The Blackham Blog

"because it's humongous!"

2010-02-20T21:12:00.000-08:00

So cute little CamCam has been talking about astronauts and space in preschool. She came home from preschool the other day with an astronaut helmet on......
Well her helmet strap (a piece of paper) kept ripping so we had to keep taping it. At dinner she was getting frustrated that it was breaking, and f course her brothers were teasing her about the size of her head (they actually like her to tell them her brain is big and that is why her head is big) So Jaxon asked her why her 'helmet' kept breaking and Cambree said, "Because my head is humongous!"

(not quite the response we expected:) I guess we better stop telling her she has a big head.

Basketball Battlewounds

2010-02-09T21:12:00.000-08:00

This post is a little late but worth posting anyway...Two weeks ago, at Jaxon's Jr. Jazz game, in the first minute of the game, Jaxon got elbowed in the mouth. He started bleeding (and crying, just a little bit) so they took him out and he came to show me his mouth. He was bleeding from his tooth, his gum was all purple and his tooth was just hanging there--good thing it was a baby tooth! I tried to pull it out, but it was still a little tight and I was hoping it might tighten up. Then next night(Fri), he came in and told me to pull it because it was bugging him too much. I looked at it and it was barely hanging on by a thread. So I got out the floss, wrapped it around his tooth and popped it right out. He was pretty excited for the tooth fairy to come....however, we didn't know he was promoting his new movie, so he/she took the weekend off and didn't come until Mon :(

7 cheers for Allly

2010-01-17T21:31:00.000-08:00

My sweet little Ally turned 7 on Thursday. She was so excited for Christmas, she didn't have too much time to focus on her birthday count down (neither did I, I was kinda scrambling for the big day) Anyhoo, she got a pretty bad cold Tuesday night that settled in her eye, so she missed school on wed. She was so worried she was going to be sick and miss school on her birthday she rested all day to recover. It was so cute and sad, in her prayers she started crying as she said, "help me to get feeling better so I won't miss school on my birthday and help me to sleep tight tonight"

So she went to school on her birthday (ya, I'm one of those mothers....sending her kid sick to school, but she cried and cried till I let her go) her teacher asked her if she was OK because her eye was all red.....nice. Right after school I took her to the doctor, just to see of it was something besides a cold, yep, double ear infection....(I'm single handily supporting everyone at our pediatric office-we've been there alot lately) The doctor felt so bad for her she gave her coupons for free kid meals for everyone at Del Taco---sweet! So guess where we went for Ally's birthday dinner? You got it, Del Taco! She was so excited about it...since Tony and I didn't get a coupon, Ally told me I should bring a home lunch for us...that way it would be totally free! (Tony was thrilled with that comment) After dinner, her ears started acting up so we went home for an early night to bed.

Friday night we had a cheer leading party for her. It turned out really cute. I was a little late on the planning, (surprise) so I couldn't find Lehi purple, all I could find was High School Musical colors....so that's what we did. My nieces, who are Riverton Highschool Cheerleaders, came down and did a cheer clinic for the girls. They had a great time! We made ponytail ribbons, had the cheer clinic, and then cake and ice cream....perfect and easy....my type of party!

Ally and the girls
The girls did this cute little pyramid.

Cake and ice-cream....what a bunch of cuties.

Three cheers for Ally....Three cheers for me --I made the cake :)

Happy Birthday little sweetie! We love you so much!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-30T23:10:00.000-08:00

I'm back!!! (ya I know you've heard that before, but...) My computer died a couple of weeks ago (yeah that is my excuse for 2 months of no blogging) and I came home one day from Christmas shopping and Tony was on my bed and there were piles--I'm not kidding--piles of screws, the keyboard, the hard drive, and what ever else you can remove from a computer, covering my bed. I freaked out and told Tony he was breaking my computer! His response was, "It was already broken, I'm trying to fix it" SCARY!! He actually got it put back together and it is functioning the way it was before (all whacked out) anyhoo....long story long, I got a new computer! YEA! So expect new and exciting things, hahaha. Here is my first attempt to download pictures, if I can find them :)

Boring Blog

2009-11-12T21:26:00.000-08:00

So if you haven't noticed, my blog wigged out, so now I am stuck with the BORING blog that blogger offers. I need to switch to something else, this one has messed up the spacing on all my posts....it's a disaster. SO, if anyone has a suggestion of a cute place to go to spruce up my blog I would love your help :) (I'll take suggestions or feel free to come over and just do it for me:) )

Big boys DO cry

2009-11-04T20:02:00.001-08:00

Spencer has been playing football for the 7th grade Lehi Pioneer A team this year. They have had a really good season with only two losses. This is pretty impressive considering Lehi's high school football record has been 0 and whatever for the last few years and this group of boys has never been to the playoffs. So our team was thrilled when we won our first game in tournament and went on to play in the Championship game!

We played American Fork for the Championship game. We unfortunately made a few crucial mistakes in the first half and just couldn't recover :( The final score was 34-14 for AF. Our boys were really disappointed in the way they played and especially for loosing the championship game. It was so sad after the game, most of the boys had their heads hung and tears in their eyes. That was quite a sight...tough guys with their faces painted and football pads on with tears streaming down their faces. Yes, big boys Do cry!

Spencer (#50) getting his medal from Coach Taylor (the Defensive coach)

Spencer was on the B team last year and got alot of playing time in all the games. This year because he made the A team, he didn't get as much playing time. BUT, I have to say, I was very proud of how he never complained or got discouraged, he went to practice everyday and did his best. He was a real TEAM player. We are proud of you buddy!

We're so funny!

2009-11-01T20:42:00.000-08:00

You would think my Halloween post would be about my kids, but why start including them now? I mean I haven't posted about Jaxon's birthday/baptism, Spencer's teenage birthday, Cambree many Friday funnies or Ally's mothering parent teacher conference (someday, those events will make the blog). BUT I couldn't wait to post these pictures because I think they SO funny! Hey, at least I entertain myself even if I don't anyone else! So here you go.....enjoy!

Wherever there injustice, you'll find us

Wherever there is suffering, we'll be there

Wherever liberty is threatened, you'll find

THE THREE AMIGOS!

Meet Carmen (the senorita that hires the three amigos) Luck Day, Dusty Bottoms, and Ned Nederlander!

We got invited to a Halloween party and I was trying to figure out a costume. Lezlie called me and said she had a costume for Kirt and Tony and she was looking for another guy for the third amigo. Since I didn't have a costume (except for my standby witch hat) I told her to count me in for Ned Nederlander. She had already arranged for another costume, but then we decide she needed to be Carmen....don't you love when your old prom dress comes in handy! (it was hers not mine, and she fits into it! Impressive!) Add a few dollar store roses and WhaLa! I have to say, we cracked our selves up! After the party, we visited a few neighbors that we knew were 'Three Amigo' fans, we even went to a youth stake dance to find one neighbor, but were unsuccessful. We thought about going to Cafe Rio and using the line, "do you serve anything besides Mexican here?" (one of Tony's favorite lines) but we didn't think they would understand. Anyway, we had a great time so I had to share! (Thanks Heather for the costumes, they were a hit!)
As for the kids.....

Ally was a darling witch,

and so was CamCam

Jax was a ninja....

and Spencer and Kayden were 'Men in Black' I didn't get a picture of them, but imagine Kayden (Will Smith I'm guessing? they look very similar:) and Spencer as Tommy Lee Jones in their suits and air soft guns and big glasses....some people might have mistaken them for the Mafia or even missionaries if it wasn't for Spencer packing his ihome around in his pocket blasting the theme song from 'Men in Black'--it was actually pretty funny (not as funny as my costume, but still funny) I'm so sad I didn't get a picture!

We had a great Halloween, except Cambree told me her ear hurt so I took her to the doctor and wouldn't you know it, she had a double ear infection! The cute part was, she asked the doctor when she was going to be done because she had to go trick or treating at 4:30. Even when she's sick she's pretty much perfect.

Happy Halloween!

In honor of NEW MOON

2009-10-12T20:50:00.000-07:00

So in honor of New Moon, I thought we should visit the place all the action went down.

This is it...really, where Bella goes to save Edward.

We're not sure if this is the castle where all the vampires camp out in the basement of, but I'm just going to say it is :) We tried to go to the center square where Edward was going to be exposed, but it was closed and it was a little hard to turn our nine passenger van around (Italian streets are sooo narrow any turn in a big van is a 20 point turn).

Here I am with Jacob....boy he is alot hotter in the movie!

All I have to say is, it must be love for Bella to pass up this beautiful scenery to go save her man!

This is just a glimpse of our trip to Italy, I hope there will be more to come, I am soooo behind in my blogging I don't even know where to start. So for now you will have to settle with pictures of Volterra....it was beautiful, but not the most beautiful of Italy... So I will post soon:)

Ally's Friday Funny

2009-08-08T00:17:00.000-07:00

Oh. this is quite embarrassing. but I guess I will post it anyway because I have been giggling about it all day....

Ally tried out for this competition dance team and made it (yeah, I don't know what I am getting into!) Anyway, they practiced all of June, took off July, then started back up in August, so I am still getting back into the routine.

Well, this morning, I totally forgot she had dance (even though I had talked to my friend about picking her up in the morning the night before) Tony was out of town so I woke Jaxon up at 8:30 a.m. to babysit so I could go running. I got home from running, visited with my neighbors outside afterward, watched Cambree come out of the house in her swimming suit, watch Clayton go to my house to play with Jax, you know, the norm....I finally make it in my house to get showered and on with my day, and I notice I haven't seen Ally. So I ask Jax, "where's Ally?" and Jaxon pipes up, "Oh she's at dance, Lezlie came and picked her up" I look at the clock and it says 10:10, their class gets out at 10:00--so I panic, I find the keys, and tell Jax I will be right back that I need to go pick up Ally.

I am totally speeding on all these 35 mph roads :( but all I can think about is the girls waiting and waiting for me for 25 minutes! I can just see the dance teacher trying to call my house wondering where I am, or calling Lezlie wondering why no one is picking then up. I pull up and the girls aren't out front so I assume they must be inside, probably trying to call me. I get to the door and hear the dance music blasting so I am a little relieved, thinking, oh they are just watching another class. So I go in, and don't see them in the hall, I peak into the dance studio and see Sydnee on the dance floor, along with about 15 other girls, then, I see a little girl with a black t-shirt, pink tights inside out with blue and yellow striped underwear underneath--AND you guessed it, it was ALLY!! Yep, I am mother of the year! Ally had put her dance pants in the laundry so they weren't in her dance bag, so who needs pants when you have pink see through tights? Not Ally!

I would like to think no one noticed, but since their dance uniform is black pants and black shirts, the pink tights drew some attention....not to mention the underwear!!!

From the looks of her room, she did look for her jazz pants!

As a mother, this is just a little bit embarrassing!!!! Good thing Ally wasn't too embarrassed (at least not until I asked her where her pants were and then she realized her underwear were showing?!?)

**Disclaimer** Lezlie felt so bad that she just dropped Ally off in pretty much her underwear, but in her defense, she didn't know I wasn't home! She actually called me after she dropped Ally off to tell me her pants weren't in her bag so I could run them up and Jaxon told her I was running....then she started to put 2 and 2 together! Seriously Lez, it's not your fault at all, I just need to get my life in order--so I can get my kids life in order!!!!!

It's great to be EIGHT!

2009-08-06T21:09:00.000-07:00

Cute little Jax turned 8 this year! It's amazing how fast the last eight years have flown by. I remember waiting so long for him to get here...and it's been one adventure after another since then!

The kids always get to pick their favorite meal for their birthday, Jaxon loves my homemade buttermilk pancakes with homemade syrup so I wasn't surprised that's what he requested. It worked out perfect because his birthday fell on a Sunday and this year we have 1:00 church, so we had a birthday breakfast.

Jaxon got a bike for his birthday and it was at the bike barn getting new/puncture proof tires, green gu/ and a huffy liners so his tires could withstand the goat heads that surround our neighborhood. So on his actual birthday, he got a package of 6 bakugan... yeah, something like that!

Just before dinner, we had a little 'Jaxon moment'. Spencer and Jaxon were outside and we heard Spencer screaming. I just thought they were playing so I just ignored it. Then Spencer came in from the garage in a panic calling for help. I ran out to the garage and Jaxon was on his stomach with the garage door down on his back. So I kidda freak out and tell Spencer to stand in front of the sensor and I pushed the garage opener...It went down further. Meanwhile, Jax was screaming and crying. So I ran in the house and screamed to Tony, he came running up the stairs and actually used his brain and grabbed the quick release cord on the ceiling. It released the door and the door went up! Jaxon was a little shaken, but ended up being fine--like I said, it was a Jaxon moment. He did have a big welt on his back from the garage door. How he got under there (under the sensor,) is still a mystery. Maybe in a couple months, after the fear of death leaves, the truth might come out....we'll see, won't we boys.

For Jaxon's friend party, he chose to have a movie party in the back yard again. It was a total hit, Jaxon invited 18 kids, and then went on to invite their brothers and sisters. We ended up having about 30 kids there. Some were helping with the snack bar and others were just their to hang out. It was a great night, I don't know if all the parents liked me sending their kids home wired from a sugar high at 11:00 at night, but oh well...it was a great party.
Jaxon chose a chocolate zucchini cake for his birthday cake, good for me, it's cheap and easy to make and super delicious.
So many kids, I couldn't get them all in one picture!

Look at the cute snack bar help!

With a few technical difficulties and the sun not going down as soon as I had planned?? We were desperate for some entertainment. We did presents, cake and ice cream, and then started with some freeze tag. Luckily, my neighbor Jenny enlisted her husband and 18 year old son to help with the donut game (did I mention we just did cake and ice cream?) So we had the kids partner up and they had to eat the whole donut hanging from a string and when they were finished they switched so the other partner could eat their donut, with no hands! --I have to say, I was lucky nobody threw up! But the kids thought it was a blast.

Towards the end of the game, they all started to cheat!

Hope you had a happy birthday Jax! We sure love you!!

Friday Funnies

2009-07-12T00:19:00.000-07:00

What a funny funny girl! This is the type of entertainment I get almost daily! It's pretty funny, until I have to clean up all her outfit changes!

She loves this pose, she made it up herself!

She can totally do her own hair!

Even though their both only half dressed...their hats match!

Yeah, it's the middle of the summer!

She's good at applying lipstick too!

This is how all headbands should be worn!

Everyone looks like this when they are going out on the town!

She might possibly be my favorite child!....well right now, I mean just the stage she's in, you know, the everything she does is cute stage...I love my other kids, I just think she is so cute, funny and adorable! Is there anything wrong with that?

Thanks for the laughs Cambree!

Friday Funnies

2009-07-11T23:50:00.000-07:00

Cambree has been playing house with Ally and our neighbor Lacey (Cambree's new idol) and Cambree(pretend) fell off her scooter and broke her arm, so Ally took her to the doctor (in the basement) and put a cast on it (with paper towels). Then she brought her upstairs and continued the tradition of signing the cast. These girls are pretty funny.

As you can see, Ally chose a red cast--she thought it would be a fun way to celebrate the 4th of July. Her cast is actually pretty full of signatures. It's pretty cute, Spencer and Jaxon were the first to sign, so of course their signatures are the biggest, she went to a birthday party an hour after she got her cast, so she got a bunch the first day. Then she went to doll club and added a few more, she even got her primary teacher to sign it (her teacher didn't have a Sharpe at church so she sent her husband home during Sunday school to get one! Thanks Sherene...I mean Sister Turner) Anyway, her cast is getting full and she loves to look at it. I think her favorite one, of course after mine (and Tony's) is the 18 yr old neighbor boy!....Oh boy we are in trouble!

OUCH!!

2009-06-26T23:53:00.001-07:00

Here's how it went down....All the kids were playing outside on the neighbors trampoline. One of the kids got off and walked right into a brick column. He had a big cut on his forehead and needed stitches, so Kathy (the neighbor) took him to the hospital to meet his mom. Meanwhile, the kids made their way over to our house. Jaxon was standing on a cozy coupe car, hanging on the basketball rim. The little kids were on trikes trying to knock the car out from under Jaxon. So I said, and I quote, "Hey guys, be careful, I don't want to be hanging out with Kathy at the ER" Yeah, I said it, what was I thinking?? I totally jinxed myself! I went inside and about an hour later my other neighbor called and said, "Don't panic...but Ally has broke her arm!" Right, don't panic!
Ally was riding a scooter, hit a rock and fell over the front of it onto the grass and landed on her arm.
This was sweet little Ally on the way to the doctor--I think she was in shock, she hardly even cried when she fell and didn't cry much at the doctor (it seemed to be more of an emotional cry-she was pretty nervous about how they were going to fix it).
At first, I wondered if it was really broken because it was in a sling, but then I took the sling off and saw this!
Just a little bowed don't you think?
This is my poor girl after 4 hours of sitting at the doctor then getting x-rays. The doctor said they would just cast it on Monday.

Then Saturday the doctor called and said he had looked at the x-ray, and he thought it would be better if we had an orthopedic doctor set her arm at the hospital. That way they could temporarily sedate her so she wouldn't feel them setting her arm. After waiting 2 hours in the ER I was wondering if it was worth it. Then I watched them set her arm. . . yeah, it was worth it. The poor thing was kicking and squirming even under sedation. Every time they would rub, stretch, or push on her arm, she would twist and turn, and kick her legs straight in the air, but she was totally asleep. I was pretty grateful for modern medicine, I can't imagine watching them do that to her without drugs! So for now, she is doing pretty good, they put it back into a splint and are going to cast it on Tues. She originally wanted a pink cast but then thought she might get a red or blue one to celebrate the 4th of July. We'll see what she chooses!

Quick Update

2009-06-16T20:39:00.000-07:00

Update #1
The Wasatch back is THIS Friday! And wouldn't you know it, I am sick. I have had a cold/flu since Sunday. Lucky me!! I went to the doctor to see if I could get an anti-viral medication and I was DENIED! The doctor told me to take some NyQuil and get some sleep...wish me luck, I hope it works!
Update #2
Cambree is totally potty trained! About 3 weeks ago, I bit the bullet and just put her undies. She had about one accident a day for the first week, and then she seemed to get it down. Since then she has been accident free for about 2 weeks and has even been pretty good at night. So it looks like we are officially done with diapers!
Update #3
So remember when I posted about finding a large ( at least large to me) some of money outside a certain furniture store? Well, a few months ago, the manager from the store called me and told me no one had claimed the money and it was mine! I went down to pick it up and the manager went in the back to get the money and she came out with the store owner. They were so cute, they told me again how impressed they were that I turned in the money and that I should spend it with a free conscience. Anyway, I still feel bad for the person who lost it, but I think I will put it towards a new entertainment center...the reason I was down there in the first place! :)

Friday Funnies (a little late!)

2009-06-06T22:51:00.000-07:00

If any of you need a few ninjas around your house to protect you or your belongings. . . I have a few for hire-or for free! I will provide the children, you provide the little swimmer diapers--apparently they are crucial for a ninja costume!

I came home the other night from the grocery store and the three little kids were playing ninjas, and this was the costume they came up with! Pretty creative and fun!

Make-up Monday -- Easter

2009-05-18T05:25:00.000-07:00

I have decided that since I am so behind in my blogging--(mostly events that have passed), I am going to dedicate one day a week to try and post about things I have missed. Today will be Easter 2009.

This year for Easter, I thought I was so on top of it. I bought my kids Sunday clothes back in February when they first hit the stores! So in my head I figured I was ready. I forgot about coloring eggs, egg hunts, prizes for their baskets and Cadberry mini eggs (I only bought 2 bags!). With spring break starting on the Friday before Easter, I was so busy planning for our trip (another make-up Monday) that we pretty much skipped all the fru-fru for Easter. Easter morning, we did an Easter egg hunt that focused on the Savior and the Resurrection. It's really cute, each one of the eggs has a symbol of Christ and a scripture. I thought it was a cute idea--the kids were wondering where the loot was and what happened to the Easter Bunny! But I was pretty impressed with their knowledge of the true meaning of Easter and their love for the savior. We went to church and after had little family egg hunt with lots of candy and a few toys to play with on the road. And that about wraps it up!! My kids kept wondering what happened to the Easter bunny and why she came during church. (I think I may have let the cat out of the bag :o ).

I don't want to brag, but....

2009-05-14T22:26:00.000-07:00

aren't these photos gorgeous?! OK so I can't take all the credit, it doesn't hurt that they are super pretty girls and very photogenic, but I was pretty proud of myself when I looked at these pictures. BTW, these are my nieces, Kaitlin is graduating and wanted me to take her graduation pictures. Haili and Alise came along for the ride...

There are more, (about 350 more) but I thought I would only share a few :) --plus I'm too tired to download anymore!

I'M NOT A QUITTER (but I really wanna be!)

2009-05-09T18:48:00.000-07:00

I don't know if I have posted about this before, but I have decided I do way too many things due to peer pressure! (yeah, that's right peer pressure in my thirties--what?)
AND running the Wasatch back is no exception! My friend called me and asked me if I wanted to be on a team to run the Wasatch back.Well I was asleep when she called, so I was a little out of it and I didn't get all the details. All I asked was, "how many legs do I run and how long are the legs" her reply was, "you run three legs and they range from three to six miles each leg." Being half asleep, I didn't really do the math and I thought three legs of three miles was doable, so I said SURE!
That was my first big mistake!
OK, so if any of you three readers who read my blog know about the Wasatch Back, it's a 182 mile relay from Logan to Park City. I am running leg #8, apparently it's a pretty good leg (kind of moderate, not too hard) according to runners--which I am not. My first leg is 3.4 miles and easy, my second leg is 7.0 miles and moderate, and my last leg is also 7 miles with a small incline (that's great, uphill on my last leg) which adds up to 17.4 miles!
So, here's the thing, I think the race it's self will be pretty fun, if I don't die during the race. But the training is getting old, tiring, expensive and very time consuming. I really want to quit but I probably won't...so get used to my complaining. OR if your interested, I will sell you my spot for the bargain price of $100 bucks! Any takers??

P.S. On a different note, Happy 9th Birthday to my sweet baby Kayden! We love and miss you! :)

friday funnies

2009-05-08T22:47:00.000-07:00

1/29/08
I told the kids the Great grandma Bagley had passed away, Jaxon asked me how she died and I told him it was just old age. So then he had the light bulb in his face expression and said, "oh, so she died of olding?--I guess that's what happen when you put old and aging together.

2/21/09

Today Jaxon was having a discussion about who our President is, his friend was saying it was still President Bush. then Jax said, " no, remember in school when we watched the 'change' thing on t.v. with Obama? (the inauguration) He's the new President." --I had to laugh about the change comment, but I have to agree- yeah he is changing things (maybe someone should tell him it's not a race to spend the entire budget, plus a few trillion, in his first week!) --and Tony thinks I spend money fast!

2/18/09

Cambree has learned the art of tattling, lucky me! Anyway her and Ally were arguing and Cambree came in and said, "Mommy, Ally called me a neener!" Apparently Ally had said, neener, neener neener to her (you know how you sing that to someone when your arguing)

2/20/09
Just some funny things Cambree says right now. . .

" I want a dobe dobe do bandaid (scooby do)

Her favorite line is "you silly monkey"

"Dubble bum Dubble bum in a dish"

She calls her blanket her 'slinkey'- it used to be her 'feefee'

She says, "oh tay" very simalar to Alfalfa on the little rascels.
My favoirite thing she says is "dood!" (translation-good) When she asks is we are going home, and I say yes, she says "dood"

Her new favorite thing to ask is -"yes or no" she will ask us a question and before we can give her a response, she says-"yes or no" It's pretty cute.

She calls her cinderella doll, "finella"
3/2/09
A funny conversation between me and Cambree, I had just gotten out of the shower after returning from running.

Cambree: Mom, why you showering
Me: Because I'm stinky
Cambree: Oh...well who changed your bum?

I guess the only 'stinky' she knows is when she goes stinky in her diaper--she doesn't understand B.O. yet! Then, later today, Cambree and I were running errons and I buckled her in her car seat and she said, "Hey what's the big idea?" ---you can for sure tell she has older siblings with comments like that! And if that's not proof, the other day when we were driving somewhere, she realized she had forgot her blanket so she was begging me to stop...in these words, "Stop in the name of love!" (I have to admit, I say that more than my kids do!)

3/8/09
Ally and Jaxon were planning a party for Sunday. They figured they could have a video party with all their friends as long as they watched church movies. (pretty creative and manipulative) They found some ice trays in the cupboard that I never use because our fridge has an ice maker. Jax came in and told me they found a new way to make ice, he told me all about it and then said, "this way is better mom, that way it will save you money on your ice bill" --a saver already! I'm so glad I won't have to pay for ice anymore, it is breaking me

Top 5 Potty Training Comments

2009-04-21T21:26:00.000-07:00

So, we are getting back to the potty training again! -well kinda, I'm pushing it more, but I haven't went to straight panties yet, I can't do it--not yet. I just got done cleaning up after a puppy 24/7 so I need to wait a week or two. But in the mean time, Cambree is cracking me up with her funny little comments....here are a few.

1. Bright and early Monday morning, I decided to try the potty training thing one more time!!! (New week- new day-new start! right??) So this is how this our conversation went.

Me: Cambree, if you go potty, mommy will give you a treat.
Cam: (on the toilet) I can't go
Me: If you don't go, you don't get a treat
Cam: OK
Me: Should mommy go? (hoping the demonstration would help-I went)
Cam: Good job mommy, (cheering and clapping her hands) now you get a treat!
Me: what about you CamCam, do you want a treat?
Cam: No I didn't go, I don't get a treat (shrugs her shoulders and walks off)

2. Now we've moved on to a sticker chart (or a dicker chart in Cambree language). If she fills up a page of stickers, she gets a Barbie Movie.

Me: Cambree come go potty and then you can have a sticker!
Cam: (sits on the toilet for a second then says) PPPSSSSSS, does that count?

3. We were at Spencer's soccer game and it was time to go. I called for Cambree and when she got to me she said, "Mom I stinky" (she was really stinky.....all the way home!)

Me: CamCam, you really stink!
Cam: I KNOW!
Me: wow, your a stinky monkey!
Cam: I know mom, I can smell me!

4. We were shopping in a small boutique with only a one other lady in the store....

Cam: Mommy!! I think my stinky is coming out!!
(she said it just loud enough for everyone to hear). So we find the bathroom and she made it just in time :) then she said, " well that was easy!"

5. We were at Old Navy, (yeah, I know that's why she isn't trained--I don't stay home) and she tells me she has to go stinky (she's about 100% with the stinky, and I'm not complaining, but we can't seem to get the other one down) We barely made it to the bathroom, I put her on the toilet just in time, and she said, "Whew! dat was close!" (especially when your wearing a pull-up)

There are more, but of course I can't think of them. I'm usually too busy getting her on the toilet and then the whole routine after that, I forget to write it down--then it's history.

What would you do?

2009-04-10T22:17:00.000-07:00

Lately, I have been wanting a new TV for my living room, but in order to get a bigger TV, I need a new entertainment center to host this new TV. So I have been shopping around a little for one that I like. I was at a friends house and fell in love the one she had bought a few months ago. I asked her the price, she told me she got it on sale and it was about $600 more than I was wanting to spend....BUT I really liked it and thought it might be worth the extra money. So a couple days later, I went to the store she had bought it at and talked to the sales lady. They didn't have it in stock but they could order it. THEN she told me the price... it was $700 more than what my friend paid because it wasn't on sale anymore. So at this point, I am $1300 over what I was originally planning on spending. Obviously I had to think about it so I bought some cute birthday plates for Cambree's birthday and I left the store. It was a really windy and I had my girls with me, and I was trying to hurry. As I was loading Cambree in her car seat, I had my head down because of the wind. I noticed an envelope that looked like it was from a bank and I could see a little green at the top. I finished getting Cambree in and went and picked up the envelope. Sure enough, it was a bank envelope and the green part was money. I expected to find a few twenties, which I did, but then I found some hundreds! I won't give you a specific number, but it was between $500 and $1000 dollars!

SO my question is, what would you do???

There was no receipt in there so I didn't know who it belonged too. And.... I was 7 or 8 hundred dollars short for my entertainment center....
OK fine! All those thoughts did cross my mind, but I knew if I used that money for an entertainment center, every time I walked by it, I would feel guilty. Plus, it really wasn't my money. So I took it into the store and told them I had found it in their parking lot and that hopefully someone would come and collect it. The sales lady said, "Oh, thanks for being honest." and that was it. So on the way home, I called my sister and she said, "did they take you name and number so if it's not claimed you can have it?" Up until that point, I hadn't really thought about that, but then I started to wonder. What I really hoped was that someone would claim it.---Can you imagine reaching in your purse for a large sum of cash and not finding it?? I would just be sick! Anyhoo. I got home and thought it was just the weirdest thing. I was wondering if it was a little test from heaven-I mean what a coincidence that I found cash in the parking lot for about the amount I needed for my purchase? Weird! Well about 1/2 hour later, the manager from the store called, she had looked my name and number up off the computer from my birthday plate purchase--(luckily I gave them my info for their monthly specials). She told me she was so proud of me for turning the money in and thanked me for being honest! Then she told me that they would keep it for 30 days and if no one claimed it, it was mine! What an interesting day!
So I will keep you posted on what happens!

Follow up on the Ladies Man

2009-04-08T18:43:00.000-07:00

I thought this was quite ironic, after I posted last about Jaxon's little girlfriend (Miss R), I was going through his backpack and I found these shamrock shaped notes. They were titled 'I feel lucky to know you!' Jaxon had written his to Tony, so cute and sweet. Miss R wrote hers to Jaxon, it sure was deep for a 2nd grader. This is what it said, and I quote:

I feel lucky to know you! To: Jaxon Blackum because you have shoune me the rill meaning of life. And you don't ever think about yourself first. Your always so kind to everyone. Love (Miss R)

All I have to say is, love notes have sure changed since I was in second grade! Plus what am I missing? I don't even know if I know the 'rill' meaning of life=) Anyway, I just had to post to let you know I wasn't making up stories about Jaxon's crushes!

Friday Funnies--Ladies Man

2009-04-03T21:09:00.000-07:00

So I thought I would do a special edition and do just one funny story....starring Jaxon.

As many of you know, Jaxon tends to be a little ladies man, when he was in nursery (yeah, 18 months old) he would always hug the girls and play with their hair. When he was three, we went on a trip with a few of our neighbors. One of the neighbors had a 14 year old daughter and she brought her friend. The entire trip Jax begged to be with his 'girlas' (that's how he used to say girls). Everywhere they went, he went. Well, that little tradition has continued and we experience his girl following still to this day. We always ask him who he plays with at recess and he says, Janessa, Becka, Holly, Alex (who we thought was a boy---NOPE, Alexandra) Tavern...the list goes on. We started wondering if he was a little feminine and if that's why he's attracted to so many girls, but for now that doesn't seem to be the case. He has 'boy' friends in the neighborhood that he hangs out with and when he's with the girls, he always assumes the male role when they're playing. OK, now that I have given you some background, here's the story.

We were at the church and I was having a conversation with a guy in our neighborhood about Jaxon and this little girl who has a crush on him (surprise, surprise). He was telling me this little girl talks about Jax all the time and is always wanting to play with him. So, when we got in the car to go home, I asked Jax what the deal was with this little girl, we'll just call her R. And here is how our little talk went....

Me: So Jax, what's the deal with you and R

Jax: We're just friends mom

Me: Do you think she has a crush on you?

Jax: I don't know, but I do know someone who does have a crush on me.

Me: Who?

Jax: T (we'll just call her T to protect her privacy on my widely viewed blog, haha)

Me: How do you know she has a crush on you?

Jax: She told me

Me: What exactly did she say?

Jax: She said she loved me

Me: (very shocked) Well what did you say to her?

this is where it gets cute...

Jax: I told her, uhh, ok, um, I'm not really ready for that yet...

but mom, I bet when we do get to that stage, ya know, like when we are more grown up and ready to get married, she will want to marry me.

So, for all you mom's out their that have second graders who are looking for a commitment, Jaxon is NOT your guy....he's just not ready yet. I think he wants to play the field a little more!

Last child syndrome

2009-03-26T22:00:00.000-07:00

This is Cambree's cake at the family party. I made it and I was pretty proud of myself. I actually free handed the flowers-pretty impressive hu! (don't look too close-they are far from perfect)

So apparently with my last baby, she is kinda getting the shaft. She turned three almost two weeks ago and I'm barely getting around to blogging about it! Hey, at least we celebrated her birthday ON her birthday...(i should get 'mother of the year' points for that) For Cambree's birthday, we had a little friend party. Yeah I know, who gives their 3 year old a friend party. For Spencer's third birthday, I hired a pony, then I learned with Jax and Ally, 3 year old friend parties are kind of a waste. BUT my little CamCam has been asking me EVERYDAY since OCTOBER when her birthday was and who was coming to her party. So I basically had two choices, listen to for another year, or give her a party... I chose the latter:) I have to say, it was very low key and pretty dang cute. We made little princess crowns and wands, then they dressed up in princess costumes and danced to bella bella dancearella. The girls had a fun time.

Also, Cambree shares her birthday with her cousin Alek and her other cousin Camden is 10 days younger than her. So on Monday we went to their house and had a big old birthday bash! What some cuties!

Cambree got spoiled with lots of presents!

Cambree and her cousin Camden-10 days apart!

Cambree got a leapster--she asked for a yellow one, it's her favorite color, (I don't eve think they make them in yellow) She was thrilled with this one-she likes pink too, just not as much as yellow!

Cute little monkeys!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAMBREE

We love you!!

Lately...

2009-03-12T21:47:00.000-07:00

Lately, we have been busy with everyday life. Here's a peak at what we've been up to lately...

Lately, Cambree has been playing house with her imaginary friends. It's sooo cute, she talks to her dolls like they are her children and she plays the mom. This day, they were all set to watch a movie, I thought it was too cute and had to snap a picture.

Lately, Jax has been playing Jr. Jazz and I was his coach. They don't keep score at this age, but I'm pretty sure we were undefeated! (not that it matters). Anyway we had a fun time and at our last game the Utah Flash Fox was there. The kids thought it was great and they all got his autograph.

Lately, Ally has been playing basketball too. Her team is so cute to watch. She's really good at defense, she just stands in front of her guy:) or she has a staring contest with him??? I think she scored 2 or 3 baskets this season.

Lately, Spencer has been really into skiing, so we decided to take the whole family for a day. It was pretty fun and the kids seemed to get the hang of it after a while. My quads were sore for days, since Ally was leaning back on me the whole time we were skiing.

Lately, Jaxon has been cracking me up! Today he got in the cupboard and got a sugar cone, and went outside and filled it with snow. Then came in and said he had made a REAL snow cone. Smart thinking dude--we just hope it wasn't flavored snow!

Lately, Ally has been having a great time at doll club. This month they made scarves and hats for themselves and their dolls. Then their dolls got a new snow outfit with darling little boots. Next month it's our turn to host, stay tuned to see what we do, it's going to be cute!

Lately, Cambree has been feeling a little left out, because she is 'too little' for anything fun. After doll club the other day, while Ally was at school, Cambree got all dressed up in Ally's doll club attire. She wants to be just like her big sister, I think it's pretty cute.

Lately, Jaxon thinks he can pick out his own clothes! Yeah right! So this outfit actually matches, but the pants are Spencer's and his sweater is on backwards! Details, details...I have a feeling I will be getting him ready many more years!

Lately, it seems like my sweet little baby is growing up! It makes me so sad, but she is still a good napper which makes her seem little still. She LOVES her blankets (I made her three for Christmas) and she packs them around with her everywhere and rubs her nose with the soft fabric. So Cute!

Lately, Spencer has been preparing for festival. He did really well and earned a Superior Rating. Good job Spencer!

Lately, Ally had 100 day at school, she had to make a poster with 100 things on it. She did 100 pieces of hair (yarn) and 100 ribbons. Tony said it totally looked like she did it all herself ;) (if I did it, all the ribbons would have been tied in bows instead of knots!)

Lately, Cambree has been wanting to dress herself. This is what she came up with today...there is a pull-up on but nothing else!

Lately, I have been putting Cambrees hair in pig tails. I have to say it's my favorite! The good old fashion pig tails! CUTE!

Lately, not much has changed with our siblings relationships--there is always rough-housing. Spencer was chasing Jaxon around the bar and Jaxon looked over his shoulder to see where Spencer was and ran straight into a chair---KNOCKING his front TWO teeth out! Luckily they were baby teeth!

Lately, we had the opportunity to go to the Draper Temple open house, it was really beautiful. The kids loved it, along with the bus ride, and the free cookies. (The sister missionary told them

to have as many cookies as they wanted, --they followed directions!)

Lately, I can't to seem to keep things together, I usually do candy grams for all the kids, but since I didn't feel good on Love day, for family night we drew names and made a candy gram for the person we drew. It turned out really cute and pretty creative.

Lately, we've been having pancakes every Sunday morning. This morning I made hearts for the kids for valentines day.

So that's what we've been up to lately :)

Angel Gracie

2009-03-07T20:38:00.000-08:00

I have been meaning to post this whole week, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it...I have thought of a million things to say about this sweet little Angel, but can never seem to get the words right, ...so, today I thought I would just do my best.

Gracie's life celebration was today and it was a beautiful --a perfect service for a perfect little angel. Everything about it was perfect, her flowers, her dress, her program, the spirit that was felt, the food, the balloons and of course her family. Everything was perfect and she so deserved it. It has been so amazing to me how this special little girl has touched so many lives (it doesn't hurt that she is absolutely gorgeous and her mother had a wonderful gift of writing). So many people have been touched by her story, total strangers have stumbled upon her blog and been uplifted by her courage--I feel honored that I got to witness this sweet little miracle in person. I got to see her and hold her, and talk to her mother about what a blessing she has been in their (our) lives. Thank you Gracie for being such a sweet example to all of us, and thank you Michele and Tom for sharing this little angel with me. I will miss this little sweetie, but will never forget her! Goodbye sweet Gracie!

Praying for Gracie

2009-02-22T19:51:00.001-08:00

Many of you know my friends sweet baby, Gracie, was born with a heart defect. She/they have had quite an eventful 11 months. To sum everything up quickly, she was suppose to have her second surgery last Tuesday (Feb 12), but it was determined then that her heart was too sick and that she would need a transplant to live. After testing, she qualified to be listed on the national heart transplant list, and within three days a heart was available for her!! What a tremendous miracle this has been, however, it seems that nothing is easy with this little sweet'heart' and she is rejecting her new heart. Things will be very critical for the next few days. So I am asking anyone who isn't already praying for her to add her and her family to your prayers! If you want to read the whole story, click here.

Missing Grandma Bagley

2009-02-18T22:51:00.000-08:00

Tony's Grandma Bagley passed away on January 26th. She was an incredible lady who will be missed immensely. When Grandpa died, we thought she would be quick to follow. But lucky for us, we were able to enjoy her for another 12 years. She was such a sweet caring person who was a little stubborn and feisty. She lived a such a good life and has left an amazing posterity here on earth to make her proud. We will miss you grandma! Here are some fun/cute memories we have of her.
Cute little grandma was the Grand Marshall in the Moroni parade last year!

When I told the kids she had passed away,Jaxon wondering what they are going to do with her house. I said they were thinking of selling it. He said, "why would they do that? that's like my only memory of her"

Then he said, "what are they going to do with all her bells?" and Ally added, "oh yeah, she has all those pretty bells in the squares" (she had some decorative shelves in squares on her walls, that is where she displayed her collection of bells)

Spencer said that he will always remember that she had a good memory. She called him on his 12th birthday and congratulated him on his Priesthood Ordination.

We will all remember her cookie jar full of Oreos, her wooden toys they kids would play with, her quick wit and her sharp mind. They had her cookie jar at the viewing, all the kids enjoyed them, a few too many times!

One time I remember hearing that when her sight was going, someone was saying something about her within hearing distance and she told them, she was loosing her sight NOT her hearing!Jake and Cambree taking all the mints that the mortician set by the guest book. Little stinkers!

We've decided Ally is a social cryer. She was struggling at the viewing and funeral watching everyone cry. Every time she would see someone shedding a tear, she would tear up also. What a little sweetie, she has such a tender heart!All the grandkids got to choose a flower at the cemetery.

We love you Grandma!

ACCESSORIZE, ACCESSORIZE, ACCESSORIZE

2009-02-08T21:29:00.000-08:00

I'm sure you are all thinking this post will be about jewelry, hats, purses or something fun like that! Well it's not--it's actually a warning or maybe an FYI or a "take it from me" moment. So for any of you considering a dog....DON'T..I mean, I wouldn't if I were you! (for other reasons unrelated to the pictures) But what I have found, and if I were to do it again, I would bag the dog, and just get the dog accessories! Apparently that's all my kids need! Hahaha!

Actually, Jaxon really fell asleep in the dog bed reading his book--already, homework puts him to sleep! Cambree, on the other hand, is going through a phase where she pretends she is the dog. They seem to be entertained with the dog's stuff and not necessarily the dog!

So speaking of accessorizing, I ran across these funny pictures while I was uploading the others. I got a kick out of how Cambree was putting on her eyeshadow with her eyes closed. I guess she is a little young to open one eye at a time. Anyway. . .don't they look darling, all made over!?!

My Geek Squad has spoken. . .I'm going private.

2009-02-05T09:27:00.000-08:00

So Tony informed me the other day that he would really appreciate it if I would make our blog private. In his words, "from a security standpoint, it would just be alot safer" plus he thinks I am posting information that is too personal for strangers (really?). He has actually been wanting me to switch for quite some time, but I haven't gotten around to it. But now (he's going to help/do it for me) it is really going to happen. So if you want to be invited to view our super exciting lives, leave me your email address on the comments or send me an email at shanablackham@gmail.com. Thanks!

Ally's Tea Party

2009-02-02T20:57:00.000-08:00

I figured Ally's party would be kind of long, so I didn't put it with her birthday post. So here is the run down of her party.

We invited about 10 girls, (I don't even know how many-I lost track) We started the party by reading a Fancy Nancy book about words that were fancy. It was really cute.
Then we made fancy (or gobby what ever you want to call it) headbands with big flowers and tool on them. I helped the girls with that while MaKiaha and Abby -my little helpers- painted their nails and put some make-up on them. When they were all dressed up, we had our tea party.

We had tea (pink hot chocolate) with flower pb&j sandwiches, cookies, and cupcakes. They were so cute, they were all sipping their drinks with their pinky's out, and trying to use their best manners.

After we were all done, the girls had a fashion show with all Ally's dress ups. I think all the girls had a fun time.

I have to say, it turned out pretty good for throwing it together at the last minute. I forget every time I have a party, kids really just care about being at a party and having cake. They really don't care about all the little details, they just want to party!

I did have to laugh though, I went to the dollar store and bought 4 or 5 picks of flowers for the girls headbands--that was the favorite! All the girls wanted to take the bouquet home, they could have cared less about the princess coloring book, crayons, and lip gloss I bought for them. They all wanted the bouquets, I think they wanted to play bride with them and use the flowers as their bouquets.

She is 16 going on 17...oh wait

2009-01-27T20:49:00.000-08:00

My sweet little Ally just celebrated her 6th birthday last week! I keep forgetting she is only 6-and she does too! She acts like she's 5 going on 16! She is such a sweet and sassy little girl. She has always been just a little bit on the spunky side...when she was barely 2 and had just started talking, my sister Chantel would ask her if she was sassy, and she would respond with, "I not sassy!"--in a very sassy tone.
But, she can also be very sweet and mothering. I think it is pretty cute when her and Cambree play house, Ally is always the mother (surprise). Then, Ally tries to pack Cambree on her HUGE hip (she totally gets her figure from her mother--haha). It's mostly funny, a little bit scary, but at least they enjoy spending time together.
Speaking of mothering, when I went into her parent teacher conference, her teacher told me she is an A+ student;) (whew, she's passing kindergarten!) and then she told me that she is such a good helper and a good little mother to all the students. So she sat him by this little boy who started school not knowing ANY English (he only knows Spanish). Her teacher thought it would be a good idea to let her sit by him to help/mother him. When I got home from the conference, I asked Ally about her friend Angel (yea, it's a boy). She responded with, "oh yeah, he's from another land, I think it's England, because he doesn't know English." I asked her what he looked like, and she said, "His skin is a little bit brownish, and his hair is dark brown and there's alot of it on top. Mrs. Fotheringham tells me to help him with his letters. I tell him that when you write B-r-o-w-n, only the B is uppercase, then the rest of the letters are lower case---mom, can you believe he writes them all in uppercase?!" It was pretty cute-and doesn't surprise me a bit, I had her in Sunbeams and she was the oldest one--talk about mothering! Anyhoo, she had a great birthday. We woke her up with her own birthday cake that we all had for breakfast!

Then she went to school, came home and had a tea party birthday party (another post), went to her Jr. Jazz basketball game, and then to Ihop (her choice) for dinner. What a busy day!

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

1 O'clock church. . .

2009-01-18T19:23:00.000-08:00

So instead of getting up at the crack of dawn for 9:oo church, we now have some time to kill Sunday mornings before church. This is the type of entertainment I've been exposed to the last few weeks.
Last Sunday before church, Ally, Jax, and Cambree were going on a 'safari'. From the looks of their outfits they are going to be changing babies, coloring pictures, and having a picnic. It was pretty cute though, Jaxon was the Captain (in Cambree's pink sunhat?) and Cambree kept saying, "we're going on a fari" They had a good time on a dangerous African Safari--down in the playroom.

Today, Cambree and Ally wanted to take Izzy on a walk before church. Cambree didn't have any pants on, so I told her to go get dressed. I guess a pajama shirt will work for a skirt. When I told her that her feet would freeze if she wore those flip flops outside, she said, "Oh, I need some boots and bloves and my doat!" I love the way she talks! It should be interesting to see what this year brings on Sunday mornings . . .I'll keep you posted!

I'm running a CIRCUS!!

2009-01-15T22:15:00.000-08:00

You might want some popcorn, this post ended up being kind of long! Sorry!
Wow, this week has been a little crazy. . . ya know when you have those weeks when things are stressful, but after they are over they are quite funny? well welcome to our three ring circus!

Introducing Spencer in ring #1
Spencer was babysitting while I was at my three-yearly OB/GYN appointment (some people go yearly, I go every 2-3 years). Anyway, not to get too personal, but my doctor was telling me that I had a few more years left with my IUD, but if I had a personal revelation, I could get it out at anytime. I told him my revelation came when Tony got called to be in our ward bishopric. I can barley do church alone with the four kids I have--did someone say circus?--I can't add a baby to the chaos...Unlucky for his business, the revelation I'm getting is to LEAVE IT IN!! So I am not kidding, as soon as I am walking out of his office- the circus begins! Spencer calls me and tells me I need to home get right home because he has a scout Pow Wow in 5 minutes. Yeah, I was twenty-five minutes away. FYI--I had called him earlier to discuss these minor details, but he was too busy to talk-playing air-hockey with his friend. So I start making phone calls to neighbors to find a babysitter, when I was interrupted with another phone call from Spencer. This time he told me something was EXTREMELY wrong and I needed to get home now! (O.K. now I am now 22 minutes away) He told me the fire alarm started beeping then it was saying SMOKE DETECTION***CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTION*** and the upstairs smelt all funny. I asked him if it was the smell of the new Scensy candle plug-in?? He told me he didn't know it just smelled funny--then I hear him yelling at Ally--"NO ALLY you can't go back in there! You could die!!" (Yeah, the smell of the candle might kill you! We're not dramatic at all at our house!) So I ask Spencer where he was and where all the kids were. Then he said, and I quote, "I evacuated everyone from the house and we are in the front yard!" So I hang up called the neighbor, she went right over and called me from my home phone so I could hear what was going on--here's the skinny. . .All my kids were outside in bare feet! She took them to her house to warm up-she carried all of them at once and she's about he size of Spencer. Then Spencer gave her the scoop, and told her she probably shouldn't go in there because it was all foggy in there, not smokey, just foggy (good thing carbon monoxide is odorless and colorless) and then he asked her if she had it under control and took off for his Pow Wow. So Kathy kept me on the phone and went into my house, she said she didn't see any sign of smoke and couldn't find the fog (big surprise) the CO2 detector was unhooked and that's why it was beeping. There was a chair by it so she assumed the battery was beeping and Spencer tried to unhook it and that's when the voice started talking. At any rate, it ended up being nothing but a big fiasco. But at least Spencer followed the evacuation rules. . .or was he over-reacting and crying wolf to get out of babysitting and on to his scout thing? Who knows, but it ended up being a crazy night! This is one of those stories that you can say, "we can laugh about it now that everyone's O.K." (P.S. Tony and I are discussing putting Spencer in Drama, just a thought)

Introducing Jaxon in ring #2
Let's just say Ally's birthday kind of crept up on me, so I have been running around trying to put together her party. Her birthday was on Wed, (yesterday) and we passed out the invitations on Monday afternoon (better late than never?). She invited 12 girls, so I had to buy two packages of invitations. The first pkg had a place for the date, time, and location- the second package had a place for where, when, and RSVP. So after filling out the first package, I was just on autopilot and wasn't paying attention to what I was doing. So when it said, when, I filled in Wednesday, January 14, but forgot to put the time. Well, normally that wouldn't be a big deal, but of course one of those invitations went to a little girl in Ally's class who I have never met. So her cute mom called and left a message wondering what time the party was and if there was something Ally would like for a present. When I got the message I was so embarrassed- who leaves off the time? (it gets worse). So I called her back and apologized and told her what Ally liked. Then I ran to the store with the girls and left the boys home to do their homework. I don't know what prompted Jaxon to check the messages, but he did, and he took it upon himself to answer my message! Yeah, that's right, he got a paper, wrote down this mom's name and number and called her back! He just wanted her to know that the party started at 2:30 and Ally loves dolls, barbies, little petshop, etc. Apparently, he had a good five minute conversation with this little girls dad, letting him know all the details of the party and what Ally liked! I bet that family wonders what kind of show we're running over here--I wonder that too! Oh yeah, it's a circus!

Introducing Cambree in ring #3
Well let's just say Cambree's potty training has pretty much came to a hault. It went down hill when Ally went back to school. I hate to admit it, but Ally was doing most of the work. Anyway, Wednesday, she was not doing very well and I got frustrated and put a diaper on her. Ally chose to go to Ihop for her birthday dinner. The first thing Cambree had to do when we got there was go potty. So I tok her in to the bathroom and she went on the toilet, but she had also wet in her diaper. I didn't want to put a dirty diaper back on her and I didn't want to go to the car and get a pull up so I just let her go 'commando' in her leggings and told her she had to tell mommy if she needed to go potty--she promised she would. (BIG mistake!) So we go back into the restaurant and she is dancing around singing, "I went potty on the toilet, I went potty on the toilet" she was dancing around the tables telling the table next to us she just went potty, etc. It was quite the victory dance, you would have thought it was her first time! Anyway, about 30 minutes later we were almost done and we were just waiting for the check. Cambree was at the end of the table, standing up on the booth, when Lezlie and Keylee (our friends Ally invited) looked down and saw her standing in a puddle (you knew where this was going) So Lezlie asks her, "what's that?" Cambree just looks at her and says, "Oh that's peeps" very matter of fact! Needless to say, the party was over, at least for Cambree and I, good thing Tony and I took separate cars so I could leave and take care of my little peeper!
Yea, I am running a circus!! Maybe we should take a vote to see if I should add more monkeys to my circus! haha-NOT!

Friday Funnies

2009-01-11T19:00:00.000-08:00

I keep missing fridays, so I figured I should post this before it's forever long.

1/8/09
I was taking Jaxon and his friend to their Jr. Jazz game and I am the coach. Tony had a problem at work so he was running behind, so I was giving them the lecture on listening to me and minding, etc. Then I told Ally she would have to keep and eye on Cambree while I was coaching the team. A few minutes later I hear Jaxon telling Trace that his mom can't worry about Cambree because she was going to be busy 'commanding' the team.

1/6/09
Jaxon and Spencer were talking about pooling their money together to buy Wii fit. Spencer was asking Jaxon how much money he has to contribute. This was Jaxon's response--(Jaxon invests his money with Tony, he calls it "the bank of dad", Tony gives him a ridiculous amount of interest to save his money). "Well, I gave dad a dollar, then it turned into ten dollars, then I worked at the farm so dad owes me about $30 dollars so if you add those together I have about $40. But this is the first time I am getting paid for working at the farm, so I think dad owes me for all the times I worked before." Spencer interrupts and says, "well does dad have your money right now?" Jax responds, "yeah, he's kind of my banker guy". It's good to know my 7 year old has people...a banker?

1/24/08
We were at Tony's parents house for Christmas Eve, Jenette (Tony's youngest sister) came in, she was wearing a cute black top and some red satinish pants. Ally went up to her and said, "hi Jenette, you look HOT!" Apparently that's how 5 year olds give compliments these days!

12/8/08
So if any of you know my little Jax, he is quite the ladies man. We are quite concerned about how to lock up safely once he turns . . .maybe 8 or 9, I was going to say 14, but who am I kidding? He is already a chic magnet (meaning he's attracted to them, I am prejudice, but I don't want to be gaggy). So anyway, he has this little girl in his class, who apparently has a crush on him, and he sure doesn't mind. They have been having a few play dates here and there and the other day I was taking him to her house to play (she has a sister Ally's age so I sent Ally to chaperon--haha) and on the way there, the sun was setting over the mountains. I told the kids to look at the sun because it was really pretty. Then Jaxon said, "Oh yeah mom, the other night when I was a Rebbecca's house, we watched a beautiful sunset together." He's already got the moves and the lines! I'm so in trouble!

Cambree walks around the house singing "We wish you a merry Christmas" and if you ask her what she wants for Christmas, she says, "a merian doll" (translation--an American Girl Doll) You can tell she has a big sister!

I woke Ally up for school yesterday and she was still a little out of it, she started telling me about her dream and said, "I was a little scared, but it's not serious!"

12/1/08
Pre-teen lingo
Spencer was telling me about some kids that got in a fight at school. He said there were three kids in the fight and they had scratches and bruises all up their arms. I asked him if he knew any of the kids. He told me he knew who they were but didn't really hang around them. He said one of the kids was really misterious (what kind of word was that? He's been reading the Twilight series-maybe he's picking up vampire language) and he said the other kid was kind of a punk. He told me his name and it sounded familiar, so I asked him if he was on his football team. Spencer said, "no, and if he was I would have 'lit him up'!" I didn't really understand so I asked him what that ment, apperently it means--to take them down, plow them over, lay them flat, etc. Yeah, that's coming from my super aggressive child-hahaha.

11/18/08
Cambree was standing by a kitchen chair (on sunday) holding on to the back of it bearing down with all her might, then grunting. A few seconds later, Tony said Cambree are you stinking up the place? Cambree plugged her nose and said, "I can smell me!"--Oh my goodness, I am not kidding, as I am sitting here typing about her smelling herself, Cambree just came into my room and said, "Mom, I weak!" (translation-reak) I think I should probably potty train her at some time. Her cousin Camden who is 10 days younger, is totally potty trained, so EVERYTIME I say, "why don't you go potty in the toilet?" Cambree's resonse is (and I'm not kidding when I say everytime) "like Camden?" I guess I need to just stay home and do it for a week, she's totally ready.

Jaxon asked me the other night if he could take up fencing, I guess all the cool kids on the disney channel are into it. I didn't even know he knew what that was!

Jaxon had a paper from school that had some of his pictures he had drawn. I was asking him what he pictures were about. In one picture there was a stick mom and dad, and then above them there were two ovalish circles above their heads. I couldn't figure out what it was so I asked him. "Duh mom, that's the chandelier." (what, we've never called our lights that--we just call them lights) Then I looked at a few more pictures, yeah they all had chandeliers in the houses. He's dreaming big!

11/16/08
Jaxon told the primary second councilor today that Spencer is always mean to him, except on Sundays because his dad's in the bishopric. (...ok...still a little confused?)

Cambree got mad at me after prayers because i forgot to bless grandma Bagley (she's been in
the hospital with pneumonia)
Cambree thinks that every time she says another sentence in her prayers she has to say Heavenly Father in between.

Flashback Funnies (these are things my kids have said in the past-long before blogging-that I want to remember)

When Tony took his job at he church (for work, not for church) Jaxon couldn't figure it out. He thought Tony was going to work at our church building, and asked Tony if he was going to work with in the nursery department.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2009-01-02T09:24:00.000-08:00

This year was pretty exciting-haha-we got together with the Melling family. The kids played air hockey and the Wii in the basement, while the adults played a nail biting game of Risk upstairs. I was out within like 30 minutes so it was real exciting for me! So I caught up on my T.V. that was junking up my DVR space. Anyway, at midnight, the kids went outside, banged pots and pans, yelled happy new year! They thought it was pretty cool to yell outside in the middle of the night! When they came back in they were all asleep within minutes! Needless to say, the game of Risk went on for another 2 hours so we partied like it was 1999! Happy New Year!

(My) Favorites from Christmas

2008-12-28T22:45:00.000-08:00

Ally got an American Girl Just Like Me doll. That was pretty cute--but can you stand their matching outfits?!? I can't!! I think it's the cutest thing ever. I told Ally Santa loved to give little girls dolls (she originally wanted a DS) and that if she was really good, he might bring them matching outfits. She told me on Christmas that she couldn't believe Santa was paying attention to her Christmas dress and found one for her baby, then she said, "he really must be real if he did that!" I didn't know she was questioning believing, but I think we sealed the deal! My neighbor makes doll clothes and I took over Ally's dress and she sketched it out on a scratch piece of paper and she had the doll dresses done a week later. She's AMAZING!

Cambree got an American Girl Bitty Twin, (Santa split the twins with a neighbor-even Santa is on a budget!) She was pretty concerned Christmas morning because Santa just set her baby out on a stroller and didn't wrap them. The first thing she said was, "who unwrapped my dolly? why didn't Santa wrap my baby??" (she only asked us about a thousand times) What some cuties--both the dolls and girls!

Spencer's favorite gift was his 4wheeler helmet-Tony drew his name for our little family exchange, the limit was $10. (Tony went just a little over!) We were cracking up at Spence. He's been wearing it about 24/7, he does take it off to eat, thank goodness! His other favorite presents were his rip stick and his ski goggles, he's going skiing tomorrow so he was real excited!
Jax got a DS and he doesn't even know what else he got. He probably has presents under the tree he hasn't opened. Once he opened it, he didn't care about anything else. Tony's mom gave him Heeley's which he loved also...I'm sure in a few days the newness will wear off and he will realize he got other presents:)

Tony got an electric toothbrush and I got silverware--we're lame! Oh yeah, we enjoyed 4 ecstatic children--isn't that what it's all about anyway? Merry late Christmas!!

Dolly Pedicure

2008-12-28T22:32:00.000-08:00

Cambree is at such a cute age right now. She will disappear into her room for long periods of time, she plays with her twin time doll house, or these cute little snap n' style dolls. The other day, I walked into her room and this is what I found. She was giving her little dolls pedicures. Thankfully she was using pretend polish and their nails came painted. But then of course, she wanted her toe nails painted too! She is such a sweetie, everything she does right now is cute--I wish I could just freeze time with her. She's growing up too fast. In fact, she told me the other day, as she was going potty on the toilet, that she is a big girl now and she's not a baby anymore! It's not good when my two year old is telling me she's growing up!

Melling Family Pictures

2008-12-28T22:23:00.000-08:00

This is my friend Lezlies family, I remember doing her twins when they were one--five years later--they are much easier!! Cute Cute Cute!

Barlow Nativity

2008-12-28T22:06:00.000-08:00

For the past few years, our neighbors have put together a live nativity in Alpine. It is really an amazing production. They host it at a farm (a gazillion dollar farm) with animals, Mary and Joseph, and a sweet real baby (no dolls allowed). This year they added Roman Soldiers on humongous horses. They ask for donations which benefits the Huntsman Cancer Society. It is a really good cause and a neat experience. Anyway, my neighbor and I talk every year about doing a photo shoot there a day or two before the nativity, but we never get around to it. This year my other friend, Kristin, just had a baby and insisted we take these pictures for her Christmas card. It was total chaos, but I think we got a couple darling pictures.

Blackham Family Pictures

2008-12-28T21:36:00.001-08:00

For Tony's parents Christmas gift we did family pictures at the Capital in Salt Lake. It was pretty stressful finding someone to take pictures the day before Thanksgiving, but we found someone and the pictures turned out pretty good. Merry Christmas! I tried to take some snapshots of my own, but the lighting inside the Capital is really tricky! I got a few good ones, but I had a hard time with the shadows, maybe I will get better with photo shop so I can take that all out-or just learn more about lighting:)

Love little sis and her daddy!

I think this picture is so cute, it looks like grandpa is escorting her to a fancy ball or something. I love how Ally is holding out her skirt out, and that wasn't even coached!

Me and Ally--sweet girl.

Getting ready for Christmas

2008-12-28T21:01:00.000-08:00

So I haven't done hardly anything for Christmas, but I did take my kids out and take their pictures for our Christmas card. They turned out pretty good, but I was really disappointed in some of them, so I went to Inkleys for some advice. I walked out with some good notes on lighting and a new portrait lens. I wasn't planning on buying one quite yet, but, the guy promised me better results. I only wish I would have had it for these pictures, there is NO WAY I will get them to do a re-shoot! Cambree was a little bit of a stinker-she was tired and hungry-right after church so it was kind of my fault. Anyhoo...enjoy!

Soon I'm going to learn how to do a collage so these photo shoots won't take a whole page. Sorry.

Hinz Family Pictures

2008-12-28T20:20:00.000-08:00

I got a new portrait lens for my camera, so I tried it out on my friends family. I think they turned out pretty good for a semi-professional:) She had one blown up to a 16x20 at Kenny's in Orem, they did a little photoshopping on it and it looks great, if I do say so myself. It doesn't hurt that her family is gorgeous and easy to photograph, but anyway it was a fun shoot.

Thanksgiving (...better late than never!)

2008-12-28T19:59:00.001-08:00

This year we spent Thanksgiving in Moroni with Tony's family, (actually his mom's family to be exact). It was really fun, we got to visit with alot of Tony's cousins that we don't see very often and it was fun to see all our kids (2nd cousins) play together and get to know each other.

The Blackham boys checking out the Turkeys, Thomas and Leonard were actually cooking and Tony was just sampling!Spencer, Tyler, and Jaxon. . .the three amigos!

Ally and little Jakers (that's what she calls him)

CamCam ready for dinner!
Some how, one of my boys always ends up with a turkey leg! Tony thinks it's cool, I think it's a little gross.
Cambree found a group of girls just her age, they spent hours playing in the stage, dancing, playing hopscotch, and bubble gum bubble gum in a dish. She had so much fun. (I would name them, but I can't--I do know their mom's though if that counts).

Grandma Bagley with the great grandkids. She just barely got out of the hospital with pneumonia so we were so happy she was well enough to come to dinner. She is such a fighter, and we are glad she is! This year, her health is one thing we are grateful for!

Happy Thanksgiving . . .a little late!

Let's start at the very beginning. . .

2008-12-28T18:41:00.000-08:00

I'm watching sound of music right now, so I thought that would be a good title. I am going to start at the very beginning, it's a very good place to start...so I will start at the last part of November and try to catch up!

Our school had 'pick you team day' for the BYU/UTAH game. My boys were pretty worried that they didn't have enough gear so after going to 4 stores, I finally found something in Jaxon's size that wasn't just a t-shirt. They boys were all ready for school when Ally came in with a pouty face because she didn't have any BYU attire. So I rummaged through Jaxon's closet and found her a t-shirt. Then we put a blue ribbon in her hair and a blue Y on her cheek and she was good to go. Little did they know, once they left for school, I put on my CRIMSON RED!! Oh yeah, and finally, my UTES came through!!

Merry Christmas Tag

2008-12-12T22:56:00.001-08:00

1. Wrapping paper or gift bag?
For Christmas, I like wrapping paper. It's harder to peek and I love Christmas ribbon. Also, I plan on wrapping for hours-with birthdays, I am usually too behind to wrap, a bag with tissue has to do.
2. Real tree or artificial?
I like real trees-(Lotta sap in here, yep real sappy!-just one of my fav parts of Christmas vacation) we have just never had one. I have heard, if your interested in live trees, in Salt Lake on 90th and state (I think) there is a tree lot with Santa and 2 real reindeer! Fun hu!
3. When do you put up your tree?
I intend on the Sat after Thanksgiving, but it's a process, so it gets done when it gets done. But, the trees always are first out of the decorations.
4. When do you take the tree down?
Totally depends, but I normally don't do it before new years-I usually start that day...then it may take months before I finish!
5.Do you like eggnog?
Love it! Do you remember I was a Rocky fan and drank raw eggs once? Well I think that's where the love started-eggnog is soooo much better! My fav is with sprite, and then I have to drink with the carton away from me (you know, with the one with all the calories listed on it, staring you right in the face until you don't even enjoy it any more?)
6. Favorite gift as a child? I got a Mandy and Jenny doll, they were kind of like American Girl Dolls way back then.
7. Hardest person to buy for?
Tony, he knows what ever I buy, he has to pay for it. And his dad, we can't afford what he wants, and he already has what he needs. (I think I'm the easiest to buy for- I love anything!)
8. I guess we are skipping this question???
9. Mail or E-mail Christmas cards?
Of course mail, isn't that why the postal service is still around? I love REAL cards, I used to make my cards but the last few years I have went to Costco-it's cheaper and easier-lame I know but I should at least get points for sending something!
10. Favorite Christmas movie?
Oh that is hard, I'm thinking Christmas vacation, Elf, and A Christmas Story,-they are all a tie.
11. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
Do you know me at all? I pretty much shop all year, but I am getting pretty good at Black Friday-that's usually the big day for the bulk of it.
12. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
I don't think so, but I have returned some.
13. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Almond Rocco, the new peppermint kind is to die for, and it's the only time I really eat fudge. It's so weird I gain weight in December?!?
14. Lights on a tree?
The more the better!
15. Travel or stay home on Christmas?
Always stay home, sometimes we visit family, but within a 60 mile radius, and usually just for the day.
16. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blixen, and Rudolf. (I didn't even cheat! So I don't know if I got them all)
17. Angel or Star on top of the tree?
I love a star, but right now I have a bow, I need to switch to a cute star. I've never seen the perfect angel.
18. Do you open presents on Christmas eve or Christmas day?
Growing up it was all on Christmas day, but, we let our kids open their Jammie's, and their sibling gift (we draw names) and then one family present, usually a game or movie.
19. The most annoying thing about this time of year?
The shortage of advertised door busters on black Friday, and my credit card bill in January.
20. Favorite ornament, theme, and color?
I like it all, I just switched to bright red and bright (kind of spring) green. but my other tree is antiques-darker red, mustard yellow, forest green. But I also love white with snowy stuff. I just like it all-my house is kind of a modge podge at Christmas but I like it!
21. Favorite for Christmas dinner?
Since we're turkey people, honey baked ham is a nice change, or smoked turkey. Oh, but Tony and his mom have converted me to sticky buns Christmas morning (sometimes we just have those).
22. What do you want for Christmas this year?
New carpet for my upstairs, a new dishwasher, washer, and microwave-but since that's not in the budget, I'll settle for some baskets from Ikea, a 52" flat screen T.V., a bosh, clothes, whatever- I like it all!
23. Do you have a nativity scene?
Yes, I have 7 or 8. Tony used to travel internationally and he would bring me nativity sets as a souvenir.
24. Favorite Christmas song?
That one by Amy Grant that you play with the nativity movie and it fits just perfect. (I'll find out his name and fix this post later)--Oh, I guess it's called Breath of Heaven (thanks Jess).
25. Favorite Christmas tradition? We always try to do the lights at Temple Square, and the last few years our neighbors have done a live Nativity in Alpine. The donations benefit the Huntsman Cancer Center and most of our neighborhood volunteers there. It is a really neat production with live animals, people re-enacting the townspeople, roman soldiers on very large horses, and of course Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. It really helps our family remember the true meaning of Christmas. We usually go as a family, but this year Tony and Spencer volunteered with parking. Hopefully we can all help next year.
P.S. I'm still alive, I have just been too busy to blog. . .100 more pages left in eclipse.

Friday Funnies

2008-11-14T19:15:00.000-08:00

11/14/08
As many of you might know, Ally is a total people watcher. She will get her eye someone, and she won't stop looking/starring at them until someone removes her from the situation. Tonight we were at JC Penney looking for dress clothes from Tony. There was a group of polygamists right by us. . . . yep, Ally couldn't take her eyes off of them! Then to make matters worse, she came over to me (within hearing distance) and said, "Mom, look at those ladies, all of them have a big wave in the front of their hair. That's so weird!" Yea, they totally heard her! Plus, how do I get mad at her, she's right. I did have to take her aside and tell her if she wants to say something about people who she thinks are different, she needs to whisper it in my ear. ---good times!

The other day we were on our way home from the store and Cambree was really ornery because it was her nap time. I told her she we were going home and she was going to bed. She said, "why do I have to take a nap?" I said, "Because your grumpy" She responded with,"No, I not dumpy!" I love how she doesn't pronounce things right.

Yesterday I went and had my first mammogram. Ally asked why I was going to the doctor. I told her I just had to get some things checked to make sure everything was ok. But then she heard me talking to a friend about it on the phone. I was telling my friend that even though I hadn't had a mammo I had heard that they just squish and stretch your boob out then put this machine on it. So when I got home, Ally was so funny. She asked me how the doctor was, I told her fine. She said how did that one thing go? (as she was circling her hand around her chest) So I said, "what one thing?" she said, "you know that one thing (still pointing at her chest) and I said, "What one thing?" She finally said, "you know, that one thing where they squish your boobs" --I guess I should sensor my conversations when little ears are around. So then later Jaxon said, "mom why did you really go to the doctor?" and Ally whispers to him, " I told you, she had to go get her boobs squished in a machine!"

Ally was talking to me about her soccer coach, his name is Shefflen Loyd, but he goes by Sheff. Ally couldn't decide if Sheff or Loyd was his first name. She asked me and I told her Sheff was, but that it was short for Shefflen. Ally blurts out, "his mom must have been weird to name him that!" When I quickly told her that wasn't very nice, she said, "well I didn't mean weird, just different, because that is a funny name."

11/14/08
Cambree lost her balance on her chair at dinner but caught herself before she fell. She said, "Oh, that freaked me out mom!"

11/3/08
We were talking about the election at family night. Spencer asked Tony who he was going to vote for. Tony said McCain, then he asked me who I was voting for, I sarcastically said Obama-So Ally and Jax were brushing their teeth and Ally was telling Jaxon I was 'cheering' for McCain and Jax said no she's not- they argued for a minute or two then Ally came in and said, "Mom are you really voting for that iguana guy?" So there you have it folks, an iguana is running our country!

Jaxon was putting together a paperkin (old school scrapbook supplies come in handy!) for his homework. He opened the package and asked, "mom can I put his 'gear' on?" I didn't know paper clothes were considered 'gear', but I guess to boys, everything is 'gear'.

10/30/08
More cute than funny, but Cambree cracks me up with her use of adjectives. She can't just say that's hot, she has to say, "that's BURNIN hot" or "that's FREEZIN cold," and "SUPER fast" --she says alot more, but I can't think of any more right now, my favorites are the hot and cold ones.

Halloween (last post in Octoberfest, I promise!)

2008-11-05T20:30:00.000-08:00

I kind of crack myself up thinking that I could have done the whole "Octoberfest" post all at once! I set some high expectations for myself don't I? Anyway. . .here is the last post for October.

So way back in August, right after we got Izzy, I had this great idea that Ally could be Dorthy, Izzy could be Todo. I had already bought Cambree a witch costume last year on clearance, so of course she could be the wicked witch, and I had a friend who was going to borrow me a Glenda costume. Perfect scenario right? Well about 2 weeks before Halloween, my sister brought me her Dorthy costume for Ally complete with the basket-the first glitch, Izzy had grown and didn't fit in the basket. Then next glitch, my costume fell through! So for my sister-in-law's party (the Wed before Halloween, I tried to make shift a Glenda costume--you could totally tell--good thing I could explain who I was trying to be to everyone at the party, because it wasn't super obvious, plus Cambree's witch costume wasn't scary enough to be the wicked witch. So here are some pictures from the party.

We borrowed a lion for our little "themed" Halloween. Isn't he cute? That's my nephew Easton.

Spence loves the word "hobo" so that's what he wanted to be this year. I told him in a year of economic turmoil, that probably wasn't a great choice, but he went with it anyway. He's one of the cutest hobo's I've seen, and he must not smell too bad to be sitting with a princess. That's my niece Alise, her and Spence are the same age.

Jax was a soccer player, so we could see he was from Mexico, he turned his jersey around so we could see the team name. He's a funny kid, Tony told him that a soccer player wasn't a real original costume for Halloween. Jax said, "Dad, I'm no ordinary soccer player, I'm a Mexican soccer player."

Look at those cuties! That's little Alec, getting malled by his cousins.

The hostess with the mostess--These costumes were the hit of the party! If I had great costumes (or a Dwight at my disposal) I would throw a party too! It was a fun party guys, thanks!

Edward and Bella. I just finished the second one, so their costumes made sense to me--they're no ordinary vampires!Who can turn down a North Sanpete Hawks cheerleading costume? (It was mine! hot hu!)

So after that party, I wasn't super pleased with my costume, first of all, I didn't have the tall crown, and my fairy costume wasn't passing as Glenda. And, after Tony's comment to Jaxon about not an original costume, he wanted to be something else. So Thursday night I was at wal-mart and party land along with two thousand other crazies, looking for costumes. I bought fabric to make my costume more believable, and found a ninja costume for Jax, it only took about 3 hours--good times. We got home about 9 got the kids to bed and started on my costume about 10. At 12:30, I gave up. I text my sister and asked to borrow her witch costume and decided to go back to party land and get Cambree a Glenda costume. I mean let's get real, the switch fits our personalities better anyway. Good thing I made the change, people barely recognized who she was and her belt said "Wizard of Oz" right on it. When she was trick or treating people kept saying,"oh look at the cute princess and the witch"-oh yeah, and Ally, the star of the theme Halloween, ditched us and went trick or treating with her friends. Well at least we got a picture!

Spence ended up changing his mind on the hobo thing and dressed up as a referee, that's super original!

Jax in his new ninja costume, you can't even tell who he is!
Here's my little Dorthy, and notice, we got the dog in the basket, (she didn't like it, but we got her in there).
She is a MUCH cuter good witch than I could have ever been! She told everyone she was Glenda the good witch, such a little parrot!

That's it for October! Happy late Halloween!

Hawaii Highlights (Still in Octoberfest!)

2008-11-04T18:51:00.000-08:00

Here are our top ten favorites of Kauai. (not in a particular order)

Spending hours on end trying to figure out how to put our top on and off. . .we finally just gave up and got wet when it rained!

This is Waimea Canyon, we thought this would be a leisurely little hike. . .FIVE and 1/2 HOURS we hiked this beautiful canyon (that's a little sarcastic) and when we got to the awaited lookout spot. . .the fog had covered the whole canyon! We could only see white foggy misty fog! It was a little disappointing. The mountain area was beautiful though, it was very lush and green and lots of RED DIRT. Both Tony and I slipped and fell a time or two, leaving our clothes red with mud. We asked some locals how to get the mud out of our clothes, they told us to just rub them in the dirt some more to make the stains even and call them souvenirs!

This is was a catamaran boat ride we took up the Na Pali coast. The scenery was amazing and the snorkeling was great too. We saw quite a few different fish, about 4 large turtles and one baby one. Our favorite thing on this trip were the dolphins. On our way there, we followed about 8-10 males-our Captain said he thought they were scoping out a safe place for the mothers and babies. Sure enough, on the way back we saw 70-80 dolphin swimming all around us. The babies were the cutest! They were trying their best to show off for us, even though they couldn't jump more than 6 inches out of the water. We saw a few males jump out and do twisty flips, just like they do at Sea World, here I thought the trainers there were something special when all along that's just what dolphins do!

We came out of our hotel room with our snorkel gear planning to just snorkel around the reef on our hotel property when we saw that the beach was closed. Tony went to ask someone if the surf was too high, or what was going on. They told us that just up the beach a little, a killer whale was beached and had been for about 12 hours, her cries of distress had attracted sharks in the water so they had closed the beach. We walked down to see the whale and it was a sad but interesting sight. They had sedated her (it was a juvenile, they guessed about 3-4 tons and 30 ft long) so she would stop fighting them. She was sick and weak and that is how she got beached. We could see all sorts of sores on her stomach from the reef and they reported a few shark bites as well. They brought in two front loaders and lifted her on to the bed of a semi truck. The newspaper said they planned on euthanizing her but she passed away before they could. They reported she was too sick to put back in the water and she would have just washed back to shore attracting more sharks. They also reported she is only the second killer whale seen in Kauai in the last 14 years, they are really uncommon in the area.

On Thursday we thought we would just hang at the beach, so did this guy! He was just sunning himself right on our (the hotel) beach. They had yellow caution tape staked out around her. When I first saw it, I was scared it was hurt like the killer whale, but then I read the sign and it said they aren't the friendliest creatures so keep your distance! We actually snorkeled near her and she ended up coming in the water right by us. (I also just read that the Monk Seals are endangered and there is a $25,000 fine for disturbing them!)

This was a private/deserted beach. Actually, the beach is public, but the road to get there is on private property. They open it during the day but it's not crowded at all. It was so pretty to watch the waves crash against the big cliffs. (The picture that shows more scenery also shows my big butt and gut so I opted for this one).

Wailua Falls is the name of this waterfall. It's a 173 foot drop from top to bottom, in ancient times men used to jump off of it to prove their manhood--they usually left it at the bottom because it was fatal. We heard rumors from locals, this was the waterfall that was in Jurassic Park when they first go into the forest. It was really pretty and powerful, I thought it was cool how the rainbow is at the bottom of the pond also.

This is another little waterfall/swimming hole we found (in our little guide book-Tony's vacation bible). It's called Kipu Falls, it really is a hidden treasure in Hawaii. I couldn't get a really good picture of the whole thing but you can see the falls to the side. The rope swing was really cool too, every kids dream--but way to dangerous for kids! It was a pretty good rush jumping off the cliffs and going on the rope swing, but we had to try it at least once!

This waterfall was called Secret Falls. You have to kayak up the Wailua river (for about an hour) to get there, then hike about a mile and you run right into it. There were a few companies that rent kayaks for this particular sight so it was kind of crowded. The water was really cold and the water fall was pretty weak, but it is a pretty little spot! Tony liked it so much he kayaked up the river the next day alone (looking for our rental car keys--we lost them on this little adventure--another post for another month!).

Well that's a wrap for this trip-it was absolutely amazing!! I would highly recommend this vacation to anyone, I think it's our favorite island so far!

Scarecrow Festival

2008-11-03T21:42:00.000-08:00

For our annual Blackham Halloween party we went to the scarecrow festival at Thanksgiving point. The kids had a great time, I thought it would be crazy busy, but it actually wasn't too bad. Maybe that was because Spencer was a great help with Cambree and Jax and Ally are getting old enough I don't have to constantly chase them. The kids had the best time on the germy blow up toys and riding the ponies. Thanks grandma and grandpa Blackham for a great party!

Little Visitor

2008-11-03T21:32:00.000-08:00

The other night, I put Cambree in her bed, and it's a nightly ritual that all the kids have to go in and kiss and hug her goodnight--it takes about 20 minutes. Anyway, I saw Jaxon go in, and didn't think anything of it, until I went in to check on her and this is what I saw. . .

Spencer's Birthday (Still-Octoberfest)

2008-11-03T21:05:00.000-08:00

Spencer celebrated his 12th birthday this month. I can't believe how time flies! Spencer has grown about 4 inches in the last couple of months and is starting to act like a young man instead of my little boy :( Even though I am sad he is growing up, I am sure proud of the young man he is becoming. He is a good friend, a great big brother, and an all around good kid. We love you Spence!

Spencer had a fun and busy day. We started with breakfast in bed (well almost, he told me he wanted to sleep in, but when I didn't have his breakfast by 8:oo, he sent Jaxon up to see if I was bringing it down). Then he went to Forever Strong with some of his friends and then that evening we had family over to ordain him as a deacon. It was a really special day for Spencer and all of us to see that a great young man he is becoming!

Tony, Grandpa Blackham, and Spencer

Grandpa Russell, Spencer, and Shana

Spencer and his birthday buddy, Easton.

What?? Yea, he's spoiled, but he did save up and paid for half so I guess he deserves it.

Octoberfest (Continued)

2008-11-03T20:32:00.001-08:00

For my birthday, my mother-in-law gave me a date with my girls to Gardener Village for a tea party. It was so cute, they had dress up clothes for everyone and cute little tea cups for all of us. They had real tea and hot chocolate, we had pink strawberry hot chocolate. They had a little sheet with rules/manners that were appropriate when having tea. My girls did pretty good, Cambree only spilled her hot chocolate once. They didn't really dig the cucumber sandwhiches but loved the cookies, rice crispies, and cupcakes (go figure!). Anyway, we had a great time and I thought the girls looked darling! After we strolled around the village for a little bit and saw all the witches and fun fall decorations. Thanks for a great gift Laura!

Octoberfest!! (G-rated)

2008-11-02T20:32:00.000-08:00

Well it has been a party at our house all month long. . .(hence the blogging strike) so I am sending out a warning- this is about to be a very long post, but we have had alot of monumental things happen this month that I want to remember. So to my 5 or 6 readers out there, you can just scan through it if you want because it might take a while! Here's what we've been up to,

We started out with the month with Tony's birthday! Wow, three more years till the mid-life crisis!?!

Next, we wrapped up the football season for Jax and Spencer. Jax was our little defender, and ran the ball once in a while (unfortunately, his coach has a few favorites-not Jaxon-so he didn't run the ball to much-sad at seven years old, politics already starts!) Spencer played quite a bit, unfortunately, his team didn't win a game, but they did finally score the last two games. Despite the negative, both boys had a great time and are learning and understanding the game. That's what it's all about, right?

Tony helped coach Spencer's team when he could (which wasn't very often) but it was fun to see some father/son bonding.

Action shot of Jax--I didn't get one of him running the ball, he ran right out of the picture. Impressive-Tony actually took this picture!

Growing up--Cambree thinks she is big enough to sleep in a big girl bed. She is probably ready, after all, Jaxon and Ally were both in big beds at her age. I think it's me, I don't want to admit she is big enough to be out of her crib. They had been bugging me to sleep together forever, so over UEA break, I let Cambree sleep with Ally. I thought it was so cute they both had their babies in bed with them. After they fell asleep I put Cambree in her crib, (I didn't want them waking up-then waking me up etc.) and boy was I in trouble with Ally in the morning! I had promised they could sleep together and she wasn't happy I moved Cambree after they fell asleep.

This post is so long-I need to go to bed, I will finish in the morning.

Friday Funnies

2008-10-25T21:47:00.000-07:00

10/14/08
We woke up to snow this morning! arg...Anyway we were going in to church and Cambree kept saying, "Look at the slow, I like the slow" then after church, we went outside and the snow was gone. I asked her where the snow went. She said, "I think it went home!"

10/14/08
Ally tripped over my leg (that was there for a good 15 minutes!) and was crying because she hurt her leg, Jaxon came to her rescue and said, "Ally let me kiss it better, my kisses are amazing!" --I'm hating it in a few years, if he has these lines now...the teenage years are going to be scary!

10/12/08
Ally was in the tub and she was showing me a sore she had on her hip from falling somewhere. The sore had a little bump on it so she kept asking me if she had a 'harness'. I was so confused and so I asked her what she was talking about. She kept showing me her sore saying is this a harness, finally I asked her what a harness was, then she said, "it's that thing Izzy and Jaxon had, the bump on their tummies. Then I realized that she was asking if she had a hernia. I had to explain to her that you don't get hernias from scrapes and usually they're not on your hip bone.

Everyday when I wake Cambree she asks me "where we doing (going)? That is her question of the hour between 8-9am. So yesterday I was changing her diaper and she asked, "where we doin? (going)" I said, "I need a coke, should we go get one?" she scrunched her nose and said, "yea, and I need a sutter (sucker)." Good breakfast habits hu?

We were at Lowes doing a little shopping and Cambree went stinky in her diaper. I looked at her and said, "Is that you?" She said, "Yea, mom, I stinkin this place up!" --Great, can you tell she has older brothers? Then later, I was changing that messy diaper and she said, "I wanna see" meaning her stinky diaper, I said, "No that's gross!" Then she said, "I wanna see my gross" Wow, what a graphic story, maybe I should potty train the girl, then we might eliminate these conversations.

Yesterday Ally told me her "visible" (invisible) friend's name was Ellie.

I was getting Cambree out of the car and she looked at the empty seat and said, "we doeing(going) in baby linestiens (einstiens), hum on (come on) 1, 4, 5, let's doe (go)." Nothing like giving your imaginary friends (from a T.V. show) a time out for being too slow.

Spencer and Jaxon were in bed talking the other night and I overheard Spencer say to Jaxon, "well sure Jax, you can be a little brat, but I'm still your older brother and I'll protect you. If anyone is being mean to you, just come tell me and I will take care of it. . ." (I just like the part a bout him saying he's a brat?! way to show him you care!--but the gesture was pretty sweet!)

Tonight we were eating dinner and I was giving the kids a quiz about Saturdays conference session, Ally was actually trying to tell us the story that Elder Joseph Worthlin told about losing his football game and his mom's response was, " come what may, and love it" Well my kids didn't really understand this so I was trying to explain it like Elder Worthlin did with his football story, I said, "Say your football team lost their game," then Spencer says, "Oh, I should be the expert on that!" -- their team hasn't won a game all season:(

Almost Famous!

2008-10-08T17:40:00.000-07:00

Spencer and 8 other sixth graders were selected by their teachers to do a little t.v. blurp for the Daily Herald. The Daily Herald picks some top readers 3rd- 6th grade to report on news, commercials, and book reviews. Then they air in local schools (I think on channel one), on Com cast on demand, and the Internet.

When we got there, we realized that two of our neighbors were also selected, Cassie Sehestedt and Emma Miller (because they're girls, he considers them neighbors more than friends-let's keep it that way for now, because they are both little hotties!). The kids got to go on an entire tour of the newspaper office (not really but the filming room was at the bottom of the basement, past the press, recycling, and every loading truck they own) to the back and bottom of the building. They prepped the kids on how they should read a teleprompter (apparently, it's ALOT harder than it looks) and tried to teach them (in like 2 minutes) how to talk slowly, speak loudly and enunciate all of their words. Spencer was the second one to read, he did a book review, you can see it here (go to news, kid news, Sept 30,book review). It was a fun experience, however, I will know next time not to take Cambree, she started laughing during one of the first takes, we were politely excused by the director and then only I was let back in so I could watch Spence (my neighbor stayed in the recycling room with Cambree-Thanks Winnie!). Who knew Spencer would be famous (even if it's just in his school and on the web)!

Lost in Translation

2008-10-05T12:45:00.000-07:00

I started this post back in July when Cambree started talking and I thought her little sayings were so cute and I wanted to remember them. I remember on her 2nd birthday, she was saying a few words but not too many together. Her cousin Camden who is 10 days younger, was talking in full sentences and I thought Cambree was a little behind. Within a few weeks, she was talking in full sentences. I couldn't believe how fast that seemed to grow her up --it seemed like in just a few days we were having full on conversations. I sure love my little CamCam, and often say, "If I could be guaranteed another one of her, I would have another baby, but I know babies don't come with ANY guarantees especially that kind!" I have been lucky to have good babies, and pretty good (just super busy) toddlers, but I have to say so far, Cambree has been the best out of 4! ( I sound like I am playing favorites, and if I am, she deserves it!) Anyway, here are some of her cute little sayings...

7/20/2008

Is your name Izzy? "No I Tambee (Cambree)

I want to hum (come) with you Mommy

Dad, we doe tamping (go camping)

Mom, we doe wimming (go swimming)--I get my simsoup (swimsuit)

When I tell Cambree it's time for a nap, she says, "Watch Mickey last time mom".

Tonight Jaxon wanted to stir the punch and Cambree already was stirring, so she said, One more minute Jaxy. (nodding her cute little head, and putting up her index finger)

10/03/2008

She is talking so much more now, but I still love how babies (I know she's 2 but I still call her that) can't say everything correctly. Here are some of the cute things she says now...

I damdam (camcam)-didn't think her nickname would ever be that!

I gotta watch my dies (guys)

I go libby's house (liberty's house)

I dinky mom (stinky)

Baby lienstiens, hum on, we detting out of the shower (she imaginary plays with them all the time!)

She used to just ask for Mickey or Einsteins, now she sings the whole song, "I want Mickey mouse clubhouse, come inside it's fun inside, or I want BabyLienstiens, we're going on a trip, in our favorite rocket ship, going through the sky, little lienstiens" (she does all the actions too)

I have been trying to start potty training her, so the other day she was on the toilet (not going at all) and I told her that Liberty goes potty in the toilet (maybe peer pressure would help). Her response was, "Like me?" (I wish!)

I have to say, I can't get enough of this little girl, she is such a sweetie and is so good. She still naps 2-3 hours a day, even though when I take her in her room she says, "I don't wanna nap" but then I lay her down and she snuggles up to her blanket and falls right to sleep. She loves, loves, loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Little Einsteins on the Disney Channel. If I let her, she would watch them 24/7, but I don't feel too bad about it, she does know most of her shapes and colors which I accredit that to those shows. She adores her older sister and loves to play house with her. It makes me smile when I hear them playing and they are both in pretend characters. I am really sad that she is growing up! I wish she could stay this age for a few more years, then I think I would get my fill. My most favorite thing she says to me when I put her to bed is, I say, "I love you" and she says back, "I love you more" ---that is priceless. Tony's favorite thing she says is, when he says, "I love my Cambree" she says back, "I love my daddy," We (Tony and I) think it's so cute, we usually say it back and forth until she is giggling to much to talk!

We love you baby!

A little gaggy...but funny

2008-09-28T23:06:00.000-07:00

So just to get some history out of the way. . .Spencer has been playing soccer for about 7 yrs (and 2 of those years on a competitive team), Jaxon has been playing for about 3 years now and this year is Ally's first year. They are all playing in the NUCS league which is great because it is rec ball with a bit more competition, plus, there are less kids on the field with the younger ages (Ally's is 4 on 4, Jaxon's is 5 on 5). Anyway, I signed Ally up just because I was signing the boys up and thought she might enjoy doing a sport along with dance. I had missed her first two games because I was with Jaxon at his games and Tony had taken Ally. So her third game was the first one I had made it to. I show up to the game and one of our players mom's asks me if I am Ally's mom. I told her I was and she responded saying, "I'm glad your (both) here, Ally's our best player." I kind of laughed because she isn't the most coordinated child. She used to fall off her chair at dinner time, for no reason!--just fall right off! Anyway, the game started and she wasn't in, 5 minutes go by and neither of the teams score. Then they do subs, Ally goes in, (here's the braggy, gaggy, but proud part) and Ally scored 3 times in the first three possessions. I was shocked, and like I said, she isn't the most talented player, but, she just understands the ball is suppose to go in the goal and she is aggressive until she scores. In fact towards the end of the game, she was throwing in a corner ball. There was one player a little down field to her right, and the goal to her left. Her coach told her to kick it to her teammate. I could see the wheels turning in her head, she was thinking, if I kick it to him, it's going to be further away from the goal. So what did she do? She pretty much kicked it to herself, towards the goal (barley bouncing off another player so it wasn't illegal) and ran in, got the ball, and scored a goal. Anyhoo, she ended up scoring 5 out of the 6 or 7 goals they scored. So needless to say I was quite proud and shocked both at the same time.
The reason I gave you the history of the boys above is because in all our years of soccer, they have NEVER scored 5 goals in one game (not even when they were 5). So now comes the funny part. I took her home and Tony asked her if she scored a goal, and she told him not one but five! Tony was surprised and happy too, then he turns to the boys and says, " hey boys, does Ally need to teach you how to play soccer?" And Spencer mumbles under his breath, "sounds like a ball hog to me" then Jaxon said, "Apparently Ally, your team doesn't know how to pass the ball." I thought it was soooo funny that neither one of the boys could handle the fact that they had both been out scored by their little sister! So there you have it, those are my bragging rights, and it's with my 5 yr old! (is that sad?)

I thought these pictures were cute of her aggressiveness. (is that a word?)

Oh yeah, we can't forget our little cheerleader! CamCam kept saying, "Gooooo Ally!" While I'm being gaggy, she was the cutest cheerleader there! (she was the only one, so the cutest right?)

Just Call Me Martha

2008-09-24T22:22:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, I was doing this. . .

Last week I was doing this. . .

And yesterday I made, yes I said made, these cute little aprons. Not only for Ally and Cambree, but for her 4 friends in doll club and their dolls. Like I said, just call me Martha. . .

however, Martha must only have one child (who is now an adult), no husband, and a bunch of maids, because every time I "play" Martha, my house goes to h---, my kids look homeless and so do I, and my husband gets ignored. . . etc, etc,. So I guess I need to get rid of a few of my kids, my husband and hire a nanny or a maid, OR just continue being Shana, keep my kids and husband and stop trying to be like her. (Plus I'm not into the jail thing). I have to say that after all was said and done, (20 hours of sewing, back aches, and lack of sleep) they did turn out pretty cute! I'll post about doll club next time. . .

Friday Funnies

2008-09-19T15:32:00.000-07:00

Wednesday we were driving home from football practice and we were giving a teammate a ride home. He and Jaxon had met before but didn't know much about each other so they were asking each other questions. Jaxon was asking him if he had a younger sister, his friend said, "No I am the youngest." Then Jaxon said, "I don't know what it's like to be young, (because he is soooo old) Is it torture? Because sometimes I like to pick on my little sisters!" ( Oh great, now he is admitting he likes to be a little tease!)

Thursday-9/4/08 Cambree was packing her doll around and she came in to the laundry room where I was and asked the question of the day--"what you doing?" I said laundry and asked her if she was playing with her baby, she then said, "this is Morggie (short for Morgan) and I sissy, and Ally's mommy" (Ally still gets to be the mom even when she's not home!) So then I asked, "who am I?" She thought for a minute and then said, "your daddy (with a confused look on her face) and daddy's. . .Spencer?" Yea, by that time she was really confused so I just left it at that.

Sunday 9/6/08 It was Regional conference, we were all getting ready and Jaxon came in and asked, "Why do I need a belt when I wear a tie?"

I said, "So you look 'sharp'."

Then he asked, "what does sharp mean?"

I answered, "Like nice or handsome."

He said, "Oh you mean like hot?!, yeah so I look hot."

Then we pull up to our Stake Center instead of our church and Ally says,"Whose church is this?" Jaxon replies, "It's Jesus' duh!."

Spencer was babysitting while Tony and I were at the adult session of conference. A friend called and asked if we were home yet. He said to my friend, " They said they would be home in one hour, two hours later they're still not home, shocking!"

Jaxon was with our neighbors going to football practice. An ambulance, police car, and fire truck came by. So Jaxon and Clayton were asking all sorts of questions about fires and Jaxon asked,"If there is a dog in a fire what do they do?" So Melissa explained that they always get the people out first and then they try to save the animals, because human life is irreplaceable and that you can't just get another mom or brother like you can a dog or cat. Then Jaxon piped up, "Oh yeah, you can get another mom, they are called step-mom's, that's what my mom got." (like there is a store for step-mom's like there is for pets, you just get a new one)

Yesterday I was canning peaches with my sister. I had to run to pick up Ally from school and so I left Cambree home with my sister. She started dipping her finger into the sugar and eating it. (thanks Jax and Ally for teaching her that trick!) So my sister said, "Cambree I don't think you're suppose to do that." Cambree said right back to her, "Yea, my mom let's me!" So glad my 2 year old knows the rules?!

Ohhhh, I'm so behind!

2008-09-07T20:09:00.001-07:00

Since this is my new form of a journal, I am starting to stress that I haven't included all I need to about the last couple of weeks. So I am going to do the readers digest version. Here it goes...
Finally, all three kids are in school. Spencer and Jaxon started on August 18th and Ally started a week later.

6th grade rules the school. Love the finger bandage.

2nd grade here comes Jaxon.
Cambree had to have her picture taken too. . . she really looks like she's going to school-jammies and a swim diaper.
Like most of you nice parents who gave their 6th grader some space away from the camera on school grounds, Spencer wasn't so lucky. After I begged for one picture, Spencer said, "Mom this isn't what you do on the first day of school!" He doesn't know me very well does he? That pretty much all I do on the first day of school--take pictures.
I can't believe my little girl is starting grade school! Even though she is 5 going on 16. . .it seems like the last five years have flown by and she should still be little and just starting pre-school not real school! She wasn't nervous a bit and barely even said good-bye to me. (tear, sniff sniff)

THE CHAOS HAS BEGUN!
I don't know what I was thinking, but I signed all three kids up for soccer. Last week all of their games were at 10a.m. If anyone has suggestions on how to multiply yourself, let me know. (I don't have pictures of Spencer yet because I haven't made it to one of his games, Tony has and he doesn't do pictures-so later post).

Are soccer players suppose to be this cute?
Love this picture!
Maybe I should put my kids in modeling. . .don't know when to kick the ball, but sure know how to smile!

Random picture, but what's with the shorts, scooter, 80 degree weather and snow boots?!

GIRLS TRIP TO ST. GEORGE/VEGAS
Every year we try to do a sisters trip, this year we went a little longer than the norm to celebrate Nola's 40th birthday! Does that mean were getting old???

First stop, Cedar City Applebees for some food!
Next stop, pedicures in St. George. JSYK my foot is the tan one (hahaha-jk) with the 3 million dollar diamond (said in an Asian accent by the guy doing my feet).
After checking in to our hotel, we freshened up and went to dinner at the Pizza Factory- oh yeah, the wait was about an hour so we went to Panda Express instead, about the same right?

This is me and my date at Tuacahn. He said he would leave his wife for all six of us sisters. His wife sitting right next to us said, "yeah right!" He was actually really funny and kept me laughing throughout the show. We saw Les Miserables, and they did a fantastic job. (Sure glad the angle is right with these pictures and I look oh so skinny!)

Next stop, Vegas, first thing we hit the outlets (no time for pictures, we had to shop!) We ended up staying there longer than expected, surprising I know, and after the Panda Express dinner the night before, I refused to eat at the food court, so we bought 1 1/2 lbs of fudge and a DC to get us through until we could get some real food on the strip. We went to the Rio buffet but we were too late-all day shopping with no food and then to get turned away the Rio, heart breaking. So we grabbed a 1/2 lb hamburger next door, (not the Rio buffet but when your starving and on a sugar fudge high, we had to take what we could get!).
Here is Chantel with our only winnings and it was by default. We tried to put a buck in a machine but it wouldn't take it so we accidentally pushed the 'help' button, the maintenance man came and found a 5 dollar bill stuck in the machine and gave it to us. We won big in Vegas!
At about 1a.m. Niesha needed her hair colored in the hotel. With no supplies except for what came in the color box, they made a cape out of the Anne Klein shopping bag. Pretty creative, or just tired!
Last day, we were suppose to just hit the strip, eat and head home. After a few to many stops and misdirections (you'd think the Grand Lux cafe would be in the Luxar-well it's not JSYK) we were on the road home at 7:30p.m. Vegas time. We are a very timely group!

The food was worth getting home at 4a.m.!

Don't worry Jess, you might get a bite!

Two years and it's Chalyece's turn! Party on!

I think that's a wrap!

Stitches off, Helmet on!

2008-09-03T20:26:00.001-07:00

Spencer got his stitches out today and was ready to play in his game tonight. There is still a part on his finger that doesn't look like it has completely fused together and it is still pretty tender. Anyway. . .Spencer dressed for his game tonight and Tony was there helping coach. After the first few minutes of the game, we were getting killed and Tony felt that it wasn't worth him re-injuring his finger so he didn't let Spencer play. Maybe next week. . .

Sisters/Pretend Play

2008-08-29T10:37:00.000-07:00

Who knew I would actually use my college degree while parenting children? Oh yeah, my degree was child development. . .that was money well spent! I am loosing my memory so things I learned years ago aren't always in the front of my mind-weird I know. But I do remember taking a class on early childhood development and how pretend/imaginative play is so good for them. So it makes me happy when Ally plays house with Cambree and they stay in "character" all day! Ally is always walking around the house with 2 or 3 purses, a baby on her hip, and a pretend cell phone on her ear. The other day they were playing house and Cambree said, "mom" then I answered, "what" and Ally piped in, "mom, she is talking to me, I'm the mom." (Nothing like being replaced when your kids are 5 and 2).

Ally is also really into being the "mom" and doing her hair and Cambree's hair too (kind of scary). The other day, she had done both of their hair and was ready to go---do I let them go out in public like that??

Anyhoo, this post doesn't have much of a point, except that I think it is cute that my girls are finally playing together instead of Cambree just tagging along. However, I am pretty sure there were never classes taught about the amount of messes this particular play could cause!

Oh yeah, another funny thing...Ally put Cambree to bed and then came back in the room and said, ''wake up sunshine, it's time for soccer" (pause for a minute)-- "get up little sleepy head," (Cambree still laying there, pretend sleeping) ---"cock-a-doodle-do!" Then Ally explains to Cambree that when she says that, it's time for her and all her little hunnys to get up (Cambree and 2 dolls). They are funny--just for the record, I DON'T wake my kids up with a cock-a-doodle-do!

good news, bad news

2008-08-28T21:38:00.000-07:00

We went to see a orthopedic surgeon last Monday for Spencer's finger. (yeah, it was that bad) The good news is that his finger seems to be healing correctly, so we just have to keep an eye on it for a while and have to report back to the doctor in a month. The bad news is the doctor said he SHOULDN'T play football for 3-4 weeks! (the season is only 6 weeks!) Good thing we are rich (hahaha) and we can just throw a couple hundred dollars away on a football season that my kid is pretty much watching for most of the season.

P.S. I got some feedback on my last post about Spencer's finger--most people thought he looked like a real trooper. Well just to set the record straight, I took those pictures while his finger was still numb and the shock had worn off. He actually was a trooper until about 11 o'clock that night when all the numbing medicine had worn off, and the Loratab hadn't kicked in yet. This picture is a little more accurate. ***WARNING--GRAPHIC PICTURES!**** P.S.S. I think I mentioned this before but his fingernail was all the way off but they stitched it back on to act as a barrier to the skin in his nail bed wouldn't grow together, so his nail is just for protection till the new one comes in- oh, gross!

Friday Funnies

2008-08-21T23:30:00.000-07:00

Ally has been into putting on my lipstick and make-up lately. Last night she was putting on some lipstick and I heard her say to her self, "check me out!" Then a few minutes later she looked at me and said, " mom, do my lips look too stylish?" ---I don't quite know what that means.

When I told Jaxon it was my birthday on Tuesday he said, "can you take me to the mall?" Then he asked, "how much do you think those earrings things cost? can you get some for around 2 dollars? 'cause that's how many dollars I have in the bank." Then he called Tony and asked him if he could take him to the mall to buy me something, because if I took him, it wouldn't be a surprise. --what a sweethearted kid!

Jaxon lost his tooth yesterday. That night he put it under his pillow in a baggie, but it slipped down the side and fell under his bed. Jaxon came up and showed me his tooth and said, "you know why the tooth fairy didn't come? because it fell under my bed and she couldn't find it!" (I'm so glad she didn't just forget-what kind of tooth fairy would do that?) Then he said, "I thought the tooth fairy would have a scanner thing that would beep when she found the tooth, then she wouldn't have to come back the next night." (scanners would be great-or just a brain to remember-that would be great too!)

The other day, my running partner Jenny was telling me someone was interested in buying her Ford Explorer (her husband owns a car dealership) so she had to drive this BMW, but it was a sedan that was bigger and longer than she was used to. She was telling me it was kind of like driving a boat. Later that morning I was taking the kids to school and she was backing out in her BMW Boat. Ally said to herself, "wow that car looks like a limbo." Of course I piped in and asked her what she said and she replied," Jenny's car is long enough to be a limbo mom." So there you have it Jenny not only are you driving a BMW, but it's cool enough to be a limbo.

Ally said, "Mom, I'll have some kazuni (zucchini) bread, or what ever it's called."

Jaxon was eating dinner at the neighbors house, they were having grilled cheese. Jaxon told her that if she gave him the recipe, he could give it to everyone in the neighborhood, and she would be famous her sandwiches were so good!

I was asking Spencer who he hung out with at scouts, and he mentioned a few of his friends. Then I asked him why he didn't hang around a couple other kids, and he said he didn't know-so I said, "What isn't there enough Spencer to go around?" He just grinned and said, "Yeah, kinda!" Well I guess he doesn't struggle in the self confidence area!

Little Stinker!!

2008-08-18T21:37:00.000-07:00

As I said earlier, we aren't having a ton of success with potty training our dog. She is getting better with not wetting in the house, but she isn't that great with #2. The kids each have a day they are in charge of the dog. When it's their day, they have to feed her, take her potty, and are pretty much in charge of her for the day. (let's get real, I have to pick up all the slack--which is alot! Anyhoo...) Jaxon was the one who begged for the dog, did his report on dogs, made promises he'll never keep, to get a dog, gave me the puppy dog eyes for a dog, blah, blah blah. One thing he didn't think about, and I forgot about was his WEAK stomach. So every time he has to clean up the little stinky messes (which aren't that bad because it's hard so they just have to get a tissue and put it in a sack-then I do all the disinfecting) he comes out of the room dry heaving...then I yell at him not to throw up. Yesterday he asked me if I had a paperclip for his nose (I think he meant a clothes pin) and all I had was a big, strong, paper clip. Jax said that would work--- so this was the result.

After we padded it with Kleenex, he thought it would be perfect...unfortunately the paperclip was so strong, it was pinching his nose so tight he couldn't leave it on long enough to clean up the little mess! The funniest part is that he had a little red bruise on the tip of his nose from the paperclip. I just figured I should support his imaginative ideas, even if I know they aren't going to work!

Not your typical Sunday...

2008-08-17T20:30:00.000-07:00

So today started out pretty normal, we got up, got ready for church, made it there 8 minutes late,--you know the usual. Then we separated into classes for Sunday school. I was sitting with my primary class and I heard a familiar crying/screaming in the hall. I thought it was Spencer, but wondered why a 11yr old would be throwing such a fit. Then I thought of Jaxon but he was with Tony's parents so I blew it off. Then the primary counselor came in and told me it WAS Spencer. So I went into the hall just as his teacher took him into the boys bathroom. They came right back out with bloody paper towels wrapped around his hand. They told me he had cut his finger on a folding chair. A neighbor of ours went to find his wife who is a nurse, and I headed to take Spencer outside because he was crying so loud from the pain. We met Tony and Ronda (the nurse) in the hall on our way out. When we got outside we took the paper towel off and I about passed out! It was more than a cut, the top of his finger was almost hanging by a thread! Ronda told us she would put a wrap on it and then we should head to the hospital. Tony took Spencer straight there and I went back in the church to figure out my class and my kids. Luckily I have great friends and neighbors and they took care of everything. I headed to the ER and got there just in time to see them giving him the numbing shots (the worst part). So, long story long...he broke the tip of his finger bone, but they said it would fuse back when they stitched his finger up. He lost his whole finger nail, but they stitched half of his nail back in his nail bed so when the new one grows in the skin isn't fused together. So, X-rays, 2 numbing shots, 10 stitches, fingernail replacement, lots of gauze, a splint, 2 1/2 hours and $50 later, we were right out of there. Luckily it was on his left index finger, and he's right handed so he will be able to enjoy his first day of school--just with a big bandage/splint on his finger! P.S. I actually took pictures of his cut, but didn't want to gross anyone out! Plus, they are on my phone and I don't know how to download them to my computer, so you get the bandage shots--better anyway!

Little Swimmer

2008-08-13T09:06:00.000-07:00

The last couple of weeks Cambree has been obsessed with swimming. She asks me first thing in the morning, "we go wimming today?" Then it continues about 50 times throughout the day. She is constantly putting her swimsuits over her clothes or she just strips down and tries to put one on. Then when I am putting her to bed, she usually says, " I wanna doe wimming" Last night I had her in her pajamas and she was watching Mickey ("last time") and I came in my room to find her ready to go swimming.

P.S. Cambree also gets her pose ready when I get out the camera. Do you like it? She puts her hands on her hips, pops her knee out and gives me a chubby perma grin--I love it!

Making Progress

2008-08-10T21:09:00.000-07:00

Well we aren't making a ton of progress on potty training our sweet little puppy (haha), but we are making progress with Cambree living with her. She actually will pick her up and play with her as opposed to when we first got her and she wouldn't get off the couch when Izzy was out of her kennel. She would cry and say, "put her back!" (in her kennel). Her favorite comment now to Izzy is, "No No puppy that naughty!" or "Puppy lick my face, that naughty puppy!" Tonight she told us that Izzy needed to go potty, she got her leash and Cambree took her out. So now she is finally used to our dog, but she still freaks out when other dogs come near her--progress? I don't know. The progress I am making is convincing my husband we need new carpet-after we get her potty trained, I might have more of an argument!

Movie Night

2008-08-10T20:49:00.001-07:00

Spencer was so excited to get his new football pads, he asked Tony if he was ready to get hurt! Tony said he was up for the challenge (Quoting Kramer from Seinfield when accused of beating up 10 year old kids in karate, "It's skill level Jerry, skill level")-So Spencer put on his uniform and pads, and went in the back yard with his dad to see if he could plow him over (yea right!). Jaxon was pretty excited to watch and said mom this is like 'movie night'. I walked in the kitchen a few minutes later to find Cambree and Jaxon sharing the cereal having their own little movie, featuring Spencer (get plowed over) and Tony.

Friday Funnies

2008-08-03T19:11:00.000-07:00

Ally got stung by a bee in two places in like two seconds, it was so fast I thought she was being a baby and freaking out because there was a wasp by her. (that's not the funny part). Later that night as we were icing her wounds, Ally asked me if Spencer had to put ice on his sting when he got stung by a "war-nut"--I am guessing she meant a hornet!

I was telling the kids they needed to get ready for bed since we have early (9:ooa.m.) church. Then Spence was thinking out loud and I heard him say, "I wish we had 11 o'clock church, that's the Golden time. --So if any of you go to church at 11-you have the golden time! Spencer is very envious!

Cambree covers her eyes and says, "where are me?"

Tony took the boys fishing the other day, on the way home, Jaxon was talking to Tony and he asked him if he went fishing when he was a kid. Tony told him he went a few times but not very often, Jaxon then piped up and said, "well now that you have two fishin' buddies (Jax and Spencer), you will probably want to go all the time, right dad?"

We were swimming the other day and Jaxon was doing tricks off the side when he said to his friend Keylee, "Keylee, watch me, this trick never gets old" (we don't know where he hears this stuff)

The other day we were driving into our neighborhood, we have a community garden that we participate in and we are in charge of weeding a row. As we drove by Jaxon said, "let's check on our row," but because I was already passing it as he said that I didn't stop, so under his breath he said, "or not" (I admit, I may say that from time to time)

Today I came home from church late because I had been at a meeting and Ally had on some dressy Sunday shoes (her dress was pretty casual). So I asked her why she was wearing those shoes, she said, "I was pretending I was going to a meeting and these are my only meeting shoes," then when I looked at her with a smile, she said, "I mean their my only parent shoes." -Just in case you were wondering, you need nice dressy shoes to go to meetings if your a parent.

Our August friend magazine came and was on the table, Jaxon came in and said, "Oh the new friend, wicked!" --Something doesn't sound right with that !

Girls Falls

2008-07-26T22:50:00.000-07:00

So many of us may go to to Bridal Veil falls, Niagara Falls, or go to the islands of Kauai to see beautiful waterfalls, but I will let you in on a little waterfall secret!!

Ever been up Chicken Creek Canyon?? It's Utah's hidden secret!

Our kids (and Tony) named this "Girls Falls" because I was on the Ranger with the girls and we found this fun little water hole with a few mini-waterfalls running into it. It actually is beautiful,-I just think the name Chicken Creek is kind of a funny name! I don't know how this canyon got it's name, who knows, some rancher was probably herding cattle up there years ago and saw a bunch of chickens so he named it chicken creek. You can get there by going up the Levan canyon or Wales canyon, have you ever heard of those cities?? I told you it was Utah's hidden secret! O.K., Levan is just past Nephi (I hope you've heard of Nephi) and Wales is just past Freedom-southwest of Moroni, alright, it's through Nephi canyon (going East), then when you get to Moroni, you go West over the top of the mountain, well enough about the rural Utah. But despite the name it really is pretty up there.

Tony thought it would be fun to go south for a little camping trip. He said it would be good for our kids to spend time together, experience nature and get DIRTY!

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!

We took a little ride further up the canyon on the Ranger and the boys sat in the back. They kept telling us it was dusty back there, we didn't believe that until we stopped and took a look at them---I have never seen them soooo dirty! (I put sunscreen on them before we left and I think it made the dirt stick to them even worse!)

Since water was a little scarce in the trailer, we decided to take the kids to "girls falls" so they could swim and rinse off a little bit. The water was dirty and cold, but the kids had a great time playing in the creek.

When we got to our little 'spot' Cambree was so funny. Jaxon took his shirt off, so she wanted to take her shirt off too. I told her she could swim in her clothes and she insisted on swimming in her diaper. Then Tony put her in the water and I could tell she didn't love it because it was so cold but she insisted on being like the big kids and sitting on the rock in the waterfall for a picture. I'm a little sad my baby thinks she needs to be big...maybe because she's not a baby anymore :(

When we got back to camp, Cambree wanted everyone to smile at her for an imaginary picture, she even got mad at Izzy and told her to look at her and say 'cheese'. So I figured I would give her a shot with the real camera -am I crazy or what? She did a pretty good job-especially for a two year old! She took the first picture, we are all in it, it's pretty centered and everyone is looking-and I didn't even photo shop it! Way to go CamCam!

We had a great time away with just our little family. The kids are now in love with fishing even though they didn't get a bite!

Fishing, 4-wheeling, swimming, camping food, games, etc. . . .who knew Chicken Creek had so much to offer??

P.S. We all had fun EXCEPT Izzy, she slept terrible (barking all night-not fun in a trailer) she got soooo dirty, and had tons of burs in her fluffy fur. Maybe next time we will get her a dog sitter! (Did I just say that??)

Celebrity Collage by MyHeritage

2008-07-16T22:34:00.001-07:00

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebs - Collage - Morph

Totally Famous!

2008-07-16T21:48:00.000-07:00

So I found this site on Winnie's blog and thought it was so funny. Tony has been gone all night so I have been messing around on my computer putting different pictures in to see if I get the same match. In the 3 photo's I put in, Annette Bening was the first match. I have to say that was nice, surprising, but nice. The ones I got a laugh out of were Jennifer Lopez and Denise Richards-they don't look like each other, let alone me! Or another favorite, Jodie Sweetin, from Full House, what is she like 12? The funny thing about her is that she showed up on a match with Ally. Does that mean Ally and I resemble each other? Last but not least, Raquel Welch, the only thing I have seen her in is a Seinfeld episode where Kramer has to fire her because everyone else is too scared of her because she's mean and she ends up beating him up! I didn't know this site matched personalities too!
P.S. I guess I need to rent Dances With Wolves--Tony's first match was Kevin Costner.

Celebrity Look Alikes

2008-07-16T21:20:00.001-07:00

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

BUSY WEEK

2008-07-15T21:28:00.000-07:00

Last week was quite busy for us...plus we have a puppy! (That's my new excuse for everything-it's kind of like a newborn baby) Tony and I celebrated our 15 year anniversary on Thurs. so we went to Park City for Wed, Thurs, and Friday. We took the kids for part of the time and then my sister and Lezlie met us for some swimming and then took my kids home and we (Tony and I) stayed another day. It was a fun little mini vacation. The kids swam, jumped on the tramp with those harness things on them and spent quite a bit of time in the game room. I got a pretty good score on Mrs. Pacman--(my favorite).

When the kids left this is what I found in my hotel room...

Tony surprised me with a trip to Kauai for our anniversary!! I am so excited! We have been to Hawaii a few times, but neither of us has been to Kauai. We don't like to go warm places when it's hot here, so we are going in the fall.

We got home from Park City just in time (and I mean just in time!) to throw a party for Jaxon's 7th birthday! He invited his friends over and we watched a movie on the fence. It was fun, we gave the kids tickets for the snack bar...Spencer and his friends were running it, unfortunately we were having some technical difficulties with the projector so the keep the kids busy, they gave them more tickets. I think all the kids either went home sick or super hyper from all the sugar.

Then on Sat we had a BBQ with the all the fam, it was a totally casual and all the kids had fun playing in the water. They made up a baseball game where they had to slide into 3rd base, which was the swimming pool. Jaxon's cake was a little last minute but turned out cute! He loved it and thought the donut idea was great! Happy Birthday little buddy, your growing up toooooo fast! XOXOX

P.S. I think we have decided to go with the name Izzy for our puppy. Partly because her sister, Jessica's dog, is named Bella. I thought it was cute that together their names make Isabella.

I've been tagged

2008-07-12T22:04:00.000-07:00

Wow, I've been tagged! I feel like I am moving up in the blog world(haha). So this is how this one works, you name 3 joys, fears, goals, obsessions, and surprising facts, then you tag 5 people at the end. This was actually harder than I thought, so here it goes.

3 joys
1.Tony and my kids (of course!)
2.My testimony and knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ
3. My babies...now that Cambree is 2, I am quickly moving out of that baby stage and I am sooooo sad, I guess I will have to find a new stage I adore!

3 fears
1.Loosing Tony or my children, not JUST to death but loosing them as in getting lost (like in the mountains or at Disneyland), being kidnapped, or running away-not knowing.
2.Something happening to me or anyone in my family that ruins us psychologically. (like WATCHING someone in our family get killed or torchered or raped etc.) or Tony and I dying together leaving our kids orphans.
3. Falling short of raising unsuccessful children. There is alot of pressure out there to raise children that are smart, kind, righteous, athletic, musical etc...

3 goals
1. Talk nicer to my kids, being more patient and loving--hopefully not ruining their self-esteem.
2. Loose 15lbs by October
3. As always improve my testimony by studying the Book of Mormon more.

3 obsessions
1. Apparently my girls (matching) clothes, I think it is now moving to a sickness rather than an obsession. (I am actually trying to stop-this should have been under goals, but I only had three up there)
2. Pictures--love taking them, scrapbooking them, hanging them on the wall (in every room in my house!) etc..... I have always loved pictures!
3. Blogging...I have to admit I LOVE my laptop!

3 surprising facts
1. In 5th grade I loved the Rocky movies and I wanted to be him. I wanted boxing gloves and weights for Christmas, I got bar with two 5lb weights and a DOLL! I was totally disappointed!
2. I still love Seinfeld and have seen EVERY episode, and I'm still not sick of it!-I wish more people would watch it, so when I quote it, people would understand what I am talking about!
3. I can't remember the last time I threw up (I hope I am not jinxing myself)--being pregnant or even sick, I have felt like want to throw up, and somethings coming up, but nothing makes it out of my mouth!- even when I found a mangled mouse on my porch, left by a cat and I had to clean it up, piece by piece, I threw up a little in my mouth, but nothing came out! Totally gross!

There you have it, since it's almost midnight, I am not sure if I picked the best three in each category, or if I even made sense, but oh well--that's me, indecisive to the very end! I tag anyone who reads my blog (of course, I can't decide who to tag!)

Doggie Names???

2008-07-12T21:45:00.000-07:00

So if loosing the battle of getting a dog wasn't enough, now I'm getting out-voted on the name! So the kids and Tony want to name her Pepsi--I'm not diggin it. My vote is Lucy, but I'm getting out-voted on that. The latest name they came up with is sugar, I don't love it or hate it. Her original name was Izzy, because she has a patch over her eye my kids wanted to name her Jack Sparrow, but because IT is a girl, they thought of Elizabeth, Izzy for short. So far that is my best choice. If anyone has any suggestions for a cute name, I will take them!

What up dog?

2008-07-06T21:46:00.000-07:00

Yea, that's right---what's up with us getting a dog??? I have been fighting for about 6 months now. Cambree is the only one on my side who doesn't really want a dog but I guess the score was 4 (Tony, Spencer, Ally, and Jaxon-who did his report in school on a dog and they could choose ANY animal in the world) to 2, so I guess Cambree and I lost! My dad and Dona has a liter of puppies a couple of months ago, which made the pressure even worse, when we asked for one they said sure, so my kids just had to wait for me to give them the go ahead. So the last few months they have been WEARING ME DOWN!! But then I got a look at this cute little thing and I wasn't completely sold...but sure alot closer.

After the 4th we left the kids at Grandma and Grandpa Blackhams for a few days and went and picked her up. We tried our best on Sat and Sun to get Cambree used to the puppy. Little by little she is doing better. She is extreamly scared of dogs, cats, or any moving furry thing! But as you can see, she is at least making contact-that's progress!

When the kids got home Sunday night, they were so excited to see the puppy! We are still deciding on a name--any suggestions??? (we'll take them)

I think it is soooo cute when she runs, it's like this little ball of fur just bouncing around. It's pretty funny too when she is chasing the kids, then she just stops (like she is tired) and she just sits down. Cambree likes it when she chases her if someone is with her--she goes between laughing and giggling to screaming and crying in about 1 second. Oh, the joys of a puppy--hahaha.

Happy 4th!

2008-07-05T22:39:00.000-07:00

I have to say that the 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays. I know alot of people who fought the crowds and went to the freedom festival and stadium of fire...us, we went to Sanpete County! There is just something about a small town celebrations. I start super early getting outfits for my kids, it's almost like the Easter outfit tradition!

The festivities in Moroni start on the 3rd with a turkey bbq at the park and then resume bright and early with booms of dynamite about 6am to wake everyone up on the 4th, (seriously, it sounds like the city is under attack--it's good to be warned if your a first timer) soon after a couple of crazy guys put a speaker on their truck and drive around town playing patriotic music and announcing the days festivities, then at 7am it's the flag ceremony at the park and then on to the turkey trot, a 5k fun run --(I didn't run this year due to my surgery-last year I won my age division, my prize was a mini cooler-awesome!) The best part of the day is the MAMMOTH parade at 10--(I love the name) This year Tony's grandma Bagley was the Grand Marshall in the parade, she was so cute!

My kids had a great time catching candy, waving at all the beauty queens, and mingling with all of their relatives.

Right after we took a picture of the whole Blackham family, (Tony's dad's siblings with kids and grandkids, everyone was there except Ashley).

The afternoon is filled with food, food, and more food--usually some form of turkey, (barbecued, sliced, dutch oven, etc.) carnivals, naps, and some form of water play. This year after the Moroni parade, we went to Mt. Pleasant to see the parade again with my family-we call it the repeat, same parade different street.

Then we went up the canyon for lunch, I don't know if we ate more or if the mosquitoes ate more of us! They were so bad! Later the kids needed to cool off with some cool water. The kids had a great time and so did grandpa!

Last but not least, we watched the fireworks from Tony's cousins deck, best seats in town! What a great day~it's always good to be reminded of our freedom and how blessed we are to live in this wonderful country!

Summer Fun -plus video overload!

2008-06-27T21:59:00.000-07:00

Well I am finally ready to admit that summer is here...we have had warm weather for about two weeks straight so I guess it's here to stay!--Thank Goodness! Good thing I chose to have my knee scoped the first week school was out, I thought it would be perfect since I could just hang out at home with my kids for a few days, BUT what I didn't know was that I can't soak my incision in water for 2-3 weeks, so good-bye swimming! So I am just playing lifeguard with other people rescuing my kids if they need it and making my kids have old fashioned fun with the sprinkler!

P.S. My knee is doing much better, the swelling is almost gone, so now I am working on my range of motion, (I can almost touch my butt with the heal of my foot, I'm about 6 inches away) and soon will be able to start strength training. I still have one steria strips left on my big incision but all the others are off. So I am well on my way to a full recovery!

Safe and super COMFY!! Gotta love those lifejacket straps!

So CamCam has become our little fish with only 2 trips to the pool, today she decided to copy cat the big kids at jumping in the pool! We were cracking up at her falling in backwards! They jumped in and she copied them for a good half hour--what a funny baby!

I love all the giggling!!!
Miley Cyrus better watch out...if you can't tell, Cambree is singing so you wanna be a rock star by Hannah Montana. Ally and Jaxon were the backup dancers but when I got out the camera, they jetted. But not Cambree-she's ready for the stage!

Friday Funnies

2008-06-15T12:42:00.000-07:00

Spencer and I were driving in the car and a Corvette pulled up next to us, I told Spencer that was Tony's favorite car. Spencer asked me if he could have a car like that when he turned 16, I told him that was a nice try and if he was lucky he would get dad's sporty escort (complete package with the newly installed A/C and 170,ooo miles) Spencer said, "Sweet, since it's an antique, I could probably sell it and make alot of money!"

Jaxon just told me that he thinks his vampire tooth is loose.

Yesterday Jaxon and I had an interesting conversation, it went something like this...
Jaxon: Mom, do you like being a girl?
Shana: yea it's o.k.
Jaxon: do you like having babies?
Me: I love babies, but don't like having them!
Tony: Jax, be glad your a boy, there are lots of cool things about being a boy, like standing when you pee. (the #1 thing about being a boy I'm sure!)
Jaxon: yea, and boys get to be in scouts and they get the "moronic" priesthood.
He then said, it would be cool to be a girl because in our family the rules are #1 girls always get to go first, and #2 you can never hit a girl, so they never get hit! (because we always hit our boys! jk)

Jaxon lately has gotten into the latest craze of Pokemon cards (he's only about 5years late but anyhoo!) So he has been asking me how to pronounce all the names-he keeps asking, "what does this say?" (I think it's weird this game targets kids who are beginning readers with words I can't even read!) Anyway, he has been dueling anyone at the house that will play with him-even Cambree and apparently she beat him one round. So she was playing with him the other day and she came in my room with a Pokemon card and said,"what dis say mom?"--Like it would matter if she knew what it said, she's barely two- I guess it could alter her dueling strategy!

(Last Pokemon story-I hope) So we were in the car and Ally and Jaxon were playing Pokemon and Jaxon asked Tony what 30x30 was, then Ally interrupted and said," no ask Spencer he's a genius at stuff like this!"

From this....to that!

2008-06-14T21:35:00.000-07:00

From this...
to that!
So I had a little growth on the side of my leg...it didn't hurt so I wasn't too worried. The bump appeared last summer, but like I said, it didn't hurt so I didn't worry to much. In January it started to swell-it about doubled in size. So I finally went to the doctor. After getting a strange reaction from him, he sent me for an ultra-sound, they said they usually don't do ultrasounds for soft tissue. So they sent me to get an MRI. The results came back that I had a ganglion cyst with a tear in my meniscus. I was then referred to an orthopedic surgeon. Anyhoo....I had my knee scoped on Friday and they removed the cyst (he said it was the size of big bouncy ball!) As you can tell from the bandage, I don't know if I traded in a bump for a bigger scar! I'm hoping not! I haven't been able to walk much and have just been laying in bed for 2 days, it's not that fun! (But I am learning a few things on my computer--did you notice my blogs make over?-it's not done yet but I got a good start) I get to take the bandage off next week and hopefully will be back to normal in the next few days.

Family Trek

2008-06-08T23:19:00.000-07:00

This past weekend our family went with Tony's whole family to Wyoming to Martins Cove. Tony is a descendant from two ancestors who were on the Martin Handcart company and two who were in the first rescue party. We went up to retrace their steps and try to get some insight of what they went through. Here are a few things we learned.

1. Each person was allowed to bring 15-17 lbs of personal belongings. (some of the women layered their clothes-they didn't weigh the women, just their stuff-however, after traveling for a while they got rid of their extra clothes because it was to heavy to carry)

2. Because of their late start, half way into the trip, they got rid of their extra blankets and clothing to lighten their load and make up time, only to get caught in a blizzard soon after.

3. It was expected that they would walk 15 to 20 miles a day at first and then once they got used to it (or got in shape) they were expected to cover 20-30 miles a day.

4. The Blackham line goes like this: Martha Blackham (on the Martin handcart company), son-John Blackham, (in the rescue party) his son Josiah Sr., his son Josiah Jr., his son Moyle, his son Leonard (Tony's dad), then Tony, then Spencer and Jaxon.

5. Tony's mom's side also had family members in the Martin Handcart Company. Thisbee Read was just a child (11yrs old) on the Martin Handcart Co. and was rescued by Ephriam K Hanks- they later married. Thisbee had 12 children one of her sons had a daughter was Iris Bagley, her daughter Laura Bagley (Blackham) is Tony's mom. ( I think,I might be missing a generation)

6. Their allotted food for the day was 16oz of flour-3 times a day. After they reached Larmiee Wy. and the trading posts had no food for them, they cut their flour down to 12oz per day(less for the children I think 8oz). They longer they went without food, the more they cut the food rations. When they reached Martins Cove, they were completely out of food and were giving their children rawhide's to chew on to quiet their children's hunger pains. They were eating the souls of their shoes, and one guy at a trading post was eating his leather door mat! ( I shouldn't say eating, more sucking or chewing on the leather for flavor)

7. Men died at a higher rate than the women and children. They attribute this to the fact that they were eating less, had less clothing and shelter, and working harder all in the name of selflessness to their families. They were sharing their food with their wives and children and then were giving them their blankets and clothes, and then would push the handcarts all day so their wives wouldn't have to. SELFLESS!

8. I learned of these peoples faith and courage as they walked for miles and miles in awful conditions, but were all GRATEFUL to have the opportunity to make it to Salt Lake so they could make it to the temple to be sealed to their families. This was a true example of FAITH.

I wanted to go on this trek with my children, to try to gain an understanding of their circumstances--let me just say--Wyoming is miserably long, boring, and not pretty in a car--I can't imagine walking. Seeing where they walked, the river they crossed (in freezing weather), and the small amounts of food they were given, has given me a new perspective in how blessed we are! The trek was not that easy and we are in good shape, had full stomachs, warm clothes, and better weather. I am amazed at what they went through. I especially gained an appreciation for the mothers, it must have been so painful to be suffering yourself, and then watching your children suffer and there was nothing they could do for them. We often think loosing a child is the hardest thing in the world. I wonder if the pioneer women were at peace when they lost a child-knowing their circumstances were better on the other side rather than where they were. I am so grateful for their sacrifice and hopefully I will always remember the sacrifice they made for our family!

Friday Funnies

2008-06-06T22:11:00.000-07:00

Cambree was coloring a book with farm animals in it and we were asking her what the pig says and what the horse says...she started coloring the cow and she asks us "Mom, what does a moo say?"

Ally was going potty in a public stall with cambree and I in there with her. Cambree grabbed Ally's butt and she said, "Cambree, that's not proprate!"

We were shopping and I found a dress and a shirt for Ally, I asked her if she wanted a shirt or a dress. She said, "I'll take the dress, because I'm collecting dresses.

Ally asked if she could have a rootbeer, I said yes, she said "BOOYAH!

Cambree did a karate move on Ally and said "OOOYAH!"

Jaxon asked if he could play at a friends, I said sure, he said, KAACHING! (Spelling?)

Tony and were talking about T.V. and Autism, We were saying a sign of autism is if kids don't respond to you when you say their name. Jokingly, Tony said maybe we should check Spencer for that, he never responds when he's in front of the T.V. I added and Jaxon has learned that from Spencer.

Then out of the blue Jaxon says, "thanks alot Spence,"

Spencer, "for what?"

Jaxon, "For giving me that autism thing!"

***SENSORED for small children*****
Spencer was telling me that the toothfairy had not left him money for his tooth for about 4 days, so he was wondering if he could just have some money out of my wallet. I asked him why he was bugging me and maybe he should write a letter to the toothfairy. Then he came over to me so the little kids couldn't hear and said, "mom, I'm not a child anymore, I know your the toothfairy. Once you know about santa, you can figure the rest out."