Halloween Candy........ummmmm From Last Year!

So my kids aren't big on eating all their Halloween candy.  I let them pick a few pieces each day following Halloween.  For a few days they are all in to it but then they forget about it.  I soon move it to a safe spot so all the neighborhood kids don't have free range on the buckets of candy!

And of course I forget about it!

Just the other day Mr. Grant came to me with a mini kit kat bar and asked me to open it for him.  So I did......I figured it was from the snack drawer or something.

Then in about 2 minutes he had another mini candy bar.......I knew something was not right.  But I was busy with something so I just took the candy bar from him and he ran off in a "I don't care I'll just get more" kind of way.

The next thing I know he comes back with a hand full of suckers!  I don't have gobs of candy bars and suckers just laying around so I knew something was wrong.  I asked him to show me where he got his candy from.  He happily led me to my closet where I had hid the Halloween candy from last year!

Yep he had hit the jackpot!

And now I wonder how long he has been stealing candy from here?  Because there have been several times I have seen him with candy and thought "where in the world did you get that from?"

This year the Halloween candy is getting thrown out much sooner....LOL!

That Time of Year Already?

I can not believe how fast the summer went.  It makes me sad that it is over!  I was not ready to send my kids back to school yet.  I needed at least three more weeks to do all the fun things I had hoped to do with them over the summer.  Not that we didn't have a fun summer because we did, I just didn't get everything done with them that I was wanting to.

But there was not much I could do about it......so inevitably the first day of school came!

The kids were excited to see all their friends again!

Kiersten was very excited to go to school at Pima.  We made the decision to move her from Discovery to Pima for 6th grade so that she could have a year mixing with the kids before starting Junior High.  She was so excited about our decision.

Before school started they each got a Father's Blessing from Justin.  I look forward to hearing these blessings each year.  I am so grateful to be married to a guy that is worthy to give blessings when needed.

Logan is starting 1st Grade

Hunter is starting 4th Grade

Kiersten is starting 6th Grade

I didn't embarrass Kiersten and ask to take a picture of her with her teacher.  Although I don't know if she would have cared if I had.  Kiersten is pretty easy going when it comes to things like that.

Kiersten's main teacher is Mrs. Larson.  Kiersten will get to switch classes and have Ms. Bonds as well.  They are both young and energetic.  From what I have heard they are both wonderful teachers with good experience!

Hunter with his teacher Mrs. Jessica Skinner.

We love her!!!

She is a wonderful teacher and lives two houses down from us which is nice.

Logan and Mrs. Candice Lines

We LOVE her!  

Logan's exact words after his first day of school were, 
"Mom, life is better in first grade!"
Happy to hear that.

We know it's going to be a great year for all the kids!

Not sure mom is ready for the after school schedule of dance classes, gymnastics, violin, piano, archery, scouts, activity days and who knows what else!

But ready or not, here we come!!!

This was the first year that after the first day of school the kids were greeted with a surprise.

Actually it was left on the door step and the door bell rang but no one was there.  Just four paper bags with a note.....

The kids were visited by the Back To School Fairy.  I did explain to them that I had to pay for the fairy's services to come.......I have some pretty clever kids now so they want things explained. 

And the truth is that I honestly did have to pay for it :)

Hunter was happy with his Batman Lego, sketch pad and candy.

Kiersten got a jewelry set to make, a shoulder pet, and junior mints (her favorite).

Logan got a Captain America shield that shoots out disks...........he was so excited!

And then there is the two year old!

Let me just explain first that the easy, relaxing day with just one kid at home was anything but easy or relaxing.

This little monster decided he didn't want the kids to go back to school and that he was going to let me know it.  He peed his pants twice, which he never does, he colored with markers all over himself, also not a normal thing for him and he fussed all day about where the kids were! 

 He kept telling me that he, "NEEDED HUNTER NOW!"

Seriously I actually thought about checking Hunter out of school after lunch to come entertain Mr. Grant!  Guess this back to school thing will be an adjustment for everyone!

Rededicating to CrossFit

It is time to rededicate myself to working out.  School has started and we have a routine now, so it is time!  CrossFit is my favorite choice when it comes to working out.  It isn't like a fun walk/jog with a friend.  It is a.... want to puke, can barely walk when you are done, sweat from every pore type work out.  

But in some very sick way, I love it!!!

And after finally getting my mothers day gift from Justin I have even more reason to be dedicated.  The more equipment I get the more I know I have to make myself do the workouts.  For right now I am doing CrossFit in my white trash basement gym.  I miss going to the actual gym and I miss all the wonderful people there.  Some day when all the kids are in school I will return to the real gym but for now this is better then nothing.  It definitely is not the same working out by myself, well I have Coach Mr. Grant.

He really does tell me every morning......"Let Work Out Now!"

So this was my Mother's Day gift.....

A Concept 2 Rower.....basically a butt kicking machine!!!

I was so excited about this gift but even more then the actual rower, I was excited to finally receive my first jingle from Jingling Justin!

So here it is...

There are many things a mother needs,

Like sparkling jewelry and fancy beads.

What to get you this Mother's Day I just don't know,

But I was thinking of something that went row, row, row?

It may be off of Craig's list or brand new from a store,

Until I do some more research I really will not know.

So tell me the brand and model that you want to get,

Then I will get you something that will be the perfect fit!

Thanks for being such an incredible mother to our children.  It's amazing what you do on a daily basis for us all.  I'm so blessed to have you as my eternal companion and best friend!

Love you so much,

Justin

Several times over the summer I was accompanied by kids during my workout.

  So I put them to work as well.

Logan and Ryker doing "box jumps" on the little kid chairs.

If any of you know Justin, you know he can research something for years.  Not kidding, he is still researching the perfect ice machine for us to have in our garage.  Which was a gift from his parents last year for his birthday.  Seriously, he still wants and plans to get the ice machine, but after hours of research, has yet to decide on the perfect one.

I, on the other hand, am not much of a researcher when it comes to items to buy.  If it is a larger more expensive item I do my homework, so to speak, but not hours and hours of researching it. 

 Unless it is a new camera :)

I told Justin the rower I wanted and then waited 3 months for him to get it for me.  Then I decided it might be like many other "gift certificates" I have gotten from him.  The kind that you actually never get the item, just the letter saying you will get it.

So I decided to "relieve him of the pressure" to get it............doesn't that sound like I was being nice :)

And I found it myself!

I think Justin was actually relieved and I got a good deal on it so that's all he ever cares about.

These are some pretty tough boys.  They rowed, did squats, sit ups, push ups and even tried pull ups.

So my Mother's Day gift will benefit many let's just say!

I love it!!!

Thanks Babe!

Need a Two Year Old? Anybody?

Because I have one for sell.

Heck I might just give him away!!!

A couple of weeks ago as I was picking up the house, I could hear someone yelling for me.  

Vaguely I could hear, "Mom I got it all off!"

I go to find the source of the exclaim. 

This is what I find....

Yep Mr. Grant unrolled the entire roll of toilet paper!  He was so proud of himself for getting "it ALL off!"

  It was a full roll I know because I had just changed it.  I am, after all, the only one in this house that knows how to perform this task.  Although I have to give credit where credit is due, Justin is good about sitting a new roll of toilet paper out, just doesn't always take the time to put it on.

So the first taker gets him!!! 

Mr. Grant that is....Justin isn't for sell.  I have too many years of raising him under my belt to sell him!  LOL!

Seriously...... he is adorable!
Any takers?

New Friends

We are loving getting to know our new friends, The Hughes.

We did some fun things with them over the summer like swimming at the pond.

They live right on the pond and invited us to go play with them.

This is Rhett... "surfin!"

Hunter is a great help with little Lincoln.

Little Lincoln is such a fun little guy!

Logan getting ready to swing....

I just noticed doesn't Grey Thunder look nice in the back ground?

Man I like my little car!

Hunter excited about it being his turn....

There he goes....

Kiersten handles being the only girl really well

.  It seems we always become friends with people who only have boys these days.

Nice swing sista!

Mr. Grant just loves the water!

And with as much floaty's as he has on I don't have to worry about him on bit :)

Tamra was taking this picture and was cracking us up!  Hunter wanted to try swinging with me.....we'll see if the rope holds...LOL!

And it did!

I just love acting like a kid with my kids!

I think it is really important for my kids to see me being silly and fun!

After all it comes pretty natural to me it seems!

Hunter is a wonderful big brother and Mr. Grant just loves him!

We had a fun time having a picnic and playing at the pond with our friends!

Thanks Tamra!  We just love you and can't wait to do more things with you all!

A Few Summer Fun Things.....

Doesn't this picture just scream Summer Fun!

Kiersten, Hunter and Logan racing on the slip'n slide!  Mr. Grant close behind!

Our friend Judy McClain and Nikki Davis invited us to join them at the Thatcher Park for some Slip'n Slide fun!  And fun it was!

My kids haven't done a slip'n slide for years so they were very excited!

And boy it didn't take them long to get the hang of it!

Hunter and Kiersten 

Logan  having a ball.

It was such a fun day of picnicking, visiting with fiends (I really miss seeing Judy on a regular schedule), playing at the park and of course Slip'n Sliding!

Another day while Mr. Grant was asleep I let the other kids pretend to shave.

Seriously they thought this was the coolest thing ever!

Logan thought it tickled to scrape the shaving cream off his face...... silly guy!

Hunter was all business......he asked me for days after this if I knew what age he would be when he would really need to shave?  Too cute!

What would the summer be without playing in the rain.

Logan was at a friends house and Hunter was working at the shop so it was just Kiersten and Mr. Grant at home.  But they both loved playing in the rain together!

I just love summer rains.....only wish they would last longer!

Kiersten singing....

What if all the raindrops were lemon drops and gum drops?

Oh what a rain that would be.

Standing outside with my mouth open wide

Singing  a-a-aa-a-a-a-a-aa.

Another one of my favorite rain songs is....

It's raining, it's pouring,

The old man is snoring.

He bumped his head on a rusty nail

And he couldn't get up in the morning.

One day I borrowed a chocolate fountain from Wendy to surprise the kids with.  And boy were they surprised.....I must say we all enjoyed this surprise!  

Kiersten had Hanna over to play or "hang out" as they call it now.  Too old to call it playing even thought that's what they do.

Once again Mr. Grant was napping so he missed out!

Such Yummy Goodness!

We had such a fun summer!  

I wish it was a month longer!  We enjoyed the pool everyday!  Justin did a great job building the pool and all we wait for is the cement around it!  I'll have to post pictures of that big project!

Needless to say our summer was full of fun, Popsicles, friends, pool time and lots of laughter!

San Francisco.....Day 1

I am in love with San Francisco!

I can't wait to go back with Justin and hopefully one day take Kiersten on a little girls trip there as well.

It is such a fun place to visit!

My friend Steph and I have been trying to take a trip together for quite a while now.  We were suppose to go last summer but her husband, Jeremy Bingham, broke his neck in the Safford/Thatcher Allstar Football Game.  He miraculously survived the accident and is doing great.  So this trip was much over do for her!

We flew to San Fran late Thursday night  and guess what the next day was?

My 35th Birthday!!!

It was actually a WONDERFUL birthday.....I guess being on a trip on your actual birthday just makes it great!  It even got me out of a ticket on the way to the airport.  The cop told me he didn't want to ruin my birthday or to spent all my trip money on a ticket so he gave me a warning! Thank goodness!  And Steph there is no need to comment on my lead foot on our trip.  :)  Seriously on the drive home I think those street cameras just wanted a picture of Grey Thunder or something?  Crazy!

Our first day we rented bikes and biked across the Golden Gate Bridge and went to a little town called Sausalito .  It was way fun and a great work out in one!
Steph didn't quite enjoy the bike riding as much as I did though.

I just tried to take it all in.  I really wish you could go back and relive fun moments in your life.  Since you can't, I try hard to make sure I am aware of myself enough to at least enjoy those moments to the fullest the first time!

I was so grateful to get to take this trip!

I got our favorite babysitter, besides Grandma's, Katelyn Curtis to come watch the kids.  She watched the them half the day on Thursday and all day Friday.  So I knew they were having a fun time while I was gone as well.....Katelyn is the "GREATEST BABYSITTER EVER," to quote Hunter!  Then Justin was so kind and did full time dad duty ALL WEEKEND!

I realize more and more not all husbands choose to do that....so I am very thankful to be married to such a wonderful guy!

Thanks for letting me take this trip babe!  And thanks for paying for it.....LOL!

Justin is really nice and tells me quite often that he thinks I actually earn more money then I get to spend by being a House Hold Engineer!

What a great title right, House Hold Engineer!   

This is the view from Sausalito.

All the houses are just beautiful.  Although I can not even imagine not having a big backyard.  Gorgeous houses though!

Steph and I were so HOT, in every sense of the word, (ha, ha) so we got fun Sausalito shirts to change into. 

 This is the view from Sausalito.....San Fran is in the back ground.

It is just gorgeous!

Sorry about all the pictures.....I just really want to remember how neat of a trip this was.  Sausalito has tons of cute boutiques, yummy places to eat and just beautiful views.

This picture shows the Golden Gate Bridge on the left and to the very far right is Sausalito.  The bike ride to just to get to the bridge from where we rented the bikes was far as well.  It ended up being a 10.2 mile bike ride and remember it's San Francisco so that means HUGE hills.  It was a challenge to ride the bike up the hills instead of walking it.  But I always made it up without walking the bike....I was super happy about that considering my Crossfit work outs this summer have been lacking to say the least.  Actually I only worked out around 7 days each month, May, June and July.....not proud of that fact but I am proud I could still bike such steep hills.  

Steph got a little whiny about me making it up all the hills and about me having an easy time biking.  I can say that because SHE is the one that kept saying "how whiny she was being." :)  I would never say it otherwise!  
It was kind of funny to see her so whiny....love you girl but yes I have to agree with you, you were a bit whiny at times!
Actually she was just being really hard on herself.  She did awesome on our 10.2 mile trek!!!

On the ferry ride back to San Fran we passed by Alcatraz.  I did not realize tickets to Alcatraz sell out weeks in advance so we were not able to actually go tour it.  This was as close as we got......just means that's something new Justin and I can do went we make it to San Fran!

It's crazy how many bikes they can cram on to the ferry boat.  They sure have that down to a science!

One thing I just LOVE about big cities is the "street entertainment", not sure what else to call it.

This guy would make a cool whistle sound as he moved like a robot.....after you dropped some cash in his basket of course.  I knew Hunter would like him because he had a lot of purple on.....that's Hunter's favorite color!

After all that biking we went back to the hotel to freshen up a bit.  Then we hit the streets of Fisherman's wharf.  Our hotel was in the Fisherman's Wharf area.....such a great location to stay!  Close to all the fun San Fran stuff!

Steph had heard from a friend that this restaurant was really good and it was right on the water so we decided to give it a try for my birthday dinner.

It was just so fun to get to catch up with Steph!  She just got finished with her 3rd semester of nursing school.....only 1 to go!

We really enjoyed trying clam chowder at several different places on this trip.....I think we both agreed that we liked the one we had in Sausalito the best.

We were both really looking forward to some delicious crab legs....when this came out I told Steph,

 "Did we accidentally order crap legs?"

Doesn't this look disgusting? I didn't realize we order dungeness crab, they actually didn't have snow crab legs.

Seriously I couldn't eat much of it......I mean look at the hair on these legs!  I like my crab clean shaven.......snow crab legs are the only way to go!!

So dinner was a little disappointing but the shopping for the day was not......

It was a fabulous birthday for sure!  I bought myself a new watch while in Sausalito.  My first Nixon brand watch.....I just love it!  I also got some Tommy's while shopping at Fisherman's Wharf.  Great birthday presents for sure!