Halloween Time!

We did lots of fun things to lead up to Halloween and on Halloween. Here is our collection of pictures and stories for Halloween 2009:

We went to the The Farmstead Corn maze and activity place. We ate some burgers and dogs and played in the corn box. (sand box but instead had hard corn kernels). We also went through the corn maze. I stuck the kids in the carts you are supposed to use pumpkins for and wheeled them around. They were really cute. We went with Amy and Lee Carter and had a great time.

On Halloween, we decided to make sugar cookies at Grandma's house. This is a really silly idea when you have things to get ready for and don't really have the time, but, as you will see...They loved it. Smiles from both kids. Cody thought this was the greatest thing ever. He loves standing on that stool and being involved. Kaitlynn was asleep at that point so she wasn't there to take it away from him. I wonder if that is why he is laughing.

Now we are getting ready for trick-or-treating and a trunk or treat. Kaitlynn wanted to be a princess but then she saw Melissa being an Indian and changed her mind. She loved Melissa's face makeup so she asked Grandma to make her an Indian too. This is her cute curly hair.

It is hard to see but she has lipstick on and eye shadow. She was a cute little princess. We went to the trunk of treat first with Grandma and Grandpa. She got used to the idea of saying "magic words" and getting candy. Cody just went with the flow. He looked pretty cute as a pumpkin and all he ate all night were his suckers. In fact, he lost that one in the car and I figured he dropped it. When we got out of the car, I looked over and it was stuck to the back of his head. A smart mom would have taken him inside to wash it out. What I did was see the problem and want an immediate fix, thus a good yank on it. It ripped out his hair and he cried. Duh!

And here we all are before we go trick or treating: (Kaitlynn wasn't smiling in any of them so this is the best pic we got.)

So here is how trick-or-treating went: Kaitlynn had it figured out from the trunk or treat. We went with Abby, McKenna, Carson, Cameron, Ammon, Cody, and Amelia. She is the youngest of the four kids she walked (ran) with (Abby, McKenna, Carson). Despite that fact, she was the one who had to wait for the other kids. She would run to the door, say trick-or-treat and then "Thank you". Then she would come and tell me she said "thank you" and run to the next house. She was a model trick-or-treater. Cody, on the other had, cared nothing about going to the door. I gave him a sucker and he loved that but insisted on wandering around in the middle of the street. Of course, this was not going to fly. So Charise and I would carry him while he fought to get out of our arms. This led up to him screaming incessantly and I had to take him home before the police came and asked whether he was mine or if I was trying to kidnap him.

We had a great Halloween. Thanks to all our friends who invited us to things and kept us busy this October. Can't wait for next year... in California...but at least Daddy will be there.

random updates because I don't scrapbook.

Here is where our summer went: I will post a pic and tell you about it. Hopefully, things will be in chronological order. If Cody looks older and then a baby again, well, then you know they aren't.

Family Reunion 2009. Honestly, I am rooting for Cody on that one.

Kyra and Anna (Kaitlynn is in there too.)

Uh, who's going to clean that up?

Kaitlynn and mommy working out.

My little guy in the tub at Great-Grandma and Grandpa's house. This is a tradition for all children.

Happy Cody. You can't beat that.

Beautiful Stanley Lake. This is what we spent our whole time doing - trying to keep Cody out of the water. If we weren't doing that, we were trying to avoid the rain that fell the whole time we were there. We all agree that a cruise sounds like a better idea next year.

This is a little long but it shows you how we got to here:

Happy First Birthday Code! Unfortunately Mom and Dad were mad at each other and we just wanted you guys to go to bed. We did celebrate at Stanley on the real day, however. And you share your birthday with Grandma and Grandpa Roderick's wedding anniversary.

You got some matchbox cars, a ball from Kaitlynn, and a few other fun things.

Next year will be better.

Summer fun.

Christian (Joni) bought Kaitlynn and Gracie these cute princess outfits. They were begging to wear them and carried their boxes everywhere we went. Finally we got back home and they could open them.

She says to me all the time "I look Good."

Here we went to the fair and had a great time:

And then our Portland trip which was awesome. We all agree that we need a bigger car, however. We drove to Portland on Wednesday, went to the zoo on Thursday, drove to Seaside, Tillamook (which was my favorite thing, I think. It was 4o'clock when we got there and we had ice cream and it was amazing.), and stayed at a beach house in Astoria on Friday, drove to Long Beach, WA and played on the beach then drove back to Portland on Saturday, and drove back to Boise Sunday. We stopped at a thousand rest stops because this is all she could say "I have to go potty" and then she would spend 10 minutes looking at all the new features of this rest stop compared to the last one. It took . When we stopped for dinner (at McDonalds) in La Grande on Sunday night I told Jeremy that he better get us home now or I am going to start crying. We had an awesome time with Kristi, Jason, Madeline and Abigail. There was a lot of driving but a lot of downtime too and we just had a really great visit. Here are some pics:

And , of course, football season. Not the same without Daddy, though.

Quick story about Cody...We had a few "say goodbye to Jeremy" parties and whenever I couldn't find Cody I would just have to look for any food that some kid abandoned and that is where he would be...eating the remains of whatever was left. You can see that whatever he had here must have been really good.

So this blog just took up 2 hours of my life. If I kept on top of things better, it wouldn't have to be so bad. Hopefully this won't take you as long to view. Now I have no catch up, though. Life is good.

Weekly updates

So I have a goal to update this weekly while Jeremy is gone so he can see what we are doing each week. He has been gone almost 2 weeks and this is my first post. On top of it. I know. I just have a couple pictures and a few stories.

Kaitlynn has been busy trying to be a teenager. She is sassy and always wanting to call a friend over. She also wanted to watch the Hannah Montana movie. Here is her interpretive dance of "Hoe Down":

Cody has developed a love of shoes. Girl, boy, doesn't matter. He loves trying them on and wearing them as far as he can get before falling down.

We decorated for Halloween yesterday. I was pretty proud of myself. It actually turned out pretty cute. At night, the orange lights in the window look great.

I ran my race yesterday (Women's Fitness Celebration) - and that's all I'm going to say about that. No pics either, thank goodness.

A few weeks ago, Jeremy got sworn in. (the room is ugly and this picture is shiny and weird)

Jeremy and Stoney took Kaitlynn and Callie on their annual daddy-daughter camp out. Here are the girls afterwards while the dads unloaded the truck.

And last but not least, It is football season. Not the same without daddy, but on the bright side once it is over, Daddy will be home.

So here we are. Surviving. And today, that will be good enough.

Air Force and stuff

Wow have we had a great summer. We have had something going on every night. We have friends everywhere and have had a blast everyday. Among a million other things, we have been to the lake, floated the river, camped, traveled, swam, eaten out, eaten in, Bar-B-Qued, visited family, had our 9 year anniversary, Kaitlynn turned 3, Cody will be 1 next week...We have really had a fun time. Then the other shoe drops. Why? Why is that? Could we live on unemployment forever? Maybe if everyone else wasn't on it too. We could make that work. Anyway - Jeremy was supposed to hear from the AF by September 23, so he has been applying elsewhere and seeing what comes. Then we get a call fromEnergy Northwest (a Nuclear power plant in Tri-cities) and they want to interview him right away and they need him to start next week. Wow. So we drive up there on Sunday, his interview was great and we come home. The next morning he has an email from his recruiter that says "CALL ME ASAP". So he does and finds out that they already did his boards and that he has been accepted and will start officer training September 15. He will go to Alabama for 13 weeks and then we all will go and be stationed wherever the wind blows us. WOW! I felt the weight of the world on my shoulders. Such a pivital decision to make. Do we choose the normal Tri-cities life that we already know and love? Do we go with the adventure and servitude of the AF? Where does HF want us, what is best for our family and kids? Lots of things to evaluate and all signs point to the logical - more money, stable living, 4.5 hours away life. However, when we first applied to the AF we knew that it was going to happen. We knew he would get in and that it was where we needed to go. So you would think the decision would be easier but I couldn't help but consider the normal life my kids would have in Richland, WA and how we could visit Kristi and Joni regularly, not-to-mention Grandma and Grandpa, Nana and Papa. So I was plagued.

I went to a meeting and by the time I came back Jeremy had already made his decision. He had called the recruiter and said "I'm in." and got it all set up. He said that he really wants to do this and making sure a power plant doesn't melt down doesn't sound fun - so don't look back. Relief came but I still wonder what might have been. So now he will be sworn in on Monday and I can definitely say that we are taking the road less traveled. I am excited and apprehensive at the same time, but I knew that this was the answer. I just hope that it wasn't one of those times where it didn't matter which decision we made.and that either one would have been good because we definitely picked the harder one. I guess that is our lot in life... we won't take it if it resembles easy.

So Robert Frost, I hope you know what you are talking about.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

The last 6 months

There is a lot that I could say about the last 6months. I have no pictures. I have nothing to show for this lapse in time. My kids are older and bigger. My heart has been softened and humbled.

I have dreaded writing this blog, but I would like to focus on the happier things that have happened and not the sad, so I write tonight so that I can move on.

I want to say how much I love my sister. I have missed you. I took you for granted. I didn't tell you how much I appreciated all the things you did for my family and especially for Kaitlynn. You were the highlight of our lives and I wish I would have told you that more. I am working on taking your happy attitude with me and being a little more like you. It took me a few months but I realized that I don't have to feel like a victim and be miserable all the time. There are many difficult things that have been out of my control, but that doesn't mean that blessings aren't there and that we haven't been loved. I am grateful for the memories and all the pictures - and some of your clothes. :) I feel how much I love you so much more now. I wish that things were different, but I have had the opportunity to see miracles in other ways. I think about you all the time. I love you Aimers and I cannot wait to see you again. Until next time...

So Jeremy lost his job in January. Amy died in a plane crash 3 weeks later. My kids had pneumonia shortly after that. There was so much to deal with and my parents... well, it has been difficult. I felt justified in jumping off Locust Grove bridge one night over a fight with Jeremy regarding a banana cream pie. Alas, I have come back to my senses and things are somewhat better - at least my burden feels lighter and I have different eyes to look at the world with.

We are currently looking into the Air Force and will hear back from them in September, so for now-we wait. I have my part time job and unemployment, so we are getting by.

I have had an outpour of people concerned for us and serving us. Many people who we hardly know that well. It has been amazing.

I am grateful for my family and friends, my ward family, and all who have expressed sympathy and love to my family and I. I hate boring blogs, but sometimes it is nice to know what is really going on with people, so there you go.

Recent news - Cody had croup, and then got his finger caught in the hinge side of the door and had to be rushed to the ER to get stitches, but it was 5 days before insurance ran out, so I will call that even. He will get his stitches out on Friday.

Jeremy and I are playing on an indoor soccer league. I am making up for all the years that I sucked at soccer and now my dad even comes to the games and doesn't think they are boring. Time is a crazy thing. Oh, and Jeremy is pretty good for never having played before.

My next blog will have pictures and stories and less tears. My sweet cousins gave me a camera so I have been taking pictures of my kids again. I'm sad to miss out on the last 6 months of growth but I am grateful to be here now.

Thank you to all who read this silly blog. And to Amy...adeiu.

Kaitlynn-isms part 2

I forgot one little story. Again my little TV addict said:
I want to watch TV.
No, you've been watching it all day.
"The TV wants to talk."
No, it doesn't. It has been on all day.
She is very creative.

Here is a picture of both kids. Kaitlynn couldn't figure out the "show your teeth" but make it a nice smile concept. Cody is wondering why he has to sit next to this goofball. Peace.

Kaitlynn-isms

I have been writing down the funny things that Kaitlynn has said. So here are updated pictures and the crazy things that come out of her mouth.

This was us at Thanksgiving. Anyone who got a Christmas card from us will recognize it.

So we were driving back from a trip to our friend's cabin in Pine in October and both kids were exhausted so Kaitlynn had fallen asleep watching a movie in the car and we had turned it off. We were getting off the freeway at Eagle when she wakes up from a coma, essentially, and screams "I CAN'T SEE!" Jeremy and I aren't sure if she thinks she is blind or if she is devastated that the movie turned off. But I was thinking "blind" by the way she screamed. Of course, the movie was the problem, but if anyone else had been there, they would have been as concerned as we were that she had lost her vision. Afterwards we laughed because she's such a dork. (and a TV addict)

Joni got her this super cute dress for Christmas. We had to get her picture in it. She looks great in red.

Here's my little heartbreaker.

This story tells me that she is going to be as particular and obsessive as Jeremy about repeating things exactly as they were said. (Something I do not have a knack for).
Christina: Can I have a bite of your bagel?
Kaitlynn: Yeah!
Kaitlynn gets in her chair and sees that I took a bite of her bagel.
Kaitlynn: You take a bite of my bagel? (kind of ticked)
Christina: You said yes, I could.
Kaitlynn thinks for a minute.
Kaitlynn: I didn't say 'yes', I said yeah!

hmmm. this picture looks worse the bigger I make it. I think I will leave it alone.

What a cutie!

After Kaitlynn woke up from a late afternoon nap, she was being particularly whiny. Everything was dramatic. She was asking for some candy and I told her no, that we were going to have dinner soon. She said "Mom, you want some candy?"
I told her, "No. I want to have dinner."
She said, (in a whiny voice) "You don't want dinner, you want some candy."
I can't say it wasn't entirely untrue.

OK. Seriously. I warned Jeremy that if he let her in the house with a worm, I would be upset. So sure enough, here comes Kaitlynn with this disgusting worm. I turn around and she says "Look, Mom." I scream. She looks confused, drops the worm and starts crying. Jeremy is laughing and I am trying to console her while yelling at Jeremy to get this worm out of my house and now Kaitlynn is afraid of worms. I am adamant that it is his fault. I told him the consequences if he brought any of those worms in here and he didn't listen, so now she is scarred for life and I don't feel bad about it at all. Look at that thing though. That is so gross.

There is a guy in Meridian Greens who has his house decked out for Christmas and on Friday and Saturday nights he lets kids come sit on his lap, get a picture, and gives them a candy cane and glow stick. Both kids did really well this year. The little boy behind us, though...I'm guessing he had nightmares from how upset he was at sitting on Santa's lap.

Kaitlynn has learned how to do Knock Knock jokes...This is her first attempt:
Kaitlynn: "Knock. Knock."
Jeremy: "Who's there?"
long pause.
Kaitlynn "Chocolate milk"
Jeremy: "Chocolate milk who"
Kaitlynn: Ummmm.... Chocolate milk pizza"
(laughter)

Random, I know, but she gets how they work. That's pretty good.

The last thing that our baby girl has been up to is watching Beauty and the Beast. She is fascinated with it and learning the songs from it. But she gets upset when the townspeople want to "Kill the Beast". She runs to me and says "We love our Beast!" Yes we do.
Here is a picture of her Christmas ballerina outfit she got from Grandma and Grandpa.















We had a great Christmas and need a new house to hold all the stuff we got, but we feel very loved and appreciate all the things that we received. Happy 2009!