Just Rolling Along....

The kids and I had fun Friday night during the PTA's Free Classic Fun Center skate night. It was free to get in if your family had a student that went to Antelope Elementary. You could bring a scooter or your own skates/blades and use them or rent a pair of skates for a dollar. Tyler actually went with a friend but I caught up with him and snapped this picture. He likes to make funny faces at the camera.

Sydney was able to see some friends that were from her old school. She is hard to keep up with on skates!

Dallin was mesmerized by all of the lights and music. He loved it when I put on skates and pushed his in his stroller! He was mad when I had to stop because it was time to go. It was a fun evening for all. Ryan wasn't able to come because he was working late on his new business that he has been starting up.

Wild Hair Update!

Okay, so I was picking Sydney up from school and we had to drop by a friends house to pick up some papers. We talked for a minute and then I noticed this huge paper clip in her hair. I started laughing because I didn't put it in there. Sydney said a wire in one braid had been bothering her, and so she used the paperclip to "block it from hurting my head". Then it got stuck in her hair!!!!!

I LIED!!!

She finally let me do her hair........

FOR CRAZY HAIR DAY! It is Red Ribbon Week at school. The Kids learn about staying drug free. Then, for each day of the week they do something special. Yesterday, it was sneakers day. Tommorow it will be hat day and then Friday it is sunglasses day. Sydney was excited for me to do her hair crazy! I braided a piece of thin wire into each section of hair and she loved it! Even Tyler couldn't help but play with the braids! I know this picture is blurry, but she had to leave for school.

This little guy is the main reason why I haven't blogged for a couple of days. He has been up at night, sick with an upper respiratory bug since Friday. He also is teething, having just cut his seventh tooth and working on the eighth. Good thing I love him so much! He has mastered the art of climbing the stairs!

Pics of Sydney (Syd)

Yesterday I posted a couple of close up pictures of Tyler and Dallin. I found a couple pics of Sydney that are a little better. This one was taken by Kristi last Easter. The hairstyle she has in the photo is the only way she will fix her hair right now. She won't let me put anything in it- she feels this is her most flattering, natural look. I gave up on fighting this battle. Maybe someday she will change her mind- or maybe not.

I did get to play with her hair for a few years and I made sure to french-braid her hair once in a while. It's hard to let go of the control of your children and let them decide for themselves their clothes, hair etc. But the sooner we do, the less fights ensue. They then learn for themselves the "logical reasons" for not wearing shorts to school in the middle of winter, or long shirts in the middle of summer or my favorite, whether things should match! Eventually, they want to fit in with their peers and matching clothes doesn't become an issue. In the case of Tyler, I learned that he believes jeans don't go with every color.

One day he came to me complaining he had nothing to wear and I knew this was not true- I had done the laundry a couple days before. I proceeded to pick out a pair of jeans and a shirt and gave them to him saying this would look good together. He promptly informed me that it didn't go together, and I insisted that jeans go with every color. He eventually found something he liked and I still don't know what was wrong with the outfit I picked out! Don't get me wrong- I will ask once in a while about their wisdom in their choice of clothing, and on special occasions insist on a certain style.

I've noticed some of my friends suggest parenting books that they have enjoyed. I've enjoyed the "Parenting with Love and Logic" book by Jim Fay and Foster W. Cline and the classes taught by other psyhologists and/or educators that teach this method. I've gone to a couple different sessions of this class because I can't seem to remember the techniques from year to year. It really helped me whenI was doing childcare and dealing with kids from different backgrounds and parents. Some of the videos they show in class are funny and you tend to have those Ah-ha moments when you realize the truth of what is being taught (I should probably go again or atleast read it again!). I recomend looking up the website "Love and Logic". There is also a book called "Teaching with Love and Logic" for teachers who loose control in the classroom.

Now, back to the pictures of Sydney.....

This one of Sydney was taken about 3 years ago, but this is the best one of her face that isn't copyrighted. I am alowed to share this low-resolution photo from Walmart. Isn't she adorable? Notice I was still allowed to fix her hair then!

Here is a picture of my house. It's nothing fancy, but has a lot of space which we have filled up! Notice the lack of flowers in the front, I've not done much with the front this year since having Dallin, and the weaping cherry tree has grown over my mums and the pretty rocks. I had trimmed the cherry tree, but it grew another couple of feet in the branches. The rose bush in front of the porch has been trimmed monthly because it grows wild branches all over. When it is in bloom though, it has hundreds of light pink hybrid tea roses. We salvaged that bush and a few other rose plants from a house that was being demolished to make room for a new subdivision. They have turned out to be extreemly hardy bushes!

Pics of the kids!

My oldest, Tyler watching a movie two days ago.

Sydney, my second child, with my Sister Kristi and my Dad Richard. This is what my kitchen looks like.

Dallin, my third child, at about 4 1/2 months of age. Photo taken by my sister Kristi who just graduated from BYU Idaho with a Batchelor of Fine Arts.

Dallin a couple of days ago.

My Mom Linda, and Dallin at about 5 months of age. Happy Grandma! She is smitten with baby love! Photo by Kristi.

Thar she blows!!

Winter is fast approaching and I wanted to show you these pictures that I took yesterday. You can see the snow line against the Rockies. Way cool! I love to see how much snow is on the mountains throughout the year! Here is another picture.

This one shows the mountians almost all the way to Bountiful. I took these shots from Sydney's room (In case you've never been to my house) since she has the best views. You can also see the cul-de-sac that we live in. We have great neighbors and tons of kids all around to play with. We are so blessed! Someday we may try to get a house in the country with a stream running through the backyard (dreaming) but for now, this is the best place for our kids since they would just DIE without friends to play with! Personally, I would love to have an older house just to have a BIG tree in the yard to hang a swing on, climb, and to have a fort in it. I guess we can't have everything! But if you do have everything- I'm happy for you.

What a dog-gone day!

An interesting thing happened as I was about to feed Dallin. Sampson, our dog, began barking and running from the front room window to the living room window and then over to the kitchen bay window and back again. About that time, I noticed that all the other neighborhood dogs were barking too. I decided to check it out. I lifted the blinds to get an unobstructed view of the backyard. There was a black Labrador sniffing around that I had never seen before. Being an owner of a big dog and having only a partially fenced yard, I've noticed other dogs are attracted to our place. I tapped on the glass to see how the dog would react. It looked up, seemed interested and didn't bark. I could tell now that it was a female because she was obviously lactating. She was very swollen with milk and I wondered where she came from and where her pups were. I watched her circle to the side of the house and then I decided to check her out further. Dallin, being a good baby, was content to be strapped in the highchair while watching this little show. I opened the back door and slipped out before Sampson could come bounding out. I called to her and she seemed excited to see me and started to come towards me. By this time Sampson was crazy and wanted out. Knowing most Labs are friendly and smart, and judging from her disposition, I decided to let Sampson out to inspect this new visitor. He ran partway over to her then slowed down to watch her reaction. She dropped to her stomach and waited for him to sniff her out. Instant friends!!

This is not the first time a strange dog has come around to our backyard. Usually, I have two choices, call animal control and risk it running away and getting hurt or get close enough to the dog to check for ID. If it has ID, I call the owner. I've heard how expensive it can be to get your dog out of the Shelter especially if it isn't up to date on vaccines. It can be up to $200!! I usually hook up the dog outside or put it into the garage (depending on the weather) while I wait for the owner or Animal Control to come. This Lab didn't have any tags on her but judging from her condition, I doubt she traveled too far. I decided to hook her up in the backyard and call Animal Control. If I didn't have an infant to take care of, I might have taken her in and posted "Found" fliers of her.

About this time I got the idea to take a picture of her and write a blog about her. I dismissed the thought and just made the call to Animal Control. I began feeding Dallin in his highchair and then looked outside and saw another black dog approaching from the side of the house. It was Sampson's friend Tyra. She is a big bushy dog that lives across the cul-de-sac. I decided that having two roaming dogs in one day was way too exciting to not blog about.

Just after I snapped these shots, the Animal Control Officer came and took the Lab. I called Tyra's owners and they came to get their dog. Now things are back to normal and Sampson has a lot of new smells to investigate in the backyard!

This is my first attempt at posting pictures- the water lilly picture was a sample from my computer so it doesn't count. WARNING- I have never taken a photography class and so these are my best attempts using a 3.1 megapixel Kodak camera that I only slightly know how to use;) My sister Kristi inherited the photography genes! Maybe I can get her to start a Blog! The rose is in my front yard and I call this photo--- Rise Above---- Hahaha, I'm now a photographer!

This is our cat Nickels who is about 5 years old. I always wanted a cat growing up. My Mom and my Brother Randy were allergic to cats then but now have gotten over them somehow. My parents even have a cat that looks similar to Nickels. I love Nickels except I don't like finding him in Dallin's Crib. He is strickly an indoor cat and still has his claws. We are lucky our furniture seems to do just fine and it isn't in shreds. Now, if we could only do something about the fur.......

This is our faithful dog named Sampson. He is about 3 1/2 years old and is finally out of the puppy stage. He can sit, lay down, roll over (sometimes), throw a toy, speak, and he can get our morning paper from the driveway. When I say he CAN, it doesn't always mean he WILL. Sometimes he is so excited to be let out the front door without a leash on and realizes his doggy friends are waiting for him across the cul-de-sac. The other dogs are always outside and are tethered to stakes in the ground in the backyard. The families can't afford to put a total fence around the yard yet (like us), so Sampson has easy access to his friends. They love him and the feeling is mutual! Sampson is an indoor dog most of the time and only goes out to play/take care of business. I will have to write more about him later.

"Where is that bird?" wonders Sampson

One of our plum trees from our mini orchard. Most of the trees are dwarfs so that they can be picked easily and we won't get overrun by fruit. The kids love eating the plums for snacks or in their lunches that we make from home. Plums anyone?

Our neighbors planted the gorgeous Maple trees that you can just barely see in the background. They put in about 5 of them along that fence line. I love Maple trees, but hate the Box Elder beetles that thrive on the trees and propagate like crazy here. They begin laying eggs around the outside of the house and in several years I'm sure they will be all over IN the house. They are very hard to get rid of and I've already found a couple inside my house. But like I said, the trees are gorgeous!!

This last photo is of Tyler getting his Arrow of Light award and moving up into Boy Scouts from the Cub Scouting program. He is on the left. That's all I have for now! I hope you've enjoyed the pictures so far! Tyler and Sydney are at school now so I will have to wait to get updated photos of them. P.S. I've been trying to edit the wording around the pictures and get rid of the double spacing, but it won't let me. I need to learn HTML!!!!

Fall has come and touched my heart as I have watched the leaves change color and the temperature drop. I love this time of year. Here in Utah it signals a long break from the 100 degree heat. When I open up the door in the morning to let the dog out, I feel the chill of the morning and it revives me. During the summer, it is too hot to do much work out in the yard. I'm not motivated enough to get out early in the morning and do yard work during the summer. But when fall arrives I love getting outside and being able to work hard and not feel overheated. This last month, I focused on spreading mulch/ground cover around our mini orchard and evening out the soil under the trees. When Ryan had dug holes for the trees, he left piles of dirt in several places. I've been using my yard work as a way to exercise so I began transfering the piles of dirt to a hole that we had in the yard from another project. What a great workout for a few days. I told Ryan at the beginning of summer that I wanted to be in charge of mowing the lawn so that I could exercise. He gratefully let me take on this responsibility. I tried to do this while Dallin was sleeping and I had the baby monitor with me. My only problem is that I hate picking up after the dog before I mow. The "dog duty" has always been my chore since the dog is mine. Since I hate doing this, I would wait to mow the lawn until it really needed it. So much for regular exercise! Dallin loves going for rides in his stroller and so sometimes in the evening during summer, I would go for a walk with him. One time we were walking and Tyler and Sydney were riding their bikes with us. We passed a family that we knew from Church and they told us they were going to another friends house to milk their goats and round up the chickens for the night. Not wanting to miss an oportunity to teach my kids how to milk, we tagged along. Our town is mostly urban but still has a few small backyard farms spread out. Many of the older homes that have yards over an acre house a horse or two and sometimes goats or chickens. We live in a new subdivision that is near an older neighborhood. Being "city folk", but having a big heart for animals, I was excited to help out with the animals. I was able to teach my kids about how much work still needed to be done on even a small farm on a Sunday (It was Sunday). There were many chickens that needed rounding up and three or four goats that needed milking as well as a horse that needed petting:) The family has ten kids and they drink the goat milk since some of the kids have cows milk allergies. We helped until the sun went down and the mosquitoes had a feast. What a fun evening!! I wish I had brought the camera, but I can go and take pictures anytime since they are our friends. I hope to start posting pictures soon.

Hello! I am a mother of three beautiful children. My firstborn child is Tyler who is now 11 years old. He is a fun-loving, active, big-hearted boy who loves Legos, Star Wars and Club Penguin. My second child is Sydney who is now 8 years old and loves Horses, playing with friends, riding bikes. She is a smart-witted, determined, and sensitive girl. Dallin is my third child who joined us recently and is now 11 months old. He is a sweet-natured, observant, music loving baby who is on formula due to lactose intolerance (did you know that breastmilk has lactose in it? I tried cutting all lactose out of my diet but our bodies still produce it in breastmilk). You would never have known that for the first 4 1/2 months this baby was colicy due to allergies. You can email me with questions on this subject! Ryan is my 30+year old husband who is a very private person. I will not write about him much because of this. I will say that he is a Certified Public Acountant who is very good at time management, fiscally responsible and well grounded. Pretty much opposite of everything I am. A few things we both enjoy and have in common is a love of animals, we are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon), we love our kids, and we are both sensitive people. I love helping other people and am almost a Certified Nursing Assistant. Keeping house and playing with my children consume most of my day. When you add ADD to the mix, not a whole lot gets accomplished although much gets attempted. My Generalized Anxiety is not much of a player in this act since I take medicine for it and I respond well to the medicine. I take medicine for ADD also, but it has caused a heart condition called tachycardia (fast heart-rate) so I've had to lower my dosage and I am trying to find a dosage that will not affect my heart. My doctor said that all ADD medicines will affect my heart like this. I am open to people emailing me their experiences with ADD as an adult. Well, now that I have spent too much time composing this post, I need to take care of some laundry!