2011 Wrap up

Yes, we still are alive. I have not been good at blogging at all. That's one of my new year's resolutions. That and start a scripture journal. And lose weight. And do more family history. Anyway, here' a recap of what has been going on these last months:
We celebrated Halloween:
Yes, we did even though I hate the holiday. Zach and Parker were the Knights who saved Princess Alivia from the Evil Dragon Cooper:

Yeah, REAL Scary!!

We spent Thanksgiving at Mamoo's and Papa's in Rigby. I didn't take pictures of that one, but I usually don't take pictures of us after we have gorged ourselves with good food. We did start one thing that I would like to use as tradition: we did our Black Friday shopping in our jammies, online, while drinking hot chocolate and eating popcorn. So much better!

Parker celebrated his 6th birthday! Wow he went from this to this in like two seconds!!



He got to have his first friend party at Outer Limits. He had a blast with his cousins and friends. His birthday cake was a lego construction sight. Complete with a dump truck and bulldozer. It was really fun to make.

Zach got to play basketball this winter. His team was the Orange Crush. Truley the other teams always crushed them, but they were so fun to watch!! I love when it's not such a big deal to be the best. They just play to have fun. (He totally posed for this picture. He 'acted' surprised that I got him!)

Just before Christmas, GUS PASSED HIS FNP BOARDS!!!! After 2 years of hard work and 4 times taking the test, he finally passed. He is a legite Family Nurse Practitioner. I am so proud of him! I know that there was a lot of help from Heavenly Father!! There is a saying "Trust in the Lord means trust in His timing" that keeps going through my head. This really was one of those times! It all happened when it was supposed to and we did learn a great deal of patience and faith from this. Many prayers were answered. Thank you to all of you who remembered him!

Christmas came and went in a blink!! The kids opened their presents, we went to Sacrament meeting (I love Christmas on Sundays) and then we went to help serve lunch at the Salvation Army. That was a good experience! It was slow and it seemed like the people didn't really want to talk a whole bunch, but it was good to get out of our little comfort zone and help others.

So as I look back on this year, I see that the Lord's hand is in all things. I am so truly blessed with my wonderful family and friends. I am so grateful for my Savior and all that He has done for me. I love the Lord and know that through Him all things are possible!

 Happy 2012!!

Summer 2011

So I promise that we did have a summer this year! Here is a top 10 list of things we did this summer:

1- Had a baby (and a very cute one, may I say!)

2- Celebrated the 4th of July. (Pocatello is not my favorite place to go, nor will we stay here again. The parade was awful, but the fireworks were all right.)

3- Spent some time in Island Park with the Jones' and some really big ANTS!

4-Parker and Alivia took swim lessons.

5- Played in the water- a lot!

6- Had the Blad reunion at Steadman's in Raft River.

7- Played with cousins.

8- Blessed the cute baby.

9- Visited the Dinosaur Park in Ogden.

10- Visited Temple Square.

I know that sounds like a pretty lame summer, but we didn't have the funds to go somewhere extravagant. I have to admit that this summer has been very stressful. Gus is waiting to take his boards again after he didn't pass. He is studying like mad!! Money has also been tight because we had that cute baby. My hospital bill was $6000! Thank goodness for insurance and thank goodness my husband works at the hospital. I am very grateful for his job. All in all, the kids didn't let anything deter them from entertaining themselves. Oh, to be a kid again!

Preschool Graduate

It seems that we have had a lot of graduating going on this year! Parker finished preschool and we had his graduation last week. Here he is with some of his classmates.

Parker loves school and loves learning. His teachers called him the smart, quiet type. He identified all his letters, numbers, colors and shapes and can count past twenty (he gets mixed up after 40). His favorite thing about preschool this year was learning all about dinosaurs. We love you and are proud of you Parker!!

Parker is 5!

Okay so Parker turned 5 the beginning of this month. I really wanted to post this before the end of the year. I'm just working on extra slow time.

I can't believe it has been 5 years since I brought home this little guy:

He really wasn't all that little-coming in at 8lbs 3oz. He has been a great blessing to our family.

For his birthday this year he wanted a dinosaur cake. I planted a couple of cakes together and let him cover it with dinosaurs. Then we made a volcano with lava flowing out of it. He loved it. He chose honey chicken for his dinner and then we had cake and ice cream. Very simple, but it was his special day. We love you Parker!

Halloween 2010

I convinced the kids to match this Halloween. Since Alivia loves Tinkerbell, I talked Zach and Parker to go along. We watched lots of Peter Pan to get them excited!

We never seem to stray much from our Halloween activities. We went to our church for some Trunk or Treating. Then we went to Grandma and Grandpa trunk or treat. Can I just say candy overload?? All in all, I'm glad that Halloween is over for another 11 months!

Parker turns 4!

Where does the time go? I was just looking at Parker the other day and thought 'he looks so big'. Now he is 4! I can't believe it! Four years ago I took a nice slip on the ice and I swear that's what sent me into labor that night. Easiest labor so far.

Here is the little munchkin with his cake. It's Optimus Prime if you can't tell! We live and breath Transformers around here these days. Gotta love that smile! I think he was trying to make himself smile. Oh well, that's Parker! We had family and friends over for cake and ice cream. Mamoo, Papa, Grandma, Grandpa, the Manglesons and the Reinholts were all here to celebrate Parker's special day. We are so grateful that Parker is part of our family. He is a very unique and special little boy and we love him greatly!

Halloween

I have to admit that Halloween is my least favorite holiday. I think teaching absolutely ruined it for me. Anyway, Gus tells me I have to forget myself and do it for the kids. We carved pumpkin out at Grandpa and Grandma's this year. Zach designed and cut his own, which was a vampire.

Parker (Gus mostly) made a Transformers Autobot head. Surprise, surprise.

Alivia didn't like the inside of a pumpkin, so she just hung out!

On Halloween we went to our Trunk or Treat. I was just getting over bronchitis and did not feel well. Then we went out for Chinese. It's a tradition we have. We then made it back here for doughnuts and cider. Wow, what a sugar rush!! Zach was Megatron this year, Parker was Bumblebee and Alivia was Dorothy with pink slippers instead of red! I'm glad we had decent weather and not snow!

Dogsitting

I am forcing myself to post today. Yes, forcing. I spent all day yesterday reading an awesome book called Magyk and I soooo want to start the next book in the series. I checked out all three at the library. I haven't been this excited about a book since Fablehaven. I had to post because I actually had some cute stuff and I want everyone to know that I am not dead or really depressed because of my gray hair!

We got to dog sit my in-laws dog Cowboy while they went down to Utah for the last couple of days. My kids were in heaven. Cowboy is a great dog and so well behaved around kids. Here's some of their activities. They put him down for a nap because he was cold:

Last night they made crowns and put them on. Cowboy's wouldn't stay on his head so they made him a belt crown. I don't think he really liked it on, but he didn't complain. (Don't mind the dirty kitchen behind my kids-you're not supposed to be looking at that anyway).

Alivia's favorite part about having Cowboy here was all the extra food we just had lying around:

She ate more than her fair share. Gross I know, but my older sister once ate dog food and she was all right, right?

On the move

I'm sorry I haven't posted for awhile. My laptop has a broken space bar and it is ever infuriating to try to type. So, for now, I am using the old laptop to type, and the other one to load pictures on. Enough about that. Here at the Blads, we haven't been up to much. The other day, the boys got to play with their cousins. For dinner they had pizza from Costco and Costco cupcakes for dessert. They thought they were in heaven! Here is them in the kitchen doing a cheer about Costco. It went something like this "Costco pizza is the best in the world" then they would break. It was funny. I should pitch the idea to the big-wigs at Costco and make millions.
In the meantime, Alivia has been VERY busy. She is now crawling. Actual hand/knee coordination and not just scooting. I have to keep the floor clean or everything goes in her mouth. She also is pulling herself up to everything. And, she cut her first tooth last week. I tried to get a picture, but it is still just poking out and she wouldn't hold still! Here she is on the move:

More photoshopping

Here are Zach and Parker's Christmas pictures that I goofed around with the ever-frustrating photoshop!

Christmas

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. Ours was snowy and warm! We opened presents and then later that afternoon we went and saw Bedtime Stories. It's a really cute movie! Here are some pictures of the kids. Parker was throwing a fit...but what else is new! After that he was fine and the kids did a great job of taking turns opening up presents. Zach got a Spiderman computer and a police dress up uniform. Parker got Diego train set and Alivia got diapers and clothes! Mom and Dad got a new fridge that's not here yet. At one point after all was said and done, Zach was playing with Parker's toy, Parker was playing with Alivia's toy and Alivia was chewing on paper. Crazy day!

There's 'snow' fun like sled fun

Because we got the first taste of winter this weekend, my kids had to pull out their winter gear and go sledding. We got a new sled at Costco (love that store) that is really light weight. I guess we're kinda lucky to have our own hill in our backyard. Alivia really didn't like being outside and I don't blame her! Parker went tobogganing down the hill without the sled and Zach couldn't get enough. He stayed out until his cheeks were rosey.

Now, if you read my sister's nasty comment in my last post, I do have some news. I am NOT pregnant, as I think she might have led some to believe. No,not for a long time. Anyway, I got a new calling at church. I am the new Young Women's president. I am really out of my comfort zone with this one. Although I love new challenges, this one is really overwhelming! I'm just glad that I have my mother-in-law and sister-in-law who also have callings in YW to help me. I told our bishop that he just threw me in head first without getting me feet wet! I am excited and nervous and overwhelmed and apprehensive, but I know it will all work out!

Chicken's Heads

Do you ever feel like you are a chicken running around with your head cut off? No direction? A million things to do? I guess a beheaded chicken really wouldn't have much to do, but that's beside the point! We've been busy this weekend. Here's a run down. We had a great Thanksgiving at my parent's house. It was so good to see Jenn and her family! Here is a pic of me and my sisters and parents:

We came home and I did go shopping at 5:00 on Black Friday. I went to Wal-Mart to get a Leapster for Parker. I picked up a few extras. It really wasn't bad and I got what I wanted so that's a good thing. It wasn't as fun going by myself though. Then we decorated for Christmas. Gus has to have a lot of lights on our Christmas tree. I think we put on at least 1200 lights. When we were decorating I had to turn off the lights because it seriously was burning my eyes!!

Yesterday we had a little party for Parker because he is turning 3 on Tuesday!!! I can hardly believe it! What a little ham! He had a Diego birthday cake. He got his own Leapster (the one I sacrificed my sleep f0r). He also got lots of fun toys and clothes. Here's some pictures (notice the glowing tree in the background? Does it hurt your eyes too??)

This week my friend Stacey and I are doing some craft fairs. Thursday and Friday we will be at the hospital and Saturday we will be at Hawthorne Jr. High in Pocatello. If you are around, come and check us out! We also have our ward party on Friday and since I am Activities Chairman, I have to get that all put together. So, do you see what I am saying about chickens? Crazy madness!

Halloween

I'm so glad it's over! As we sit here with our bowl overfilling with candy, our stomachs are aching (except the kids, they're bouncing off the walls from the sugar) I am breathing a sigh of relief. Zach and Parker were hunters this year and Alivia was their duck. I have to post this pic, just because I think it is so stinking funny. Zach just had to have one with him pretending to shoot the duck. What makes it funny is that Alivia totally looks like she is playing dead (the sun was just in her eyes)!

Gus was taking them around for trunk-or-treating at the church. A dentist was handing out little tubes of toothpaste. Parker looked in his bucket, saw it, took it out, handed it back to him and said "I don't want this!" Gus took it for him and snuck it back in this bucket. Parker took it out and kept trying to give it away. What a ham! I've decided that we worked a lot harder for our candy when I was little. All in all, it was a good Halloween, and we actually had decent weather for once!

Fruits

Okay, here are some "fruits" of my day.

Fruit of my labor:

In order to make room in my freezer for some fresh Alaskan fish (story to follow later) I had to empty out a 5-gallon bucket of frozen raspberries. My wonderful father had frozen these for me 2 summers ago. I had every intention of making jam then, but just forgot. Anyway, I made 6 batches of jam and there it is (minus the 2 that I gave to Laura). I don't want to put it back in my freezer because of the fish thing, so I guess I will start taking bids!!

Fruit of the Loom:

We went to Fred Meyer's the other day and bought official big boy underwear for Parker. He picked out Diego and Cars underwear (surprise, surprise). Here he is modeling it. Zach had to be in the picture too! He is about 80%-ish potty trained. We still have to use a Pull-up for naps and bedtime and it is always a battle to get him to go poop. Don't they have the cutest little Blad-bums??

Tender moments

Today before church we were in the kitchen. We've got the really nasty 1:00 church. The boys were all dressed up in their suits and ties for church and I was making dessert (yes, I cooked a Sunday dinner complete with a really yummy lemon cheesecake). Anyway, I heard Zach tell Parker to lay down on the floor. He did and then Zach placed his hands on Parker's head and said "By the authority I bless you that you will do good in school. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." I was trying so hard not to laugh. I don't know if that is sacrilegious or anything, but it was so cute. When Zach started school this year, Gus gave him a father's blessing. He blessed him that he would do well in school and learn what he needs to. I am so thankful that my husband is a worthy priesthood holder and honors it. I told Gus that he is a great role model! I love my boys!

Reality

My sis Heidi tagged anyone who read her post to take pictures of their REALITY. Since I am an avid blogger now, I will accept this challenge! Well here is mine: (I really debated whether I wanted to post this pic of Parker)

I censored it for family viewing. My REALITY is that I hate potty training enough that I just let him run around outside naked! At least he is not peeing in his diaper. It even got bad enough that he was playing outside tonight with only his Pull-up on! Yes, in front of neighbors who drove by thinking that we are total white trash!! I finally did make him put clothes on when I finished nursing and dinner and everything else!! But the thing is that I let him outside in front of people like that!

My other REALITY is my room. I cannot keep the area around the TV clean:

This area is such a catch all and I am so embarrassed by it. I just don't do anything about it because no one can see it unless they enter my room and look behind them! My REALITY is that we have too much junk!!

I now tag anyone who reads this to post their REALITY. We are only human after all!!