Having a place to go is home, having someone to love is family, having both is a blessing!

Monday, August 25, 2008

Our sweet Olivia:)

So the other day I was just having such a fun time with
Olivia and she was being really cute so I had to take some
pictures of her! We love her so much, she brings so much
happiness into our home:)







Sunday, August 24, 2008

Olivia's horsey:)

I am sure glad that I got her this horse.....she loves it, check it out:)

The inevitable happened!

So I am on the phone talking with my sister-in-law Brittney when all of the sudden Weston comes running in the house yelling, "mom!! Alyssa has blood all over her, on her face and arms and legs, come quick!" (something to that affect), so I say a real quick, gotta go, and I run outside to see Alyssa truly covered in blood! She was riding Kenzie's scooter and hit a divit in the road and fell on the concrete curb! She split her chin open pretty bad.....at first Jason and I were wandering if she truly needed stitches because of the whole uninsured status that we are in right now.....and sure enough our neighbor who is an internal medicine doc came over and assured us that we did need to take her in. Luckily it was 5 pm and from 5-7 pm they treat it as an office visit not an emergency so that was good. Here are 2 pictures of her after she got home from getting stitches....she was pretty bumbed out. Washing the blood out of her clothes took forever, I couldn't believe that that much blood could come from a wound that small!

We really thought that we could make it till October when his insurance kicks in, before we would run into any problems, but we were wrong. What were we thinking? With 5 kids something is bound to go wrong....and sure enough it did, but we are counting our blessings that it wasn't more serious and that Alyssa was okay. Needless to say, the kids are not alowed to ride their bikes or scooters until October unless I drive them to the church down the road where it is new pavement.....we are not taking any more chances:)


Girls just wanna have fun!!!!

So I have to start by saying that I have the most wonderful hubby! He not only was okay with me going shopping with my two older girls and spending lots of money, but he also agreed to stay home with not only Weston and Olivia, but also Landon(who doesn't take a bottle really well) who is fussy and has to be held alot:) Thank you hunny sooooooooo much, you now know what this day truly meant to me:) I love you so much!

So off we went! We were initially going to go to the Mall of America but then heard from everyone that it is more fun if you go there to go to the amusement park, so we decided to wait and do that with the family. So instead we went to Eau Claire, WI to do back to school shopping! It took about an hour and a 1/2 to get there, but hey, when we got there it was so nice to see a mall! Yay! We first had lunch together at Applebee's our favorite resturant and ordered pretty much whatever we wanted, it was so much fun! Then we were off......

We shopped in all the kids stores......Just for girls, Gap, Children's place, Old Navy, Famous footwear, Payless shoes, Claire's etc. The girls had so much fun trying on all sorts of outfits. We have never been able to do this and this was one of my wishes for my girls once Jason got a job was to be able to go school shopping and just buy what they want and not worry so much about money. They have had so many hand me downs in the past 7 years, and trust me I have been very thankful for those, but there comes a time when you just want them to have their own NEW stuff!

Alyssa is definately at that stage of fashion....she loves belts, shoes, hair ties, jewerly, everything to make her look stylish! Meckenzie had fun at first but then got a little tired from all the trying on clothes. She was so easy to shop for, she pretty much agreed with anything that I said was cute! Alyssa on the other hand is so indecisive it took forever to pick out one shirt! I still had so much fun with them both! It was so nice to be able to spend such quality time with just my older girls and talk to them about school and what they were afraid of, being in a new city and all, and what they were excited about! Having no interuptions of a baby crying, Olivia wanting something or Weston running around the house being loud, was so nice for a day! It is amazing how much you learn about your children when you are able to really spend time with them individually. Alyssa is so smart....and she really understands things, she is so sensitive to me and my feelings and I am so thankful that I have her here with me. Kenzie is a dear heart as well, she always makes me laugh.....like on the drive home out of the blue she says,"wow mom, you are soo talented....you can talk on the phone, eat an Ice cream cone and drive at the same time!!" I started laughing and said, "yeah... well don't tell your daddy that!"

Of course I couldn't come home emty handed for Weston and Olivia....I bought Weston some cool new shoes and Olivia some too! I Also got Weston a new backpack for school that came with a wallet that he loves! That night we had so much fun putting on a fashion show for Jason! I would introduce each girl with their outfits and shoes etc. and they would strut their stuff like they were naturals! They loved it and even Weston got in on the fun and showed off his new backpack and shoes. It was a great day and night......a much needed day away for me.....

I guess this is my time to brag a little about my two girls and how wonderful they are! They could have been snotty, stuck up, or even beg for this or that, and there was none of that. They just appreciated being able to spend a day with there mom and that is truly what it was all about, a day out with mom! That is what they said was the best part of it all! So a few hundred dollars later and what do I get from it....... really sore feet:), and a memory that I had with my 2 older girls that I will cherish forever:)

Alyssa and Meckenzie I love you both so much, you truly light up my life. I am blessed so much to have each of you:) What a blast we had....I will never forget it!



Thursday, August 14, 2008

Finally caught up!

So I know that I have posted alot in a little while but I just wanted to get caught up. I know it is alot to look at, but take the time, alot of fun things have been going on! I love looking at all of your blogs, they are awesome! I love this whole bloggin' thing, I never thought I would, but it is definately more fun than I thought!

Landon is 2 months!

Wow, time does fly by! Here is our little Landon at 2 mths old! He is getting so big, but I couldn't for sure tell you how big because I haven't taken him to the doc yet! That has been nerve racking but Jason will be getting his insurance starting in October! Yay! Pray that nothing big happens to us until then atleast:) He has been pretty fussy lately so we are hoping that he soon grows out of that! I managed to catch him content here.



Happy 7th Birthday Kenzie!

Wow Kenzie is 7 years old, I can't believe it! She is so grown up now and so smart. I love talking with her and just hanging out with her. She is really funny too! She makes me laugh all of the time because she says silly things! We are so blessed to have her as part of our family! We sure love you Meckenzie and we are glad that you were born:)

We celebrated her birthday at our friends the Tinders :) It was alot of fun! I made those cupcake cones and the kids loved them! She got Hannah Montana stuff of course and a new scooter because her old one got stolen awhile ago in Utah and she decided she wanted one again....now Weston wants one for his birthday too:) She also got a cool light brite from Charly her new friend...thanks Charly!





Oh and I tried to get Tony to smile normal but he refused so this is the crazy pose I got! They have been so great since we have moved here....we are so glad that we met them! Tony is a little crazy as you can see :) Heather always gives me a break with Landon when we hang out, which is sooo appreciated because he has been very fussy :( Hopefully he will grow out of it! You are great Heather, thanks so much.

Who's in the dog cage?

We were at our friend's house the other night celebrating Kenzie's birthday and Olivia decided she wanted to be a dog....yep, she climbed into the doggy cage and even shared her cheesestick with buddy:) I couldn't pass up taking these pictures!


My Sister' Liz's Wedding!

I am so thankful that I got to go to my sister's wedding. If I wouldn't have moved here there is no way I would have been able to make it out. She got married in the Chicago temple on August 8th! It was such a wonderful, beautiful moment:) I babysat Matt (her hubby now) when he was 6 years old, and also had the honor to see him off on his mission when I lived in Utah. I also babysat his 2 other brothers Eric and Andrew in the picture below. There family is amazing! I couldn't be happier that we are all related now! Isn't it amazing how things work out?!!

I sure love you Liz and I am so happy for your future:)

Matt you are amazing, I am so glad that you are my brother-in-law now! I know that you will take great care of my sis!

Liz and Matt, aren't they perfect together?!!


Liv's lovin' on daddy:)

Olivia loves her daddy! Everytime he walks out the door she runs up to it and starts crying saying, "dahee, dahee." When he gets home from work she gets the biggest smile on her face and runs to see him. All of my girls are daddy's girls! I am sure glad they all love their daddy!

Glen Flora Days!!!

So some friends of ours invited us to go to what they call "Glen flora days" a few weekends ago. It is about 15 miles from Ladysmith. They had this pen with a bunch of pigs and you had to grab a pig and put it in a large bucket and catch it. If you did that before the other team you won:) Silly I know, but it was fun to watch. Alyssa and Kenzie wanted to be a team and try and do it. As you can see at first they were a little hesitant but then Alyssa got right in and grabbed the pig by its legs and Kenzie was trying to get it in the bucket. Jason and I were laughing so hard we were crying:) It was hilarious.....to bad they didn't win, but they were darn close. After the pig pen, they would all get hosed off by the fire hose, they had a blast with that! Now I know why they call people in Wisconsin a bunch of hicks! Jason said to me, "So this is what they do in Wisconsin!"







Mowing his lawn:)

Since we have moved here every saturday Jason does something in the yard, it is really cute. I am sure that he will get sick of it, but for now he loves doing yardwork. I had to get a picture of him mowing his own lawn! He even taught Alyssa and she loves it.



Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Marriage Tag!

I've been tagged!

What is your husband's name? Jason R. Roe
How long have you been together? We will celebrate 11 years this September...whooo hooo!!
How long did you date? about 1 year on and off and then we were engaged for 3 months
Who said I love you first? Jason did initially, but all it took was for him to read a poem he wrote about me and I told him then that I loved him(bet you didn't know that Jason is a poet:)
Who is taller? It really depends on what shoes we are wearing because we are pretty much within a 1/4 inch of each other
Who is smarter? I always say Jason but then he always corrects me and says that I am street smart and he is book smart and that he thinks it is better to be street smart because you can figure alot of things out:)
Who does the laundry? I do, with Jason occasionally helping
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? What bed? I end up sleeping on the couch because my dear sweet hubby snores....love you sweety!
Who pays the bills? me, I tried giving them to J but he gave them back and said he didn't want to do them....I guess in this instance I am the book smart one huh?:)
Who mows the lawn? Jason and boy does he love it so far! I am sure that he will get sick of it eventually but lately every saturday he is always in the yard doing something.....I think it is sooo cute! He has waited a long time for a yard.....
Who does the dishes? My girls Alyssa and Meckenzie! Weston is even pitching in and helping once in awhile.
Who drives when you are together? Mostly Jason, he is a better driver
Who is more stubborn? I would have to say it is pretty much a tie in this area, which makes it really funny when you make up and try talking about whatever you were arguing about.
Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Gosh, I guess both, it just all depends
Who kissed who first? Okay....it was me, but gosh we wouldn't have ever got together if I didn't because he said that he never would have because he was afraid of rejection thanks to the girls he dated before me....so yeah I just dove right in:)
Who proposed? We just knew, we didn't have a real formal proposal
Who is more sensitive? me for sure, but Jason definately has his moments.
Who has more friends? Jason says I make the friends and then he hangs out with the hubbies and gets to know people like that, but now that he is the one working I think that it will be more even...
Who wears the pants in the family? I agree with you Brittney....Jason is the head and I am the neck, so I can turn it anyway I want...I must say though that there are those times that I want something or want to do something and I don't always get my way, but we compromise and it all works out:)

Now I tag all the friends that are on my blog! Have fun!

Before and after pictures finally!

This is the picture of our kitchen before....we added knobs to the cupboards and we got a new fridge and dishwasher:)


This is the before pic of the dining room part of our kitchen.....we changed the drapes, curtain rods, and light fixure!


This was the living room before...we took down the drapes and put up mini blinds on the side window and vertical blinds on the back sliding door. We also installed a fan and light and replaced that aweful light fixture. We took down the shelving and painted the walls:)

This is the family room. It is all just one big room, we just call this part the family room! We got a new couch and love seat and Lamps:) The people that lived here before left their kitchen table...I had already ordered a new one but we decided to keep the one that the other people left because it is solid maple and very sturdy for the kids, plus we can make it really big for when we have people over to eat:) The store that we had ordered our table from said that we could get a couch and loveseat in place of the table and just pay the difference, so that is how we ended up with them and we love the set:)

This is part of our basement without all our junk......

I decided to put most of the kiddos toys downstairs in the basement and they love it! They especially like to have movie night down here with dad:)

This is another part of our basement. We put a bed there and the kids like to keep their stuffed animals there:)


I call this area in the basement my scrapbooking area, I have yet to scrapbook but I am excited to start up again....I even ordered some fun stuff off of the Home shopping network:)

This is the before and after picture of the laundry area:)


This is the before picture of the girls room....I faux painted the wall with the window and painted the rest normal. I still have to do a second coat but I am waiting for the girls to start school before I do that because it was exhausting and very time consuming! I must say though that they love their room:)


This is our bedroom before......we decided to put the crib in the spot where they used to have a bed and I didn't take a picture of our bathroom but we did get rid of the blue toilet in there and replaced it with a white one...eventually we will get the whole thing redone:) We didn't do much to our room considering that no one will really go in there.


This is Weston and Olivia's room so far...I still have to do their new drapes and curtain rods.....I have them I just haven't got around to doing it. When my mother was here I got alot more done because she could hold Landon for me.....I sure miss you mom:) As you can also see...Olivia didn't completly transition to her bed yet, so we go back and forth and eventually I think that she will get it.

Oh the infamous green toilet is gone!!! This is the before pic of our main bathroom with the green toilet and black sink....well, we got a new vanity and a white toilet. We were just going to get a new toilet to save on water but then there was a leak in the faucet of the old sink and so Jeff my brother-in-law suggested that we just get a new sink as well, and we are sure glad that we did, it works so much better than the other one and looks great!


Thanks to Jeff and his buddy bubba...we were able to update quite a bit for a very great price! We sure love you guys, thank you soo much! And to all who care there will be more updates in the future that I will post. We love our house and are excited to be making it more of a home:)

WE LIVE, WE LAUGH, WE LOVE!