One day down three more to go

We were suppose to head to the beach this morning, but the forecast did not allow that to happen. It was over cast and around 67 this morning, not food weather for beach play. The kids understood and they were happy just to go over and play at Tara's house.

Of course than all 4 big kids decided it was a day of not listening, it did get better towards the end, but still not the best day we have had. Kingston and the twins did not want to go down for naps, Kingston sleep for about 30 minutes and Max and Leo did about the same.

We finally headed home around 5ish just in time for Uncle Adam to pick up Haleigh, we had dinner and I went to put Kingston down for bed, since it was almost 7 pm, Kodi and my parents had FHE which he loves doing. Than Grandma and Kodi did the dishes played more games, and than went and watched our neighbors set off some firecrackers. Kodi thought that was pretty cool.

I have so much that needs to be done before we leave on Wednesday, let's just hope I can get it all done before tomorrow night.

We will try the beach seen again tomorrow!

Sunday what a great Sunday

No problems once more today with getting ready Kodi got up and got dressed when I asked him, both kids even took a bath this morning. We got to church on time and we were excited since Uncle Scott was giving one of the talks today. Kingston of course started screaming again, so I spent alot of time holding him and talking to him about not yelling.
Once Scott started his talk we went back in, of course Kingston was excited to see Scott up front and started Yelling for him. So I went back into the Mother's room where Tara and the twins were at, we were able to listen to the talk and KK played.

I than headed to nursery our nursey class is so very small, we have about 9 kids total and that is with the two new kids that joined us today. All the kids are around 20 months, Kingston is the youngest but that is because I am in there so he has to be, which is just fine by me. He is a litte trooper he plays with all the kids, and will go and sit down and listen for the most part to the 5 minute lesson.

Our nursery leader was sick today so it was me and her sub, I did the lesson which was on The Scriptures teach me about Jesus. They did very good with the lesson and than colored the picture book I made for them.

Over all 2nd and 3rd hour for us was great, I love the little children I help teach, they are such a sweet group of children.

We are waiting for Wednesday to come, which I am sure the next three days will take forever, but we are booked this week of things to keep us busy. We start the beach schedule all over again, which means we are off the beach again tomorrow morning at 10 and will be out playing until 1. Than we will be heading back to tara's house for nap time, and so down time which will be much needed. Than the kids play and we will head back home.
We will repeat the beach schedule on Tuesday but we will have TTP at 1 and than we will head back home to pack and get the things ready for us to leave Wed afternoon.
We can't wait to see Daddy.

The weekend

We have had a great weekend so far, yesterday we spent the day playing, swimming and it seemed as if we did not stop. The best part of yesterday was that we got a phone call from Daddy.
He is doing great, he is all done with training and has a couple of days to just be, and not having to learn or test or anything like that, He is glad that the training part is done and over with. He has a cold which isn't to good, and was very tried when we talked to him, since he had been up since Thursday morning, and was not going to bed until Friday night at 8 pm. They did get to sleep for 10 hours that night.
He is looking forward to seeing us and being around his family again. Dakota loved talking to his Daddy and told me "Daddy all done with Training" which he doesn't understand yet that we do get to see Daddy but than Daddy has to go back to training. I am thinking it will be a sad day when we leave daddy again. But at least Aaron will have his cell phone during "A" school.

Kingston would not say"Hi" to Aaron at all, he looked at the phone and listened but that was about it. He has been walking around the house again saying "Daddy, Daddy" it's pretty cute.

Today we had a fun day, we started the day off with getting ready for Uncle Adam's Grad Party, which was good to go to. Than we came home, rested a little bit, the kids played and Grandma took Kodi and Haleigh to go see Peter Pan which was a community play that Aunt Erica was the stage Manager for. He loved the play, which was good.

Kingston and I headed to the Mall for some shopping it was not a successful trip for me, but KK got a new pair of shoes. Which he needed really bad.

One week until we see Aaron

It was a very good day for us. Another very nice day out, we headed to the beach this morning, while it was not as hot, all the kids loved it. The twins even liked playing in the sand, I think maybe by the time summer is over they will like th water.

Kingston walked back and forth from the water up to the towel, just loved bring water up to us. Max and Leo sat in the sand and either tried to eat the sand or just played in it. Leo even crawled out to the sand toys and was just playing.

Kodi and Xander found a friend, jumped in the water. Once Xander started swim lessons Kodi came out of the water and played in the sand. I just watched the boys and took turns with Tara in the water.

We were going to go back to Tara's house to open the garage sale but both of us did not want to. So we decided to just leave the stuff and I am going to pack it back up and head over to the good will. I am done and over with the garage sale as well as Tara is.

It was a much better day today than yesterday. We are very happy this week is coming to a close it's one week from today that we will be with Aaron.

Remembering the Past

I have been going through some boxes with my Mom while I am staying here with my parents. I can say it's been a good to rememeber the good times we have had, but at the same time it does bring up some of the past that I don't always want to remember.

My life has not always been this happy for me, as I grew up I remember the pain of having grown up without my Dad, having my parents fight over when we would be going to see my Dad when he would be late to pick us up, and so on.

I also have had to learn how to have a thick skin when it come to church and having people talk about your family. Just a little back ground my Mom remarried a missionary who served in our ward, and than 14 years later divorced him. Talk about what some people had to say about my family. I have grown to learn that the gospel is true, and it really doesn't matter what the people think, as long as I know the truth along with the Lord, I don't care what people think about my past.

I have learned so much from my Mom and her good times and her bad times, it has made me the person I am today.

I have learned how to be the best single parent I can while Aaron is away, how to deal and accept help from family. Without my family I won't be able to do this. Tara is such a huge help I don't know what I would do if I did not have her right now. I don't know what I am going to do when I move. That is the best part of joining the "Navy" is that we are going to move away from My Family. Katy and I are very good friends and it's been along time since she has been waiting to be around us. Tara and I are best friends we see each other every day, I am always at her house, Her kids are like mine. I love all my nieces and nephews, it's going to be very hard for me when we leave.

Just like when I was little I had to pray to the Lord for help, and I will have to do the same. He will be standing next to me holding my hand while I am away from my family. I will find a new family to help me. The lord will provide for us, I know that to be true.

He has been standing next to us while we are away from Aaron and he has been giving Aaron the strength He needs to do very well in basic training.

I am grateful my kids are able to make memories with my parents while we are here, I have so many memories of my grandma who is one of my heros. I love and miss her so very much. I learned I could always call on my grandma to help me out. Now my kids are learning this lesson, they can call on grandma and pa at anytime and they will be there for them. It's such a wonderful blessing my kids are getting.

Crazy Kids

Today was a day of craziness for us, my kids did not listen, which meant we did not go over to Tara's house to be with them.
We did make it over to the DMV to get my address changed on my license changed. Than we headed over to the library and I let the kids check out some books, I would have stayed a little longer but Kingston had enough of being quite, so we left.

We got home and had some nap time, Kodi just needed a day of down time which he stilled needed as he went to bed. We had a battle of washing the soap out of his hair, which he screamed at me and woke his brother up, I was not happy to say the least. I have to find another way of dealing with his not listening. It's driving me crazy, he does pretty good most of the time, but when he just decides nope i don't want to listen that is the end.

Thankfully Kingston went back to sleep and Kodi calmed down and went to sleep. I am so very glad we get to see Aaron next week. It will be so much better when we are able to talk to him on the phone at night, instead of waiting for his letters.

He is ready to be done with basic, and is thankful it's almost over. He is doing great, he has the last test tomorrow morning and it finished Friday night at 8pm. So please say some extra prayers for him since he will not be able to sleep at all during that time. I can't believe how fast the 8 weeks have gone by.

We are off to the beach again tomorrow I will bring my camera and get some pictures of the boys in the water and how much fun they have.

A Day in the water

We spent the majority of our day in the water. We started off this very hot day with a walk, which I was not too bad since I knew we were heading to the lake afterwords. We met Tara and the kids again at the Lake for swimming lessons, which Inara doesn't like at all, my kids were able to swim for about and hour or a little more before we had to head to TTP.
While we were at the Lake Dakota was jumping off the dock with no fear, he loved it Kingston just wanted to be near Tara and one of the twins and just play in the sand and water. Which was great since Tara was able to sit down and watch KK. Haleigh was not to sure about jumping off the Dock at first, but finally got the hang of it.

Sara and Megan said Kodi is doing great, his colors are getting so much better he is able to say each one when he is asked what color is this. He was having trouble telling you which color was which, he knew them because when were asking him to find the "green circle" he would be able to find it and hand it to her, but when he was asked "what color is this" he was having that trouble. But he is able to tell us that know. We are still working on his shapes and drawing them, he is making progress on his circles with the starting and stopping. We practise drawing circles and shapes during church.

After TTP we headed back into the water at the Hanus house. When we first arrived it was getting a little cloudy and dark out but it hadn't started to rain so we headed out to the pool and of course once we all got in it started to rain, well the rain only lasted for about 15 minutes and than it was over.
Kodi again had no fear with jumping off the diving board, he was pretty funny he had found a snorkal mouth piece, fins and some goggles. I just had to laugh at him. Kingston was going down the slide right into my arms he loved it. Both my kids have no fear in the water and are fishes, just like their mom.

We love the Hanus family and I am grateful my kids are able to know them. It was a fun day out in the sun. We are heading back to the beach tomorrow and than to Tara's house for the garage sale! I hope we can stay cool since it's suppose to be hot again.

Beach Time

It was so very hot today, we decided to tag along with Tara and her kids while they went to the beach for swimming lessons. I was going to put Kodi in the same class as Inara, but we would be missing the last two days of class because of leaving for Aaron graduation.

Once we finally got to the beach we learned that in order to park by the beach you have to have a permit, which meant we had to park far away, thankfully I bought the stroller, we got everyone out of the car and finally down the to the water.

Man did my kids love the beach, Kingston wanted me to let him go free in the water, of course I did not let him do that. But he just kicked and splashed and laughed. Kodi jumped off the dock and than he and Inara tried to catch the little fish in the lake. Of course they did not get anything but they sure did have fun trying.

We finally got them all out of the water and back in the car, we did not want to spend the hottest part of the day at the beach since the Max & Leo don't like the water, and they were getting hot. We headed back to Grandma's house for Lunch and Nap time.

After nap time we headed back outside for some sprinkler time, of course Kingston was all about that, he loves the water. Finally the kids had enough of the heat and each other. Tara went home and Kodi had some time to undwind.

Grandma than did FHE for us and than gave me a break she took Kodi and Haleigh down to DQ for a treat and I put KK to sleep since he only had a 45 minute nap today. So I have had no kids all night, :) thank you Mom.

Pa is out of town and she usually has a sleep over with the grandkids, so tonight she asked if Haleigh could sleep over and Kodi tried to sleep with them, but he just came and asked if he could sleep in his own bed. I am very proud that he tried to be with them. Usually he doesn't want anything to do with that. Now he is in his own bed and ready for sleep to take over.

Tomorrow we are headed back to the beach, than TTP and than we are off to the family I used to Nanny for, they have a pool so more swimming.

Happy Fathers Day

We had a great day, Kodi was ready to go to church with no fits, until we were ready to leave. He wanted to bring the new DVD player with us, and I had to tell him "No" which did not go over well. But it was a short lived Fit, I was very grateful for.

We spent the afternoon with Uncle Scott, and just enjoying their family. The grandkids gave Grandpa a homemade T shirt, which I think he liked.

Kodi wanted to let all his grandpa's "Happy Father's Day"

What a great Day

I have to say I just loved today, we had no plans, nothing to do. It was just the kids and I for most of the day. We played in morning, went to target to get some Father's day things for Grandpa's, had lunch.

Went and saw Sonita and just had a great nothing day. I was than informed that around 4:30ish my Dad was going to be at Tara's house. He was coming over a day early for Father's Day. He was suppose to come on Thursday, but he canceled than he said Friday and of course canceled again, so I was not sure if he would really be coming today. Well we than headed back to target once more to get him his card and gift.

I think over all we spent 2 hours in target today, crazy. I thought maybe we should have gone to walmart, but Kodi really wanted Target, which I didn't mind since it's down the road from my parents house and not a 20 minute drive like Walmart.

Than we headed to T's house to meet everyone. We did have a good time, the kids played outside, and ran around. All 6 kids love seeing my Dad and Eli and Ashley. Eli is so very good with the kids and so is Ashley.

We had to cut our time short since KK was tired and it was close to 8, but when we got home and in the house he did not want to go back to sleep, he finally stopped fighting the sleep and gave in. Kodi headed back down to Target again with Grandma to do some grocery shopping. Grandma and Pa had been gone all day. Kodi was very excited to see them, he must have missed them.

I do want to tell Uncle Adam how proud we are of him, he graduated today with his PhD for Physical Therapy. Congrats Adam, I know how hard you have been working.

That was our day a very nice and slow paced for us, now it's bed time :)

Garage Sale at last

Yes that is right, we finally got up and running this morning, well it was more like noonish when we finally were ready either way we did pretty good.
The kids had a blast running around outside and playing in the items we were trying to sell. We had most of the neighbors over sometime with their kids, which they all bought some movies and toys.

I was selling our Red Bull bar light which Aaron got from work, some kid wanted it, which was fine, I was very happy to get the 5 dollars for it since we did not pay anything for it.

Kodi will be getting a little three wheeled spider man razor, he doesn't know that and we will be giving to him for his birthday, he was riding it all around today. Tara's neighbors are selling it. He is going to be so very happy.

My mom came around 1ish and took Inara and Kodi back home with her and let them play there. Which was a huge help, Xander went with the next door neighbor and his kid to go garage sale shopping, so we just had Kingston and the twins, plus my cousin and her two girls. But the babies were a hand full today. Kingston did not want to be out of my sight.
I would put him on my back, but he did not like that, I put him in the pak and play which he just cried. I finally put him down for a nap and he slept pretty good until Giai starting barking stupid dog.

Thankfully my Aunt came back over and watched over the garage to give us a break, and take the babies in.

We are continuing with the garage sale on wed - friday of next week. Tara has more to put in, so that should give her more time to get things out.

It was a nice day not to hot but still very nice out.

Boy was it HOT today

Max crawling

Leo not

Kodi jumping off the slide

Kingston putting his head in the sprinkler

Round 2

Round 3

Happy Boy

Kodi in his Very Big Swim suit

Getting a drink of water

So it did rain this morning, and we thought it was going to be a rain out for the garage sale, boy where we WRONG. It turned out to be a very hot great day. So let's pray that tomorrow is going to just as nice as today.

The good news is that the kids played outside again in the sprinkler, and all four loved it. Kodi had a fit as the kids where getting ready, because the bathing suit grandma bought for him was too big, and it fit Xander, instead. Well he finally came out and was wearing Xander's suit which was way too big. He fit through one of the mesh legs inside of the bathing suit. He was very cute, he did not mind that it was so big on him.

Kingston loved putting his face straight into the water, he loved it. He has no fear at all, he played so very hard outside, and ran all around. The twins even came out, they did not get wet but enjoyed being outside with all of us.

Aaron can't believe how fast the past 6 weeks have gone, and he is very excited to be done with basic training. We leave to see him two weeks from yesterday.

Life is good for us and we thank all of you who have been praying for our little family. Those prayers have been felt and we are very blessed to have all you praying for us. Aaron can tell when we pray for him and when he is about to break he gets a boost of the blessing of prayer and he is able to make it.

Garage Sale here we come

Today was a great day for us. The kids did a great job playing and listening to me. :) I love that, Kodi and Haleigh played while I put Kingston down for 2 naps this morning. The little stinker was up at 6 ish and than went back down around 8:30 up at 10 and that I put him back down after lunch.
He is so crabby I don't know why but he just is. My Mom is done in the office around 12:30 and she takes all the Big kids for about 2 hours and gives Tara and I a break. I headed over to her house once again, but this time it was for us to get ready for our Garage Sale tomorrow, at least that is the plan if the rain holds out on us.

I can't wait to sell my stuff, and if it doesn't sell than it's off the the Goodwill than. We actually have a lot to sell, my counsin Macie came over to put some of their things in the garage sale. If it doesn't end up raining than we are ready for next week.

Kingston was pretty happy to play outside while I set up, but he continued to run in the back yard and not stay with us. I ended up putting him on my back and wearing him while I unpacked and refolded the baby clothes.

The Kids came back after 2 hours and spent the rest of the day outside playing. All 4 were very tired before we left. I told Kodi since he was so very good and listened to Grandma today and made the right choose when he was getting upset, he wanted to kick Grandma because he was upset with Inara, he chose to listen and calm down and sit in a different chair and do the project. Which is a huge step for this little boy. I was so very proud, I guess after all the things I tell him are setting in.
I told him I would take him to McDonalds since we have not had fast food in about 3 weeks. He was very happy, I even told him we would eat inside, a double treat. That is what we did for dinner, he was very happy. As we walked out he asked for ice cream, I just laughed and told him No since we just had a treat.
He was ok with it.

Home it was for us, as we were driving home we saw Grandma and Pa driving the other direction of course kodi was upset because they were not home, I called Grandma and asked when they would be home, She told me they were out getting some pumpkin seeds for the garden. Since the kids were asking about growing them.
Kodi was happy to hear that and stopped his fit. The boys than had their baths which was much needed. Kodi is even washing his hair with no fits :) I love all the hard work he has been doing at TTP it is really paying off.

Now they both are sleeping and it's very quite.

Aaron sent both the boys the postcards Mom and Dad had sent to Aaron. Kodi didn't understand why he couldn't open the post card to read. KK held on to the postcard until he was asleep. We are getting very excited to see him.

Rain Rain go away

We had another great day, TTP was great for Kodi, he did was so good, his normal speech therapist Sara was sick today, and he did not mind he had a different therapist today. Megan was very happy to hear about his trying of new food, she gave me some very good ideas on what to do when Kodi doesn't like something he tried.
Try and explore the food and why he didnt' like it, with the pasta he did not like the cheese coming out of it. So open it up and show him it's the cheese and ask if he tasted the cheese in the middle.

Kingston is still screaming his way thur life, it is not as bad as it was but it still is not good. He has been missing Daddy a lot, he is looking out the window and calling out Daddy. It will be very good for KK to see him .

Over all it was a quite day for us, I did lock us out of the house today, and of course Kodi had to use the bathroom good thing he is a boy, and doesn't mind peeing outside. So we headed to Tara's house and just stayed again for dinner. We had a meeting about Katy's wedding reception tonight anyway so I did have to be at her house. I was not expecting to be there so soon. I had laundry in and I needed to pick up the house before the parents came home from work .Well that did not happen. My mom did do my laundry for me which was nice. Now I just need to put the clothes away.

Of course the day the kids decide to be crazy is the day it's raining outside, and we can't send them outside, to run off the energy. The rain always seems to make my crazy, not sure why it does, but it does.

Counting down the days

We are counting down the days until we go and see Aaron, Dakota has a some M&M's in a jar that he takes a couple from and when the jar is empty that is when we leave to go and see Aaron. (Thanks Cherstin for the idea)
Dakota colored Aaron another picture and put the picture in the mail box, I tried to explain that the mail man won't take the letter since it wasn't in anything, He did not care, he was so proud that he out the letter in the mailbox.

The weather was so very nice out, we headed over to Tara's house for the kids to play outside in the little pools. We invited Macie and her kids and we ended up staying the whole day, we all had dinner and a good time.

Macie cut my hair as well as Tara's, I am so very glad all I do is pull my hair back into a ponytail, and than I get a huge headache because it's so very heavy. My hair is short and I love it. I will get a picture posted tomorrow.

Dakota has been doing very well with trying new foods at dinner, we have been reading Green Eggs and Ham. Last week he tried some Lasagna and liked it. I was so very proud, and than tonight he tried some tortellini. He put one piece in his mouth and bit down did not like that came out of the tortellini, so he tried another one. He found out he did not like it at all. I am so very proud of him.
Before he would not try and I would end up cooking something else for him. This is a huge step for him and his sensory diet. I can't wait to to tell him Therapists. We have been working so very hard with his therapy. He is making so much progress.

Kingston has been a bear all day, I am not sure what is going on but this little boy has to let you know when he doesn't like something. He will start to scream and than if he is really mad at you he will hit you. The little stinker. I am sure it's a phase but I don't like it at all. He fell down outside and has a nasty looking left eye, some how he managed to hit the corner of his eye when he went down, I just hope he doesn't get a black eye.

Sunday

We had another great Sunday, I truly love when Kodi gets ready and does what he needs to do in order for us to be on time to church.

We actually were 1o minutes early to church got a good parking spot and it was great. Kingston on the other hand was a screaming, I really don't like his little high pitched scream. We spent the majority of the time in the Mother's room.

Than we headed off to nursey, Kingston loves playing with all the toys and being able to run around. I counted today all the kids and we have a grand total of 7 kids. Most of the kids are 18 months or just a little older. We are finding it hard to keep them busy after snack time. They are a little to young to do a craft besides coloring, and singing time is about 2 minutes long, if we even have it. I guess the Singing Lady from Primary doesn't come in which I am not so sure I like, we are going to try and get someone to come in and do singing time.

At least I am just a helper and not the leader I am grateful for that.

After church we had a wonderful chicken dinner and Adam come over to see all of us. It was great, Kingston wasn't sure at First than he threw his little arms round his neck and hugged Adam and did not want to let go. He stayed with Adam for most of the time they were over.

I am glad he is back and he had a good time, Haleigh is very happy to have her Dad back as well. This week should be a good one, we are getting ready for our garage sale at Tara's house, we want to be able to just open up the garage and have it all ready. So we are getting everything put out and ready to go this week.

Fun in the Sun

We had a fun filled day, we started off at the grocery story which the boys love to help grandma, she gives Kodi little assignments to help her and KK gets the "drive" the cart. I just go along to get out of the house.

We than headed over to another graduation party for one of our ward members, Kodi didn't understand why she did not have birthday candles on her cake since it was a party. LOL
He did have a good time, we even saw Auntie Melissa there.

We than headed down the Saint Paul to have some park time with Tara's Family and another Family. They kids played for a good hour or more it was pretty hot out, Kodi was all red in the face, and tired, but he had a great time.

We than headed back home for dinner, and we found out that Mom and Pa had some friends over. Grandpa did some steaks for dinner and Kodi wanted a Hot Dog on the grill so that is what he got.

I thank headed back to fold more laundry and put the clothes away, that I had started this morning. I did get those put away and KK wanted to be put to sleep, so that is what I did. We watched Happy Feet while he went to sleep, and than I headed out to Target for a little break.

It was a good Day. Tomorrow we get to see Uncle Adam. Kingston will be very happy to see him.

The weekend

We have been pretty busy the last two days, yesterday we went to some garage sales, which Kodi made out pretty good, two more transformers and two bakugan balls. Kingston and I did not find anything, maybe next week.
After dinner we headed over the MOA to see Uncle Dave while he was working he had told me the Mall gets very slow after 6:30 which it was pretty dead at that time. We walked around and looked at things, Kodi wanted to play at Lego Land so I let him.
We than headed back home which both boys fell asleep in the car, Kingston ended up watching back up and did not go back to sleep until 12:30 needless to say that is why I did not post last night. It did give me a chance to catch up on some TV shows on USA.

Well today was park days, which we went and it ended up that Tara and her kids and us were the only ones who showed up. Which wasn't bad since the Park we went to was super busy. The kids played for a good 2 hours until we determined it was time to go. We than spent the rest of the day Tara's house playing. We invited Macie and her kids over to play which than we all stayed for dinner and have a bon fire after words. Kingston was so tired that when I put him in the car he went right to sleep, and he stayed asleep once I got one.
Dakota and I read his scriptures and he also went to sleep. Kingston has a little temper and loves to scream at the top of his lungs when he is not happy with you. I don't know where this came from but I am so very done with it.

Uncle Adam comes home tomorrow and we can't wait to see him. Kingston will be very happy to see Uncle Adam on Sunday, the two of them have a special little bond, it's very cute. I was reminded the other day that this is my last couple of months with my sweet Haleigh, she will be going to school next year as well as moving across the city from us, and we will be moving.
I am very grateful for the past 4 years that I have been able to watch her and become very close to her. I will miss her sweet little hugs and her wanted to be with us.

3 weeks and counting

We had another great day, Tara had an eye Dr. appt today so I went over to watch the other kids while she took the twins with her. We had Connie come over and help out and she also brought some lunch with her.
We love Connie so very much, she has been a huge blessing to have her in our lives. All four kids played great today, it was very nice and they all loved being with each other. Today was Xander's first day of Summer Break, I had to tell Kodi that Xander was not in school when he passed his school today. I think he figured it out when Xander was home. They played the Wii for a little bit when we first got there. I told them after breakfast that I was going to put the buzzer on and when it went off they needed to be done with the Wii. The great thing was that I did not need to even put the buzzer on, I just heard them playing house.
Soon enough the they all came upstairs they were being animals, I am not sure what animals they all were, but it was pretty cute.

We stayed until 3 and then headed to Burger King to meet my Mom and have dinner and play in the huge tubs. It's great the Burger King we go to is never busy and the kids usually have the whole thing to themselves.

It's been a nice night, Kingston went down at 7 since he only have a little nap, Kodi is trying not to sleep and sitting here next to me.

In three weeks we will be at the hotel and the kids will be sleeping since we have to get up pretty early to make it to the base on time. I can't believe we have only three weeks left of his basic training. Before I know it we will be stationed and our new life will be on it's way.

Enrichment night

Yesterday was a day on the go. We had some appointments for the boys and than I had enrichment last night.

We left the house at 9:30 headed down the WIC to pick our checks, than headed over to Kingston 15 months check up. He is doing so well.

Weight - 24 lbs 8 oz 50 %
Length - 32 3/4 90 -95 %
Head - 19 ' 75 %

Dakota had a great day at TTP, it was his little friends last day, when a kids graduates from Therapy they had a slippery slide which they a large mat and place it on one of the ramps and place pillows around it. Then they put shaving cream, and bubbles on the slide down the slide. Kodi loves the slide, he did not go as far as Jack his little friend did. He ended up using the shaving cream as shampoo it was pretty funny.

Enrichment was so much fun, I don't mean to toot my own horn, since I am on the committee but we did a great fun job. We did the night on emergency managment. We had four classes, Water Storage, Cooking without power, 72 hour kids plus medication, and Over all Emergency managment.
It was a great night and I am so very happy it went well. We started the night off in the gym and we handed out glow in the dark glow sticks. We started with a prayer and song, and started to say what was going on when the lights when out, Connie than went out to find out why the lights went out and came back to say we had a huge wind storm and that the power was out. We than divided into 4 groups and went to the different classes.
We had members from our ward teach each class, We are very lucky to have a Brother who does Water storage for a living he works Katadyn. He did a great job and explaining why we need to treat our water and how to storage it.
Cooking without power was taught by another brother who is a wonderful cook and has some great skills, he also made homemade bread for the treat after the night was over. We talked about what are some canned foods we like to eat and how to use them to make a meal if we did not have any power to use.
72 hour kit plus medication was a great one as well. We were given some ideas on how to store our medication and to have a list of what we take the dosage and why we take them. Than to pack out 72 hour kit and to once a quarter if you can repack it and see what needs to replaced.
The last class was the Emergency Management which Scott taught and he did a great job. He spoke about how we need to be ready and we need to make sure we don't leave relay on others to always help us out. He explained how the city and counties can't always come to help out and as the Lord has taught us that we need to be ready and prepared.

I did not get back home until 10 and than KK was up but it was all good. He did go back to sleep and so did I.

Why is it so cold?

I don't understand the weather here, it's been raining which is fine by me we need the rain, but it's so cold. I dressed both boys like it was winter outside. I really hope that it starts to warm up again. It's June and it feels like it's fall outside.

It was a pretty quite Monday for us. Since we have no more school we don't have to rush around to get everything done. We started off with a hard morning both Haleigh and Dakota just continued to bug one abother, not sure why, I ended up spliting up the kids I sent Haleigh to My room and Dakota to the room with the books. Well I went to check on Haleigh about 5 minutes later and she was sleeping. Katy told me she was up at 5ish this mroning which explains why she was "touchy" this morning.

She slept for 2 more hours, after that we had a great day. We saw Tara and the kids for a little bit, which was nice. My Mom came home to let her eyes have a break and we made some homemade bread, and started to get dinner ready, than she was off to work again.
The bread was so good, we had some for dinner. I have to take some to Enrichment tomorrow night.

We than headed over to the church to set up the chairs and rooms for Enrichment.

Another very good night for the boys, Kingston went to sleep without a huge fit, and Kodi played and once I told him it was bed time he and I read our scriptures and got ready for bed said our prayer and he was out.

Tomorrow will be a bit of a busy day, Kingston has his 15 month check up and than we are off to TTP for Kodi, and than to the WIC office to pick up our checks.

We heard from Aaron today, and he is going great. Haleigh had written him and he was very cute about answering her questions.
1) do you sleep on the top or bottom bunk - he sleeps on the bottom
2) how many people do you share the room with - 55 other guys share the room
3) how big it basic training - just a couple of builds and they walk every where

Aaron also put in his letter that his DIV is 234 and not 243, he is not getting all his mail on time because of that.
Some of the other people in his Division are a little jealous about all the letters he gets, in one day he received 9, I am sure most of them were from Kodi and his little pictures.

Thanks for all the support you are giving Aaron he can feel all the prayers we say for him. Please continue to pray for him in his finally weeks at basic.

What a great Sunday

We had a wonderful Sunday, Kodi listened this morning and got ready for church with no problems. He helped choose which sweater he wanted to wear and which pants. He was a little upset, that Xander had taken his belt back, but I fixed that when I showed him his fire belt.

We than headed over to Stake Conference. I wasn't sure if we would get a good parking spot or not. I did not want to walk to far with the boys in the Rain. As I drove down the road I could see the parking lot was full and the closer I got to the building I found a perfect spot just outside of the parking lot and right in front of a door, I was so very happy. We headed inside found my Mom to sit with and Conference started.

Kodi sat so good the whole time, I ended up walking with Kingston and listening to what they had to say. We had no big changes to our stake, the message that I got was about personal revelation and not to think otherwise if the revelation doesn't go how you planned. The Lord has a plan, and it's not always how you think it will work out.

We actually ended about 20 minutes early, most of the kids by then were making more noise and wanted to be done. Kodi was at his end so I took him out to a classroom and let him draw in the chalk board, which made him very happy.

Once we made it home our day was great, we ate lunch. I put KK down for a nap and Kodi played with Grandma and let me take a nap as well, which I totally loved. Sonita my cousin came over for a little bit to hang with us.

Dinner time was good, we made homemade chipotle and the kids ate the steak, and chips & cheese, which they loved. I am just happy Kodi ate the steak. Kingston loved the rice and cheese.

It was a great day I wish we had more Sunday's like this one.

Rain and more Rain

We finally got some much needed rain, but I don't like the fact that it's cold now. I can't seem to warm up at all. It's suppose to rain all weekend long, which is wonderful the grass really needs it.

We have had a rough day, not sure what is going on with Kodi but he sure did not want to listen at all to me. We went to a graduation party for one the families my Mom did Daycare for, which means I am getting old.

Both their girls are now done with High School and are moving on in life. It is very crazy to think how fast kids grow. Before I know my boys will be graduating and heading on a Mission or going to college. I don't like to think about that.

With all the rain outside Kodi and I have been able to read books which he loves to do. My mom has a huge collection of books and he loves to read the Little Critter books. So we went and found all those books and have been reading them.

Kingston was during this time throwing a fit, and he has started this new thing when he is mad. He will either hit you or something near by. This time he decided to pull the table cloth off the table, at least he tried to, which in turn he got in more trouble for. We did this power play for about 3 times and than I was done with it, so I put him on the other side of the gate and he couldn't go anywhere. He did not like that one bit, but he figured it out that it was not a good idea to pull the table cloth off.

The boys than had a bath and Kingston and it was time for bed. He finally went to sleep about an hour later. Kodi is watching his transformers before bed. Saturday is our Movie night and so I put it the cartoon on in his playroom which he calls his "office" and he is sitting at the little table watching his movie.

I am trying to get him to watch something else besides the same cartoons but so far he doesn't want to. But soon it will be bed time and he won't like that, Oh well.

Tomorrow we have a special Stake Conference, so that will be different for us. Not sure what it's about, we justed added a new stake here so maybe we are getting a new Stake President? That is My mom's guess, I guess we will have to wait and see.

Day 31

Our day was a good one, we just spent the day at home, and enjoyed playing with the toys. I started off the day with a headache which is still bugging me.

We were suppose to go to the ward campout tonight, but with my head pounding there was no way I was going to do that. Katy did understand, and Kodi did not seem to mind to much since Xander was over. They both played great together.

I got a double jogging stroller from a ward member and I actually got to use it tonight. It's great I love it. I am determined to walk every night, with my mom. It ends the night for me just right. I let Kodi run around and he gets out his wiggles for the night.

Kodi has decided that he is going to whine tonight, not sure why he is doing this but it's bugging me way to much. This is where I wish I had my other half home to take over. At least help out a bit. But oh well

I did hear from him today, his letter took forever to get to us. He is doing well and can't believe bootcamp is half over. Before we know it we will see him. He doesn't like that some of the guys in his division can't seem to shut up. So they have been doing some extra PT again. They also had some tests and pasted with flying colors. Which was good to hear.

When he called last week he said he could tell how much better Kodi is talking and he is so very proud of him. Kodi is talking so much more. Longer sentences and is trying his best to use the right words. He is working on his colors still, he seems to know them when you are matching colors but when you ask him what color is this, he has a hard time tell you. Sara his speech therapist noticed it. She is working very hard with him on that.
They are also working on shapes, he has been working very hard on making a cirlce, he doesn't seem to understand when to stop drawing his cirlces. But on tuesday he did stop and find the dot he started with. They were both very proud of him.

I am so very proud of him and how hard he works, I can see the blessing he was given unfold and come true. He is making such wonderful progess. We are so very blessed to have the services here and waiting for him.

Day 30

We had a fun filled day, we spent most of the at the mall just letting the kids play at the playplace. Tara needed to find a dress for a wedding they have this weekend. So I went along to help watch the kids. We had no luck at the first mall, but the kids played and played. They had a great time.

After we came home Kingston had crashed in the car and was still sleeping which was good since he was up at 6:45 this morning. I let him sleep for as long as he needed. Once he woke up we headed back out to meet my Mom. She was taking the kids so I could go and see Star Trek with Katy. I loved the Movie, it was so good. It was also a long needed break. I have not had a break from the kids since Aaron left for bootcamp.

On the way home she called to say she was meeting Tara at the EP mall to look for a dress, I offered to drive and to let the kids play again at the playplace. Since EP mall has a bigger play area. Kodi ran around so hard he was all red in the face. He had found a little friend while we were there. We were at the play place for about an hour or more. Tara did find a dress and when it was time to go Kodi had no problem.

Needless to say he went right to bed when we got home.

Another one bites the dust.

We had a wonderful day, the kids played great together. Tara came over with her kids after she picked up Xander from school, Scott has started firefighting training this week and is gone until dinner time. They actually stayed for dinner and than left, either way it was good to see her.

My mom is going to be watching the boy for me tomorrow so I can go and see a movie with Katy,
"Kodi what is your favorite dinner" Grandma asked
"Food" kodi replied
It cracked me up. I am not sure why but I thought it was pretty funny. They decided to have eggs tomorrow night.

We saw our friend Dave today, he brought us lunch with was very nice and we talked while the kids played. He is such a wonderful friend and we are very blessed to have him in our lives.

It is pretty nice outside right now, the past couple of days it's been great out, not to hot and not to cold just right.

We seem to have an ant problem in the kitchen by the back door, I put some ant food out for them and I hope it works. I did place it behind the gate so Kingston won't get into it. Kodi seemed very interested in what I was doing and how the ants are getting into the house. I am not sure myself, but it was a fun teaching moment.

He is still awake, having some good playing time with some of Grandma's special toys. Which he only gets to play with when Kingston is sleeping. She has a bunch of Magnets that are like rocks and he loves to play with them.

He and Haleigh had a little battle this morning and I had to put the both of them in time out. Haleigh sat very nicely, and well Dakota did not want to be in time out. So I had to hold him, I did not talk to him or let him know I was paying any attention to him at all. It worked very well, and after he was done, we sat and talked about bitting and kicking people, he cried and said he was sorry.

The Lord is wonderful and I love being able to go and talk with him and have him in my life to help me out. I don't think I could have handled the problem any better, I did not get upset with the two of them I just simple told them they both had a time out.

1 Month from Today we will be with Aaron

I can't believe that he is almost done with bootcamp. He is set to graduate on July 2. I finally got the information in the mail about his graduation, and all the rules that go with it. He is on the Grad and Go program, so we will be able to see him for a little bit and than he is off to check in at "A" school, which could take up to 5 hours.
My Mom is going with us and will be helping me out for the morning and than she is flying back home. She has a friend who works for Marriott and is letting us use her Friends and Family discount. I am so very thankful for her, it's saving us a ton.

Today was Kodi's last day of school. He was very happy to be going today since he had the sharing bag. He wanted to bring his new transformer, and I looked and looked for it last night and could not find it. I did find another one. I was telling him this morning that I could not find it, as I was putting my make up on in the bathroom. He looked at me and opened the laundry shoot door and said "Look Mom I found it."
I would have never guess to have looked there, silly kid.

I did get a call from The Therapy place about his Speech and Tricare sent the go ahead for speech but they had not heard back about OT. Which I was happy about I did not want to stop him in the middle of his treatment, plus he was looking forward to this session since it was suppose to be Jack's last day. But when we got to TTP we found out Jack was sick.
But the good news was that Tricare OKed OT for him.
They said today was his best day, he has had in a long time. A Rock Star they called him.

Thank you Grandma and Papa for the coloring pages, Kodi was very excited about getting them. He painted his picture tonight before bed. He was so happy to have it. So thank you.

It's now summer break for us which is wondertful, it means I don't have to fight with Kodi about getting up. He can stay up a little later and I won't worry about him getting tired in the morning.

I am glad it's summer for us.

Day 27

Our day was filled with us being at Tara's house. I had told her I would watch the three kids while she went with Xander on his last field trip, they went on a boat in Lake Minnetonka. I did not have all 6 kids by myself for too long. Kim a dear friend we both grew up with cam over to help out. THANKS KIM. She is a saving grace. Leo loves her so much, anyway. I also had told my enrichment committee that we could have a meeting totally forgetting that I had already told Tara I would watch the kids.
Well it all worked out just fine. The committee came over to Tara's house which she didn't mind one bit. We got our work done for our June Activity, while the kids played outside and played very nicely I might add.

We were lucky enough to have my Dad stop by with Lunch to tell us he is not moving back to Idaho but staying here! Which we were very happy to hear. We did not want Grandpa Alex moving away. All the kids were very excited to see him.

We finally left Tara's house after dinner and FHE which my Mom provided tonight. Pa is gone for the week again so it's just us girls to hold down the fort.

Tomorrow will be Kodi's last day of Speech with the school district. He has done so very well and I am so very blessed to live in a State that provides such a wonderful service for him. I am not sure about him going to The Therapy Place since they are trying to figure out insurance. We are having some problems with getting an EOB (explanation of benefits) for Triwest plus he needs pre-authorization for those two services and they don't want me to have to pay out of pocket.
But if he doesn't go tomorrow Kodi will be very sad his little friend Jack has his last day tomorrow and Kodi is looking forward to it. So I am praying tha we get the correct information back and we can go!