It's a New Year!

This is one super duper excited boy on his way to his first soccer game... Tyson is on his 3rd of 6 weeks of soccer. We got together a bunch of friends and neighbors and they are having a blast. My awesome brother, Steven, and his girlfriend Micaela are their coaches and they are so cute with the kids. Andrew gave Ty these wrist bands and he thinks they are the best things ever. He'll run a lot, then stop and wipe his forehead while saying 'whooo'! It has been a great experience and I'm sure he'll play a lot more as he gets older.

I thought this was so cute. Ness fell asleep on the coach the other day so I had to sneak a picture :)

A couple weekends ago we talked Andrew into hanging the street signs in the basement. We've slowly over the years been stealing signs when we see one we like....jk. Andrew's dad works for the state transportation dept. and when we were in Boise for Thanksgiving he had some at their house that he was using for different things so we (I) begged to go get some. We have about 14 up around the room and it makes such a big difference down there. They light up with any indirect light or flash.

Mr. G got his first taste of Oreo the other night, thanks to his dad. He loved it of course.

Updates....

3 more days!!! I realized we didn't have a single picture of me pregnant this time so Hallie took one this weekend- yikes! I can't believe I'm putting it on here but oh well... it is was it is :) Thurs. is the day so hopefully all goes well and I can some how have the energy and patience for 4 kidos. Friday Janessa's class put on a mother's day program that was so so so cute. They sang songs, made us a book from the whole year, had decorations, cake and was very well put together. She has a great teacher and I thought it was so neat that she would do this.

Basement so far-... My friend Hanna refinished a couple desks for the girls' rooms and also a shelf and bed for Hallie's that we got put up this weekend. I really love them all, she did a great job!

Hallie has started piano lessons this month also and is doing well. She is a quick learner and will probably pass me up in no time! I'm really excited for her to learn to play.

Poor Janessa's room is still quite bare. I really don't know what to do in here with the bright colors so it might be awhile. She is doing an awesome job at keeping it clean though, which I am so happy about.

Here's the toy area. It could have been a 3rd bedroom but we did a half wall instead so they weren't in a closed room playing (but still keeping the toys in their own area). This room I can see from the top of the stairs so it's been really nice.

View from other end of family room-. As soon as we get a TV down here the couches wil be moved differently but for now it's just a big play room. :) We had some friends over this weekend and we all have kids Hallie, Ness, and Ty's ages so they had a blast. We figured it might be the last time for a while ...

Tyson has his first t-ball practice today and he is so excited! I'm really anxious to watch him play. I'm sure it'll be quite entertaining :)

The 'big' girls 'hangin' out' -

Well, there's the last few weeks summed up. It's a busy next few days and I have a list a mile long so we'll see how much I have energy for :)

Spring Break/ Easter

Last week the kids were out of school for spring break. We were able to do a lot of fun things with friends and family. It went by too fast though...

I love Easter! This picture is first thing Easter morning. It was really nice to be able to watch general conference on the same weekend. The kids had 3 different egg hunts, but I only had my camera at my parents on Sunday. They had one at the city building and my grandparents on Sat. Here's all the cousins trying to get a group picture :).

Later in the day they were flying their new kites and Steven was trying to teach the kids how to ride his long board and Andrew pulls out this stunt-. I was holding my breath the whole time!

And last, we are officially DONE! We painted last week and had carpet layed on Monday. Hallie's room is blue & Nessa's yellow. It's still not all cleaned up and organized but the girls have slept in their new rooms 2 nights now and they love it. We still have to finish the bathroom, but right now we're just happy to be this far :) I'll post more pictures when we get everything put together!

Happy Birthday Tyson!!

Our little man turned 4 on the 24th (ya' I'm a little behind). I can't believe he is growing so fast. We took 4 of his closest friends to the open gym then to our house for lunch and brownies. They had a ton of fun and he was so excited!

The other night we were cutting the dog's hair so he was cutting his dog's also :) It was so funny, he kept saying ' you are being so good, thank you for holding still'. He has a big imagination lately.

A little update on the basement- the trim and doors are hung (!)

now we get to caulk and fill nail holes this week. It would really help if we could just all be healthy for a while. Poor Andrew has had everything possible these last couple weeeks...

We have so much to be greatful for. The kids are happy and well. Hallie & Janessa started a volleyball camp at the hight school on Tues. nights which they love and they still have gymnastics on Mondays. They are both doing really well in gym. Hallie is doing front & back walkovers and Ness can go back into a bridge by herself now. We went to a competition a few weeks ago and Hallie thinks it's somthing she might want to do next year. We'll see. Baby brother is doing well also. We have 10 weeks left (probably less) with a lot to get done! I just pray we can get this house organized before he comes :) We are getting really excited but still don't know what we'll call him....?

Janessa's Turns 7!

I really can't believe my baby girl is 7. I can perfectly remember her as a baby. She had a fun birthday weekend this year. Grandma & Grandpa Hufford came from Boise and she had a 'shopping/pj/breakfast' party with her friends Sat. morning. Hallie & Janessa planned the whole thing. The kids got to decorate little purses and we found pink money they got to go shopping with. We invited some of Hallie's friends to come help run the stores and they got to buy things for their purses, and their was even a bank where they could get more money. It was a lot of fun. Ness has so many great little friends. Sun. night we had her & Tyson's party with my family. (Ty's b-day is tomorrow). They got a basketball hoop which we are all excited to use this summer :) Other than this weekend, we are still spending every minute downstairs.... but it is progressing well. All the shelves are built and the final texturing will be done tomorrow! The trim is being delivered Friday morning, then we're (actually Andrew's) on to the next phase.I'm stressing a little (OK, alot) about the girl's new bedrooms. I've waited so long for this, I just want them to be perfect. This is the bedding for Nessa's room and for Hallie....well I've bought and returned 3 sets and still haven't found the perfect one. Even Nessa's is killin' me 'cause I can't decide which color to use for the walls...

I know I'm ridiculous, Andrew reminds me all the time. Who cares what their rooms look like, right? I do, too much obviously... :) Help!!

January events...

This tape & texturing is kicking poor Andrew's behind. He has spent every free minute downstairs these last few weeks. It's going really well, but I think it's been a bigger project that he expected. The bathroom and storage rooms are done, he's about half way with Hallie's room, then just Janessa's is left! I'm so greatful for his hard work :)

Janessa and Tyson were making fun of me the other day with balloons.... thanks guys. They really know how to make you feel good! JK, it was pretty funny :)Hallie's been a great sport playing with Tyson outside. He wouldn't get in at first so she threw him in the sled and took off and after that he wouldn't get out! He loves his sisters, they are so good to him :)Also, I have a new favorite blog I wanted to share. Normally I'm not super good at keeping up on blogs, but this one I seriously want to check everyday because they have the cutest ideas! My friend Hanna and her sisters make/refurbish things (usually they got from the DI) and it's just amazing to me what they come up with! Their link is http://www.gorgfabgoodies.blogspot.com/ or the link on my side bar is "These Mama's Make $en$e". Check it out, I promise you'll be addicted too :)

The last few weeks....

This is all quite random, but here's a little catch-up post for the last few weeks.

About 3 weeks ago, the whole family got the flu. The doctor didn't test to see which flu it was because they have the same symptoms and medicine. Janessa got it first and within 3 days we all got to be so lucky. Redbox made a fortune on us this week! Everyone got better except Nessa's cough. Every winter she gets this really weird cough that never goes away. We took her back in because it sounded like she couldn't catch her breath She's been using this nebulizer and it seems to be helping. We'll see how it goes and will have to have her tested for Asthma. We finally painted the shelf/wall in Tyson's room a couple weeks ago. It sat forever because I couldn't decide what to do with his room. Every time we talked about it he wanted orange, because he is seriously obsessed with this color. Half his closet is orange shirts because that's all he wants to wear so we gave in and now I'm even more stuck! I can not find anything to go in this room! I have a hard time making up my mind, especially when it comes to my house. I just want it perfect and nothing I find is perfect...

My sister got married last week!!! I'm so excited for her. She is so cute & happy and deserves the very best. Matt is great and so are Mal's new sisters, Ashley and Gracie. They are such a cute ( & busy!) family.

Last weekend our friends had a really fun Halloween party. We ran around town racing other groups trying to get pictures of all the clues we were given. I'm not sure why I didn't get a real picture of us, but one of the stops of the game was to go in this costume shop and kiss with masks on, so that is just what we did! Sometime it's OK to act like teenagers, right??...

Tyson hates getting his hair cut so Andrew hooked up the XBox360 the other day and let him play a motorcycle/ATV game and now that is all he wants to do! It's been a fun little battle every day trying to limit it :) Well, that's a little catch-up before all the Halloween pictures tomorrow! Hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween!

Help!!

I'm starting to get frustrated potty training this little stinker!! Is it really possible?! He wore unders every day last week, and actually went on the potty TWICE. We even took it outside... sorry just had to vent... we'll keep truckin'!

On a good note, we got the beadboard painted this weekend and I love it! Andrew did a great job and it really brightens that area.

Next is finishing Tyson's room. I want to paint the shelf and everything below it, I just can't decide what color. His bedding is tan, with light blue sheets. Any suggestions? I'm thinking navy... Andrew had to test how strong it was. He starting yelling like he was hurt, so I go running in there to see this. Of course I had to beg him to stay for a picture :)

What we've been up to...

Tues. I got to go with Janessa's kindergarten class to the zoo. She was just super excited to ride the bus :) It was fun to watch her with her school friends. Tyson kept waving to all the animals saying 'come here zebras (or whatever we were looking at)', he LOVED them all. We'll have to go more this summer since they're all old enough to really enjoy it.

Last week Hallie learned to land her front flip, and do a back handspring without a spot. She can also do a roundoff back handspring on the long tramps at gymnastics. I love that she is a very determined little girl and practices hard at whatever she wants to learn!

My new best friend.....

Andrew has been doing several projects these last few weeks. He built much-needed shelves in the garage, beadboarded the dining room (I'll post pictures when it's painted), and is going to build a big shelf on one of Tyson's walls. I never knew a saw (is that what it is?) could bring so much joy :)