The Boyd Family

2011-03-01T17:10:00.000-08:00

My first tutorial, fun!

Here is how to make a skirt in an hour:

Start with 1 yard of fabric, this is my yard folded in half.

Cut your folded yard in half on the fold.

Wrong sides together and stitch the two short sides.

Now you have a big tube of fabric. It needs a hem and a casing.

fold down a few inches and iron in place.

fold your raw edges in to the middle of your ironed edge and press again. Do this to the top and bottom of the fabric. For the hem stitch all the way around, for the casing leave a gap to insert your elastic.

Here is the big tube of fabric with a casing on top and a hem on the bottom.

Cut your elastic. I cut my elastic to the size of the waist UNSTRETCHED. Then I overlap about 1.5-2" inches. Thread your elastic through your casing and stitch the gap closed.

Ta-da!

And here is the happy recipient trying it on:

ENJOY!!

Amazing! This blog gets updated??

2010-05-13T19:13:00.000-07:00

No, not very often, but I am trying to do better. I don't think I have sat down since November and it's likely I haven't updated the blog since then either. Sadie is now 16 months and the countdown to nursery is on! It will be nice to be able to listen in church again...assuming she cooperates, but that is not very likely. Jenna is 4 and is working on learning to read, write her letters and ride her bike without training wheels. It's too soon to take the training wheels off her bike, but she is getting there. Kristin is in the final countdown for the end of the school year. She has run nearly 40 miles afterschool and will have an awards ceremony next Tuesday for running club. Jason just got a mountain bike and is enjoying glimpses from his youth when he was younger and riskier. He's having a blast and hopes the whole family can get bikes so we can ride together...I have not given in yet. I'm still busy busy busy with my little dress shop. I think I'm up to about 40 dresses in the last 3-4 months and no signs of it slowing down any time soon. We are looking forward to the air show this weekend, school getting out and some time to go camping this summer. I am ready for warmer weather, but not too warm yet.

What I've been up to lately

2010-03-29T16:47:00.000-07:00

It's been quite a while since I made an update, we have been a busy little family lately. I have been sewing up a storm and recently started selling the dresses I make. I first decided I wanted to take up sewing after seeing the beautiful work of another seamstress known as mamapatrice. (see her blog here http://blog.patricemitchell.com/) I will be back soon to add pictures of my dresses and give a little update on what we have all been doing the last few months.

Our basement flooded!

2009-11-14T04:32:00.000-08:00

After 24 hours of rain our sump pump quit working and our basement flooded. This happened yesterday. We have a lot of clean up ahead of us and hope we can save some of our belongings.

Too much to update, but here are some recent pictures

2009-11-03T10:44:00.000-08:00

So I never even finished adding pictures from Disneyworld and I now have pictures from Alaska to add at some point. I am too far behind to catch up so I am just going to have to start fresh. Sadie is almost 10 months old now and I figured you may want to see some recent pictures so here you go:

Some Sadie pictures from about a month ago:

and Halloween:

Long overdue update

2009-10-06T17:39:00.001-07:00

My apologies for going so long without an update. I still have Disney pictures to upload! Jason and I are both in school and Sadie is newly mobile. It is hard to find time to blog right now. I will try to add more pictures and some family news soon.

Disneyworld Pictures

2009-05-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

April/May Pictures

2009-05-26T16:42:00.001-07:00

April/May review and vacation report

2009-05-26T15:41:00.000-07:00

Our household has kept busy busy busy lately and once again I have neglected our blog.
Here's a brief rundown of our latest shenanigans (however you spell it)
Jason is still working. He was able to take a week off recently for our family trip, but otherwise work keeps him busy. He is in his last year of school as well and thinks he will be on the deans list soon. Yay! He has decided we need to get outfitted for camping so that has kept him busy checking into tents and sleeping bags. Fun stuff! I can't wait to roast marshmallows, so I'm all for it. :)

Me- I planned our trip and then spent the next month making outfits and bows for the girls to wear for it...sounds silly I'm sure, but I had fun and it helped countdown the days until our trip. The girls received a number of compliments on their cute clothes and a few suggested I start selling clothes once they found out that I made their stuff. I have a new calling at church. I teach sharing time once a month. I am totally happy with my new calling...It means 15 minutes of work once every 4 weeks....not a bad gig.

Kristin is plugging away at the last couple weeks of second grade. Her school already did field day and she got third place in something but I don't remember what event...I'll ask her when she gets home. She started piano lessons in May and seems to enjoy them. She will head to Idaho mid June for a visit.

Jenna is our little fireball...she keeps us entertained, the house in need of clean up/repair and lots of giggles. You can actually see the path of destruction as she makes her way around the house each day. She test her boundaries often and Jason and I keep battling her in hopes she will calm a bit before she hits her teen years.

Sadie was 13.4 pounds at her 4 month check up. She is happy, healthy and growing good. She has started eating baby food and has pulled a few faces, but overall seems to like getting more than just formula to eat. She has discovered her hands and her voice. She is constantly gumming her fists and squawks every waking moment that she does not have her pacifier in her mouth. Jenna leaned on her at a restaurant last week and Sadie let out a humongous blood curdling scream you wouldn't believe came out of her little body. She is sure to let us know when she needs something.

Our trip last week was to Disneyworld. We had been kicking the idea around of going this fall, but had some last minute scheduling conflicts and decided that if we are going to do it we better just go so we went for it. We surprised the girls by waking them up at 3 am to go to the airport...they knew something was up, but didn't know what or when it was happening. We got to the airport and flew to Orlando. The girls have never been to Florida so they had no idea where we were going until we got on a Mickey Mouse bus to take us to our hotel. We stayed a Port Orleans riverside and were happy with the scenery and accommodations. We wandered the grounds the day we arrived and unpacked our suitcases. After resting a bit we wondered back to the check in building and let the girl watch some cartoons while we sat with Sadie. It wasn't more than 15 minutes until Grandma and Grandpa Reed showed up and surprised the girls again. Jason and I knew we needed reinforcements now that we are outnumbered so we conspired with Grandma and Grandpa to come to Florida with us. It was fun to have to big surprises in one day for the girls although their reaction was a little disappointing. They were more than happy to go back to watching their cartoons. I think they were a little overwhelmed by all the change by this point.
Overall we had a fun trip...kinda....for what we paid I hope we can come out of it with good memories of our 'adventure'. It rained most of the week. I'm not talking little april showers I am talking jump in the shower for 20 minutes fully clothed and then take a walk. We were drenched. I am sorry to say we didn't see a single parade or any fireworks because we were dodging waterfalls or trying to get back to our hotel in time for our shoes to dry out in time for the next days walking.
The highlights:
I took the girls to have dinner at Cinderella's Castle. That was a fun experience and I took some pictures to share of meeting Cinderella and where we ate.
Kristin and I bought oysters in Japan at Epcot. Kristin's pearl was an average size white pearl that we had put on a piece of jewelry to turn it into a necklace. She had such a fun time that when we went back a few days later I talked Jason into buying me two oysters to make an earring set. We chose an oyster that was growing some whiskers and Jason picked the oyster that was front and center in the tank. They opened the first oyster and told me what a lucky day I was having. My first oyster had 'twins'. 2 pearls almost identical in size and color and perfect for turning into earrings. We laughed that we had already bought 2 oysters and now we didn't need the second one, but we opened it anyway and the worker was shocked...she told me once again how lucky I was and showed me the silver blue pearl found in the second oyster. Apparently silver is the rarest color and to find two pearls in one oyster and a silver pearl in the other was not an everyday occurrence. We went ahead and had earring made with the twin pearls and I now have a silver blue pearl necklace. Jason can breathe a sigh of relief, he can skip anniversary shopping this year.
Jenna Lover pirates of the Caribbean and requested to ride it twice. We were concerned that the haunted mansion would scare her, but she requested to ride it twice too. She loved the shows and meeting the characters. She met Mickey, Minnie, Aurora, Belle and Cinderella.(twice!) She found a flower on the ground that had fallen off of the trees while we were waiting in line to meet Mickey. She gave it to Mickey and he wanted it in his hat band so he could wear her flower the rest of the day. She was really cute with the characters. She made quite an impression on Grandpa...

Kristin wanted to ride all the big rides. She rode the rock n roller coaster, the big thunder rail road, test track at epcot, expedition Everest and had a great time. She loved the petting zoo at Animal Kingdom and and was thrilled to pick out her oyster at Epcot.

Poor Jason was miserable most of the week. Too many people, too much rain. He told me at least twice that for what we spent we could have rented a cabin in the woods for 2 weeks and not seen a single person at all. Hence the camping gear shopping. Oh, well...I think camping will be fun too, I just wish he had a better time.

The down sides...
the rain
the lightening (almost earsplitting at some points)
keeping 3 kids happy and not whining
tracking down the diaper bag that was accidentally left on the bus in the pouring rain.
eating dinner at 9:30 at night one night because we couldn't find a restaurant with an opening.

Hopefully we all will have some happy memories in the end. I am glad we were able to do this for the kids and hope they will remember the time we were able to spend as a family and with grandma and grandpa.

Pictures to follow...as soon as I unpack the camera.

I remember!

2009-04-05T13:54:00.001-07:00

I just remembered my other Jenna kidism. She made a mess in her room so I told her if she didn't clean up I was going to make her toys disappear. Her response? "You don't even have a magic wand!" Apparently she did not feel threatened. :)

Seeing Double

2009-04-05T08:06:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy month or so since my last post. I made a smart scheduling choice that resulted in finals week in one class and mid-terms in the other at the same time. I survived and have been recovering ever since. On the off chance I can get the house in order I am sewing or trying to decide on the next project to work on. I don't have many recent pictures but I wanted to share these of Jenna and Sadie wearing the same dress at about the same age. Do you see any resemblance? (for those who are wondering the pictures go Sadie, Jenna, Sadie, Jenna, etc.

As you usual I have a few more kidisms to share. The most recent is Jenna. She does not like to be left home when Jason or I are leaving so she has started saying "Don't leave about me" when she has to stay home.
I know there are more, but they have slipped my mind, so I will have to update when I remember.
Jason managed to hit a rabbit going 80 MPH. Apparently if you hit a rabbit going 80 you are going to damage your car. In this case it was a rental. I am pretty sure the Easter bunny will be skipping (lol, or hopping) over our house this year.

Sadie's First Smiles

2009-03-17T12:50:00.001-07:00

I caught Sadie in a good mood a few days ago. She thought the flash was funny so she smiled after I took each picture. It took a while, but eventually I was able to get these pictures of her.

I make stuff : )

2009-03-12T15:29:00.000-07:00

Hi again, another random post featuring the family and stuff I have made recently: (Making this stuff is why I don't get this updated very often)

Tag Monster for a 1 year old's Birthday gift:

Jenna's new skirt (I came up with the pattern for this as well)

Sadie's knot dress ( minus the buttonholes...that's why the straps aren't attached)

Jenna's knot dress (held up with clothes pins because I haven't done the button holes yet for her dress either)

These were all made within the past two weeks, I have a few more things I've been working on (3 more skirts and 2 more dresses, but they aren't done yet) I just wanted to share what I've been working on lately.

Jason, Sadie and Kristin have been playing soccer in the back yard:

And Jenna has been making sure Sadie's toes stay fuzzy free:

Sadie had her 2 month check up Tuesday. She is 10 lbs 8 ox and 22.5 inches long. She has a bit of thrush she is getting treated for, but otherwise is doing great. Here are some pictures of her taken on at 2 months old:

And last Sadie trying out her petti skirt (the first picture is my favorite):

Random thoughts

2009-03-05T15:03:00.000-08:00

I have so many clever friends...someday I'll attemp a humorous post but for now I'll add more kid funnies:

Mom- Jenna, you are a smartie (in response to something clever Jenna said)
Jenna- nuh-uh!
Mom- why not?
Jenna- 'cause I'm a sweet tart!

Sadie- eeh, goo!
(That's right- little miss Sadie has discovered her voice!)

Miss Sadie is 2 months old today! She started smiling about 2 weeks ago, it is still hit and mmiss, but it's adorable.

Snow dumped on our part of the country earlier this week resulting in about a foot of snow and 2 snow days...ironically we are slated to reach 70 degrees by Sunday.

Being the creative genius- strike that- GOOBER that I am I entered a contest this week. I was looking for some spring fabric for the girls and came across a fabric store who was running a contest to 'name that set'. It was an outfit made with monkey pirate fabric- not sure why, but that is what it was. Anyway, if you submitted a name for it and your name suggestion was chosen as the favorite then you would win a free pattern. My suggestion? CHIMPS AHOY! My pattern should be here early next week. :)

And with that, the baby cries...I'll be back later with pictures.
-lis

Jan/Feb 2009

2009-02-17T09:32:00.000-08:00

Since it has been so long since I have done an update I am posting this update using the following format:

Important events:
Sadie's Blessing
Kristin's Birthday
Kristin's Baptism

Notable occurrences:
Grandma & Grandpa Reed and Grandma & Grandpa Boyd Visiting
First date night for Jason & I in almost a year
Meeting Obama
Homemade (from scratch!) German Chocolate Cake
Jenna's first primary opening prayer
Melissa's class started

Funny things said:
"Mom, I thought you were too fat to wear that shirt." -courtesy of Jenna
"Um, she's acting like a dead person."- Jenna holding sleeping Sadie

Upcoming events:
Jason's birthday
Sadie's 2 month check up

Our current favorite kids book:
Llama Llama Mad at Mama

Sadie

2009-02-17T09:07:00.000-08:00

Sadie will be 6 weeks old this Thursday. Here are a ton of pictures covering the last month and a half.

The zoo with Grandma & Grandpa

2009-02-17T08:58:00.000-08:00

Meeting Obama

2009-02-17T08:53:00.001-08:00

Jason took the Grandma's and Grandpa's to the base to see the plane take off. After el presidente arrived via motorcade he walked to the fence to shake hands and say hi to those who were waiting to watch the plane take off. He talked to Jenna, too. He was friendly and personable... so I am told...I wasn't there.

Kristin's Birthday

2009-02-17T08:46:00.001-08:00

Sadie's Blessing

2009-02-17T08:38:00.000-08:00

Our three pretty girls in their white dresses:
(Jason's mom crocheted Sadie's gorgeous dress)

Baptism

2009-02-17T07:23:00.000-08:00

Kristin was baptized February 8, 2009. My mom and I made the long dress she was baptized in. When I figure out how, I'll try and post a copy of her program.

Sadie is here!!

2009-01-10T07:31:00.000-08:00

Sadie was born on January 8, 2009 at 4:36 pm weighing 6 pounds 7 ounces and she was 18.9 inches long. She was a few weeks early but is doing great. She has lots of dark hair. We are happy to be home from the hospital and are adjusting to having a newborn at home. For those who want the gory details read on, otherwise, enjoy the pictures.

I woke up around midnight on January 8 because Jenna started crying. I went to Jenna's room and laid down with her to get her back to sleep. In the mean time I started to pick up on some back pain that seemed timeable. I tried to rest for a bit and time my back pain when it was noticeable. I woke Jason up around 2 and we got the girls out of bed and to the car. By the time we made it to the base and had the girls settled in with friends it was closer to 3 am so we headed to the hospital. I showed up at a 3 (same as I was at my last Dr's appointment on Monday so we were sent walking for an hour. After an hour I was a 4 so they started the process of admitting me. This took long enough that the contractions started dying down so they sent me walking again,this time for 2 hours. (boring!! -The hospital had 6 floors and we know every inch of them now) By the time we returned I was at a 5 so they FINALLY officially decided to admit me for good. They called anesthesia and got me an epidural set up and then were going to break my water. After breaking my water we waited 2 hours to see what would happen and they check again and I was still at a 5 which was discouraging...it had been a long day already and still no end in sight. Pitocin was ordered from the pharmacy to help get things moving and unfortunately it took another hour for the pharmacy to bring it to Labor and Delivery. Finally the pitocin was hooked up to my IV and after about 30-45 minutes later I started to feel pressure. I was checked again and ready to push so after calling the Dr in and getting set up Sadie arrived two pushes later. I have been recovering well and was anxious to get back home from the hospital after staying 24 hours after delivery (which was necessary for one of Sadie's blood tests) Sadie spent her first day sleeping a lot which is normal, but the nurses were concerned about her eating enough so we had to try and wake her up for feedings. This was extremely difficult and we had to basically torture her (rub ice cubes on her little feet)to get her to even flutter her little eye lids. I only had to get up with her twice last night and if it were up to her she probably would have slept through the night, but she needed to be fed. Anyway, she has been very pleasant and really only cries when she gets her diaper changed (cold wipes) or is undressed. The girls are adjusting well so far and are really happy to have her home so they can hold her and help with her care. Jason will be home with me until My mom gets here on the 20th and then my mom will be around to help out.
Thanks for all your well wishes and concern, we are doing well!
-Melissa Jason and the girls

Sadie's Crib bedding

2009-01-10T07:21:00.000-08:00

By request I am posting pictures of the bedding I made for Sadie's Crib. I fell in love with this Hanky Print Fabric even though I didn't think I would use something so girlie (pink and flowers??) The fabric is actually a Breast Cancer awareness print and the side panel reads "Love, Hope, Laugh, Sing, Play" which I though was appropriate for a little girl. I made two fitted crib sheets, one is patchwork cream and green and the other is just cream. I made the bumper, the dust ruffle and 2 blankets to go with it. I made a little pillow that just sits in the corner since I had a little extra fabric and a friend is making me a patchwork bear using the same fabric so I will have to add pictures of that once it is finished. I actually finished the last of the sewing on my birthday and Sadie was born the next day so the timing worked out well.
Anyway, here are the pictures:

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-22T12:51:00.000-08:00

First I have to apologize for going so long without an update. December has been a busy month for us and although I am happy to report that a lot got accomplished, some did not...one of those things being sending out Christmas cards this year. SORRY! I have been busy crafting up some Christmas presents all while trying to finish sewing Sadie's bedding and getting the house and gear ready for a baby. It has taken a lot of my time and energy. (which I don't have a lot of at this point) Our tree is up, our stockings are just about ready to hang (finally!) 90% of the presents are wrapped and all of the holiday meals are planned and grocery shopped for. We are just about ready.
Kristin is done with school for 2 weeks and for the first time in 5 years she will not be traveling this Christmas season. We are happy to have her here with us for the entire Christmas break.
Jenna still doesn't quite "get" Christmas...I was trying to talk to her about Santa and baby Jesus yesterday and she is a little lost with the whole thing, but I am sure when it comes time to tear into the Christmas presents she will know just what to do.
Poor Jason, like most years he has the least number of presents under the tree. I told him that anything that has come into the house for him in the last month has been wrapped so he will be getting new socks and a pineapple for Christmas. :)
My family is together this year with the exception of me. Sorry Jared and Terra! We're hoping we have a better shot at being out west next Christmas.
Sadie is still cooking away...as she should be at this point. I have a Dr's appointment tomorrow morning so I am anxious to check on her again, but don't expect her to make her appearance for at least another 3 weeks. I am quite uncomfortable at this point, but I want a healthy baby vs an early baby so I am trying to remind myself that I am almost done.
We feel very blessed this year, we are healthy, comfortable, and loved and we hope the same for each of you this season and throughout the year. Merry Christmas to all our friends and family!
-Love Jason, Melissa, Kristin, Jenna & (Sadie)

Happy Birthday Jenna!

2008-12-22T12:32:00.000-08:00

My baby turned 3 December 4th. We took lots of pictures since family and friends are so far away. Here is what you missed:

33 weeks

2008-12-08T11:47:00.000-08:00

Kitty Litter Cake

2008-11-12T07:20:00.000-08:00

We made this for a party Jason was going to. It was fun to make and looked disgusting! You can find instructions here:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Kitty-Litter-Cake/Detail.aspx

Trip to the Zoo

2008-11-12T07:16:00.000-08:00

Trick or Treat!!

2008-11-12T07:12:00.000-08:00

There are more pictures of Jenna because she had to get dressed up 3 times and Kristin only dressed up twice.

Pumpkin Patch & Corn Maze

2008-11-12T07:09:00.000-08:00

I'm not so good at this updating business

2008-11-10T05:39:00.000-08:00

My ultrasound was fine, Sadie was not cooperative and she covered her face with her little hand when they tried to take a picture, so unfortunately I have no photos to share, but the good news is they saw what they needed to see on ultrasound, so the placenta and the umbilical cord are just as they should be. The only ongoing issue at this point is the Gestational Diabetes, which I am not officially diagnosed with at this point, but not officially cleared of either.

The results of my week of 4x a day finger sticks was good enough to reduce the number of finger sticks per day, but not good enough to stop altogether. I am now doing 2 finger sticks a day will report my results tomorrow. I have met with a nutritionist so I know what kind of diet they want me to follow if I am diagnosed, but since I am not, I have a hard time finding the motivation to alter my eating habits. I would like to say that I expect to be able to update the status of the situation soon, but after waiting all week for a phone call that never came, I am not getting my hopes up this time around. I take solace in knowing that my numbers are low enough that they do not justify further monitoring at this point and that the baby is healthy, now if I could just quit having to stab my little fingers things would be much better.

Other than that, the 3rd trimester is what I expected it to be so far, sore ribs, trouble breathing since the baby is now infringing on the space my lungs need, and a heck of a time trying to get comfortable. I put my hair in a bun yesterday and Jason was kind enough to comment that he thought I looked like a ballerina, which was sweet...then he added "from the neck up!" We laughed at the thought of me...the awkward ballerina so I thought I would share a picture of how I am feeling at this point:
Here's me at 29 weeks:
I can't figure out how to put the picture at the bottom of the post, so it is at the top.
-Melissa

October in review

2008-10-29T05:44:00.000-07:00

Whew, I never intend do go so long between updates, but this has been a busy month so I will have to go with a brief overview this time around.

Jenna keeps me busy! She seems to be enjoying joy school which is every Tuesday and Music Makers (our ward toddler group) every Friday. She seems to take a few minutes (more like 10-15) to get comfortable enough to join in, which doesn't work out very well when we are only there for an hour to begin with. We are still making slow progress with the potty training, but I am bound and determined to not have two in diapers so I have my work cut out for me over the next 2-3 months. Jenna is cooperative in the sense that she will sit on the potty without complaining when we tell her to, but she has yet to have any consistency in telling us when she needs to.

School is keeping Kristin busy...I don't know how we will ever have time to fit in any activities or clubs someday, a regular school day and homework is keeping her tied up from about 7 am to 5 pm daily. We will be going in for parent teacher conference on November 11, so we are anxious to get an assessment of her progress from her teachers perspective. She still has a difficult time staying focused, but her reading speed has improved a lot so she always seems to be making progress in one area when another is giving her trouble...the biggest obstacle right now is timed math tests...she knows the answers, but she doesn't do much of anything fast, let alone math facts. At any rate, we are happy with her determination.

I just finished my last general class!! Woohoo! So it only took me 10 years, but I am now 7 classes away from my bachelors degree. I had intended to finish by the end of next year but that may be delayed a month or two so I can focus on the baby without school hanging over my head. I am keeping busy working on crafts that I intended to make for Christmas last year and never finished so I am now attempting to finish in time for Christmas this year. I am also working on Sadie's bedding when I have a spare moment, but that is rare. In the mean time, I am now in charge of our wards craft group, so I have been teaching/helping twice a month and trying to come up with ideas for future months. This month was tutu's and wands, I will add pictures soon.

Jason is busy with his two classes he is in right now and my honey do list which now includes requests such as -can you please pick that up off the floor for me and will you help me find my tums? He is a good helper.
Anyone who knows Jason knows that he loves Christmas, but now that he is an adult he has a hard time holding back from playing with his new toys until society says he can, so I never can surprise him for Christmas. He is getting a grand total of 3 presents and he knows about every one of them. :( We bought him a bowflex off craigslist which is now set up in the middle of my craft room. He is happy with it, but he is definitely now waiting until Christmas to use it. Not much else to report for Jason right now...just working, going to school and working with the teachers at church...same old same old...

Now for the baby update...at my last appointment the Dr that I saw recommended a repeat ultrasound...she said that in my first ultrasound they had a hard time determining if the umbilical cord had the correct number of arteries in it. Then she ordered my lab work, which included my 1 hour blood glucose test. My ultrasound will be tomorrow and I am anxious to see the baby again.
I was told to eat an atkins style breakfast the morning of my blood glucose test, so I did...I got a phone call later that day that my levels were elevated, I did not pass and I would now need to do the three hour blood glucose test. I'll admit I was not thrilled, but in an effort to look on the bright side I decided that I looked forward to the three hour test only because I never have a three hour stint with no kids, so I would bring a book and enjoy it. I was wrong...the 3 hour blood glucose test involves a total of 4 blood draws over about 4 hours. So 2 blood draws into the test and about 2.5 hours of wasted time later my body decided it would no longer tolerate the glucose solution and purged it...yuck. My test was over (incomplete) and I was sent home. I waited anxiously to find out what comes next and was hopeful that I would not have to do the three hour test again. The good news is, I did not have to repeat the three hour test, so I am not checking my blood glucose levels 4 times a day (read 4 finger sticks a day) for a week. My last day is tomorrow and then I report my levels and wait to find out what comes next. My next appointment with the Dr is November 3, so between the potential Gestational Diabetes and the repeat ultrasound I am anxious to find out how the baby is doing and whether or not I am in the clear health wise.
I will do my best to update promptly once I have some news.
I have lots of pictures to add from the month including halloween costumes and the pumpkin patch. So that will follow soon.
-Melissa

One more post...whew!

2008-10-03T15:25:00.001-07:00

I don't update the blog as often as I should, so when I do I usually have a lot to add. I have been crafting up a storm lately and at Amanda's urging I have finally got my craft blog off the ground. It can be seen here: http://modestgoddessboutique.blogspot.com/

It is mostly just pictures at this point, but it shows some of the things I have made recently. I need to go back in and add descriptions, but don't have time now, so I'll work on that soon. I just thought some of you might like to see what I have made.
I have my next Doctors appointment on Monday so I will likely post again after that, but in the mean time, enjoy the weekend!
-Melissa

House Update

2008-10-03T15:14:00.001-07:00

I *think* I posted a few months back about the rental that we are in being put on the market. We have a little update. The landlord emailed me last week asking if we would like to sign another year contract on the house. We let him know we would love to stay in the house, but we needed to have stability so if the house was going to go back on the market in the spring, we would have to look for something else. He said that with the market down they feel like they have lost too much to sell now and that they would like to continue to rent it until 2011 before putting it on the market again. We will live in the area until early 2011, so we are thrilled that we may be able to continue to live in this house the rest of our time here. He will officially take it off the market by the end of November, so I'm not counting it a done deal until then, but we are hopeful that this works beneficially for all involved so that Kristin can go to school without having to switch, we won't have to move all of our things again (especially while I'm pregnant) and we can enjoy the extra space that give us room for our expanding family. The house being on the market has been a stressful situation and we look forward to having a sense of stability again. I can't remember if I ever posted a picture of the house, so here it is:

Family Fun time

2008-10-03T15:06:00.000-07:00

These three little words strike fear in my poor husband, but lucky for the girls and I, he is outnumbered. Here are pictures of this weeks "Family Fun Time" Kristin checked out a library book at school on Origami and we made an attempt to create a few things. We gave up on the hard stuff and ended up making bunnies and puppies. Jason looks miserable in the pictures, but I think even he had fun.

I spy with my little eye...something green!

2008-10-03T14:47:00.000-07:00

There is a bug in this picture. Can you see him? This was taken in the flower bed in our front yard. For the record, this is one of the biggest bugs I have ever seen in real life that wasn't pinned to a board in a museum. He scared the crap outta me when I attempted to pull some weeds and saw him stroll by near my hand. I'm not sure if you can tell in the pictures, but he was carrying a cricket in his left paw. This quickly ended my gardening days...I think I'll wait until spring to try again.
-Melissa

Look Dad!!

2008-09-25T15:39:00.000-07:00

I found this today at wally world and couldn't resist.
-Melissa

Making Stuff Part 2

2008-09-20T15:28:00.000-07:00

I made this skirt for Jenna out of scraps I had left over from another project. I even did my own pattern! Of course it doesn't match the shirt Jenna is wearing but we were anxious to try it out for fit.
-Melissa

Making Stuff

2008-09-20T15:25:00.000-07:00

Here are some of my latest projects:
Rachael's other covered wipes container.

How a Princess eats her breakfast

2008-09-18T15:13:00.001-07:00

Baby now has a name!

2008-09-15T03:11:00.000-07:00

Daughters are like flowers, they fill the world with beauty, and sometimes attract pests.

2008-09-11T17:44:00.000-07:00

Poor Jason! He feels outnumbered as it is. Then he found out he is going to be even more outnumbered. We had our ultrasound on Wednesday and the ultrasound technician said she is 95% sure the baby is a girl. Jason can hold on to his 5% hope, but I think he knows the odds are against him. Amanda said that Jason needed to have daughters to soften him up, Jason's brother David (who has three boys) was ready to tease about a month ago just in case. I told Jason that "at least we have cute girls" which was no consolation. He decided when Jenna was born that for every girl we have he would need to buy a new gun to fend off the boyfriends in years to come. I am just excited to be half through the pregnancy at this point.

Baby was not really cooperative during the ultrasound, she did not like the ultrasound tech pushing on my tummy with the wand thingy. She curled up in a little ball with her chin on her knees and her ankles crossed and burrowed as low as she could get. We had to take a 10 minute break so that she could get comfortable and stretch out again to finish the scan. She did yawn once, but I missed it because I was looking at Jason (to see if he was crying, just kidding)

We are settled on a first name, so I we will go ahead and leak that now, but the middle name is still up in the air for the moment. Baby will be named Sadie unless we change our minds in the next 20 weeks.

I think that's it for baby news at this time. Jason will be busy busy with work for the next month or so, so if anyone wants to come visit for a week or so to keep me company, then come on down. We are both in classes once again. I am taking another history class and I will be very happy to check history off my list of classes that stand in my way of graduation. Jason is still plugging along as well. It keeps us busy.

The girls are as silly as ever and I have been mentally jotting things down in my pregnancy induced mush brain that were worth sharing for the past month. Hopefully I don't forget anything.

Kristin- Kristin is still enjoying school. I sometimes feel like we don't see a lot of Kristin because we send her off to school at about 8:30 and she is not back until after 4. By the time we get homework done and eat dinner it is time to start getting ready for bed.

Jenna- Jenna is a riot. We had a friend come over about 2 weeks ago who recently got a puppy. It was a 12 week old black lab. Really cute, but still pretty scary to a 2 year old. The puppy was really playful and liked to nip at the kids as they ran by. Jenna wanted to go see the puppy after lunch so I took her outside and sat on the steps while she went to pet the puppy. The puppy jumped up and it scared Jenna so she started running back to me. Of course the puppy chased her and nipped at her ankles and elbows as she ran. Poor Jenna, she screamed and said "I'm not tasty, I'm not tasty, I'm not tasty at all!" I don't think I have laughed so hard in years! Jenna keeps us entertained. I know there is more I wanted to write about, but I can't remember now.

That's it for now, sorry I didn't get this updated yesterday. It has been a really busy week!

So Rachael, what do you think?

2008-08-29T19:58:00.000-07:00

Since this one is for you. :)
BTW- I'm gonna need your address.

Look what I made:

2008-08-29T13:45:00.001-07:00

WOOHOO, It's Back to School!

2008-08-20T11:09:00.000-07:00

So our biggest news is that today is Kristin's 1st day back to school. We went to her school yesterday and met her teacher and figured out where she needed to go to get to her classroom. She is in second grade now. I debated whether or not to drive her to school today but Jason told me I need to grow up and put her on the bus. She should be home in about 2 hours so we are anxious to hear how it went.

Our recent drama is that we will likely be moving sometime between now and next April/May/June. When we moved into this house we intended to stay in it for the rest of the time we had here in Maryland. Our landlord contacted us about a month ago and he is heading towards some financial trouble (he is in real estate so not making much lately, I suppose). He asked if it would be okay with us if he put the house on the market. We first told him no, we need the stability for our kids (Kristin switched schools when we moved here) and we would finish out our contract which would be up next April. He called again about a week later when his employer laid off half their staff. He wasn't one of them, but it scared him and so he asked again. We really didn't want the house on the market, but we feel for him and the situation he is in, so the house is now on the market. If it sells we have 45 days to be out and if it doesn't sell by December 1st then he will take it off the market so that I can finish up my pregnancy and have the baby without worrying about having to move. The messy part of this situation is we are now stuck with each other until the house sells or our contract is up since he needs our rent money in the mean time. So far no one has come to see the house, so I am just trying to enjoy it while it lasts. I unpacked the last few boxes about 2 weeks ago and set up my craft room, so I am trying to make use of it while I have it. (I'll have to take some pictures once I clean up my most recent crafting mess.)

Our good news is that the ultrasound is now scheduled and as long as the baby is cooperative we should be able to find out the babies gender on September 10. I'll make sure I do an update when we find out.

In the mean time we are finishing up Jenna's swimming lessons and are planning to start joy school soon with some other ladies in the ward. I finish my history class next Sunday and start a new one September 1st. We are getting ready for our wards primary program so Kristin is learning her part and I am trying to manhandle the 8-10 kids in my class. Jason is in classes again after taking a short break and we are both plugging along towards finishing up our degrees once and for all. I think that is it for now, here are Kristin and Jenna's pictures from this morning. (Jenna wanted to wear a new outfit and get her pictures taken just like her big sister.
Love
The Boyd's

and a few pictures taken before church a few weeks ago:

Last but not least, PICTURES!!

2008-07-28T12:41:00.000-07:00

Beach Pictures:

Aquarium Pictures:

Air & Space Museum:

Busch Gardens:

Williamsburg:

What we did for summer vacation...

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

Jason was voluntold to go on a 2 day trip for work a few hours south of us. We had recently decided that traveling for Christmas would be out of the question considering the baby's new due date and the airlines policies regarding flying in the last trimester, so we decided to make his work trip a family vacation.
Last Monday we piled in the car and went to Virginia Beach. It is a VERY tourist-y town but they have beautiful sandy beaches and pretty great weather for July so we made the trip. We spent Monday playing on the beach and Monday night trying to get the sand out of our clothes, hair and hotel room. Jason and the girls had a great time floating in the little waves that came rolling in and I enjoyed hanging out on the beach with Jenna and looking for pretty shells. We didn't have a bucket and shovels so Jenna and I built a beach snowman and as soon as we walked away from it a boy came along with his wake board and had a little batting practice. We had enough fun that the girls had an easy time falling asleep so we are calling it a success. After waking up in time to catch what was left of the sunrise and watching the dolphins play along the coastline we checked out of that hotel the next morning and went to the Virginia Aquarium. That was fun until about 10 am when it started to get really crowded. We left around 10:30 to catch a tour boat ride to see the dolphins up close. The family as a whole had a blast, but that was a serious bad idea for a pregnant chick. I threw up at least 4 times mostly off the back of the boat since there was only 1 bathroom. I know there were dolphins out that I could get a look at but I really didn't care at the time. We tried to get some pictures, but there are not many and they are not up close. The guide said that we had more dolphins on our tour than most boats usually see, but that didn't mean much to me. We checked into our next hotel that evening and sent Jason off for his meetings the next morning. I drove him in for his meetings so that the girls and I could keep that car that day so once we were up and dressed we went to a movie theater called Cinema Cafe where you order your food, and eat it right in the theater (I love that concept!) We watched Wall-E (which was cute, but not what I expected) We found a target close by and were able to snag a Hello Kitty shirt for Kristin's back to school wardrobe. We then went to the mall and got Kristin school shoes and looked for a Hello Kitty shirt in Jenna's size, but we had no such luck. Kristin had been wanting to get her haircut so we cut about 3" off and then hurried back to the hotel to wait for Jason to call so we could pick him up. I noticed a Cracker Barrel on the way back from the mall so we went there for dinner. Would you believe they had a Hello Kitty shirt in Jenna's size in the country store out front? I thought it was a little strange considering the other items they carried, but Jenna was thrilled to finally have a Hello Kitty shirt of her own. Another success.
The next morning Jason had to go back to work for a few hours and then he was done for the day. We sent him off and then I packed everything up, got the girls dressed and fed and we watched some cartoons until he came back to get us. We checked out of this hotel and went to the Virginia Air and Space Museum. Kristin later said that was one of her favorite parts of the whole trip. It was three stories tall and had a bunch of airplanes inside. Jason helped each of the girls land airplanes with simulators and we went to Mars. :) Jason flew in the moving flight simulator before we hit the road and was showing off by flying more time upside down than right side up. He had fun though and the girls thought it was fun to watch.
Next we were off to the outlet malls where they just so happened to have a Harry and David's. After stocking up there we left in a hurry because Jenna (who is in the midst of potty training) had an accident.
After checking into our last hotel of the trip we found a pond with a ton of turtles, ducks, fish, geese, etc. After feeding them a few crushed up saltines we hopped in the pool and attempted to wear the girls out for another good nights sleep. We stayed in and ordered pizza that night and tried to rest up for the big day ahead. On Friday after eating breakfast and loading in the car we had to find a Wal Mart (the only store in that town open at 9 am) to get Jason something to wear on his feet other than flip flops. We were spending the day at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg and he knew his shoes would fly off if he went in flip flops. We had a great time, I only rode on the rides that Jenna was required to have an adult with her to ride and Jason was able to get on the big rides fast enough that we just waited for him. We didn't know this but apparently Busch Gardens Williamsburg has been voted the most beautiful theme park for 18 years in a row. It was not nearly as crowded as Disneyland and most of the rides you could almost just walk in, but then again, I spent my day finding rides appropriate for a two year old. It was a lot of fun and it has been at almost two years since we had a churro so everyone was happy. It was a lot of walking and I am still recovering from the physical toll, but it was a lot of fun. We spent Saturday in Williamsburg playing colonial tourists but we were anxious to get home so not too much time was spent there. We did get some pictures for MarJean, though. So there it is, our summer vacation and what we did instead of visiting all of you for Christmas! Sorry about that!

July Summary and August Planning

2008-07-28T11:46:00.000-07:00

I am posting this time mainly to add pictures, but since I only seem to update once a week or so here is what you have missed since the last post:
-I picked Kristin up from the airport all by myself! She flew into Dulles about 3 pm on a Friday (which is SERIOUS RUSH HOUR here) It was a little intimidating and took 2 hours to get home, but I was pretty happy I handled it and the experience came in handy this past week (will explain below)
-We spent the following Saturday at the beach, We don't have beautiful white sand beaches here, just rocky mucky sand but still a good way to cool off. I managed to get a tan on my legs that looked kinda like tan knee socks since I was wearing capris. It looked kinda silly, but it didn't take long to correct since we went to the Chesapeake Beach water park the following weekend. It's a little scary to be putting on a swimsuit at this point in my pregnancy, but it is just too stinkin' hot not to jump in the water when the opportunity comes along.
-Kristin is participating in a summer reading program at the library for some extra practice this summer. Jenna loves it because they have computers that are about 1 1/2 feet off the floor and are toddler friendly, she plays the computer with mommy while Kristin practices her reading and they both have a great time. I have to admit I am ready for school to start up again!
-I did my school shopping for Kristin's school supplies last week so she is all stocked up and ready to go. She picked out a new lunch box and seems excited to break into her new supplies so I think the transition will not be too difficult. We bought school shoes last week and I need to go on one more shopping trip for some jeans, but other than that she is well stocked and ready for the new year.
-I was in charge of sharing time yesterday in junior primary and we learned about being "fishers of men" and that we can be missionaries now by being good examples, I think it went well, but when I asked Kristin what she thought she got a blank look on her face...It made me laugh...I guess I kept them occupied, but they didn't retain much. I'm just glad it is over.
-Last week we went on a family vacation, I will do a separate post about that...
-On the agenda for August is 2 weeks of swim lessons for Jenna with a girl in our ward who is going to teach a 2 year old swim class in her backyard pool. She will be taking the class with a few of her buddies in nursery, so that should be fun for her. -A few of us nursery mommies are in the talks of starting up a mommy and me style joy school in the fall. We are all intimidated by the idea of 5 two year olds on our own, but thought the kids would enjoy a little class.
-School starts up again on August 20 for Kristin.
-My next doctor appointment is August 12th, my 20 week ultrasound should get scheduled at that appointment so I am a little anxious for it.
-Happy Birthday to Uncle Jared on August 5th!!
-Jason and I will celebrate our 5th anniversary this year on the 21st. We haven't really decided what we want to do to celebrate yet, we are just happy to have made it this far. :)

Another overdue update

2008-07-09T11:54:00.000-07:00

-Here is baby! I had my 1st appointment yesterday and they moved up my due date from Feb 2 to January 24th. So far, so good. I was quite sick a few weeks back, but that is clearing up and I am feeling much better.
-Kristin will get home on Friday after being in Idaho for a month. We are anxious for her return and Jenna is thrilled to be getting her big sister back.
-Jenna has been working very hard on potty training this last month. She is pretty much completely potty trained except we put her in a pull up at night and she is not quite #2 potty trained (sorry for tmi!)
-Jason and I each finished two more classes last week and I have now started a new course (history) Jason is taking a break this month. After I finish this history class I will have 8 more classes to get my bachelors degree. Jason is pretty close too...We should both be done by the end of 2009.
hmmm....
not too much else going on. The house is pretty well in order except for my craft room, which I am anxious to set up.
I do want to report that we got a queen bed all set up and ready for visitors in the guest room (hint hint)
-Melissa

A Big Fat Somethin Post

2008-06-01T15:49:00.001-07:00

Jason sent me this last week and I had a good laugh so I wanted to share it. The timing couldn't have been better since we also found out we would be taking care of a baby soon. (see the right side of the page if you are confused) I'm so glad someone finally spelled out "How to Take Care of Baby" for those of us still wondering where our parenting instruction manual is.
-Melissa

A big fat nothin' post

2008-05-23T13:50:00.000-07:00

I took pictures at the Air Show last weekend and a few pictures of the girls that I would ordinarily share on the blog, but Jason took the camera with him. I will have to do pictures next time....
Actually...the B2 did a fly by and I didn't have my camera ready. Jason told me I could probably get a better picture online than I could take myself so here goes:

Am I an amazing photographer or what?
Jenna, Kristin, and I are having a girls night in tonight. We rented Mulan 2 and we are going to order pizza and have mint chocolate chip ice cream (Jason doesn't like mint, so we are going to attempt to hide the evidence of it before he gets back). It should be fun.

Not much for memorial day plans...we may barbecue with friends tomorrow, but other than that I think we will hang out at the park and eat more ice cream. :)

Miss you all!
-Melissa

New House pictures

2008-05-08T14:16:00.000-07:00

Jason and I both started a new class on Monday so it is going to be busy around here for the next 8 weeks. I am putting up some pictures of the house. I haven't done the front view or the bedrooms yet, but this gives you an idea of what the rest of the house looks like. Ignore the messy basement...that is the girls domain. There are a few extra random pictures from the week as well.
Enjoy!
-Melissa

Trying on more clothes

2008-04-29T07:36:00.000-07:00

Some of the clothes I got for Jenna last time went back so this is her newest session of trying on her spring/summer clothes. I know not everyone is interested in her clothes, but she can be quite sassy when she is getting her pictures taken, so I'll share them anyway. Jasons mom crocheted the beautiful lavendar dress. I finally found something Jenna could wear under neath it and Jenna had a great time spinning around in her dress.
Some of the pictures I already cropped so they don't all fit the screen like I would want them to...sorry!
-Melissa

There were too many pictures for one slide show, so here is the second set of pictures.

Long overdue for an update!

2008-04-29T06:59:00.000-07:00

It has been month and a half since the last update. The brief rundown is:
We moved last Saturday into out new rental. If you need our new phone number or address send me an email and I will pass it along. Our cell phone numbers are still the same so if you already have those numbers you can reach us there.
Kristin started her new school last Monday and is doing great so far. We are very proud of her. Her new teacher sent this note home yesterday:
"Kristin is off to a wonderful beginning. She is quietly focused in class and is often found with her hand raised to give answers or to make comments regarding the material- so much so that I am unable to call on her all the time. During seatwork, Kristin is found quietly working on her work that she is completing each day. The procedures for the class are in need of practicing and of learning; but, this is going to take her a little more time. Kristin is making friends and is playing with these girls during recess. This is wonderful since making connections with other children is going to help her adjust to her new school environment." This has been a challenging year for Kristin and we are thrilled that she is staying on task in class and that her teacher seems to have a positive approach toward helping her.

Jason took a week and a half off to help with moving so his first day back at work was yesterday. We got him another commuter car (a honda civic) this past weekend so he we are settled in again as far as transportation goes. He just finished another class for his intelligence degree and is working on an English class currently. He went to Virginia this past weekend on a scout camp out. The boys went rapelling and he and an Army Ranger in our ward decided it would be fun to go down the cliff aussie style (face first). Another scout leader told me on Sunday that Jason said some really nice things about me over the weekend and I said it must have been because of that near death experience. Hopefully someone has pictures. I found a video, if anyone wants to see what it is:
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/aussie-style/400947896

I have a week off from school, I just finished my quarantine course and I start biology next Monday. Last week was a difficult week since I had to move into this house, clean up the old house and have a 10+ page report turned in by Sunday. I am hoping Biology will be a nice 'rest' class for me, I have completed many courses that biology is a pre-requisite for, but I never had to take Biology - until now. I am busy getting the house put together. I am trying to find places for everything and what I can't find a place for I am making a garage sale and donate pile. It will be nice to get some clutter cleared away.

Jenna, oh sweet Jenna. She has been a BUSY little girl! I will give a breif rundown of what is new in her life and then I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story. Jenna is now sleeping in a BIG GIRL BED! When we moved we got her a twin sized bed. She has adjusted pretty well to her new bed and has only fallen out once. OUCH! Kristin and Jenna shared a room in out last house, so the girls each have their own rooms now. Jenna keeps me busy cleaning up her little messes and trying to intervene before the next mess gets out of hand...here are a few pictures of recent mishaps:

Jenna plays hard but when she crashes, she crashes hard too.
Here is where Jenna took a recent nap:

and lastly, Jenna doing what Jenna does best. Bugging Dad. (That's what he gets for sitting on the floor to read his book)

As soon as I get the house situated I will share pictures.
-Melissa

ATTENTION AMANDA!!

2008-03-07T06:29:00.000-08:00

I had Jenna try on her spring clothes yesterday so I could see if everything fits. Amanda was going to help me try and decide if I should return anything. I posted this here because it was the fastest way to load a ton of pictures. If you like or don't like any of her little outfits, your feedback is welcome too.
Amanda, what do you think?

want email updates?

2008-03-05T08:04:00.000-08:00

I know I am sporadic with the updates, so I added a button at the bottom of the page, if you want to be notified when there is an update you can put in your email address and it will email you when there is a new post.
-Melissa

Rollin' in the Wal-Mart aisles!

2008-03-05T07:16:00.000-08:00

My kids are nuts and they never fail to amuse me or the line of people standing behind us in the check out line at Wal Mart. Both girls were sitting on the cart... it was the kind that had two big plastic bucket seats, not the kind where I would have to use my super human strength and lift Kristin over my head and into the basket. Anyway, I am standing in front of the cart pulling the two of them behind me, when I hear an exchange that goes something like this:
Krisin to Jenna "Got your nose!"
Jenna "Give it back!"
Kristin "Only if you give me 100 million dollars"
Lady in line behind us "snicker, snicker"
Jenna" Okay, here you go"
Kristin (while throwing up Jenna's nose) "BBBBLLLLLLLLAAAAAEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHH"
This is followed by laughter and tears as the people behind us and I try to collect ourselves and continue with our transactions.

I have two more Jenna funnies...either it is the age, or Jenna is particularly silly. Jenna has recently discovered the word sister. In the morning after Jason goes to work and Kristin goes to school, Jenna will ask "mommy, where did my sister Kristin go?" "She went to school" which is followed by "mommy, where did my sister Daddy go?"

Jenna asked for a string cheese last week and after eating a few bites, came running to me to announce that she was an elephant:

And, because I am on a roll, I will share a Jason funny. Poor Jason, living with 3 girls has to be tough for him. A phrase you hear frequently around here is "Good Girl". Jenna makes sure to announce to us when she thinks we are being a good girl, Jason included. We went to a friends house and I can't remember the circumstances, but Jason must have been pretty impressed with his buddy, because he proclaimed he was a good girl. I'm sure this would be funnier if I remembered the set up, but I don't so next time you encounter a mid twenty something guy, make sure to tell him he is a good girl and report back on his reaction. Then you will understand why this was so funny.

And in parting, last week Jenna was inspecting a freckle on Jasons arm. "Oh, no Dad! You have a boo boo!" Dad "It's okay Jenna, it is just a freckle." Jenna "It hurt?" Dad "No." Jenna "Don't worry, I'm a doctor."

New House, New Car

2008-03-05T07:06:00.000-08:00

In a previous post I mentioned that we withdrew our offer on the house down south and will be renting instead. We found a 5 bedroom 3.5 bath with a 2 car garage that was amazingly enough in our price range. We won't move in for a couple months, but we are excited to finally have some storage space. We definitely have room for visitors, and we can offer you your own guest room...although it unfurnished. We'll work on that, but we would love to have any of our friends or family come for a visit.

After Jason's car was totalled we started shopping for a new car. We decided to replace what has been our family car, so in the interest of looking for something that would fit our family for the long term, we got a 2005 Chevy Tahoe. The girls love it because they can watch DVD's in the car and I love it because it has Driver Memory and heated seats. Jason is pretty happy that it has luggage racks and a tow hitch, so I think everyone got a little something they can enjoy out of it.

I will post some pictures of the house once we move in and the car I can put pictures up if you want, but it is just a car...

Jason's Birthday

2008-03-05T06:49:00.000-08:00

Poor Jason! His actual birthday was pretty crappy. Work suprised him by letting him know that he would be working late that day. He had already made himself a german chocolate cake a week before his birthday and said he didn't want another one. I made him breakfast in bed. I think I made pancakes, but I can't remember...what ever it was, it had a great big candle on top.

Luckily, I had planned something I thought he would enjoy the week prior to his birthday. We went on a Spy City Tour of Washington DC and toured the International Spy Museum. It was really interesting. I took a few pictures of the city tour, but no cameras were allowed in the museum. When you first get into the museum, you have to assume an alias. It has been a few weeks now, so I will see how much I can remember. My name was ....umm...., and I am a 31 year old German Astrologist. I am traveling on business to ...uhhh....some city in France. I will be staying for 1 week. I was born in ...doh!...some city in Germany... So I don't remember much of it now, but it was fun. Here are a few pictures from the tour. Amanda, Rachael and Jared, the first two pictures are where Mom and Dad used to work:
I know the pictures are fuzzy, but the last picture sign says it is the J Edgar Hoover building.

Nature is gross!

2008-03-05T06:35:00.000-08:00

So, Kristin got an ant farm for her birthday. I now count to 18 at least 80 times a day. The ants have been fairly boring so far. It is interesting to watch them, but they still creep me out a little. We actually had 19, but one died and the rest of the ants quickly dismembered it. I don't have the heart to tell Kristin yet, I'm hoping they will do a better job disposing of the remains. Nature is gross!

Anyway, they are very low maintenance, but I am a little compulsive about the head counts. Here are our new "family members": (the first three are when they were new the last one is about 2 weeks later)

Kristin's Birthday

2008-03-05T06:13:00.000-08:00

If Kristin looks a little under the weather, she woke up with a high temperature that morning and spent most of the day in bed. The pictures are pretty self explanatory. Kristin requested a mountain climbing cake, so I made her a dome shaped ice cream cake. The sprinkles are the little things you would grab on to if you were climbing a wall. She loved it and it tasted good, too.

Long Month!

2008-02-29T05:29:00.000-08:00

A lot has happened since I last posted, but since I am in my last week of class (actually today is the last day) it has kept me busy and it has kept me from doing any updates.
Mindy- Here is a quick list of all the kids funnies I can think of since my last post.

Jenna calls hot chocolate 'chocolate juice'. It is funny to hear her ask for "chocolate juice, pwease!"

I opened the coat closet one morning when we were getting our coats on before leaving to the bus stop. Jenna has started a collection of the cheap rubber balls you buy at wal-mart. She has about 5 of them in various sizes and we have to stuff them in the closet and close the door quickly to keep them contained. When I opened the closet they all rolled out across the floor. Kristin (who has a very vivid imagination) said "Oh, no! All the baby goats are getting away!"

This isn't so much as something funny the kids say but we have already figured out one of Jenna's quirks. She obsessively checks between her toes for fuzzies! Checking her toes for fuzzies may not sound so funny, but it is the frequency that makes it hillarious. If you ever see her barefoot, make sure and ask her if she found any fuzzies. As a side note, I don't think there are EVER any fuzzies there. :)

Yesterday Jenna got riled up and decided she wanted to yell at mommy. She said something to the effect of "GO...GET...MY... Bwankieeee!" I said "Jenna why are you yelling?" She said "CUZZZ...I...WUV YOU!" I'm really not sure what that was all about but it made me laugh.

Jason's birthday was yesterday, I still need to add pictures from Kristin's birthday, we withdrew our offer on the house and found a rental instead (that is double the square footage of the one we are in now) and we bought a new (to us) car, Jason's putt putt is officially totaled. That's the breif version of the past month. After I turn in my final paper I'll be back with more details.

Speaking of hermit crabs....

2008-02-11T10:36:00.000-08:00

Anyone who knows me know I can be a bit of a scatterbrain. Apparently it runs in the family. I went to the bus stop to pick up Kristin last week and when she got of the bus I asked her about her day. She told me what she had done that day and that she was on 'yellow' (for her behavior chart). Then she said "Speaking of hermit crabs...!!" I couldn't help but laugh, "Kristin, who was talking about hermit crabs?", I asked. We weren't at the time but apparently we were supposed to be. I told Amanda about it and she now uses it as a segue in everyday conversation. Maybe if enough of use it we can start our own catch phrase. If any of you get an inkling to talk about hermit crabs, please call my child. Apparently, we do not speak of them often enough for her liking. :)

Time for an update

2008-02-11T05:50:00.000-08:00

It seems our family is going through a bit of a dramatic patch lately...
Kristin and Jason have both been sick, and now it seems Jenna and I have caught it, too. Jason called me this morning soon after he left to work to let me know he was in a car accident. He is fine, but his car is most likely totaled. We just put $700 in repairs to that car less than a month ago and were told it was in great shape and we would be able to drive it for many more years. So much for that. I'm just glad everyone was okay. We still don't have an update on the house we put an offer in on (a month ago today to be exact). We are expecting news one way or another this week. We celebrated Kristin's birthday last weekend so I will get some pictures up soon. Despite our recent trials, we are happy and healthy and aware that we are blessed.

I am still working my way through my epidemiology class and one of our assignments is to watch the movie "Outbreak" and write a paper on disease progression/intervention. I found out about this assignment in January and did a little research. This movie is rated "R" and is not based on a book. The movie editing companies recently went out of business so I couldn't get ahold of an edited copy. There is a new fangled DVD player that I could buy, that you can play unedited movies on and download the movie edit so when the movie plays, it plays edited, but it is pricey. I was getting worried about how I was going to get this assignment done without going to great expense and without compromising my standards. To make a long story short, the movie came on TV yesterday morning and I was able to record it on the DVR. I don't count it as a coincidence that this movie aired edited the very week that my assignment is due.

I hope all our family and friends are doing well!

Jenna's Modeling Shoot

2008-01-20T17:06:00.001-08:00

Jenna proved to be quite photogenic when I took her to Sears to get her pictures taken. Now that we have both Jenna and Kristin's pictures back I can send them out to family and friends. Gramma's if you have a preference for what pose you receive of Jenna, let me know.

Happy Birthday to Jenna!

2008-01-20T16:09:00.001-08:00

The Brownie Massacre

2008-01-20T15:44:00.000-08:00

It has been a busy few weeks since my last post. I am in my third week of epidemiology for my public health degree and trying to keep up with my homework between housework and chasing the kids around.
If you didn't already know, we put an offer in on a house this past Monday. It is in pre-forclosure and we are told not to get our hopes up too high, but it has still been a long week waiting to hear if our offer will be accepted. It is a nice house that could use a little love, but it has almost 2.5 acres and we would love to have some room for the kids to run around. It would mean a longer commute for Jason, but in exchange for the privacy and space we were willing to put in an offer anyway.

There haven't been any noteworthy mishaps with Jenna this week, so I will post pictures of the brownie massacre. Jason and I picked up a brownie box mix at the store a few weeks ago and looked forward to eating our brownies. This particular mix came with a packet of frosting that you put in a bowl to warm up and then spread on the brownies after they baked. Well, we baked our brownies and as they came out of the oven I filled up a bowl of water to warm the frosting. I dished up the brownies and Jason and I enjoyed a serving of the fresh baked brownies with ice cream. Jenna helped us eat the brownies and then I gathered up the bowls and spoons to carry them back to the kitchen. We have learned that it if it is quiet in our house for any length of time we need to be worried and see what Jenna has been up to ASAP. I went to the kitchen and found Jenna 'stirring' the fresh baked brownies. (she opened the oven door to reach the cooling brownies on the stove top...the oven was cool by now) Jenna has pulled this trick before and it usually results in slightly mutilated, but still tasty treats. Not this time! Jenna wanted to help cook, so she poured the bowl of warm water (that I left next to the stove in my haste to enjoy my brownie) on top of the fresh baked brownies and was stirring the resulting sloshy mess. I love Jenna, but for the next couple days Jason and I walked around the house saying "A Brownie sure sounds good about now."

Kristin is staying busy with her school work. Her teacher has been cracking down a little on incomplete work since the new year and it has been an adjustment for Kristin since she takes her time on her assignments. She loves art class and is always bringing home library books that we think are an interesting choice for a first grade student. Usually it is books about animals, but on her last trip to the library it was a book about volcanoes. She is looking forward to being back in school on Tuesday because it is upside down day. Once a month her school serves breakfast foods for lunch on upside down day and she has made a special request to eat school lunch that day.

I am looking forward to having her home tomorrow. We plan on frosting and decorating sugar cookies.

White House Tour

2008-01-09T17:07:00.000-08:00

These are pictures from our tour of the White House. Boy am I glad that I found that slide show thingy- It would have taken forever to email all of these. Sorry it took so long to get these out to you all. I plan to get some pictures up from Christmas and Jenna's birthday in the next few days.

Our turn!

2008-01-09T07:29:00.000-08:00

I have had so much fun keeping up with other family members and friends by checking out there blogs, I decided to jump on the band wagon and start a blog for our family.

Since we are so far from family, we spend quite a bit of our time on the phone letting you all know what Jenna has gotten into lately, and how Kristin is doing in school. This blog is to benefit you all. Now if you want to know what we are up to here is a place to see.