party

2010-09-12T10:07:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe my baby girl just turned 4! I'm a bit overwhelmed with emotion to how quickly it has gone by and how quickly I know it will continue to go. Yesterday I looked through a bunch of her baby pictures and I felt like I was so busy through her toddler years that I have almost forgotten how stinking cute she has always been. She has always had a princess personality in both the good and bad ways. I regret to have always focused a bit too much on the negatives. So today I am just so grateful to have had a real royal baby born, at home, into my family. I'm grateful for her sweetness, her attachment to me, her eyes that still catch me off guard when mine meet them and everything good she brings to our family. I am in love with her and so blessed by the privelage of being her mom!

So at her request, almost a year ago, A Pink & Purple Princess Tea Party was the decided event for her big day! (actually first it was just a tea party , then the color was added later, then the word princess and then mommy decided the name was too long and she had to stick to what it was). This was her first ever party and she has been dreaming about it since she turned 3. I have to admit I too was excited and have been grabing little items for it since all the frilly stuff went on sale after Easter. The party was perfect and I will let the pictures tell the story...

first a BIG THANK YOU to my Glorious Friend Glory for ALL her help in making Adison's first party perfect!!!! Well, maybe I helped her - either way we make a great team!

I have had this little table outside for a long time waiting to be repainted and since it was due for a painting anyway - we just painted it to match. I'm sure i will regret that soon. But Adison loves it - so maybe not.

Everything was all ready and these girls were SO EXCITED to get started!

Adia and her best friends Sydney and Danielle were all decked out and ready to host the party.

They did an AWESOME JOB. And were such good sports about it all - even when I asked them to teach the girls how to dance like a princess. Danielle was quick to tell Adia to leave that part to her... too funny!

Our first guest arrived and was quick to find the party hats

This little princess was best dressed for sure!

Once all the guests arrived and got their fingers and toes painted (by Adia and crew)

we sat down for a nice little tea party lunch. Adison was in heaven!
BEAUTIFUL Brooke (Tammy's middle child)

that was followed by a the pinata

Then we made princess wands and went outside to give them a whirl!

we sang Happy Birthday
And there were some presents... later she said that was her favorite part

(of course)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRINCESS ADISON - WE LOVE YOU!!!!!

Mr. & Mrs. Carter

2010-09-06T21:59:00.001-07:00

Kyle's little brother Ty got married to such a sweet and beautiful girl recently. My family felt super lucky to have known about her since the very begining and to see our hopes for them come true on their special day. Ty seems like he will be such an awesome hubby and Christi will be the sweetest and cutest wife for sure! They are a true match made in heaven and we are so happy for them! (oh and if either of you read this please know that i had a wedding gift for you on time but I left it home... I will send it to you this week)

Here is the gorgreous couple on the windy wedding day!

And here is Kyle's crazy, amazing, HUGE, really good looking family!

And although it was all about Ty and Christi - we did get to spend time with lots of family due to the big event. Most importantly we got to meet our newest nephew...

Roman Carter Holyoak.

He is so cute! And his mom seems very aware of how lucky she is to be his mom! Congrats again Jill! Thanks for giving me niece/nephew #30!

Big Boy - Big Job!

2010-09-02T15:30:00.001-07:00

How is it possible I am potty training a baby for the

5th and FINAL time???

I am excited to be done with diapers soon and totally sad that it's getting official that my babies aren't babies anymore. But that is what I am doing so here are some pics. So far we are doing okay on the pee thing - not so great on the poops! Although getting sprayed with the hose is not fun so hopefully that will turn around soon.

It all started with the ring of the door bell. Somehow we all already knew it was for Kaden and we all followed him to the door.

Where he found a present just for him.

It was a Zebra, wearing a pull up, asking Kaden to please help him learn to go potty in the toilet like a big boy so he can wear big boy underwear. (Cute side note: Adison still sleeps with her Potty Piggy that she succesfully potty trained when she was 2) Of course we had to check his pull up right away and the darn Zebra already went poop and pee which cracked Kaden up!

So Kaden taught him how to go in the toilet (with all his siblings help) over the next few hours and soon they were both wearing underwear and going together... I wish I had a picture of the potty chart that both the Zebra and Kaden earned stickers for.

If you are wondering how a Zebra goes potty in the toilet the trick is having a syringe with yellow water and some pepper on hand.

Well, that was 2 days ago and we are still going potty every 20-30 minutes around here. Kaden isn't doing as well as Adison but he is doing good enough and for that I am so glad! He doesn't have accidents but he rarely says he has to go... he just goes when I take him. Here is the Big Boy taking care of business.

Oh and as I am typing this Kaden just came out of his room wearing his brothers boxers telling me he is a princess... not sure why he thinks this or what he is talking about but I had to grab the camera again. (gotta love the rush editing to cover his manhood huh?)

Did I mention I can't wait until the weekend when daddy is here to help me! Oh and being a 5th kid has some major perks... you have never seen such a large cheering crowd for every drop of pee this little boy has... SO CUTE!!!!

Back To School and LOVING IT!

2010-09-01T17:01:00.000-07:00

So after much preperation, stress and big decisions we have finally started school. We are 3 days down and all is going quite well. Last year having Adia in school was perfect for a season but we missed her so much around here and it feels so good having her back in the midst of our daily routines. I love having them all home (most of the time). There are a lot of new things for us to conquer this school year and I feel very confident going into it. Especially since I have such an awesome hubby who is so supportive and has even taken over the WHOLE morning routine for me so I can get ready in peace and have a little down time before I jump into my days. He has gotten the kids up, got them ready, fed them and I am LOVING it! I start school feeling so refreshed vs. the old feeling of being frazzled before I even started the school day. I think this might be the best gift he has ever given me!

Well, here are a few pictures of our first few days. Official first day of school pictures come the first day of co-op.

Here are my beautiful girls working on cursive writing together. Adia has kind of taught herself so I am having her start over to make sure she forms her letters nicely and properly. Avery is catching on quick and they are working really well together (so far at least).

Kenyon is so excited to finally be in Kindergarten and he is doing so good! I thought it would be hard to keep him focused but he loves the routine of it all and actually on his breaks he complains "why do the big girls get more school than me"... oh if that was always the problem! This picture is him with his work log. For those of you a bit curious as to how we do it around here each kid has a binder with their weekly work logs in it. We check each subject off as we complete them and save our work in the designated area of our binder. Kenyon feels so BIG TIME and loves doing his own checks.

Today for his break time he asked if he could make an Iron Man costume and this is what he came up with. The sound effects were awesome and he even asked to go to the neighbors house to show his friend. I let him and of course Adia was so emberassed that her friends might see him and know what a dork her brother is.

Adia has made a moby wrap out of one of my scarves to keep a pet on her while she reads or writes. This picture has such a huge smile on her due to the fact that her "baby" leaked on her while I was snapping shots. The picture she is holding is her version of a Picasso piece of art.
The kids have all enjoyed studying about the life of Pablo Picasso this week.

Avery is so dilegent and takes her time as she works.

BTW - how did I get 3 left handed kiddos (Avery, Kenyon and Adison)???

My Picasso wanna be's. It was so cute when I poured the paint today and Avery asked "are we painting something from his blue period or the cube one"?

Adison is always thrilled when she gets to join us!

This was day one during our bedtime routine. Each kid got to show dad the binder covers they made and tell him a bit about our day. They were all really positive which made all my effort worth it for sure!

Adia's books haven't all come in so she enjoyed a very easy history read the first day of school.

And here are the girls during reading time. They read for 30 minutes from a book about the time period we are studying in hisotry and then later in the day the get to read from a chapter book of their choice. I love that they enjoy that time and that I hear them sharing info with each other while they read. Although technically they aren't supposed to be talking.

Well, thats it for now... hope you enjoyed a small peek into my world! I also hope the joy I feel being their teacher last me the whole year through! It will for sure have it's harder seasons and I just hope moments like the ones I shared will get me through it!

Miller Fun

2010-08-27T11:08:00.000-07:00

We were so lucky to have a very last minute visit from my sister Stacey, her hubby Daryn and their two precious boys. The trip consisted of a double date night (FAVORITE PART FOR ME), games, horses, curriculum help, girsl night out, rescue missions, daddy/uncle waterfall adventures, cupcakes, BBQ, swimming, great talks and more. THANK YOU SO MUCH for coming guys! We love you and had a great time! But, since I am short on time I will just show the picture we took as they were getting ready to walk out the door.

Avery, Gavin, Kenyon, Adison, Adia, Kaden and DJ!

Now, off we go to see more cousins we haven't seen in a while and we even get to meet a new one today. Yay for baby Roman our newest & hugest cousin (born weighing 11lbs 8oz!). Pictures with the Middleton cousins coming soon...

Summer Camp Cooks

2010-08-02T09:22:00.000-07:00

Our church high school summer camp was this past weekend and somehow Kyle and I got invited (I mean suckered into) to come cook for all 70 of the people there. At first i was really looking forward to the cooking part but soon after realized it was at a camp ground and I don't do well at camp grounds. I fretted and stressed so much about this darn trip. Adia and Avery were out of town so all the shopping was done with just my 2,3 and 5 year olds with me. Yes, that means filling 2 flats at Costco or Sams per trip the few days leading up to the trip all on my own with the little monsters I call kids.

Anyway... the whole point of this post is that it actually turned out to be fun! I'm so happy to see that God is truly changing me and helping me become more of the person He made me to be. Our family made a great team, the food turned out good and we even squeezed in a bit of time for some fun! Plus, we got to know a lot of our church family that we had never met and we gained some respect for our crazy friend the Bri-guy for his super tough job!

Durning the cooking times I was usually too busy to pull out my camera so the pictures make this look like a vacation... let me assure you there was much more cooking and cleaning than playing. But here are a few of the pictures I got.

Here is where we did our cooking... this was our site.

Each meal we would set up a buffet line on the groups site and the OTS (opportunity to serve) team would serve the food, return the dishes and help us clean.

We ate as a family usually at our own site.

A couple times we got to sneak out on a boat with the kids while the students were doing devotions or early in the morning. Princess Adison showed her true princess colors the whole trip. The wind in her face "bothers my hair", "i don't like being so dirty all day and not being clean", "next time can you call Aunt Stacey and she can watch me"... Avery on the other hand LOVED it!

Although Adia hasn't been on a wakeboard in over a year she picked up right where she left off and by the end of the trip was catching some great air!

Kaden never went on the boats but he LOVED hanging out on the beach. Each morning he would get very upset if I din't put his swim shorts on right away.

And here is the Princess the morning after her fall on the fire pit... it was so scary! She was literally walking right next to me, triped over nothing and fell. It was really late and I saw a black line on her face so I wiped it but she was only crying about her finger so we were icing that. When she woke up we saw the damage on her face and felt so bad.

Two days after the fall it seems to be healing. ANd now it looks a lot better but I'm afraid there will for sure be a scar.

And that is it! I think I might be growing up!

Summer Fun

2010-07-14T22:41:00.000-07:00

Summer is always so full of fun! This post shows just a bit of what's gone on the past few weeks. We have enjoyed time at...

HOME

This is what happens when you are spending all day in your swimsuit... you come in, take it off, don't have the energy to go upstairs and change, so you lay on the school table to watch a movie (netflix on the comp) and then... you just can't keep your eyes open any longer... I love it!

Folsom Aquatic Center

The place is awesome! It has huge pools, little kids areas, high dives, water slides and so much... plus it only cost our entire family $24 to go there! Plus it was an extra treat to have Kristen, Baby Mike and Taylor there with us. Everything is more fun with friends and we are so glad they came with us. Especially since Kristen went in the water with the little ones and I got to hold the baby. :)

If you knew how terrified Kenyon used to be of the water you would realize this is a huge deal
And this is even huger!

Grandpa & Grandma's House

We always have fun at Grandmas house but holidays are even more fun than regular visits. You get to see more family, have more fun and sometimes we even get to spend the night. We had a great 4th of July weekend there and I wish I had more pictures but my flash is broken so I can't take pictures inside (unless it is super well lit) or in the evening.

Notice my son has a 6 pack...

Daddy Adventures

Recentely our family went on an outing to the great outdoors with mom and we were reminded how important it is for us to keep the adventures to dad. So while mom was away with her sister for a weekend Dad took the kids on a much needed Daddy Adventure! I have no idea how Kyle finds these random places and why it is worth it to go them with 5 kids in tow but I am so glad he does. They all had a blast and only 3 people came home with poison oak.

Kyle searched online for cool waterfalls close by and heard about a really cool one... but would he make it with all the kids and return home with all of them as well....

The adventure begins...

And not too long after they took off hiking they found this...

And yes, they all made it home safe and sound and I even came home to a mostly clean home! Way to go dad... you are the best!

And summer, please don't end too soon... we love you!

"Uncle Brad"

2010-07-06T13:01:00.000-07:00

Some things never change - and I am so glad! Growing up Kyle had a best friend named Brad. They spent tons of time together (behaving like idiots) and it was my pleasure getting to know and love Brad as I got to know and love Kyle (different kinds of love for sure). As long as I have known Kyle, I have known Brad but sadly life has taken us on different roads and for the past 9 years we have seen him only a handful of times. The good news though is that when you have a dear friend it doesn't matter how much time or distance is between you - you are always like family and always loved and enjoyed hugely when the chance to reconnect appears!

Brad was married recently and Kyle and I so enjoyed seeing him but were bummed to not be able to get to know his beautiful bride - considering a wedding is not the best place to really get to know someone (especially the bride). But we were lucky enough that she too wished she could have had some more time with us and planned a trip out here in early June so we could catch up on a long life of not knowing eachother. We had a blast. Kyle and Brad didn't understand how Lindsey and I had so much to talk about while they could barely hold a serious conversation. Lindsey, you are welcome back anytime... even though your non dairy, non cayanne ways are so difficult to deal with!

Oh and the kids have always called him Uncle Brad even though only Adia had ever really met him. But when she was little and he was around more that is what Kyle referred to him as and somehow after all this time it stuck. The kids were so excited to meet the goofy uncle they had heard so much about and from the moment he walked in our door they wouldn't leave him alone. In fact we had to apologize on several occasions because one kid got her name wrong and one kid said "thank you God that Uncle Brad is here and ummm, whats her name mom, Oh yeah, Lindsey" during prayer. Good thing she is a sweetie and has a great sense of humor.

Okay enough babbling... here are some pictures...

here the kids are crowding them asking "what do you want to see next"

Volleyball is a must...

Uncle Brad doing a talent show...

Kenyon's performance for the show

Before our quick trip down the river...

Adia practicing being a guide.

teaching us to skip a rock

And here are a few from the old days...

Brad's amazing toast/speech he gave at our wedding.

Kyle and Brad doing tricky dance moves at our reception

Here is how he showed up to our rehersal

And thats it... THANK YOU SO MUCH Brad and Lindsey for such a fun weekend. We really enjoyed our time together and hope it isn't too long before we can all be together again. Although it would be good if you had a kid in tow too so we weren't the only ones slowing everything down!

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-30T16:06:00.001-07:00

Although Kyle was in Brazil over Father's Day we couldn't just skip it all together... He is way to good of a dad not to get a bit of attention for it! Here are just a few highlights from our late Father's Day celebration.

When daddy got home he was handed 8 tickets. Each ticket had one of the following words/phrases on it: family movie, movie with mom, dinner, dessert , devotions, tuck in time, bath time and presentation for you! He was told to put them in the order he would like the evening to go in, sit on the couch and be prepared to do nothing.

Here are some pictures of the fun...

He picked bath time first, followed by a family movie.

Next was dinner.

Presentation:

(which was Adison singing You belong with me and the big 3 doing a little Father's Day rap)

Dessert:

They are capable of being so much cuter but I feel like a bad mom if I don't let the kids help.

Adia made this plate for him about 5 years ago and we still put it to good use.

Next was devotions, tuck in time and then we fell asleep nice and cozy on the couch during the redemption of his movie with mom ticket.

It was a fun night for an awesome dad who our family is beyond blessed to be led by!

For discussion box that night the question was tell us your top 3 things you love about your dad... to end this I think I will list as many of them as I can remember.

Adia - He takes good care of us, He taught me to snow board and he is a very kind person.

Avery - He works hard, he loves me and he plays with me.

Kenyon - He fights me, he is funny and he loves me.

Adison - I am a princess, daddy is a prince and I love daddy!

Kaden - Daddy's truck

Mom - He is truly a good person and such a great example to our children.

He loves Jesus and follows him well.

He is very patient which serves the children and I well!

He's Back!

2010-06-24T17:44:00.000-07:00

5 very excited children waiting to find daddy!!!

Stupid mom was waiting at the wrong escalator and so daddy found us instead... but Adia was the first to see him so she won the first hug. Mom on the other hand stayed busy taking pictures to help keep the flow of tears under control!!!

I love how Kyle parents (most of the time).

You will notice in both the above and below picture he has a flat/gentle hand on his girls

and a tight squeeze on the boys!

wait in line Avery... he's a very popular guy!

I know it's blurry but you have to love the facial hair.

It's already gone and he looks like a clean CA boy again!

I love my big family!

And I really LOVE when we are ALL together!

More to come on the trip later...

for now our reunion is enough!

So Busy...

2010-06-14T19:25:00.001-07:00

Although I feel like I have blogged a ton lately there a quite a few things I don't want to leave out... after all this blog has become my journal. So here are a few fun things we have been up to.

While Kristen and Mike were getting to know Baby Mike at the hospital we got to hang out with big sister Taylor. We had a lot of fun with her and she fit right into our crazy household.

If you give a Kenyon a paint brush, he will invite Adison to join him, who will then invite Kaden and a baby to finger paint and a simple art project for Kenyon and Adison turned into finger painting for the little ones.
and of course that turned into water play for all! Oh and it was actually really cold outside - the kids were purple by the time I forced clean up/bath time.

We poisoned 3 bunnies who we watched slowly die - very traumatizing (except for Kenyon who was begging to cut into one to see it's heart and brains). Thankfully we found a new little bunny and nice bunny hutch so this one can't get out and eat the poisonous flowers in our backyard. This new little one is super sweet!

Avery is turning into quite the little helper these days and a bit like Jeckel and Hyde (sp???). She can be the sweetest big sister ever and in an instant she can be so vicious with her words and expressions. But in pictures I will focus on the positive side of who she is!

It's pretty cool that Kaden has been able to ride a razor scooter well since about 18 months. But the night before Kyle left for Brazil his tricks ended with an ER trip.

taken on Kyle's blackberry while waiting for the stitches. He was in such a good mood and being so goofy while he waited. Of course that all ended with they wrapped him like a burrito and sewed him up!

6 stitches and a few days later...

Aunt Stacey is here right now babysitting me. We are having a great time chatting into the wee hours of the night (as in I only got 3 hours of sleep last night) and managing our crazy kids during the day. It's fun to see how close they are getting. DJ, Adison and Kenyon get along so well while Gavin and Kaden just hurt eachother and cause problems when let in a room at the same time - total seperation for them!

a rare moment of peace for these two... food really helps that.

Summer Sun means lots of nakedness, outside time and of course sticky kids covered in juicy watermelon! Yum!

My flash is broken right now and you can see by the awful lighting that this was taken in the evening. I had actually put both of these trouble makers to bed and after hearing a few giggles around 10:30 I go upstairs to find this!

Today was Day 1 for our church's annual Arts Camp. Adia is now officially a shepard rather than a sheep... meaning she is a leader instead of a kid participating. She was an amazing little leader at camp!

Grandma and Papa came to take Adia to the Western States Horse Show.

Adia and Ashley cowgirled up!

Papa & Kaden
And of course she talked Papa into taking her to Joe's Crab Shack for a nice/nasty dinner. Daddy will be so proud!

Our princess is in full bloom and this is her official response to "Adiosn smile for the picture". IT always icludes putting her hands together, blinking non-stop and if she is standing one leg always has a pointed little foot. Funny side note on that picture... when Avery saw it she says "Mom, why does she always do that when you take her picture?" me -"well, she thinks she is a princess" Avery - "why, her moms not a queen and her dads not a king".... avery is always so to the point.

Daddy may be gone but I NEVER sleep alone! Not that I am opposed to sleeping alone - I'm just not given the luxury and to be honest I kind of like it! I love waking up to a bed full of cute and clean little monsters. It makes me smile when I am getting ready to see all of them hurled all over my bed. Plus if it were empty then I would be all the more thinking who is supposed to be there and I miss Kyle enough without that. :)

Both of the next 2 pictures are taken the same day... they are just on opposite sides of the bed. I was somewhere in the middle.

Volleyball season is over... we made these treats for the team's last game. Adia really LOVED her team this year and is going to miss the girls a bunch. They are all older than her and will be moving up to an older team next year.

There are a few more things I want to put on here but for now these will do because the othe stuff deserves a whole post.

My Hero...

2010-06-11T09:28:00.000-07:00

Have I ever told you that Kyle is truly my HERO!

He has the hugest heart and I love that about him! Right now he is leading a group from our church down to Sao Paulo, Brazil where they will meet up with our church families ministry partners, Restoration Ministries, and take a large group of kids from the slums out to a rural area for a weekend getaway (and do a mini vbs program), then during the week they are going to teach some great lessons to kids in different neighborhoods, visit peoples homes who need prayer and to end they are taking the ministry leaders (who are much overworked) to a beach retreat and do some leadership building as well as teachings on spiritual disciplines and things of that nature.

This year the trip has been especially hard for us timing wise and Kyle really didn't want to go. He didn't feel like it would be good for his newly moved business or our family. But after much prayer and discusion he/we (and Stpeh) knew God would handle the details and he had to go (or the trip wouldn't happen). It's been cute to hear him keep asking me to please show Kaden his picture while he's gone (as if he might forget him). He seemed a bit stressed leading up to it and has encountered a few difficulties on the way (including his wife injuring her back badly and his baby boy injuring his face - just what he needed was trip to the ER the night before he leaves - next post will update you on that) but he never wavers and I love that. I know this team is going to be a HUGE blessing to the ministry and I am so proud of Kyle and all of them for doing this. This is the first year he isn't the only guy on the trip and actually there are moy boys than girls. Kyle seemed to feel it was a very strong goup and they each bring something really huge to offer the children and staff.

Here is a video from his last trip... skip about a minute or two and you will see more of what they do. The begining is a church service and there is a lot of them singing and then it's a game they played where they had to eat a cracker and the first to whistle wins!

And I thought I would share a few pictures of our first missions trip - to Honduras. This was such an awesome trip and where God really opened our eyes for the first time to the reality of the world we live in. I'm so grateful for opportunities like this and I can't wait to see what else God brings our way! Although I can get a bit scared. :) And even though I have only been on one of these with Kyle I feel like I learn so much just by processing with him each time he returns.

Where is little Adia?

Please keep Kyle and the whole team in your prayers.

Also me and the kids... we won't be seeing him for another 15 days!

Last PCS Field Trip :(

2010-06-07T22:41:00.000-07:00

I got to join Adia's class on the last field trip for the year. They went to a park in Folsom that had a great bike trail and also a large grassy area where they could fly the new kites they had just made at school. Although she won't be going back to the school again in the fall (i think) it was a huge blessing for us to have her there this past semester and we will miss these wonderful and super fun kids for sure!

Ready for the ride!

Adia & Kylee getting ready to ride...

none of the girls wore their helmets until the very last minute!
Adison and I had a great time hanging out and playing at the park while the big kids went on the bike ride. It was so fun to be with her without any of her siblings for most of the day. She was SO GOOD and it encouraged me as a mother to see her obey so well and be so kind!

Plus, who wouldn't enjoy hanging out with this super cutie who thinks she is a real princess and LOVES having her picture taken. I have said it many times that this girl is so pretty on the outside but not so much on the inside - well, not on this trip! She was an angel!

The class had fun flying the kites they made.

They did a fun team building exercise where you get all knoted up with eachother and have to undo the knot without letting go of eachother. Fun to watch for sure! And Adia is always so animated!

Of course my little tomboy started a water fight with a friend!

And she may look like she is getting old but she's still a fun loving little girl who loves to play at the park and get pushed on the tire swing!
5th grade girls RULE!

Thanking God for a safe trip and for the good food one of the moms brought for everyone!

We will miss Providence Christian for sure... Adia's class was so fun and so perfect for what we needed in this crazy season of our life!

Thank you Mrs. Sept for being the best teacher Adia has ever had!

Lake Shasta w/out a boat?

2010-06-05T21:34:00.000-07:00

When people hear we are going to Lake Shasta and we no longer have a boat they often ask "What are you going to do?" Well, if you really want to know...

We will...

Stand in awe of our Creator!

Spread love!

Pose for lots of pictures!

Play with fire!

Look cute!

Hang out with princesses!

Wonder how our little girl got so big!

Get some life insurance!

Splash around with family!
Check the market!

Build memories that will last forever!

Learn about animals!

Try to catch dinner!

Smile!

Work on being a team and following directions!

Learn about force and gravity!

Enjoy some good BBQ!

Exercise!

Play ball!

Go on adventures!
Thank God for our family!

and over all we are just going to have a good time and come home refreshed and so thankful for such a wonderful place to go stay, such a beautiful world to live in, such great family to spend time with and such an amazing Father in heaven who provides us so much more than we need!

Now do you get it?

Avery's 1st Piano Recital

2010-05-24T10:39:00.000-07:00

Sunday Avery had her 1st ever piano recital and she did GREAT! Her teacher likes to plan them at homes for the elderly so the students learn to bless others with their gifts and what a blessing it was! It was kind of an intimidating crowd but when Avery stood up to introduce herself she spoke loud and clear and I couldn't have been more proud of her.

The audience

You will notice in the picture below I numbered 2 of the ladies. Here is why.... when the first boy went up to announce himself lady #1 was shaking her program and it was making a crinkling sound. Lady #2 told the boy to stop then tells #1 "You need to stop doing that. You are making too much noise and we can't hear him. Stop doing it!" #2 then starts shaking her paper more loudly while the boy then proceeds to play his music. #2 is getting really frustrated and trying to stop the boy again. Finally a nurse sat between them and took #1's program from her. Of course #1 wouldn't be defeated so she started knocking her fists on the table. It was so funny! The nurse had to sit between them the rest of the time and kept stoping #1 from her noisy ideas.

I love that she sat like such a lady while playing!

She played Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

& Old McDonald Had a Farm.

And here she is with her amazing teacher whom we are so blessed to have found! She usually does lessons out of her home but because of my large family she has come to our home weekly.
She was very proud of her music achievement award!

And these 2 didn't like all the pictures being taken of Avery so I had to snap this as well!

Side note...

I didn't just tear up when she was playing... I kind of was totally crying and was very embarassed. I am getting really sick of my unability to control that. I thought with Adia maybe all the tears were because she was my first and I knew I would do better the second time around - but I was so wrong. If anything I am worse as I realize how quickly these times will pass. I know I have way too much anxiety as a mom. But this is the most important job ever and I am so ill-equiped to do it! My latest goal with God is to learn to trust Him more and believe His word when it says how he is made known more through our weaknesses than our strengths. Also I have to trust that he cares more about the futures of my children than I do and as long as Kyle and I continue to seek Him as we train these kids up God will guide our paths and make up for our many many weaknesses while raising kids. This whole motherhood journey brings so much joy but also lately I am sad to admit it brings so much anxiety and worry. You should have seen me at Adia's tournament this weekend. I'm starting to not even enjoy watching. I hate seeing her insecurities out there on the court. Honestly my stomach hurts watching her play and I cannot stand not being able to help her through mistakes anymore and having to watch her learn hard lessons. Even when she does something good I see her take a deep breath and it breaks my heart. I know she has some of my insecurities and I feel like I failed her for not coaching her past them. Why didn't anyone warn me how tough this job is! Anyway, this might not have made too much sense but I needed to vent.

Kristen Really Moved Here!!!!

2010-05-19T10:09:00.000-07:00

Kristen is one of my best friends ever and has been since high school graduation. We have known eachother our whole lives but our friendship didn't get really strong until our senior year. She is such a great friend and I love that she totally gets me. It's always fun to have a friend who knows your entire story and still loves you the same! Here we are on my wedding day.

Well, when Kyle and I moved out here is when Kristen and her hubby Mike (also part of our graduating class) started telling us they might like to live here someday too. Kyle and I tried not to get our hopes up year after year that we would discuss it. But now the day has finally come and I am so excited to have such a great friend so close by. I'm sure we will have so many good times with our families!!! I feel like a sister lives by me now. :)

Here is a picture of her beautiful new home that has provided lots of fun for Kyle and I as we help her get settled. This is not a great picture because I was taking this for the purpose of showing my dad something.

And here is one of our fun projects we get to do together. She is letting Adia bring up her 2 horses to keep at her house and we are all very excited! Kristen actually loves horses (one of the few things we do NOT have in common) and is going to help Adia train them. Adia's horse Sierra is only 2 and the other one Nevada (names Adia choose not knowing about the beer Sierra Nevada). My dad is bring them June 11th so we are going to start painting and cleaning out this cute tack room thing this weekend. I will show the before and afters later!

Kristen is about a week and a half away from having her 2nd baby. Her daugther Taylor is only 16 months so she is in for a treat. Maybe Cindi or Leah should send her some tips on what that is like! Well, her in-laws threw her a little shower last weekend and I got to bring some decor, cupcakes, favors and games. It turned out great and it was fun meeting all Mike's family. I would have pictures of her with her hubby but he is actually still down South trying to finish up work quickly before the baby pops out (as in she is due on the 30th).

Can you tell she is 38 weeks pregnant?

Here are a few pictures of the fun stuff I got to make!

THANK YOU to my good friend Glory, who is amazing, for teaching me how to make such beautiful cookies.

Anyway, I am just so excited to have Kristen here and wanted to share a bit of the fun we have been having so far. And just for kicks I added this picture of us from our Senior year. This was at JSB (Junior Senior Banquet). And don't tell anyone but Adia was actually in my tummy in this picture. Kristen is on the top right and I'm on the bottom far right.

9 years and counting

2010-05-12T11:31:00.000-07:00

For our Anniversary this year the kids set up a romantic restaurant for us in the family room. Kyle picked enchiladas for dinner so I made that and they served us our dinner at "the restaurant". Before dinner they sent us out for some appetizers with Adison while they set up the final touches. Then when we got home (i mean back to "the restaurant") we waited in the lobby (play room) before the hostess (Avery & Adison) could seat us.

Here is what we walked into.

Lots of fresh picked flowers and petals covered our table.

The table was so cute!

Our waitress let us know about the drinks that were available.

(Kenyon wanted to dress up too)

And her assistant came to help her.

Dinner entertainment was our wedding video that we all had a blast watching. We totally forgot about all the goofballs in our wedding (Jill & Cindi, Adia thought you both were drunk at the reception) and how AMAZING Kyle's sister Leah sounded when she sang at the ceremony.
And Kyle's gifts to me were all over the fireplace adding decor to the room.

This pretty little waitress was super cute and really wanted to join us at our table.

It was a wonderful evening to celebrate 9 wonderful years married to my best friend!

Next year though, for our big 10, I expect a real romantic restaurant in another country (or at least a different state or city)!

Dear Mom,

2010-05-10T16:34:00.001-07:00

Hope you had a very

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

(i just found this beautiful picture of my mother... not sure how old she is)

You have been an amazing mother and a heroic grandmother!

Our family is SO BLESSED by who you are!

Thank you for teaching me so much by your love, patience (especially with me and dad), hard work and sacrifice for so many years!

I LOVE YOU!

Homeschool Convention/Beach Day

2010-05-04T10:04:00.001-07:00

After being married to Kyle for 9 years I am starting to figure him out. So when I really want to go to a 2 day conference listening to homeschool speakers and checking out curriculum I have learned to speak his language. "Honey, do you want to go with me to a homeschool conference and then we can go to the beach the next day"? Of course, he said yes. We took classes on teaching children to serve, organization, Essays vs. Reports and so many other great topics. It was a refreshing time for us to rethink why we homeschool and get excited about the upcoming year. Oh and we got to go to El Burros for dinner!

Then the next day Kyle got his day in the sun and we went with both of my sister's families to the beach and had a great time! It was such a treat to be with them. Here are just a few of the many pictures of our day.

Adia has always LOVED the beach!
BFF's Avery and Lauren

Daddy enjoyed trying to teach Kenyon to skim board.

Princess Adison had a great time.

Kaden enjoyed it as long as he was next to me and far from the waves. He is our first kid to not totally LOVE the ocean! Bummer!

This picture was so cute I had to include it but really he had a great time and spent most of the day looking for food. I'm not sure if he ate more sand or food but regardless he loved it!

Lunch Time!

Auntie Tata was so fun and dug a big hole for the kids to play in!

Brookie has gone with me to the beach so many times in her life and she always spends the day wrapped in a towel complaining she is cold. For some reason though each time we go she thinks she is going to like it.

Little Erin belongs in my family. She LOVES the beach and isn't afraid of the water at all.

BFF's Erin and Adison

Hopefully someday these guys will be BFF's too.

DJ & Kenyon both had a great time but totally enjoy different things!

DJ was excited to learn how to "Buggie Board"

and some other cool tricks too.

And of course on our way home we stopped at Pizza my Heart for dinner and a to check out another beach. The kids looked so cute waiting for the pizza!

And this is my BEAUTIFUL Lauren on the way home with us. I snapped this picture in the car because sometimes her beauty catches me so off guard. Wow!

Baby Kaden is 2!

2010-04-28T17:50:00.000-07:00

Kaden John is 2!

(Oh no!)

Talking - not too much. he can say a bit but chooses to keep his words to himself.

Favorite Activities - his all time favorite is riding his razor followed by a close second which is swinging. Whenever we go anywhere with his scooter he draws a crowd by how good at it he is. In fact last weekend some man we don't know was snapping pictures of him on the razor and later came up and quized me about him.

Potty Training - We began it a bit ago due to the fact that Kaden takes off his own poopy diapers at times and even tries to flush them but we quickly learned it is more work than I am willing to give it right now.

Favorite People - He is such a mommies boy right now and I LOVE it! He thinks his brother is the funniest person ever. He adores his dad, Adia and Avery and if I'm not there will let any of them rock him to sleep or kiss his wounds. And as for him and Adison. Well he doesn't enjoy her constant mothering but they are the best of buddies a bit of the time! :)

Foods: Kaden is proving to be a spoiled little baby and can be very picky at times. Peanut butter trails are all over my house right now becasuse of his obsession with it. Other than that pasta, sugar anything, cheese, cereal and pizza seem to be his favorites!

Sleeping: Well he has been in a big boy bed for some time now. He takes his naps and goes to bed well but about 99% of the time he ends up cuddling with mom by 3am. I don't have the heart to send him back because he is my last baby and he's the last one I get to do this with.

Here he is with his favorite bday gift this year!

I'm including this picture because it shows him outside where he is happiest, you can see his razor on the edge of the lawn and his favorite little ducks who we have spent the last month raising.

You can see the joy this swing brings him every single day! Sometimes for hours!

And here he is crying because he snapped himself with the hat.

Happy Birthday KJB!

Mommy Loves you so much!

Avery Taylor is 7!

2010-04-28T15:39:00.000-07:00

This precious little baby turned 7 last week!

As usual trying to write my feelings as of now is too much emotionally so I will steal from her journal. Below was written with love on April 21, 200

Avery Taylor

A piece of heaven, a glimpse of God's love,

a beautiful daughter sent to me from above!

Watching you develop this 1st year of your life

has been so rewarding & exciting to see!

Personality plus is what you are. Your a bundle of joy

and the definition of the phrase "ball of energy".

You started crawling way too soon

& walked before the books say you should.

Everything so far has been at high speed

just like we should have known that it would.

I've watched you get mad so many times

& bang your sweet head on the floor.

You cry every time daddy leaves to go to work

Oh, the sadness you feel over a closed door!

Those 2 front teeth that stick out of your gums

& that wonderful pucker face I just adore.

The way you bounce on your sisters bed

& that squill you release as a sign of pure joy!

I've enjoyed watching you climb on everything

even though all you hear me say is "Avery no".

The stairs just outside and the stool in the kitchen

even the ladder to Adia's bed that finally had to go.

Those are some of the things I enjoyed seeing this year

and why I'm so entertained by the challenge of you.

You've brought so me so much joy and are such a precious gift

I can't to see what Avery my 1 year old will learn to do!

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

Mommy loves you more than you know!

Here are a few pictures of the Avery I was writing about...

at birth...

Meeting big sister...

Ready to go home...

Hanging out with dad...

Climbing on her favorite piece of furniture...

Time sure flies! Here she is with her 1st baby brother!

And here she is now... my little girl is getting so big!

I LOVE YOU AVERY!

(even though you have a crazy temper and some major attitude these days!)