3 Men & A Little Lady

Friday, May 30, 2014

{Grandparents Home}

It all started with helping Kelly clean out the 70 + boxes cluttering the sewing room. The task was given the name, "Operation- 70." We went through years of stuff: some treasures, some trash, some collectibles, some mice nests, etc. It was a dirty task, but someone needed to do it and I love to declutter, so I actually found it enjoyable. The boxes contained stuff from the last 73 years of his life. Papers were organized and filed and Kelly's boxes began to dwindle and the floor (green flowered carpet) was once again visible. We were organizing his life in preparation for the BIG move to the Grandparents HOUSE!!! Our stuff was needing to be taken out of storage, so that we could officially move into the big red house and we could all have a little more space. Don't get me wrong, living together for 10 months was so great! Kenny's parents were incredibly helpful with the kids and their generosity was overflowing with love! They made our move to Colorado, while still owning our expensive house in California, possible!!! We will forever be grateful for their sacrifice of having us live with them. We love them dearly!!!

One of my favorite treasures! How cute is my husband?!! Our Drew is a mini Kenny!!

One of Kelly's treasures. He's the teen with the glasses :)

We started to prep for the arrival of the house by clearing out the land.

Trees were cut down and burned.

Our dogs loved laying on the warm burnt grass.

We did not intend to burn the large pile of tree stumps that had been laying there for years, but it accidentally caught on fire when we were inside, so we let nature take its course!

I was so excited to see this pile gone, that I worked on it for 2 days, tossing the fire until it was all burned!

Neighbor Ron, helped us pull the fencing out, so the truck could deliver the house.

Good-bye Wire

Land being prepped!

Connie came from Texas to help with project 70. I was grateful for reinforcement!

The massive septic tank installed

The biggest septic tank for the small house!

Footings laid

Mya loved being home and watching the process. She thought we should just keep the large balance beam and put the house somewhere else.

The boys loved all the dirt!

We did have a gas leak and 911 was called. It made a lot of excitement for the day!

THE BIG DAY!!!

Kelly was so excited to see his new house arrive!

Second half

Concrete ramp laid. The whole house is handicap accessible.

Who can resist wet concrete?

TA DA!!!!

The house is beautiful and fits grandma and grandpa's needs perfectly!!!

We are so blessed to be able to live down the lane from them. Our dreams of living on the land Kenny grew up on are a reality! We look forward to the many memories we will make here.

Kelly's Christmas letter: In his words the experience of the big move

Saturday, May 17, 2014

{Dodgeball Warriors}

We had a blast at the Dodgeball party for Carla Kohls birthday party!

Best workout ever!

Love these fun girls!!!

Tarra Clifford, Jill Harmon, Myself, Tara Carr, and Gina Cook

Our Dodgeball Warriors Team!!

We didn't take the win overall, but we looked cute and had fun!

Too funny for words!

Sunday, May 11, 2014

{Mothers Day}

I love Mother's Day!!!

My kids always give me the best gifts!

From Owen: Coupons for flipping the pages of the book, doing my hair, and doing my make-up!

I'm nervous to trade in 2 of them!

Ian planted me a flower and made me a jewelry box!

He presented my gifts to me at his school where he read me a poem!

I felt so loved and special!!!

Kenny and the kids gave me this beautiful necklace!!!

It reminds me of my sweet kids when I wear it. Its the best gift ever!!!

I am so grateful to be the mother to my 4 beautiful children...I am so blessed!

Friday, May 2, 2014

{Show Stopper}

Owen stole the show as he sang his hear out at his 1st grade music performance.

He was moved front and center for the "Squirrel song" and I quickly realized why!

This boy has MOVES and is not afraid to show them! (so unlike his father....)

I smiled through the whole thing! I was so proud of him and glad that he wasn't afraid to show off his dancing talent!

Thursday, May 1, 2014

{Ian's Night to Shine}

We had the ear splitting privilege to attend Ian's 3rd grade music program!

Lets just say I downed a couple of Ibuprofen as soon as I left! I will not be encouraging him to become a famous recorder player!

After the music program, we were off to his pack meeting. The scout master, Dan Babbel had the boys screaming as he sent electric shots their way!

Drew could hardly stand it!

Ian and his friends were moving up that night in ranking to become bears. They were told that their last test was to drink the blood of the wolf to pass.

Ian was adamant about not trying it, but peer pressure sunk in.........

He didn't like it, but he drank it and then received his Bear award!

They pin the wolf badge on upside down and have to do an act of service before they can turn it around. Unfortunately, Kenny had a meeting, so I got to do the flipping! He is getting to be a big boy!

I am so very proud of Ian! He is a remarkable young boy, full of energy and spirit! I love him to pieces!

Drew released the colors and I was happy to go home and go to bed!

They say the cutest things.....

Mya, my little girl, said in her prayers last night, "Please help us to be strong and healthy like the Hulk!"

Owen almost ran straight into a woman as we entered a dark parking garage. As I told him to watch out, he quickly yelled, "Well she's all black!" Coincidentally she was African American! She was wearing a black dress, which is what he was referring too!

Owen told me today, "You are the best mom I ever had! I love you all the way up to Jesus!" He also loves kissing and told Kenny, "I just want to stay home from school and kiss mom all day!"

Drew lost a tooth at school when he bit into his apple. He felt the tooth inside his mouth as he was chewing and when I asked him about it, he said, "I didn't realize it was mine and I wondered if it was one of the workers!"

While at church, a teacher asked the kids what happened to Jesus right after he was baptized and brought up from the water. Ian enthusiastically raised his hand and said, "He asked for a towel!"

After a long struggle with my boys, to get them inside, bathed, and into bed, I yelled, "I am done, go to sleep!" Owen looked up at me and said, "Mommy I'm sorry you're sad, but the problem is that you don't beat up Drew and Ian. Just beat them up and I will be on your team!"

We are not a family who eats beans, so when Drew went to a friends house to play and eat dinner, he was hesitant to eat the burrito that had refried beans in it. When I picked him up he said to me, "Mom she put mud inside the burrito!"

Aunt Connie pleaded with Owen to shoot his daddy with the gun instead of her and his response, "No, he's the best daddy i've ever had!"

I begged the boys to quit fighting and Drew looked at me and said, "Its not Mothers Day anymore mom!"

Owen got kicked in his "man hood" and said, "Oh, I hurt my Tenders!"

Drew asked this morning, "Mom in 2011 can we get a cat?"

Everytime I feed Mya prunes, Owen comes up to me and says, "Me like chocolate mom!" I give him a bite and his face turns to total disgust.

Owen ran up to me after wrestling the dogs and said, "Me see Cassie's boobies!"

While I was nursing Mya, Drew walked in and said, "Is she done drinking from your boob?" I replied, "No and it is called a breast, thats the proper way to say it." He looked at me puzzled and said, "No thats the Spanish word for it."

Kenny opened the fridge and said, "Something in here stinks." Ian looked at him and said, "Dad, sometimes I toot over there!"

Last night as the boys were saying good night to Mya, Drew looked up at me and said, "Mom, Mya has a boy haircut!"

Drew was reminding me about how when we saw macaws in Hawaii, that one of the macaws was chewing on a woman's hair. He said, about the macaw, "Thats not very nice, it's not choosing the right."

My favorite word Drew and Ian used to say when they were toddlers was, Laddie- for water. I thought it was such a cute word. Owen comes to the fridge and points his little finger and says, "Wa-Wa" for water. So cute!

Last night Kenny went in on a call to deliver a goat and Ian came into our bed. He climbed in and snuggled up beside me, he usually snuggles into Kenny. I asked him why he was snuggling with me and he said, "I can snuggle you because daddy isn't here mom!" He is such a daddy's boy.

Ian is such a daddy's boy. The other night Kenny had to go to the clinic and Ian was sobbing for him for a good twenty minutes because he wanted to go too. When I asked him why he was so upset he replied, "I just want my daddy, he is my favorite boy!"

Birthday parties celebrated in California are usually BIG! There is always a huge jumper, pinata, food for the whole family, and tons of presents. Well we went to a party last night and the boys spent 2 hrs. jumping in a big jumper. On our way home we saw another party going on that had an even bigger jumper with a slide attached. Ian asked, "Can we go to that party too?" I replied, "We don't even know who those people are. " His response, "Well lets just go ask them their names."

As we prepared to go to the Glenwood Springs pool in Colorado with Kenny's four sisters Drew impatiently said, "Come on girls, you're taking too long!" Kenny told him, "Get used to it, this is what men do, wait for girls to get ready."

Much to my dismay I found black ink all over our white sheets on our bed. I of course went straight to Ian and asked very sternly, "Did you write on my sheets with a pen?" With an innocent look he replied, "I was just trying to write my name."

Drew was watching me as I divided my hair into sections with clips to straighten it. He looked up at me and said, "Wow, you look beautiful!" Then when I was completely done with my hair he said, "You're a cute little mommy!"

Ian was dipping his finger in Kenny's contact solution and then touching his eye. I asked him what he was doing and he replied, "Just putting my eyes in mom!"