Allen Fieldhouse

lauryn turns 5, part deux

2010-11-07T08:57:00.000-08:00

limbo!

game number one: pop balloons & get the prize inside (a ring or a coin). the person with the most rings when all balloons are popped wins! lauryn chose to sit this out & watch everyone else struggle with the popping of balloons.

game number 2: musical chairs...need i say more? lauryn decided to sit this one out as well & be the dj with her new hello kitty cd/karaoke machine. the 2 sisters, destiny & allison, in the left corner were the big winners for the 2 games.

here is the birthday cake i made for lauryn. i purchased one of those silicone giant cupcake molds. it worked like a charm...although it inadvertently resembled strawberry shortcake's house more than a giant cupcake. it was a yellow butter cake mix complete with cheesecake frosting...how can it not be good?

lauryn turns 5...

2010-11-07T07:38:00.000-08:00

where did the last 5 years go??? all of a sudden, lauryn is 5! she has been looking forward to her birthday for over a month. her excitement has been infectious. we have all been happy for her, cheering her on her last few days of being 4. her birthday fell on a thursday so we got our day started early with her opening gifts from family.

boy, did she hit the strawberry shortcake and hello kitty jackpot! that evening, we went out to eat as a family to her second favorite restaurant, olive garden (her first being del taco...which she only orders chips & nacho cheese when there). yes, she goes all out at olive garden ordering buttered spaghetti with parmesan cheese.

about a month ago, lauryn decided against the chuck e. cheese party that she'd been planning since she turned 4 because she had a better idea....have a "strawberry shortcake limbo party" at the house instead. i liked the idea from an economic stand point but all the running around & cleaning to prepare is for the birds! but it was a success & lauryn had a blast. that's all that counts, right?

oh crap!

2010-10-16T06:50:00.001-07:00

a few weeks ago when october rolled around, we got the few decorations that we have for halloween out so we could decorate the house. well, we got the indoor ones taken care of, then ran out of time to put up the lights outside. the outdoor items were sitting inside the house, just in front of the front door. lauryn walks by, picks up an item and says, "well, i guess we'll have to take care of this crap tomorrow!" oh, the things she says...

dancing queen

2010-10-03T17:06:00.001-07:00

lauryn fell in love with "mamma mia" when my brother nate was traveling with the north american tour of the show. we received the video for christmas one year and my kids watched it over and over. it takes place in greece, a place that we would love to visit someday. lauryn has now had a year of dance classes at a few rec centers. so what do you get when you combine all of this? take a look!

we spent an evening at the greek fest last weekend and had a great time. the food & drinks were awesome, and it was a beautiful evening. we bought lauryn the little skirt she is wearing in the video. it has gold coins dangling from it so it makes a lot of noise with every little movement.

isaac ~ fall soccer 2010

2010-09-18T19:16:00.000-07:00

so as you can see, i have pretty much fallen off the blog wagon. i have not looked at anyone else's blogs for the past year and haven't posted since last fall's soccer season. let's see if i can get back in the swing of things...even if just a bit here and there.

isaac had his second game of the season today. it was a hot one folks! the game was in the middle of the afternoon in 100 degree heat. i'm so ready for the weather to start changing. this should be the hottest game of the season.

yesterday we received in the mail our new FLIPvideo camera that we finally got around to ordering. that made me happy since dennis was going to miss isaac's game because he had to leave town for a fight. even better, lauryn got to play with her friend ellie while the game was going on so i was free to shoot without any interruption.

isaac scored 2 goals today ~ one with his left foot! i managed to only record 1 of the goals (sorry) and here it is...

soccer guy

2009-09-13T17:13:00.000-07:00

it's that time of year...my favorite! it's fall ~ well almost...i love september, october, & november. i love that the weather starts to get cooler, school is in full swing, the nfl is just underway, & isaac is back in soccer. this year we are trying out a new league. love that he'll get more playing time as the rosters are smaller. also, he gets a full uniform w/o having to pay extra for each piece (well, it really is worked into the price of the league). the uniforms are much better looking than the other league too, although the shorts on the kids almost look like skirts since they are huge & billowing. isaac's little leauge coach really wanted him to play fall baseball & has been campaigning all summer for it. but isaac likes to switch it up & i'm just fine with it.

so the first game of the season was yesterday. isaac scored within the first 2 minutes of the game. now, let me share with you that the mountain lions' (team name) game time was at 1:30 in the afternoon & it was ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT degrees outside. the poor guy played himself out in the first 5 minutes or so. when there was finally a chance to sub in the other players, isaac came over crying he was so thirsty. i felt so bad! i had brought water, but it wasn't enough. dennis went to buy more at the snack stand so we could poor some over the kids in addition to drinking it. that should be the hottest day for the season, but even so, i will be bringing more water & ice packs with to each game.

he is playing soccer again with his buddy michael. they started together as 3 year olds 3 1/2 years ago ~ that's how they actually met. they have become the best of friends & love playing sports together. so here they are in their "minot high" colors that dennis was very excited to see!

i'm back!!!

2009-09-07T07:47:00.000-07:00

after a long hiatus...i'm back!!! while going back to work & taking 2 classes last spring, i did my best to keep up with posting. then my final projects were due the end of april & beginning of may & took up my time. somehow time just got away from me & facebook interfered. i could pretty much share what was on my mind there & share pictures too. i'm going to try blogging again but will most likely not post as much as i did before.

so here is a picture from our summer...we haven't been able to use the pool as often as we have in the past. dennis has been very busy ~ he started working for state farm in a new office. his days are long and he usually works saturday mornings if he's not working a fight. i was also working through the summer. now summer has somehow disappeared & labor day is here! we are looking forward to a day of rest, swimming, and grilling. i love short work weeks!

the tooth fairy visits...

2009-04-16T20:35:00.000-07:00

isaac lost his first tooth yesterday...the kicker is, the tooth wasn't even loose! isaac went to the dentist 2 wks. because of this:

see that adult tooth coming in in the back? the dentist told him he'd have to wiggle the baby tooth in front of it to try to lose it. he gave isaac 2 wks. to complete this task, otherwise the dentist would pull it. well, today was the scheduled day for the teeth pulling. it appeared that he wouldn't lose it on his own. i made a comment about how his first lost tooth would be pulled in the dentist's office. so yesterday, less than 24 hrs. before visiting the dentist, we were at the gym. an hour later, we went to pick the kids up in the playroom & isaac opened his mouth to show me that he'd lost a tooth! the one he lost was basically pushed out by the new one coming in. it never seemed to be loose, but all of a sudden at the gym, isaac said it was just hanging there so he just pulled it out! so the tooth fairy "paid" him a visit...& comes again tonight since he had the other tooth pulled this afternoon. guess it was a quick & easy removal.

ahhh...just another sign that my boy is growing up toooooo fast!!

p.s. easter pix to follow sometime...

oh lauryn...

2009-04-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

the other night after being gone to work all day, then off to isaac's baseball game, lauryn gave me a big hug. i told her i love her. her response: i love you mucher!

last night lauryn, isaac, and i were on our way home from the church. they were surrounded by easter baskets and such while they were there. lauryn wanted to know when easter would be here. i told her it will be in about 10 days, but we will go to the church in 2 days for an easter celebration. she was all excited about this because then we'd get to dress up like easter bunnies. :) guess she equates easter with halloween. isaac & i told her that you don't dress up in costumes for easter, that you just do that for halloween. so now for halloween, she thinks it would be hilarious to dress like an easter bunny!

my baby

2009-03-22T21:46:00.000-07:00

8:45 pm was drawing near & it was time to finally shut down for the day and watch the amazing race. last season, isaac would hear it begin from his room and find an excuse to come join us. and we would gladly oblige! since little league baseball has gotten under way, we've been very busy and isaac is generally pretty tired out when it's time to go to bed. so needless to say, he was sleeping pretty much as soon as his head hit the pillow tonight. lauryn on the other hand was the one who heard us & needed mommy to "rock her". since i hardly get any time with her anymore, i quickly grabbed her out of bed & cuddled with her for the next 45 minutes. it made my heart happy! here are some recent photos of my baby.

here she is in her pajamas for a night: raiders jersey, pajama pants, & knit slippers - all of various colors. :)

g'ma & g'pa sent a pkg. a fewweeks ago filled with goodies. one of the things lauryn got was this cute dress. she immediately had to put it on. she looks so big in this picture.

she "needed" her nails painted & here she is waiting for them to dry.

oh, i love her!

the wonders of tylenol p.m.

2009-02-11T06:50:00.001-08:00

the other night i decided i would take 1 tylenol p.m. after a few nights where i didn't feel like i slept so well. every now & then i'll take the tylenol when i feel like i need to catch some good zzz's. lately, with my busy schedule, i'll go to bed with my head swimming of "to do" lists. then i proceed to have silly dreams all throughout the night & tend to wake up exhausted. so, with the miracle of modern medicine, i fell into a deep sleep. apparrently, later in the night, lauryn was having a coughing fit. i was somewhat aware of it but couldn't really drag myself out of my stupor. luckily for me, i knew my husband would take care of her. the next day dennis told me of our conversation in the night. it went like this:

d: if lauryn wakes up again and i don't hear her, just wake me up & i'll go help her.

j: k.

a little while later...

j: (sitting up in bed) i hear her! i hear her! she's throwing up!!!

d: jen, that isn't lauryn. it's the dogs barking next door.

j: oh...(then i promptly fell back to sleep).

happy birthday my boy!

2009-02-01T21:35:00.000-08:00

today isaac is 6!

we celebrated on saturday since there was no way we could swing a party today, on monday. he decided that he wanted a mario themed party at home. before the party, he was able top open a few gifts early since they would be part of the party: mario kart game for the wii + controller (thanks g'ma & g'pa johnson), extra controller (thanks uncle n8, auntie dee, & lilia), & a mario t-shirt (mom & dad). isaac invited 6 friends over & we started off with feeding everyone.
on the menu:
sloppy joes
pepperoni pizza rolls
bbq chips
strawberries
cantaloupe
sierra mist

before playing the wii, the kids had to pop balloons. each balloon had a real penny in it that they had to pick up after the balloon burst. once all the balloons had been popped, the person with the most pennies won a prize. plus, they all got to trade in their pennies for chocolate coins, which in my opinion, should be the real currency. below is my favorite picture of isaac leaping on a balloon to pop it.

next, it was on to the wii mario kart tourney.

carson (batman) & dennis, sizing up the competition.

elijah was the big winner!

oh yeah, lauryn had to dress as "princess peach" for the occasion.

next it was time for the birthday...

doughnuts!

last but not least, isaac opened up all of his amazing gifts from his friends. he was so excited & thankful for everything.

this video is from the balloon popping part of the party. dennis decided he needed to show 'em how it's done!

flashback friday

2009-01-30T22:20:00.000-08:00

this is dennis and his cousin krista at the north dakota state fair in 1981. dennis looked at this picture and told me he can remember this day so clearly. he was part of the parade with a group of bmx racers. this picture is at the fairgrounds after the parade was over. krista and her family always came from nebraska for the state fair.

do you know the song "jinger bells?"

2009-01-28T07:18:00.000-08:00

the other night, lauryn was singing "frosty the snowman" as she lay in bed to go to sleep. dennis & i were watching tv and could here her singing. we were cracking up as she sing a part of the song, then swing into the "oh! frosty the snowman!" it was just so adorable! it made me remember that i really hadn't put much from our holidays on the blog so thought of this cute video to share. we were at the lake for a few days in december. i happened to just be walking by while my mom & lauryn were singing christmas songs. i turned around quick to retreive my camera and caught this:

we all get a kick out of her singing "JINGER BELLS".

photo tag - i'm it!

2009-01-20T21:58:00.000-08:00

The rules are simple...
1. Go to the 4th folder in your computer where you store your pictures.
2. Pick the 4th picture in that folder.
3. Explain the picture.
4.Tag 4 people to do the same.

this photo of lauryn was just a random day last april. i remember thinking her hair was so cute that i should take a picture. it's really grown since then!

now i cheated & have another picture below. i accidently went to folder #1 & took picture #4 which turned out to be the one of isaac here when he was in NICU. we laughed at this picture & titled it "one MILL-ion dollars".

i tag: n8 & d, my mom, jordan, & kelani
now you're it!

flashback friday

2009-01-16T21:47:00.001-08:00

as i was looking back at these, i just couldn't get over how beautiful he was. i loved everything about his hair: the color, the texture, the wave & curl, the smell. baby hair at its best!

i love how he's reaching over the side of the basket to get his toy car.

in the picture below, he's attained his goal of getting the car. now it's time to concentrate & play with the darn thing!

ellie time & snack time & the pink panther

2009-01-16T19:54:00.000-08:00

ellie time:

here are some pictures of lauryn & her friend ellie. let me tell you...ellie is a hoot! the other day we were over at her house to celebrate birthday #3 for her. ellie was so excited to see both lauryn & isaac. so cute! she & lauryn were sitting at the table next to each other while everyone else was visiting, playing, eating. i happened to be standing near them ( well, not really happened when lauryn refuses to let me out of her sight when there are more than a few people around) when i overhear ellie singing "happy birthday to me". then she looks at lauryn to tell her "you sing it to me".

snack time:
dennis told me that after lauryn woke up from her nap, she requested a snack, probably with her "i need sumpin" line. so she curled up on the couch in a midst of blankets while dennis went to get her some fruit snacks. upon returning to her with them, she says to him, "now that's what i'm talkin' about". funny or what?

pink panther:
the other morning, lauryn woke up to watch some cartoons. yes, my kids do not wake up to start the day, they wake up strictly for serious cartoon watching. she usually loves sprout, noggin, or disney at 7:00 am. isaac is the one who is into boomerang which shows the good cartoons from back in the day. you know, the ones like tom & jerry, the smurfs, the jetsons, etc. lauryn generally isn't too interested in these. so i was surprised when she chose to watch the pink panther over the really stupid show lazy town that she seems to enjoy. so i sat with her while the show was starting. the pink panther disappeared from the cartoon frame & lauryn said, "hey, where'd the pink dude go?"

i know these are all really random, but that's what you get when i haven't blogged forever. :)

so i've been a slacker lately...

2009-01-07T21:22:00.001-08:00

but it's only because i've been BUSY, BUSY, & MORE BUSY! i'm sure that now i'm back to work and soon to be taking classes, my blog will suffer. i'll do my best!
who knows if i'll get around to sharing much holiday stuff, so i'll start with my favorite. it's a video of the kids on one of our many drives in the frozen tundra of north dakota. while lauryn was with my parents for 3 weeks, apparently they listened to christmas carols ALL the time. she knew many songs, we were all impressed, as were some shoppers one day when lauryn was with my mom in a store, where lauryn was belting out "GLO-O-O-O-O-O-O-R-I-A". that was one she claimed as her own, along with this one below:

bubba shrimp...

2008-12-22T13:50:00.000-08:00

i want to share a recipe with all of you shrimp lovers out there. paula dean made it on one of her gazillion shows, and it looked really good. so i tracked down the recipe for us to try one evening when my parents were here. it was a big hit!

shrimp & wild rice casserole
one 8 0z. pkg. of wild rice
1# med. shrimp, peeled & deveined
2 TBSP butter
1/2 gr. pepper, diced
1/2 onion, chopped
1 can cream of celery soup
(it calls for cr. of mushroom but YUCK!)
2 c. sharp grated cheddar cheese
salt & pepper
bread crumbs
*cook rice minus 1/4 c. of water. cool. saute shrimp. saute onion & gr. pepper. combine all ingredients except for 1/2 c. of cheese. saute bread crumbs. put into a 9x9 pan with bread crumbs on the top. top with remainder 1/2 c. of cheese for last 5 min. of baking. bake @ 325 for 30 min.
2 c. of cheese is a lot! i know we didn't use all of that...to each his own.

flashback friday

2008-12-19T20:45:00.000-08:00

i know you've seen this picture before, but it is worth sharing again. this is from christmas 2006 in n.d. g'ma & isaac built a snowman & used green olives for his eyes & smile. it didn't take long for ol' smiley to get his eyes pecked out by some birds. i love the big smile on isaac's face. looking forward to lots of playing in the snow soon...

tomorrow...

2008-12-18T19:54:00.000-08:00

...i get to...
kiss her,
hug her,
snuggle her,
cuddle her,
tickle her,
tease her,
nestle her,
smell her,
hold her.

i can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!

let it snow...

2008-12-18T08:00:00.000-08:00

little did we know that we wouldn't have to wait until friday to play in the snow! i was at work, about 15 miles from our house. dennis texted me at 12:30 to tell me that it was snowing at our house. so he & isaac headed outside to check it out. how many opportunities was isaac going to have to play in the snow at our house?

yummy...fresh snow!

hey dad, let's have a snow ball fight!

could this really be snow in the desert?

starting to become a winter wonderland.

isaac & snow-reb.

talk about twilight zone...a snowman under snow-covered palm tree?

isaac was all on board to make a snow angel.

when we first moved to vegas, it was in august when it was terribly hot. at that point i had visions of sitting by the pool in december while everyone else in n.d. was freezing. guess my vision has changed...

it took me an hour & 45 min. to drive home from work yesterday...remember i live only 15 miles from the school. when i got home at 5:30, we went out to the back of the house for dennis to knock down the heavy snow from the palm trees. while he was doing that, isaac swept off the left side of the table above. can you see how much more snow we got after he did that?

it really is pretty, isn't it?

complete the sentence...

2008-12-16T20:18:00.000-08:00

Feel free to play along in the comments section or on your own blog.

Today I: went to work, opened some christmas gifts early, packed isaac's suitcase, did one load of laundry, talked to lauryn & my parents, watched isaac & dennis play the new wii.

Tomorrow I will: go to work but don't have to teach ~ yippee! it's parent teacher conferences (which i don't have to do since i'm the sub & just got started with the group) so i will just work in the room, organizing the mess, rearranging the mess, probably creating a new mess!

I'm looking forward to: flying to n.d. on friday & watching my kids play in the snow!!! can't wait to see family & friends...oh what fun!!!

I could pass on: mushrooms (DISGUSTING!), raisins, science fiction, bugs

Newest song I like: a song called "addicted" ~ don't know who sings it

Last show I saw: i went to "four christmases" with susan & enjoyed it...vince vaughn rocks, right jer?

Something aggravating: people who work out at the gym with their hair down

One thing you may not know about me: hmmm, since i blog & facebook, i'm thinking you know everything there is to know...

I can still: play "the spinning song" on the piano pretty good; i can still recite the opening rap to "the fresh prince of bel air" ~ impressive, i know!

Gift I'd want if money was no object: a new car, i'm not picky...i'll take a mercedes, bmw, or audi; free passes to fly to visit family whenever & wherever!

Tag, you're it!

a missing stocking...

2008-12-09T21:00:00.001-08:00

something in our house is missing...
~it's the laughter of a little girl...
~it's the sound of a little girl saying "good nike" at bedtime...
~it's little arms wrapping around your neck...
~it's a little girl saying "i need sum-ting"...
~it's pretty, bright, golden brown eyes in the morning...
~it's a little voice saying "can i have milk or no?"...
~it's a wild & crazy hair-do right out of bed...
~it's a stocking on our wall...
~IT'S LAURYN!!!

lauryn went back with my parents after their stay here for thanksgiving. with me going back to work, we thought it would be best for all of us. so far it has! lauryn was not scared or sad to leave us...which makes me kinda sad that she wasn't sad to say goodbye to us...but at the same time, it makes me very happy that no one has had to deal with an unhappy little girl who could really make life miserable for all of us if she really wanted to. instead, she chose to prove us all wrong & not have an issue with it. in fact, i'm wondering if she'll come home to l.v. with us without a problem ~ that's how much fun she's having with g'ma & g'pa. here are some pictures from the 11 days she's been gone:

lauryn has gotten some quality time with cousin lilia.

it's always fun to be in the kitchen with grandma ~ get to help bake and get to have hot chocolate AND ice cream!

fun in the snow ~ making a snow angel & sledding.

~lauryn~
we can't wait to see you in 10 days and play in the snow with you, drink hot chocolate with you, & cuddle up with you!!! will you give us hugs or no?
we love you!!!

flashback friday

2008-12-05T17:11:00.000-08:00

this picture is from my junior year of college. my friends shelley, ann, & i were living in our first apartment after spending 2 years in the dorms. one night we got together with a bunch of girls from our dorm to have a party. you can see for yourself how wild & crazy it got!

i bet you've never been at a party before where someone broke out their accordian to play? but if you have, i want to hear YOUR story!

back to work...

2008-12-03T17:16:00.000-08:00

it was back to work for me this past monday after a 3 year break from teaching. a few months ago i had decided to go back to work as a sub in the school district. it seemed to take FOREVER to get the word that i could begin. here was my to do list:
1. fill out sub application
2. get referrals (which i found out after the fact that i didn't need them since i was a former district employee)
3. paperwork for the dept. of ed.
4. get transcripts
5. get fingerprinted
6. fill out this form & that form
7. get fingerprinted again!
8. fill out this form & that form
9. tb skin test
plus, i was driving all over the place to get these things done, papers turned in, then find out that they need more papers; therefore, more trips. it seemed to never end!
my girlfriend kelcey from my former school called one day while i was in the middle of this process. she called to tell me that a co-worker of hers, in her grade level, has to go out on medical leave. she told me to hurry up & get everything done so i could long-term sub for this person! i called the district & said hurry up & get everything done so i can long-term sub for this person!...i don't think the words hurry, quick, or fast are in their job decsription at the district offices.
i found out the day before thanksgiving that i could start dec. 1st. i've got 3 days under my belt and, i must say, it's going better than i anticipated. i'm exhausted (was sleeping by 8:30 the first night) but am fine with it. since it's the school i used to work at, i know most of the people, and it's been fun catching up with everyone. on monday i got home & was greeted with the flowers below, given to me from my boys. they are soooo sweet to me!!!

happy thanksgiving from 3 lil' turkeys

2008-11-29T16:18:00.000-08:00

flashback friday...i knew that she was THE ONE!

2008-11-21T19:17:00.001-08:00

these are pictures of maxie 8 years ago when we first got her. she was such a cutie! i was back in north dakota while on track break & had fallen in love with jackson, my dad's dog. he is a yorkie, and i had never known what one was before that. so that summer when i was home, mom & i were busy looking through the want ads, looking for yorkie puppies for sale. dennis & i had been looking in vegas but didn't feel it was right to spend almost $1000 on a pet. we were lucky to spot an ad for 3 mo. old yorkie puppies about 45 miles away from where my parents lived. mom & i headed there to see what we could find. it was a family who had bred their own yorkies to sell the puppies. as soon as we walked through the door, there were 3 puppies yapping & nipping at our feet. it was hard to decide which ball of fluff to choose. then i spotted a 4th puppy hiding in the shadows, taking everything in but too shy to participate. i knew right then & there that she was the one. so for a mere $150, we left that house with my first baby in tow. now, as you may have noticed, dennis has not been part of this story but is in the above picture. that is because he was in training camp with de la hoya at the time in big bear lake, ca. so the picture with dennis & maxie above is their first meeting ~ after i flew back to vegas with maxie & was back at our place for a bit, dennis drove back for a weekend to meet the new member of our family. you can see on the top & bottom of the trio of photos, it didn't take her long to make herself at home. maxie has always loved to snuggle in blankets & continues to do so to this day. all you have to do is take a blanket out & she's there!

more isaacisms...

2008-11-20T15:31:00.000-08:00

according to isaac, the characters below are:
woodchop
&
snooFy

are you smarter than a 5 year old?

2008-11-17T17:18:00.000-08:00

if you are in the nys offices, i'm gonna say the answer to that question is NO! now i'm conviced that there are idiots in charge of the national youth sports (nys). this past saturday, isaac's *purple* team (the tigers) played another team that was *purple*, and if that wasn't enough irony, they were also called the tigers. teams decide what their team names will be so i can't blame that on them, just the uniforms. a bit confusing for a bunch of 4 &5 year olds, wouldn't you say?!
this is how it works ~ your team is put in a "league" with 7 other teams & play round robin for 8 weeks. well, they don't even excell at planning that because you play one team twice. that's it ~ not complicated in my book. apparrently, the person in charge of uniforms is 1 crayon short of a box of 8 crayolas!

flashback...

2008-11-15T06:15:00.000-08:00

this is for dennis who saw this picture of isaac the other day & fell in love with him all over again...

celebrating lauryn's birthday...

2008-11-10T09:13:00.000-08:00

last week for lauryn's birthday, we told her she could go to build~a~bear & pick out a new bear. of course, she chose the most obnoxiously pepto~bismol pink bear she could find as i think any 3 year~old girly~girl would do. here she is pumping the pedal to fill her bear.

did i mention that this new pink bear is covered in hearts?

time to give the bear a heart...

off to the showers...

here she is with cindy ~ lauryn chose the cinderella attire for cindy to wear.

isaac scored too...he got a new outfit for his bear, ace.

then it was off to applebee's for supper...as if grandma NEVER gets to eat there. it's a joke, because the only chain restaurant/bar in williston where she lives is....APPLEBEE'S! but it happened to be the night that isaac's school benefits from us eating there so...

lauryn got a free sundae & was nice enough (finally after half of it was gone) to share with her brudder.

then it was time to head home for the unwrapping of the gifts...

and what does a 3 year old princess get for her birthday? well, princess stuff of course!

good call lilia on the singing little mermaid card...

what does lauryn think of having the election results on during the gift opening? (it was election day after all).

i think we all feel the same way lauryn...

love you little princess!

happy birthday lolo!!

2008-11-05T17:07:00.000-08:00

this was what our little biscuit looked like when she was born. although she was almost twice the size of isaac at birth, she was still tiny. we were all so excited to meet her, to see her beautiful dark hair that had auburn highlights, and to love her. yesterday, all of a sudden, she was 3! we couldn't imagine life without our lolo, our lil biscuit, our l.l. cool a. , our princess, and the list goes on. we love you lauryn!!!

flashback friday...halloween style!

2008-10-31T09:42:00.000-07:00

what a perfect day to look back at costumes from halloween's past. isaac was 8 months old his first halloween & dennis' sister darla made these adorable costumes for isaac & maxie. don't they make a cute raggedy ann & andy?

the next year isaac was a cowboy while his lil buddy kole was an indian. we went to kole's house & went trick-or-treating with kole to just a few houses ~ enough to satisfy a 1 year old's sweet tooth.

this was just 5 short days before lauryn would come into the world. isaac was 2 & 9 mo. old. i was on bed rest so had to stay home while dennis & my mom took isaac over to see kole, then came back to trick-or-treat in our neighborhood.

lauryn's first halloween. g'pa bedford was here to visit. we went to the district (a shopping area). lauryn was a puppy & isaac was her vet.

last year my mother-in-law made these cute pebbles & bamm bamm costumes that were a hit!

tomorrow i'll post this year's halloween festivities, so stay tuned...

halloween music

2008-10-29T09:47:00.001-07:00

pumpkin time!

2008-10-28T12:26:00.000-07:00

this past weekend our little brother william came over to spend a day with us. we thought it would be a perfect time to carve pumpkins. the weather was beautiful, our day was relatively uneventful, & we hadn't seen william for a long time! william has now been our little brother for over 6 years & we don't get to spend as much time with him as we should. we all are busy leading our own lives, doing our own thing. william has been a part of our lives since he was in 3rd grade. now he's in high school & is just a hair taller than dennis. things change so quickly! anyway, we had a great day with william & everyone enjoyed the day together.

isaac's jack-o-lantern is the skeleton one. isaac was very excited about this design. although daddy was in charge of the carving on that particular one, isaac joined in whenever he could to help. lauryn's is the happy jack-o-lantern. she didn't want to do anything "spooky" or "scary". hers is called "happy hal" so isaac coined his "scary hal". william rounded off the trio with his skull jack-o-lantern.

and the award goes to...

2008-10-27T20:32:00.000-07:00

isaac!!!
our little kindergartner received the "sharing award" from his class. we always knew what a good boy he was, but it was nice to have it reaffirmed by his teacher. she told us that isaac is always so nice in class, shares things, & is a good helper. way to go isaac!

and of course, he couldn't have the spotlight to himself ALL morning...that would just be way too much to ask.

conversations with lauryn...

2008-10-21T09:59:00.000-07:00

lauryn ~ knock, knock.
jen ~ who's there?
lauryn ~ apple.
jen ~ apple who?
lauryn ~ joke, joke.

lauryn ~ knock, knock.
jen ~ who's there?
lauryn ~ horsey
jen ~ horsey who?
lauryn ~ joke, joke.

lauryn ~ what's this mommy?
jen ~ it's vaseline.
lauryn ~ what's vaselineS mean?
jen ~ umm...it's petroleum jelly.
lauryn ~ what's petroleum jellieS mean?
jen ~ umm...it's a lubricant.
lauryn ~ oh.

flashback friday...where's lauryn?

2008-10-17T15:19:00.000-07:00

my mother-in-law loves to sew & does such a great job. she's made outfits, blankets, halloween costumes, etc. for our kids & we so appreciate it! when lauryn was born she made these 2 adorable one piece outfits & one came with a matching blanket. so when lauryn was 7 weeks old, she was finally big enough to fit into one of these outfits. i thought it would be fun to dress her in it, then lay her down on the matching blanket...see, she really blends in!

p.s. whenever i look back at pictures of my kids, i so want to relive those moments at those times with them. they always seem to go by so fast that it makes you feel like you didn't have enough time to take it all in...mothers out there, do you all have that same feeling?

growing pains

2008-10-14T13:22:00.000-07:00

on sunday afternoon, lauryn started to complain that her thigh was hurting. she hadn't injured it, hadn't been horsing around, hadn't done anything to it that we could recall. there were no bruises or bumps...nada! all we could figure was that it must be growing pains. that night right before it was time to go to bed, she started crying because it hurt so bad. that was when i started the tylenol. she proceeded to cry out in pain every few hours, sometimes waking up, sometimes just crying in her sleep. at one point she woke up to eat a waffle before heading off to bed again.
on monday morning after the interpted night if sleep, she woke up in pain...she refused to walk on it so i had to carry her everywhere. and anytime i lifted her up, the tears started to flow again. so i continued the tylenol doses and put the heating pad on low for her to use. she wouldn't let me change her out of her pj's so we went to the bus stop with her dressed in her pink jammies because we had to pick up isaac. lauryn was not happy about this at all. between the crying and the attitude, i was pooped...and so was lolo. she took a 2 1/2 hour nap but woke up in pain still. finally, at 4:20, she was ready to try walking. she held my hand & walked gingerly on the left leg & was so proud when she could do it...it was so cute, as if she was learning to walk for the first time. after this feat, she thought she could tackle a bath. after that, she was miraculously cured! whew!

flashback friday...rewind 4 years

2008-10-10T19:37:00.000-07:00

dennis after a game of flag football...doesn't it look like it was a fun game? i think i actually had to throw that t-shirt away because i couldn't get it clean. look at how his face lights up from playing sports. i couldn't imagine his life (or mine for that matter) without sports.
he almost looks kid-like in this picture. there's something to be said about playing a game of basketball, football, volleyball, softball, etc. that makes you feel youthful & puts a spark in you. then you hobble home & remember that you aren't 16 anymore...so you watch more than you play...or you coach your kids...or you cheer on your favorite teams, even though they are awful...whatever it is, it's fun!

trios of information that you probably think are not necessary for me to tell you , but i'm gonna do it anyway!

2008-10-05T10:00:00.000-07:00

Rules: list 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions, and 3 random facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end.

Joys
1. my family
2. church
3. reading a good book

Fears
1. losing a loved one
2. my kids getting hurt
3. the ocean...i like to be in the ocean but won't go out very far...i respect (fear) it way too much

Goals
1. to go to grad school
2. to go to the gym more often
3. to have more serenity in my life...sometimes there is just too much noise!

Obsessions
1. tv ~ i watch way too much...
2. facebook
3. reading...when i finish one book, if i don't already have another one waiting in the wings, i kind of panic

Random Facts
1. i admire people who can speak their mind
2. i've been taller than my mom since 4th grade, but i still look up to her!
3. i can't whistle

i tag mom, kelani, & mama bear!

flashback friday ...4 years ago...

2008-10-03T16:34:00.000-07:00

...to the day, this is what isaac looked like. he loved the froggy slippers from g'ma & g'pa!

this is L -(heart)-V-E

2008-10-01T09:26:00.000-07:00

even though lauryn doesn't show her dad love very often, she still loves him...
even if she won't give him a hug...
even if she won't give him a kiss...
even if she won't cuddle with him...
but isn't it the greatest show of love when you share something that you really love, like, say a bubble gum sno-cone?

SOMEtimes 2 is better than 1 - like if you are talking about choclate or scoops of ice cream or days on the beach...

2008-09-22T10:38:00.000-07:00

remember this picture of isaac with his adorable kindergarten teacher?
well, today is his last day with her (sniff, sniff). she's going to a different school. i'll tell you why...
in our school district, after the 3rd week of school we have what is called "count day". on that day every student is counted in every classroom. if the projections are off teachers have to be shifted around the district. at isaac's school, the numbers on count day were lower than the projections ~ by ONE! because of that, a first grade teacher will be taking over isaac's class while her students are redistributed throughout the other first grade classrooms at his school. ms. lingatong will be moved to a school that had numbers more than was projected for that school. i understand how the system works, but it sucks when it affects your own child! i guess the principal begged the district to reconsider since they were only needing one more student to keep ms. lingatong. even though isaac hasn't been in school for a full month yet, he's sad to see her leave. ms. lingatong, i'm so sorry i didn't have twins!

flashback friday...my lil cowboy

2008-09-19T09:42:00.000-07:00

our lil cowboy loves cowboy bread!
what is it you ask?
it's a spice cake that my mom always made to go along with chili. i love it & can easily eat A LOT of it, but i limit myself to 2 pieces ~ at a time. :) i don't know why, but it is the perfect combination with chili. maybe because i grew up with it & continue to make it for my family, it's just one of those comfort foods that transports you back to your childhood. whatever the reason, it is sooooo good to the very last crumb!
here's the recipe for it ~ it's also convenient to make since everyone usually has these items on hand.

COWBOY BREAD:
1 and 1/4 c. of flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. butter (softened)
combine these ingredients together with a pastry cutter. save 1/2 c. for topping at the end.
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1 egg (well beaten)
1/2 c. milk
2 tsp. lemon juice
add all ingredients together & mix well. top with 1/2 c. reserve of crumbled topping.
pour into a greased 8 x 8 pan & bake @ 350 for 25 min.
now mosey on into the kitchen pardner & make up some of that there cowboy bread...giddy-up!

isaac & lauryn

2008-09-18T08:08:00.000-07:00

anyone for a swim?

2008-09-16T11:15:00.000-07:00

my mom was here to visit the first week of september ~ and it was still hot enough to be in the pool! lauryn & kaylee are good for 30-45 min. & then they are done, they'd rather watch some cartoons & have a snack. isaac on the other hand can go for a couple of hours in the pool. you can see he's got his floaties on although he really doesn't need them. he just THINKS he does. anyway, here are the photos when mom was swimming with the kids.

flashback friday...happy birthday dad!

2008-09-12T13:58:00.000-07:00

today is my dad's birthday. i thank the lord for how lucky i am that he is my dad. my dad is caring & understanding, loving & kind, giving & thoughtful. my mom always says he keeps hallmark open because he's a card guy & will find the perfect one for the perfect moment. growing up with him as my dad was a lot of fun. he was an athlete growing up & taught my brother & me to love sports too. we watched many football games together, cheering for the vikings ~ actually more like yelling at the tv for the most part because the vikings were a pretty sad team while i was growing up. ditto for the braves. i am a braves fan because of my dad too. at least we've had a good run with them until now. we differed on our nba teams though. in the 80's he was a huge celtics fan & i was a lakers fan. what a fun rivalry that was! i love that sports is one of the things that gave us a strong bond. and no matter what, no matter how many years pass, i will always be his little girl!

here's my dad with his lil munchkins in 1977.

here he is with his lil grand~munchkins in 2008.

funny how you just get better with age!
we love you & wish you a happy birthday!!

let's play a game called...

2008-09-09T15:31:00.000-07:00

let's find tim.

can you spot him in this photo?
every now & then he gets a break from his "bondage" & get out to stretch his legs. the kids love it because they get such a kick out of playing with him. isaac loves to set up something that amounts to an obstacle course.

here he is realizing he's free...

isaac built this tunnel for tim to go through. on the back side of it you can kind of see how isaac built a corral to keep tim from escaping, in effect, forcing him to go through the tunnel in order to escape. as you can see, he figured it out.

so tim went about on his own, doing his own thing, when he decided he'd like to do this...on his own!

we cracked up & the kids went crazy watching him go through the tunnel by himself.

now here he is on the hunt...

gotcha!!

2008-09-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox greeting

flashback friday...magic man

2008-09-05T15:39:00.000-07:00

as most of you know, dennis was a boxer from the time he was a very young boy at the age of 8. he was inspired by sugar ray leonard, who, coincidentally, shares a birthday with him. below is a picture of dennis, boxing in his trainer's basement, where he got his start. his mom used to make all of his trunks, etc. the back of the tank he is wearing says "dennis the menace". how fitting is that? :) as a result of all his hard work & dedication, dennis was able to pursue his dream of becoming a professional boxer. the 2nd picture shows a really great finished product! and, instead of having the nickname "dennis the menace", when he turned pro he decided on dennis "magic man" allen, in homage to his home town know as " magic city"
yes, i'm a bit biased!
after over 20 years of boxing, he made the hard decision to hang up his gloves. but his love of boxing will never be diminished. every month he remains involved with boxing through his part-time work with compubox, a company that works with espn, hbo, etc. on counting punches to show stats during fights, such as the percentage of jabs landed per round. now his dream is to one day open a boxing gym here in vegas that helps underprivileged kids, not just with the sport of boxing, but with education & discipline as well.

flashback friday

2008-08-29T16:35:00.001-07:00

these pictures crack me up!! this is back in 2000 after nate & dee were married (if i remember correctly). we were bound & deteremined to have a nice family photo, and maybe have a picture to use for christmas cards. all of us were at the lake together, along with my uncle ron & aunt ang. since we had someone extra there we thought we'd take advantage of that fact & have them snap some pictures of the 6 of us. when we got the pictures developed it was so funny to see all of us squinting so much. the sun was soooo bright that you literally couldn't open your eyes. we had to be looking into the sun because it was shining too bright for it to be behind us. eventually we had to move inside to finish the job. the picture below is what dennis & i ended up sending out for our christmas cards that year.

why there was no flashback friday last week...

2008-08-26T12:00:00.000-07:00

last week i didn't get around to posting a flashback friday. i know how disappointed you were not to see another dorky photo of me. :) well, we were extremely busy trying to fit the last week of "summer" in before school started. we had activity pools to go to with friends, swimming in our own pool, running errands...you know, all that good stuff! plus, friday was a hectic day! my mom flew in on friday to spend just 2 days with us before heading out on sunday to spend the week in lake tahoe with my dad who is there for work. then she's heading back here for a week with us. but friday it was to the airport to pick her up, come home for lunch, i worked on getting our picnic ready for the evening while lauryn napped & g'ma played with isaac. then it was off to isaac's school for the "meet & greet" where we got to see his classroom & meet his teacher for the first time. the kids also got to choose a book from the book fair thanks to g'ma. after that, we headed home to get ready for our evening at the spring mountain ranch theater. we packed up the truck with pillows, blankets, jackets, lawn chair, wagon, coolers full of fried chicken that dennis made, fruit & dip, veggies & dip, cheese & crackers, cake, & drinks. we met our friend susan out there for the evening. it was a delight to arrive there around 6:00 & feel the cooler air. it wasn't cool by any means, it just wasn't 105! we met our friend susan who brought a yummy broccoli salad to go with all of our food. we stuffed ourselves then relaxed for a bit until the show "aida" began. it was a very good show, from what dennis could see what with the people in front of us on the low-slung chairs & ginormous cooler in the way. the lawn chairs should be off to the side so everyone else on blankets can see! anyway, here are some photos from our wonderful day & evening!

isaac & ms. lingatong

g'ma with her favorite grandkids in las vegas!

susan & isaac ~ she brought isaac a new book for a "starting kindergarten gift". how sweet!

dennis & me enjoying the beautiful evening & the sky full of stars.

when the show began, g'ma headed to the lawn chair just off to the side. lolo sat with her for quite awhile before finding her way back to our blankets.

the kids were exhausted after our busy day & fell asleep on the way home.

1st day of kindergarten

2008-08-25T12:24:00.000-07:00

i was the first one up this morning & was in the living room watching the news when isaac got up. he came out & hopped up on the couch. then 5 minutes later said, "mom, did you forget it's my first day of kindergarten today?" guess someone was eager to get the day started!

we made a big breakfast to fill up his hollow legs, then headed to the worst named school in history, louis WIENER elementary.

dennis, lauryn, & i dropped him off with no tears shed by anyone. i guess we'd been preparing for this all summer so we were all more excited than sad. although he didn't know anyone in his class, he does know a few other kids in other kinder classes & 1st grade.

isaac's teacher is ms. lingatong. she is super nice, energetic, & organized.
doesn't he look so grown-up carrying a backpack like this? i like the blue/green color combo of his bp ~ makes it easy to spot!

isaac got the morning slot for school from 9:00-11:40. after leaving him with his teacher, we headed to the multi-purpose room for the "boo hoo" breakfast for parents of kindergartners. there lauryn enjoyed a chocolate doughnut! dennis then headed to work while lauryn & i went home. then dennis came back to get us so we could all take isaac out for a happy meal to celebrate his first "official" day of school. his legs were hollow again & needed fillin'.

my guys looked so nice today so i had to take a picture to share with you.
all in all, it was a very successful first day of kindergarten! just think, we could have had to deal with a child who was scared witless, crying like crazy, or we could have had to deal with a child who got in trouble on the very first day ~ like our friend's son who got in trouble for saying "butthole" across the room, then told everyone that his dad wears his mom's make-up!

the olympian

2008-08-18T15:27:00.000-07:00

at our house, we are olympic junkies. can't get enough of it. we watch every evening until we are too tired, then as soon as we wake up, we finish watching what we couldn't stay awake for the previous evening. we've been avoiding any regular news like the plague since we don't want to "accidentally" hear results from any of the events that have already happened but haven't been shown on tv yet. like everyone else, we are huge michael phelps fans. isaac has even learned a bit from the master...

as a mother, you are proud of even the smallest accomplishments your children make. so i can't begin to fathom the amount of pride debbie phelps has for her son who has turned the world upside down with his talent. for now, i will revel in the everyday achievements of isaac & lauryn, because with each step, it takes them closer to who they will be one day. i can only imagine what god has in store for them...

flashback friday

2008-08-15T15:50:00.001-07:00

these are rather embarrassing but i'm willing to share them with you. :) the top photo is from 7th grade basketball & the bottom one from 8th grade. can you find me? when i came across these pictures, i thought it was so funny how we all have our socks up in 7th grade, but by 8th grade the trend had obviously changed to the "scrunch". yes, we had to be fashionable on the bb court. i love how a few of the players in 7th grade went with their striped socks. i remember these uniforms being horrible! they were soooo tight! we had the red for away games & the white for home. one night in my 8th gr. season, we were in dunseith to play & for whatever reason, bob hunskor (the boys varsity coach & a legend as a coach in n.d. basketball) was coaching us. first off, before the game i had a friend (i'm pretty sure it was jennifer issendorf) help me stretch my uniform shorts because, like i said, they were awfully tight. well, pretty soon we hear a rrriiiippppp! yep, my shorts were now in two pieces. somehow i had inadvertently packed my other uniform so i put on my red shirt & white shorts. it was a rough game, with nail scratching, a lot of pushing going on, & i remember one of the players on the other team calling me a heifer! yep, i was compared to a cow. so imagine as a legendary coach, getting the team together on time-outs, listening to a bunch of 8th gr. girls complaining about the name calling, the rough housing, etc. he thought it was quite comical!

so you still think she's precious?

2008-08-13T18:56:00.000-07:00

after a busy hour of farts, lauryn just said "no more butt, no more!"

anniversary + fondue = the perfect night out!

2008-08-11T11:14:00.000-07:00

saturday night our dear friend susan came over to watch the kids so dennis & i could celebrate on our own. dennis made reservations for us to go eat at the melting pot.

we started off with the wisconsin trio cheese fondue, served with assorted breads & veggies, along with granny smith apples. along with the cheeses were scallions & sherry in the fondue. it was sooooo good!

here we are enjoying some yummy morsels!

next up were the salads. i ordered the california salad with the raspberry vinagirette & dennis had the tropical salad with mango. we were halfway through the salad when i remembered to take a picture of it.

here i am showing our main course. the meats included filet mignon, teriyaki steak, chicken, shrimp, & salmon. this was served with potatoes, broccoli, & mushrooms, along with an assortment of toppings/sauces.
oh, and we enjoyed a bottle of shiraz. :)

this was the card awaiting us at our table upon arrival, which was kinda nice since we didn't get cards for each other.

and it was...
the perfect night out!

flashback friday...i mean saturday

2008-08-09T11:11:00.000-07:00

11 years ago today, i married my best friend!
as i'm doing this, lauryn is looking at this picture & these are all of the things she's saying:
"mommy, can i be a princess like you?"
"he's gonna kiss her."
"what happened to your hair?"
"daddy's a prince."

lauryn, someday you will be a princess like mommy & your dad & i will have the hardest time letting you go. i cherish my dad walking me down the aisle & know it will be special for you too.
yes, your dad did kiss me that day. :)
i loved my hair! it turned out exactly the way i asked my friend mandie to fix it.
& daddy was the most handsome prince i've ever seen!

proper etiquette

2008-08-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

How to address the Royal Person:
The Princess Royal should be addressed simply as "Your Royal Highness"or "Your Highness" initially, and "Ma'am" as the conversation progresses.

Curtsy/Bow:
Gentlemen should acknowledge the Royal presence with a bow, ladies with a curtsy.

Men: lower the shoulders and tip the head forward with just a little more than a nod of the head; start with eye contact, then lower the gaze to the floor.

Women: the right foot is placed behind the left heel, and the knees bent. Lower the gaze.

Hats:
There is no requirement for hats to be worn, though it is entirely acceptable to do so. Hats are not normally worn at functions after 6:30 p.m.

why, you ask, is this information pertinent? well, if you intend to visit us, you should be aware that lauryn has now taken the name "cinderella". yes, the other night she informed us that she is indeed cinderella. her bedroom is her "castle". she walks around saying, "where is my slipper?" just thought i'd let you know ahead of time because it would be so embarrassing for you to come to our house & not know how to act in the presence of royalty.

LEGS

2008-08-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

the title here says it all...

flashback friday

2008-08-01T13:38:00.001-07:00

'tis moi at 22 months of age. i am on the phone talking to my "yamma ". i remember my mom telling me for the longest time they thought i was talking about pajamas. then they finally realized that i had been talking about grandma. funny, i'm generally not a phone person!

independent isaac

2008-07-28T15:41:00.000-07:00

last week we bribed isaac with dairy queen to swim without his floatees, just from me to dennis. he actually went back & forth between us quite a bit without us pestering him to do so. then on saturday, isaac & i went in the pool for awhile. he's been independent in the pool all summer but with the help of his floatees. when we were all done & were getting things put away, isaac decided he was going to jump in all on his own so i ran for the camera to record this:

i didn't get decent video of him doing a cannonball so will try to get that next time. for now, you'll have to enjoy replaying the above videos of my little boy who started out as a 3 lb. 6 oz. baby & has somehow grown into this big kid who'll start kindergarten in a month. yikes!

flashback friday...august 1995

2008-07-26T17:29:00.000-07:00

the summer before my last year of college, dennis & i decided we were going to take a trip to miami beach to visit his sisters traci & rissa. traci worked at the national hotel located right on the beach & told us she could get us a great deal to stay there. we could hardly pass it up!

so we took off on our road trip. yep, we decided to drive from north dakota all the way to miami beach. since we had cracked this hair-brained scheme to drive, we decided that we'd better take advantage of it. if we were going to drive to florida, we might as well stop in del rio, texas, to visit dennis' dad & family. we were young, what can i say!
we drove the first day to el dorado, kansas, to stay with friends for a night. then it was off to texas. dennis' dad is a borderpatrolman in del rio, 3 LONG hours from san antonio, pretty much driving in barren land with buzzards. we were very nervous upon our arrival because it was the first time dennis & i were meeting his dad, stepmom, & 2 sisters, along with some cousins. but we got past that upon meeting them because they all welcomed us with open arms. we had so much fun with them. the pictures below are of dennis with sister stacy on the left & tara on the right, then dennis' dad kenneth, the bottom is of me with tara, stacy, & some of their cousins.

after a few days of fun in texas, it was off to see the cutie below: our niece nikiya. she still sports those adorable dimples!

below is the hotel "the national" that we were lucky enough to stay at. it was beautiful! the architecture was so different from anything i'd seen before ~ it was only familiar to me because of miami vice... :) the grounds of the hotel were gorgeous with all of the lush greenery.

while in miami beach, we of course took advantage of the beach, went dancing (it was the summer of the macarena), rissa took us on a tour of the delano hotel where she worked located next to the national, we ate yummy food (traci makes some great cuban food), took a day to tour the everglades, then took a few days to go to disney world & epcot.

rissa, dennis, & i went to orlando for a few days of F-U-N!! although there were a few down pours, we trekked on. we were completely exhausted by the end of the days because we had so much ground to cover in just 2 days. here dennis & i are modeling some nice head gear.

below is rissa with her lovely, disney purchase.

this was my first time at a hard rock cafe.

below are rissa, nikiya, & me getting on our boat to tour the everglades. there was an alligator farm where we saw a worker pretty much like steve irwin, excited about showing the tourists the alligators & wrestling them ~ crikey! dennis thought he should hold one.

the next group of pictures shows the view of the beach from our balcony. then dennis & i are in the ocean with nikiya ~ we were lucky enough to take her for her first time ever in the ocean, along with rissa. the bottom picture is typical of dennis with kids. he has a magic touch to get them to fall asleep.
so after a fantastic 8 or 9 days in miami beach, it was time to start driving back north. the crazy thing was that our trip wasn't over yet. my brother was spending the summer in bardstown, kentucky, performing in "the stephen foster story" & my parents & g'ma were there on their summer vacation. also, my aunt karen, uncle steve, & cousisns kean (yeah, the one that just graduated) & kadija drove over to kentucky from virginia. the picture below is self-explanatory.

this trip was so fun...except that dennis would tell you that was when he discovered that i was crabby when i was hungry, when i was tired, when i was cold, when i was hot...
guess it must have been true love because he married me despite all of that!

**sidenote: gas was generally around $1 on this trip...no wonder it was so affordable!

espn friday night fights

2008-07-20T18:23:00.000-07:00

it actually wasn't mysterious at all....we just happened to get these plans to fall in place at the last minute on friday so that's why i posted my flashback friday so late. like you really cared... :)

so what were these plans you ask? dennis had to work for compubox on friday night at the espn fights in primm, nevada, just half an hour away from las vegas. dennis was able to get these passes... for the kids & i to go along with him. boy, it pays to know someone 'cause we got seats (that weren't even ticketed seats~they were put up especially for us) to sit right directly behind the commentators, teddy atlas & joe tessitore. everyone was so nice to us. here are the kids below with teddy atlas. he's so genuine with them & goes out of his way to talk to them.

teddy made sure to give the kids these GIGANTIC espn shirts. the kids thought it was so funny to have shirts so big.

after the fights, we decided to wander around "buffalo bill's casino" to find somewhere to eat.

we settled on tony roma's so we would have a nice place to sit down & relax. our good friend richard, who is more like family, was able to join us. here he is with the kids. um, by this time lauryn had pretty much had it & was ready to go home.

richard was dennis' amateur boxing coach & a father figure to dennis while growing up. he was in primm to corner a boxer from north dakota that was fighting on the card that night. unfortunately, arthur lost & ended up with a broken orbital bone. ouch!

even though it ended up being a late night & an early morning (because our kids get up at the same time no matter how late they go to bed) it was a fun evening!

flashback friday

2008-07-18T23:38:00.000-07:00

my brother & i when i was 2 & he was 1. i love these pictures. there's something about those white socks & those stylish sneakers...
i know, i'm just barely squeakin' this in in time for a true flashback friday. i'll post tomorrow to let you in on why this was posted so late!
sounds mysterious...

the simple life, part deux

2008-07-15T14:22:00.000-07:00

today as isaac was enjoying the simple pleasure of red raspberry jell~o topped with cool whip he said,
"mommy, did you know that sometimes when you are getting jell~o out of a bowl with your spoon, it makes a little toot sound?"
stop laughing & eat your farting jell~o my dear boy!

ah, the simple life

2008-07-15T12:30:00.001-07:00

that's what kids think about life. if they want to do something, it should be able to be done, no problem. no worries about price tags, distance, time, etc. it's really very simple, isn't it?
today lauryn was watching tv & saw a killer whale.

"look mama, shamu."
"should we go see him tonight?"
"no lauryn, we'll have to do that another time."
"mom, should we see dolphins?"
"we'll do that another day."

now i wanna go to sea world....bad

flashback friday

2008-07-11T15:31:00.000-07:00

4 years ago, we headed to nebraska with 17 month old isaac. we were going for a family reunion on dennis' side of the family. while there, we had a fireman themed b'day celebration for cousin keali'i. some of the family members had arranged local paramedics & firemen to come to the party to show the kids their vehicles & equipment. below are some photos from the party.

look at how excited isaac was to see the rescue vehicles pull into the cul-de-sac.

now check out his face as a fireman in full gear gets close to him.

by now, he's decided that the only person to rescue him is his daddy!

the way he looks as he starts to cry in this last photo reminds me of lauryn. :)

lilia

2008-07-09T08:28:00.001-07:00

isaac saw a recent picture of cousin lilia & said, "look at all her muscles." thought that was too cute to not share. also, wanted to show you all how adorable she still is at 6 months of age ~ time flies! that means we're half-way to christmas y'all...has anyone started their shopping??

flashback friday...home sweet home

2008-07-05T16:22:00.000-07:00

this is where i grew up ~ newburg, n.d. we moved there when i was 2 years old. it's a very small town, with a population now less than 100. it was the best place to grow up! we could run around without fear of traffic or strangers.

an aerial view:

here's a shot from a field on the south side of town. isn't it pretty with the sunflowers? the high school is to the left.

the first picture in the group used to be the grocery store. that closed down close to 10 years ago. there is no store in town, but people can get a few things at the cenex gas station. now the store is a shrimp farm.
the 2nd photo is a picture of the school. when i was growing up, it housed the jr. & sr. high kids from newburg, maxbass, & kramer. those of us elementary age in newburg & kramer went to school in kramer, 13 miles from newburg. maxbass had it's own elementary school. but we all came together for grades 7-12. now, the newburg school is made up of k-12 grades. a lot has changed there!
the 3rd photo is the picture of the only church in town. it is the lutheran church that i grew up in & dennis & i got married in. the bell would chime each night at 9:00. when that happened, my brother & i knew it was time to go home. there was no excuse for not hearing it!
the last photo is a picture of the newburg mall. can you believe such a small town has a mall? well, it's a bit misleading...it contained the bank, the post office, an insurance office, a cafe, & the beauty shop that my mom owned & ran for 20 years.

there was a period of about 10 years in the 90's that our town would have a summer weekend celebration known as "nonsense daze". it was a lot of fun!! it consisted of a parade (of cars & farm equipment & businesses,etc.), tennis tournament, volleyball tournament, street dance, bbq, contests, games, arts & crafts, & some more things that i'm sure i've forgotten about. one of those years dennis was the grand marshal of the parade, being a local celebrity & all! :)

here you see my parents...

...who decided to dress up like this for the nonsense daze parade one year, riding a bicycle built for two. i imagine i was a bit embarrassed at the time!

here we are playing volleyball ~ dennis & me on the left, my parents on the right.

after a few years of regular volleyball, it was decided that mud volleyball would be even more fun. this is my dad with us. the grand prize for winning the mud vb tourney was towels & bars of soap. after the tournament was over, we'd pile in to the back of a few pick-up trucks & head to the local dam to share the soap & towels with all of us covered head-to-toe in mud. the towels were pretty much useless after that!

i have the best memories of growing up there & sometimes am saddened that my kids don't get to experience the same things that i did growing up. on the other hand, they live in a large city that offers opportunities too numerous to count!

cookie monsters

2008-07-03T16:20:00.000-07:00

today it officially reached 110 degrees in las vegas which means it is usually 5 degrees hotter than that. so what to do on a hot day? bake cookies & warm up the house even more than it already is, of course.

these were my two lovely assistants:

who helped me turn this:

into this:

now i probably could have had two other helpers, but they were so engrossed doing this:

& listening to this:

they were all very happy to take part in this:

YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

top 11 highlights from our trip to north dakota...

2008-07-02T10:23:00.001-07:00

i know, usually people do a top 10 list. while 10 is great, i figured 11 is even better!! here they are in no particular order:

#11 ~ we had a lot of fun with family!!

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#10 ~ swimming was a priority when staying at the hotel for the wedding. although lauryn made a show of getting in her swimsuit & heading down to the pool with everyone, she only played a little in the shallow water. isaac had fun swimming with cousin keali'i & friend kole.

#9 ~ isaac had a blast fishing with grandpa. we all spent a day on the beach of lake sakakawea playing in the sand, fishing, & snacking. it was a perfect day ~ 75 degrees, clear skies, no breeze!

#8 ~ see how much fun lauryn had eating some pudding??

#7 ~ bubbles are always entertaining...

#6 ~ comfy shoes...

the entire wedding party wore black converse sneakers for the ceremony, reception, & dance ~ how cool is that??

#5 ~ we had a hard time fitting in fun with friends ~ we just seemed to run out of time! we were lucky to have former las vegans, the fitzpatricks, drive to minot to spend some time with us. we miss them!!! then dennis & i spent an evening with friends, laughing it up!!! the guys are all friends from high school. they love to tell their "old" stories (yep, we're old now) from back in the day. i can actually retell them myself since i've been hearing them for 16 years now. :) anyway, they are such a fun group to hang out with.

#4 ~ i witnessed my mom ALMOST getting a hole in one...
so close, but yet so far...

#3 ~ the kids & i tag along with the golfers...there are usually ladybugs to be found.

#2 ~ summer at the lake isn't complete without s'mores!!
g'pa & isaac & lauryn waiting patiently to start on s'mores...

skewering the marsh-pillows (an isaacism)...

toasting the marsh-pillows...

OOPS! i forgot to take a picture of us eating them ~ guess my hands & mouth were full!

#1 ~ and the main reason we decided to go to north dakota in june...
our little jordy was getting married!! jordan is our niece whom we adore so it was hard to see her grow up. but we are very happy for jordan & adam & know they will receive many blessings in their marriage. the wedding was beautiful!! my mother-in-law & sister-in-law, rissa, made the topsy~turvy wedding cake. it was delicious!! isaac was the ring bearer & did a fantastic job. lauryn had a blast dancing with all of the other "princesses" at the dance.

flashback friday

2008-06-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

gotcha my brotha!

trip to the moon(s)

2008-06-18T14:04:00.000-07:00

ha....i simply say that because my family in virgina have the last name of moon. last week i returned from a week~long trip to visit them for my cousin's graduation. we had a great time ~ my mom was there too. we helped my aunt karen get food ready for the big bbq which was a huge success ~ lots of yummy food! when am i going to learn from jerolyn to photograph the food also?? :) my aunt & uncle along with my cousin brent, drove from north dakota they spent the weekend there before heading to north carolina to see my cousin annie. she & her family drove from their place in north carolina too for the graduation. so it was a lot of fun to travel to virginia & get to see so many familiar faces!
all of us went to see the jamestown settlement & then went to colonial williamsburg on sunday. then on monday & tuesday, karen brought mom & me to a few plantations. but of course, the best part was being with family that we don't get to see very often!

horseplay

2008-06-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

this is why daddy's are so fun!
they play with you IN THE HOUSE the way mommy tells you NOT to play IN THE HOUSE!
we love you & all the fun things you do with us!
happy father's day!

flashback friday...matching game

2008-06-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

so here i am with girlfriends at my first prom. the theme was "lost in your eyes" by debbie gibson.....more like "lost in the glare". the dresses are a bit shiny, no? i remember going shopping with my mom & my friend teresa & her mom. i really wanted the dress i'm wearing, but i think teresa was eyeing it too. somehow i got lucky (at the time i thought so anyway) & was able to snag the dress for myself.
below this picture is my 1st grade picture (again) because there are 4 of us in the prom picture that are in my 1st grade picture...let's see how good you are at figuring this out! :)

all decked out!

2008-06-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

somehow our darling little girl has turned into a diva when it's time to leave the house.
"i need my purse!"
"i need my sunglasses!"
"no, not that one, my princess ones!"
you think that's bad? you should hear what happens if we're already on the road somewhere & she realizes she doesn't have her items along.
serenity now!

flashback friday ~ the graduate

2008-06-06T08:00:00.001-07:00

this week i am in virginia for my cousin kean's h.s. graduation. i remember him as a one-year old coming to my graduation so it's only fair that i go to his. :)

here's the flashback part:

this is when kean was a little tyke of 2. he was a cutie pie!
as if i haven't aged myself in this post already, here's some more...
when kean was about 6 years old, he came to n.d. for part of the summer to stay with my grandma. i was lucky enough to get to have him for 3-4 days during that summer. he & i were driving to my parent's place, & on the drive, i see kean doing something out of the corner of my eye. i glance over at him & see that he's got the insert from the michael jackson "bad" cassette & he's copying mj's moves.

wonder if he'll do them for me again...

fun at the park

2008-06-03T15:53:00.000-07:00

when you were a kid, what would you rather do? run around at the park...

OR
splash in the water?

or maybe you had a different activity that was your favorite when you were growing up? i had a lot of fun as a kid growing up in a tiny town. during the summer we were outside for the most part. my mom would just open the door & call for my brother & me to come home. we could hear her even if we were on the other side of town, just a short 3 blocks away. :) kids got together to play, no matter the age. you played with who was available so you could maybe have a full team to play basketball, baseball, etc. but my favorite game growing up was kickball!
now it's your turn to tell me what your favorite activity was during the summer...

flashback friday

2008-05-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

because i posted a class photo from when i was in elementary school, it seemed only fitting for it to be done to the man of the house also!

can't find him?
hint: one of these things is not like the other...

lils

2008-05-28T08:23:00.000-07:00

hi everyone! my name is lilia. one day i took a trip to las vegas to visit my uncle dennis, auntie jen, & cousins isaac & lauryn.

i was looking forward to a few days of "r & r".

i got to meet my uncle dennis for the first time. after careful scrutiny, i decided he's an o.k. kind o' guy!

i also had my first opportunity to meet isaac & lauryn.
yum, that isaac is tasty!

isaac is such a funny kid...he likes to call me lils.

one day i had my mommy dress me in a coordinating outfit with lauryn. don't you think we look adorable together?

i loved hangin' out on the comfy spot!

but i was tired of auntie jen taking so many pictures of me. give me that camera auntie!

so here we've come to the end of our vegas visit. hmmm...i'm so undecided. should i go with them or stay here...

because i hear what happens in vegas, stays in vegas...

p.s. you really should click on that last photo of me & my parents & check out how cute i am close up!

what's in a name?

2008-05-27T15:24:00.000-07:00

let me start by saying that dennis told lauryn once, months ago, to call me mamacita. well, she hasn't forgotten about it, and every now & then she refers to me as that. i get a kick out of it!

so today i hear dennis & lauryn talking about her name. he is trying to get her to tell him her full name & she isn't doing it. he says to her, "you are lauryn lenae" and her response is, "no, i'm lauryn~cita". lol!!

ketchup

2008-05-24T15:14:00.000-07:00

a lot has happened in the last few weeks that i haven't had time to blog about so here goes...

at the end of isaac's school year, the preschool class gets to have water week. the 3rd & final day of water week consisted of snacks, bubbles, & the slip 'n' slide on the field. isaac had a great time & lauryn & i hung out with them also. isaac's buddy michael goes to school with isaac too & his mom, della, & brother matthew stayed for the activities also. you'll see them in the photos below as well.

the kids went to a birthday part the other day & got to play with their friend ellie there too!

isaac had his graduation this past wednesday. lauryn, kaylee, & i attended. we got all dressed up & went for lunch after.

the kids had cinnamon & sugar ALL over them from their churros. lauryn pretty much just played hers like a harmonica...i don't think she took one bite off of it. she just got the cin. & sugar off the exterior.

by now, for those of you who don't know already, you may have noticed the bandages on lauryn's forehead. almost 2 weeks ago, lauryn was jumping in the kitchen, lost her balance, fell forward, & bonked her head on the edge of the windowsill. we brought her to the e.r. where they didn't put stitches or glue on her, just the steri-strips(sp?). she is healing ok now, we weren't happy with they way they treated her injury. what will be will be & she is still our beautiful baby girl!

i have a few other things that i wasn't able to fit into this post so will get to it in the next few days!
ciao!

flashback friday...happy birthday!

2008-05-23T08:55:00.001-07:00

who in the world is this cutie patootie?

it's this guy right here!

dennis celebrated his birthday this past saturday. that night we met friends saul & miriam to go to a club called the mix at the top of the mandalay bay's 2nd tower, the hotel. although the club itself wasn't much fun, the view of the strip was spectacular. we then decided to see all the weirdos that were out & about at one of the lounges downstairs. some pretty good entertainment watching all sorts of people gettin' their groove on, most of them with NO groove. :)

happy birthday dennis....i love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ghetto sprinkler is...

2008-05-21T19:34:00.001-07:00

ghetto fabulous on a hot day!!

flashback friday

2008-05-16T10:01:00.001-07:00

see if you can find me in my 1st grade class picture. :)
our teacher, mrs. sieler, was fresh out of college ~ we were her first class. she was in beauty pageants & ALL of us were in love with her! she was a hugger which was fine with everyone. i remember that she'd play the "winnie-the-pooh" record for us. i also loved when it was story time & she'd read to us. for some reason, i remember the book "eddie spaghetti" being read to us. i loved 1st grade!
p.s. you should be able to click on the picture to enlarge if needed...

happy mother's day!

2008-05-11T19:28:00.000-07:00

it was a perfect day...
lazed around for a bit this morning...
went to church...great message & great music...
had a bite to eat at baja fresh...yummy!!
home to get a few things done...
went to a movie...nim's island...great family movie
back home to just relax...
i love being a mom!!!

flashback friday...remembering grandma joanne

2008-05-09T15:28:00.001-07:00

my grandma passed away just a week after celebrating her 77th birthday. she was a wonderful person, and as i found out at the family service, she was an encourager, not just to her family but to so many people. her mark was left on an untold number of people. i will dearly miss her calling me "jennikins", i'll miss her laugh, i'll miss her carmel rolls, brown bread, kringles, & lefse. i'll miss visiting her when we go to north dakota. i'll miss her letters & cards, she was quite a letter writer. she was a woman of unshakable faith who in her cards & letters included a bible verse specifically for you. although we mourn our loss, we cherish the memories we have of her & are comforted with the fact that she is with our heavenly father.
this photo was from her trip to las vegas with my mom in april '06. she enjoyed the conservatory in the bellagio...she loved flowers!

this is from the same trip...isaac snapped this photo of 4 generations.

this photo was from the last time i saw my grandma. we met up in san diego in august '07. she was there to visit her cousin & we were there to see nate in "mamma mia". it worked out for us to meet for lunch, & i am so thankful for that!

i love you grandma!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-05-03T11:22:00.000-07:00

it is with a heavy heart that i write today...
my grandma joanne (my mom's mom) passed away yesterday, early, early friday morning.
i flew to north dakota yesterday to be with family.
the funeral will be on monday & i will return on wednesday.
love,
jen

flashback friday

2008-04-25T13:05:00.000-07:00

welcome to my new weekly post titled "flashback friday". every week i'll post an old school photo that i'm sure will put a smile on your face, in some cases give you a good laugh!
here's the first one!

here dennis & i are in bismarck on july 21, 1992. we each went with friends to go to the mc hammer/tlc/boysIImen concert. that was the first time i had ever smelled pot. i couldn't figure out why this arena smelled like stinky socks until someone told me what it was. anyway, don'tcha just love our outfits?? dennis was all about the teal/purple ~ those were the colors for his boxing trunks when he turned pro. i loved those guess shorts & still have them. i know, i'll never fit in them again, but those are just one of those things i don't want to get rid of.
hope you enjoyed flashback friday!
beware...YOU may just make the cut if we knew you back in the day...

bonding time

2008-04-21T21:21:00.000-07:00

what better way for father & son to bond than go to a big~time boxing match together?

yeah, that's right! the boys got to go to this fight together. dennis' compubox boss got him the tickets 'cause ya know we wouldn't pay $1200 per ticket!! isaac loved it! of all of the famous people present, isaac thought simon from american idol was the coolest. the day started with a t-ball game, then on to a birthday party so, needless to say, isaac was sacked out when he got home from the fight.
on sunday after church, dennis & isaac took in the unlv baseball game.

as you can see, these ticket prices are much more up our alley.
let's see if you can keep up with the connection~
dennis & i have been part of the BigBrotherBigSister program for 6 years now. our Little Brother william's real little brother's Big Brother is a member of the unlv baseball team. lauryn & i had some errands to run so let dennis & isaac spend the afternoon with william & his family watching the game. isaac was excited to meet the players after the game & get an autographed baseball. one of the autographs was from this guy:

he is the coach of san diego state, the team unlv played on sunday.
it turned out to be a busy weekend packed with sports...
btw, one of isaac's t-ball teammates is this hall of famer's son:

2008-04-16T10:30:00.000-07:00

after days of dropping heavy hints, isaac finally got his wish to go to the driving range with daddy. they spent an hour or two working on their swing & putting. isaac is a bit like me when it comes to golf ~ impatient & wanting to use your baseball swing & swing with all your might. i imagine he'll actually learn to do it the correct way because of his determination.

imagine my delight AND dismay at the sight of this when walking into the living room today:

~delight because my daughter wants to help with the cleaning duties :)
~dismay because my 2 year old actually finds it necessary to pick up my slack :(
in my defense, it gets dusty here really fast ~ seriously!

seven (more) weird things about me

2008-04-13T15:00:00.000-07:00

i've done this before so i will try my best to find 7 other weird things about me!

1. i'm addicted to lip balm ~ i must have it! it started with carmex in high school. now my balm of choice is blistex brand lip medex.

2. i like chocolate milk floats. i think i discovered them years ago when i was too lazy to dig out the blender to make a chocolate shake.

3. during the non-sock wearing season, i will always have my toe nails painted! i do it myself but now & then will pamper myself with a pedicure.

4. when reading a good suspenseful book, sometimes i have to cover the rest of the page i am reading so my eyes will not wander & inadvertently see something & ruin the story.

5. i love when beautiful music can bring me to tears.

6. i'm a tv junkie but don't watch grey's anatomy, desperate housewives, the bachelor, the biggest loser, or deal or no deal. i'd rather chew on tinfoil for an hour rather than be forced to watch deal or no deal!

7. sometimes when sitting in a chair barefoot, i will curl all of my toes under except for my big toes. it just looks weird!

if you haven't done this one yet, i tag YOU!

tag ~ you're it!

2008-04-10T09:53:00.000-07:00

Tag! I'm it....and If you're reading this, YOU'RE IT!!

Two names you go by:
1. Jen
2. Mom or MOMMY!

Two things you are wearing right now:
1. black yoga pants
2. atlanta braves hat

Two of your favorite things to do:
1. blog
2. read blogs

Two things you want very badly at the moment:
1. a clean house
2. a new vehicle

Two favorite pets you have had or have now?
1. Maxie (our current dog)
2. Duchess (my family dog when i was growing up)

Two people who will fill this out:
1. Dee
2. Mom?

Two things you ate last night:
1. noodles
2. toast

Two things you ate today:
1. oatmeal
2. cran-grape juice

Two people you last talked to:
1. Dennis
2. Della

Two things you're doing tomorrow:
1. babysitting Kaylee
2. going to corepower/drumming class

The longest car rides I've been on:
1. North Dakota to Florida via Texas
2. Las Vegas to North Dakota

Two favorite holidays:
1. Thanksgiving
2. Christmas

Two favorite vacations:
1. New York
2. Cancun

Two Favorite Drinks:
1. frappacino from StarBucks (I love them but hardly ever get them!)
2. coke

Birthday:
June 13

Now copy, paste and blog it. I look forward to it!

pirates & root beer

2008-04-09T15:41:00.000-07:00

remember in math when you learned this?
A = B
B = C
therefore,
A = C

well, that's how isaac's mind worked today. check this out:
while opening a root beer dumdum sucker, isaac pointed out the barrels on the rapper.
pirate ships have barrels on them.
therefore,
pirates drink root beer.

crack the code

2008-04-08T10:22:00.000-07:00

i'm always on the search for the best shampoo & conditioner, but i always seem to come back to this:

i love herbal essences! i've tried many other brands, including expensive ones. you always think that if you pay more money for something that the product must be miraculous. the other day i decided i needed to make the return to h.e. & have fallen in love with the hello hydration. besides, it smells so yummy!
so speaking of shampoo, that leads me to a recent visitor in our neck of the woods. i'm not naMing any, Oh, naMes or anything...just sit back & enjoy the story!
like i said, a certain someone was here to visit. after a few days, i said to that person, is there even any shampoo in that shower [you know, in one of those shower caddies that hang from the shower head]? they replied yes. needless to say, i didn't double check at the time. a few days after the visitor had left, i was giving my kids a bath & happened to glance up at that shower caddie & this is what i saw:

yep, it's dog shampoo for maxie. when relaying this to our guest, i laughed so hard & had tears streaming down my face, especially when they said they thought they were just using an oatmeal shampoo. their hair was extra silky & shiny while here...
HELLO HYDRATION!
this is some seriously funny stuff...there's a huge picture of a dog on the bottle. :)

time for t-ball again

2008-04-03T14:48:00.001-07:00

opening day for little league was this past saturday. team pictures were on the agenda. dennis made the team picture since he's an assistant with the team. he loves being able to be so involved. there's only one thing wrong ~ isaac's team is the dreaded yankees! very painful for dennis to put that hat on.

isaac's buddy michael is on the team also ~ as if they don't spend enough time together already. :)

isaac's first game of the season was monday night. here he is at the start of the game, seriously playing 3rd base.

even though this is a different league from the one he played in last year, the rules do not differ much. they still play 3 innings, with each player getting to bat each inning, no matter how many outs there are. no score is kept so no one is declared the winner or loser. isaac has been loving it! although before we know it, it's going to be too hot outside!

paging dr. isaac

2008-04-01T09:48:00.001-07:00

one day in sunday school isaac came home with this "first aid kit". they learned that god wants us to care for others. well, isaac wanted to use his bam-baids (as isaac calls band-aids) for any little reason he could find. after church he was on a mission ~ asking all of us about every 2 seconds if we needed a bam-baid. much to his dismay, no one did.
until...

he managed to find the teeniest~tiniest itty~bitty scratch! just know you'll be in good hands with dr. isaac in the house. :)