Jumping right in....

So SEVERAL months ago, Crystal asked me why I never update the blog anymore.  Just in case she's not the only one wondering....haha....I'm full of lame excuses.  Most of which circle back to either A: I'm too busy and don't have time, or B: I'm too tired when I do have time.  But, as much as I'd love to say I blog for all of you (assuming anyone aside from Crystal reads this) I really want to be able to look back one day and have a record of what goes on in our lives.  So, here's to jumping right in even though I am both too busy and very tired.  :)  Since it's been a year since my last post I am definitely not going to be catching you up on the last year in great detail.  I think I'll just start from now and see what comes up.  So the big things in our life right now.....

We moved this week.  Yep, a whole 2.2 miles, according to google maps.  The house isn't too much bigger than the one we were in, maybe a few hundred square feet more.  But the yard is HUGE compared to our last one that was almost nonexistent.  So we moved.  I am drowning in boxes and still hunting for everything, but I'm liking the new place.  There is even a garden.  Score!

Tripp is in t-ball and loves it. He's pretty good too.  I'm really enjoying watching him play twice a week.

Kaelyn is getting sassier by the day, but what can you really expect from a two year old princess, right?

Jake is working the night shift at the hangar now, and likes it much better than working with the day shift crew.  It makes a bit of a mess in the family schedule, but he's really so much happier, which makes family time better so it's a fair trade.

I wrapped up guard auditions last month and will leave for a week for an instructor camp in Indianapolis in about another month.  I'm pretty freaking excited about that.

Until next time...which will hopefully be sooner than last.  (Am I the only one with good intentions but slacks on the blog updates????)

I live with God

I know a lot of you who take the time to read my blog are LDS.  If you are, and you're easily offended you may want to just stop here and wait for my next post.  That being said, let me just say that I know that not all Mormons think or feel the way the individual I'm about to blog about does, so this is not an attack on the religion in general, nor on the members of it.  If you do find that you think and feel the way this individual does, I really hope this will make you think to choose your words carefully when trying to share the gospel with others.

A little background about the church and myself....
Many of you know I was raised in the church.  When I was 17, I left the church.  My reasons for leaving and my thoughts on the church and its doctrine are not what this post is about however, so I will leave it at that.  Since leaving the church, my dad has taken it upon himself to make sure that my records are transfered each time that I move so I won't get "lost".  Unfortunately for me, this means the church will not leave me alone.  I have nicely asked each bishop, home teacher, visiting teacher, relief society president, and missionary that has come my way to please leave me alone.  I understand what they believe and why it is so important for them to keep trying but please, just respect my wishes and stop coming to my home.

Wednesday was my birthday.  Yay for being 24!  Seriously my birthday rocked.  Anyway, sometime in the morning someone from the relief society came to my door with a bulb from the Boise temple as a birthday gift for me.  After she told me what it was, I thanked her but told her that a bulb from a temple I don't believe in really doesn't mean anything to me.  I know what it means to church members, so I thought it would be best if she kept it and gave it to someone who would appreciate it's meaning.  I really appreciate the thought, but I didn't want it wasted on me, a non-believer.  Her response blew me away.  She said (and I'm quoting her here)

"Why don't you just keep it anyway.  I know that one day it will mean something to you again.  I just want you to know how much your Heavenly Father loves you, even though you have forsaken Him.  Please remember who you are and that it is never too late to come back to Him."

I am not easily offended.  Not in the least.  I love being able to have my own opinion and beliefs and being able to freely share them.  Because I value this so much, I give everyone else the opportunity to share theirs without judging or taking offense.  That being said, this statement offended me.  I know that wasn't her intention, but I was none the less offended.

I have a breathtaking picture of Christ hanging in my living room for everyone who enters my home to see. I go to church with my family every Sunday, and again on Wednesdays if my kids have activities going on at the church.  I read my children Bible stories before bed and I speak with the Lord everyday in my prayers.  I am not perfect, but I am a good person.  I am a wonderful mother and wife and it is because I live with God.  I am a Christian. I have not "forsaken Him" nor do I have any need to come "back to Him" as I never left Him in the first place.  You better believe I told her the same things.  She left crying, and I really hope it was because she felt bad, not because the 'missionary experience' she was hoping to have didn't go her way.

Strep throat, new phone, tryouts are over......

So auditions are over....yay!!!  I actually love the audition process.  I love choreographing the routine, getting together the audition packets...something about the warm paper as it comes out of the copier is just awesome.  I love the anticipation, waiting to see how many people will show up and what potential will be there.  So far each year the first day gets better and better because there are more and more people there each year!  I love teaching the routine, the teaching is my absolute favorite part.  I love making them all do pushups when they won't stop talking.  Yeah, that's one of my favorite parts too, awful??  Haha.  I love seeing it all come together in the last day and a half or so, and I love judging the auditions.  This year I had 29 people at the end of auditions.  I took 20 performers, 4 alternates and I cut 5.  Let me just say it was awesome being able to take that many from the 29 candidates.  Nothing sucks worse than having that many people show up and having them all suck.  Except for maybe not having anybody show up, that would definitely suck worse.  Haha.  Anyway, I have to say as much as I LOVE auditions, it's a long week and I'm usually pretty stoked when the process is over.    And this year one of the girls gave me strep throat.....

Thanks for that....not.  I felt my throat starting to hurt on Thursday night, so I went to the doctor Friday afternoon.  When the nurse looked in my throat to swab it, she stopped and said "I can save you the $45 for this test and tell you right now you don't have strep.  You don't have any lesions on your throat."  I told her it was my $45 (insurance actually paid it all) and my throat and I know my body.  Do the test!!!!  Reluctantly she did and 5 min later.........positive for strep.  Who'da thunk?  So yeah, I'm feeling much better today but I've been feeling pretty run down the last few days.  I hope tomorrow is great because it's my birthday!!!  Woo!!!

Now for the new phone part...unfortunately, it's not for me.  :(  Haha.  Jake has had his Blackberry Storm since they first came out.  The first generation one.  Well, I guess he went through two first generation ones.  I can't remember exactly what happened to the first one, but it was still under manufacturer's warranty so he got a replacement for free.  Then about 6 months ago his screen cracked.  It was still usable, just obnoxious.  Over the last 6 months it has slowly been getting worse and now when he tries to touch the screen everything jumps around like crazy, it shuts itself off randomly and the other day when he pulled it out of his pocket it had a big white screen and said "error".  We've been holding out for both his "New for 2" time to come and we've been crossing our fingers hoping the phone would last until Verizon could release the Xperia Play.  It's the playstation phone you may have heard about.  And if it's playstaion, Jake HAS to have it!  Haha.  Anyway, at the beginning of last week we were starting to think we weren't going to be able to wait for the release because the Storm just wasn't cutting it anymore.  Now that we've reached the "New for 2" Jake started looking at other phones while we waited for the next payday so we could get one.  What did they announce the very next day!!!??  Xperia Play is being released May 26th!!!! Yay!  Online pre-orders began on the 19th so we ordered it and they shipped it right away!  He got it yesterday, 3 whole days before they hit the stores!  Needless to say, my husband is one (spoiled) happy camper!  :)

The Xperia Play

 

Jake playing with his new phone

Kaelyn enjoying the M&Ms we hid in her sparkly purse to keep her attention during Tripp's preschool graduation bbq

That's right, our little man graduated preschool!  More on that in another post when I can get his pics scanned!!

It's that time of year again!

Colorguard auditions are here!  Woohoo!  Today is Day 3 and I'm feeling pretty good about it so far.  Last year I did a little happy dance when I had 22 girls show up to audition.  That was the most I had ever had.  This year blew last year out of the water!  30 people!!!!  And notice I said 'people' not 'girls'.  That's right, 2 boys this year.  And they're actually both pretty amazing.  I'm looking forward to this afternoon.  My goal is to have to routine finished by the end of today's rehearsal so tomorrow can be just review and polish before the official auditions on Friday.  We'll see!

On another note, we got Tripp's very first ever class pictures back today!  They're pretty funny!  And by funny I mean, they are sooo Tripp.  He's got a giant cheesy grin.  I love it.  I'll try and make time to scan one in and post it sometime soon.

Also, Jake and I are going out to Peregrine Steakhouse out here in Kuna with Bryce and Alyssa tonight.  SO excited!  I love that place!  Thanks Mattie for taking the kiddos for the evening!!

Hello again!!

I cannot believe how long it's been since I've posted. I cannot believe I have to start every post this way! Haha. Since it's been several months since the last update I don't know that I'll be able to remember everything that has been going on. I think the best you're going to get form me today is maybe a little history as to what's been happening, but mostly just what's happening now. :)

Let's start with the kids. Tripp's last week of preschool is next week. I cannot believe how quickly that went by. He has learned so much this year! I have to say though, I wasn't at all surprised that Tripp was "that kid" in preschool. He's not a bad kid, he just likes to do things the way they make sense to him. He's stubborn, and he thinks everything is a negotiation. Which in some ways makes me proud because he is smart enough to think something through logically and then explain his logic to you in an attempt to get things done his way. At home this sometimes works because sometimes he really does come up with a good solution so we go with it. Most of the time it's still Mommy and Daddy's way because, let's face it: he's four. His logic is not always best. But at preschool, they do things the same way, every time and that's that. It was a bit of a foreign concept for him and it took him a while to adjust (he was too stubborn!). Let's just say he missed a lot of recesses before he finally gave in. But, he wouldn't be our kid if he wasn't stubborn. :) I'm excited to see his final report card next week. They test the kids halfway and at the end of each year. I'm looking forward to comparing the two to see how he's done.

Little Kaelyn. She is a dress wearing, purse carrying, shoe loving, jewelry addict. And she's starting to get that girly attitude. Yay.... She is still refusing to talk, which is a little odd to me because Tripp was speaking sentences at this age. I'm not overly worried about it, I mean, she'll talk eventually, and she understands everything we say to her. She just has a way of getting her point across without the actual words and therefore has no need to speak them yet. She still eats food like it's her last meal. Not that you can tell by looking at her. Doc says she just has an overactive metabolism. (I wonder where she gets that???) She stays in the 10th percentile for everything which is great because she's consistent. She loves playing with her brother and thankfully he loves playing with her (for the most part). She'd rather play outside in the backyard than inside, so it sort of sucks now that we've installed a doggie door that she can fit through. I've always kept a close eye on my kids, so it's not like she's disappeared and oh crap where'd she go. I see her using the doggie door, she's just so much faster than I am!! Haha.

Meet the newest member of our family: Skidz. He was dropped off along with his mom and 7 littermates on Phil and Brittany's doorstep several weeks ago. They kept him until he was weaned from mommy and then we took him home!! I only want to throw him over the fence about once a day so I think he's a keeper. Haha. He's potty training. I think you could say he is potty trained except for when we're sleeping or not home. He'll take himself out the doggie door all day long unless I leave. And he won't go out everytime at night. At first I thought he was just afraid to go out in the dark, but he does go at night, just not every time. So for now he sleeps in the bathroom and he either goes in there again or outside when I'm not home, depending on the weather and how long I'll be out. But other than that I LOVE having another dog to keep Sophie busy. Come to think of it, I don't think you've been properly introduced to her yet, so meet Sophie.

Not much changes in the "What Jake's been up to" part of my posts. Although now that I've just said that I can think of several things that are out of the ordinary with him. Haha. In December poor Jake got sniped. Yep, we're officially done having kids. And I'm so grateful my sweet hubby took one for the team and went under the knife. He did great, considering he took a lot longer to heal than is typical. I love you babe! Also, Jake has been working a lot of overtime lately. He's allowed to do what are called AFTPs 6 times a month. Each one is a four hour block of overtime. Sometimes he'll stay late and do one after his 10 hour shift and put in 14 hours in a day. Bless his heart. Other times he'll go in on his day off and work 8 hours and knock two of them out. Either way he's giving up a combination of his evenings and his day off. Thank you thank you. I love that he feels as strongly as I do that my place right now is at home raising our kiddos. I know we're blessed to be in a position where we can do it this way. Jake has his 2 weeks of annual training coming up in a couple of weeks. He's super excited to go "camping". I love that he enjoys it so much, cause let's face it, it would suck for us all if he hated going! I for one never look forward to the not seeing him for 2 weeks and dealing with the kids on my own part of annual training. But it's so much better than deployment so who am I to complain, right?! Haha.

I have been busy busy busy doing the same old stuff. Wake up, clean house, play with kids, clean house, go to sleep. (If I'm lucky I get the sleep part that is!!) No complaints here though! I love my job. I've been focusing more on my Aloette business, trying to make some more money for us that way. March was a good month, but April and May are not turning out as great. Something is better than nothing though so I'll keep at it. I have another show next Friday and then on the following Tuesday as well. Cross your fingers for me.

I think this will have to do for today. I really do want to make an effort to blog more often, but I probably shouldn't make any promises! Haha!

Kaelyn "helping" Grandma get ready for the ball. So cute. If I can manage to find time to scan some of our ball photos I'll post them too. Again, no promises!

Trying something new

I've been thinking for a long time that it would be really nice if I could get into couponing to save more money on our grocery bill. Thinking about it is as far as it's gone...until now. I have turned into a coupon clipping, bargain hunting, money saving nut. And I like it. :) But, it can be a bit overwhelming to start. I have been following moneysavingmom.com and that has been a tremendous help so far. Today was my first attempt at the grocery store since starting this endeavor and I am already SUPER stoked! I bought two weeks worth of groceries and cut 70% off of last month's grocery budget. And to be honest, it wasn't all coupons. I was a lot smarter about my list and how I shopped this time. If any of you fellow coupon clippers have any tips or advice...bring them on!! (please?) Haha. I can't believe how much money we have been throwing away at the grocery store. I can't wait to see how this turns out in a couple more months!

More Pictures

I didn't have quite as much time to put up some pictures on the last post so here's so more of the last few months!

This one's actually like a year and a half old but I thought it was too cute. My dad or "Papa" and Tripp making their funny faces.

Kaelyn at the beginning of summer.

Kaelyn again this summer.

Tripp didn't want Uncle Chris to leave. This was when he shipped to basic in January.

Tripp and one of Aunt Kimmy's sheep at the Canyon County Fair.

Daddy and Kaelyn playing video games together.

Kaelyn just a couple of days ago wearing the new hat Jenn and Krissy found and Mommy just had to buy it for her!

Kaelyn sleeping at the dinner table. She does this pretty regularly. She's such a good little eater she eats herself into a food coma!

Aunt Felisha and the kiddos!

The cupcakes I made for Kaelyn's first birthday party. They were amazing if I do say so myself. Lemon filled lemon cupcakes with lemon buttercream icing, and raspberry filled chocolate cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting.

Tripp and his girlfriend, Abby, on the hay ride.