What's this baby doing to me?

I don't consider myself overly organized, it's hard to be overly organized in a two bedroom apartment with four going on five people, but I usually have things planned out and can find most things in our home. That is until recently.........it started at about the four month mark when lets see if I can remember???? Oh do I ever rememer it started with my birth certificate that I really needed to go on vacation. I pull out my certificate two days before vacation,a Saturday when no ones works, and the certificate it's not what it is suppose to be it won't get me on the ship. I was freaking out and felt so bad about the money we had spent and wouldn't be able to enjoy. Two days later without any sleep from stressing my sweet husband, who never said an ill word to me about my huge mistake, drove to Boise during the night and showed up at 8 am at the state house and begged for a birth certificate to catch a plane an hour later to meet me in L.A......let's just say this was a very expensive mistake. Next mistake is my Timeout For Women tickets. I deliver all tickets to the girls and save my own and Gels in a safe spot for the next evening. Evening comes and I cannot remember where I put the tickets. Fortunately I had read that if you lose your tickets ( I thought to myself while reading what loser if going to lose their tickets) you can go to willcall and get new tickets. This is true but I did stress over it for two hours. I wouldn't stress if it only effected me but it didn't it effected Gel too. Oh and Eric found the tickets under the laundry basket sounds like a safe place right? Next brain freeze was just last night I lose my very expensive cell phone that I have only had for like three weeks and made three calls on. Yeppers I lose my cell phone. I apologetically come home to tell Eric to be nice to me because I am ready to cry and tell him I lost my new pretty phone. Yes he did make fun of me but alteast he didn't get mad. I was later that night reading on a blog of a past friends daughter who is sick with cancer and decided me cell phone isn't such a big deal anyhow.......oh and guess what the Rose Garden lost and found had it. What am I to learn from all this? I first of all am hoping it is the baby using up all my brain energy and this doesn't become a lifetime pattern, 2ndly I have learned that my husband is oh so kind, he doesn't say anything okay maybe after he makes fun of me but I can laugh then too. I haven't talked to my brother once that he hasn't made a birth certificate joke. Seriously Eric could have yelled at me I think I would have but he didn't instead he drove to Boise for me. 3rd and most importantly there are so many more important things out there than lost vacations, tickets, and cell phones. By the way has anyone seen my ?????

P.S. this is us in Ensanada at the restaurant with the dirty water that I washed my hands in the bathrooms with. Hence the bottled water and sodas. This was pre-Magnum P.I. too, I am not a fan of the facial hair.

What's Happening!

Just a few things going on around our house.

Waklee started drama club today. It will be good for her to be out of her comfort zone. Eric doesn't think she needs drama class because she is drama enough!

Reese is pretty much potty trained which means I get to listen to her grunts, groans, and cheers several times a day. Fun. We are also trying really hard to have family scripture in the mornings and Reese thinks we are having FHE and tries to open with E-I-E-I-O each morning.

Best Halloween Ever!

My best Halloween ever definately needs to be blogged and blurbed. When Waklee was three she and I flew home for a few days and it happened to fall on Halloween. This was the year Waklee was an Indian girl.....too cute. We went to my brother Chad's house in Arco, if anyone knows where Arco is that is scary enough. Chad was the middle school principal at the time and they were renting this old house that you had to walk up broken concrete stairs, I remember almost spraining my ankle going up those stairs. So picture small rundown town and old house. Alot of trick-or-treaters came and Chad would say okay this is one of my middle-schoolers and that's when things got real fun. Come on you remember being a I am too cool to dress up for Halloween but I want the candy middle schooler. Up the stairs they came to meet this:
















Pretty Scary Huh and we made sounds too! I did get permission from Taun to post this. Upon meeting us they also met JerBear, my dad, in his black coat holding a shotgun (hopefully not loaded, you never know). There was smoke & strobe lights leading them to the back room where they met Mern dressed as a scary old lady giving out candy. As they grabbed the candy one of Taun's brothers roommates from Ricks fell out of the coat closet as a Zombie and along with this our cute little girls were innocently sitting on the couch with pots, pans, and metal spoons banging them and out the door they would run where they felt the cool fall air and thought to themselves I made it. Just as this safe feeling enveloped them Tauns brother would jump off the top of the roof robed in a real bear head and skin and chase them down the dirt road. It was too fun and we didn't scare the tiny little ones unless their parents insisted. I laughed so hard I almost peed my pants, okay I did just a little.

I just couldn't choose.........

It is impossible to choose a favorite. But my very favorite I didn't post because then Christmas cards would be spoiled!



It was pretty much impossible to get Reese to smile. This last picture was one of the firsts and there was no way she was going to smile. Got to love Reese. Thanks Heather for the wonderful pictures you are so talented!

What a cutie!

Congrats to my little brother and his wife on their sweet little new baby. Her name is Londyn Mineko, doesn't get much cuter than that.

Dedicated to my Big Brother Chad.....

IT'S A BOY!! or as Eric puts it our baby has a kickstand!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

I love Fall! Everything about it. My favorite season and Halloween is my favorite holiday! I am such a sucker for all the decor and costumes. I had to chuckle when someone asked me if I knew what my kids were going to be for Halloween? I have known for like a year and a half, before last Halloween and I already know what Reese will be next year. I have been on the hunt for items for their costumes this year.....I can't wait! And if anyone sees Eric and the facial hair just know we are preparing for Halloween its going to be a kick. So in memory of past Halloweens enjoy!

1st Grade...Wow!

Oh my sweet Waklee started 1st grade. She was pretty excited and really likes school. Mostly because she gets to eat there and gets three recesses. I did pretty good with only a few tears coming to the eyes. But here we go again another year of early mornings and driving Waklee to school, can't wait for Summer already. I do enjoy having more structure in our life though.

Her new teachers name is Mrs. Leabo who is super nice! And yes it is a uniform school, which is easy on my pocketbook, so our outfits aren't too exciting.

Reese keeps walking around and asking where Sissy is? But has actually been pretty good, as good as Reese can get.

My camera, I don't know how to use and so the pictures didn't turn out to well so I took another after she got home. I do have to brag because I am a Mom but my little whipper snapper gets to attend 2nd grade for math and reading, she works really hard to be there though and I am proud of her!

Lex Comes!

Lex & Family came for a visit. After years of saying they were going to come to Portland for a visit they did! I had to admit I was a little nervous about touring around with their many kids but we had a GREAT time! Too bad G-Ma Jan didn't come..... We started out touring in the Gorge at the Bonneville dam and saw the large sturgeon. Stopped at Multnomah Falls & then at a viewpoint showing off our beautiful Gorge.


Day Two we went to the Zoo, to the crazy Saturday Market downtown, Pioneer Square and Melissa just had to hit Voo-doo donuts (don't take your kids). Our downtown adventure was pretty fun but at one point Lex informed me that he had crossed the busy street to find a bathroom for one of his kids to look back and see Aysia chasing after a pigeon far away from the rest of us near busy traffic. Not funny, but oh my goodness that freaks me out.









Day Three we went to Astoria and saw the Goonie house , checked out the sea lions down at the docks...very cool and crossed the really big bridge in Astoria and crossed right back and then went to one of my favorites, Fort Clastop, and learned more about Lewis & Clark. Next we hit the beach in Seaside and buried a few kids, built a sandcastle and bought out the Seaside lifeguard sweatshirt store. Starving we went to Mo's in Cannon Beach and then built a fire on the beach and chilled. If you ever get a chance building a fire on the beach is one of the most fun things ever! Wow we were tired after all of our playing but it sure was fun! Can't wait for some new visitors.

My kids are on one!

My kids have been cracking me up. Tonight for Family Home Evening we had a lesson on sharing. This was geared for a two year old. We talked about how Jesus wants us to share and then I pulled out some Starbursts. I gave one to Reese to give to her Daddy and then one to Waklee, went well. Then I told her they were all gone and she needed to ask Waklee to share her Starburst. This all went as I hoped. Next I gave a Starburst to Reese and told her there were no more for Waklee and asked her to share. I opened it for her and gave it to her to bite in half and as quick as she could she popped the entire Starburst into her mouth and shut her mouth tight! Oh well. We did try to let her think that Waklee was sad but we were all trying not to laugh.
Later tonight we were watching a music video and this car almost hit a person. Waklee turns to her Dad and asks if you get points for hitting people and animals? I thought to myself what? That is such an Eric thing: to say you get points for hitting people and animals. Next out of her mouth she says well Devin said you get points if you hit people. Oh Devin we caught you! We were sure to give him a quick call to tease. My girls love love Dev. Waklee spent Sunday afternoon at the Simpsons playing guitar hero and shared some family secrets with them. Nice. So I guess the moral of this story is to watch out for Dev and his red pickup truck in case he short on a few points.