Eli and the Dinosaurs

I was talking to Eli about the dinosaur show coming to Spokane and he was asking if they were in cages. I told them they were like robots. He still wanted to know if they were in cages. I explained that they were on remotes and that they weren't real.
Eli: where are all the real ones.
Me: all the real ones died.
Eli: Yeah, because of their eggs.
Me: What do you mean their eggs?
Eli: They all stinked.

Too hilarious. Get it extinct. He was thinking eggs stinked. What a funny little boy who makes me laugh.

Deactivated

This may sound a bit overdone but I deactivated my facebook account. I can't remember why I had started that account but I left it alone for months. Then I got an email from my uncle saying happy birthday. Apparently it had notified him it was my birthday so he posted on my page which sent me any email. At the time I had maybe 3 friends on facebook. Didn't think much of it until a few months ago when I needed something I could do while babysitting. I couldn't start any project or read without interruptions. I could look through fb while standing so 10 kids wouldn't fight over my lap. It was mindless and that is what I needed. Something to break up my child filled days of child filled conversations. Well I quit daycare about a month ago. Now with a bit more time on my hands and could sit in front of the computer I found myself sitting. Derek started playing farmville which I got familiar with when I helped Alexandra set up her farm. I decide if I set up a farm I can help Derek get farther on his. Anyway anyone who knows someone who plays farmville knows it can be quite addicting. Earning money and points and ribbons. I used to think my brother was silly for playing but then I found myself on it all the time. Not so much because it is so fun but because it was easy and distracting from all the other things I should be doing. As I sit at my computer I have my back to a table of photos and scrapbook supplies. I do not care to scrapbook anymore but promised myself I would finish all my kids baby books. So as I walk into the room to work on these books i would sit at the computer instead. When I should be getting my kids ready for bed I would be harvesting strawberries or looking at photos of people I haven't' seen or cared to see in 15 years. A week ago Derek asked if I wanted to share an account with him. I thought that was sweet but then I would have to give up my farm and I had "worked" very hard to get to level 33. But I did consider giving up my account. then i considered just checking mine every 4 to 5 days. then i tried to go a day without checking it. since i couldn't I deactivated it. How funny, I thought, that I was hooked on facebook. And when deactivating they give you a few options as to why you deactivate. and yes "I find myself spending too much time on facebook" was the option I checked. My day has been unbelievable awesome. I feel so much better not getting on. I cannot tell you the amount of housework I got done. Plus I played board games with the kids. It used to drive me crazy when they would ask me to do things when I was on the computer. So why didn't i stop getting on facebook earlier. I guess I justified it as being my hobby. The one thing in the day I did that was sort of for me. Anyway I am happy to be off and hope to blog again. but in a way that it will be a journal for our family to keep.

Pumpkin patch

We went to the high school this year to let the kids pick out pumpkins. We ended up with ten. We knew they wouldn't last carved until Halloween but we wanted to carve them with Derek.

Our vacation with Daddy.

It has been months since we had seen Derek. We were so excited to have him home. Even if it was just for 2 weeks. We didn't do a whole lot. It was just nice to be together. W hung out at the house, had a BBQ with friends and took a little trip to the beach.

It was so beautiful seeing the beach. Even though the temp was only in the 60s and the water was even colder we had a blast. The kids jumped waves, made sand castles and collected shells and sand dollars. A little warmer and we could have spent the entire day just sittin' on the beach. We rented a little cottage and stayed for a few days. It was nice to be just us. We spent one day at Ocean shores riding go carts, bowling and eating pizza.

Vanessa's 3rd Birthday.

There were three candles. I am not sure why it only looks like two

I had big plans for Vanessa's birthday. Originally I had thought Derek would be home on leave and we would BBQ. I was going to make a beautiful butterfly cake with the new pan I had. But as usual time flew and Derek wasn't going to be in town. Alexandra had 2 soccer games that day so I didn't do the cake which should have been made days before and frozen. But I managed to pull off a pretty good party last minute. It was just my kids, my mom, sister, and niece and a store bought cake. Vanessa had a blast. She got clothes, dress up clothes, a larger my little pony which she still calls a dragon, a stuffed dog that sings and talks to her and a over sized stuffed elephant. Along with a bunch of super cute animal hand puppets. She loaded all her presents onto the elephant and pulled them around the house.

Xavier's birthday.7

I do have photos of Xavier's birthday. can't seem to locate on the hard drive. until then...

Xavier's birthday fell on a Saturday this year which I thought would be perfect. But for some reason I can't remember we decided to have cake and ice cream on Sunday. Sticking with tradition we had it at my parents house again. We invited all the cousins, had a pinata, opened gifts and had cake and ice cream. Xavier made out like a bandit. (where did that phrase come from) He ended up with a bunch of LEGO sets which is exactly what he wanted. the weather was great and we were able to just hang out and enjoy an afternoon in Grandma's yard.

First Day

Sending Xavier off to first grade was much different than Alexandra had been. She was always ready to go and didn't have much problem being away from home. Xavier is very much a homebody. He is like me that way. We had gone to meet your teacher the night before and checked out the new school. The kids were excited. Xavier was a bit nervous but was happy he got to finally ride the bus. I was nervous because this was the first time Xavier would be gone longer than the 3 hours of Kindergarten. When he got off the bus at home he was glad that school was over. I asked how it had gone and apparently he had spent a good part of the day crying. I told him that it will get easier and tomorrow will be better. His response "but mom, I'm not going back." Uuuh what? This was only the beginning. We have had many horrible morning battles trying to get him out of bed, dressed and on the bus. Some days I would just be mad that he was acting so defiant. Other days I genuinely felt sorry for him because he seemed terrified. He was having lots of anxiety as to what might happen. After missing 3 days the second week I drove him to school and walked him to his class. It was awful. He was crying the whole time which got me all teary eyed. I felt so horrible leaving him there screaming. A couple days the school councilor had sat in the class with him. My dad gave him a blessing that it would get better and he would make a friend that would make things easier. I know it helped the very next day he came home and told me about Hunter. He was so excited. Within 2 weeks Hunter was moved to the new first grade class they were starting because of too many students. Xavier didn't' want to go back. Not until end of October has Xavier accepted that he has to go to school. He still asks how many days until a day off or if there are any early release days in the week. I had seriously considered home schooling instead I decided to quit doing daycare. I will be able to help in his class or just give him more attention when he gets home in the afternoon. I am so unbelievable blessed that I have Derek's support on this. We have both recognized the needs of our children and the effects of having other kids in our home all the time. It will be a change to go back to one income but I know the blessings will be great. I hope to get back into school a couple hours a day and get my nursing degree. So I can work when my kids are all in school full time.

Silverwood

What a hectic day. Alexandra and Xavier both earned free admission tickets to Silverwood through the reading program at school. Which is great except my ticket was over $40. We decided to meet up with our friends the Mckinnis family hoping that her older kids would ride the bigger rides with Alexandra. I haven't been to Silverwood in 15 years. I didn't realize how spread out it is. There aren't that many rides there and all my kids are at different stages of rides. Eli wanted to ride the small rides. Xavier was ready for rides like the boat and log rides. Alexandra wanted to hit all the roller coasters. I swear I walked a good 5 miles that day, in circles. I am so grateful my mom babysat Vanessa that day. We rode the rides for most of the day. We had split up. I stayed with my boys hitting the smaller rides while Alexandra went with the others to go on the bigger rides. We met up late afternoon at the water park. Alexandra went on some of the crazies water slides I am not sure I would ever go on. It was a long day. We were heading out about 6 when I asked Alexandra if she had gone on all the rides she wanted. She hadn't even gone on one roller coaster. I felt so bad. I thought that is what they were doing the whole time but they didn't. They had gone on rides but no coasters. So we went back to the rides and she went on a coaster. I should have stayed longer and let her go on all of them but I was wiped out and still had the 3 hour drive ahead. All in all. I won't be going to Silverwood again any time soon.

Beautiful

Vanessa 2, Eli 4, Xavier 6, Alexandra 9

Xavier never lets me take pics. So i am lucky I got this one

I love this pic of Vanessa!!!

Woodland Park Zoo

Eli on the Carousel

Vanessa claimed all the hippos as hers

Alexandra on carousel

MMMMM... Sugar

Alexandra watching the elephants

Me taking a dip... I was told to put more pics of myself on. there you go.

Xavier and Eli just monkeying around.

A few summer pictures

Xavier in the tub

Eli up to bat. I hate pitching to them. They hit really hard


Jaidon and Quinton Lybbert with Xavier


Xavier is learning frisbee so he can disc golf with daddy.


Vanessa making a splash!

Eli cannot stop twirling his hair. The other day he while holding his gum accidentally twirled it into his hair.

The reason once again for not having as many pics of Alexandra is because she is often off doing her own thing. Not close to me where I can take lots of pictures of her. I will try to get a few more shots of her. We have lots of summer to go.