1st day of Kindergarten!!

I can't believe my little girl is 5 years old and in kindergarten!!! I know everyone says it but, time really does fly! The awesome thing is that she will be going to school at Anna Hause, our neighborhood school and I get to transfer there in the next week or two!! Reedley was all set to attend Calvary Christian school but now she will be going to school with me. It is strange how things work out. I put in for a transfer, interviewed and found out that I got it on Tuesday morning. Well, I called the school to see if they happened to have before and after school care for 1/2 day kindergartners and they are the only school in the district that does! So, I immediately called enrollment and there was a kinder opening available as long as I got my paperwork in immediately!! As it happens, the school secretary had just given me Reedley's enrollment packet earlier in the week since she no longer needed it for Palm. (we had decided that Reedley wouldn't go to Palm with me because there was no before or after school kindergarten care) Anyway, I rushed over to enrollment the secretary was just leaving, she ran the paperwork back to the head of that department who just happened to still be there and then faxed her information over to the school!! So, Mark was already off work on the 1st to take Reedley to her first day at Calvary but now instead of Calvary, she is having her first day at Anna Hause!! And her classroom is right next door to mine!! I am in room 1 and she is in room 2!

Wow, sometimes things just work out...Oh yeah, and we got a FULL refund on the tuition that we already paid at Calvary!!! Her uniforms are returnable too!!! Yippee!!!

Anyway, Reedley had a great first day of school and she wants to take the teacher an apple tomorrow!

On the Potty!

Let me apologize to all of you that are not parents!!! But the rest of you will totally appreciate this. Raidon went poopoo in the potty!!! He has been telling us for weeks when he needs to go potty and so every once in a while, we sit him on the toilet. We were hoping he would just get comfortable sitting on it but we did not expect any results. Well, Saturday morning there were results. Yay!!!! I actually wanted to cry..my last baby is growing up:( Now, peepee is another story all together but hey, any small step is good!! Reedley wanted nothing to do with toilet training until she was almost 3!! So far, we are ahead of the game. Keep it up Raidon!!

Learning to ride on 2 wheels!

Mark and Reedley are vigilantly attempting to ride a 2 wheeler. Mark bent the training wheels up so that she could feel the sensation of falling if she tilted but yet the training wheels would catch her. Well, it worked ok but I thought if she actually fell a few time, it would "motivate" her to balance. After Mark and I had a few discussions about it, he relented and took off the training wheels. My idea was a bust...she fell once and has since refused to get back on her bike. Hmmmm, what to do, what to do?

Our newest addition!

I have another baby and its name is Cricut!! It weighs in at about 6 pounds and 26 inches long. I love this thing!! It is probably going to break soon from wear and tear. I am cutting out everything and I only got it yesterday!!! I am going to label everything I own and then some. It is going to change the way I scrapbook!! Fewer stickers and fewer bought embellishments....I can make them all and I only have the two cartridges that it came with!!!!

Here is my little bundle of joy!!Sniff Sniff..isn't she pretty?

Swimming Lessons

Reedley has been taking private swim lessons. For some reason, she has this fear of drowning. She isn't afraid of the water, just of drowning. When we are in the pool, we will ask her what she would do if she started going under and her response is, " I would drown and die." We keep trying to say that she wouldn't because we are right there but she is convinced that if she goes under, she will drown. So, needless to say, she is getting lessons. She is doing a great job but she still has trouble letting go and enjoying herself.

Fishing!

Reedley has discovered that she loves to fish. We went to Big Bear a few weeks ago and her and her Daddy went fishing while Mommy and Raidon went shopping. She just waited patiently for a fish to come on her line. Unfortunately, they did not have the right bait for the fish that were biting. Reedley had a great time and she just occupied her waiting time by singing to herself.

Birthday Parties!!

Well, yesterday we had a combination birthday party for Reedley and Raidon. What a blast!! It was at Big Cheese in Yucaipa and the restaurant was virtually empty except for us. The kids had the run of the game room. Raidon was throwing the skee (?) balls over-handed and occasionally made a score. Then of course, there were the tickets. By the time the kids got their rewards we could have actually bought the items one thousand times over. Oh well, what can you do. Its the little cheapo items the kids seem to like the most.
Thanks to all of you who joined us and all of the wonderful gifts!!! I don't think there is a Buzz Lightyear toy Raidon does not have and Reedley is going to look so cute going to kinder in all of her cute new outfits.
Sorry, no pictures this time. We (and by we, I mean Mark) forgot the camera. Oh well!! We have the memories that we will hold forever.

Our ballerina

Reedley started dance classes this week. It is 1/2 ballet and 1/2 tap. She is taking the class with her two friends, Hailey and Kayla. She did great!!She listened to the teacher and had a smile on her face the entire time. Not once did I have to get on her to pay attention. She did much better in dance than when we tried gymnastics. This kept all of the kids active the whole time whereas in gymnastics, they had to wait their turn and sit out a while.
Of course her brother was a different story. He was out of control!!! He wanted to dance with the girls and when we wouldn't let him, he flipped out and screamed bloody murder!! We (Mark and I) had to take turns with him outside. Hello terrible 2's!!!

some updated pictures

Eating ice cream!!

Since it has been so long, I thought I would just show you a few updated pictures of the kids.

Open for business!!

Ok, so people keep bugging me to blog again, I am finally relenting. I don't really know what made me stop. I feel like blogging is me saying, "hey look at me" and contrary to popular belief, I do not like to be the center of attention. I know what your thinking, and I truly don't. Anyway, I will return later today to update photos and post a few new posts.

Thanks for hanging in there.

Opening Day of Baseball!!

Saturday was opening day at the ball park. It was a great day! It started bright and early with team pictures, then we went to Bat-a-thon, after that we ate hotdogs and finally we had our first game. It was hilarious!! The kids were already worn out so Reedley was digging in the dirt and throwing rocks. At one point, her and her friend Kayla were dancing the robot!!

It was a fun day and Mom and Dad were exhausted when it finally ended!1

Enjoy the photo's!!

Our newest addition!!

We had another baby!! He is 3lbs and 6 inches long. And, the best part is, I only gained 10 pounds!!Actually, the best part was the epidural.
No, it is not human, it's canine!! His name is Bo and he is so stinking ugly, he's cute!!

Reedleys play date!

Mark and I made friends with a couple who have children the same age as ours! The deal is, this way, both families have baby sitters when we need them. The best part of this arrangement is that we all get along great and they are really fun and easy going people. Oh yeah, and... the kids get along well!! Anyway, last night the other couple went out for dinner and we kept the girls. It was great, the girls got along and Raidon had a blast following them around. All went well, can't wait till it's our turn!!

Honoring My Daddy!!

Last Friday, the 5th of February, the family got together at the cemetery intern Papa Joe's ashes. It was nothing formal or official, just the family. It ended up being a totally beautiful thing. We took turns holding his urn and saying words about him.
It was unanimous, my Dad was amazing!! A great father, grandfather, husband and friend. We all miss him.
I am posting a few photo's so that my Uncle Ranz, my Dads best friend of all time, can see them. My Uncle Ranz by the way, is finally home after fighting his way back from a stroke. He is home but he is still in a fight to gain back some of his abilities. We pray for him everyday and know that with his strength he will be able to overcome many obsticles. We love you Uncle Ranz!!

Reedley's first dental visit!!

Mark took Reedley to her first dental visit. She needs this for her Kindergarten registration so, we figured we had better get it over with. She was "very brave" as she informed me. We thought for sure it would be major drama (that is why Mark took her) but Mark said she did fairly well. There was a short moment of not wanting to get into the chair but once there, she did great. She even said that it "tickled" when they were polishing her teeth. Oh, and NO cavities....Thank God!!

Snow Day!!

We actually had a Snow Day!! I never thought that we would ever be able to get a day off due to snow!! Well, we did!! Yippee!! Mark is off on Fridays, so it was perfect!! We played in the snow and the kids loved it!!

The Haircut of all haircuts!!

Well, ironically, I just told one of my friends that Reedley plays with scissors all of the time and she has never cut her hair. Well, that serves me right. 3 days later.....Reedley cut the crap out of her adorable stacked bob. I am devastated but she is thrilled with her new look. Enjoy the photo's because I can't look!!!
She did such a chop job that it was nearly impossible to fix. Oh well, in 10 days (or months) it will look much better I'm sure.
Michelle The Damage!! Just one of the piles of hair we found in her room!!
Hair scattered all over the floor
The haircut in the end!! Horrible!!!

I am finally on Face Book!

Well, I finally did it...much to Marks chagrin!! I got a Face Book page or whatever it is called. He likes to be anonymous but I have found that it enables you to communicate with people much easier!! So, don't tell him, TeeHee, just kidding!! He knows, he just isn't thrilled!!

Now, if I can just figure out how to put my blog info on the page and learn to better navigate it then all should be fine. For instance, if I look at someones page, does it automatically send a request or does that person know that I looked at the page?Also, several people have sent requests to be friends and I don't know how they knew I was on it... I doubt they happened to look for me on the very day that I went on.

Anyway, shed some light!!

Michelle