Scrapbooking again!

I haven't scrapbooked for myself in so long. I have two exchange groups that I participate in, and I make layouts for those groups. But I haven't put photos or finished any layouts for myself in a really really long time. I have a scrapbook room that I've been organizing the last few weeks, a little at a time. When I made a huge pile of unfinished layouts I decided I needed to put some
together. So I did, the last few days I've been rewarding myself for doing chores. If I get my jobs done then I can sit down and put some layouts together. It feels so good to be creative. Here is the layout I made for my exchange. It needs more embellishments and maybe a title. But It will due. Hopefully I can print out some photos today and post some done layouts soon. Happy Crafting everyone!!!

Puddle Jumping!

Last time I went puddle jumping it was with Elaine at my apartment before I met Chris. So it has been a good 10 years. It was raining at our house but it was really warm outside. I just couldn't let those huge puddles outside of our new house alone. I finally decided it was time, pregnant or no. Max was sleeping. So the girls Chris and I ran outside to splash around for a while. It was fabulous fun. I had to not think of all the germs that could be in the water and just have fun.

Garnder village

We took the kids to Gardner Village to see the witches for FHE last night. It was really fun. I had a hard time keeping up with my big belly and swollen feet, but the kids sure enjoyed it. Here are some photos.

Can I fix it? YES I can!

This morning I found Kate and Ruth in their usually clean room. Kates broken dresser drawer on the floor with pants little nails and pieces of wood every where. Oh and they were in their underwear. I had told them to get dressed and this is what I found 20 minutes later. Who dropped the already broken drawer? They both said, "she did it." So I folded up all the clothes with their help, and got them both dressed. Then I stormed off to the garage for the hammer, nails, screws, wood glue, and the drill. I was having no more of the broken drawer. My poor husband has been swamped with work lately and the drawer probably wasn't even on his list of things to do. But I see it every day and was done with it. Happily now, I can say I fixed it. YEAH! What a big girl I am. I glued every piece first before I nailed them into place. I also nailed twice as many nails as it had originally had, and I reinforced the parts that weren't broken with more nails. I'm pretty sure the whole house will collapse before that drawer falls apart. Now I just need to keep thinking about my handy skills and fix some more things around here.

Birthday party hats.

We went to a birthday party for our cousin Joseph this weekend. Max and Ruth are just his same age. He turned 4 last week. One of the things we did at the party was make these fun hats. Max and Ruth's were still in the car when I took these photos. The girls have been wearing them constantly. I said they couldn't wear them to school. So thanks Jen. :) What a fun craft.

Happy Birthday to me.

Well it was my birthday yesterday. I didn't have that great of a day. I kept trying to be happy all day, but everything was thwarting me. I did have a good few moments, My RS counselor came over and gave me a gift, we got to chat for a while. Also a family from my old ward came to visit me and see the new house. Today is another day. Chris will be home some time tonight and we can watch a movie and eat ice cream to celebrate. About the birthday present I'm doing for myself (setting up my formal living room) I've got the room sanded, primed and trim painted. Now I'm working on the main color and cutting in (which is so tedious). Hopefully I can finish today and place the furniture. Maybe tomorrow I'll even hang photographs on the wall.

Ruth's first day of school.

Ruth has wanted to go to school for a long time. She and Max always wanted to go with Kate. Now it is her turn to finally go to school. Unfortunately it is not with Ms. Angie. Ruth is going to the preschool at the elementary school. Her teacher seems really nice. Ruth was reluctant to go but held her teachers hand and off she went. I would feel better if they were going together. But Max can't go until he gets tested.

Hailey can ride a bike Whoo Hoo!!!

Hailey took a little longer. I think she was afraid of falling. She also had to have a few fits and fall into a rose bush before she could master bike riding. But here we are 4 days later and Hailey is riding around the circle after Audrey. Way to go HAILEY!

Audrey can Ride a bike! YEAH!

So Monday I decided that Ruth was learning how to go potty and Audrey and Hailey we're learning how to ride bikes with no training wheels. Audrey was ready to go. I had charts they could color in when they had a really good fall. I told them they would fall and to hurry and jump off as soon as they were falling. Audrey picked it up so fast. She was riding around our circle by noon. Now she is a pro. YEAH Audrey.

Big day today!

My kids are off track so Audrey and Hailey are going to learn how to ride a bike without training wheels. Ruth is going to learn how to go potty in the potty. YEAH! Wish me luck.

Canning Apricots from my new tree.

Tonight were going to pick all the apricots off our tree and tomorrow I will can jam until they are all gone. We have some reinforcements arriving soon for the picking, Desiree, Lauren, Victoria and Ashlynne, my sweet nieces. But while I have been prepping for canning today I wanted to share this great website with everyone. I found this website a few years ago. I have used it every time I have canned. The site is made by a cute couple who have been canning for years, they are obviously professionals. They have photographed each step in the canning process and posted very specific instructions for each fruit or vegetable they can. I think it is wonderful. If you have any interest in canning you need to check this site out. Wish me luck with the apricots. I really hope no apricots end up on the new carpet.

http://www.paulnoll.com/Oregon/Canning/index.html

Working Backwards... The 4th of July.

Jen and Stephen took photo's on the fourth of July. Jen sent me these of Joseph and Ruth playing together. They are so cute. Stephen took the family photo for us so it is our most recent family photo. Thanks to Grammy who always puts on great 4 of July parties. :)

First Day of School!

In a new house at a new school. My little children ventured off to school. Audrey and Hailey didn't know who their teacher was or where their classroom was. But they went off last Monday morning with no fear. It was so hard to let my Baby Cakes get on the kindergarten bus this morning. She was really excited. The anticipation this morning was intense. She was the only kid at the bus stop and the only person on the bus. I hope they stopped and got some more kids. Audrey and Hailey are suppose to go get her from kindergarten to get on the bus. I really hope they don't forget her. They will be home in an hour.

Come to our going away party and come help us move! see the details: PDF

Yellowstone

Right after our stay at the hospital with Max. Chris and I went on a little weekend trip to Yellowstone. Here are some photos. Enjoy.

Max again.

I didn't notice Max was blurry so here is another one not blurry. Maybe I just wanted to see what he looked like before the seizures he has all kinds of scrapes and bumps from falling all the time. Poor guy. WE sure love him.

Easter Sunday

Ok I know it is really late since Easter was in April but we've been busy latley. Here are the photos from our Easter. My kids are so cute.

The letter of announcement!

I sent this email out to lots of my friends this morning. Spreading our news. But for all of you who don't live close and can't come help. I thought you'd like to hear the news too. Here is the email. Enjoy.

Hello everyone,

We need help. Well, really we want help. I'll just spit it out. I'm expecting again.
We are really excited to add one more little angel to our family. We have also decided
that it will be hard for us to add this little joy to our small house. We've thought
of all the options of putting different kids into different rooms and shuffling things around.
We decided that with Max's new seizure disorder and the demands babies bring, we
would rather not have Max and the baby share a room. So we've decided to put our house up for sale.
It will be heartbreaking to leave our ward and all of our dear friends here. But we've decided
this is the best thing for our family right now. With all of that said, I'm calling for recruits.
Since we spent most of May in and out of the hospital with Max we haven't really got
too much done on our house. Everything got put on hold. We really would like to list our
house as soon as possible. We can't list the house until it is ready, we have a lot of
work to do first before we can list it. This Saturday we're hoping we can have a bunch of people
come help us prep the house. We have some painting, lots of cleaning, packing, and yard
work to do. It will only be a couple of hours from 8 am until noon when we can all enjoy pizza
together. Many hands make light work. I'm hoping with a little extra help we can get a lot
accomplished. I have a bridal shower in the middle of the day on Saturday so that is why we are only
working in the morning. I still feel like we can get a lot done though. Let me know if you can come
help us with this big project. Cleaning up after 5 kids can be pretty messy. We don't know if, when, or where we might be moving to, selling is the first step so we just need the house ready to sell. Hopefully Heavenly Father will bless us to sell the house before the baby is born. We love you. Thank you so much for your support all of these years.

Miriam, Chris, Audrey, Hailey, Kate, Max, Ruth and baby :)