The Nettles Family

Megan & Ben's Wedding...

2011-08-25T09:04:00.002-07:00

And our time in Tampa...Next 4 are new too!

Well...we are back! We went to FL for ten days, and our time was jam packed with things to do. When you only visit once about every 5(+) years, you have to see all the family, and hopefully some friends :)

I don't have all the pictures off my camera, but I do have some, so I will start with those. First up was Ben (my brother) and Megan's wedding. We flew straight into Tampa on Friday the 12th and stayed there for 3 days. We spent the day Saturday setting up for the wedding. I have been working on figuring out my camera on manual mode, but up until this trip I didn't really have a reason/need to use it a lot so this trip really helped me get the hang of the settings. I am LOVING it! I took tons of pictures because of this, and Jesse even remarked "I didn't know all you were going to do this trip is take pictures!" Oh well!!!

The wedding was on the beach at Siesta Key. It was beautiful. Here are some of my pics (completely unedited!) from the ceremony:

The heart that they stood in...blue was their color (it was really big and I had to get on Jesse's shoulders to be up high enough to get a good pic)

Megan's oldest...Devin

Ben's oldest boy/middle child...Reece

Ben's youngest...Kirk

Megan's youngest...Aiden

The sunset just before the ceremony

Ben's oldest/the only girl...Alyssa

All of them just after the kiss!

They did a great job including the kids. And you can't see from this picture but my mom is a notary and she was able to marry them! It was a sweet moment for all of us :)

I am still working on night settings so I pretty much gave up when they weren't coming out. Here is a decent one of their tables.

The Beach...

2011-08-25T09:00:00.000-07:00

I was hoping to spend more time, like a day, at the beach but like I said, we were pretty busy and all our time was pretty much booked. The free time we were able to find was about 2 hours on Sunday, so off to the beach we headed, with a few extra's in tow!

Daddy playing with our boys in the sand

Ryder LOVED it!

Chase wouldn't smile

See the group in the back ground? They were headed out a little ways...the next 2 pictures are with my telephoto lens from the same spot as this one.

Said group :)

Just a view of the horizon

Nephews (Reece & Kirk) building a sand scultpture

Ryder...I have tons of pictures of him simply because it was almost impossible for me to get him to look directly at me!

Niece, Alyssa

Kirk

Reece

Aiden - Megan's youngest/new nephew

Ammy (my mom) trying to teach Tyler how to body surf!

Ryder by the water

Kind of a smile : /

And a (horrible) picture of us...yes, we were there!

Papa - my dad

Tyler

Ammy and her grandaughters

Again...all unedited! Florida beach is SOOOO much different than California beach. The sand is powdery and white and the water is actually warm. I was in Heaven! Probably one of the things I miss the MOST about FL.

Banana Bay Club...

2011-08-25T08:59:00.000-07:00

This is where we stayed while we were in Tampa. Ben & Megan rented out the whole place for family/friends. I'm not really sure how to classify it...there were 7 units, 5 of them connected like a motel and then 2 separate units. It was really nice and the kids basically stayed with my parents most of the time...awesome!

Row of units

Our room - #3

There was also a bedroom and a bathroom. It was the perfect little space for us

This is the common area/pool. When we walked up Chase asked me if this was the hot tub! It was pretty small :)

The waterway off the dock

Looking back at the units from the end of the dock area. This is where the reception was, on the dock, common area and under the tent.

Grandkids...

2011-08-25T08:58:00.001-07:00

The last couple of years, when all the grandkids were living in AZ, my parents have done a Nativity picture with the kids for their Christmas card. When we knew we would all be together in FL, we decided it would be the perfect time to get them a picture with all their grandkids (esp. since now there are 2 more!) for their card this year. We opted out on the Nativity scene, figuring that a beachy theme would be just as great :)

It's a lot of work to get 8 kids (and 2 grown-ups!) to all look at the camera and smile at the same time ;)

The East's...

2011-08-25T08:57:00.000-07:00

The last thing we did while we were in Tampa was go to visit some old family friends...always a great time!

Parents: Clark & Elaine, Kids: Jamie, Jonathan (not there), Brendan. Jamie is just a few years older than me and was a friend when I lived in FL, also a friend of Ben and Megan's. She is a wedding planner and helped M & B with theirs. It was SOOO great to see (and work with) her, and her hubby and 2 boys! Brendan is only 17?, I was around when he was born and I babysat him often, although I'm sure he doesn't remember :)

Chase, Tyler, Taylor, Jack, Ryder

The kids plus me and Jamie

My mom and Elaine

My dad, mom, Elaine and Clark

Elaine, Clark, Brendan, Jamie holding Taylor, Jamey (yep she married another Jamey!) holding Jack

Happy 4th of July...

2011-07-07T00:29:00.001-07:00

I'm BAAACK! I know I was way behind, but now you have lots to read...the next 8-9 posts are new :)

We went to the Anthem Fireworks show on the 2nd. That is the only place I took pics. But, we also had a fun filled 4th. We started the day with Cars 2, then the pool, and then BBQ here with my parents and cards. It was a great day, even though it's not how I wish we spent the holiday. You can revisit here to read what I mean!

Which also reminds me that Jesse and I celebrated our 9th anniversary on the 28th! We went to one of our favorites, Buffalo Wild Wings, so we could play their table games! It was nice to get out and chat and play. Back to the 4th, obviously we didn't make it to FL for this years celebration, but we are going in August for my brothers wedding...even though I didn't win any tickets...I'm SO excited!!!

Here's the pics:

I painted our toes again, but this time, I did more stripes. (click on a pic to enlarge)

Some of the fireworks I caught...I was playing around with my camera trying to get it to work right but these are the best I got!

Summer fun...

2011-07-06T23:57:00.000-07:00

and some random pics!

When we drove to California to help move Jason and Tiffany, we passed Tyler St, I took a picture for her, but I don't even think I've shown it to her!

I made this for Tyler's teacher for an end of the year gift, school got out on the 26th and she got married on June 1st. I found the idea online, the only problem is that I spelled the last name wrong. Good thing I caught it in time to get the picture reprinted! It now says Branum!

Tyler had a friend over and they wanted to jump on the trampoline, but it is so hot that we have to add the hose/sprinkler. I think they had fun!

When the movie Thor came out I had to get a picture of Ryder in this helmet! (His name is Ryder Thor)

My mom told me about a hair do that she had seen and thought I should try on Tyler, so I did. I loved it, but she just got her hair cut so it will be a while before we can do it again.

K-I-S-S-I-N-G...

2011-07-06T23:27:00.000-07:00

While trying to get this picture:

there was apparently a little of this...WHAT?

I can't believe it...I really have no words, just laughter! Sorry Presley...he's just like his dad ;)

Father's Day...

2011-07-06T23:10:00.000-07:00

This year we tried something new...I know the kids loved it, so hopefully Jesse liked it enough to do it again, as I think it was perfect! I saw an idea to have kids plan a date with dad. I thought this would be great so Tyler and Chase both picked an activity to do with Dad and we also picked something for Ryder. First, we made dad breakfast:

Then he and Chase were off to see Green Lantern. Chase is really into superhero's and has been asking to see this since the first time he saw a commercial for it, lets just say its been a LONG wait!

Jesse loves to paint and do artistic stuff, and when it was just Tyler, he would let her paint her own canvas, while he painted his. So naturally she loves art too. She decided on painting something at As You Wish. I stipulated that they had to pick one item to paint together!

We made sure to visit our dads, Jesse found this antique Fire Helmet and thought it would be the perfect gift for John.

We finished the day with dinner at my parents and a little walk afterwards.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to the 3 best men in my life and my kids' lives. We are so blessed to have such wonderful men and role models. We LOVE you!

Swim Lessons...

2011-07-06T22:49:00.000-07:00

This year all 3 of the kids did swim lessons and Tyler and Chase are regular fish in the sea, er...pool! Ryder just got enough confidence to be more dangerous! We have to keep a VERY close eye on him with his new found confidence and he's lightening fast! Here are some pics of Chase and Ryder with our FAVORITE swim teacher ever, Ms. Mancy (Nancy) as Chase calls her...we LOVE you! Tyler only had one week and the boys had 2, I didn't think to take pics till the 2nd week :(

Strongest Man...

2011-07-06T22:22:00.000-07:00

Jesse has done a few of these contests. He did one in May and I'm pretty sure he placed 4th in all. Here are a few pics I was able to get of his first event. After that we left, it was taking too long and it was HOT! With 3 kids, it just wasn't the best scenario.

Easter...

2011-07-06T22:08:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter this year. We went to a local Easter egg hunt the week before and the kids had a blast, Then Easter morning we had breakfast with family at Jas and Tiff's, went to an hour of Church and then headed over to Kim and Keith's for the rest of our celebrations. Somewhere in there we also dyed eggs. Here are some pics from ALL of the festivities, Enjoy!

Oh...and earlier in the month, Tiff and I had the kids make these adorable little birdies...for a spring craft! They loved making them and they turned out so cute

Some phone pics...

2011-07-06T21:42:00.000-07:00

Chase and Tyler doing their "Hulk" impressions after watching the movie at my parents!

Something Jesse concocted and totally cute!

This is from Jesse's phone a few years ago...we were in Cali for the 4th. It is one of my ALL TIME FAVORITES of these two :)

Silly Chase

This was sent to me for Tyler from her cousin London...she had asked her mom how to spell "you rock sista"...how cute!

Chase was running around with Jesse and this is his impression of Jesse driving!!! I had to laugh...too funny :)

Remember This...

2011-07-06T21:31:00.000-07:00

contest? Well, I WON the GRAND PRIZE!!! I pretty much NEVER win. Jesse is usually the one with all the luck!

Here are the shoes that I got:

and these

and I LOVE them! Thank you IHeart Organizing and Report Footwear...WOO HOO :)

2 Free SWA tickets...

2011-05-04T11:53:00.001-07:00

WOW! I don't even know what to say (type!). We are trying so hard to be able to go to my brothers wedding in August. The problem...4 tickets from AZ to FL are EXPENSIVE. So, today I was looking on Facebook and I saw these 2 4 giveaways

Skip to my Lou
Today's Mama
Mami 3 Mommy
Tip Junkie

So I MUST blog and enter in as many ways as I can so that we can for SURE go to the wedding in August! PLEASE cross your fingers and say a little prayer for us!

Daddy's Girl...

2011-04-09T23:37:00.000-07:00

There's just NO denying that she is HIS daughter!

This is all 3 of our kindergarten pictures. I think it's so fun to compare them...she is a spitting image of Jesse...and I LOVE it!!! (I can see that she resembles me too)

Creepy Crawlers...

2011-04-09T23:30:00.000-07:00

Do you remember them? Well, Jesse's dad is a little obsessed! He gave each of the families their own complete creepy crawler set for Christmas this last year. Every time we see him he asks if we have used it.

Side note: I am really bad about doing projects and messy things with my kids. First, I am a little OCD and controlling about the way things SHOULD be done and second, I hate the messes and time they take. Jesse is much better about doing these types of things...which you might not guess, but he is much more patient (with these projects)!

Back to story: So the other day we decided to get them out and let the kids make some. They LOVE them as much as Grandpa does! It was close to bed time so they each got to make one thing. Chase loves the snake, Tyler made a butterfly, and we made a caterpillar for Ryder but he wasn't to impressed. Here are some pictures:

Waiting patiently for her turn...which she did VERY well!

Daddy and Chase working on the snake

Typical face of Tyler...she messed up!

Ryder and Tyler working on theirs

Chase's Spiderman (red, blue, black) snake

Tyler's butterfly

All of the creepy's from that night

Fishy Friends...

2011-04-09T23:16:00.001-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Chase's Sunday school lesson at church was about the animals in the sea so his teacher got all the kids 2 goldfish to take home. She properly warned them that these were one week pets so no getting upset when they die in a week or less! Anyway, I am all for the kids having pets, I had them growing up...but Jesse is not so gung-ho about them. This gave me the perfect opportunity to talk him into letting the kids have goldfish (the cheapest available kind so they are easy to replace), in a cheap bowl from GW, with no frills, for pets. He obliged and so the journey has begun.

I wasn't thrilled that the teacher sent these home...I thought paper fish would have made just as good of a take home object...but oh well. Each kid got a jar with some rocks, 2 fish and a little container of food. Immediately Tyler was devastated because she didn't get any fish. Good thing Chase got 2. He shared, she was fine and so they began naming them. Sparkles (Tyler) and Spiderman (Chase). A few days later Spiderman was dead.

We flushed him down the toilet and were left with Sparkles. About a week later I got around to finding a bowl and so we got 2 more fish, (and more rocks and a fake leafy plant)...one for Chase and one for Ryder. I put them all in the bowl and in 2 days they were all dead! So I waited a bit, we got 3 more fish and this is the last run...for now! I asked some questions of the Petco employee as to how to keep them alive and also bought some chlorine liquid stuff and for now they are surviving. Each day (a few times a day) I hope they are still alive when I get up in the morning! The kids are loving them. (I am pretty sure we never had fish as pets growing up so I am very shady on how to take care of them, we always went fishing and then ate them :), but I'm learning)

Tyler's (Goldie) is all orange, Chase's (Venom - one of Spiderman's nemesis) is black, white and orange and Ryder's (Thor) is a little black, more white, and orange.

Happy St. Patrick's Day ... (WHAT)

2011-04-09T23:00:00.000-07:00

It's not St. Patrick's Day? Well, I worked hard on some food for St. Patty's so I am not going to just give up on posting it...even if I am a month (almost) late :)

I wanted to make the kids cute shirts, but St. Patty's happened to fall over Tyler's spring break this year. That meant that we were going no where and doing nothing so why spend too much time and effort on this holiday? I decorate the house and we had a last minute green breakfast (pancakes, applesauce and milk) for dinner

and THEN I saw the coolest cupcakes and decided THAT'S what I was going to do for going ALL OUT for St. Patty's day! I was even gonna share with some friends, cause what family of 5 needs 24 cupcakes, right?

So, I spend an hour sorting, coloring, and filling. Bake my beautiful cupcakes. Put them on the rack to cool...go to my bathroom for less than 5 mins to get ready to go (somewhere ?) and come out to find ALL but 2 of them gone...very very very ANGRY Brandy....very very very very BAD Jack (our dog)!

He has a habit of getting food off the counters that is left out and we have learned our lesson MANY times...he was in my room with the door shut...all food and cupcakes safe... until I went to my bathroom and my children followed without closing the door behind them...argh! Here they are in all their glory from start to cool...to 2 left :(

This is one time I really wanted to kill my dog. But I didn't. So what's a girl to do when 2 cupcakes won't even feed her family of 5...not to mention how much she was looking forward to sharing and bragging about her AWESOME St. Patty's Rainbow cupcakes? Make some more...that's right, I spent another HOUR sorting, coloring, filling and then baked and cooled...this time with the dog outside...so we could have our cupcakes and eat them too! Unfortunately it was to late to share...but next year for sure!

30 items in 30 days challenge

2011-04-09T16:58:00.000-07:00

iHeart Organizing is doing a challenge: 30 items in 30 days

And then there is THIS

So...what's a girl to do, but join in AND try to win in as many ways possible!!!

I am not horrible at buying shoes, well, maybe I am because I don't buy them! I can't wear heels more than 2-3 inches and I pretty much just wear flip flops ALL YEAR LONG (except for church and special occasions) My problem is getting rid of things...in EVERY department! I am a pack rat and I am sentimental so I don't like to get rid of things, because when you go through said things to get rid of what you don't need/wear/want...you remember those lost items and SURELY you will begin to give them the proper need/wear/want now that you have seen them again!

BUT it never happens...at least not for me.

We are having a Carousel Boutique for our Church group this Wednesday. We have all been asked to donate items and then members of our congregation can come and take what they need/want for free. It has motivated me to go through EVERYTHING and finally get rid of the Goodwill pile in "Jesse's" garage ;)

So, after seeing this giveaway and knowing I had a perfect "giving" outlet for the items I purge...I got rid of these:

This is only from MY shoe selection because Jesse is not home. (I won't go through his stuff...causes too much conflict later!) I plan on going through the kids' too, but they are pretty whittled down already. It feels good to have PILES of stuff around my house to take to this activity and donate :)

(and yet somehow my house is still FULL!)

6...

2011-02-26T16:29:00.000-07:00

Well...I wanted to do a whole post on the 23rd about Tyler, from birth to now. But my external hard drive (where I keep all my pictures in case my computer crashes!) is telling me I need to format it to use it...hmmm...I'm guessing that's NOT good :( Arghhh

So, she's 6 now, and I'm old, at least I feel old.

She's a HANDFUL, but

Fun AND Funny

Happy

Loving

Caring

Nurturing

She is my first. The one who made me "all I EVER wanted to be" (just ask anyone who knew me as a child)

My only GIRL (who desperately wants a sister, but is a complete tom boy)

Creative

She tries to do good/choose the right (it's just so hard!)

She is AMAZING!

About a week before her birthday we had this conversation:

M: go to your room (time out) for 5 min, good thing your not 6 yet! (one minute in time out per years old)

T: well, 6 year olds aren't mean

M: ya, we'll see

She's already proven herself wrong ;)

We had a little family party on her birthday (February 23rd)

with cake (ice cream, and cookies)

and presents with LOTS of openers!

We did a small party so she could have a friend over this weekend and we took them to:

A few cousins have build-a-bear friends and she is always wishing for her own...but all she ever got was a sticker!

So yesterday, after school, Haylee and Tyler made some new friends at BAB.

Princess and Sparkles (respectively)

I did not take any pictures, but I will get one of Tyler and Sparkles to post. She had a blast (I hope)!

Tyler makes my life harder, but sweeter. I love her so much and can't imagine our family and my life without her. She is growing up way too fast...

and it makes me sad (and old!)

HAPPY 6th BIRTHDAY TYLER!!!

The long awaited...

2011-02-13T23:47:00.000-07:00

Family pictures: Here you go, Enjoy!

And now I am off to finish the last 2 of these (the bags at the end), for the baby boys who missed out last year!

Oh February...

2011-02-13T23:15:00.000-07:00

February is a BUSY month for our family. I am sure I have mentioned this before, but here's why
7 - my birthday & aunt-in-laws birthday
11 - best friends birthday
14 - Valentines day & in-laws anniversary
21 - other best friends birthday
23 - Tyler's birthday
27 - Grams-in-laws birthday
28 - Dad's birthday

Basically we don't get a break from all the partying! I say that makes February the BEST month of the year :)

Tonight we had a little BBQ with family and friends at the park by our house. It was really nice and I didn't have to clean my house! Here are a few pictures:

We had these (in my favorite color!)

And some of this

And there was

and

and some of this

all thanks to him! I love you Jesse

We also had a few moments of this

a few! We also had hamburgers and hot dogs and chips and soda and lots of great people to share it with. Thanks to everyone who came. I also got some gifts and the best one...

This is what Tyler gave me. It made me cry! She made it all on her own and she even put it in a gift bag that she had left over from her Christmas gifts. The top pic is the outside of her card... the middle one is the inside of her card, she is spelling phonetically, it says "happe brthay mome" & "I {heart} you mome". The bottom one is the credit card she gave me!!! "kretit krd (and a wierd picture of a face...me?)" she said I can spend as much as I want on it...yipee! She also included a penny. She has no concept of money. She and Chase tell us all the time that they have lots of money we can borrow if we need it. She also saw me open a card with a bill in it and she said, "They just gave you a dollar. I gave you a penny!" It probably doesn't help that we say "wow your rich" when they show us their coins! Anyway, it was a wonderful birthday and I foresee some shopping in my very near future ;)

Lots of Pics = Long Update...

2011-02-02T16:48:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from Christmas time...decorating the tree and going to see the Temple lights with Jason and Tiffany (and their kids) and Granma and Grandpa. Enjoy:

Pre-decorations

Ryder's turn

Chase & Tyler's turn (he sort of has this thing about not wearing bottoms at home...)

The finished product (had to make a few adjustments after they went to bed!)

Temple Lights - Family Pic

I just thought this was a decent picture of us, Jesse took it

With the camera on auto, this is how the pictures turned out...nice (always the older sibling to use the choke hold to control the younger in pictures!)

This is what it really looked like there...a glow around everything, but the camera shutter time and the kids' "stand still' time didn't quite match!

Grandpa and Tyler

Too bad we had cookies and hot chocolate (they were good)...and I didn't clean faces too well!

The Temple and the reflecting pool

Walking out with Granma...Grandpa rode with us on the way there, Granma with J & T and then we switched on the way back. Must be sure that all grandkids get equal time with both!

Here is the Santa picture from my parents church Christmas party...Ryder was not happy!

This one is from our church Christmas party...as are a few of the ones that follow. Ryder was a little less unhappy here!

The kids got to decorate a frame with stickers and crayons

Ryder watching

Then we went outside and got to roast marshmallows...they loved it

And then...we went on a hayride! It was cold and I hadn't dressed the kids or I for it really, but we still had a lot of fun. Jesse had to work...as it seems is always the case. He was missed :(

These next few are from the drive to my parents house Christmas Eve...after which point, as i mentioned before, we have no Christmas pictures!

Grouchy...maybe we should start calling him Oscar!

Happy...as always!

Tyler thinks these are for her personal use to hang/hold whatever she wants. I try and try to get her to leave them alone, but does she listen? Anyway, Jesse took all of these and I am guessing he thought it was funny!

These are recent! Jesse has been helping me out a lot with the kids. This was Sunday before church, and he so nicely gave them a bath for me (because I have to get me lesson ready, stuff for my womens class ready and get myself ready...it's a lot!) Thanks for all your help, Jesse...I DO appreciate it!

Ryder's hair is a joke...it would stand up like this in the back all the time if we let it! THanks Jesse for passing on your cowlicks(?) to your children ;) (also why we keep Chase's hair buzzed!)

AND even after helping with the baths...he did their hair for me...all three of them! You are awesome honey!

Well...I think that's it for now...hope you didn't get bored catching up! We finally got signed up at the gym and so...I am sore! I was hoping to get some pictures of my Christmas decorations and post them, but that did not happen. February is a busy month for us, lots of birthdays and valentines day, I will be putting up pictures of my valentines decorations!

Happy New Year...

2011-01-01T22:49:00.000-07:00

Let's recap my post from exactly one year ago:
I have so MANY goals I want to set for this year:

~ Blog every day: I just think it will be neat to look back on at the end of the year, anyone want to join me?
~ Exercise regularly: somehow my baby is already 2 months old and though the time is gone, my stomach is not!
~ Spend more quality time with my kids: I think it would really help fix all the problems we have around here with them...or go a long way in doing so
~ Be a better wife: All for the benefit of my wonderful husband!
~ Take more pictures: I would like to be good at taking them...and I am determined to never have to pay for my kids' pictures again!
~ Be better at my Church related activities: I slack too much and the Lord knows it! I will do better...
~ Contribute to the family income: If only I could get my etsy shop items to sell...everyone says their awesome...but no one wants to buy, hmmm???
~ Become a better (read learn to) cook: maybe I can just convince Jesse to agree to be the cook and I will clean up after and find other ways to make it worth his while!!! ;)
~ Keep the house clean: I have actually been doing better at this since we moved, but ever since just before the baby I have slacked off...and never seemed to pick back up!

Basically I did not reach ANY of my goals from last year! WOW...that stinks :) (I did contribute to the income a little with babysitting, but I am not doing that right now)

So for this year NO GOALS! Hows that for not worrying about failing!

Actually, for this year, Jesse and I have set up a teamwork plan that will keep the house clean, allow us to spend more quality time with the kids, and give us regular exercise. Which should give me the time and energy to be a better wife! So now last years goals are this years goals...isn't that how it always goes?

Well, we were even worse this year than last at pictures. Not ONE picture of Christmas Eve or Christmas day...Jesse did take a video on his phone, so maybe I can get that uploaded. I do have some pictures of the last little bit to post, and about a month ago we got some family pictures taken (by Ian) so I will get those posted soon.

Happy New Year everyone...I am going to make it a GREAT one!!!

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

2010-12-09T09:20:00.000-07:00

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

TodaysMama and GameStop are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What is your holiday wish for your family?
    My holiday wish for my family is to help my children understand the TRUE meaning of Christmas and to learn that presents are not what it is really about!

2. What is your Christmas morning / Hanukkah Nightly tradition?
    We make hot chocolate, turn on the fire and open presents Christmas morning. The kids open their stockings while we coerce daddy out of bed ;) Then we head over to the in laws for breakfast brunch...yum!
3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be?
     would ask for a decked out craft room that someone else put together and stocked for me! I am not so good at the design stuff.

4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money?
    We have an advent calendar and we try to focus on the TRUE reason for Christmas. We visit the Christmas lights at our churches temple, watch Christmas movies, and try to make treats to give to others.

5. What games did you play with your family growing up?
    Board games...my favorite was always Life...getting to have a family when I was still to little to really have one!

6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood?
   Opening stockings when you first wake up...we would do that before we woke our parents, our kids are still to little for this yet, but once they get a little older it will give us some extra sleeping time!

7. Where would you go for a Christmas/Hanukkah-away-from-home trip?
    I would go to somewhere that has lots of snow. Even though I hate the cold, I would love for my kids to experience a traditional Christmas with snow and all that, here in the AZ dessert we don't get that...it is still in the 70's during the day!

8. Check out GameStop and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year?
    The newest release of WOW for my Hubby: he has been itching to get back into playing, a game system: we are currently without one :( , and something for my kids.

Thanksgiving Decorations...

2010-12-08T16:18:00.000-07:00

I saw this really cute turkey made from styrofoam balls and I decided I needed one for my decorations! Jesse decided to have the kids make their own too, and I am glad he did...check out our turkey family below:

Drying parts!

Our turkey family on my entry buffet, and my thanksgiving decorations

This beauty (the banner) was requested by Tiffany...my SIL. She found one like it online and said we should make one, so we did!

I love my new fall/thanksgiving decorations and can't wait to pull them out next year!

For thanksgiving day I made the cutest shirts for the kids with their handprint. However, Jesse has the pictures with him at work, so those will have to wait till tomorrow. We are also getting our family pictures taken tomorrow, I am SO EXCITED!!!

Here Tooth fairy, fairy...

2010-12-08T16:01:00.001-07:00

We went to the dentist for a cleaning the last week of October, the assistant told us that her teeth were starting to get loose, but I had no idea that they were really even close to coming out. I thought for sure that would be next year! But, November 19th Tyler lost her 1st tooth.
It was a crazy night, we had company over for dinner and games, and so she was a little embarrassed when we were all so shocked. I thought for sure she had done something she shouldn't to get that tooth out...her and her friend can be a little sneaky! Turns out she was doing something she shouldn't be (biting her bears arm and yanking it out of her mouth), but she wasn't trying to get her tooth out. After a little reassuring that she was ok and wasn't in trouble we got a picture. Sadly, the tooth fairy lost track of time and wasn't able to visit until the next night ;) She got $2 for her tooth, tied with some dental floss, which she thought was also part of her present! My baby girl isn't a baby anymore, her grown-up tooth is poking through
:(

Happy Halloween...

2010-11-02T20:22:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday we had our churches trunk-or-treat...it went well and I got the kids' costumes pretty much done (at the last minute as we were walking out the door). I am not thrilled with them, I guess I expected them to look more like the characters, oh well! Then on Sunday we went trick-or-treating with cousins and the kids that I babysit. I forgot to take any pictures the night of Halloween, except the group one, so the individual ones are from Tuesday. I am really bad about making sure to get good group pictures of my kids. Something to work on!

It ended up that the only time to carve pumpkins was after church before trick-or-treating and Jesse wasn't able to be there. So he helped the kids pick what they wanted on their pumpkins and drew it on them so I could carve them later. The kids actually did a lot on their own. I let them use the pokers to put holes on the lines Jesse drew and then I went around them with the knife to cut them out. They did a pretty good job, I think :)

Ryder is 1...

2010-11-02T19:50:00.001-07:00

Even though we celebrated Ryder and Chase's birthdays together, Ryder officially turned one on the 28th of October. I took a few pictures to document the day:

I bought this onesie for Tyler or Chase, but never used it...I thought I should at least get some use out of it...so since there was no party ON his birthday, he got to wear it!

And this is for my grandma! She made this outfit for Chase and all my boys. She also made a dress for Tyler and all my girls...isn't it cute!

Yesterday I took Chase and Ryder for their 3yr and 1yr check ups...however, I had the kids I babysit with me, so that made 5 kids total that I treked to the Dr's office. They forgot to give me his stats sheet so I don't remember what they are. How bad is that! Wait...I can weigh and measure him here...

19 lbs
29 inches

Shots...NEVER take all your kids to get shots at the same time! We got a note from Tyler's school that she needed a shot to stay in school...so while we were there I asked if they could give her the shot. Sure...but looking at her records she never got any of her kindergarten shots, not sure why the school didn't catch that. So now Tyler needs 5 shots, Chase 2 and Ryder 4. All of which I have to help hold them down for...we had quite a bit of crying...some even from kids who did not get shots! Today, we have a sick baby and a sore kindergartner :(

And Now...

2010-10-24T22:03:00.004-07:00

I am off to make these: (well, maybe not tonight!)

costumes for halloween...which I actually have to have done by Tuesday night for our church's trunk-or-treat. And did I mention that I haven't even started yet...maybe they will end up being Pirates for halloween!!! (This is Team Umizoomi. It is a new math based show this year on Nickelodeon...when it aired back in January my kids said they wanted to be them for halloween. It was a perfect fit Tyler ~ Milli the girl, Chase ~ Geo the boy, and Ryder ~ Bot the robot. You would think with so much time to prepare I would have these done by now!)

Hair today...

2010-10-24T21:55:00.004-07:00

Gone...no just kidding! Today at Church we had a program put on by the children so I wanted to do Tyler's hair a little dressy. I decided to put foam wrap-y curlers, like rag curlers, in her hair last night. First she complained that they felt weird, but after a while she went to sleep. This is how they turned out this morning:

Not bad, but not the greatest either! I was going to have her wash them out when I remembered I have this handy tool made just for curling hair (ie: curling iron)! So I figured we could salvage the ones that weren't too great and make it work. Guess you'll just have to take my word for it because it didn't dawn on me to take an after picture, probably because this was to document a flop...not a rescue!

3 years ago...

2010-10-24T21:36:00.004-07:00

YESTERDAY...because I am so bad at being on top of these things! Anyway this is what we welcomed into the world October 23rd 2007:
And now we have this:
Chase is so full of energy and so funny. He makes me laugh daily. We are so grateful that he is a part of our family. Happy Birthday and we LOVE you Chase!

Argh, Birthdays...

2010-10-24T20:57:00.005-07:00

Chase and Ryder have their birthdays 5 days apart. My original plan was to celebrate Ryder's this years since 1 is a big milestone, and then alternate each year with the boys having a family party or a friend party. Then, a few months ago, Chase saw a poster I had made for Tyler's Little Einstein's party and decided that he wanted one to. From then on it just became a big mess as to what he wanted the theme of his party to be (I didn't have the heart to tell him sorry no party for you this year!) Anyway, I knew that if we were going to do a party for both of them that we would have to do a combined one. After much searching, for the perfect joint 1 & 3 year old party and some strong convincing from parents, Chase agreed to the Pirate Party! YAY

The invitation: We had lots of Pirate-y decorations and garb for the guests, some not pictured:
The ship is courtesy of Jesse...at about midnight the night before the party. I originally wanted 2 ships for a canon ball war...but after he made this so intricate and being so late...I couldn't ask for #2, besides, the kids still had a BLAST playing in this...it is still up and will be used until it falls apart, I think.

There were presents opened, and cupcakes and cake eaten:
Ryder wasn't too sure about the cake at first, but after a taste or two of the frosting he figured it out, but he only wanted the frosting and the little sugar dots on it!

Our activity was make your own treasure map...it came with a big map and lots of stickers for the kids to build their own:
And of course, best Pirate buddies!

I put together outfits for all my kids. I am going to dress them all up together and take a picture to post in the next day or so. Anyway, I was able to get all the gear at goodwill and I just had to alter a few of the pieces. They turned out great and the kids were asking to wear them again today. We provided bandannas and eye patches and earrings and sashes for the guests. I also spent a lot of time making pirate hats that no one ever got to see or use as my kids weren't interested in them! Oh well...maybe I can repurpose them for Christmas gifts somehow!

Fall Break Day...

2010-10-12T15:30:00.012-07:00

This is really what Deer Valley School District named their day off yesterday...Columbus Day...aka (apparently) Fall Break Day! (ridiculous) Anyway, since we really wish it was FALL here...we decided to go to a pumpkin patch/farm. There used to be a really great Pumpkin Patch/Farm to go to up north called Youngs Farm, but they have been closed for a few years now. The year before last (I think) we went to Schnepf Farms...but I was looking for something cheaper and closer and open! So we headed out to Vertuccio Farms. Not really closer, out in Mesa, but cheaper. The only thing that stunk was that it was still so HOT. It was about 90* while we were there and it felt even hotter!

The kids got to do lots of fun stuff: Cow train/tractor ride (Chase is first and Tyler is 2 back) This was pulling in at the end, funny how they are making the same face!
This was the only thing Tyler REALLY wanted to do. She asked and asked and asked...so finally she got to! Getting ready:
Milking the cow:
They also had "how strong are you" for kids and grown ups, Tyler:

Chase:

Conk the Crow...Tyler:

Chase: (see the green ball about to hit the crows nose)

And a cute picture scene...well cute if my kids would have cooperated!

And of course a little Farmers Market where Jesse got them each their own Coca Cola in a real glass bottle. They were huge and the kids loved them!

The kids did have a lot of fun and we also got to do a corn maze with a little investigation for the kids. It was cute and the kids enjoyed it. I think we will wait till evening next time and maybe until it cools off a little more!

All I can do is laugh...

2010-10-12T15:25:00.002-07:00

While I was preparing my last post (lets be honest it took a few tries/days) Chase came out in this
How could you NOT laugh! I love little boys in thier underwear. He said he was a cowboy...it made my day!

All caught up, in order...backwards...

2010-09-26T18:14:00.002-07:00

I FINALLY posted updates! There are 6 with lots of pictures so you will have to go to older posts to see them all...thanks and I promise to update again, sooner!

Potty Training, AGAIN...

2010-09-26T17:59:00.004-07:00

I guess it's inevitable if you have more than one kid that you will have to go through potty training more than once...dang it! Regardless, this boy is pretty much done. Still a few accidents but he did earn his big prize (which has now been confiscated) in about a week! I just had to wait until he was ready...we tried a few times, but I could tell it was going to be too much of a struggle so I waited. And it paid off. His big prize was a scooter, like Tyler's, and so the other night they asked if they could ride them in the driveway. It was a great evening and they had a blast.

He chilled in the walker...he just LOVES to be outside.

One Year Older...

2010-09-26T17:34:00.002-07:00

Jesse is a twin. The boys and their mom's birthday are one day after the other. September 18th for the boys and the 19th for Lori. So every year we try to cut down on too many parties/get togethers and usually end up combining something for the three of them. This year we really scaled back and just celebrate with our two families and John and Lori (Grandpa & Granma) We decided to go to dinner at one of their favorite restaurants, Carlos O'Briens. It was nice and after we went to the grandparents for cake and ice cream....I mean ice cream cake...Made by me!

The boys don't love cake and I was going to make 3 in the beginning and then I saw one on a blog and it hit me...problem solved and only 1 cake! So we did chocolate cake (for Lori) with 2 different ice creams inside (one for each of the boys). It was actually delicious

The inside

The construction is (bottom to top): cake, thin layer of icing, cookies and cream ice cream, icing, cake, icing, cookie dough ice cream, icing, cake and then I frosted the whole thing. I followed the instructions from the one I saw on the blog (don't know where) but they said theirs kept melting too fast and they had to frost it in the freezer. Luckily I did not have that problem. I will definitely make one again. Yummy!

Science is FUN...

2010-09-26T17:08:00.007-07:00

My parents have a membership to the Arizona Science Center so Tiffany and I decided to take the kids. We all got in free, which was great, but the parking cost us $12 each...but still cheaper than paying to get us all in, so we'll take it! (we will find free parking next time!) Anyway, it was a lot of fun and the kids really enjoyed it and they lasted for a few hours there.

The first thing we did was fly a pretend airplane, but I didn't take pictures, so then the kids went and sat in this section of a real plane that they had...it was pretty cool!

This lady was doing a whole segment on combustion, and 1 second later all this "stuff" was a really cool big ball of FIRE...stupid cameras!
This is the earth and you were supposed to be able to see a mock of tsunami's and other natural disasters, but we couldn't get it to work...but I still thought it was neat how it glowed
This was a fun room for the kids. Here you put the ball down the shoot and try to get it to bounce through the hoops...the kids all took a turn
This is a pulley system and they all took turns pulling themselves to the top
The babies LOVED this. The balls are suspended in the air and they thought it was the coolest...they wanted those balls
A bed of nails! This was really neat...I thought :) I tried it to see if it hurt, and it more tickled than anything, but it is a weird feeling. The nails all have blunt tips so no real poking...Chase was actually the first kid brave enough to try it, but Presley is the only one that ended up on my camera. In the end they all did it
The last thing we did was play with these big foam blocks and all the kids built their own masterpiece.

London Presley stuck with the Lego's
Chase
And Tyler

They had a ton of cool stuff. And there was even a gated area with a house and toys for the babies. I think we will return for another visit soon!

First day of Kindergarten...

2010-09-26T17:01:00.003-07:00

On August 16th Tyler started Kindergarten. I am so proud of her and can't believe how big she is. It was a little sad, but she needs the outside the home stimulation and attention so it was a happy day too. She picked out her outfit and we curled her hair, she had also gotten a hair cut recently from Granma Lori. She looks so grown up and she is doing really great at school. She LOVES it!
Daddy and Tyler at school

Mommy and Tyler at school

Chompers...

2010-09-26T16:57:00.002-07:00

Ryder now has 4 teeth on top and his 2 on the bottom...they have grown in alot more since these pictures taken in August!

SWEET...

2010-09-26T15:47:00.010-07:00

Before summer was over, Jesse and I wanted to do something with the kids. We decided on the Cerreta Candy Store in downtown Glendale. They give a free "tour" and then for a few dollars each you can make your own chocolate pizza...PERFECT for the kids! During the "tour" (you stand on one side of the wall while a lady tells you all about the factory) Tyler got to go around the wall and make some chocolate "breakfast". Here she is working on it
And here are her sausage (pretzel sticks) and eggs (white chocolate and m&m's)
Just a cute picture of Jesse and Ryder hangin out
Patiently waiting for their chocolate pizza kits
Chase (and daddy's) pizza
Tyler's pizza
The only problem was that we really didn't think about the fact that we were not going straight home...you were supposed to put the pizza in the fridge for a few hours to harden...ours were mush when we finally did get home and after we froze them they were just piles of whatever they had put in them, no longer "pizza's"! Oh well...it all tastes the same :)

This is why we didn't go straight home:
There is a park on 59th Ave and Olive(ish), Saguaro Ranch Park, that is just awesome. They have a orange grove (some sort of grove) and old buildings, a rose garden, benches, a bridge, animals...lots of picture perfect spots! So since we were headed that way I wanted to try and get some pictures of the kids. It was about 110 that day so Jesse wasn't too happy with me, but we did get a few good ones!

I LOVE this one! Apparently we didn't notice all the ants on the ground when we were setting them up for the picture!

And the other reason we didn't go straight home is because Jesse wanted to "hit up" some Goodwill's on the west side of town that he hadn't gone to before. Goodwill (or GW to be cool) is his latest venture for making some money on the side. You can find some great stuff that is worth way more than they are selling it for and resell it on eBay. He mostly looks for gold jewelery, but he has found some other good things too. So while I sat in the car with the kids and he ran in to sweep the stores, I decided to try taking some pictures of myself! I had just gotten my hair cut so this is purely for that purpose, to show you my new do!
I LOVE it!

Swimming...

2010-07-09T21:34:00.002-07:00

Just a cute picture of the kids swimming...

We did 2 weeks of swim lessons with Nancy Page, and I loved it...and her! The kids still need constant supervision and watching, but Tyler can swim on her own if she wants to and Chase is fearless! I am loving spending time in the pool with them, Ryder also loves the water, though he is not swimming quite yet!!!

Happy 4th of July...

2010-07-08T23:28:00.009-07:00

Here are some pictures, OK... a lot of pictures, from the 4th of July weekend. We joined Mike and Stacey (Cooper and Kamryn) and went to the Anthem Park fireworks on the 3rd and they were AWESOME. I think we have a new tradition for watching fireworks! The weather was nice and a little breezy...it couldn't have been better. This is the only decent shot I got...

(I also made the star "wavers", because boys cannot be having wands!)

I made this super cute door hanger out of scrapbook paper. I got it from Family Time and I love it...

Then on the 4th we spent the day with my parents. Jesse ended up working overtime, so he came in the morning and ate BBQ with us but then he had to go. We swam and I took pictures (not really anything we did just good ones in their outfits!) I got all their bottoms at The Children's Place, I love them especially when I can get a good sale and matching outfits for all 3 of my kids! Then I bought an extra dress (on sale) and made their shirts so they would all match! I figured I would spend the same amount by the time I bought all the fabric I would need. I wanted something they can wear whenever so the outfit isn't a total waste of money! Tyler has a cute flower on hers and the boys have USA. I couldn't think of anything cooler or more original that would work for the 4th and all year!

Down the street from my parents house is a found cement circle with about 8 cement stools on one side. They have names it the Circus and they take the kids there when they watch them. Every time we go to their house, the kids yell as we drive by the Circus! So we took ALL the kids there on the 4th and put on our own Circus. Here are the kids doing their tricks and stunts!

I was very patriotic this year! We made the wavers, painted our toes and even decorated these cute hats...that never got worn! But it was fun. This is Tyler and I's flag toes...aren't they so cute!!!

Hope you had as great of a 4th weekend as we did!

"We live in the land of the FREE because of the BRAVE"...one of my faves!

8 and 8 on the 28th (and a wish)...

2010-06-29T22:16:00.004-07:00

June 28th was Jesse and I's 8th wedding anniversary. It is so hard to believe that so much time has passed. I don't have our camera right now, but here is a picture from our wedding! We haven't really done anything to celebrate because I am either babysitting or he is working everyday this week! (Plus he doesn't get paid till Friday ;) We are hoping to take a day next week and go up north, or something, just the two of us...we shall see...

Coincidentally Ryder also turned 8 months old on the 28th! This was not planned but how cool am I to have timing like that!!! I don't have any new pictures of him since I don't have our camera...so maybe next time...here's a cute one:

And a wish...

As 4th of July approaches... Back story: I grew up in a small town in Florida, called Lake Helen. There were no fences, we lived down the street from a lake that we swam in daily in the summer, we rode our bikes all around to our friends houses, the park, the Handy Way (a convenience store) all the grown ups knew each other and my grandparents lived a few blocks away as well as some of my cousins. We had a babysitter as both of my parents worked, but they lived on 40 acres and some of our other friends and neighbors had pretty big lots as well.

Back to my wish: every year for the 4th we would gather in our back yard and watch the fireworks that were shot over the lake and every year there was a parade (with candy!) that anyone in the town could participate in. I rode my bike and my horse(s) in the parade more than once. Usually a bunch of friends would come and sit on our lawn for both and it was a big friendly celebration! WHY can't we have that for my kids? They really have no idea about small(er) holidays (anything other than Easter and Christmas) because we are in such a BIG city that it is impossible to do the small town "stuff". I get them outfits, but really, why? I just wish that they could REALLY enjoy the magic and fun of the 4th of July...summer, fireworks, parades and LOTS of friends/family. It makes me a little sad that they can't. (maybe I will start saving so next year we can be in my old town for the 4th???!!!)

Cheating, Crafting & Catching Up...

2010-06-11T22:45:00.016-07:00

***THIS IS A LONG POST***

Cheating:
Since I have been so bad at posting...and equally bad at taking pictures...I am cheating and linking to a few posts on friends'/family's blogs.

First up: Tyler's Preschool Graduation - you can go here to see more pictures and read all about it. Lucky for us Tyler happened to be placed right next to Emily! (Thanks Janae!) Here are 2 pictures that I did manage to get as I was not feeling well that night.

We are SO proud of Tyler and can't wait to see what Kindergarten holds!

Second: Memorial Day Weekend - click here to read all about it and see more pictures! This one is even better because it's like my 'other' blog! (Thanks Tiff!) Here are a few pictures that we did take:
Tyler and Grandpa...we went with Grandma, Grandpa, The other Nettles and some cousins, Matt and Debbie. It was a lot of fun and nice to get away!

Tyler also got to feed the deer, I just didn't get a picture of it...maybe I can switch out London and put Tyler in her place! I am pretty good at transposing pictures in PSE. I fed the deer too, but Chase didn't get to and I don't think Jesse did either. It was a neat experience. And I think we will be going back next year. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for putting together a great family trip!

Isn't he a cutie!

On the way home we stopped at the new Temple in Gila Valley. It is very small, but beautiful, none the less. And the kids enjoyed seeing it and walking around it. We took a few pictures to remember.

Crafting: I have been looking for a long time for a craft cabinet. My SIL Tiffany has one that I love and have been envious of. On a girls trip to a second hand store about a month or two ago, I found this beauty. Well, maybe she wasn't before (see below) but she sure is now! I really wanted an armoir with drawers inside (just like Tiffs) because it is perfect storage for all my craft stuff. I remembered after I had taken it apart to start painting that I did not take a before picture, so I had to take pictures of all the pieces and hopefully you get the idea. The top was busted, but it was a great price and I can replace it for less than $5. I love the slots on the top portion and I LOVE how it turned out. I painted it black and added fabric to the doors, after I took out the lattice!

See what I mean...a BEAUTY!

Catching Up: One day after church Chase came out in this get up...I had to take a picture!

Easter: Was great and uneventful. Once again I was lacking in the picture department. We opened baskets and then headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's to see what the Easter Bunny had done with our eggs! Later we headed over to Kim and Keith's for Easter dinner and another egg hunt. Go here and here to see more. (Thanks Kim!) The 3 girls' Easter dresses were made by Grandma...they were adorable.

Chase finding his basket.

Tyler finding her basket.

Ryder's basket.

The adorable (if I do say so myself) cupcakes that I contributed to the Easter menu!

Mothers Day: ...was! Jesse had to work so we celebrated with his mom early and also with the kids and I. Then I spent the day with my mom. They put together the candy card below and got me these beautiful flowers. It was wonderful!

(Dear mom (m&m's) we love you so much. Happy Mother's Day! You make us laugh and snicker. We couldn't find a more caring, loving mommy in the whole milky way. You are worth way more than 100 grand, but we could only afford $49 for you to spend. You are the kat's (kit kat) meow! Tyler, Chase and Ryder)

And now I think I am (mostly) caught up!

Oh the Shame...

2010-05-15T09:34:00.005-07:00

Everyday I plan to post and then it is bedtime! So here is one, and I promise more to come...

Ryder is 6 (and a 1/2) months old...the time is flying by SO fast with number 3, I can't believe it! Here are some pictures of what he can do and his stats...my pictures are a "from this to this" sort of thing...

From newborn to 6months; from just a bottle to a bottle and a whole jar of baby food; from sitting in the Bumbo to sitting by himself (which we are actually still working on); from laying around to rolling over! He loves his excersaucer and playing on the floor. Now he is scooting around, too. He is such a happy baby and pretty much never cries (unless Chase is hitting/stepping/hurting him) I think we may be having some jealousy issues! I can't believe how awesome he is and we LOVE him SO much.

Chase at 6 months: Ryder at 6 months:

What do you think?

A Camping We Did Go...

2010-03-28T23:40:00.004-07:00

Over "spring break" we went camping for a few days with my parents. We went to a creek back in the desert off of Bumblebee exit and I-17. It was really nice temperature wise, but it was very windy. We were there for 3 days, right on the stream. It was a lot of fun and not too bad having the kids so close to the water. They did pretty good, we went so that Jesse and my dad could do some prospecting, something they have been missing! Here are some pictures:

Chase by the fire; Jesse and I; Ryder and I on our hike; Papa and Ryder, Chase wouldn't share his beanie, but Tyler lovingly obliged!; Ammy and Tyler; Tyler, posing; Chase playing with Ryder, he's taken an interest in babies lately, at church, in the bouncer, he's very gentle but wants to play!; Ryder chillin, I couldn't pick since he was so happy in both; Ammy and Chase; Jesse

Their favorite thing to do: throw rocks into the river! (and play with the dirt and sticks!)

Quick Photo Shoot...

2010-03-07T22:25:00.004-07:00

I am no photographer...I try to be and I have an expensive, nice camera so I could be, but I have yet to learn how to really be a good photographer. Regardless, since I have the expensive camera, I have vowed not to pay for pictures of my kids anymore. I have taken pictures of them and they are ok, just not quite the professional touch that I hope to get, someday! So when we did the pictures for my dad's birthday gift, here, I also took a few pictures of the kids for fun, I think they are cute and at least we have something current! Here are a few:

She actually said mom how about I do this? She's so cute!

This was just one of the many silly faces that I got from Chase, at least we are past the pouty lip!

As promised...

2010-03-07T22:13:00.002-07:00

Tyler's Room:

OK, so I still have a few small things left to do: the bed skirt that I am going to make with the stripe material and I am going to put 'I am a Child of God' on her wall in pink vinyl. I already have it all cut out, I just need to put it up. The bed skirt is going to be another project so I keep putting it off! I also want to take off the handles on the furniture and put ribbon there instead. I am really happy with the way it turned out. My only frustration is that while I was painting, Chase came by and asked "mom you painting waves?" Ugh, leave it to the 2 year old to ruin your vision! I was seeing a nice scallop edge to come down over the top of the stripes to act as a border since I don't have or want to put up chair rail. Now all I can see are waves or a circus tent! But Tyler FINALLY has the same paint as her old room and she is happy. She has recently started playing in her room by herself. It is nice, but hard to let her go in there and shut the door...the relinquishing begins!

Happy Birthday Papa...

2010-03-07T22:03:00.002-07:00

February 28th was my dad's birthday. We did not get to see him that day, but we were able to have dinner with them last night. I hadn't gotten him anything for his birthday and money is tight so I decided that this would be a pretty cheap project that he would hopefully love! I printed the pictures and put them in a frame with 3 5x7 spots and it turned out really cute. I am happy with it and I think he liked it. The kids love taking the pictures holding the words. For Ryder, I had Tyler sit behind the sheet and put him in her lap. It worked out pretty well.

4 Months...

2010-03-02T21:13:00.002-07:00

25 1/4 inches

13lbs 1oz

and ACTIVE!

Ryder recently got his first taste at rice cereal...

not sure yet...

Success! He likes it...I think he will like the foods with flavor even better!

Ryder can roll from his front to his back, he can sort of sit...on my lap, he is very active and loves Tyler (and Chase!). He smiles all the time and sleeps through the night. He is a very happy baby and pretty much just goes with the flow, he likes the bouncer and the swing and we are hoping to get a jumperoo soon so he can have somewhere to play...safe from the others!

Fun at the Park...

2010-02-27T19:30:00.003-07:00

Jesse and I took the boys to the park while Tyler was at preschool...here are some pictures...we had a lot of fun!

And so it begins...

2010-02-27T19:08:00.004-07:00

Jesse decided to get Tyler a little BB gun for her birthday, I re/did her room since we recently moved the boys in together, and ever since we moved she has been asking to have her old room back because she liked the way it was painted! I will post pictures when I get it painted! (a work in progress, plus I just found a cute headboard at goodwill that I have to paint too!) Anyway, back to my point...he bought her a gun...at 5! She LOVES it... go figure! Why is it that they always LOVE the crazy things the dad's buy??? Here are some pics of her and Chase shooting it...they were shooting at balloons...Tyler actually does pretty well, when she focuses!

Jesse painted the stock of the gun a pretty pink and then added glitter to it...it is very girly!

Happy St. Patrick's Day...

2010-02-27T19:01:00.003-07:00

Early! Not really, but I have been crafting a lot for the holidays and I have also been trying to make some money...so I decided to make my kids some cute St. Patrick's Day shirts (and Tiff's kids) and then to sell the actual iron-ons in my Etsy shop. If you want one or know someone who might be interested, send them to my shop! Here is what the shirts look like...

now to find a shirt in Ryder's size???

Birthday Party...

2010-02-27T18:41:00.002-07:00

We celebrated Tyler's birthday on the 20th. She tends to pick a theme and stick to it...as in she already has her Halloween costume decided on!...Anyway, this year it was to be Butterflies! I let her invite some friends, she picked all the girls from her church class, and we had a few boy family members, and we planned a party at the park. Sadly it rained all day and so we moved the party to the house. 8 2-7 year old girls and 4 2-5 year old boys...it was busy! I had planned on having wings for all the girls and I thought I bought enough of them, only to realize that I only had 3 pairs of wings about 2 days before the party! No big deal, I could just make them right? I have seen instructions on that before and I didn't think they could be too hard for a sort of crafty person like me, plus I just planned to copy the ones that I had...I was WRONG! (I was also trying to make dragonfly wings for the boys) Especially the night before the party, also the point at which I realized that I would have to have the party here, and therefore also CLEAN MY HOUSE! When you are not planning on having people over and you are planning and making things for a party...you tend to let your house go...so suffice it to say I had A LOT to clean! Jesse pitched in and made the birthday cupcakes and I finished my other projects, besides the wings...I scrapped that idea...and in the morning I cleaned! It turned out all right, especially since I was probably the only one who cared if my house was clean! Once again, Kim beat me to posting about the party, you can read hers here, but alas, I am catching up! Here are some pics (thanks to my SIL, Tiffany)

Since we weren't at a playground and I didn't have wings, I had to get some last minute entertainment, I was able to find butterfly (jungle for the boys) activity pads and I had already found some butterfly wands and tiaras (at walmart!) and we also played pin the butterfly body on the wings...I think it turned out OK...not my best party planning and I vow to do better for my next one (and hers next year)!

5...

2010-02-27T18:31:00.003-07:00

Am I really old enough to have a 5 year old? (If we would have started having kids when I wanted to, I would have a 6-7 year old, so I guess 5 isn't so bad!) Tyler turned 5 on the 23rd of February...I was gonna blog about her that day, but before I knew it, it was the 24th! Usually she has preschool on Tuesdays, but her week got pushed back so we had her cousin London spend the night on the 22nd and then they got to hang out and play all morning. For lunch we went to McDonald's...with a play place...and all the Nettles' cousins had a ball! I think we spent about 2 hours at McDonald's. Then we hung out at the Nettles' and had dinner and cupcakes! (then us mommies did some crafting after we put the kids to bed!) Here she is in all her 5 year old glory!

New Goal...

2010-02-15T11:32:00.003-07:00

Don't drop off the face of the blogging world!

Obviously I haven't stuck to my new years resolution to blog EVERY day. After I missed a day or two things just spun out of control and then I was to embarrassed to get back on here and admit to my fault! People that actually do blog every day, I don't know how you do it! BUT...I am back, with a few posts below and more to come...Enjoy!

Happy Valentines Day...

2010-02-15T11:26:00.003-07:00

This year Jesse had to work on Valentines Day. We planned ahead and swapped babysitting nights with Jas and Tiff and we went out on Friday night. Nothing extravagant, just dinner and a movie, but with 3 kids that was just fine with us! In the morning I made the kids pancakes...

Hearts with red sprinkles...yum! The kids opened their bags and then we went to church. Jesse surprised us when we got home from church...he had taken a few hours off of work to come home and bring us goodies! What a thoughtful daddy and husband...Oh how we LOVE him!

Valentines Projects...

2010-02-15T10:52:00.005-07:00

I almost finished my projects for Valentine's Day this year. I made 3 Pottery Barn items that I just had to have! My sister-in-law Tiffany and I made them together. First we made a heart garland...we were able to find double sided valentine themed scrapbook paper and we cut out all the hearts on my Cricut. Then we sewed them together and strung them up. They are so cute and they will fold flat for storage to last for years!

Next we made a runner with cute little hearts on them. The white ones have hand stitched sayings on them...this also turned out way cute!

Last, but not least, we (I) made these Valentine Mailbox Chairbackers. Tiffany ended up having gallbladder surgery and so I went ahead and made the bags...Pottery Barn had this style a few years ago and then for the last 2 years (I think) they have had some that aren't as cute. These were also made famous as they were on Jon & Kate Plus 8...this year they brought them back. The ones they sell have gingham interior, ric rac, and the heart on the front, but I wanted them for the girls and the boys and I thought they were too girly looking for boys. We made some changes and found a cuter material for the girls and here is the finished product:
They button onto the back of a chair and can be used when the kids go to school. They have a slit in the top for the valentines! I am in LOVE with them. These are also why I say I almost finished, I just couldn't get to the ones for the babies before V-day. Luckily they are too young to get anything, I will have them ready for next year!

Mommy and Me...

2010-02-15T10:46:00.003-07:00

Tyler's preschool teacher hosted a mommy and me brunch for valentines day. Jesse had to work so I got my dad to watch the boys so it could be just me and Tyler. It was fun to spend time with just her! She didn't really care, but I know she will remember it someday! Here is a picture I got of her playing with her friends

Gummy Bears...

2010-01-14T21:59:00.004-07:00

Every time Jesse gets on the computer Chase comes running and wants to sit on his lap. Next he usually starts asking to watch this:

or this:

I don't know why, but he LOVES these videos and songs! (I know, I know...I skipped a day and this time I am not doing a make up post!)

Last Christmas post... (post for 1/11/10)

2010-01-12T23:21:00.004-07:00

A quick peek at our family Christmas card...made it myself!

And so it begins...

2010-01-12T23:16:00.003-07:00

Potty Training #2! I am sure it will be a LONG road as we have only had 2 successful attempts, but he seems to get the hang of it...I am not going to push it, easy going means less stress for me! This would be the face we get when we break out the camera...5 seconds before, all smiles!

Dogs...(sigh)

2010-01-10T22:39:00.005-07:00

We have 2 dogs...a pitbull/boxer mix (Jack) and a rottweiler (Maggie). We have had Jack since 2004...before all the kids...he was our first baby! We spent the necessary time to train him (because we had it) and he is a pretty good dog. We still have to be careful because he likes to get into the kitchen garbage and if we leave food out on the counters he usually gets into that too. Maggie, sadly, is a different story. I wanted her, to have a friend for Jack and to breed. Unfortunately we (I) have not had the time or the discipline to train her properly and work with her, and her personality has made us realize that she probably wouldn't be the best to breed. Jesse hates the fact that I have not given her the proper attention, as do I, but I know that I have been busy with life! Tonight reminds me that I MUST put more effort into Maggie! We arrived home to find that she had escaped her outside run and made a mess of the house, UGH! At least it wasn't too bad...but not what you want to come home to and who knows how long she was out for :( Oh well...now to do better! (Luckily she did not destroy any single item...just a huge mess throughout the house)

2 Months...(post for 1/9/10)

2010-01-10T22:28:00.002-07:00

I don't know why blogger keeps messing up my daily posts!!! ;)

Anyway...he is already 2 (almost 2 1/2) months old!

10 lbs 12 oz

23 inches

Growing like a weed! He loves to smile and sleep and swing.He sleeps 7-8 hours at night and is very easy going. Just they way #3 should be!

Sparkles for your Hair... (post for 1/8/10)

2010-01-09T16:37:00.004-07:00

And I've got them!

This is what I spent some time doing yesterday. They are the newest, hottest thing in hair fashion. I put some in my mom's hair and they look great. I first got them in my hair just before Thanksgiving. Jesse has a friend at the station (a girl) who does them. I got red ones and they look pretty cool. I decided that I wanted to start doing them because they are really new to the US (big in Thailand) and I should be able to make some money from it. They are great for any occasion or just for fun. Right now I just have a rainbow color, but they look good in any hair color and I am going to be getting a bunch of colors soon! Let me know if you or someone you know is interested, or if you have any questions. I also put them in Tyler's hair...so cute on little girls!

Blogging...

2010-01-07T23:06:00.003-07:00

Remembering to blog everyday is harder than it seems it would be! And having something to say is just as hard if not harder. Today:

Tyler was better - no throwing up
Is 1 month till my birthday (and hers) - 28! (both of us ;) !!!)
Flew by way too fast- seems to happen when you go by 4 hour blocks for feeding your baby
I did not accomplish ANYTHING
I was on the computer ALL DAY - (being productive of course!)

But I did give my kids some attention and I did not yell at them as much as usual, so I guess there were some positives today!

Busy, Busy Brandy...

2010-01-07T00:08:00.005-07:00

This doesn't count as a miss...I am updating so late because we went to see AVATAR! and technically it's only 11 something in California so some of the US hasn't changed days yet! AVATAR was great...a little hard to stay focused with the baby, but I still liked it, and it was in 3D!

Today was a busy day:
Take Tyler to school (Tyler throws up when we get there)
Clean Tyler's car seat
Get a jog/walk in -my legs are killing me!
Pick up Tyler from school
Go to my parents so my dad can watch the kids while I go to the doctor
Doctors appointment
Pick up kids/go home
Make dinner and a treat for FHE - brownies...mmmm! But I can't eat them (I cheated)
FHE at the other Nettles' house
More Tyler throwing up
Movie
Blog about all of it!

Sometimes kids just throw up once and their fine for the rest of the day. After Tyler threw up in the car as we got to preschool, she said she was fine and wanted to stay. No fever, no other symptoms, nothing going around the house, so the teacher says OK. When I pick her up the teacher says she's been fine but she has gone pee like 10 times today! Weird but OK. On the car ride home Tyler announces that she did throw up more at school...WHAT?!...but she "went to the bathroom and threw up in the toilet so it wouldn't get everywhere"! And she washed her hands so she got rid of all the germs and she couldn't get anyone else sick...at least she's thoughtful! I told her that throwing up is something you HAVE to tell the grown ups about! No school tomorrow because she threw up again right as we were starting FHE and then again when we picked her up after the movie (luckily none while we were gone!). She is now in bed with a bowl and clear directions on getting to the toilet and then waking me up!

I hope tomorrow is calmer and less pukey :)

Back to Normal...

2010-01-05T23:16:00.002-07:00

Today Tyler went back to preschool...oh how WE need the few hours apart! I think it is good for both of us...a little break. She absolutely LOVES preschool and would go everyday if she could.

My "diet" is serving me well, this morning I had lost 4 pounds and since I am trying to lose about 20, I say that's a great start for 2 days! At this rate it will only take me 10 days of this...well, maybe not if I am not following it to a T! Tonight my headache is finally gone which means now I can function and clean the house and take better care of my family. On to tomorrow...

I hate diets...

2010-01-04T22:24:00.003-07:00

No wonder I never do them...I don't even know if this one will last! Maybe I will just eat healthier and cut out most of my soda. I have had a headache for 2 days straight, which might not be so bad except that I have also had to take care of 3 kids with no help, as Jesse has been working (which I am grateful for). Plus I missed posting yesterday...already slacking! Oh well, I will just try to keep going. I did get some exercise in today, I took the kids to the park and I walked around the play area while they played...tomorrow I am hoping to go for a jog. Until then...

I'm actually doing it!

2010-01-02T22:19:00.002-07:00

Well...day 2 and I am blogging, so far this year I have blogged every day! Such an accomplishment for me! On to some real news/info...

Today I happened to come across a diet/body cleanse that I think I can almost follow...see I really can't diet, not for any medical reasons, just because I basically don't eat fruits or vegetables or anything that might be a little out of the ordinary, and really I don't like that much ordinary stuff either (might be part of my cooking problem!). Anyway, I found this cleanse that seems like it should be pretty easy, I only like 1 of each of the meal options so I will be eating pretty much the same thing every day for 7 days. I also have to exercise daily...I start tomorrow! I will keep you posted as to how well it works out for me!

We love Cabela's...and not just Jesse and I, the kids, especially Tyler, do too! We made a trip their tonight and while Jesse looks for bargains in the bargain cave, I take the kids around on their animal scavenger hunt. Tyler asks a lot of questions about the taxidermied animals and I don't really sugar coat much for my kids. I think they should know the truth. So she knows that the animals are real and they were killed and stuffed and put in the store. Tonight she said that some of the animals must be sad that they are dead...I told her they don't care because their spirits have left their bodies. This sparked a conversation on the way home about what happens to bodies when people die...she had about a million questions...maybe next time I will just agree that the animals must be sad!

2010...

2010-01-01T15:34:00.004-07:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Now that I am all caught up, a few thoughts until my next post...

I have so MANY goals I want to set for this year:

Blog every day: i just think it will be neat to look back on at the end of the year, anyone want to join me?

Exercise regularly: somehow my baby is already 2 months old and though the time is gone, my stomach is not!

Spend more quality time with my kids: I think it would really help fix all the problems we have around here with them...or go a long way in doing so

Be a better wife: All for the benefit of my wonderful husband!

Take more pictures: I would like to be good at taking them...and I am determined to never have to pay for my kids' pictures again!

Be better at my Church related activities: I slack too much and the Lord knows it! I will do better...

Contribute to the family income: If only I could get my etsy shop items to sell...everyone says their awesome...but no one wants to buy, hmmm???

Become a better (read learn to) cook: maybe I can just convince Jesse to agree to be the cook and I will clean up after and find other ways to make it worth his while!!! ;)

Keep the house clean: I have actually been doing better at this since we moved, but ever since just before the baby I have slacked off...and never seemed to pick back up!

Now I am off to do some of these things and make a list of things to blog about later!

See Ya

New Years Eve...

2010-01-01T15:22:00.004-07:00

We spent last night at home with Jesse's parents and sister Michelle. Then Jason and Tiffany joined us a little later. We went to dinner with the kids before anyone came over and then we played some games until we realized the "time had passed" and then everyone went home! It was short and sweet, but the boys did manage to light off some fireworks! This is the only picture I took...

2009 was a great year...we moved, had a baby and grew closer together! I hope that everyone had a great year and that 2010 is better than ever!

Christmas...

2010-01-01T14:25:00.009-07:00

This will be a long one because I am going to lump everything to do with Christmas together!

First the kids and I went to my parents church Christmas party...it was good: dinner, show/skit, Santa...same old, same old!

Next was Tyler's preschool Christmas party...they wore their pajamas to school, sang all of the parents and grandparents some Christmas carols that they worked really hard on and then they all got to sit on Santa's lap and got a puzzle and candy. What could be better! Jesse always seems to have to work on these occasions...so it was a little hard wrangling Chase and taking pictures and video of Tyler but in the end...mission accomplished!

I also took the kids (with my mom) to the mall to get a picture with Santa...they wouldn't let me take my own pictures this year and then they upped the "smallest/cheapest" package you can buy...what a rip off, the picture isn't even that great. I will try to get it on here if I can remember to scan it!

Christmas Eve was spent with my parents. Luckily Jesse had both Christmas Eve and Christmas off this year! We had a great meal and opened presents and everyone had fun...no pictures sadly, but Ryder got a Bumbo which he is still warming up to, Tyler got a purse with lots of goodies inside, that she says is just like a grown ups and Chase got an inside soccer game that he loves. They also opened their Christmas pajamas from us. We went home relatively early and the kids were in bed at their normal time so Santa could come. Jesse and I surprisingly made it to bed at an early hour and the kids didn't wake us up until 7:30 or 8!

Christmas morning we opened presents and played with them and then we headed over to Jesse's parents. The kids opened their gifts...Tyler's favorites are a Disney Princess art set and her scooter and Chase is loving his 4 wheeler and dump truck, to name a few! Then some more family joined us and we had a delicious spaghetti dinner and tons of treats for dessert. We visited and the cousins played and then we headed home. Tyler also got some Bendaroo's with which she decorated her scooter and aptly named it Rudolph!

And what did I get for Christmas you ask??? Only the best gift EVER from the BEST husband EVER! A Cricut...and not just any one, a special edition one that has 2 new cartridges and is blue, not green...well just go here to see what it is! I also got an MP3 player to use while I am working out (that will be in another post!).

It was a great Christmas but sadly I think we dropped the ball this year on making sure our kids knew the true reason for celebrating. I vow to do better this coming year! (I seem to be noticing a reoccurring issue!) Here is a slideshow of our Christmas pictures...

Oh the things I've been up to...

2010-01-01T14:09:00.005-07:00

Sewing things that is!

I found some really cute material that I wanted to make matching skirts out of for me and Tyler. Sadly I did not have enough material to do both so I decided to make her skirt, and then I made ties for the boys to match. These were their Christmas outfits. Tyler had her skirt, tights, blue shirt and a matching headband that I also made, and the boys wore brown corduroy pants, white dress shirts and their ties. They all looked so cute and when I can work it out I am going to get some pictures of them! I also decided to go back and get some more fabric to make myself a skirt...we'll see if that ever happens! Here are the skirt and ties...

I also made the stockings that I talked about here... (SUPER psyched about them!)

...I ran out of red ribbon when I was making them and I had to go buy more and of course they didn't have the kind I was using so I found something I liked and thought would work and we ended up with matching mom and dad stockings and matching kids' stockings. I had also planned on embroidering our names on them but now they won't fit on my machine to do that so I will have to do some "look like embroidery" iron-on letters for our names...this year we went without!

Thanksgiving...

2010-01-01T13:56:00.007-07:00

Thanksgiving was good this year...I always have so many ideas and intentions that I never seem to follow through on.

I bought some really cute foam turkey headbands at target and some coloring placemats and a pin the Pilgrim hat on the turkey, for the kids and of course we didn't use any of them, so they will go in the stash until next year!

I made a Thanksgiving Advent calendar that I copied from Pottery Barn and it turned out GREAT! We tried to write down something we were thankful for each day and put it in the pockets, but alas days got skipped (and made up) and we didn't even do all of them so better luck next time!

We spent Thanksgiving at my in-laws and had our annual horseshoe tournament...I did not win...Jesse had to work so he was not with us, but we did stop by the station later in the evening and spend some time with him.

Where to Start...

2010-01-01T13:54:00.003-07:00

I have so much to post and probably won't be able to remeber half of it! As I read other blogs ideas just start flowing and as I sit to update ours...BLANK!

I will just start from after Halloween and move forward...

Halloween...

2009-11-11T23:01:00.004-07:00

Back to my posts that I promised!

This year for Halloween we went to our Church's Trunk-or-Treat on the 23rd and then did pumpkins and Trick-or-Treating with the cousins and Gramma on Halloween. It is really nice being so close to Tiffany and Jason (and Stacey and Mike) we all live in the same community now and we are about 2 minutes away from each other. I love it! Anyway, back to Halloween...as usual I didn't take any pictures at the Trunk-or-Treat and while I was prepared with my camera on Halloween, to capture the kids and the pumpkin carving, I left the card for the digital camera in my computer and therefore could not take any pictures...seriously on a bad mom role here! Luckily my sister-in-law took some pictures they aren't the best, but at least you can see the costumes!

Ours are the two on the ground.

Tyler informed me a few months ago that they BOTH wanted to be dinosaurs, however I could only find dragon costumes. I originally told her that she was just a flying dinosaur, but she was fine with being a dragon...so dragon's they were! Ryder was only 3 days old so we let him slide and Jesse and I didn't have time to dress up this year.

Chase turns 2...

2009-11-11T22:56:00.004-07:00

How bad of a mother am I? I managed to get no postable pictures of my sons 2nd birthday so I am linking up to Kim's blog because she takes great pictures (and actually did) and then blogged about Chase's birthday. So to read all about his big bash and to see the birthday boy and decorations click here! We did a ball theme because he is obsessed with them and there was great fun had by all. Thanks to all of you who attended! (Oh and a very BIG THANK YOU to Kim!)

No Internet...

2009-11-11T22:46:00.002-07:00

A few weeks back our "free" wireless internet was shut off...go figure! Anyway after waiting a few days to see if it would "turn back on", we decided we better go ahead and get our own internet set up. So I made the call and Cox came out and voila we have stable internet...you just don't realize how much you depend on it until it is gone. We felt like we were cut off from the world. We couldn't check email, look up directions or any other information, check our bank accounts...it was miserable! But we are back and connected :)

Quick update...

2009-11-01T21:35:00.005-07:00

I have way more to blog about, but I know that everyone is anxious for the news so here it is...

Ryder Thor Nettles

10-28-09 8:40 PM

7lbs 2oz 20in

More to come, hopefully tomorrow!

To Come...

2009-10-27T21:49:00.001-07:00

Surviving without internet...
Chase's 2nd birthday...
Baby Boy Nettles...arriving tomorrow!!!! (YEAH)

Be back soon!

Crafts...

2009-10-07T15:05:00.003-07:00

Thank you Pottery Barn Kids! I don't think I blogged about it, but last year Tiff and I made this Christmas Tree Advent Calendar, they want $70 for it and we made it for A LOT less! They turned out super cute. This year Stacey and I are almost finished with this Thanksgiving Countdown Calendar, (they have a new one this year, not as cute!) and then I decided I was going to make these Pumpkin treat bags for the kids for Halloween! I have finished the bags, with a few slight changes and I am VERY excited about them. I like the traditional plastic pumpkins for collecting candy, but these will last much longer and they are more personalized, plus Jesse broke the ones we had at the house! I LOVE PBK because they give all the dimensions and materials used for their items...this makes it very easy to "recreate" their neat products! I am also adding my numbers to my tree (see picture below). We couldn't find a good way to do them last year, but then I got an embroidery machine...so this year it will be complete! I am also planning to make these Stockings (minus the velvet) for the whole family for Christmas (I really want us all to have matching stockings) and then next year...this Halloween Calendar! Here are all of my completed projects:

The Workbox...

2009-09-28T17:04:00.003-07:00

So I am blogging about this because it is AWESOME! And I have tried to refrain from entering contests that I have to blog about because that would be my whole blog...but I couldn't resist this one! Go check it out!...or maybe don't so I have a better chance at winning!

The Workbox giveaway

Preschool...

2009-08-18T17:16:00.003-07:00

Today was Tyler's first day of preschool! She has been excited for a long time and we had to explain the wait at the beginning of summer based on the activities we had planned: first gymnastics, then swim lessons (which didn't last) and THEN preschool! So we got all her stuff that the teacher said she needed and today we were off. She goes Tues/Wed/Thurs from 9-1 and she gets to pack a lunch. She did great and Jesse even said that she is already doing the "I don't want to be seen with you" routine! Here she is before we left:

Jesse and I (and all the kids I watch!) took her for her first day, with so many kids I just dropped her off and had to go. Jesse stuck around for a few minutes (hence the info above). Her teacher is Miss Neva and Jesse's family has known her family since before he was born, in fact today she mentioned how funny it was that she was with Lori (MIL) when she found out that she was having the boys and now she is teaching her grandchild! We (maybe just I) have always known that our kids would go to her for preschool if she was still teaching it. Lucky for us, she is.

I had wanted to get her a cute backpack from Pottery Barn or Gap. They had some super cute ones that actually weren't that expensive, especially compared to a Jansport which is usually about $50. Anyways, we were getting all the rest of her stuff at Wal-mart and we saw this super cute backpack for $5...can't beat that! (Her princess lunch box cost more than the backpack!) I added her name with my embroidery machine and I absolutely love it...and I think she does too!

While I was taking pictures of the backpack, Chase jumped, well, laid on the floor right in my way so I got one of him that turned out so cute! We had his hair cut recently (thanks grandma) and I think he looks the cutest with a freshly shaved head! Isn't he adorable!

I am feeling a little guilty that I am not having a harder time with Tyler being gone at preschool. I read all these blogs or hear moms talking about how sad and hard it is for them to have their kids go, but honestly it doesn't seem that big to me. Maybe it is because we have had a lot of opportunities where I have been away from her. A trip to Florida, sleepovers with grandparents, miscellaneous stuff like that. Plus I still have 3 other kids here while she is gone. I think it is a great opportunity for her and she really needs the outlet...we are both getting tired of being stuck at home together all day everyday! Maybe that is the real reason!

Pictures...

2009-08-18T17:12:00.003-07:00

We recently had a baby shower for my sister in law at our new house...I have frames on the wall, but all the pictures are way out dated. I decided I would take some pictures on the tree in our back yard. We spent a lot of money on a good camera, and this tree seems to be the perfect picture spot...so out we went one morning, I think the day before the shower, and I got a few good shots of the kids...here are the results...not too bad, I think! And now we have current pictures on the wall...all except a family one!

From this...

2009-07-25T16:17:00.004-07:00

To This:

Seriously! When we were going to be moving I had been looking for a counter height table on craigslist, but it ended up we couldn't afford to get one right then/now so I gave up and came to terms with having our old table for a while longer until we could save for something. Then Jesse went to move the table, which was a glass top table, that my parents got 15 years ago, mind you, anyway...he broke it! So we have been using a folding picnic table that my dad had for camping and the sorts. Well, next weekend I am hosting a baby shower and I told Jesse there was NO WAY we were having a picnic table at the shower! So I got my wish a little earlier than we planned and I am SO excited and happy. I have been wanting one for a while now...Yeah for me!!!

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

2009-07-25T16:05:00.003-07:00

I HATE the rain! I lived in Florida until I was about 13 and it is very humid there and it rains almost everyday. Granted alot of times it is just for 5 mins and it is still sunny while it is raining, but still...compared to Arizona, I grew up (for a while) with lots of rain. So I LOVE Arizona and the fact that it barely ever rains and also that it is hot and DRY! We have been having monsoon season which in Arizona means some rain...and I hate it...but the kids LOVE it and the other night Jesse was grilling while it was raining. Naturally the kids (well Tyler) wanted to play in it and I said NO...but then I thought about it and what the heck, right? So here are some pictures of the kids after they enjoyed the rain...

They had a blast and I guess it wasn't soo bad!

Funny...

2009-07-25T16:00:00.004-07:00

Over the years I have accumulated many pairs of slippers. One pair I got in high school and can't seem to part with are some tigger slippers. Well, I have given them to Tyler as she loves them and wears them much more than I ever did! Anyway, with this move I got rid of most of them, but I gave a few more pairs to Tyler. She came out of her room wearing the tigger slippers the other day and so Chase just had to follow suit. He went running back to their room and this is what he returned in...

...TOO CUTE AND FUNNY!

One last beach picture...

2009-07-15T19:09:00.002-07:00

For some reason Jesse always ends up with a phone that takes amazing video and pictures...and no matter how I try, I always end up with one that takes crappy ones! He took this picture with his phone and it is one of the best ones we have, go figure. Aren't they cute!!!

Family Vacation...

2009-07-15T17:13:00.004-07:00

This year we decided to head to California for the 4th of July and a long overdue family vacation. When Jesse was in high school he would go with his friends (and a bunch of other families) to Carlsbad Beach where they have a great camping site right on the beach. We were lucky enough to go once since we were married, back in 2005, with Tyler (5mos old). It was alot of fun and every year we say we are going to go...but of course things just never work out. So basically we have not had a 'family vacation' for the last 4 years. Well, this year I was determined that we were going...and we did! It was a lot of fun and the beach was great...water still too cold, but the kids did go in and they both LOVED the beach! There is a little Mexican restaurant, Juanita's, that we always look forward to visiting...they have the best flour rolled tacos. We pretty much spent all of our time at the beach...here are some pictures from the adventures...oh and we visited Sea World! I almost forgot the best part! I don't know why, but I love Sea World...I have been wanting to go forever and we were able to squeeze it in this trip. There were a few complications (cranky kids/no food) so we didn't stay long, but we did manage to see the Shamu show and we were splashed by a dolphin...it was worth it to me and Tyler (not so much Jesse!) Thanks babe, for making it all possible!

4th of July

2009-07-15T17:06:00.006-07:00

This year we were in California for the 4th. We really didn't do much, but we did get dressed for the occasion and let the kids do some sparklers at night before bed. We missed all the fireworks shows as they did them early for some reason, but we were lucky enough to watch some out of the car windows as we were driving to see a display (or so we thought!) Here is a little slideshow of some pictures from the day...enjoy!

Esty...

2009-07-15T14:43:00.002-07:00

Well, since my website doesn't seem to be generating me ANY business! I have opened an Etsy shop. It's a great website that you can sell handmade items on, in your own little shop. The fees are cheaper than eBay and I am hoping I can get my business moving...or maybe that should be started!!!

Anyways, please pass this on to anyone you know who might be interested. I do not have all my items up in the shop yet, I am still working on getting pictures of everything I want to sell. But feel free to take a look (and order)! Thanks

Brandy

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7699372

...

2009-07-12T18:11:00.001-07:00

Well, I was going to update, but Tyler just woke up and we are headed out. So when I return, hoepfully tonight, I will get an update posted about our hapenings lately!

Jesse + Brandy = ...

2009-06-11T10:44:00.006-07:00

another BOY! Just what we (well, not Tyler) wanted! Now to pick a name...And Tyler is doing just fine with having another brother. We explained that Heavenly Father and Jesus pick what we get, not us...and that she will be the special big sister and only Princess! (this is just a little peak at the baby) Now off to fix my background...

...this works for me! At least you can see everyones face...I swear, why does making a simple background fit on the screen have to be so difficult???

Trouble in Background land...

2009-05-12T14:50:00.002-07:00

I am the first one to tell you that it really bothers me when someone takes the time to update their background, but they don't add a new post...Well, I am starting to understand why! I have nothing new to update about but I have been trying to come up with a more personal background for a while. So, here is my new background, and I know that it might be cut off a lot on some of (or all of) your computers but I am too tired of messing with it to fix it right now...so I hope you like it and maybe after I get moved (since I have only packed about 5 boxes so far and we move in 3 days) and I can get some more recent face pictures of all of us, I will fix it ALL! Until then...Please don't let it bother you too much!

"UPDATES, UPDATES, Read All About It"...

2009-04-24T17:02:00.006-07:00

This should be a pretty big post since it has been AWHILE, so here we go:

Tyler has been doing gymnastics for a couple of weeks and she really enjoys it. Here is a slideshow that I put together of a few of her skills!

Michelle Rene came to town (my sister-in-law) and performed at the Cadillac Ranch. We were able to ditch the kids and enjoy her show, she is awesome!

We spent some time at the park and had lunch with grandma and grandpa...then Chase ran around and found rocks and played with the balls while Tyler rode her bike.

And then there was Easter! We had lots of fun coloring eggs, finding where the Easter Bunny hid them and the baskets and then spending time with Family and Friends. It was great to celebrate the traditional things of Easter but we make sure to "renember" that the true reason for Easter is Christ.

And Finally...the time has arrived!!! For me much excitement, for others maybe not! We are finally moving...we found a great place at I-17 and Carefree Hwy and we will be moving the middle of May. It is not too far so we can still hang out with all of our friends, but it is much needed space for our growing family at a price we can afford! I AM PSYCHED! That's all for now, hopefully I can update again a little sooner this time!

Spoiled Much?...

2009-03-11T14:26:00.002-07:00

I firmly believe it is every girls right to have her daddy wrapped around her finger, especially if she is the only girl! After all, I know my dad is still wrapped around mine! Anyway, Jesse ALWAYS said his girl(s) would NOT be spoiled like me and his sister Michelle...HA! Just look at her...he bought her the earrings the other night, the dress AND crown a few weeks ago...there is no way he can say she is not SPOILED! I also hate this right because it sure does cause for a difficult child! BUT we LOVE her anyway! (the s on girl is in no way a reference as to what we are having...it is still WAY to early to tell; I just put it there in case we ever have another girl)