Clover Turns 3!

My little girl is all grown up (or so she thinks anyway). She had her third birthday on August 25. she got a bike from mom and dad, which she absolutely loves. it only took her 1 day to get the hang of the big kid bike and the training wheels. she's natural. we had family and all the neighbor kids over for a pinata and dinner and cake. i made the cake, and it did not turn out exactly as planned. lots of frosting was used to cover up all the issues i had... like the back falling off! oh well, nobody cared and it tasted good so whatev. Now she is on to pre-school. another post on that will have to follow.....

Backyard Picture Session

A girl that we met here in town that took our family pics back in October came over a few weeks ago and took some 6/7 month pics of Crew and of the kids together in our backyard. She is so talented. They turned out great. I have cute kids. (I might be a little bias). She even got a great shot of our St. Bernard Zeena Princess Warior. In other news our chickens (we got 6 chicks about a month ago and have been keeping them in our house under a heat lamp in the laundry room). We are finally going to get them out of our house this week and into their own chicken house! They are stinking up of whole house!! Also we planted our garden about a month ago and all our little seeds are sprouting. It's so exciting. If everything grows properly we are going to have veggies coming out the you know what! We've got onions, carrots, peppers, broccoli, califlower, peas, cucumbers, beets, radishes, tomatoes, corn, squash, zucchini, strawberries, and watermellon, oh and lettuce. plus we have 3 apple trees and 1 pear tree, wow! I better learn to can, freeze, and dry.

Where To Begin..... The Last 2 Months

ok. It's been awhile but life has been crazy the past few months. I'll do a quick catch-up. Well, we bought and moved into a great house. Built in 1909, remodeled in 2006, with a basement and finished attic, a porch, pickett fence and the best part a huge yard! We really like it. It has old charm but with 21st century amenities like new appliances, cabinets and carpet and paint. Next Crew is turning 6 months old this month. I can't even believe 6 months has flown by and my little man isn't a tiny baby anymore. Roger got a promotion at work. Meaning a higher rank and more money. So that was really cool. Roger has also been offered a job for the city of Umatilla (one of the 3 cities we live next to) for a full time police officer position. He has decided to take the position and should start in May. The only down side to this awesome opportunity (he's been trying to get on a police department for about 2 years), is that he has to go to the police academy in Salem, M-F for 16 weeks, and Salem is 4 hours away from us. That means he has to live there and we will only see him on the weekends for 4 months starting June-October. This is going to suck but its a sacrifice we have to make I guess. Another exciting (well not quite for me) but challenge we are facing right now is potty training Clover. It is going good mostly but proves to be trying my patience to the breaking point. Some days we have no accidents, others 5 times a day she is peeing her pants. I am at a loss.... And last but not least Roger brought home 2 dogs. Yes, 2 dogs and two different times. Oliver, is our little rat dog. He is half yorkie terrier half shitzu. And then there is our beast Xena (Zena), she is a full blooded St. Bernard. So we have a David and Goliath situation on our hands. Wow, as if I didn't have enough on my plate with a new house and 2 kids.....

Coupon Crazy

Spent $36 ............................Saved $58

I have officially decided that I am no longer going to stand for spending $400-500+ a month at the grocery store. I am going to take charge of my spending and I am starting a new way of shopping. Some like to call it crazy coupon shopping. I like to call it cha-ching saving! I have just barely started this process, only going 2 times so far. But, I am liking what I am seeing and have been doing really well. The basics of my scheme.... Buy on sale items, then use coupons and a few other little tricks to get rock bottom prices. Then stock up on your deals to create a stock pile of items to use for now and later. The 2 times that I have gone, shopping at Albertsons and Yokes (a Washington grocery chain) I have spent little and saved lots. Refer to my pictures to see all my items and my out of pocket $$ and then savings. You too can do this! It is hard at first, but oh so worth it when you see the $$$ your saving at the end



Spent $31........................Saved $67

Playing Dress-Up

Clover is really into dress up now. She is starting to play make believe and get an imagination. She has to wear her dress up clothes every day and even gets me to let her wear them out of the house sometimes. She is a character. She even got Daddy to join in on the fun once. Thank goodness I got a picture of this for blackmail purposes.

Let It Snow

It has snowed here a few times, stayed for a week or two, and then warmed up and melted. Even without the snow it has been really cold in Hermiston. We are finding out that this area gets on top of snow, freezing rain, sleet, and lots of ice. I didn't realize this when I moved her. But, I guess its nice to have seasons and weather from boring old Vegas where its sunny 300 days a year. So bring on the snow!

Santa Claus Freak Outs

(This Year 2009)



(Last Year 2008)



Santa Claus is a scary man for kids. Seriously people. We expect our kids to just go sit on some strange guys lap. What is wrong with parents, this is boarder line torture. Last year Clover did not do the Santa thing very well at all. This year, she was very nervous and wouldn't sit on his lap until I told her that Santa was giving out candy canes after you took your picture with him, which got her to stand next to him with a very nervous look on her face. Plus, the Santa this year was not very nice. First off he was late showing up. Then he wouldn't talk to, smile at, look at, or make the kids feel comfortable at all. I think maybe Santa hates his life and had a hang over.....

Family Pics 2009

Sisterly Love?

Well, usually she is nice and sweet and kisses and hugs her little brother. This photo proves it.

Crew's 1st Halloween

Crew (5 weeks) was a pumpkin, same as Clover was on her first Halloween.

Halloween Time Fun

Crew's Baby Pics

These are Crewzer's (that's his nickname) 5 week baby pics. I think they turned out adorable, but I might be a little impartial.... and he did amazing. He slept for the first half, then he woke up and hung out without crying. He was born for the spotlight. (he kinda looks like an old man)