some pics of the trip

We arrive and already the George tickle monster got her!!
Kids spend most days outside! they had fun in the sun!
looking at the chickens at Lynnette and George's place.
IHOP and Lainey's cool 80s do. (nana will post the complete outfit!)
Brave Lainey petting the big dog. they are very nice dogs!

Well I am here in WA and having a good time! The girls and boys are getting along so well! They played outside ALL day yesterday. Something we don't do much at home. It is too hot!! And we don't have a trampoline or swing set or cousins to play with at home ;).
We will go to the beach and the Tri-cities area while I am here.
Today my friend, Stacey is supposed to have her baby so we hope to go see her in the hospital! The weather has just been beautiful and I am loving it here. I really like July and Aug in Washington! :)
It is hard to be here without Carlos and hopefully he is occupying his time well without us to boss him around! :) hehe. I am not sure when I will have pictures up but I will eventually. Ok well that is all that is going on now. I am enjoying being with my family, maybe we will go out to Lynnette and Georges beautiful house this week and see her garden!! :)

Hair & INDEPENDENCE DAY! :)

taken by Miriam

New hair!
Chacon's in patriotic garb! :) Notice our garden in the background! We have a watermelon growing and it is so cute! :)

Song

Miriam just made up a song, which she is very good at doing, and she wanted me to put it on my blog. (*she keeps adding to it so maybe there will be more!) I wish you could hear her make up the tune. She is soo good! :)

I get to choose I get to choose
I get to choose, that's what I choose
Heavenly Father gave me a choice,
I get to choose, that's what I choose
I get choose if I am sad, I get to choose if my attitude is bad,
*And when I am good.
I'll always be with you.
Families can be together.

mistaken

A few days ago I read a blog about someones son 'mistaking' their TV remote for a hot dog and spreading ketchup and mustard all over it...well someone made the same 'mistake' with my van windshield last night!














I took pictures and will post later.

curious

Well it seems that some parents do actually care what thier kids are doing. Too bad kids won't do the right thing unless thier parents make them. Today the dad of one of the teenage boys brought Carlos' bike back, which Carlos thinks has been missing for a few weeks. The man said he saw it laying in the yard and asked his son who it belonged to and his son said. 'I think it belongs to them' and pointed to our house. Hmmm, he didn't think, he KNEW because he was probably there when it was taken, he just didn't say anything about it! Sheesh! Anyway, after he left I thought of how I should have said, 'it was probably the same boys who put egg on our house and grass in our stroller!' Maybe if this dad knew, then something would be done about it! Anyway, sometimes after bad things happen, good things happen that make you feel a little better! :)

punks!

Even as a teenager I knew what and who the punks were! They bothered me then, and they bother me now. I really dislike coming into my neighborhood and having to navigate around teenagers who are too cool to get out of the way of oncoming traffic. Who hang out endlessly doing nonsense because they have nothing better to do. GET A SUMMER JOB!! And who get all hyped up and decide to go pick on the quiet family in the neighborhood because maybe they won't do anything about it. Well they are wrong and they are headed for a life of pain and sorrow. Only they are too cool right now to realize it and their parents aren't paying attention! AHHHH makes me so mad.
Last night we were the victims of their 'crimes' because yes, throwing eggs on a house and putting dead grass and other dead plants in a baby stroller are vandalism and that is a crime. I really want to go yell at them! ( i know, lame, but what else am i going to do) I did talk to a boy who I am certain knows something about it, whether he just watched or participated, he knows. I don't know what we did to cause it and it might even be nothing at all, but I called the police and they will up their patrol so maybe it won't happen again. We shall see. But right now, I am MAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Papa

Papa is gone. We really had a good time with him here. We enjoyed our time. We went downtown to look at the capitol and do some other things on Thursday. We didn't do as much as we wanted to do because we got a parking ticket and decided that was a good time to end the day ;). Friday was spent doing birthday things and pie making. Dad did some work outdoors and helped our plants look better! Sat. we went to the Civil War museum and to the James River at Belle Isle. It was a little stinky and we were surrounded by not so desireable people but it was fun and great weather!!! We didn't, however, take as many pictures as we should have. But here are a few.

he finally got in (it was super slippery and Dad and I were hesitant to get in)
making beef stew! :)
what is left of the rhubarb pies
Dominoes

feeding squirrels



Laurie loves the water! :)

Pie, cake and other goodies! ***

Cinderella hair do.

My dad is visiting us and it has been fun having him here. He decided that he needed rhubarb pie and so we went to the store and because Kroger was going to throw the rhubarb away, we got 3.2 lbs of rhubarb (good rhubarb!) for $1.27!!!!!!!!!! SCORE! That raised our moral after getting a parking ticket downtown the day before! :) Well he made the pies, and while he thinks the crust isn't good, we all think they are EXCELLENT! I can't believe how much I missed those delicious pies! YUM! He made 2 pies and a strawberry/rhubarb cobbler. The pies were best!

Elaine's 4th birthday was yesterday. We had family over for cake and ice cream. I made a princess cake (colors didn't turn out right) and because I thought there wouldn't be enough cake I made another cake and made it Cinderella's hill with a Cinderella candle on top!:) Again, the colors weren't great but still cute! :)

It was fun and she got a LOT of princess stuff :). Big coloring book, barrettes, nightgown, big Cinderella doll with Jacques and Gus and a cake, puzzle, socks, craft kit with a window catcher, pillow, and plastic canvas door hanging. The only things not princess were the three cards with money (Grandma O, Nana, George & Lynnette) and some stick on earrings of Dora!! She is very happy and such a big girl! She had a hard time waiting for Daddy to get home and Rose-Marie, David and Mason to get here before she opened her presents ;).

This was the best face :)

My girls in there favorites :)

Then after the girls were in bed and Dad and Carlos left to go to stuff together (driving range and bowling) the Relief Society sisters came over for movie night! We watched National Treasure 2 and had lots of goodies! :) Needless to say, I had a bit of a tummy ache last night and this morning. I tried not to eat anything for movie night but people brought fresh banana bread, cheez-its, fresh kettle corn, and M&M's! Not to mention the cobbler so...I had to eat a little of each!!!! Sheesh!!!!

***My apologies to Lynnette and George they DID in fact send a very princess card to Elaine and she LOVED it! Thank you! :)

Ta Da!

Ok after primer, and 4 layers of paint, here it is...not exactly the color I wanted, but still nice! The tape we put up to keep the lines straight didn't completely do it's job and the paint bled out so they are sloppy but I am NOT going to try to fix it and will probably feel like I have to explain it to everyone who comes. ;)

Dads

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there who I know and love. I am so grateful for fathers.

I am grateful for my Daddy. Grateful for his sense of humor ;). Grateful for his smarty head that impresses us all the time with the knowledge it is able to acquire! Grateful for the priesthood he holds and that he was always willing to give us blessings when we requested them! Grateful for his sense of adventure and wanting us to be the very best well rounded people that we could be. Thankful for reminding me every time I left the house to remember who I was! I love you and miss you, but am so excited that I get to see you TOMORROW! :)
Thank you Carlos, for being such a exceptional dad!! I am grateful at your dedication to leave the home every day, even when you may not want to, and go to a job to provide for our comforts. Grateful for you leadership in the gospel and example of hard work. Grateful that you so honorably hold the priesthood and practice it righteously. Grateful for you love and patience to our little girls, AND ME, especially when I have had it and need a break!! Grateful that you call me your best friend. Grateful that you are glad to be a dad and appreciate me. Sometimes I don't deserve it! I love you more everyday! Life just keeps getting better. OH and this is also a birthday shout out for tomorrow!:) HEHEHEHE!! I am so glad you were born and that we found each other!
HAPPY DAY TO ALL DADDY'S! :)

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... ;)