Pre Vacation Vacation

 Our back yard is a little mountain of rocks and over the last year and a half that we have been here the cracks have got bigger and rocks have even fallen. We finally got Townsite to come look at the mess our back yard has become. Well the decided that it wasnt safe to live in our house,  even if we stayed inside and didnt go in the back yard. They kicked us out! They kicked us out of our house a week before our big trip to Utah. They put us up in a temporary house that basically only had furniture and dishes. They didnt tell me how long we would be out for but did say to take stuff for the night. So that is what I did. I packed a back with clothes for the kids, clothes for my self and diapers to last the rest of the day and into the next.

The back yard before work began

The kids seemed to really enjoy this little get away.

Had to jump on all the beds in the house

Picking "flowers" for Mommy while waiting for the storm to blow in

Dancing in the Rain

Blaine & Mommy

My Tiny Dancer

Watching the Rain Together

I spy with my little eye- 4 little fingers

We were a total of 3 days and 2 nights.  I had returned to the house several times during those 3 days and each time I managed to get in trouble for being there. Under no circumstances were we supposed to be at the house before we got the ok to go back. I kept telling the guy in charge that we were leaving for vacation in number of days and I REALLY needed to get stuff packed and done at the house. He didnt really care. Thank goodness we were able to be back at the house Friday afternoon, which gave me oh a day and a half to wash laundry, clean the house and pack up for our trip. Thanks peeps. 

I was so glad to be back in our own beds. I was for sure ready to go on our REAL vacation! 

Oh and no they arnt done in the back yard. They dug out a lot of the rocks, messed up the grass and patio. Now we are waiting on a guy to come by and look at what was done. More work to come but not till after August 4th or so. Yeey, NOT! But least we are able to be in our own house for now. 

----Robin

A Scecret of Mine

There's something I think about doing a lot. Sometimes get kinda obsessive about it. I want to put Ellie in a pageant. No, not the Toddlers and Tiara type pageants. The natrual, non-glitz pageants. No fake hair, no fake teeth, no fake tan, no billion dollar dresses. I think she would have a lot of fun. I just don't know how to get started. Id have to teach her the formal wear walk. You know from X to X, pause, turn slow and smile. Not sure I can teach her. Also, if she was entered into like an outfit of choice she would need another routine. Again, not sure if she'd listen and learn from me. Wish we had more choices in this town for our children (dance class, gymnastics, etc) I've talked to the director of the pageants around our area, she sounds very nice (via email) The Mr/Miss Kingman pageant is this weekend, but I don't have enough time to plan. I'm thinking, if I got started at the begining of 2013, maybe we would be prepared for our more so local pageants. (By local I mean the closest one is 1.5 hrs away and the others are 2-3+ hours away) Its 4:42 am and this is what's on my brain. I'm looking at dresses and costumes and daydreaming (or early morning dreaming). Maybe Ill be able do this. Anyone else have a pageant star in their home? Any tips?

----Robin

A New Hair Do

 I am so tired of my hair right now. Its long, straight and difficult to do anything to. I am hair illiterate (along with style and make up illiterate). I can do the basic slicked back pony tail, a tiny poof with my bangs (which just disappoints me because its not as nice as everyone else's). I can curl it with a flat iron and most of the time it turns out alright, I like to use a 3 barrel curling iron to give me waves (the beachy look). That's about all though. I try to tease the top/back to give it move style/volume but it doesnt stay long, falls flat. I even tried using a volumizer cream, nada. I just bought my first blow dryer in I cant tell you how many years (maybe 3?) and a round brush and I had no luck styling it with those two tools. Im so illiterate :(

So now I want to get a hair cut, nothing crazy! Here are some of what I like right now.

Layers and side bangs. Though, I am kinda scared of getting bangs. I havent had bangs in forever. I really couldnt tell you how long. I figure though if they are long ones then I could still pull them back if I decide I hate them. 

So hopefully either Tuesday evening or Wednesday evening Ill be getting my hair cut. Wish I could get it colored too but that will have to wait till another time. Hope I can actually pull off a look like this and be able to fix my hiar! We shall find out. Ill post an update :)

---Robin

9 Months!

 Oh my goodness! Blaine is 9 months old today. (Shock & Gasp!)

So, as of today, we started Stage 3 foods. Either he wasnt hungry or he didnt like it. The kind I gave him had little star noodles, carrot and green bean pieces. (Chicken Noodle Soup by Beech Nut) It could have also been because it's a new texture and they may use more seasoning in Stage 3. Anyways, He is dieing to pull up on stuff. If we put our hands out for him, he grab on and stand up! We dont even have to pull him up, he does it on his own. What a big boy! He still isnt really crawling yet. He has army crawled like 2 times but still  prefers rolling all over the house. He still only has 2 teeth but has been very whinny and needy as of lately, so maybe he is teething some more. (Eek!) He is doing great sleeping in the crib in Garrett's room (guess it is now officially both of their room)  Most of the time when he wakes during the night I can just put his paci back into his mouth and he will roll over on his side. It's the cutest thing. He also love to take a bath. He has started to roll over in the tub. It's freaky but I watch him really close!! (duh!) 

My little guy is growing up to fast!! 

"Hey Ma, How about a bath?!" 

Love you little fatty!

---Robin

Happy 4th of July

  This year for the 4th Logan decided to work and get the extra money or our upcoming trip. I got the kids ready to go to the parade. (Yes, its a pretty lame parade when you think about it, but since we live in a small town with no marching band and very very few businesses, well you get what you have.)

Then we headed off to the festivities.

Once the parade was over and all the candy was picked up off the street, we headed to the next event. The had a haul truck and front end loader out for us regular people to see up close. 

A little back story- We live in a Copper Mine community. The haul truck and loader are equipment they use in the mine. Us "regular" people dont get to come n contact with this stuff like ever. So this was a real treat, specially for the kids. However, Garrett fell in the loader's bucket and it ruined the rest of his day! Well at least this part of the day. Isnt it crazy how big they are? The tires are enormous and Ellie could actually stand under the haul truck. 

The next events were bounce houses which made everyone happy. 

Then we stood in line for this water slide that both the kids said they wanted to do. I should have known better.

Once she got to the top, she wanted down. So then it was Garrett's turn. He climbed up very slow, the guy running the slide said I could help him up. So I climbed up and gave him an extra push up and then on my way back down the steps, I fell. Awesome! lol Then of course, Garrett sat at the top of the slide and cried "scared!" So needless to say, I had to climb back up and get him. If I would have been prepared for a water slide and had towels, I probably would have pushed him down the slide. Mawhahaha! :)

We stopped for some of the festivity food and it started to rain on us. We (I) decided it was time to go home. 

Living in Arizona we didnt have fireworks in our little town. We could have drove 1.5 hours away to see some but didnt want to do that. We went for a little ride after Logan got home and fixed the Ranger. 

That night we watched the New York fireworks on T.V.

My poor firework deprived kids! 

Hope everyone had a great and safe 4th!! 

---Robin

A Birthday Story

Four years ago there was a young woman who was living with her parents. She was 36 weeks pregnant. On the 1st of July she didnt feel her normally very active little girl move at all that day. Around 8 pm that night she finally told her mom and they sat on the couch, poke and pushing on the girls belly trying to get the baby to move. Nothing. They decided to go to the hospital 10 minutes away. Once checked in and hooked up to the monitors, they found the baby's heartbeat and she was fine. Though her heart rate wasnt accelerating when she moved, the way they wanted it too. They ended up keeping the mom-to-be over night for monitoring. Around 4 am on the 2nd, the young woman and her mom decided to walk around the hospital. They were tired of laying and not sleeping. After they got back into the room the girl thought she might have been having contractions but they werent close or painful. Later that morning the nurse came in to talk to her. Everything was good with the baby and her OB had told the nurse to check her for dilation. The nurse said she was at 3 cm but that it didnt mean anything, she could still go to full term. So they said not to leave town. The girl and her mom went home. The contractions started to get worse and the young woman tried a few things to see if they would stop, nothing helped and the pain just got worse. Around 11:30 am she said it was time to go back to the hospital. They went and got checked in again. She had dilated to 4 cm. They decided to keep her since she was contracting and seemed to be making progress. Sometime later the young girl got an epidural because the pain was hard to handle. At that time she was 5 cm. About 2 hours later her water broke, the nurses checked her and the baby was right there ready to come out. It only took the soon to be new mom about 30 minutes to deliver her new baby girl. Her name was Elisabeth-Quinn Maxine.

Thats right, that beautiful baby born on July 2nd is my sweet little girl Ellie. She is now 4 years old. It is crazy and insane to think that she is 4 years old and that it has actually been 4 years since I had her. So much has changed in the last 4 years.

She has grown into this beautiful little girl with enough spunk, sass and attitude to fuel 5 girls! Im not very good at listing what all she can do now, but heres a few things: She can count to 15 pretty good but cant identify most of the numbers. She can say the ABCs but again cant identify any of the letters. She loves to play with her friends and even her brother sometimes. She is learning to back talk and its really starting to push mine and Logan's buttons. She is very girly, loves pink and everything princess related. It's so funny cause before she was born I was very ANTI-princess because some people push that stuff onto their children and it drove me nuts. But its like that stuff is programmed into their brains "Like pink, like princess stuff, like girly things." Its automatic and I've got over the issues with it, she learned to like it on her own. Nothing was pushed onto her. She is very talkative but can still be shy around some people. She is also starting Pre-k in a month. She is very excited about it and hopefully she continues to be excited once class actually starts. She has great manners and usually says thank you and please without having to be prompted. Still having issues sharing with Garrett. She is day time potty trained and was doing great at night time staying dry, however, the last 3 nights she has had accidents. She is full of love for her family and friends.

Picture Time :)

This is her last year. She still looked like such a baby. Awwww!

This is a collage of birthday pics I made 2 years ago

For her birthday we had a small party at the park with a pool and slip n slide. The kids all enjoyed it and it turned out great. 

Happy 4th Birthday, Ellie!

Love Mom!