The Manville Family

Camping

2011-09-28T21:29:00.000-07:00

Okay I know I have not updated my blog forever! Life is crazy busy with 4 kids...do I need to say more? So here is what I am going to do, the thought of catching up, well it just isn't going to happen, so I am going to just start now and here and there I will flashback to some important events ( like Crew being born) later when I have time. The most recent event was going camping. Yep camping with 4 kiddos was not at all relaxing, it was work! We had a lot of fun, and the kids had a great time so what if I came home exhausted. We took the kids out of school for a couple of days and met our friends Greg and Annie and there 3 kids.

Shelby(7), River(6), Sean(5), June & Bree(3), Crew(7months), Kaylee(3months)

Updated Pictures!

2010-04-05T21:03:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun Easter, earth quake and all! I even got some family pictures and there was no yelling and no one was crying, that never happens! So since it has been forever again since I posted any recent pictures I thought I would share.

Shelby loves school, friends, and boys! There is a boy in her class with a crush on her and calls her sweety pie, she comes home giggling almost everyday about it! She describes there little crush like this:" mom we just L-I-K-E eachother, we are to young to L-O-V-E eachother, I won't love a boy until I'm like 16!" Oh please keep turning 16 a long time away!!!! Also half of her conversations are her spelling out the words, it makes me laugh every time.

River is totally boy! He keeps challenging himself on jumping from any thing high, he clears our stairs completly, makes me nerves every time. He is my pickiest dresser, he knows what style clothes he likes and wont wear anything he does not think is cool! I gave away like 5 brand new "paul frank" shirts because he does not like that "stupid monkey!" His words not mine, I have just learned to take things back if he says he wont wear them, because he wont.

June Lily! She makes me laugh all the time! She has started to potty train herself, I guess I should just go with it. She is sweet but has a mean bite. She keeps up with her brother and sister just fine, and sometimes she is the one beating them up. She has finally started to like other people, she usually wont leave mine or her daddy's side, but she is growing up and giving others a chance! She will be turning 2 in about a month, why does time go by so fast when they are little?

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-01T20:11:00.000-08:00

I know it has been forever since I last bloged! We have had alot of fun during this fall season, although it feels more like summer than autumn! We have been to the pumpkin patch, decorated pumpkins, made pumpkin muffins, had fun at school halloween shows... like I said alot of fun.

June is almost out of the baby stage... it has gone by so fast. She keeps up with her older brother and sister no matter what they are doing. She is truely a red head, stubborn personality and everything! Did I mention she is a total climber, she started climbing out of her crib a few weeks ago so already my baby is in a big kid bed.

River is funny, anything you ask him his usual response is "shake a boom-boom"!" River what do you want to eat"..."ummm... shake a boom-boom." "River what do you want to get for your birthday"..."a new sword and shake a boom-boom!" He thinks he is so funny, so do I.

What happend to my little girl? She seems so old to me all of a sudden. Shelby is in first grade and already her and her friends are planning to move out together when they go to college... I'm not sure I even knew what college was when I was five. She tells me all the time that she is going to go to college and when she grows up she wants to be a illustrater, she love to draw pictures to go with her stories. Her knew thing is to answer me with spelling, and usually it has a very sassy tone to it... " do you understand what I said Shelby?" " Y-E-S- M-O-M!" She says this while rolling her eyes at me! Let me tell you I pick my battles, and I totally ignore her last word because at any cost she will get in the last word... kinda reminds me of her Aunt Autumn.

Halloween was so much fun. I love my kids ages, Shelby keeps up with her older boy cousins, and if she falls behind she loves being the leader for the younger cousins. River keeps up but after awhile he does fall back and that is my favorite part because it reminds me he is still little. When he got tired trick or treating he wanted to walk slower by me and hold my hand. June... she caught on to the go to someones door, hold out your bucket and get a candy bit real quick! She could have out lasted her older brother and sister, she sometimes even walked into peoples homes to help her self to their candy bowl!

I had alot of fun this year making all their costums. Shelby was a "vampire fairy".

River was a cowboy, not just any he said he only wanted to be a "bad guy cowboy!" The black rope was a special request by him because he said bad cowboys need rope to tie people up... what has he been watching? Thanks dad for running out last minute to get the black rope.

June, my true "red headed devil!" I saw these clip on devil horns and just loved the idea of her being a devil. She is truely a girl because she loves wearing tutus and any other full girly skirts so this costum was alot of fun for me.

i heart tutus

2009-08-05T22:30:00.001-07:00

I started making these tutus for a friend who sales tutus at a dance studio around here. So far they are pretty popular so I decided to start selling them in my very own etsy store. I'm really excited, I have a couple listed in my store now with the headbands, these are some of the pictures I took of June for the shop!

My wrap dress

2009-06-30T21:57:00.000-07:00

So much has been going on that I have not found time to blog. I will update what has happened in the past month and a half hopefully this weekend, but I did want to share what has been keeping me busy. I started making and selling bathing suit wraps. I make a wrap dress that can be worn several ways.

You can tie it around your neck for a halter look.

This is my favorite, the empire dress. You wrap it around you and cross the trim in the back and then tie in front. I love it because it covers you and still shows that you have a figure. It has been fun making them, I love picking out all the different material, and they have been selling really well which just adds to the fun, for me anyway!

Shelby's talent show, KIDS!

2009-06-05T23:30:00.000-07:00

My Garden

2009-04-19T21:55:00.000-07:00

I started a garden!!! And yes I know I look totally stupid with the big hat on but I did decide to plant this afternoon in 96 degree weather. I am totally excited about what I will be growing, and if all goes well, I am excited about what we will be eating. This garden was fun to plan, build, and plant, although there were times it was a little emotional because it reminded me of my dad. He had a green thumb and his gardens were amazing.

I made three boxes, two 4x4 and one 2x2. The 2x2 was made just for herbs and the 4x4's have a little bit of everything.

This garden has watermelon, I started from seed so you can't see it yet, roma tomato, jalapeno, hierloom tomato, red onion, chives, marigolds, sunflowers, yellow squash, rosemary, bush style green beans, & gerber daises. The other garden has cucumber, cantaloupe, beef steak tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, green bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, marigolds, pole green beans, sunflowers, & gerber daises. And the herb garden has basil, cilantro, parsley, and thyme.

Open House ( on the farm!)

2009-04-06T22:14:00.000-07:00

Shelby's kindergarten class had their open house last week. The theme was "on the farm." It was fun to watch her show us all her work, she was so thrilled that her dad was there to see her class room ( I'm not that exciting to show around because I am in her class room every Thursday.) This is Shelby with her teacher, she is such a wonderful teacher we love her so much, and there is a good chance that Shelby will have her again next year... no she is not staying back in kindergarten, her teacher is moving to first grade!

Shelby as a chicken.

This is Shelby's friend Izak, how cute are they together?

On the farm there are chickens, her class had three baby chicks over the last week. All the kids loved them and got to hold them through out the day, I hate birds, chicks, ducks, anything with feather, but the baby chicks were pretty cute. Shelby wanted me to hold it, I took a deep breath and did it. I'm not kidding it is a real fear, my heart was pounding so hard, but I did it. River loved holding the chick so much he did not want to share it with any of the other kids, actually the next day I helped in the class for the Easter party and he sat and held this chick forever.

Oh holy crap... I'm holding a bird!!! This was a first and last, their feet, beaks, feathers, the whole thing, freak me out!

One year later...

2009-04-05T11:21:00.001-07:00

Last year in April we planted flowers in the front yard. I can't believe how much they have grown in just one year. My roses on the side of the house, you can't see them in the pictures, are always in bloom and you can smell them now when you walk out the front door. This years project... a vegetable garden in the backyard!

April 2008

April 2009

Sushi

2009-04-05T11:11:00.000-07:00

We went to dinner one night and River was grabbing my sushi rolls off my plate and loving them. He started with a simple California roll and then moved on to spicy tuna. When I was watching him I kept thinking of my nephew Christian who at such a young age loved sushi, actually River does a lot of things that remind me of Christian, good thing Christian is a totally awesome kid, I would love River to be like him.

Yep, this is Shelby the same night! And yes she was totally sick, I'm just a bad mom and needed to get out so I dragged my sick daughter to the restaurant.

Taking pictures

2009-04-05T11:05:00.000-07:00

A couple of Sunday's ago we went to a little lake by our house to take pictures and feed the ducks. I got some really cute pictures of June and one pretty good picture of all three kids together.

Shelby's visit to the eye doctor

2009-04-01T21:34:00.000-07:00

Today we went to get Shelby's eyes checked out. She has great vision when reading far away, the problem is when she has to focus on thing in front of her face, her left eye goes cross eyed. Turns out she is far sided and her eye gets strained when she tries to focus on things close to her, that meant she was getting glasses! One of her favorite " Charlie & Lola" episodes is when a girl at school gets glasses so today was a good experience for her because in the cartoon all the kids really wanted glasses too, lets hope this cartoon stays true for real life kindergartners. This is Shelbers with her eyes dilated, she was very wide eyed, she did great although she told me she was very nerves waiting to see what was going to happen.

Cool shades to walk out to the car with!

I let Shelby pick out her own glasses, she tried lots on, but had a definate favorite.

This was the winner! Red with sparkly hearts on each side. They looked really cute and there is only so long you can wear sparkly heart glasses!

Sea World

2009-03-22T22:40:00.001-07:00

On Friday my friend Danielle and I took the kids to Sea World. We surprised Maddie and Shelby by taking them out of school early then telling them we were off to Sea World.

Maddie, River, Morgan, Shelby, and June

June loved the Beluga Whales. She just stood glued to the glass and watched them swim by. They were fun to watch because this one would keep swimming by then turn around and come right back.

The kids loved the star fish. Shelby did not like to touch them but River on the other hand, I thought he was going to go swimming with them. He was pretty much diving in to get them, he wanted to hold every one.

June thought the Shamu show was fantastic. She laughed out loud and clapped the whole time.

She had a long day and did not take any naps but at the end she was still smiling! We all had a fun time and we get the rest of the year for free so we will be going back often!

Catching Up

2009-03-05T17:02:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago Shelby and Jacob went to her schools "Daddy/Daughter dance". They had so much fun it was a 50's sock hop. Jacob came home the winner of the hula hooping contest!

Shelby had a whole different attitude with this poddle skirt on, I have never seen a 5 year old shake her hips so much every time she walked!

Shelby taking a picture with the hula hoop champ!

After the 50's dance Shelby has found a new love... her hula hoop. I have never seen her practice so hard and after only 2 days she got it down! She hula hoops all day. She can now hula hoop for several minutes at a time, double hula hoop, walking hula hoop, and now running hula hooping!

River and Jacob when we were out at dinner one night, he looks so much older to me lately.

When my camera was out at dinner River asked for me to take his picture of his "pout" face. He wanted to see what he looked liked while he was pouting, so this picture was him posing for his bad mood look.

Shelby's fake "pout". My kids sure are talented being able to pout on demand, and Shelby can even cry on demand too. I think maybe its all the practicing they do.

This has been my hair color for some time now. So this is before...

and this is after.

Baby June is growing so fast. She has such an attitude lately, she knows what she wants and when she wants it! She likes to do everything on her own, she wont even let me feed her at all anymore. She thinks its so fun to play with Shelby and River and tries so hard to keep up with them. It's funny to watch her and River roll on the floor together because, no joke, she is almost the same size as him. I'm not kidding, June is 10 months 20lbs, River is 27lbs at 3 1/2 years.

Just new pictures of the kids!

2009-02-09T21:25:00.000-08:00

Baby June is every where! She crawls all over the place and pulls herself up on anything. She is nine months old, has two teeth with two more on the way, her hair is getting more and more red everyday and her little personality is getting bigger and bigger everyday too. She is a happy baby, most the time and as long as I am still in the room with her, and she is starting to know what she wants and if you don't give it to her she will let you know with a yell and she will attempt to bite you if she can!

River is my little dare devil lately. He likes to jump off the stairs, from the top step all the way to the bottom! I'm just waiting till we go to the ER for a broken bone. River is doing so well in preschool. He wants to learn to read just like Shelby. And of course you wont see him anywhere with out his sword in his hand, or a stick, gun, or lately Shelby's wand because it does magic!

Shelby is doing great in kindergarten. She is so kind to all the kids, her teacher tells me so many great things about her and how friendly she is to everyone. She is reading really well and loves to write letters and cards to her friends. She is a super sweet little girl but her sassy side still comes out from time to time!

Shelby's first wobbly tooth

2009-02-08T20:01:00.000-08:00

When I picked Shelby up from school the other day I noticed her bottom tooth looked a little funny. Sure enough it was very wobbly, so much in fact that it took only a couple of hours until that tooth was out! She sat in the mirror for a while and wiggled it until it was ready. I told her I was just going to "feel" it... I really meant pull it! It only took one pull with a little twist and it was out... I love pulling teeth, it is just fun. Her tooth right next to it is pretty wobbly, just a couple more days until I "feel" that one too.

Shelby and River sat examining the tooth for ever.

Walking in the Rain

2009-01-23T21:17:00.000-08:00

Shelby and River think it is so fun to go outside in the rain. Usually I don't allow them to play outside while it is raining, mostly because they get sick so often, but today it was not too cold out so we went for a walk. They thought it was so much fun carrying their own umbrellas and skipping down the street in the rain. I forget sometimes that the simple things, like playing in the rain, brings them so much joy. Just one more thing for me to learn from my kids. I thought I was supposed to be teaching them but they prove over and over I have so much to learn. I love having kids, they make me such a better person, most days anyway.

Project #2

2009-01-15T16:40:00.001-08:00

I love January. I always feel inspired to organize my house and make things better than before. I get extra "crafty" this time of year because I have no projects I have to get done for the holidays and usually I don't have much I have to do for others. I know how selfish of me to love the time of year I only do things for myself! Anyway I have been making a list of things I have wanted to re due around my house and I'm doing them, finally! So project #2 was to make my plain curtains that hang in my family room look better. I started with plain tan curtains I got at Ikea some time ago. I would have really liked to just buy new ones that I liked (Target has a ton of really cute ones for a okay price) the problem is I need them 96" long and most places have 84", or something like that. I know the longer ones are out there but I am also, what I like to call "thrifty", others may call cheap and I don't want to spend 80-some dollars on each panel. So here is what I did: I started with these...

Then I got some cute material and sewed it right to the right side of the panel. I also added some brown pipping to make it look not so "homemade."

I also added the same color brown bias tape at the bottom to finish it instead of a seam.

And here is the end result... cute "custom" curtains for really cheap! I also like that they are not all print, I think having only the bottom 1/4 of them printed makes them not to busy. I also want to state that I'm not posting my project for the "look how great I am" result. I am posting them in case you want to do it yourself and posting them makes me not only finish what I started but it gets me excited for what to do next.

River's long over due hair cut

2009-01-11T21:26:00.000-08:00

It has been a long time since I gave River a hair cut so the other day I got to it. Everything went well until at the end I combed it the wrong way according to him and then it was sudden tears and crying. I quickly combed it back and then he was fine with it. He is very picky about his hair and clothes, if it is not what he wants he lets you know.

My reason for not blogging lately

2009-01-09T22:32:00.000-08:00

I get this kick every January, you know to clean and reorganize everything. So my first project was my "mud" room. This is the room you enter when you walk thru the garage door, all the shoes go there, back packs, and any other junk I am bring in from the car. There is a built in desk that I have always hated because it was the place I threw everything. My goal was to bring this desk area to life, and give it a purpose in my house, plus it is the first thing I see every time I walk through the door so I was going for a fun welcoming feel. I forgot to take a before picture so use your imagination... this picture is taken from my living room, behind the shutters is the desk.

The color of the desk and the walls are the same as my kitchen, I like the dark cabinets but it gets boring have it all thru my house.

This is my after. I painted this little room and I am amazed how refreshing it feels. I have my charging dock in the middle, and everything has a place. I had a ton of fun with my label maker and now everyone knows were everything goes. I also painted the desk, I do plan to put knobs on the drawers too.

Add a skirt to your desk and look at all the fun junk you can hide!

This is my "M" I made awhile ago. It used to stand for mail, now it is for Manville. I cut up scrap book paper, glued it on, and then covered it all with Elmers glue. To the right is a cork board, I just painted it the same color as the wall for fun.

Love the label maker! And yes that is my piggy bank, I do plan to put money in it too. I think it is cute and if you want one it is at Target now ($9.99)

My camera did not have a place so I made one for it. I like it out so I can use it often. This is a curtain tie back I bought like 2 years ago, put a wood frame around it and now my camera has a home!

I noticed that in every magazine I see the books left out never looked cluttered, then I noticed it was because they always were covered and matched. I bought a role of brown paper and covered all the books that were ugly but I use often.

Christmas morning

2009-01-07T15:43:00.001-08:00

I know Christmas is long gone but I am just now finding the time to post our Christmas morning. We had such a fun time and the kids were so fun to watch. Santa was very good to us this year, the kids got a art desk, razors, and lots of fun toys! River was so unpredictable, he did not want to open any presents. The night befor he opened one present at his Grandmas house and did not want to open any more the rest of the night. He really liked his first present and that was all he needed. So on Christmas morning he liked looking at all the presents under the tree but after opening his first present he did not want to open any more. He was playing with his first present and when I handed him another to open he threw it back at the tree! He was opening presents until that afternoon!

June had tons of fun eating the wrapping paper and playing with her new toys.

Binoculars... my dad would be proud! He always said no one could own too many pairs of them.

Shelby whispered to Santa when we saw him that she wanted a pair of swim goggles for Christmas. It was funny because she totally told him in secret, good thing Santa is magic and can hear really well... and she got her swim goggles!

Jacob's 31st. Birthday

2008-12-06T07:07:00.001-08:00

Jacob turned 31 last week, so happy late birthday babe! We had a fun, simple, celebration with just us and the kids. Shelby, River, and I made him a chocolate cake with lots of rainbow sprinkles on it, his favorite. We had dinner, then we all went to see Madacascar 2 at the movies, then we came home and had cake! We had a fun night. Jacob, thanks for being such a great husband and father, the kids and I always have fun with you. We love you!

Getting into the Christmas spirit

2008-11-24T21:22:00.000-08:00

This is one of those post that is more for me than anyone reading, but hopefully it helps bring back the spirit of Christmas to anyone who made need it. (I'm not too sure if that made sense but hopefully you understood what I meant.) So today I was in the car and I was listening to Christmas music, I know what you're thinking: too soon, right? Anyway the song " O Holy Night" started to play and I really listened to the words and re-fell in love with this song. My reason for this blog is to tell everyone, including myself, that this year is the year to get into the Christmas spirit. I don't mean Santa Clause and presents, although that is a huge part and a part I love. I mean the "true" part of Christmas, the spirit of giving and kindness, the story of Christ being born, that is the meaning and the most important part of the holiday season. I know so many people who are having a hard time right now. This past year has been hard both with finances and emotionally for so many of us. Still there is a lot to be thankful for and a good time to be had this season. Back to my start of this blog... the song, O Holy Night. "O holy night! The stars are brightly shining, It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth. Long lay the world in sin and error pining. Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth... Fall on your knees! Oh hear the angel voices! O night divine, the night when Christ was born... The King of Kings lay thus lowly manger; In all our trials born to be our friends. He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger... Truly He taught us to love one another, His law is love and His gospel is peace... With all our hearts we praise His holy name." Read these words and take them to heart please. I know with out a doubt that Christ was born, and He knows are needs, even the needs we don't realize we may need! During this hard time remember each other, be kind, be a friend, even to strangers, and follow what Christ taught, and love one another. This time in so many of our lives might be the hardest but it, in a very humbling way, might soften our hearts and clear our minds to what is important in this life, and this hard time might turn into the very best time. I look forward to this holiday season and the ups and the downs that will come with it.

Shelby's Birthday Party

2008-11-21T18:37:00.000-08:00

Shelby turned 5, I can't believe she is five already. Time goes by way too fast, but at the same time its hard to remember what it was like without her. Shelby has a fun personality, she is such a great friend to everyone. Her teacher tells me how sweet she is to all the kids in her class. She is really smart and loves kindergarten. Shelby is a great little girl and she loves to please me, her dad, and her teachers... of course there is another side. At times I have the most stubborn, sassy, attitude like a 15 year old, full of drama, screaming crying little girl. I know most people don't find this side of kids all that fun or cute, me, on the other hand, I like this side of her. Not only does this "lovely" side of my daughter keep me on my toes, but it makes for fun stories and, as you can tell, I love to get these moments on camera as much as possible. Also I know that I have a daughter who will not back down from what she wants or doesn't want, her strong personality I know will only help her in life. Shelby you are a little girl who can light up a whole room, you make me so happy and I love every side of you, Happy Birthday Missy Moo, who is made out of chocolate milk!

We had a "small" party for her. She really wanted to invite her friends from school, I thought why not? After talking to her teacher I was not surprised to find out that Shelby is truely friends with her whole class. I thought about it and what the heck, whats 20 kids? Of course we also invited her friends we see and play with that don't go to her school too. (I'm sorry to all my friends from Orange County I had to stop somewhere, and at least nobody had to drive a hour for a birthday party!) I forgot to do a final head count, but I know I had somewhere between 30 & 35 kids!

We started decorating cupcakes! This is Bella and River, they are in the same preschool class, and both of them talk about each other nonstop.

After cupcakes, all the kids had their own piece of "wraping paper" to paint and take home. I had paint, glue, glitter, the works for them to create with. Check out River's feet they are covered with glue, paint, and glitter!

Any one surprised? This crying moment did not last long but I love to get her "true" side on camera as much as possible.

After the party was over a few friends stayed and played while I cleaned up. Jacob pushes the kids, "to infinity and beyond!!!", I can hardly watch sometimes he swings them way to high, but, knock on wood, nobody has been hurt and the kids love it.

After dinner we took baths and got all the paint off and then it was present time! There was so many gifts I was shocked, good thing she had her best friend, Alexis, there to help.

Did Christmas come early?

June Lily is 6 months!

2008-11-17T13:06:00.000-08:00

My little baby is far from "little"! Today she went for her six month check up. She weighed 17.2 pounds and was 26 1/4 inches long. That puts her is the 75% for both. Her head... wow! 90%, she is going to be very smart! The doctor said usually "big" heads run in the family, I then remember River's head was in the 90% for a while and the doctor messured my head and turns out my head is about 90% for female adults, too funny!

June loves to sit and pet, or pull, on Lucy. She is soooo sweet to June, she just sits by her and is so calm around her. Addison, our other dog, a whole other storie. Don't be suprised when you see a post, " Free dog to a good home!"

June likes to drink out of a sippy cup and "bitter biscuits" are the best thing in the whole world. She smiles so much, and screams at you if you don't open the package fast enough, when she sees her " cookie". My big girl is also starting to crawl!

Halloween ( better late than never)

2008-11-14T22:26:00.000-08:00

Halloween was tons of fun this year. We did are usual tradition: chili dinner at my sister Michelle's house, got the kids dressed up and tried to get a group photo, then we were off to "trick or treat." This picture of Shelby was taken at the end of the night, anyone suprised?

This is are new baby sitter for June!

Tummy time with River

2008-10-17T11:12:00.000-07:00

June loves to play on the floor. She rolls every where and is trying so hard to crawl. She loves when River lays on the floor and plays with her.

Can't sleep, and I had no new pictures to post, so I wrote what is on my mind...

2008-10-12T22:40:00.000-07:00

I went to go to bed tonight and I'm not sure what triggered my sudden flood of tears that came so fast to my eyes, who knows it was probably something stupid like watching last weeks " Brothers and Sisters." I have a weird relation to that show, probably because we lost are dad too, although we have not found any other siblings that my dad kept secret, and we were not left behide a huge company and I'm sure a ton of money like the "Walkers." Yea, I know what your thinking why I'm I even relating my real life to a fake show, it's just such a good show, very intertaining. I bet if my life were to have been taped this past year it would have been a hit. We have had every thing tragety, drama, happiness... you name it, it has happened this year. I'm not posting this for a " poor Jillonnie" respons, I just went to go to sleep and started to cry. My mind just kept going and I would have been up all night, so I thought that if I were to share my feelings my mind would become more peaceful and I will be able to go to sleep. So I was thinking that pretty soon my dad will have been gone for a whole year. I just look back to how eventful this past year has been, so full that I think some of my emotions have not had a chance to come out, or maybe this how every one deals when someone so close dies, emotions just come and go in waves. Any way, alot of wonderful things have happend too. One of the best days in my life will be having baby June. I love that baby so much, and it was a great experience being pregnate when my dad died. The extra emotions involved is not something I would ever want during that time, but I know with out a single doubt that June got to know her grandpa, I had dreams about it and she gives off this amazing spirit, she was able to conect with me here on earth and her grandpa at the same time. This year has also brought me and my sisters closer too. We can always relate to each other when that " I miss dad" moment happens, and each of my sisters have been there for me at any given moment. Also this year Michelle had Finley, he is so cute and brought another great, happy memory to this year. More good than bad has deffinitly happened this year its just the "bad" things have been so major that it sometimes takes effort to find all the "good", but when I take the time my list of "good" is so long and keeps on going. Any way for any one who reads this, sorry its so long but it was really just to help me, I really miss my dad right now, but I must say this did help. Who knew blogging was like having your own therapist?

Halloween sneak preview

2008-10-08T21:00:00.000-07:00

I took pictures of the kids the other day in their halloween costumes.... and here they are! Shelby is a witch, River is a gohst, and June is a pumpkin.

Shelby's school fall carnival

2008-09-20T20:37:00.000-07:00

On Thursday Shelby's school had a fall carnival. It was a lot of fun, they had lots of booths set up with different games. Shelby and River both did the rock climbing, I was pretty surprised how well they both did. River got to the top of the slide and then started crying, he wouldn't slide down or climb down, so dad came to his rescue! The very last pictures on this post show my daughters true side, if you can't tell she really did not want to leave the carnival!

Happy Birthday River!!!!

2008-09-19T13:54:00.002-07:00

River just turned 3 this past week. We had a little party for him on Saturday, it was mostly family and just a few friends. For is birthday we got him a skate board, he loves it! It is a little scary to watch him lay on it at the top of the drive way and fly down as fast as he can. The scary part, but the most fun part for him, is when he hits the curb and gets air! He wears a helmet but I'm just waiting for the day he needs stitches in his chin!!!

From left to right: Baby June, Irelynne, River, Shelby, Morgan, Maddy, and Sean.

The next day we went to the Angle game for more birthday celebration. It was so much fun, Angles won, and after the kids got to run the bases!!!

September is national sewing month!!

2008-09-19T13:54:00.001-07:00

So I am on one of my sewing binges lately, and I really want to get better at sewing clothes. This dress was made from a bunch of left over material I had. It actually turned out really cute.

These skirts were the easiest things ever! I got the idea and the pattern from another blog. From start to finish it took me about 20 minutes for each one. Shelby was super excitted to match June too!

Baby June is already four months!

2008-09-19T13:54:00.000-07:00

Baby June is four months old already, can you believe how fast time is going by? She is my biggest baby, she weighed 15pounds and was 25 inches long, that puts her in the 75% for both! She is laughing out loud and smiles all the time. She also is totally teething and chews on everything.

Friends

2008-09-06T08:14:00.000-07:00

Shelby and Alexis have been friends since birth, they are only three weeks apart. They love to play together. Being that we live about an hour away from each other they don't get to see each other as often as they would like. Its kinda funny no matter how long it has been when they do see each other they pick up right were they left off as if they just hung out.

River and Carter are a liitle further apart, about seven months. They are getting along much better these days, before their game was like who could hit harder or bite the longest! What do you expect their both little guys with huge attitudes!

Labor Day Swim Party

2008-09-06T07:56:00.000-07:00

For Labor day we had a little swim party at Bonnie's house. Every one had so much fun and the food was soooo good!

Just some of the gang: Abby, James, Shelby, Alexis, & River.

Jacob threw all the kids from the side of the pool for like thirty minutes. As time went on each kid got higher and higher, you will see it in the other pictures.

Irelynne

Alexis

Layne

Who does your hair?

2008-09-05T16:14:00.000-07:00

Not to brag but Shelby has great hair, so I have alot of fun doing different things to it. Some are my own creations and some come from ideas off the different hair blogs out there. Anyway the point of my story... on thursdays I work in Shelby's classroom at school. This last week when I was in her class one of the other aids came over to me and said, " I really want to meet your husband." I looked at her a little confussed and asked why? She then said, " I can't believe all the different ways he does Shelby's hair." Still a little confussed I said, " he doesn't do her hair I do." She then told me that every day she would ask Shelby who did it and every time Shelby would say, "my dad did it!!!"

Baby June can roll!!!!

2008-08-31T10:22:00.000-07:00

I think it is so funny when your baby does a new trick and as the proud parent you sometimes feel and act as if they were the first ever in the world to do it! Baby June can now roll from her back to her stomach... I know what your thinking, how advanced is she!!! Just kidding she is right on track, she is almost four months old and hitting all the "normal" milestones. Here are some of the "action" shots, the first picture was just a cute one so I put it in just for fun!

My big helpers

2008-08-31T10:13:00.000-07:00

I try to have my kids help me cook or bake as often as time, and my patience, allow. I love to cook and bake so I want my kids to learn to have fun in the kitchen too. This night we made oatmeal cookies...

We all know this is the best part of making cookies!

Thanks Fancy Nancy!

2008-08-30T09:03:00.000-07:00

If you have ever read the book "Fancy Nancy" then you will know what I am talking about. The little girl in the book likes to be fancy and accesorise, now shelby likes to add a little more to her everyday outfits, but I don't think they would like her wearing big pink boas to school, so we went with head bands to dress up her pony tails. She looks so cute that I had to post it, I love head bands ( Shelby & June wear them as babies like everyday) so I'm excitted Shelby is into them.

The funniest thing was when she came home from school the big flower was right smack in the middle of her forehead, she said she thought it looked better that way!

Happy Birthday Cathy

2008-08-22T09:19:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday Cathy!!! I have been friends with Cathy since kindergarten and now not only are we friends but through all the years are families are friends too. Actually Cathy is pretty much like another sister to all of us, and now Abby, Jack, and James have like 10 cousins that they play with and they have more grandmas than most kids. Anyway, Cathy we all love you so much and appriciate how much you do for everyone, hope today is fun, happy birthday!

This picture was taken when we were pregnate with Jack and June. Cathy had to lift her shirt for us to see her little bump, mine you could see just fine!

Shelby's mini me

2008-08-22T09:08:00.000-07:00

This is Shelby's mini me project for school we had to make. On the paper sent home it did say parents are to help so I cut out everything and Shelby glued, we make a great team. I wanted to share what happened yesterday at school. I have a ton of red licorice, it was a pregnacy craving, any way I want it out of my house so I asked Shelby if she wanted to take some to school and share with her friends at snack time. When I picked Shelby up there was a note in her snack pack from the teacher that said: " Dear Shelby's mom, Your daughter was soooo sweet and soooo generous she accidently gave all her licorice to her friends!" She gave it all away and forgot to give herself a piece, she was a little sad so she had some when she got home, too funny I thought.

River's first day of preschool

2008-08-22T08:55:00.000-07:00

River started school this week and loves it!!! He is now in preschool two days a week the same hours that Shelby is in school. When I picked him up the other day I asked him how his day was and he was shouting " I read a book, I had snack, I painted and glued, I colored...." He was talking so fast only I could get all of it, but his excitment was so fun to see! There is about a half hour from when I drop Shelby off to when River starts so we just go play at the park by his school, it works out really well, and there is only 10 minutes between picking the two of them up, it worked out nice that I don't have to be going back and forth all morning, and I reap the bennifites of enjoying June to myself for a whole three hours those days.

Baby June's Favorite things

2008-08-16T12:55:00.001-07:00

The "bumboo" chair. This chair is great as soon as your baby can hold their head they can sit in it.

The baby sling. When I put her in it it's a matter of minutes before she is fast asleep, all crunched inside just like when she was in my tummy!

Kitty bottle huger. I know this looks funny but June and I both love it. You put the bottle inside and it makes it not roll when she has to drink her bottle on the go. It also keeps the milk warm and when she holds her own bottle soon it is extra soft.

"Old school" play gym. This is the ugliest play gym ever and it is pretty old. It was Christians, who is now 10 years old. All of my kids have loved playing with this thing, so I guess if its not broke why fix it!

Her mom. Yes I am deffinately one of baby June's favorite. She is alittle bit of a cry baby and already knows when she is not being held by me. I do love it sometimes when she will be crying for someone else and stops the second I hold her, it makes me feel pretty special. And she is such a good little cuddle bug... my little June bug!

Shelby's first day of kindergarten

2008-08-13T09:00:00.000-07:00

Can you believe that my baby is starting school today? I can't! Today is Shelby's first day of kindergarten, she was so excited to go. She got a new backpack and snack bag and is all set. She loved her class room and her teacher is so friendly I know she will have a great day today. Me on the other hand, I know so stupid but I did cry alittle when I got back to my car, not because she will be gone from me five days a week but because she is still my baby and now she is really becoming a "big kid". This life should come with a "pause" button, sometimes it seems to go by too fast!

Baby June's Blessing

2008-08-11T14:32:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, August 3rd, we blessed baby June. She wore the same blessing gown that Shelby wore, which is actually made from my wedding gown. We had such a fun day celebrating with are family and friends. Thanks to everyone who travled so far to come, I loved having everyone over.

So Big, So Fast

2008-07-25T16:24:00.001-07:00

Do you ever just step back and look at your kids and wonder how that got so big, so fast? Check out River's big muscles... I know he is such a skinny boy!

Shelby is such a good big sister. She loves doing anything that has to do with baby June, even throwing away diapers! She has been such a great help. When I asked her if she wants another baby someday she said "no, I just want to wait till I have my own when I get bigger!"

Look how old my two babies look. Okay I know there not babies anymore, Shelby will be starting kindergarten this year, and River starts his first year of preschool.

Baby June is already almost 3 months old. She has lots of tricks: she can roll over, smile at you, laugh out loud, and get your attention any time with her super loud cries ( no more soft infant crying.)

Who needs paper?

2008-07-23T16:44:00.000-07:00

No need to blog... the picture tells it all!!!

Birthday & Weddings...

2008-07-23T16:22:00.000-07:00

My 28th birthday was on July 12th. Jacob and his family bought me a new camera.... yeah! My birthday was shared with a great family friends wedding. Jenny Collins got married in Danna Point so after doing a few updos Jacob and I got to go to the wedding, kid free, and we stayed a night at the hotel... no need to share how we celebrated!!!

Cathy and I have been friends since we were five years old...crazy! By the way it was her sisters wedding.

Jenny, the beautiful bride, and me. Thanks Jen for sharing your big day with me, I loved that my slice of cake came out with birthday candles on it!

The next weekend was Amanda Winfords wedding. Amanda and I have known eachother since we were little, we lived next store to eachother. So I spent another day doing updos and then got dressed( I know the same dress as last weeks wedding), then got to enjoy another wedding kid free. Actually this time I was kid and husband free... we did not have anymore babysitters, we used them all up the week before!

Heather and I at Amanda's wedding. Crazy to think we have been friends since the 3rd. grade.

Jack & June

2008-07-23T16:16:00.000-07:00

Jack & June are nine days apart... how cute are they together?!!! For those who don't know Jack is my best friend from kindergaten, Cathy's baby. Her and I were actually due only a day apart.

WE HEART SUMMER!!!

2008-06-30T08:11:00.000-07:00

We love summer! Summer time is so much fun, swimming, the beach... but most of all we love being able to spend time with are family & friends. During the school year the kids & I don't get to see every one as much as I would like, kids are in school, my mom is at work, sports, you get the idea. But summer time is full of time to spend together and what better than a day at the beach. My kids & I love going to the beach, the only hard part is how much stuff I have to bring and carry down myself. I think I got it down... baby June in a pack infront, beach chair back pack, I think I'm up to 3 bags drapped over my arms, a bag of buckets, the umbrella, and the life saver... the portible swing! It is a sight to see me making my way down from the car, but its worth it for a day full of fun!

River & Sean playing in the water
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Aunt Autumn & Shelby boogie boarding!!! I can't believe Shelby was wanting to go but it was her idea, last summer she would not even touch the water. Thanks Auntie for bringing all the fun stuff... a million boogie boards, surf boards, and taking any kid out in the water who is willing to go!

Grandma & baby June

River, Layne, & Shelby making the perfect marshmellows!

Shelby & Layne

BOYS & GIRLS REALLY ARE DIFFERENT

2008-06-26T22:10:00.000-07:00

The other day I was putting Shelby & River down for a nap & I let them pick a few things to sleep with. It made me laugh how different their choices were, I just had to take a picture.

Shelby chose to sleep with a whole bunch of soft cuddlely animals... her beloved bunnies, a stuffed cat... you get the idea.

River chose to sleep with all hard toys... a big plastic shark, a lizzard, & a frog! It's too funny to me the difference between boys & girls and what they tend to play with. However River still enjoys playing dress up... thats a whole other blog!

Just thought I would throw in a picture of baby June!

Happy Fathers Day

2008-06-14T22:08:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to say happy fathers day to my husband, Jacob your an amazing dad and husband. Thank you for all that you do for your family, we love you so much.

Jacob feeding the ducks with the kids, they only get to feed the ducks with there dad because I wont go near them. Just a side note those two dogs in the picture are ours now, ( thanks dad!)

" Snow White", the name Shelby gave to her daddy, don't know why, I tried to get her to pick a boy name for him but she was not going to budge, he will always be Snow White to her... she gave papa Wayne the name Captin Hook, we will miss you Captin Hook!

Jacob and June Lily at Disneyland

Amber this one is for you!

2008-06-10T14:15:00.000-07:00

One of mine and Amber Pitt's favorite things to do is to get together and think of ideas. These ideas are anything from what and how to organize things, what goals we should have and how to reach them, & my favorite is when we think of ways on how to keep our houses clean and organized, but more times than not both our houses are a mess, sorry to drag you down with me Amber, but its true on both our parts.... I like to chalk it up as to one more thing we have in common, ha ha ha! Anyway our most recent idea was how to have our kids help and have a daily chore. Being our kids are only 4 and 2 years old we needed something fun and not to hard. So here is what I came up with....

Each side of the jar has their name and the other half of velcro. Inside are some chores with the other side of velco glued on the back of each one, and each day they get to pick one to do. These are just extra, everyday they have to help me clean their rooms and loft before bed. This was just a way to make having chores fun because they change every day. Also they can't get mad if they don't like the task because they picked it... better luck tomorrow.

Some of the chores that are in the jar are: to dust the stairs, empty the dishwasher ( the silverwear and the plastic bowls & plates), to clean up their books in the loft, help fold the laundry ( towels), put all the shoes in the shoe basket, put the pillows on the couch, wipe the bathroom counters down, wipe down their play kitchen set, and to clean up their coloring books and papers.

After each kid pulls out a job they put what it is on their side of the jar, that way they can remember to do it.

My Dad

2008-06-09T21:45:00.001-07:00

With Fathers Day coming up I thought I would share with every one how much I love and miss my dad. I sometimes forget he is really gone, it fills just like he is on one of his many surf or fishing trips. This is a long blog but I just wanted to post some of my favorite pictures. Just want my dad to know how much I love him and how much I miss him.

I never really liked this picture, I don't like the way I look in it, but its amazing how you get over yourself when you want to cherish every picture you have of someone. I thought I would share my last conversation with my dad, it was on New Years day. He called to make sure I was making black eyed peas. Ofcourse I was because it is my favorite tradition. My great grandpa always made sure we ate black eyed peas on new years day, and when he past away my dad kept up the tradition, and when I moved away I always made sure to make them for my friends and family. Anyway my dad called to make sure I was keeping up the tradition and when I said I was he said good girl... it was a short and sweet conversation, one I'll never forget.

This is and has been my favorite picture of my kids and my dad. It was taken Easter 2006.

This picture cracks me up. This is my dad and River when he was only a couple days old. Check out both of their right eyes.

This was the last day I saw my dad. This picture was taken December 28th.

This picture was taken at our house in Utah. My parents came that year for thanksgiving. I know my dad looks happy but he did nothing but complain the whole trip about how cold it was.

I took this picture during the prayer right before they all paddled out. This is Jacob and my dad's best friend Devin. I love this picture it always makes me fill very peaceful. I have it framed in my home and I love how it reminds me that although I feel sometimes my dad is far away, he is really just a prayer away and that sometimes feels closer than ever.

This was the paddle out we had for my dad the day after his funeral. It was Christians idea and I'm so happy he planned it because it was one of the coolest things to watch. I did not paddle out myself, I was pregnat and there was no wetsuit for me. My dad would totaly understand, he knows what a baby I can be, not to mention I'm his only daughter who does not surf.
Jacob said it was one of the most spiritual events he was a part of.

American Girl

2008-06-06T14:19:00.001-07:00

We went to the American Girl store for Camden's 3rd birthday. We all had so much fun, it was just the girls for an afternoon lunch. Grandma Marilyn bought Shelby her very first American Girl doll. Shelby picked out Molly. Shelby & Molly have become great friends. They play dress up togther and read books together. Ofcourse Molly needs her glasses on to read. I love playing dolls with Shelby. She went up to her dad the other day and said: " daddy, I know what to get mommy for her birthday. I can pick out her very own American Girl so she can have her own to play with." Okay I admitt, sometimes I play with Molly more, but it so much fun to play dolls!!!

Shelby picking out her new doll.

Layne, Camden, & Shelby

The girls playing dolls after lunch.

Baby June Bug

2008-06-03T21:55:00.001-07:00

Baby June is already one month old... time flies when your having fun. This month has been fun, not nearly as hard as I was expecting. A few nights were really hard, being up from 3am to 5:30 with a crying baby, not that fun. Even harder is trying to be a good, patient, mom to the other two the next day. Thank goodness those nights are far and few. Lately she has been good, I feed her at 11:00pm and she has been sleeping till 3:30, she goes back to sleep around 4am and Jacob will get up with her around 7:30. The best part is he takes June Bug down stairs and then feeds Shelby and River while I sleep till about 9:00. Shelby and River have been great with her, they love having her around, and they both let me know any time she cries..."mom, baby's crying...mom baby's crying...mom baby's crying..." as if I can't hear her. I love having a new baby, any of my friends who read this, I say go for three kids, so far not that hard!

Being Sick... not so bad

2008-06-03T21:30:00.001-07:00

This past week River was sick. He was running a pretty high fever that just would not go away. I was not messing around, being that one of my kids always seems to be sick I knew what to do to break that fever! Dr. Jillonnie's at home remedy... one dose of motrin, followed by one dose of tylenol, warm bath, and a popsicle to help cool your kid from the inside out. Also giving your kid the popsicle in the bath means no sticky mess to clean up!!! Shelby just went along for the ride... way to be a supportive big sister.

Lets Go Angels!!!

2008-05-27T21:10:00.000-07:00

We took the kids to the Angel game on monday, Memorial Day. Shelby let us know as soon as we got there that these are not the same angels from church. We had a great time, River kept yelling, " hit the ball!!!" The game was super long, 12 innings, but finally we won. Baby June did great she just hung out in the sling the whole time. We had so much fun together as a family. Just a recap on ages: Shelby 4 1/2, River 2years 8 months, Baby June 3 weeks.

June Lily

2008-05-12T16:48:00.000-07:00

Baby June is finally here!!! I was induced on May 7th. I went into the hospital at 6am and by the time we got started it was about 8 - 8:30. My contractions were fine at first but when I was about 4cm they started to hurt. I got my epidural soon after, and not a moment to soon because my contractions were really hurting, I have no pain tollerance at all!!! Everything was going great when all of a sudden I was feeling my contractions again and by this time they hurt soooo bad!!! I asked, screamed, to get more drugs because the pain and pressure was so bad, thats when I was informed the baby was ready for me to push out and getting more drugs was not going to happen. Again I am the biggest whimp ever so you could only imagine what words came out of my mouth because I was in so much pain and pushing only hurt worse. I heard that when you were ready to push that it was actually supposed to feel better, thats not true it only hurts worse. At one point I remember yelling "just pull her out, reach in and get her out of me, I don't want to do this anymore!!!!" I know your supposed to push when you get a contraction but I really did not want to do it anymore so I tried to just pretend I was not having any contractions, I was really just trying to focous on one painful thing at a time, to contract and push at the same time killed, but I could not fool anyone because I forgot that I was hooked up to that machine that shows when you are contracting, so I got yelled at by my nurse and mom to "JUST PUSH!!!!" Finally at 3:37pm she was out... She was 8lb 4oz and 20inches long. She is so cute and I'm so glad she is here.

Spring time

2008-04-14T15:36:00.000-07:00

We just put in new flowers in our front yard, it looks so good I thought I would share it on my blog since most of any one who looks at my blog wont see it in person! The top picture is what the yard looked like before... not so good. But now we have a beautiful flower garden, at least we will in about a year when everything starts to grow. In the front the two pots are jasmin and they will eventually grow up the post, also we planted jasmin to grow up the back gate. Along the far left side ( if your looking at the house) is a row of hydranga and infront of that is gardenia. On the other side of the bricks, which will one day have a little bench in the middle, are white irises and 3 rose bushes. We added a few cadalily and baby yellow roses that will grow up the lattice on the other side... Any one is welcome to come and see my front yard for yourself anytime, just come on by. Just remember the front yard looks great but inside my house... most likely a mess!!!

Almost done

2008-04-07T16:41:00.000-07:00

Well I'm getting bigger by the minute!!! I'm 5 weeks away from my due date and counting. I don't think having a belly this big is much fun but Shelby and River seem to think its great for blowing raspberries on. Shelby looked at me the other day and said" wow... Mom your belly is even bigger than Santa's!" Love how honest 4 year olds are!!!