6/28/12
And finally he sleeps...
Kade is a go-er...from when the sun rises until it sets. He sleeps good and hard when he sleeps. And he's very, should I say "focused" instead of tunnel visioned? If he wants to sleep in the chair, he'll sleep there ;) Or with a golf club....
The Blue Butterflies
Tball season is over again. It was definately a smart decision on our part to opt out of coaching this year. We were unsure how much Bozeman would occupy Mike's time, and I knew I didn't want to do it alone! Usually, Reagan's game entailed one of us either chasing Kade, or trying to wrangle him and distract him, or he was in the car watching a movie the entire time, which meant we were constantly checking on him. Reagan had 2 teenagers coaching her team, 12 and 14, but they did a great job and she was more interested this year and did better paying attention, which I'm sure was the fact we weren't in the picture! I'm glad she loves to do all sorts of things...I'm also glad it's over :)
6/15/12
Fishin'
I worked the day shift yesterday and Mike ventured to the fishing pond with the kids:) Reagan threw one cast and then was only interested in making a new friend (should that surprise us!), and Kade insists on carrying the poles, throwing in the line, and fiercly moving it back and forth (again, should that surprise us!). They had fun though and ultimately, that's all that matters :)
The end of school brought a great sigh of relief, yet anxiety for a LONG summer! I apparently wasn't prepared for Kindergarten graduation and took a camera that was empty of a battery, bummer....Mike did take our little hand held camera so I need to download at least a video of all the cuteness going on that day. She's excited to be moving into first grade and after meeting all 3 teachers, I think she would do awesome with any of them. I'm excited to have her going all day and all the stimulation she will benefit from. We are continuing to read and do "homework" during the summer to get her ready for first grade! Luckily, she loves doing it and she loves going to the library. I officially got an Idaho License a few weeks back so now we can load up on books at the library. We have an fun filled summer planned and since I'm not usually one for staying home, we venture out daily to different parks, pools, & activities. I try to run the monster ragged so he still collapses for a nap! Now, if we could have more than one sunny, not windy day a week that would be fabulous!!
June 1st was the opening day of the new store in Bozeman, MT. It went really well and we are excited to finally be up and running. Here are a few pictures of the store. Of course, Mike did all the work but it looks great and all his hard work has paid off. Our manager is doing awesome and loves the city so that is always a plus! Mike's mom came up to watch the kids so I could go for the opening. My drive through Yellowstone and Big Sky was absolutely beautiful. I did stop and take a few pictures but even those don't do the beauty justice.
One of the most fun things about moving here has been reconnecting with an "old" high school friend. We lost touch for several years, but have enjoyed starting up the friendship where it left off. These are pictures of her crazy kids when they were over for dinner a few weeks back...welcome to our blog Stella and Jake :)
Camo has been adjusting...he's lucky to still be around! I'm not a big fan, but I'll tolerate him for now. He's still an "inside" rabbit but we are adjusting him to becoming an "outside" one. He is quite cute and he adores Mike ha ha. Kade tortures him, Reagan has nothing to do with him, and I get to tend to him most of the time. Go figure.
Chillin'...
One of the most fun things about moving here has been reconnecting with an "old" high school friend. We lost touch for several years, but have enjoyed starting up the friendship where it left off. These are pictures of her crazy kids when they were over for dinner a few weeks back...welcome to our blog Stella and Jake :)
Camo has been adjusting...he's lucky to still be around! I'm not a big fan, but I'll tolerate him for now. He's still an "inside" rabbit but we are adjusting him to becoming an "outside" one. He is quite cute and he adores Mike ha ha. Kade tortures him, Reagan has nothing to do with him, and I get to tend to him most of the time. Go figure.
Chillin'...
5/28/12
Catching Up
Oh my goodness it's been a while. I'm not even sure anyone but Jennifer reads this blog anymore (hey friend!). So let's do a little catching up! (but I'm totally confused by the new format they have now and no idea how this is posting because I can't preview for some reason)....
Easter was nice. Stayed home and celebrated just with the kids and ourselves. Saturday was freezing cold and we went to 2 cluster messes of hunts. What ever happened to the old school ones instead of hey, let's get a thousand kids in a tiny little place, spread thousands of eggs and count to 10 for it to all be over! The kids both had fun finding eggs and a little treasure hunt that Dad so graciously orchestrated. They also made a nice fat mess coloring eggs (which I dislike), and were satisfied with what Mr. Bunny left. Pictures for proof...
Mother's Day weekend we spent with our Moms :) Some how, I only managed to get pictures of some fun in Grandma's tub.
He's also discovering lots of boy things and that includes tools. He loves to "fix" things..unfortunately, he's also tried to fix a light socket...with a screwdriver!! And he loves his "goggles"!
Reagan had a field trip to Bear World before school got out. This was awesome because it was really, really cheap and it gave her the "bear" fix she needed. She was able to hold a bear cub that was only 8 weeks old prior to this and they had grown so much in the few months since then. Man are they cute! Man would I not want to meet one on a hiking trail!
Meet Como...the newest member to our family. Long story short, Reagan became obsessed with getting a rabbit. Started saving her money, which led to us actually thinking about it, which let to Mike doing all sorts of "rabbit research", which led us to Como (previously named Camo but Reagan read his name wrong so Como it became...Mike thought he should be Michael Jackson ;) He's a mini-lop but still quite large!! He is littered trained, sort of, even cute, but deathly afraid of the Kade and I as of today. Kade, because he usually chases him all over yelling "Raaawwwrrrr", me, I have no idea but Mike says "Bees and Rabbits smell fear" ;) It's now been 2 weeks and he's getting better. He's currently housed in Reagan's room, smells not to bad, and will sometimes let you pick him up. He likes following Mike around, eating dandilions, and hiding behind the toilet. I'm waiting for Reagan to bore with him. Numerous years ago I always wanted a rabbit. Bad thing is...they aren't necessarily "pets". You can love on them and they scare most the time. We'll see how this all pans out!
Yes, that's the potty, yes he's naked :) He's started to "peepee" in the potty, when he decides it's cool, but will stand 3 inches away and poop his pants...I've decided I'm procrastinating for a few months...maybe several :)
These 3 are the loves of my life!
I've got plenty more to upload, edit and blog :)
4/5/12
Spring has Sprung..or hopefully soon!
The end of March brought an end to gymnastics and swim lessons, (which freed up three days!) the last break before 2 months of school, and our calendar for April is totally empty!
However, the end of March has also brought 3 days of snow and freezing cold, and a few days of absolute beauty!
Reagan enjoyed gymnastics, and they BOTH LOVED swimming!! Kade's was mostly an acclimation to water, but it was great for me to learn things to teach him to become more safe in the water. Even though he is great at wearing a life vest all the time, it's never not okay to learn more I guess. He loved Ms. Shauna and he was in the class with 2 babies, so he got one on one a lot. Reagan's class was great, because it was all 1 on 1 with the teacher. She can swim underwater for long distances anyway, but he gave her (too) much confidence in deeper waters and man can she dive down to the bottom and hold her breathe. We'll do another round next month and then be done for the summer so it's one less thing we have to be committed to.
Reagan has gone from reading beginner/easy reader books to soaring through Dr. Seuss books and more advanced books. It's amazing how much her mind has absorbed this year! (And to think I had doubts about her teacher initially..my bad!) At parent teacher conferences, Mrs. P had nothing but positive things to say about her (other than she can be slightly chatty at times...that no SURPRISE!), and she and a few others in her class have been able to break away from the class and go to the 1st grade class to participate in 1st grade activities. We are so proud of her and can't believe her first year of school is coming to an end!!
It seems Kade has had a busy month as well learning how to speak more, and boss more (if that's even possible). He is putting together more sentences and just Mr. Chatty everywhere we go. My new favorite thing he says is "How are YOU?". Course, he will repeatedly say this until the person he is speaking to responds...even if they are a 100 ft away! My other favorite saying he now says (and she said they exact same thing) is "hold you", which of course means, hold me. It's been fun to see at this point, how much alike their personalities are. Of course, he is much louder, more aggressive, and just a boy, but they boy love to make people laugh, be silly, and of course, demand attention! He is definately sure of what he wants and what he doesn't want. If he is in a "mom" phase, dad can no absolutely nothing for him, and vice versa. But, oh how we love him, and oh how we love that he is getting older and we love him growing into a "big" kid.
First haircut by Dad...he has this face with whomever gives him a haircut
I love how Kade attacks his strawberries :)
We spent a few days of spring break in Boise visiting with family and friends and had a wonderful time. We went to the zoo, played with Baby Sam, did a little shopping, lots of eating, visiting with dear friends, and Reagan got a hand me down Ninetendo DS which was seriously the highlight of her life! She kept saying on the way home "Wow, I CANNOT BELIEVE I have a DS!!" So thanks O'dells (I think) :)
We then spent a few days at my parents and Reagan had fun playing with her cousins. My sister and her girls then came here for a few more days of spring break fun. We saw Sue Rex, Hunger Games, celebrated Mike's 39th birthday, and embraced another month of memories.
April 1st became a HUGE day for us as well. After months of wondering, planning, and FINALLY signing on the dotted line, we are now officially the owners of store #TWO! This was definitely NOT in our 2-5 year plan we initially had, but late last summer we were approached by the mall manager in Bozeman, MT. He loved our store here in Idaho Falls and felt like we would be a great fit for his mall. We made a trip there to meet with him, review financials, view the mall and the store site, and felt like this "deal" was just too good to not consider and push to work out. Prior to this, we had had numerous customers from the Bozeman/Butte and surrounding areas shop in the store and say that they needed something like that there, and we had talked about "maybe in the next few years". That just happened quicker than we anticipated! We are set to open June 1st, and I'm sure our life (mostly Mike's?) will be insanely crazy learning to adjust to buying and managing 2 stores (since he does absolutely all the financial and business ends as well), but we also have a great manager that we are moving there, and are totally confident in him and are excited to spend time there as a family as well exploring new country! It's a beautiful 3 1/2 hour drive in good weather through Island Park and West Yellowstone. So thanks to everyone for all the "hoping" for us! It's paid off and we couldn't be happier or grateful for support and success.
However, the end of March has also brought 3 days of snow and freezing cold, and a few days of absolute beauty!
Reagan enjoyed gymnastics, and they BOTH LOVED swimming!! Kade's was mostly an acclimation to water, but it was great for me to learn things to teach him to become more safe in the water. Even though he is great at wearing a life vest all the time, it's never not okay to learn more I guess. He loved Ms. Shauna and he was in the class with 2 babies, so he got one on one a lot. Reagan's class was great, because it was all 1 on 1 with the teacher. She can swim underwater for long distances anyway, but he gave her (too) much confidence in deeper waters and man can she dive down to the bottom and hold her breathe. We'll do another round next month and then be done for the summer so it's one less thing we have to be committed to.
Reagan has gone from reading beginner/easy reader books to soaring through Dr. Seuss books and more advanced books. It's amazing how much her mind has absorbed this year! (And to think I had doubts about her teacher initially..my bad!) At parent teacher conferences, Mrs. P had nothing but positive things to say about her (other than she can be slightly chatty at times...that no SURPRISE!), and she and a few others in her class have been able to break away from the class and go to the 1st grade class to participate in 1st grade activities. We are so proud of her and can't believe her first year of school is coming to an end!!
It seems Kade has had a busy month as well learning how to speak more, and boss more (if that's even possible). He is putting together more sentences and just Mr. Chatty everywhere we go. My new favorite thing he says is "How are YOU?". Course, he will repeatedly say this until the person he is speaking to responds...even if they are a 100 ft away! My other favorite saying he now says (and she said they exact same thing) is "hold you", which of course means, hold me. It's been fun to see at this point, how much alike their personalities are. Of course, he is much louder, more aggressive, and just a boy, but they boy love to make people laugh, be silly, and of course, demand attention! He is definately sure of what he wants and what he doesn't want. If he is in a "mom" phase, dad can no absolutely nothing for him, and vice versa. But, oh how we love him, and oh how we love that he is getting older and we love him growing into a "big" kid.
First haircut by Dad...he has this face with whomever gives him a haircut
I love how Kade attacks his strawberries :)
We spent a few days of spring break in Boise visiting with family and friends and had a wonderful time. We went to the zoo, played with Baby Sam, did a little shopping, lots of eating, visiting with dear friends, and Reagan got a hand me down Ninetendo DS which was seriously the highlight of her life! She kept saying on the way home "Wow, I CANNOT BELIEVE I have a DS!!" So thanks O'dells (I think) :)
We then spent a few days at my parents and Reagan had fun playing with her cousins. My sister and her girls then came here for a few more days of spring break fun. We saw Sue Rex, Hunger Games, celebrated Mike's 39th birthday, and embraced another month of memories.
April 1st became a HUGE day for us as well. After months of wondering, planning, and FINALLY signing on the dotted line, we are now officially the owners of store #TWO! This was definitely NOT in our 2-5 year plan we initially had, but late last summer we were approached by the mall manager in Bozeman, MT. He loved our store here in Idaho Falls and felt like we would be a great fit for his mall. We made a trip there to meet with him, review financials, view the mall and the store site, and felt like this "deal" was just too good to not consider and push to work out. Prior to this, we had had numerous customers from the Bozeman/Butte and surrounding areas shop in the store and say that they needed something like that there, and we had talked about "maybe in the next few years". That just happened quicker than we anticipated! We are set to open June 1st, and I'm sure our life (mostly Mike's?) will be insanely crazy learning to adjust to buying and managing 2 stores (since he does absolutely all the financial and business ends as well), but we also have a great manager that we are moving there, and are totally confident in him and are excited to spend time there as a family as well exploring new country! It's a beautiful 3 1/2 hour drive in good weather through Island Park and West Yellowstone. So thanks to everyone for all the "hoping" for us! It's paid off and we couldn't be happier or grateful for support and success.
3/21/12
My "Word" (a little late) and My Opinion about Grass
Sometimes, I start posts. Sometimes, they never make it to actual "posting". Either I realize I never finished because I am easily distracted at the computer, or I forget all together and then it either misses the time-punch-line, or the kids are now 6 months older! That's the result of my 2 combined thoughts to follow. And I hope that one day, when my kids read things I write, they won't think I am a total lame-o.
In the blogging world, in the first month of the year, bloggers were setting a Word of the Year. Whether it was a special meaning, or a word to work on throughout the year. Usually these words for so many were a life lesson from the previous year. Or a trial they wanted to overcome. One strong word. Letters together to form who you want to be or portray or remember. I had a little discussion with Mike about what our Words would be. I got inspired :) I chose "EMBRACE". In the midst of life, you can often forget how to be thankful, grateful, loved, or blessed. The crazy years we had when we were so focused on a fast paced life, work, work, being unhappy with work, searching, searching for something other than that, and obviously raising a happy child. Then last year was the adjusting year. The year we realized what an important decision we had made for our family. How that decision changed the path of our family's life. I'm the first to admit I was probably the most cautious or weary in the decision we made to start a business. I'm grateful now that we were where we where financially and mentally, and that Mike is 110% committed and capable of making our business and our life a success. For the support of family and friends. So this year is our year to EMBRACE! Each other, the daily aspects of living, our kids successes, failures, imperfections, perfections, happiness, as well as the challenges we can overcome and most importantly learn from. I embrace our mornings where we have time to hang out as a family before dad goes to work. That we have dinner as a family (although sometimes really loud and hectic) when he's home. Embrace our slow paced life and our love of spending time as a family together, embracing memories shared, even if it's family movie night with ice cream and popcorn. I need daily reminders to remember my word, but I'm more than willing to try.
This leads into my second opinion :) GRASS!! I love the quote "The Grass is greener where ever you Water It"...nothing monumental, but how true! It goes along with why aren't people just happy with what they have in this generation? We go along looking for greener grass everywhere. Thinking that it's always just ahead, right within our grasp, and this will lead to true happiness. We see everywhere that green pasture, it's in money, a great body, a successful job, a big house, etc. But that's all over-rated really. Because it's right here. It's in your heart, it's in your mind.
In the past year especially, I've realized how Green my Grass really is. Although it needs occasional watering, it's definatly green. Honestly. I have amazing kids, I have an amazing husband, a house over our head, a monthly income to feed our kids and allow security, and we are all healthy. In the game "would you Rather?", there is a card that says "Would you rather be extremely wealthy and have everything you could possibly want, or be poor but have the most amazing health". Without a doubt I would say Health over Wealth. It is as green as your mind will make it, and if you realize that, that's all you need. That is happiness. I don't long for more tangible items to make me happy. I do, however, long for my kids to play without fighting sometimes. I long for a maid to appear and clean and cook for me. For energy on days when I lack it to function. But My life is one full of blessings. I hope my kids know how lucky they are. I hope I always remember how lucky I am! Embrace. Embrace the Green grass.
In the blogging world, in the first month of the year, bloggers were setting a Word of the Year. Whether it was a special meaning, or a word to work on throughout the year. Usually these words for so many were a life lesson from the previous year. Or a trial they wanted to overcome. One strong word. Letters together to form who you want to be or portray or remember. I had a little discussion with Mike about what our Words would be. I got inspired :) I chose "EMBRACE". In the midst of life, you can often forget how to be thankful, grateful, loved, or blessed. The crazy years we had when we were so focused on a fast paced life, work, work, being unhappy with work, searching, searching for something other than that, and obviously raising a happy child. Then last year was the adjusting year. The year we realized what an important decision we had made for our family. How that decision changed the path of our family's life. I'm the first to admit I was probably the most cautious or weary in the decision we made to start a business. I'm grateful now that we were where we where financially and mentally, and that Mike is 110% committed and capable of making our business and our life a success. For the support of family and friends. So this year is our year to EMBRACE! Each other, the daily aspects of living, our kids successes, failures, imperfections, perfections, happiness, as well as the challenges we can overcome and most importantly learn from. I embrace our mornings where we have time to hang out as a family before dad goes to work. That we have dinner as a family (although sometimes really loud and hectic) when he's home. Embrace our slow paced life and our love of spending time as a family together, embracing memories shared, even if it's family movie night with ice cream and popcorn. I need daily reminders to remember my word, but I'm more than willing to try.
This leads into my second opinion :) GRASS!! I love the quote "The Grass is greener where ever you Water It"...nothing monumental, but how true! It goes along with why aren't people just happy with what they have in this generation? We go along looking for greener grass everywhere. Thinking that it's always just ahead, right within our grasp, and this will lead to true happiness. We see everywhere that green pasture, it's in money, a great body, a successful job, a big house, etc. But that's all over-rated really. Because it's right here. It's in your heart, it's in your mind.
In the past year especially, I've realized how Green my Grass really is. Although it needs occasional watering, it's definatly green. Honestly. I have amazing kids, I have an amazing husband, a house over our head, a monthly income to feed our kids and allow security, and we are all healthy. In the game "would you Rather?", there is a card that says "Would you rather be extremely wealthy and have everything you could possibly want, or be poor but have the most amazing health". Without a doubt I would say Health over Wealth. It is as green as your mind will make it, and if you realize that, that's all you need. That is happiness. I don't long for more tangible items to make me happy. I do, however, long for my kids to play without fighting sometimes. I long for a maid to appear and clean and cook for me. For energy on days when I lack it to function. But My life is one full of blessings. I hope my kids know how lucky they are. I hope I always remember how lucky I am! Embrace. Embrace the Green grass.
3/13/12
What I Love
Enjoying what we hope is the last snowfall. Big sister was doing her sisterly duty:)
Because, sometimes, your bed just doesn't cut it
A boy and his toys are inseperable
Showing her school pride (doesn't she look SO grown up!)
Because, sometimes, your bed just doesn't cut it
A boy and his toys are inseperable
Showing her school pride (doesn't she look SO grown up!)
Bring on the warmer weather!
I don't know about your house, but ours is MORE than READY for spring time!! We spent a fantastic weekend at my sisters house in Burley this past weekend. The weather was absolutely beautiful!! The kids were able to play outside ALL day long without being bundled up. Us moms got to sit back and watch, chat, and relax (mostly). I love just sitting there watching my kids eat up the cousin factor and taking random pictures that shows the love between them all makes my heart happy :)
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