Rick, Debi, Loni, Ada and Tyce

Cuz he is just so cute.

2012-01-23T15:00:00.002-05:00

Tyce has an obsession with climbing. He climbs onto the piano bench and then because he can pounds away on the keys. His new thing is to also yell "Daddy" while he is doing this. Of course I have been out of practice at getting anything decent, so this is a very short video just of him at the piano. He really didn't do much since he saw my with the camera. Shortly prior to this though he was yelling away at his Dad I am guessing for his attention. Rick has been studying a lot this past week and into this week it will continue. What Fun! Loni starts Jazz today and Ada will start Ballet/tap tomorrow. Loni will keep doing her voice and piano lessons on Thursday. So you can look forward to some pictures of the dancing girls, again! I am working on getting rid of some books. We have limited space in this here house and Rick got a Kindle. I plan on getting one eventually too which will be a great space saver. I am going to try to sell them on Amazon. I have never sold anything on ebay or amazon so wish me some luck! If you are hunting for a book and want to buy it from me, let me know, maybe I have it! Plug. Anyway we are doing great in our neck of the woods and the new year is going pretty well. On February 5th we get to go to our new church building! I am so excited.

Dancing girls

2012-01-10T13:02:00.002-05:00

Here is a video of my dancing girls. Well sort of dancing.

Ada's skills. She may be able to get a job as a stink bug. Love her.

My Dancing Girls

2012-01-10T12:55:00.002-05:00

I was sick this weekend and not much fun, but these girls kept busy. They got all dressed up to DANCE!
Posing.
Loni showing that she is a little more flexible than she used to be.
Ada doing the same thing.

Ada's 3rd Birthday Party

2012-01-03T18:53:00.001-05:00

Ada's birthday is actually on the 8th, but Rick will be out of town so we celebrated it early. On Friday we went to the zoo but I forgot the camera. It was a fun day though. The tigers were out and one of them kept going swimming and went right up next to the glass. It was really cool to see them that close. Ada was a bit scared at first but then wanted to keep going back to see them. She always pretends that tigers are chasing her and will run from them. We got her a stuffed one from the zoo. On Monday we went and played at the mall and went to lunch. We had Cold Stone ice cream and had her blow out her candles on banana bread muffins. She loves them. She also liked making faces at the camera.
We finally got a smiling one.
She was excited to open her presents. This one is Tinkerbell PJs.
This is a bunch of Little People cars for a ramp that her and Tyce got for Christmas. Ada is really a pretty good little girl. She likes to take walks with me and play outside about any time if I would only let her. She loves her little brother and is a good big sister. She tries to feed him all the time and will get his milk for him whenever she thinks he needs it. I think Loni and her will get along more when one of them gives up and lets the other be in charge. Haha. Like that will ever happen! I am so glad that Ada is my middle child. We are so blessed to have her in our family. We love you Ada! Happy 3rd Birthday!

New Years Eve

2012-01-01T18:06:00.002-05:00

We had the Burtons and Conners over for New Years Eve. We ate, played on our phones, boys played PS3, wii, and let some balloons go.
The balloons said 2012, This year I want to....and you filled in what you wanted. Then we
went outside and let them go.
Late that night, Kate, Robin, Sherrie and I ran a 5k. Why you ask? We aren't always sure, but Sherrie has a goal to run a 5k, 8k, 1/2 marathon, and a marathon in 2012. So we are being good friends is my best answer. I was over dressed and got a bit too warm. I threw the glow in the dark necklaces away a bit into the race. I saw a lot of them along the way on the road. I carried mine till I found a garbage. I know. I am so nice. Anyway in my age group I finished 8th with a 25:48 time. I came in like 38th of all the women, and like 140th out of 500 total. I have plans to do a 8k in March but I don't think I plan to do the 1/2 or full marathon. FYI. I don't really want to. That is just too far.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-28T11:25:00.003-05:00

Ada in front of the tree in her night before Christmas present PJs. Isn't she a cutie?
Our girls.
Ada and Loni got the party started right after church. The kids only opened their stockings before hand then opened everything else when we got back. They stayed in their dresses because I guess they didn't want to wait anymore.
Tyce holding some wrapping paper. His favorite part of all the presents.
This was what Tyce kept doing. Dumping all the wrapping paper out of the garbage bag.
Me. I got candles, lotions, body mists, kitchen towels and washclothes, and socks. I put my PJ bottoms back on. You can't open Christmas presents in church clothes!
Tyce (in church clothes! I could have changed him.) opening his presents. He was pretty good at it but his sisters helped a little (a lot).

Merry Christmas #2

2011-12-28T10:17:00.002-05:00

Grandma and Grandpa Bingham gave Loni a nativity snow globe.
Tyce using his gift to get into trouble.
Our silly Ada.
Me helping Ada with her gift.....lots of play-doh and a pizza station for play-doh.
Ada All Tuckered out and Auggie stuck with her.

Just because I can.

2011-12-26T15:15:00.002-05:00

My sister posted this picture of my Dad on her blog. It is from a work Christmas party. He got the sweater. My dad doesn't wear sweaters. As soon as I saw it I was like, "Why is my Dad wearing a sweater?" I thought he may have embraced his old age and/or decided to become Mr. Rogers. He also hasn't had facial hair for a long time. I guess there is some bet of some sort going on at work where they are growing facial hair. I can't remember the bet, but I think it is a very good thing to be taking part in. If you do not know, I have a bad memory unless I write something down. Sad, I know. I wear sweaters to embrace my old age and/or am becoming Mr. Rogers. Haha. Just kidding. So anyway, this is my Dad. Oh and Dad the facial hair and the sweater are starting to look normal to me.

Christmas Party at Sherrie's

2011-12-26T14:41:00.003-05:00

Good shot of Rick. And his long hair. He won't spike it like Tyce's, see below.
Scary shot of Rick or humorous.
Rick was bugging Sherrie, his favorite past time when we are there. So Sherrie asked for help and so I was helping her.
Handsome Tyce. His Daddy gave him a haircut. Pretty good, aye!

Left to Right. Amanda, Julie, Robin, Me, Sherrie, and Kate. Not pictured, Danielle and Brooke. We had a really good meal, some pulled pork flour tortilla salad things. What are they called, Kate?Anyway they were really good. Then we had a gift exchange. It was another great party at Sherrie's. I am so blessed to have such good friends here in Virginia. Oh and their families were all there except Kate's husband. This is just the only picture that I can explain who is who.

Some cute ones.....

2011-12-20T07:37:00.002-05:00

A time when they aren't fighting.
Ada being a big sister.
A very good shot of Loni.

Ada's boots

2011-12-15T20:11:00.002-05:00

A while back at Loni's school carnival they have a room with Trash to Treasures. Basically a yard sale in the school. Nice. This year we scored some rain boots for Ada in her exact size! She wears them everywhere and all the time. I think I let her wear them to church once?? Anyway Tyce has started that time old past time of wearing other people's shoes.....the ones you can't fit. I took a video of it and couldn't stop recording because I thought it was so funny. It took him a while to give up and only because I started talking to him, I think. I hope it all loads......

The Gingerbread Mouse...

2011-12-15T20:07:00.002-05:00

It seems we have a little vermine roaming our house. There is no signs that it is here except for the gnaw marks on the gingerbread house.

No, not really. Ada is just too tempted by the candy sitting on the table that every day she eats a little more and a little more. She is so funny and weird! She has snuck a couple bites of Loni's as well and a few licks of the sucker on it too! She can't pass up a sucker!

Augustus, Auggie, Gus-Gus

2011-12-13T10:03:00.002-05:00

Augustus, named after watching a western movie. Day to day called Auggie or Gus-Gus. He is about 10 years old now. I got him from the vet clinic I worked for in Shoshone, Idaho. He was brought in by some people because his mother was dead and he and his brother were in poor shape. They were about 4-5 weeks old. He had the grossest eye infection which had taken most of his sight. When he was younger he would run into things. Now he never does, but his sight is not any better. Cali, our labrador, loves him. She will give him tons of kisses, or licks. I have to tell her to stop licking him. He is a quiet cat, but when hungry will bug you non-stop. To the point that I have almost fallen down the stairs. One time he got out of the house and was lost for 3 days. I cried. Then I found him and was so happy. He is a good cat. Proof. Ada was playing with him this morning. Watching cartoons with him and went to get a snack. Tells him not to move. He didn't. He sat there waiting. I am not sure if he is horrified to leave or actually likes the attention he gets from her. Oh and by the way. Cats don't usually lay on their backs. She put him that way and he stayed put.
Weird.
He just stayed their while I took photos and looked at me. Ada came back. Climbed up next to him and sat there watching the rest of the cartoons and eating a snack. How funny!

Gingerbread House party.

2011-12-11T10:40:00.002-05:00

We had a party at Sherrie's house decorating gingerbread houses. Robin, Kate and Sherrie made the houses and trees and then the kids got to decorate them! They were so cute!
Here are all the kids and the finished houses. The kids had a lot of fun. The only tragedy was on the way out to the car Loni's was smashed to bits. Luckily they had an extra and Loni will be decorating another one today!
One of the pics was for funny faces. Here is Ada's.
Can you see him?
Auggie! Ada loves our cat Auggie and often torments, I mean, loves on him. He is very patient and tolerant of her and will stay around letting her hold and hug on him.

AAAAHHHHH!

2011-12-11T10:32:00.002-05:00

AAHHHH! I am so glad that the Easter bunny brought bean bags for the kids and Coby turned it into his bed. He is always sleeping on it. Funny dog. Usually the blue one too.
No, No Tyce. Aaahhhhhh! Don't pull on that. Stop it. EERRRRGGGG. So that is why only half the tree is decorated and we still have to keep putting them up further.
Say AAAHHHHHH! Tyce is getting more teeth. Wanna see? An incisor and molars! Yikes! I brush his teeth really fast so I don't get bit.

Some good pics from Thanksgiving....

2011-12-04T09:24:00.002-05:00

The day after Thanksgiving we got together with our friends for a game of football. I didn't play nor did I take any pictures. I know, I am boring. Anyway Rick played and he helped Loni and Ada play as well. You can see Rick carrying Loni in the above and below photo.
He carried her for a touchdown! I don't know if it counted but it was sure funny to watch.
Ada looks so happy. I love that she is playing in her rain boots. She goes everywhere in those things.

Just slow down!

2011-12-03T08:12:00.002-05:00

I know that you all feel the same way......Thanksgiving flew by. It is now December and pretty soon it will be New Years. Things are just flying by. Tyce is no exception! He was crawling around being fine with it. When we would try to help him walk he would pull his legs up and refuse to...then this week he up and started walking everywhere. You put him down now and he goes right to his feet, not his bum, and off he walks!y gfdgj ftrr ffrvftrec freew vffrr tr44443 cjjn

Ada helping type. So enjoy the time while you have it, because soon it will fly by and you will look back on those moments and say I wish things would just slow down!

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Ward Christmas Party

2011-12-03T08:01:00.002-05:00

Ada was just staring at Santa Clause, but looked at her daddy and gave a big smile for the picture. What a good girl!
I don't know why Loni was making this face but maybe it is because she knows we didn't get a shot of her with Santa?
Santa with Tyce and Ada. Tyce seemed ok sitting there but just stared at him. Ada wouldn't look his way or say a word of course. I like her beady little eyes looking towards him in this shot. It is so Ada.
Ada trying not to smile.
And the piece de resistance.....is that how you spell that?......Sherrie you win the funniest picture of the night award. One day you should make an album of all the funny shots you have of yourself and the incooperative pictures you have of Taylor. That would make for a great coffee table book. I would laugh and laugh.

We got some photos taken......

2011-12-01T07:25:00.002-05:00

It is that time of year again......the time when I get our family photo taken. Usually we get my mom to take it if she is visiting or we set up the camera and take it ourselves. My friend Robin said she would do it this year! So I took her up on her offer and she did a great job! Thanks again Robin! The only problem with taking so many shots and getting so many good ones, I don't know which ones to pick! I want to blow them all up and put them on my walls! I guess I will have to do a collage so I can have them all! Well except for the top photo of Rick being Rick. What a dork! I love him. Loni wanted to run down the hill while Robin took some shots. It reminds me of Little House on the Prairie....I think she may have been thinking of that too. She watched them this summer at her grandparents house. Ada was funny. She wasn't cooperating then she was, then she wasn't, then she was. Tyce did pretty well. He was a one year old. He is now walking everywhere.

Thankful.

2011-11-25T16:00:00.004-05:00

Thankful.

Good Friends.

The kids.

The men.

The Desserts. Yum.

I am thankful this year. I am blessed to run in a race. I am blessed to have my husband and children there. I am blessed to have great friends who invite us over for Thanksgiving. I am blessed to have a bed to sleep in tonight because I am so tired from all that I did on Thanksgiving Day.

Honor roll and Race day.

2011-11-25T15:46:00.003-05:00

Our smart little Loni was on the honor roll. She is such a good girl and we are so pleased she tries hard in school and does well. Love you Loni.
I did my first race a 5k on Thanksgiving morning with my friends, Robin and Sherrie.
Rick and the kids came and watched.
There I am at the end. I placed 15th in my age group......my end time was 23 min 36 seconds. I placed like 138th overall. Kind of cool. I had a lot of fun and I don't know if I will do another one, but I think I can do better! Hehe!

Tyce Walking

2011-11-25T12:05:00.002-05:00

Tyce has been walking a little bit lately, mostly when he chooses too. Finally got him to do it long enough to get a video.

New Hair cut

2011-11-22T18:37:00.002-05:00

Ada got a hair cut! Tyce pulled out a lot of it from the sides and it just never has looked right since. She also always would get food in it and it is always in her eyes. I try to clip it and pull it back but it usually ends up right back where it likes it, in her eyes. Like in the below shot.....it still likes to fly into her eyes. But it is now short enough it won't be sticky from the sucker in her mouth. Which is another thing that makes Ada, Ada.

Sunday all dolled up. I think the boots make the outfit complete.

Parties by Kate.

2011-11-22T16:15:00.002-05:00

Kate threw another party but this time for us grown up girls! yeah! Breaking Dawn came out and we played a game and ate some food and then went off to the movie at 9:50 pm. That is late for me since my bedtime is 10pm. I didn't fall asleep though. The movie was ok. I may have been too tired to enjoy it. I will watch it again one day and let you know. This is all the girls minus 3 who came to watch the movie and 2 who didn't come to watch. We missed them.
This is Kate. If there is ever a party you want to attend it is one thrown by this girl. They are fabulous. Thanks again Kate for a fun evening and delicious food. I stuffed my face!
See. Her cupcakes are so good.
This is the spread that we had. There was still more when we left. I don't know how. We all were eating a ton.
All of it was really good, but this was my favorite. Kate is a genius.

First party by Kate.

2011-11-22T16:01:00.002-05:00

My friend Kate throws wonderful parties. Her little girl turned 3 this month and Ada was invited! Yeah! This is what cute Paisley received from us thanks to my sister Jody. She whipped this cute dolly out and mailed it to me so I could give it to her! Thanks Jody! She loved it!
They had a little picnic!
Played with balloons which Tyce enjoyed.....notice his new bottom tooth. He popped a few balloons.
Playing with the friends.

Rick comes home today.

2011-11-18T13:10:00.004-05:00

Rick comes home today! Yeah! I will be off a few short hours later to a Twilight(Breaking Dawn) party. My friend has thrown a party before each movie release. I have only attended one where I went to see the movie that night. I don't stay up very late. I am a wimp. I admit it. But I will be going this year. I just wanted to say that the previous post about Rick, I wasn't really mad or anything. Maybe complaining a bit, but who doesn't every once in awhile. Anyway I love you Rick and I don't mind that you get to do these fun things while you are also out working. I shop and spend your money while you are away and if you weren't away you might not always be making that money that I get to spend, so like I said before, you keep fishing and doing what you do because that means I get to do the things I get to do. Like go to a movie the night he gets back. He hasn't complained that I am going. He won't. Because he loves me and wants me to have some fun too. Oh and I don't know what type of fish it is. He may post about that later. Kind of cool in an ugly way fish. And yes he did catch some.

Working???? I think not!

2011-11-14T19:21:00.002-05:00

Rick is really working. But. When you get a photo like this it is hard to believe they actually do anything other than golf, fish, sky dive, and numerous other things. I love you honey. I really do, but maybe you should keep the fun stuff a secret and tell me all the hard working stuff. Haha! He may be bringing some fish home. I don't like fish. Don't they have a place you can catch chocolate or Dr. Pepper? I would like some of that brought home to me. PS I also need a robot that can fix computers and babysit so I don't have to have my computer in my bedroom floor because the wireless won't work and pay someone to watch my sick little girl while I go to church. Course if I had that maybe life wouldn't be as fun to live. Ah, I guess I will be alright. You keep on fishin.

A couple more.

2011-11-12T07:02:00.002-05:00

Here are a couple of the first shots we took. Continue on to the next 2 posts to see the rest. Ada didn't make it into the shot. Tyce was really good at looking at the camera for most of it. Then he started looking back at Loni....
This one is funny. Ada with her sucker stick hanging out and Tyce's little teeth poking out. It makes me laugh.

Me and my kids...

2011-11-12T06:54:00.002-05:00

So this was almost the best. Tyce was a ham. Loni was the best at posing in each picture. Ada would wander a little too far and be cut out as I would too.
Where's Ada? She is just a stick.
Me and Ada not quite in the shot.
Tyce sliding out of the shot and a little blurry.
Coby attacking Tyce and Tyce ready to be done. Ada was through as well. I took a few shots of her after this and then took her to bed.

Pictures and Pumpkins

2011-11-12T06:44:00.002-05:00

So Ada likes to take pictures lately and smiles all nice and big for them. So I grabbed Tyce and took some pictures then decided I needed to grab Loni as well. I will post them next so actually they will be first! Silly. Tyce was being such a good boy looking into the camera as well until Loni came. Then it was difficult. Oh well. It was still fun.
My happy boy.
Look at all those teeth!
So the pumpkins are a bit old and moldy but here were the finished products. Lonis on the left and Adas on the right. They never did paint the little white pumpkin.
Funny face pumpkin and my unfinished spiderweb pumpkin. I never got in the mood. I did throw it away and it was very rotten and soft inside and smashed to pieces in my garbage. Felt kind of fun in the destructive Halloween way. Course then after the garbage was taken away I had to clean up the mess. Ucky.

Tyce is hungry!

2011-10-30T18:09:00.003-04:00

Tyce is a begger. Is that a word? When you have food he will come to you and open his mouth and make his noise. Here it is in a video for all to enjoy. This was on his birthday.

Carving PUMPKINS

2011-10-30T17:50:00.002-04:00

Rick said not to take his picture.....but I think he took a pretty good shot.
One day I think Ada's bangs won't hang in her eyes. But then we may not recognize her. She liked pulling the "guts" out of the pumpkins. She helped on hers and Tyces and anyone elses that needed it.
Tyce didn't really like pulling the guts out. He was ok just playing on the floor.
I helped carve some. I didn't finish and it still isn't finished because the carving tool got broken. Oh well.
Loni working on her pumpkin. She did a good job. You will see when I take pictures of the finished pumpkins and finally post them. Who knows when that will be. I will try to get it done.

Trying to catch up....

2011-10-30T17:36:00.002-04:00

Rick took this of what Tyce is doing when I am in the kitchen. Under foot as usual. Don't mind the knife hanging over the edge. I eventually noticed and moved it so he didn't try to grab it.
Grandma Nancy sent us a Halloween package and these awesome glasses were in there. Ada has worn them on 2 walks the whole way! So funny!
We went to a place in Chesapeake that gave tractor hay ride and had a corn maze. I didn't get many photos. Tyce liked the grass.
Ada liked running through the corn maze. It was a bit dead and falling down in areas. Fun enough for a 2 year old. They had homemade ice cream too which was my favorite part. Pumpkin ice cream! Yummy. I also got some homemade jams.

First Haircut.

2011-10-22T09:26:00.002-04:00

Looks good!
Bribery to sit still.....sucker!
Don't move you may get your ear cut off!
What are they doing back there??

Tyce's Cake and Ice Cream

2011-10-22T09:17:00.002-04:00

Tyce's cupcakes. He liked the frosting but didn't really like the cake.
He would dip his finger in the frosting and suck it off his fingers. We tried giving him the cake but he just spit it back out.
Yummy!
Family photo.
Birthday presents.

Happy 1st Birthday Tyce!

2011-10-21T07:47:00.002-04:00

Tyce was born today a year ago! Can you believe that? I can't. It feels like he has been a part of our family forever but yet like it was only a few months that he has been here. I love this little boy. He completes our little family. I am not sure if he will be the last baby I have, but for now he could be a great ending to the babies I have had. He is happy and funny. He is a trouble maker just like most little boys. He smiles when he is in trouble or just starts bawling and then you just can't help but hug him. He has the funniest smile and of course the craziest hair! We will celebrate as a family today with cupcakes and maybe a bike ride? I don't know yet. We may make a trip to get a little trim on his locks. Just a little one. He will still have his long spiked hair. Rick doesn't want any of that cut. Hehe.

Happy Birthday!

Tyce Thomas!

More pictures of Trunk or Treat

2011-10-17T07:22:00.002-04:00

My friend Robin is a picture taking freak! I love her! She got these photos and sent them to me. Thanks Robin!
Ada with the hood on. Isn't she hilarious!
Rick and Tyce. Can you believe Rick doesn't want to cut Tyce's hair?! Look at that do. Rick doesn't think his hair is long either. He is getting a little senile in his old age I guess.
This is a really good picture of Loni. Too bad Ada wasn't looking or smiling.
Rick's photo of himself and Tyce. Tyce was going to dress up as the bee and Ada as Winnie the Pooh but Ada wanted to be the bee so Tyce was going to be a zebra. That is the only other costume I had for him. Rick thought his halloween shirt was enough.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

2011-10-16T17:24:00.002-04:00

Loni and Ada are bee's this year. Aren't they the nicest bee's you have every seen?
We had an activity at church....Trunk or Treating! Always fun and an easy activity for me to do. There were some other bee's there and a whole lot of other scary, cute, and fun costumes.
Serving some candy, milk, and donuts! Yummmmmmy.
Loni's school carnival was also this weekend. Loni got her face painted like a doggy. She ran around and had all sorts of fun. We didn't see her much.
Ada had fun as well.

Pumpkin picking and petting farm

2011-10-08T19:10:00.002-04:00

Ada was totally into picking out some pumpkins. She picked out 4 and Loni picked out 2. Post to eventually come of all of them hacked up with goofy grins or scary scowls.
Tyce got to sit on this huge pumpkin. We didn't buy it. It was too big.
Ada got her turn on the huge pumpkin. It made her happy.
Loni was zen about her turn on the pumpkin.
Goats at the farm had a huge stump that they could climb into. Pretty cool.

#2

2011-10-08T18:24:00.002-04:00

Loni and Ada with a goat at Hunt Club Farm. Ada liked the goats and cows, but was scared to pet a chicken? Not sure of why.
Daddy and Tyce. Tyce is really close to walking. Oh dear.
Happy Daddy with his Happy boy. So glad to have him home.
Our kids.
Funny. Tyce is just floating there.

Boys.

2011-10-02T19:33:00.002-04:00

Boys are really quite crazy. I don't think they are scared of things. He has fallen off this so I have taken it away now, but I think he would keep doing this over and over. It makes him happy to scare me, or something. Crazy!

My many projects.

2011-09-30T15:47:00.002-04:00

I love counter space. I have little of it. Then I tend to cover it up with all sorts of things. Some I need there like a toaster, but then other things can definitely not be there. Like my masses of papers I tend to pile there. Anyway I saw this at ikea and I thought I would try it out! The bar holds a small dish drainer, some things I "must" have out,and my towels! I used to just have the towel and dish drainer on the counter or hanging from a knob. Not anymore! I think I will enjoy this.
I love chalkboards. I don't know why. I have done a few projects over the years trying to get chalkboards around for the kids. They haven't really worked. Well I had a plan to paint a wall in my kitchen with chalkboard paint for the kids to write on and I will use a bit. Then this darn cupboard used to have glass which one fell out and broke. I had to replace it and I finally came up with the idea to try and make it into a chalkboard! So I can't reach the top but I figure I can write things up there like "don't eat that chocolate!" or some other inspirational saying. The lower part I will use for meal planning, grocery lists, or just notes. I wrote a bit so you could see. Isn't it fun! I think I will use it.
Another ikea find was this wire hanging line. I had one like it in the other room that was twine so I bought two and put one in Loni's room and one in Tyce/Adas room. This is Loni's. She can now hang whatever she wants up there and the little sister and brother can't reach it!
I can't remember if I posted this, but here is the basic finished project. I hung up shelves and got rid of some floor clutter. This is in my room since our computer is wireless the printer and things don't have to be downstairs. Yes, this is the last of the orange in my house. Just in case you were wondering. It really isn't that orange. I don't mind it.

The rain came down and the floods came up....

2011-09-28T20:37:00.003-04:00

So it started to rain today and it rained all this last weekend. The drains weren't cleaned and so up came the water. SCARY! It makes you a little nervous when you see the water start to rise.
And Rise. I decided I could sell my house for more money since we now have a "pool." My neighbors across the street could have because they now lived on their own private island! Haha! The water has already gone down and Loni will have to go to school. So sad!
My little climber! Tyce is climbing anything he can. He thinks he's cool. I think he may end up with a broken leg.

Loni's singing skills.

2011-09-26T13:26:00.002-04:00

Loni has started music lessons. She does piano, guitar and singing all with my friend

Kelli. She does great with her. Loni likes a very laid back way of teaching but still wants to

learn kind of quickly. Kelli is a great singer and Loni wanted to learn more of that so she

was the perfect teacher for Loni this year. Hopefully she will keep a teacher for longer than a year! Anyway they picked this song for Loni to practice and learn for her school talent show this year. She is already on a great start. Please forgive all the noise in the background. We will try to make a better video after the others have gone to sleep next time!

Oh my!

2011-09-26T13:09:00.002-04:00

So Tyce loved to touch and attack our TV. This wasn't acceptable. So we had buy a new TV stand so he couldn't get to the TV and also push the black boxes off the stand. This isn't an actual TV stand but it was one I could afford and use as a TV stand. I like it. More storage, my dream.
The ikea trip in August was a great trip. I love that store. I got these photo shelves and finally got them installed. I still have 2 more to put in Ada's room. I will get around to it. I also put that ugly white shelf up for Loni's piano/music stuff.
This is Tyce showing his strength and skills as a little climber. Pull ups on the stove. Luckily the door is really heavy and can hold his weight. One day it won't be heavy enough. Ada finds this out occasionally. He does this same thing in the bathroom. Looks into the drawer and then reaches in for what he wants. Pulls himself to look and then reaches in a pulls out what he wants. It becomes very messy.
After he was done climbing.
Today he found he loves the vacuum just like Ada. I knew he liked it but he has been playing with it a lot today. He totes this around the house.

He got it! Say Cheese!

2011-09-20T08:59:00.002-04:00

A picture of Tyce after I made the video in the next post.
Ada did a photo shoot of Loni. She loves the camera....at least Loves to take photos with it. She isn't always the fan of being in the photos.
Loni doing things for Ada to take photos of.
Isn't this so cute? Ada had a lot of fun and Loni did till she fell off the ball she was rolling on. It is all fun and games till someone gets hurt!

Funny boy!

2011-09-20T07:43:00.003-04:00

Tyce like all my children, do not give up easily and are very determined.

Tyce loves the remotes. What a boy!

Firsts.

2011-09-07T15:02:00.002-04:00

Loni went to her first day of 4th grade yesterday! She was way excited and had everything ready. Grandma went back to Idaho that morning as well and so we were all up way to early in the morning. Loni chose to be up that early! When we walked her to the bus stop she didn't want to go, but of course was fine. She loves her teacher. I think he will be a great fit for her.
Loni's cute pose.
Showing me her summer muscles.
The left (or non-dominant) arm is always uncooperative.
This is the first time Ada has fallen asleep on the kitchen chairs, holding an ice cream cone, that was not eaten all gone! Even greater....she slept there for about 2 hours!

Childrens Museum with help!

2011-09-03T17:09:00.001-04:00

Tyce, Ada and I went to this museum a few weeks ago but it was difficult because I had to chase Ada around and so when we had a chance to have 3 adults to 3 children I jumped at the chance to go there. Of course the kids still ran from one place to another and didn't always want to be at the same place at the same time, but it went pretty well. Ada ran right to the bus when we got there. Daddy is finally home and joined her for the "ride".
The Bubble room. Daddy was great at doing this!
Loni was great at making bubbles with a hanger.
Loni was also good at making huge bubbles, Ada was good at popping them all.
Back to his roots. Milking a cow.

More museum.

2011-09-03T17:02:00.001-04:00

Loni the Farmer.
Ada the Farmer.
The Teeny Binghams.
Teeny Grandma with still monstrous Tyce.
Firefighter in Training Grandma.

Museum #2

2011-09-03T16:54:00.002-04:00

Firefighter in training.
Crazy Police Motorcycle drivers.
Rick.
Tornado Loni.
Ouch. That frog is HOT!

DC Trip

2011-08-31T16:16:00.001-04:00

I hadn't been to the temple in a while and since my mom is visiting I decided that if she was willing to watch the kiddos, I would go. So that is what we did.
My kids. Aren't they cute?
Some deer at the temple.
Picture my mom took of the temple. She was really there with us, but I didn't get a picture. I need to be better at that.

Just so you know, we are ok.

2011-08-29T08:10:00.001-04:00

Hey if you hadn't heard, VA had an earthquake last Tuesday then starting Friday we got rain from Hurricane Irene. My mom is visiting so she had a hotel res. for us in case we had to evacuate on Saturday. We didn't really know what to expect. All the storms I have been through so far haven't been too eventful. I can say this one was only different in one way really, the loss of power. Everything else was pretty good. My neighborhood doesn't flood, we don't have too many trees around to be scared of falling on our house, and we are in the middle of a line of townhouses so it feels a little safer. We decided to stay put at my house instead of leaving so we had ice for the chance of losing power and having to keep things cold. We got lots of water and prepped the house for the storm. Everything was great till 8:30 pm Saturday. The power went out. It is always shockingly dark when that happens. It stayed out. Church was cancelled so we didn't have any plans to be anywhere Sunday. So we headed to bed after I found all my flashlights, candles, etc. Sunday all my neighbors said that it could be 3-4 days! Yikes! I wasn't happy with that. Then my most closest neighbors said that it wouldn't be that long. Yeah! I liked their thoughts more. So we decided to have church at home and my mom gave a fantastic prayer that power would be restored soonish. I don't think that is what she said exactly but you get the idea. Well a little ways through our little church I heard some noises and a little popping noise. So I got up and flicked the light switch and we had POWER! YEAH! All my negativity went away and we finished up church. (It was about 2:30.)

We did feel a little bad when my neighbors behind us in the houses didn't have power, but the got it at 8pm.

Itsy Bitsy Spider! Nope.

2011-08-26T09:34:00.002-04:00

Loni came up and told me one morning that there was a really big spider. I said I would get up and come kill it. I went out to check it out and quickly changed my mind. Did a little research, it isn't poisonous. It is a black and yellow garden spider. Harmless, except to your eyes! It it huge. We haven't killed it. It is hanging out in our backyard attached to the fence and tramp. I am guessing it may move out or move in(to the house!) when the storm comes. What do you think? Should I have killed it, or still should kill it?

Giant green thing and childrens museum

2011-08-19T19:28:00.002-04:00

So I have tomato plants left of my garden, that is it. All the other things have gone away. Some were doomed because of bugs I just couldn't get rid of them. Well yesterday I saw a leaf. A curled up leaf. Oh wait! That's not a leaf. That is a large green leaf eating, tomato eating, yucky bug! Ok so I know that isn't their real name but that is how I feel about them. I ended up finding 2 others. I tried to remove one with my fingers but it spit green juice so I ended up just cutting the branch it was on. GROSS! It vomitted. Kind of like a baby after you feed it then squeeze its belly too hard. HEHE.
Today we went to the Portsmouth Children's Museum for the first time. It was fun. I was tired. Ada would have stayed longer, but she was all over the place. I lost her once. She wasn't far. But I went the other directions first to look and found her on the other side of the wall not far from me. Anywho. Tyce stayed in the stroller so I could keep up with Ada. He wanted out.
Ada in a little tunnel in the railroad/train room. She liked it there.
Shopping! We left the room soon after this because a little boy had a potty accident. The mom just stared at him and kept saying," I can't believe you peed. I can't believe you peed!" I felt bad but didn't stay to help clean up or anything. I was about to tell her her kid peed before she realized it herself. I noticed all the puddles on the floor and the trail leading to him. So sad.
Last stop after the market with the pee.....The Bus with Ada driving. Ha ha. She played in there like 10 minutes at least. Get ready Loni and Grandma Gail, we are going again when you get here. Season pass we need to get our money's worth!

There was something familiar.......

2011-08-15T17:42:00.003-04:00

Several years ago I took this picture on one of my camera phones. It stayed there and stayed there till Rick downloaded all the pics I had on my current phone onto my computer. It was too cute to ever delete and luckily it was transferred from each phone for probably the last 4-6 years. I am not sure how old Loni is in this photo but it is definitely a keeper. So today at the store I was taking photos of Ada in a hat and sunglasses. She loves to try things on and I figures I would take a photo. And the results were a little deja vu.
I don't always see how alike Loni and Ada really are till you put them in the same kind of shot around the same age. I think this photo is a keeper as well.
Ada also loves to try on shoes. She will drop to her bum, rip off her shoes, and put on any shoes that are sitting there. Just so you know, we bought the hat, but left the shoes. She also likes to carry around purses in the stores. I am always grateful to get out of the store without having to buy one. Today was the first of real " I have to purchase this because Ada ripped it open". Luckily it was only a bag of skittles and not a smashed mirror or anything like that.
I also got these new boots! Every winter when it is colder I always want some dressier shoes that will keep my feet a bit warmer. Well every other woman has boots. I have looked and looked but have never found any that felt right, looked right, and asked to come home with me. Today these did. Tyce and Ada both like them too. Ignore the cut off jean shorts.
Me in my red hat. By the way I love red. This hat asked to come home with me too. I couldn't say no. It was one of those days.

2011-08-11T11:22:00.002-04:00

This a picture I took with my phone a few weeks ago. It was the first time I really let Tyce crawl around at the beach. He loved it, and loved to eat the sand. Of course.
This is from a longer while back. This tree is at Loni's school and I saw this red thing sticking out on it. I couldn't tell what it was so I got a closer look. One leaf on the tree was red. I don't know if this is a normal thing to see but it wasn't normal for me so I took a picture. Kind of cool.
Yikes! So I did my first real garden this year. The zucchini bombed out. We just couldn't get them through all the bugs. I think we got 2 zucchini total. Next year I will plant them in the ground instead of in a pot. The peas were good but also didn't produce much. The tomatoes are turning out great. See below. The carrots are a little odd, but I think another year may be in store to really determine if it is worth growing. This is a sample of what came out of the ground. Some really long, some middle, some really baby baby carrots, and some stunted growing ones. They all make me laugh.
Some yummy salsa from my romas! Don't you just want to take this bite!
So Rick is gone for a bit and that means that I am left to do what I seem to do best......buy things. I don't know why exactly I do it, but when Rick is gone I always find something to purchase. It can be cheap or really expensive it doesn't matter. It just seems to always happen. I am hoping I do the cheap purchases more often so that we don't go broke, cuz lets face it, he is gone a lot! Anyway most of you probably haven't been to my house so you won't recognize that this is a different rug. I bought one for our bedroom, didn't like it, so I bought this one. I decided to leave it downstairs though and take the other one upstairs. Just because I like to change how things look. Ada was a really "good" helper when I was moving everything to put it down. She helped me vacuum and "clean" it with her spray bottle and rag. Also just so you know....I am not a flowery pattern person, but I am a dog person and the flowers sure do help mask all the hair that they shed! I also am a clean person so I do vacuum. Just in case you were wondering.

No David! Ummm No Jakey!

2011-08-09T08:33:00.002-04:00

Ada loves to read, be read to. She is so funny. She likes to say the characters are her, Loni, or Tyce. We of course read the same books over and over, then she finds a new one to read over and over. We started reading No, David! She started saying it herself, then one day started saying No, Jakey! Jake is my friend Robin's little boy who is a few months younger than Ada, but bigger. She always asks if Jake will be somewhere we are going. Like yesterday we went to the mall and she asked if he was there. He wasn't, but she always asks. The beach, Jakey?, The church, Jakey? The mall, Jakey? It is cute. I told Robin I would try to get her reading the book with me and saying Jakey. I didn't think it would turn out so well, but it did! Here it is! Enjoy! I crack up every time she does it.

Fun with Daddy

2011-08-09T08:21:00.002-04:00

Saturday we had Family Day at the command where they offer boat rides, food, and things to play on. They have a small playground as well where Ada had Daddy push her on the swings. I never actually push her on big swings so when I saw this I was a little nervous but Ada seemed to enjoy how high she was going! We stood in line to go on the boat rides then got hungry. We went to eat then went back to go on a boat ride. Then decided to not wait the hour and go home. Then Ada was pretty upset that she didn't get a boat ride so I sent Rick and Ada off to get on. I fed Tyce and went to talk to a friend I hadn't seen in a long time. Rick and Ada came back cheerful. She got her boat ride. Rick said she was a little scared and cried a bit but had fun. They go fast and get wet but Ada told me boat ride and was all smiles!
Ada on a bouncy toy......it actually had those big sticks (soft) to hit eachother. We just let Ada run around on it since no one else was on it.
Tyce bouncing on the toy. His face is hilarious!
Another shot of him getting bounced around......he was giggling the whole time.

Happy Birthday Loni!

2011-08-05T14:22:00.002-04:00

Today is Loni's 9th birthday. She is currently on her way back to Idaho from California picking up her Aunt and 2 cousins. We miss spending her birthday with her but we are so pleased that she got to spend the summer in Idaho being a Farm Girl! We love you and miss you Loni. Happy Birthday my Lon-ers. Love ya!

Fun at the Park

2011-08-05T14:05:00.002-04:00

Ada loves the park. She asks to go everyday. We go a lot of the time when we take the dogs on a walk. Usually it is so hot we only stay a little while. Today it was a lot cooler than normal, still in the 80's though at least. Ada likes to push Tyce in the swing.
Loni and Ada never really smiled at the camera when they were babies like Tyce does. I don't know if he is doing it because I am calling him or because he sees the camera. Either way I love his grins!
Ada smiling for the camera. I pushed her for a good 30 minutes. She usually doesn't swing that long but was having a blast today. Maybe because it wasn't so hot.
She was trying to grab the camera to take pictures of Tyce. I got this nice smile when she couldn't get it from me.

Yummy?

2011-08-04T18:02:00.002-04:00

Today I mowed the lawn and Ada helped pick up the grass. Afterwards we had some popsicles. We decided to share with Tyce because he kept yelling at us to. We thought he didn't like them then he would yell and grunt and want more. So we would give him more. I finally decided to video it. Enjoy!

Happy Tyce!

2011-08-04T17:52:00.001-04:00

Tyce likes the dog. So....
Rick decided to put him on Cali. He liked it.

This "little" boy is 9 months old!

2011-07-29T08:58:00.002-04:00

I am a bit behind but I am getting around to it now. I took him to his check up and he is 21 lbs. 12 oz. and about 27 1/2 inches long. I think he is slowing down since he is speeding up. He can crawl, pull himself up, and has climbed some stairs. I wasn't ready for that one though. He is still happy and cheerful. We all love him. He also has some of the cutest 4 teeth ever.

Did you know?

2011-07-28T09:50:00.002-04:00

Did you know you could put an onion in the freezer before you chop it up and it will keep it from making you cry when you cut it? I rarely cry when I cut an onion but when it is fresh from the store it can. I never heard about the freezer thing though. Neat. Little tidbits that can make life better. Have fun chopping your onions.

Loni and the Fair

2011-07-26T07:07:00.002-04:00

I can't really tell you with all the right words what Loni won in. I know. Great mom. I do know she won 3rd overall and I am so pleased in how hard she has worked. She really loves her calf. I know she will miss it. She has had a great time and learned a lot. We hope she can do this every year or at least till she doesn't want to do it anymore! Thanks again Grandpa Wally and Grandma Nancy! Starting in August Loni will move on to the other grandparents. Do you want a calf in your back yard?

It's addicting......

2011-07-25T18:53:00.002-04:00

When I started out this whole couponing thing I didn't think I would really get into it. See I hate shopping. I hate it even more when I have 2 kids to keep watch over. Drag in and out of the store. In and out of the car. And the couponing gurus said you would go to several stores. Well I am addicted. Every Sunday I plan out my little trip and cut all my coupons and organize myself to set out on Monday to get my deals. I know. Debi is going out shopping with all her coupons and going to more than one store. Yep. Funny. I know. I laugh to think of it myself. Nevertheless I am getting pretty good at it. I can slow down now and just get things here and there. But today. A deals a deal and I went and got them. I went to 5 stores. I spent 142.23. I know. It sounds like a lot. The dog and cat food don't count. So take that away and I only spent 55.10. I know cat and dog food is a lot. :) I got that at a deal too. I had $26 in coupons for those. Anyway If you take away all the coupons and discounts I would have spent 164.50! Can you imagine going to Rite Aid/CVS/Walgreens and spending that! I probably would have! I don't shop at Walmart much anymore since I started doing this. You can get deals there but it is too far out of the way. These 3 stores are amazingly close to my house, I walk to Rite Aid and CVS a lot of the times.

Anyway on to what I got for $55.....

Hairspray

Mousse

3 boxes of Frosted Flakes

8 ct pens

2 handsoaps

body wash

toothpaste

2 shaving cream

feminine pads :)

2 razors(3 ct each)

2 bags m&ms :)

6 boxes of kleenex

2 shampoo/conditioners(I only get 2 in 1's now)

1 razor 4 ct cartridge

2 pkg of hair elastics

2 big chocolate bars

4 paper towel rolls

small box tampons

huggies wipes

huggies diapers

air filter

door thing....can't remember what it is called!

If I had gone in with $55 and paid full price I would have been able to only get the razors, air filter, diapers, and some tampons. I don't know about you but I would have just bought chocolate and left the store!

Nice weather?

2011-07-24T08:03:00.002-04:00

It started to pour yesterday. It has been so so hot and I guess Rick decided he wanted to play in the rain to cool down. He took off his shirt and Ada took off hers to join her daddy. The jumped in the puddles and played in the rain. When they started to jump on the tramp the lightning was so loud it scared Ada and they came running in. Of course Ada wanted to run out and jump again. This time she just covered her ears while she jumped.
Rick likes the lightning and thunder. He started trying to get some photos of the lightning. Here is one of them.

Loni show calf

2011-07-20T15:47:00.002-04:00

The main reason Loni went off to Idaho was to show a calf at the fair. Here she is in her show outfit, all white, to show off her calf. Aren't they cute together? She did her first show today and did very well for her first time. I am so pleased in her. She is a great little girl. Thanks Grandpa Wally for making Loni's 4H experience possible! She is having a blast!

Coby needed a bath?

2011-07-20T08:09:00.002-04:00

Ada gets into trouble sometimes. If she did this more often I think I might like it. I don't like giving the dogs bathes. I don't like giving the kids baths. I like how they smell afterwards though. He he. She's pretty funny.

Aren't they cute?

2011-07-20T07:48:00.002-04:00

Sunday since I did Tyce's hair in his mohawk I thought I would take a picture. It is getting pretty long. Ada got into the photo too.
Look at those teethers.

Loni's tooth-less

2011-07-12T07:35:00.002-04:00

Loni lost a tooth in Idaho! If you aren't following Stewart and Juniels blog, you should. I am to keep up with what Loni is up to in Idaho. Rick's brother Stewart and his wife, Juniel are helping out a lot with Loni. They are even helping her loose teeth! HAHA! Loni get wiggling those other teeth so you can get braces! Haha! Love you!

Extreme, Copy, Mad

2011-07-11T13:59:00.002-04:00

Ok. So here is where I am keeping my stash....in my bedroom. I know. Not the place you really want to store things, but you do what you gotta do sometimes. I don't have anywhere else. I want to be able to see it and not stash it under my bed. It wouldn't get used if I did that. So anyway my mom asked where I was putting it all and so mom, here is a pic to show you where it is. Nicely organized on shelves. I did have to move my bed and rearrange a bit to make it how I would like it. It is straight across from the window and my bed is in front of the window. I like it. So I am coming to a time to slow down on the purchases as you can see, my shelves are getting full. I really only need like TP and stuff like that. As it gets used up I will replace things. I haven't done canned foods or other food things....just the crazy amount of drinks. Today I spent about $27 and saved around $64. I can't imagine now going out and spending $91 for what I came home with. So you can have an idea I came home with 23 items. That makes everything about $1.17. My cheapest item was $1.28 before coupons and discounts. My most expensive was $7.99. I must warn you if you ever try this it can get a bit addicting. You start to like to see how much you can save.
Ada watering the plants. She is at that stage that she wants to do everything she has seen you do. She is pretty good at most things. Really messy at others. And others we just scream, NO ADA DONT DO THAT!
My mom also said that Tyce always looks the same in all his photos. So here is a photo of proof that he does cry and look unhappy. I took his picture, picked him up, and then he was happy again. Like babies like that!

4th of July,Learning to climb

2011-07-08T07:33:00.002-04:00

For the past 3 years I have gone to Robins house for the 4th of July. This year Rick was actually home so he got to come too! Thanks Robin for inviting us!
Ada enjoying the fun! We didn't actually get to see fireworks since there was a huge thunderstorm and they got canceled.
Rick and Tyce helping with the grill. They aren't really helping. Just drooling because they are hungry! Thanks Darren for the yummy grilled meat. I loved them all! Thanks Robin for all the other yummy eats. I so love not cooking.
So Rick was watching Tyce for me while I was putting Ada to bed. I came down and saw this from the kitchen. I questioned Rick if he was watching Tyce, luckily he was. He was also getting all the photo ops he could. Tyce has been pulling himself up on things and I guess he decided to climb the bean bag chair to climb into his chair. Not sure if he was planning to go head first.

Zoo playdate

2011-07-05T15:25:00.002-04:00

One of the many fountains at the zoo. Ada just got her feet and hands wet, but some of the other kids were crawling underneath them to get all wet! It was way funny. They were drenched.
Ada and Me! I know I am actually in a photo! I liked this stone thing so Robin took out picture.
The bear climbed in the water while we were watching him. He was taking a bath not swimming. I asked Ada and that is what she said.
Just liked the profile pic of Ada. The tigers are in the background blur. Sorry you can't see them.

Fun Day at the Zoo!

2011-07-05T15:13:00.002-04:00

A little taste of Tyce with his spiked hair. I just did that with water from one of the fountains. Isn't he so cute!
My friend Robin holding Ada up to see some animals. She's so nice!

Right as you enter the zoo there are these fountains and the kids run through them. This may be their favorite part. Ada really enjoyed it. This little unknown girl was trying to talk to her but in Ada fashion she just ignored her and wouldn't look at the little girl. I don't know what she was saying to Ada. Sorry I don't know why the color changed and why it is underlining it?

So here are most of the kids that were there with their moms or mom and dad. Ada wouldn't get in the photo....she wouldn't get close to the rhino. Scared of it?
For my little Loni.....here is the zinnia! Loni gave it to me for Mother's Day. There were 2-3 but after a few storms the others died. This is the lone survivor. It is very pretty.

Zonked!

2011-06-28T14:40:00.002-04:00

I had to include this photo too. We went to the beach for our playdate today and after Ada took a bath she had her lunch. She said she didn't want to take a nap and so I was allowing her to not go to bed. A little while later this is what I see. Don't you love these days? They succumb to what they need, sleep. Don't mind the ketchup on her face. I will clean that later. I hope.

A bunch of goodies....except one.

2011-06-28T14:20:00.002-04:00

Tyce has gotten in 3 teeth now. The two bottoms and one on top. He has the greatest smile and gets a big cheesy scrunched up smile that makes you giggle. I call him "chunk". I was having to squeeze his thighs into shorts and pants so I decided that he needed to be moved up to the next size that I had for him, which is 12 month clothes. I know, he is only 8 months old, but they look better on him. No tummy hanging out and no sucking in when he puts on his jeans. Isn't that what we all like?
I got the blessing of going out with my friends a week after my birthday for a birthday lunch. I had the idea to do this because I had my bday on the 17th of June, Brooke had hers on the 24th, Sherrie on the 28th(today! Happy Birthday!), and Robins is on the 1st of July. It was such a fun thing to do. I don't always do things like this. It is my year to do them. I started having playdates and hanging out with friends and it makes Rick being gone easier. Sometimes just makes my life seem a little more full. Oh and by the way I am the oldest! We are all the same age, except Brooke is a year younger. Don't we look good for being mom's of 12 children?
Ada is quite the ham. She likes walks but she really likes to walk or ride her little push bike. On this day she decided that she needed to push her baby in its stroller. It was very cute. I may be able to go back to a single stroller soon!
Loni is in Idaho for 2 months, one week down! I know she is having a blast because I have to call her. She is taking good care of 2 calves and I hope she is having a great summer. We love her and miss her.
The other day I put Ada to bed and when I came downstairs this is what I found. I have a video of it to. What in this picture doesn't belong? The two beady eyes looking back at you from the table. I still have no clue why Coby thought he needed to be on the table. I bought this counter height table for the purpose of keeping him from getting things off of it. I didn't know I would have to worry about him getting ON it. What a weirdo!

What is Loni doing?

2011-06-23T17:49:00.002-04:00

If you haven't heard.....Loni is on an adventure in Idaho. She left Tuesday and will be gone till August 23rd. At least that is when her return home flight is. She is playing with our extended families and with her new pets.....calfies! Check in with Stewart and Juniels blog to see a few photos of her. She looks so happy. I am glad that she gets to do 4H with the calf that Grandpa got her. Thanks Grandpa Wally! Ada was ready to follow you both onto the plane. She keeps saying" Loni plane, Grampa plane? Ada plane" and I tell her no you stay here. So cute. She loved hanging out with you. We will work on the kissing grandpa for next time we see you.

Mormon Tabernacle Choir

2011-06-23T08:36:00.002-04:00

On Monday I was able to go to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform here in Virginia. Rick was at work, but his dad was here visiting and watched my kids for me! Thanks so much Grandpa! I took my neighbor to it with me. They did such a great job, as always I am sure. Here are 3 videos of some of the songs. This first one the soloist was so funny and good. He was dancing around while the choir sang. I didn't get it on video. You can't see him very well, but he's in the front center about. They did another song which was really cool. I wish I had gotten it on video. It was unlike what you would think they would sing. Hope you enjoy the short tidbits I got.

Mormon Tabernacle Choir #2

2011-06-23T08:31:00.002-04:00

#2 Video

Mormon Tabernacle Choir 3

2011-06-23T08:26:00.001-04:00

3rd video from the concert.

Extreme Couponing #2

2011-06-20T12:57:00.003-04:00

So I have been couponing for a few weeks now. I wasn't very good the first few times. I am still not very good, but I follow instruction very well. So now if you would like to follow that instruction here it is.

Go to thekrazycouponlady.com

Click on Extreme Couponing

Every week she lays it out. It isn't for everything, but it is for Rite aid, Walgreens, and CVS. She tells you which things you are buying, what coupons you are using, and how many transactions. It will make more sense when you go and read it. Anyway so far I have followed that twice and on my second time I think I did pretty well. I still didn't do as well as she lays out, but I did pretty good. I ended up spending between those 3 stores and my local home and garden store, $27. I saved $97. Nice. I didn't buy everything on the Rite Aid list because I messed up. I couldn't find part of it and well really messed up. At CVS I got all that was on there, plus some nuts and 2 Eucerin lotions with sunscreen. Walgreens was a flop. I only got 2 of the items plus a pack of gum. They were out of most of the items and the cashier was not so helpful. I haven't liked Walgreens yet. CVS is awesome and has the best cashier. I have gotten him twice and the first time he walked me through it and told me to do several transactions and have all of the coupons ready to hand to him with each item. He is nice about the multiple transactions and he helps! I love him. :) hehe. He doesn't really smile at me or anything but he saved me money and that made me smile. Anyway Rite aid is just so so still. I have gotten some good deals I just really need to be patient and find all the items that I want.

So there you have it. It you want to start out small go with those stores and the Krazy Coupon ladies website and you will get the hang of it faster and get the money saving itch quicker than trying to figure it out on your own. Good Luck!

Girls!

2011-06-15T14:47:00.002-04:00

Can I say I love these girls! WE had a shopping trip and it was so fun! I don't like shopping. It was a blast with these two. We scored big and had fun along the way. Thanks ladies for the great day!
Loni's last week of school and last 3rd grade awards assembly. Loni received her Honor Roll award......she was on it all year long! Great job my favorite oldest daughter. I love you and your brains! Keep up the great work in 4th grade next year! Yikes!

Ada makes Tyce laugh!

2011-06-15T14:42:00.002-04:00

Ada loves her brother and Tyce loves her! He was giggling for a couple minutes before this and then I finally got the camera to catch it on video. I always think that I will get the camera and the fun will stop but Ada kept going and Tyce kept laughing so I figured I would try. Isn't it funny. I love them.

Sleeping on a pea?

2011-06-10T10:05:00.002-04:00

You think a princess should be able to tell if she is sleeping on a pea. I think a princess should sleep through anything. Including the books she had piled on her reading before bed.
This is Ada's new thing. She loves to read this book every afternoon and night time before bed. It is Arthurs Reading Race. She likes to point to the characters in the book and call them Tyce or Ada. It is cute. She also likes to crawl out of her crib and pile all the books in there with her. At first it was just a few now it is a pile of about 30 books. Yikes! She also has crawled out of bed and was reading behind the rocking chair and fell asleep. You can see the chair next to her crib.

Tyce is happy with his tooth.

2011-06-10T09:47:00.002-04:00

Here is our happy little 7 month old. He just makes you smile, doesn't he?
It is so easy to take his picture because he just keeps smiling. I just have to make sure it is in focus. Don't you just love his fluffy sticky out hair. It just begs to be touched. It is so soft.
A week or something ago I noticed this little beauty in his mouth. His first tooth. It you click on the pic you may be able to see it.

Just a video.

2011-06-10T09:43:00.002-04:00

I love the videos on blogs. It is hard to get a good video, but even a bad video is fun to watch. Tyce is such a happy baby. He pretty much is happy to hang out in his chair or crawling around on the floor. He cries when he wants his diaper changed or is hungry. Pretty normal. He loves his sisters. You can tell. He loves to smile. He makes you smile when he smiles. I love his fluffy hair. We spike it on Sundays. I will have to get a photo. I keep forgetting.

Tyce's crawl

2011-06-04T18:00:00.002-04:00

Tyce is getting around pretty well these days. He is liking it more and more and his chair and swing less and less. That makes me more and more tired. I am not ready to have to keep up with him. Or vacuum the house everyday to keep him from being covered in dog hair. I guess I could call him my new "vacuum" and not worry about it! Ha ha! I love watching them learn to crawl and walk and all that but I also wish he would sleep and hang out with me longer. Too bad they grow up.

Daddy's first time to the beach, with us.

2011-06-04T17:55:00.001-04:00

Ada and Loni were so happy to have Daddy at the beach.
Let's go swim.
Yippy!
Tyce getting his turn with Daddy.

The Beach

2011-06-04T17:45:00.002-04:00

Building Castles.
Family photo. We are all in it. I swear.
Cool Dude.
Get these things off of me. He wouldn't open his eyes when they were on.
Sandy.

Not as interesting, but I thought I would tell you...

2011-05-25T14:44:00.001-04:00

I went and did my first "couponing" trip. So it really ended up that I didn't need many coupons which probably means I failed. I think you are supposed to make sure you use a coupon for everything, but I still feel good about what I bought and how much I spent. Everything I bought we will use. So right there I am tickled.:)

So here is the stats.....

I spent $92.15 and saved $74.36.

I bought a total of 87 items.

I did buy my BBQ sauce. I got 10 of them for $5.90 and they are regularly a total of $12.90! I think that I did pretty darn well. They should last us a year at least.

I also got a bunch of Gatorade for Rick. 40- 32 ounce size for $18. I am proud of that. I know that some people get all this stuff and more for free, but for my first week I am pleased with my accomplishment.

Afterall for someone who doesn't like to go to many stores I went to 3 to get all of the stuff I bought with 3 children and it took about 2 hours. More if you count the time I had to stop to get some lunch and drop off some cold groceries to the house. Luckily the stores are all pretty close to home. If they weren't I probably wouldn't go to them. If you were wondering why Loni was with us on a Wednesday, due to power outages from THE STORM (still mad about my veggies) school for her was cancelled. SOL testing is going on so who knows how they make up that stuff. I am sure we will find out.

The benefits of a Storm.

2011-05-24T19:44:00.002-04:00

So if you look at the picture a few below here you will see the hail from the storm. Loni asked if she could eat it. I said of course. So Ada was partaking as well. But then. She took it an Ada Step Farther. She got a cup and filled it up and brought it inside to eat. Silly girl. That is why I will continue to call her CRAZY ADA!

The Storm.

2011-05-24T19:38:00.001-04:00

I posted the below video and since it ended up being darker than previous, I thought I would post this one as well to see if it was any better on the blog. Probably not, but it is crazy so I am just posting it anyway.

The Storm.

2011-05-24T19:29:00.003-04:00

So. Today. Was. A Beautiful Day. BUT THEN. As seen in this video that I risked my life to make for all you viewers out there. It became very very wet and as seen in the pictures below. A sad sad day for all vegetation everywhere. The death of my garden that I have worked long hours to grow. We have only been able to eat the lettuce and spinach so far, the tomato plants, zucchini, carrots, and peas are not ready. They may never be ready. Their short lives may be over. Can you tell that I am mourning the loss of these poor sweet things? I am. I may be better in the morning. I may not. (Oh and sorry that the video isn't as good as is was on my computer before I posted it. It got a lot darker than it was on my computer.)

Aftermath.....Yikes!

2011-05-24T19:17:00.002-04:00

This is the zucchini. All the leaves are holy now! Some of them broke off but
I think all the tomatoes may be toast! But whatever that "weed" is on the right that I was letting grow for the fun of it, well it is just fine. GO FIGURE!
The hail is still hanging out in some places, like here on the trampoline and in the zucchini pot.
Here lies what is left of my poor, poor spinach. The lettuce looks just as sad, but you couldn't tell in the photo. I think the carrots may be ok. Who knows. The peas look somewhat ok too but it is hard to tell if they broke off or not. I may have to just start all over again. Boo HOO! I am still crying.

Starting Small

2011-05-23T22:47:00.002-04:00

Okay so I am starting off really small.....if you have and won't use the sweet baby rays coupon in Sundays paper.....please bring it to me! That is all I am going to get on my first extreme couponing trip. I know I am starting really small but I don't want to rush and spend and get more than I really need. Or something. Just don't want to overwhelm myself. I know. Kind of pathetic. But I am ok with that.

Extreme Couponing

2011-05-23T09:12:00.003-04:00

This is maybe a fad for me but I am going to try it anyway. I am going to try to use coupons more. Rick is gone and when he leaves I always have more thinking time. Why? I don't know, but it always happens. I usually end up spending money while he is gone. I bought a house, a car, a shed, and many other things. All of which we could buy. I started watching "Extreme Couponing" on TLC and "OMG"! I don't really say that ever, but you can't watch that show and not be impressed. I will probably not ever accomplish the things that any of them have accomplished, but if I can save some I will be happy. So while Rick is gone this time I am looking to start up my coupon binder and start saving. If you have watched that show you need masses of coupons. Well I only get one paper. They say to buy more. Right now I am not ready to do that. So I am asking you if you live by me and get coupons that you give me your unused ones. You don't have to cut them out just keep them and hand them over. If you want me to pick them up from you I can do that. If you see me at a playdate, church, or happen to be driving by! let me have em! I am going to ask my neighbors and I also will be printing them from my computer. If you are at all interested and even if you aren't, I will let you know how this little hobby goes for me. If you know me at all, I hate shopping. I don't even like clothes shopping. Mostly because I really do hate spending money. I think I am a confused mix of both my parents. If I could buy a new car or house a month I would. I wouldn't want to sell the old ones though. My dad loves to buy and sell his cars and houses. He has slowed down though in his older age(not that you are old dad!) Anyway if you are willing to help me out, Thanks a bunch! Let's hope that I can save at least what I have spent on my binder!

Ada's new discovery

2011-05-19T10:48:00.002-04:00

Ada always has new discoveries. New words she can say. New things she can do. New things she can reach. She has started climbing out of her crib. She likes her crib and doesn't want to move to her new bed yet. I haven't really cared until now. She will stay in it though and now in the morning or after her nap she climbs out on her own. She can open the fridge. She can climb on things to get her crayons down or things to eat off the counter. She figured out how to open this pantry that has a child lock on it that obviously is not child proofing. Now she figured out she can fit in the closet and go in and out as she pleases. Fun. I am waiting to hear her climbing the shelves one day. She has already emptied a dog treat bag. The dogs love it. They wish she could keep doing it.

Saturday Play Day!

2011-05-15T11:16:00.002-04:00

We decided to do some fun.....well we had to go get Rick and Tyce some clothes at Kohls first. I snuck in a wallet too. Rick always buys me my wallets, which is great, but that last from Thailand wasn't quite up to par so I needed a new one. Rick needed some new shirts and new church pants. They all looked really good on him. Tyce needed some onesies and some sleep outfits. He was too big for all his other ones and he didn't have very many onesies which he will need in the hot weather to come. So then it was bowling! Yeah! Rick helped Ada for a bit but then as you will see in the video below she could do it all by herself. She would get mad at him when he would push the ball after she would drop it. She would promptly turn and yell at him. She then began to tell us all to sit so she could bowl by herself. She was capable and didn't drop the ball on her toes so we let her.
This kept Ada from going up to bowl. We had to clap and cheer for everyone bowling.....
Loni, Pro Bowler.
Tyce Pro cheerer.