What we've been up to lately:

Just a few pictures from the last two weeks

Idaho Falls Visit-fed geese with the cousins!

Went to the Zoo for Whitney's B-day..she got to bring 2 friends.

yep it was just me and these 6 little monsters!

Waiting to watch fireworks!!

And Last but not least: We adopted this black lab named Tessa

The kids love her!

Summer is here...

Joe finally got a job about three weeks ago and so I have finally been able to get a schedule going again. It is really nice because he comes home for lunch and so i still get to see him during the daytime. I was just getting used to the new change-when the stomach flu hit our house and cycled back to hit Brooke twice. Whenever my family is sick-it just puts everything on hold and laundry is the first thing to get backed up. I am so glad that it's finally over and we are all doing better.

The girls finished with Spring soccer and both did fabulous-Whitney scored an amazing shot! Amber's last day for school was last Wednesday and Whitney doesn't get out until this Friday. They will both have summer chores and summer school with mom to do before they get to play for the rest of their day-I think i will let them have one week break before I get started..and also give me a little extra time to prepare. I have so many goals this summer for my family:

• Finish losing the rest of my unwanted weight
• Get Amber 2nd grade ready
• Teach Amber to ride her bike without training wheels
• Teach both of the older girls to swim
• Have a second chance honeymoon in Oregon with my hubby for our 10yr anniversary
• Potty Train Brooke-we are making headway already and I am so excited!!
• Trevor walking
• Visit temple as often as we can (before it closes for work being done on it).

At the girls' last soccer games...Trevor just loved sitting in and playing with this box !

Another Home Cleaning Tip.

Okay so have you ever run out of dryer sheets and had a load just sitting in the wash waiting to go in the dryer?? I have to say that has happened to me quite a few times. This occurred to me yesterday-Sunday and ofcourse I wasn't able to go to the store so i set about finding an alternative. Ofcourse i googled and here is what i found out that other people use to eliminate static and soften their laundry:

1. Throw in Tennis balls (newones-not ones that have been used outside or as a pet toy-obviously)
2. Just throw in 1/4 -1/2 cup white distilled vinegar in the last rinse cycle in the washer. Some women put it in those downy balls-so they don't have to wait around for that cycle to come up.
3. Dilute fabric softener in some water -soak a clean sponge in it, wring it out and throw in dryer.
4. Put 2-3 balls of aluminum foil in dryer with laundry.

I did #2 because it was the most convenient thing i had on hand..and it really did well. Except on our whites-everything was soft but still some static. All in all still a good way to keep laundry going.

I've heard somewhere that dryer sheets are made of animal fat-if you are into animal rights-then please use the above ideas!! The Vinegar is also a great way to help remove any soap residue lingering on your clothes.

Who does he really look most like ??

Okay so my take on Trevor is that he looks like both my husband and me. Most people think he looks most like Joe-because, well he does look similar to Joe and he is a boy..so naturally I think that is the conclusion they come to. So I thought I'd let you all see Trevor next to me and Joe as babies and let you guys decide based on the pictures. (I don't have a scanner so our "old" pictures may seem a bit grainy as I had to take a picture of them with my camera. )

Me

Trevor

Joe

Happy Birthday to T-Man

Trevor turned one yesterday-I cannot believe how quick the last year went. Trevor's birthday was super fun. We had family visiting and cousins were everywhere. We took the kids to Bounce inbewtween General Conference sessions, which btw, was amazing-I came away so spiritually touched by each Speaker. It was announce that a new Temple will be built here!!! So neat. Plus I won two giveaways (see I told you his birthday was fun-it was almost like it as my birthday!) It rained a little and there was some sunshine-all in all a perfect weekend-except for the fact that Whitney woke up puking last night. Will someone tell her to stop gettin sick already?? Anyway-Here are just some of the highlights:

Eating Birthday Cake

His hands got a little involved with is forehead on this one.

Presents!!Grandma bought him these stacking toys an the puzzles an keys were from his cousins!!

First Haircut and MOOsical!

Trevor's First official Haircut

Amber's 1st grade music progam-she is the piggie on the right!

Check her out work'n that broom!

March Madness

So usually with a post title like that I am talking basketball-OH YEAH!! But actually i just feel that Spring is finally coming and with it is the crazy weather we Idahoans have become used to. Rain, Snow, Sun, Wind and hail all in one day. (yes this really does happen here) But above this I have this overwhelming feeling to start my spring cleaning and get everything in order. With 4 kids-it's rather difficult to keep things organized. My husband says i like "piles". Because usually I will sort out everything in piles and then have no where to put these piles...that's really the problem. So I have compiled my wishlist of organization tools to help me out with my future endeavors...then maybe I will get to relax and actually enjoy the REAL MARCH MADNESS INTENSITY and AWESOMENESS!

Paper clutter: I love this idea from Chic on a shoestring... using a decorative basket for a filing system:

And for the Bathroom-makeup or odds and ends-This one is a space saver!

Ooh and for books --they are all over the place all of the time. I like the idea of putting the books together by theme into bins like on the right.And ofcourse my two best friend in this process will be these guys:

Wish Me LUCK!!

Well it's been a crazy three weeks starting off with Whitney getting Strep-she had a fever/sore throat/vommitting-I took her straight in to get antibiotics...which helped her fight the infection but also a week later gave her a bunch of these:

Pathetic girl was itching like crazy-that was a lot of hystamine to knock out her system and it took another week before it cleared up completely. By the time that happened the 24 hour stomach bug hit Brooke-then Trevor the next day and later, unfortunately for her, Whitney again-and Me and Joe. Fast forward a few days and Trevor caught some kind of nasty cold and has been congested/puking some too. Surpisingly enough the one child that we have to remind to wash hands constantly did not come down with anything. Amber has been healthier than all of us. Amazingly enough we had 3 different sets of family visiting inbetween all this mad sickness going around and our dryer broke down on us. I am ready for things to settle down.

Amber's heart hair from Valentines Day!

Whitney playing basketball-she made three baskets at her game on Saturday!

Happy Valentines Day !!!!

Here's cupid in action!!

Bloggity blah blah blah

I'm not certain if it's the limited time I find myself on the computer or lack of something to report but I have been neglecting my blog for quite sometime and it has been bothering me something fierce lately. So here is my best attempt at playing catch up and by no means does it include a promise to do better in the future-cuz let's face it, none of us are perfect.

So I should probably just start where I left off from my last post. Okay so potty training is on a huge hold right now-Brooke just isn't showing any readiness signals and she still wakes up in the morning with a wet diaper (no she doesn't have a sippy cup to bed with her) so I am reluctantly waiting a bit longer, though I pray everyday that she is ready soon.

Amber is continually surprising me with what she knows. She has really started enjoying reading and has read 40 books this year (at her level). I love to hear her read books on her own without any help from me-it really is a great accomplishment. She has found and really loves Pokeman and will come home from the library toting whatever movie they have from the series.

Whitney is playing basketball through the YMCA here and she is doing really great. She is pretty good with dribbling and will switch from her left to right and back pretty often. She almost dribbles better than me...I hate dribbling left handed. She has strep throat right now and the first day she was doing pretty bad-not keeping anything down-chills, fever, sore throat...just a train wreck poor thing. She is on antibiotics and was given a steroid to shrink her throat inflammation and is doing much better.

Trevor now has 2 teeth on his lower gumline and i am in the process of weaning him from me. He has learned to clap his hands. He still isn't crawling yet at ten months-He likes to circle on his belly and roll alot. At times he will lift his belly and i think by the end of the month he will be on all fours. I am content for now that he's not too mobile. He is such a sweetheart. As for me, teaching two dance classes a week, volunteering at the school and ofcourse young womens-keeps me busy enough. If I am lucky I do modern and Ballet with a bunch of other women on Mon/Fri mornings and get my dance on for just me. I cannot wait for nicer weather and the opportunity to take the younger kids on walks. I am so done with Winter.

It finally came to pass...

After sitting for 2 hours straight...Brooke finally went on the potty chair!! Yep it was a double wammy, going both #1 and #2. Some of you may think this just plain idle chatter but at our house it was cause for a celebration!! When Brooke turned 2 I had introduced her to the "potty" chair with not much interest and alot of fighting afterwards. So this has been a non-forced issue but the option was there and offered quite frequently. So we are going to go the no diaper route (except when we leave the house or during sleeping). My biggest worry is that she isn't able yet to feel the urge to go- when she went today, she wasn't really aware that she was going. I was sitting next to her and she too engrossed in her vtech game to notice-I kind of had to point it out to her because I heard her go. For those of you who have followed my blog for a while-you will remember that Brooke had low muscle tone in her lower body. I am wondering now if this could also mean her bladder muscles too might be weaker as well. Anyone else have issues similar to this that caused toilet training delays??

A new year

With a new year comes new goals..or old ones still unfinished.
Here are just a few of mine so far..

1. Potty train Brooke-she just turned 3, yet she is fighting me on this one.
2. Move Trevor into his own room and hopefully get him to sleep through the night.
3. Get Amber independently reading on her own...this one may be the hardest goal of the year.
4. Lose my baby weight-I was hoping by this time I would have got to my goal but alas-I think once again, I will have to quit nursing altogether before my body decides to shed any more unwanted fat.
5. After goal #4 is completed-I want to downsize my closet-get rid of all clothes that don't fit or that i don't wear anymore.
6. Dejunk the toys that I didn't get to before Christmas.
7. Try to get my housecleaning routine back in the schedule.
8. If #2 happens, I'd like to go to bed by 10:30 every night-i'm a night owl, so this one will be tough.
9. Schedule more playdates for Brooke.
10. Take kids to the park more during the summertime-we didn't go much last year.
11. Go to the Portland Temple for my 10 year wedding anniversary.
12. Visit Home(my parents) at least once.
13. Try to be more understanding and kind about everything.

Like I said before-so far, I am sure I will add to this list.