DONE!!!!!!!!!!!

The kitchen is done and I LOVE it! Before we painted the kitchen, back door, and TV panel/nook were all the same color but now, the door and kitchen are the same and the TV area is a 'what was I thinking!?' magenta type color. It doesn't look terrible it just isn't what I was hoping for and I don't know why I picked that color... We have to buy more paint and do more coats. I will post the first coat because it is the reason I am doubting! Later I will post the finished product. Sorry Dad, it might not be done before you get here!

Finished but not clean yet. ;)
Before
After....WHAT!! (it already looks better but I want to keep some suspense)

For Miriam

Happy last day to you, Happy last day to you, Happy last day of Kindergarten, Happy last day to you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You are a 1st grader!!!! (although she reminds us that she won't really be one until she starts in the fall!)













Wahooooo, maybe I can sleep in now!???!

finally

Miriam's kindergarten class-minus William (miriam was mad we didn't get a yearbook, so I told her I would take a class picture for her!)
Chacon girls ;)
primer
final color that didn't go on right and is going to be changed this week to a different color ;) decided not to use this afterall, maybe it was a blessing it didn't stick!
I eat food, sometimes ;) But I do like my chair!

The answer...

Start over








but first, sand/scrape, go buy new paint and primer and never want to paint again!
Bright side: get refunded so I am painting for free, and if I decide I want a different color, now is the time to do it!

6 Months!

Laurie was 6 months old on Thursday! She is growing so fast! She can sit up by herself for about 1 min. She doesn't have complete control yet and will fall over after about that. We went to the Dr today and she is 16lbs, 26 in. Before you say 'Wow she is a big 6 mo old' All my girls were about this size and weight at this point so to me, this is normal! She fits in 6-9 mo stuff, some 3-6 still. She still doesn't care to eat cereal and sort of likes sweet potatoes although not mixed together and she will really only take a few bites before she is done! Not sure what to do about her, I am about to just hand her a crust of pizza and let her eat it!
We are painting our kitchen finally after 2 years of saying we wanted to. We did the primer, then a layer of flat yellow we had left over from something else, and then the final color. First coat is done...and it looks TERRIBLE!! Well the color is fine and good, it is called Citrus, a Behr color. I like it, but the paint like drooped and clumped and we don't know why. It just didn't go on well. We are waiting to do the second coat for a while and we might have to take a light sand paper and get the chunks off. I am so upset, I don't know what to do!! It is like it didn't adhere and the 'skin is hangin' off it's bones!' (what movie is that from? ;)) Anyway I have taken pictures of the process but don't have the camera right now and so I will put them up later! I'm going to bed!! Maybe I will feel better about it tomorrow!

Teeth and cakes

They go well together don't they. At least you don't need teeth to have cake! ;)
Anyway, Miriam lost her two bottom front teeth this week. One at school and one at home. The tooth fairy forgot to come for 2 nights in a row so when she finally came she was generous!

Rose-Marie asked me to make a cake for her friend's baby shower and this is what I decided to make. It is a rocking horse pan decorated like a bassinett! It was fun.

picture updating

First time swimming at Sarah's appt. (for some reason I didn't get any pics of Evoly and she was so cute in her new floaty! Next time!)
It was cold but she liked it!
First time in the bouncy. She didn't really do much but she liked being like that!

Trying to sit up

Miriam on our 'sick bed'
Memorial Day picture!
Us at the Virginia war memorial. Obviously I am taking the picture.

Allergies!?

So I'm not the greatest story teller but here goes:)
Growing up I was in a family with a few allergies but not many, and my little family has never been a family of allergies, however, I think we may have a first! While nursing I have stopped most dairy because Laurie was throwing up a lot and it seemed to help. Well I have been trying to feed her cereal to start her on solids and she just HATES it. I have been diluting it with water and thought maybe I should dilute it with formula or milk but yesterday I didn't want to go pump before feeding her so I decided to try some of the formula that I had here. I fed her a few bites, she decided she didn't like it. I picked her up, she threw up, then I put her back down, left for a few minutes and upon coming back found her with red blotches all over her face and hand, where ever the formula touched. So....I called the Dr and then rushed to the office thinking she was going to have to get some Benadryl. On the way there I kept telling the girls to watch her and tell me if she stopped breathing or anything. Miriam was really nervous and kept asking what would happen if she stopped breathing. "I always wanted her to grow up and not die!" So sad, she worries SOOO much about EVERYTHING! Poor girl. I reassured her that things would be fine.
When we got there, the nurse hadn't called back yet so I decided to wait, and went to the back seat to see Laurie and she was fine. The swollen redness has gone down and she was fine. So we proceeded with our day, however, it was really scary. The nurse called back and we decided that we shouldn't do anymore formula until her next appt and I talk with the Dr. So next week, we will see, but I think she is allergic to Dairy!! AHHHH, that is one thing that I think will be hard for me. Bread and dairy products are kind of a staple for me! Hopefully she will grow out of it! So it was a bit scary but turned out ok.

Say it ain't so!!!

Well I am sitting here doing bills etc on the computer, Carlos is outside attempting to put a new door on our shed and the girls are occupied so I thought now would be a good time to tell you about our week in short form!
Monday- get a call from school, lice has been found again in some kids and this time Miriam has some nits! AHHHHHHHHHHHH What do I do? I have never dealt with this before with anyone! So I go get her and get myself and Elaine checked, we are fine, I go to the store and get all kinds of stuff to help clean my house and get the nits out of her hair! She didn't have very many but ANY is too much! We spent the rest of the day cleaning and doing laundry, freaked out about the possible lice in our house!!!
About a month or so ago, this happened and 11 people (this time 12, 6 from her class!!) got it in her school. She had me check her every night and if I didn't she get checked she wouldn't go to sleep but would scream and cry until we gave in. She was so freaked out about the bugs! So when she got it....it was bad news! She is ok now, because we got that taken care of and we check every day to make sure they aren't back.

Tuesday- She went to school and was able to come back because we had gotten everything. It was fundraiser pickup so after my grocery shopping for the week, I then took the girls to the school and helped sort through and divide up people's orders for them to pick up. It is fun but hard when you have to also take care of your kids. Can't remember what we did that night but I am sure I did some more laundry and tried to get some sleep, I was still crawling from thinking I had lice as well!! We now all shampoo with Tea Tree oil shampoo (Maybe we should get some Meleluca!) and use mousse or other hair product in our hair to keep them from trying to come back!!

Wed- Miriam woke up not feeling well but we thought it was just early morning upset and that things would get better. So about 9 I get a call, 'Miriam has thrown up but she is ok and I have sent her back to the room.' Then an hour later after that, I get another call. 'Miriam has thrown up again a few times, you need to come get her!' She didn't have a fever. But she couldn't keep anything down all day! We took the TV out of our room lately and had placed it in the 'guest, other, baby someday room' so it then became the Sick room! She was pretty tired and spent the whole day laying there watching TV. That night we watched the American Idol finale while Daddy and Elaine went to a soccer game together. Still don't know why she was sick and I think part of it was self inflicted because she didn't want to be at school where the lice were!

Thursday- We kept her home from school because she hadn't kept anything down the day before and didn't want to risk throwing up again. She was fine, she got a little tired in the car once and had a bit of a head ache but for the most part, probably should have gone to school. That night we went to bed early so she could go to school the next day. The whole time Miriam's sick stuff is happening, Elaine is congested and coughing a bit and so is Laurie, I think it is allergies!

Friday-Miriam goes to school and she is fine, her teacher missed her! They had a pep rally for the SOL testing coming up next week. The Renegades mascot come to help them get pepped up! :)
So anyway, may not sound too busy to you all but I was pretty freaked out about the lice and not sure why Miriam was throwing up, so it was eventful for us on top of the other stuff we have going on. So there you go!

Quote of the Day

Courtesy of Miss Krueger:

"My mom knows another word for throw up. Hurl." -Miriam 7:30 a.m. 5/23/08

p.s. I didn't teach her that...she heard it on Arthur. We have had an eventful week!

Thoughtful gifts

Carlos is really good about getting me thoughtful gifts. They are not always things that I ask for, but always things that I like. For our anniversary he did something for me that was good for me AND good for him. Here is some history.
I LOVE massages! I was always asking for them growing up and that hasn't stopped since. It used to be my parents and sometimes siblings who gave them, but since being married, the responsibility was passed on to my beloved! :) He doesn't really care for giving or receiving massages. So... I guess he finally had enough and arranged for me to go to a wellness center and get an hour massage!!! Isn't that so nice! It was great! At first I was thinking an hour was kind of long but we got to talking during the massage (which by the way I will try not to do again, can't fully relax that way!) and it went by a little too quickly!! I am going to have to keep going back!;) We have a lot of muscles! Although, I haven't been as sore as usual lately... I am going to have to start exercising again so I have a reason to go back! :o Hehehe!
So anyway, while I feel a little weird about doing something by myself for my anniversary gift, (I told him we should call it my Mother's Day gift) it was nice. And I told Carlos that my gift to him would be to have a good game of golf with some friends at a nice golf course! :) So we both get to do something we like. Next time we will do something together! :)

TODAY!

Well it is the day! New Kids on the Block performed on the TODAY show! I missed most of the original performance because I am ashamed to say I FORGOT and I was getting my oil changed in the van and they had the show on the TV! However, they had the clips online for me to watch! How exciting! They were good! Obviously don't have those little boy voices anymore but it still sounded good! Hurray! and Happy Birthday Ana, sorry we didn't make it up to New York but I hear people were sleeping out there for 2 days prior and I guess we couldn't do that anyway... so seeing on TV is just fine!! :)

First time

Well yesterday was Miriam's birthday and for the first time we let her have friends over for a 'party'. I wasn't calling it a party because I didn't have activities planned. I just let her have them over to play. She was allowed to have 3 friends from school (Jakayla, Madison, Lexy) and her two church girls as well (Sydney, Marissa). I went to the school to pick them up and they were sooo excited! They piled into the van and we drove off. They played a little and weren't interested in the snacks. Then after a while we decorated cupcakes with frosting (home made!) and candy! The rest of the time was playing and opening presents. They seemed to have a good time and there were no real upsets or anything! Even the girls from school and church got along well. It was nice, noisy, and I am thinking that next time, I will plan activities for them to do instead of just having them play random things. I thought it would be fine but I think they got a bit bored at times. Miss Erin Krueger (teacher) came, Sarah, and also Nikki (Marissa's mom) so that was nice to have company. We had a birthday/anniversary dinner after of Miriam's request. Chicken Cordon Blue, steamed broccoli, and mashed potatoes! Sarah and Erin joined us and it was nice!


So.... I forgot to take a group picture but I got a few and I will try to identify everyone. with one of her friends for some reason I kept getting the back of her head. I will name those you might not know. I also didn't get a picture with Sydney, she could only stay a little while and I forgot! :( The theme of her birthday was tinkerbell so almost everything I got her was that. shirt, coloring book, jammies, watch (from grandma), puzzle. the NOT tinkerbell stuff was sand bracelet kit (sarah), outdoor play stuff (lexy), candy holder and eraser (madison), gift card (jakayla), polly pocket (marissa), lil bratz (sydney) (we still need to talk about this one!hmmm), headbands (elaine), socks and hair barrettes, 1st grade workbook, and new shoes! I think that covers it! OH and cards from Grandma ($)and George and Lynnette ($) She was very happy.... this is the best picture I have of Jakayla.(on the right)

starting on the left. Lexy, Jakayla, Marissa, Nikki standing up
middle is Madison and Erin (miss krueger)

Yesterday was also a special day because it was my anniversary. 8years!! Every year I plan to write a long wonderful thing about how glad I am to be married to Carlos, and I AM! But I am not good at writing stuff like that down. I try, just not this time in my blog! :) He is always helpful, smart and fun! Even when I don't deserve it, he is always there! Yeah for Carlos! :)

Mother's Day

You know every year my love and appreciation for my mom and mom-in-law increases as I realize the duties of a mother and how talented they are/were. Please read Livvy's blog about what she said for my mom. She truly was a great mom to us and still is so important in our lives! Thank you very much!


Next I want to thank my family. Carlos is so always helpful to me but on Mother's Day he tries to do a little bit more. He also gets me a corsage. It is always beautiful and I am usually the only one at church with one so I stand out, which is (as some of you know me) embarrassing but at the same time very flattering and I wouldn't change it!! Also my girls are always making me things but I want to thank the Primary, school and aunties, for their help in providing my Mother's Day gifts this year! They were so fun! Here are some pictures!

The whole lot! flower pots made at Primary activity, pink cards as well. CD with picture made at school with picture below inside. Flowers from church and Mary-Carmen, painted pictures made with Rose-Marie and Mary-Carmen while they were making Grandma's gift ;) and corsage in the middle from Carlos!
The outside says 'Someone thinks you're special'

THANK YOU!!!

priorities **updated

Well I still really want the Kirby vacuum and I think in time I will get one but...I really want to take a trip back to WA this year and flying me and my kids out there will cost the same as a Kirby so....I guess I have to think about what is important!
WA here I come....whenever it is that I decide to come ;)

**Well I made a decision! We are coming on July 7th until July 19th!!! Hurray!!

Kirby

Almost 2 years ago a Kirby salesman came to my door. They are great, they suck up everything, they shampoo your carpet, they keep your carpet nice so you don't have to replace it. BUT they cost a lot! And for months, nothing was good enough and I needed a new vacuum. So I moved my desire to a Dyson, but again, kind of spendy. Well I finally got a different one that I was pretty satisfied with. It is a great vacuum. It wasn't what I wanted but it worked. I knew I would be getting a new one someday so I could live with that. Well today they came back! Now I am back to wanting a Kirby and...
I AM TAKING DONATIONS!! ;)

Anything?

I just found out that my cousin Jesse Pinegar is missing in Hawaii. He went there on vacation and has been missing since April 13th. I know this might be random but maybe someone who reads this blog has information about him. Here is the article. http://northshorekauai.com/2008/05/01/kauai-police-ask-for-help-finding-utah-man/
Please keep him and the family in your prayers. Thank you.

New things *for mom ;)

I love doing new things.
Last night with the ward we went to the cannery/bishops store house and for the first time I got to help can things! It was so much fun with all the sisters in the Relief Society and Sarah came too!:) It was cool to see how things were canned. We canned: Wheat, Hot cocoa, oats, flour, white beans, pinto beans, refried beans, apple slices, spaghetti, rice, sugar, potato flakes, carrots, and macaroni!!! Wow, it actually went fast and the Brother who was in charge said we did a great job. We did all that in a little over 2 hours!! There were a lot of us. I wanted to be in charge of the canning machine, or pouring or something but right at the beginning I volunteered to go get the cans and then help wheel the completed cans into the sorting room where the orders were being filled and I kind of got stuck there. One time I started filling cans and the guy in charge was like, the cart is ready to take back, you let them do this, that is their job! :( I was a little disappointed but then ok with it since everyone has a job and it was actually kind of fun because I got to see the complete process from canning to sorting and filling orders. Anyway I ended up buying 6 cans of rice (we use it all the time) 2 cans cocoa (really yummy) 1 can oats, 2 can dried apples, 1 can refried beans, and 1 can hard wheat (want to try it!) * Sarah bought some refried beans and potato flakes* Most of those last about 30 years unopened so that will be good. Since I know we like all those things. The only side to this that we have to remember is that we need our water storage! Without that...can't eat much!!! Well it was fun and I hope to get organized enough to go back again and do more so I can finish my food storage. Someday... ;)

Taggie

Ok I am doing the tag but I won't tag specific people. If you want to do it, GREAT! :)

Four Movies I could watch over and over: (this is really hard for me since I haven't watched a lot of movies lately, I don't remember my favorites!)
1. August Rush
2. White Christmas
3. Liken the Scriptures-most of them
4. Sound of Music
(notice a trend here)

Four Job's I've Had:
1. Gymnastics teacher
2. Grocery cashier
3. Salad wrap maker (BYU L&T in food court!)
4. Mom :) It's the best

Four Places I've Lived: (besides current VA)
1. Minneapolis, Minnesota
2. Payette, Idaho
3. Vancouver, Washington
4. Provo, Utah

Four of my favorite dishes/foods:
1. Breakfast anything
2. Creme brulee
3. Enchiladas
4. fresh cherries!

Four T.V. shows I love: ( I am going to say current)
1. The Office
2. Bones
3. Eli Stone
4. Ace of Cakes

Four sites I visit daily:
1. My Yahoo
2. Gmail
3. Blogs
4. tie between bank and travelocity

Four places I have vacationed:
1. Singapore
2. Australia
3. Spain
4. Costa Rica

Four places I'd rather be right now:
1. sleeping
2. anywhere my family is (siblings/parents)
3. In a very organized home that I don't have to clean!
4. Massage sounds good (good idea Katie)

Four people I am tagging:
1. any
2. one
3. who
4. wants :)

Loveliest

Miriam was the loveliest flower tonight at the school's PTA meeting. The kindergarteners performed. They were so cute, I thought Miriam was the shortest person but in there are some boys who are shorter than her! Anyway, the girls sang, 'We are the loveliest flowers' (never heard it before) and the boys sang 'Take me out to the ball game'. She has been practicing and practicing.

I got a 2nd row seat, had my camera ready, they lined up, I had a good view, they started singing...and then she disappeared behind her friend's head! :( I was so sad. BOO HOO The video is all shaky because I kept moving to see if I could get a view of her...but alas, I couldn't. Every once in a while you get a glimpse of her and her beautiful moves but that is it! I am so sad. I keep watching it and moving my head around, hoping that I will get to see her!! :( Tomorrow I am going to ask her to do an encore presentation for me and I will put it on her blog! Here are some pictures of her. I think the video would make everyone sick it is so wobbly!

filing in (she is in the middle there with pink petals)
almost ready to begin, look at the great shot! (third one in)
This is actually after their song, and during the boys song (you know where she is now)
All done! So proud, so proud! (her shirt we got from Old Navy last night on clearance! Thank very much!)

Miriam and Miss Krueger! :)

Rockin!!

Carlos borrowed Guitar Hero from Rose-Marie and David this weekend for a priest activity and Elaine wanted to play so he was trying to teach her. The controls are too hard for her but she sure was cute holding that guitar!

The best part about these photos is Carlos's face. He really isn't singing and rocking out, he was explaining things to her and I happened to shoot at the perfect time !:)

Elaine

"I wanted she to try some!" Who? "Lawie"
This is what she said after I noticed she was upstairs with food... Luckily, Lawie was "sound asleep" so she couldn't give her any.

Stepping Stones

Laurie rolled over once. We got a video of it and she is also starting to grab at things and that is fun!! She can actually play with stuff!

Here is the second of our play time videos. She already had a hold of the toy ;)

Purse tag...finally

Ok so I was tagged a long time ago to do this but I didn't know how to number it so it looked good... and I still don't which is why it looks so silly but...here goes.

This is the contents of my purse, which I haven't used for a while cause I just shove everything in the diaper bag sometimes! I should do a "what's in my diaper bag" post!!!

1-Laurie's Dr appt information

2-tissues

3-wallet that my mom got me in Singapore! I love it, it is perfect and I hope it never wares out!

4-Appt cards for my bump in my mouth to be removed

5-receipts that I have good intentions about but they usually just get thrown away...

6-pen, you can never have too many!

7-eye glasses repair kit. Kids sunglasses in our experience really need this because screws keep falling out

8-garbage sacs, just in case!

9- zipper pouch for chap stick, nail clippers and usually gum Oh and there is also a vitamin in there....

10-planner that I try really hard to use

11-pad of paper that comes in handy

12-coupons...I always forget them

13-Miriam's money pouch

14-A wonderful purse organizer that holds lots of things and I can transfer from purse to purse easily. Also from my mom. ;)

Then the picture of my purse, which I LOVE and it suits me perfectly! I hope it lasts forever! And I forgot my cell phone which is also in my purse but usually on my person, where ever I go.

I tag Livvy, and Manda (cause she needs a new post!) and whoever else wants to, a lot of you already have so... ;)

Not it!

I wasn't tagged but I decided to do it anyway.

a)Pick up the nearest book.
b)Turn to page 123.
c)Find the 5th sentence.
d)Post sentence.
e)Tag 5 people.

Ok so I looked around the computer here and the only books with 123 pages are an Old Testament study guide, the hymn book, and a Book of Mormon. I tried to see if there was anything else and since I didn't want to count out pages in the hymn book, I will write the sentence, which turns out to be a verse, from the Book of Mormon.

And now I, Jacob, spake many more things unto the people of Nephi, warning them against fornication and lasciviousness, and every kind of sin, telling them the awful consequences of them. Jacob 3:12

That was the fifth full verse.
Alright then. I think this was fun and encourage 5 friends to do it ;)

They're out!

Ok the pictures are out from the 10K. These are I think the best pictures I have gotten. Maybe because I was walking and happy! (past three years I have run) ;) Most of these are from the end when I was running but the one with my friend Cris is from the middle somewhere!



Cris (in blue) and me, Thanks for walking with me!! Couldn't have done it without you!

Quick update

Well Laurie is now 14lbs! She is a big chunk of cuteness! We LOVE it. Miriam is a polite, smart, sweet girl! Elaine is a spunky, sweet, sharing girl!

For General Conference weekend I walked/jogged the 10K (it went well but I was reallllly sore. I usually train and run but....) and we all watched as much conference as we could. Catie-Lynn was with us on Saturday and we went out to CiCi's for dinner. On Sunday we decided not to go to the church building so we dressed in our Sunday clothes and TRIED to behave like we would at church and be reverent. It went OK. We really enjoyed conference and the girls did pretty well, although after a while we just let them go upstairs and quietly play in their room.

Here are some pictures:

Princesses (Miriam in new dress)

snack time while watching conference

Hehehe

May 16th

It is a very special day for a few reasons but the one I am thinking about right now is also important to females my age everywhere!!

New Kids on the Block performs on the TODAY show for the first time reunited!!!! AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! (cry, sigh, faint) ;)

Should be interesting. Be there or be square!! Come to think of it...maybe I should plan a trip with Ana-Christine to New York!!!!! Hehehe

Happy Birthday GG!

I believe this makes 93 years! My Grandmommy is such an amazing woman. She is talented and industrious, funny and sweet, generous and smart. She also has the most amazing ability to heal. I hate that I live so far away from her. We grew up with her around us, she was there for every important date of our lives and still is! I am so grateful for her. We miss you and love you! Have a great day!

At George and Lynnette's wedding. Isn't she pretty!

Holding baby Evoly (great grandbaby)
Playing Mr Potato Head with Miriam. They had great conversations!