Fuzzy Wasza...

good dog!

We will miss her.

Octopus for Father's Day?!?!

That's what the kids ordered. So, being instructed by my 5-year old son, I created a couple octopuses out of hot dogs for the grill.


Mmmmmmmmmmm...


I think they passed!

Eli and I enjoyed regular old brauts. Then, for dessert, homemade cherry pie. Yummmmmy! (I forgot to take a picture, oh well.)

Happy Father's Day to a wonderful father. I am so grateful Payton and Alyssa were blessed with Eli as their daddy. He loves them more than he ever thought possible. He is always wanting the best for them and tries hard to be a good dad for them. The kids run to give him a hug when he gets home from work. They know he loves them. They think the world of him. And I do too!

Lost Another Tooth

She is so excited for the Tooth Fairy to visit again!

First Time Fishing

"When is Daddy going to take me fishing?" I didn't know. I told Payton to ask Daddy, but, for weeks, he kept asking me. Finally, I decided the Saturday before Father's Day would be a good time for Eli to spend with the kids. I was glad Eli liked the idea too. He picked up 2 little fishing poles and a license. I packed up a lunch and we spend the afternoon by the lake. (Payton decided since he got a Sponge Bob fishing pole it was a good time to wear his Sponge Bob T-shirt.)


Both the kids had a great time fishing even if we didn't catch anything.

Eli and I had fun watching them. Eli was great keeping them all untangled and baited up.




It was a great Father's Day activity. I'm glad we just went ahead a did it. : )

My Little Fashion Diva

She prefers to do her own hair these days --- and she is quite proud of her do's too. Thankfully, she still lets me do when I insist.

"Your Huge Bottom!"

I'm suppose to be working. But, I keep thinking about an incident that makes me burst out laughing... I've got to write this down:

Over our years together, my husband and I put on some weight. Lately, we talk quite a bit about our fat stomachs and big bottoms and how we really ought to be doing something about that... Recently (for last Mother's Day), my husband and kids took me shoe shopping for a pair of ShapeUps. The sales rep. hands me a box with my size. Bent over doing shoelaces, I notice my husband leaning against a rack with the "I'm Tired of Shopping Already" look. I realize I had taken up the whole bench, so I grap up the shoe box as I slide over and offer him the space next to me. He declines. Meanwhile, Payton continues to move the rest of the shoe packaging and whatever I missed and announces loudly (so the whole store can hear), "Here, Daddy, there's a nice big spot for your HUGE bottom!" HAHAHAHA!!! (Yes, I'm LOL again.) What a character! What a memory! I love my kids.

Moms

(Those orange and red roses are my favorite. I wonder if that is why Eli picked this bouquet...)


My Mom
She has always been special to me. Random mom memories:

Her favorite color is yellow. She had 3 yellow silk roses in a tall vase (us kids eventually broke).
She made breakfast --- with us at her side.
She didn't get mad at me when I made blanket tents.
She read me bedtime stories.
One day she surprised me with a new dress for no reason at all.
She played dollhouse with me --- although, it seems I couldn't ever keep her there long enough.
She cried when her mother died.
She sang a "Good Morning Song" to wake us up. I didn't realize how off-key she was until I became an adult. I miss it.
Once she told me that the birds sing "Good Morning" too. (They do!)
She took us to the summer movies. (She lost a contact in the grass and she look for it for a long time.)
She would eat our food when we were full so that we could get down from the table.
She was always patient and kind.
Her spankings were more like pats on the bottom.
Her answer was always "Yes" when it could be.
She sewed outfits for my dolls and never got too upset when I messed up all her sewing machine settings trying to make Barbie clothes. (She even gave me her scraps to use.)
She taught me how to knit and let me use her yarn.
She guided me though my science-fair projects.
She only grounded me once, for 3-days, because some friends I was playing with started a fire in their backyard. She wasn't mean about it at all. But I never did do that again.
Once, she sent me to the store to pick up an onion. It cost 10¢!
She made me a beautiful dress for the high school "Preference Dance." She went to the store with me and I picked a pattern and material for it.
She'd help me find stuff I lost.
She'd help me finish things so I wouldn't be late.
She'd always listen to me.
She'd tell me to turn in my homework even if it wasn't done because it was better then getting a zero.
She went with me to find my wedding dress. She fit it to me. She even told me I looked like a wedding dress model. (ha-ha)
When I showed a friend of mine what I had made for my daughter, I realized that I associate "sewing things for your kids" as being a "good mom thing to do." (Alyssa asked me to make a nightgown for her doll, I am still amazed that it actually looks like one as well as fit the doll. The doll blanket and pillow I made, Alyssa got for Christmas. Her delight pleased me. I have to thank my mom for the patience to teach me and the patience to put up with my tantrums as I learned.)


Happy Mother's Day Mom! Thank you for everything. I love you!


Here, I would place a picture of Charlotte, my children's birth mother. We have one I particularly love. But, well, I don't believe it's my right to post it.

Charlotte raised our children for their first 8 months in her tummy. She could have chosen not too, but, she already loved them. She gave them life. Then she chose to give them more, a mother AND a father. She believed Eli and I would treat them right and raise them in love and offer them things she could not. Everyday we do our best to keep our promises to her, our promises to our children and our promises to God.

Happy Mother's Day, Charlotte! Payton and Alyssa are happy, beautiful, kind and healthy children. I am honored to share this day with you.


Eli's Mom
She raised an amazing son. She instilled a love for the gospel in each of her children's hearts. She taught by example and she is an example for me. Every one of her grandchildren know they are adored by her as well. She goes and goes and goes. That picture above shows that even at the end of a day with an energetic child, like Payton, she can still smile and he still knows that he is extra special. When Alyssa has to be disciplined, this is who she cries for.


Grandma Kutch
We all love our Grandma Kutch. She enjoys having the family together for "special programs" she puts together. When I first met Eli this was something I found to be very unique about his family and one reason to want to be part of it. Here she is doing a reading of The Polar Express with some of her great-grand children gathered around her.

Thank you Grandma K for your love and sharing your activities with us, and for sharing your squash. I never knew it was so versitile!!! ;-) We love you!


This is my Mother's Day barbeque. (We don't need a picture of me here --- this is so much better.) This is Eli grilling dinner with Alyssa at his side. On the right is my new patio set. (We bought it on clearance and the end of last summer. It is not only my Mother's Day gift, but my birthday and Easter gift as well. I can't wait to use it all summer long!)

Motherhood is a gift. Looking back into my family history I learned that there are several of my ancestors who never had children. I have two. I am grateful I will never have to endure another Mother's Day, but can celebrate it with a smile, a warm heart, and memories of the day I shared with Charlotte.

I LOVE being a mom!

"I Love My Daddy because...

...he took me to the store and bought me a hula-hoop!"

Alyssa


(Below's the real deal.)

iDesign

VOTE! PLEASE!!!



I'm not quite sure how to put a vote box on here...

I haven't needed to use my logo for so long that I have lost my digital copy. : ( But, I have wanted to revamp it for quite some time and now I need to put in on some invoices... so, I had to do something, and quick.

So, the "Vote" is on the first " i " on both of them and the "4U" on the second one.

And... the overall look of it, any opinions will help.

Thanks! : )

The Tooth Fairy

No, nobody lost a tooth. Febraury is "National Children’s Dental Health Month" and that is the theme of the next San Juan County Kids paper. Eventually the conversation about the Tooth Fairy came up with my kids:

me: When your teeth fall out, do you think the Tooth Fairy will come get them?
Alyssa: My teeth aren’t going to fall out.
me: Oh, your little baby teeth will fall out and you’ll get new big teeth.
Alyssa: When my teeth fall out I’m gunna put them under my pillow so that the Teeth Fairy will come so that she will leave us money.
me: Oh... then what will she do with your tooth?
Alyssa: Put it in the mailbox.

Hmmmmmm...

me: Payton, what do you know about the Tooth Fairy.
Payton: She comes to get our teeth when they fall out.
me: Oh. Why does she take them.
Payton: To fix them!
me: She does?!?!? and then what does she do with them?
Payton: She puts them back in.
!!!

Seriously! ; D