New Accomplishment!

Chad called me on Thursday night while I was on my break and said that while he was reading the kids a story that Jordan started yelling "Callie's walking!! Look!!" They all watched her take about 8 steps and then fall, but then got up again and did it a few more times. I was so sad I missed it. Earlier that week I had been trying to coax her into taking steps but this time she did it all on her own! So the next day I saw her with my very own eyes!! It was so cute!!! So now she's officially walking everywhere! My little baby's growing up :-(

Hayley's Birthday/Girl's Night Out

On Saturday night we celebrated Hayley's birthday (my SIL) (I won't tell how old) at the Cheesecake Factory. We had so much fun and were there for like 3 hours! We had to wait about 35-40 minutes, then we just enjoyed our food and each other's company. We shared fun stories and just had girl talk! It was so nice not to be in a rush or have kids to deal with. I think as mothers we need time out where we can just focus on ourselves and not worry about anyone else. We tend to forget about ourselves and focus on our kids, husbands, housework, bills, doctor visits, and everything else we do, and we leave ourselves out an awful lot. When we take the time to have "me time" we come back better Moms and wives.

WARNING: The picture quality isn't the best.

Hayley opening some gifts

Me and Christy (SIL) got the Chinese Chicken Salad and they were enough to feed an army!! Neither one of us finished even half of it. We should have totally shared one and been full--and saved money too!

SIDENOTE: I am totally white next to Miss Hawaiian Tropic! LOL!

Another Tooth!

Jordan's 2nd tooth came out tonight! I tied floss around it after church and he tugged on it all day until tonight he finally let Chad yank it out! He was SOOO nervous about it. So I put some Orajel on it before he pulled it out and it didn't hurt him at all! He was REALLY excited when it came flying out! We all had to search for it on the floor and couldn't find it until I stepped on it! His "grownup" tooth is already mostly in but it grew in behind the baby tooth so I hope it starts to move forward next to his other one.

Here he is all bloody.

And there's the tooth! He's so excited to see what the tooth fairy brings him!

Swim Party BBQ

On Saturday we went to Chad's cousin's house for a family BBQ/Swim party. There were lots of cousins there to play with.

This is Kyle (Jordan's bud)

Here's Sydney and Zach contemplating jumping off the rock cliff.
This is Salinda. She's such a little fish!! She's so young and can swim so well!
This is Dallin (Salinda's brother) and he's an awesome swimmer too! Next to him is his Aunt Alissa.
There goes Jordan!
Here's Jocee posing for the camera before she finally decided to get in the pool.

Just us girls!

Jordan and Kyle hiding


Jordan learned how to dive this summer (thank you Sydney!!) and was so proud that he could do it off the cliff. Watch out Michael Phelps...this boy is a good swimmer too! LOL!
Zach doing a flip off the rock cliff. It looks like his legs belong to Jordan's body! A funny shot!

My nephew Ryan. He's soooooo stinkin' cute!!!!

My little Callie!!! She's soooooo cute too!!! :)
Cousin Chloe with her cute suit! (Look at that hot momma behind her!!)
(LOL!!! I know you're gonna kill me, but you really are a hot momma.) Jocee's best buddy Jillian

We sang to Hayley and Aunt Carolyn for their birthdays for this week.

Clint must be talking to Chad about computers.....LOL!

Nathan grilled up some really yummy ribs. The adults all loved them but the kids didn't touch 'em! They were all left on their plates. Jordan didn't want to eat when we were all eating so he came back later saying he was hungry so Chad gave him a rib. This is how it went down.... He LOVED it! He even wanted more!!
Callie playing with Uncle Bill with the cups. She thought he was so funny.

Then she crawled over and entertained Grandma Sackley for a bit.


After eating, they went back into the pool!

Jordan's at the top of the pic jumping off

Katelyn doing the "monkey walk" along the wall


The biggest rubber duck I've ever seen!


We had a scare towards the end of the night...Katelyn nearly drowned!!! She didn't have any floaties to wear so she mostly stayed on the big step area and occasionally monkey walked but not too far. Well, we were all not watching her for long enough that she ended up in the middle of the deep end!!! Luckily Jocee was on top of the cliff getting ready to jump in when she saw Katelyn just under the water and started screaming "KATELYN'S DROWNING!!!!!KATELYN'S DROWNING!!!!!" I ran over there and Uncle Bill swam quickly over to her and grabbed her and gave her to me. She was crying--not unconscious--so that was good! I was shaking and felt so bad that I didn't even see her. She kept crying "no mimming." What a blessing that Jocee was up there and noticed her and immediately yelled for help! She saved her life!!!! We were all so proud of her and kept telling her what a hero she was. She said that when Uncle Bill told her "thank you for saving your sister's life," her reply to him was "thank you for going to get her out of the water." I don't think she realizes the magnitude of what she did, but I DO!! I am SOOOOO thankful!! I actually was just going through the pictures and videos I had taken and I have video of Katelyn monkey walking over to the deep end where Bill and Jordan were on the step but then Bill took Jordan for a ride and we all focused our attention on him and forgot that Katee was still over there. At the very end of the video you can hear Jocee start to yell.....just watching it gives me chills.

Okay, so I tried to upload the video and it keeps telling me there's an error so it won't upload.

My little Chef

Tonight Katelyn helped me make chicken strips. After she knew the process, she did it all by herself! She had so much fun and actually did a great job--they tasted great!

A Big Surprise

The City of Mesa has a housing rehabilitation program designed to improve the livability of a home, to extend its life for a minimum of 10 years, and to meet the current minimum building codes. You have to qualify for the program and you are put on a waiting list. We got put on the list before Callie was born and she is now 13 months old!! So after much waiting, the inspector finally came to my house today!!!! I couldn't believe it!! We didn't have an appointment or anything so I was lucky I was home when they showed up. Anyways, he walked through the whole house and even went in the back and side yard. Here's the list of things/items that we talked about getting fixed/replaced. (NOTE: I know there's a budget for each home they do so I'm not completely sure that everything on the list will be done but I will be SOOOO happy with any improvements that are made!)
Here's the preliminary list:
--Fresh paint on the outside
--Block fence in the back and on one side--an RV gate on the other side
--Concrete poured on the side of the house for an extended driveway
--Re-wire the whole house and new electrical panel outside & relocate some so we can get c-fans!:)
--New windows
--New outside doors (3)
--New A/C unit
--New insulation (I think ductwork too, can't remember)
--New water heater and relocate to outside
--New kitchen cabinets and countertops (added cabinet space next to the fridge and extended countertop under the window--hopefully!)
--New refrigerator
--New stove
--Whole makeover for hall bath (tub surround, toilet, sink vanity, and medicine cabinet) Some of the lovely pink tiles finally fell off and the drywall behind it is totally rotted. I'm thinking there might be a leak or something.
--Same for master (I think--I had to change a diaper while they were discussing it so I'm not quite for sure)
--New closet doors in master (they broke so we took them off completely and currently have a decorative curtain), and in all the other rooms as well

I can't believe all of that!!!! It feels so surreal. Of course I don't want to get too excited about it until I see it in writing and things start to happen. But seriously, if only 2 of those items listed get done, I'd be so happy. We just can't afford to make any of those costly improvements. When we first bought our house we always had dreams of doing upgrades to it but we just haven't been able to afford doing any of them. So to have some things done and we don't have to pay is amazing. Of course there are guidelines that we have to follow....I don't have them in front of me but I believe the money that is spent is considered a "loan." If we were to sell our house in the next either 3 or 5 years (can't remember exact time), we would have to repay the loan. But if we stay in our home for longer than that period of time, we do not have to pay back the loan. We aren't planning on moving anytime soon so I think we will be okay! Plus, once all of those improvements are made, it will be like having a new house and we didn't have to move out of the city!! So now we just have to wait for the permits and he said it would probably take about 4 weeks. Hopefully it goes by fast!!

2nd Day of School

So on the first day of school the bus driver didn't go after school to pick up the preschoolers! So the teacher called me to let me know that she'd be late. When she finally came home, she was totally happy and not a bit upset! The sub bus driver was a nice lady but not the regular driver. So on Tuesday the regular driver brought her home and when he opened the bus doors, I found Katelyn crying and very upset. I held her and asked what was the matter and she exclaimed, "NO BUS!!" The driver was an older gentleman and was very nice. I'm not sure why she was so upset. I know she doesn't fancy men right away (she cries at my grandparents when Pappaw talks to her) so it will just take time for her to get used to him. It was also a good break that she didn't have school today. So I've been trying to be positive about the bus so she won't cry again tomorrow. We'll see how it goes.

I've been enjoying the quiet time immensely! I keep thinking that this is only a dream and that I will wake up soon and be back in my loud life. I've been able to get my house totally cleaned up by 9:00am then have time to go to the store if I have to! It seems so weird to only have one child in the morning! I know Callie is loving having her mommy all to herself!! It is nice to be able to give her all of my attention too--she's such a sweet little girl. Her new favorite show is Teletubbies. It's so cute to watch her watch it. Today she and Katelyn were sitting in the computer chair together and she would point to the tv and "talk" and look at me like she was telling me "Look mommy!" She loves to talk! She will most likely be talking very soon. She's still not walking. She can stand up on her own from sitting but is too chicken to take any steps. The most she's taken is 5 and that was with me encouraging her to walk to me.

Today we went to Albie's to get great deals on stuff my kids love. They are on sale for $1 or $1.50, then I used coupons for each item so I paid between $.50 and $.75 for each item (some were less, depending on the coupon). I got kids yogurt, cookie mix, Toaster Strudels, and Chex mix. It stinks because you can only buy 8 items in one transaction to get those prices. So I'm planning on going back as many times as I can--I have lots of coupons to use!! With 4 kids eating all the time I think we're gonna have to start shopping at Costco!

First Day of School!

Jordan all ready for school! He was up and ready by 6:30am! I made them pancakes and he told me that he didn't want them because last year before school he only ate cereal! Funny kid.Jo


Jocee didn't get up till just after 7:00 and was excited to get her clothes on and get her hair done. She asked me, "Mom, do I get to go to school every day??" I said, "Yep!" To which she exclaimed, "Yeaaaa!!!" If only they kept that same attitude!

Katelyn was up by 6:45am and came in my bathroom to find me in the shower. She was so happy and said "Mommy, awake!!" (that translates into "I'm awake!") I asked her if she wanted to get in with me (she ALWAYS wants to take a shower), and she said, "No, (s)cool! Kwoes on!" She was so excited to go to school and ride on the bus like the big kids.

We all walked down to the bus stop for Jordan and Jocee. There was a lot of kids there! Jocelyn was so happy to be able to get on the bus this time. Last year she would always say "I can't wait till I get to get on the bus!" She got in line and walked right on up with them. No hesitations or anything! She is so ready for Kindergarten, despite her young age. I know she's going to do great this year.

Poor Katelyn had to wait for another hour after they left before her bus was coming. She was beginning to doubt me telling her that she was going to ride the bus. So about 7 minutes before it was scheduled to come, we sat outside waiting and singing the Wheels on the Bus and other fun songs to pass the time. Finally it showed up (late) and she walked right on up the stairs and got her seatbelt on (with help, of course) and waved bye to me! I couldn't believe it! My little 2 1/2 year old riding on a bus to school! What a big girl!! This is her on the bus. You can't really see her behind the tinted window but she's there!

Wedding

On Friday, 8/8/08, my sister got married! Here are some of the pictures...