A Day In The Life Of Us

An Easter To Remember!

2009-04-13T11:30:00.001-07:00

This year John and I wanted to change the way we did Easter. In the past (having little kids and all) Easter had a focus more on eggs, bunnies and baskets and less on the true reason for Easter, The Savior.

This Easter was so different! First off we did away with dyeing eggs, talking about the Easter bunny and setting out baskets for goodies and treats. Our day started out with church and having the opportunity to listen to some pretty amazing talks in sacrament meeting. During primary sharing and singing time were centered around Christ's death and ressurection. It is amazing to watch over such a large group of children and have the room quiet with listening children. I was especially amazed with the older children ~ they are normally chatty and are often NOT paying attention. This was a complete change from the norm. They sat in absolute silence.

After church, on our way home we discussed why we were not celebrating Easter the way we normally did. I was amazed that the kids were totally fine with the change!

After church is was home for just a short while and then off to my parents house for Easter dinner. John surprised us all by getting Easter lilys for all the females in attendance. He is always so thoughtful ~ I am very blessed!! After dinner Jasmine got to work on an activity that she had been planning in her head. She colored and cut out 12 large easter eggs and hid them around the house for the little kids to find. On the back of each egg was an easter symbol and scriptures that tell of Christ's death and ressurection. It was an amazing activity. We all sat around the living room with our scriptures and took turns reading from the scriptures the account of Christ's last moments. We could feel the spirit so strongly~a much better feeling than tears and anguish from a day of massive sugar consumption.

After Jasmine's activity we sat as a family and watched a few videos. One was the Lamb of God ~ one of my favorites and the other was a slideshow by Mark Mabry titled Reflections of Christ. It was amazing. I was even more in awe when during so many parts of the show Trinity would shout out what was in the pictures. "Mom, there is Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus" or "Mom that is Jesus being baptized in the river Jordon."

Reflections of Christ

I encourage everyone to watch it ~ it's only about 5 min. long. The evening ended with some fruit pizza for dessert and then off to home. It is amazing how wonderful and spiritual your day can be when is is centered on the Savior. I am thankful for the Atonement, Christ's selfless sacrifice and the knowledge that with the ressurection He lives again. Happy Easter ~

One Huge Weekend Project ~ Warning: Tons of Pictures

2009-04-10T13:29:00.000-07:00

This last weekend was amazing as far as weather was concerned. John felt it was the perfect day to completely revamp the garden in our backyard. He had been wanting to do this for some time, but I knew that it was going to be such a huge project that I was dragging my feet about getting it done. I really liked the idea of just having our huge garden, but John was more interested in having it decorative. So I just let him do whatever it was he wanted ~ with the condition that he didn't expect my help :) So it turned into a "boys" project.

John starting on building the beds

He's smiling at the start ~ not so much by the end of the day!

One of Connor's goofy faces after being out in the dirt

Hunter ready to report for duty...safety glasses and all

Moving the wood for dad

A current view of our garden ~ before remodel.

Putting together one of the boxes

Jazzy was making lunch for everyone while the boys worked outside

....and this is what I was doing...paying bills and organizing my catch-all basket

Part of the layout for the new garden

Now comes the hard part...shoveling all the dirt from the garden into the boxes

Many hands make light work

Random Shots

2009-03-09T21:32:00.000-07:00

Here are some random photos from over the past few months.

John's favorite past time...sticking food items to our kids foreheads.

Morgan and Trinity at their "Tea with Tights" dance recital in January. They were so cute up their in their garden fairy outfits.

Conner in the tub... we see this cheesy smile all the time!

Trinity ~ our future hairdresser. I am pretty sure she used every clip and bobby pin that we have in our house fixing up her and her kitty's hair.

Hunter at one of his basketball games. He just finished his season.

My boys...

This is what I saw the other morning as I was looking out our kitchen window. Zoe was hanging out the bathroom window.

Jasmine on the day of her fifth grade program. She will be 11 in April. The time has gone by way too quickly and I am having a hard time watching her turn into a young lady.

I Heart Ikea!

2009-03-09T21:12:00.000-07:00

The last weekend in February my mom, sisters and I headed up for an overnight visit to Portland. On the agenda was hanging out with Jason and Erin (my brother and his girlfriend) a stop at the fabric depot and of course a visit to Ikea. I love Ikea!! For those of you that have never been ~ a visit to Ikea is quite the experience. The top level is all displays and layouts. The bottom floor is where you can find all of the items upstairs...It can be quite overwhelming! We made it through in record time ~ just under three hours. I got out of there with only purchasing a little table and chair set for Trin and Conner, new dishes and a few other little odds and ends. Jason had opted to stay home and study instead of going with us ~ So we met him for a late dinner at the Black Rabbit (at Edgefield ~ a McMenamins) and then a trip to Rimsky Korsakoffee House.

This pic was taken at Rimsky's. It was pretty late so we were all pretty whipped. (Mom, Me, Ash, Erin, Jason and Amy)

John and Hunter putting together the little kids table.Hunter was pretty proud of the fact that he put together the chair all on his own.
Conner sitting down to lunch at their new table. He and Trinity love eating all of their meals at the little table right next to our big table.

Meet Conner

2009-03-09T20:26:00.000-07:00

The last two months have seemed to go by in such a busy whirlwind. I have gotten the opportunity to find out what it is like to a parent to four kids. Two months ago we had a new addition to our family. Meet Conner ~ a rambunctious little boy who will be two in April. Conner came to us as a scared and traumatized little boy. Now he is happy, smiling and in to everything! We love just watching him run around and play. The amount of time that Conner will be with us is uncertain. Our guess is another few months or so. But he has already been a blessing to our family.

Trying on some ski goggles

Playing video games after bath time

Snuggling with Hunter

Our little blind man

It is neat to see just how much he has grown in the past few months. He still has some separation anxiety, but it is not near as bad as it was. He adores John and Hunter, is obsessed with balls and runs/jumps anywhere he needs to go. We are thankful for the opportunity to have him in our family.

A Few Crazy Months!

2009-01-05T20:32:00.000-08:00

Wow...I can't believe how easy it is to lose all track of time. Yes, it has been two long months since my last post. What has been going on? TONS!!

*John turned 31
*Melissa turned 30
*Jasmine started playing the violin
*Melissa subbing a ton, which is great!
*Enjoyed a great dinner and midnight showing of Twilight with about 30 family and friends
*A great, very quiet, very laid back, very tasty Thanksgiving
*A wonderfully lazy anti-black Friday
*Go to Northern Lights to get our christmas tree
*John and Melissa's 11th anniversary
*Melissa still subbing a ton
*Kids getting ancy for Christmas break
*Unexpected snow and ice storms the week before winter break ~ Kids only go to school 2 days
*First day of winter break and I have already heard the words "I'm Bored" ten times
*Emily (our stylist) chops off most of Jasmine's hair ~ it looks adorable
*Stressing about finishing Christmas prep since we went nowhere during the freak snow
*Christmas Eve at dad's house~ kids look great ~ excited for presents~had a lot of fun with family rock banding it up!
*Christmas Day at mom's house ~ do absolutely nothing all day with my whole family ~ love it!
*Take the kids to Bedtime Stories ~ LOVE IT!!
*Hunter's 9th birthday
*New Years Eve dinner at Red Robin with our fam and Grandma Lynn and Papa Roger
*New Years Day ~ another totally lazy day
*Spend a random evening at my parents playing Acquire and Monopoly until 1:30 in the morning
*Have a girls afternoon out with my mom, my sisters, niece, my friend Mindy and Jasmine ~ saw Marley & Me ~ I laughed, I cried, I realized that our Roxy may be Marley reincarnate

Present Day ~ first day back to school and exhausted.

I worked really hard at documenting it all with pictures and then, to my dismay, John misplaced my photo card. He felt really bad and I know that it should turn up somewhere (or I hope it will). So no pictures :(

So there is a quick catch up of the last few months.

Yay!! The Election Is Over! ~ Happy Birthday John!

2008-11-05T08:23:00.000-08:00

I am so glad that the election is finally over. Don't get me wrong ~ It was a monumental election that John and I were both glad to take part in. What we were so sick and tired of was the endless advertisements, phone calls, and people standing on our front porch encouraging us to vote for their candidates.

Yesterday was John's birthday so the kids picked a special restaurant that they thought daddy would love and held the secret all day in order to surprise him that evening. That evening off we went to Applebee's (John endured for the kids sake! :) Definitely wouldn't have been his first pick....or his 100th for that matter.) They had this crazy magician that came to our table and spent about 10 min. with us. He was awesome. He had all of us in awe at his mad skills. Each kid was able to participate in magic tricks and they were loving it!

Once we got home the kids got jammied up and laid down to watch some of the election coverage with us. Jasmine was required to watch at least half an hour with us for homework. It was very difficult to explain to the older ones what the tickers at the bottom were telling us, or why the states were different colors (blue, red, or grey) the meaning of electoral votes, and why this election was so amazing anyways. It was kindof neat though seeing them so interested!

As the end neared and our new president elect was announced we all sighed a sigh of relief that the end had finally come! John and I had each kept our votes to our selves, but both had agreed to congratulate and support whichever candidate wins the election. Ultimately both McCain and Obama are going to have a crazy time pulling our country out of this mess that we have found our economy in.

Congratulations President Elect Obama ~ Good Luck with the mess you have walked into and we pray that you have what it takes to pull us out of it!

And Congratulations to John for making it another year ~ how does it feel to be 31? Everyday you never cease to amaze me with the kindness you show our family and friends. Your life is so centered around service towards me, the kids, our family and even people you have never met before. You are an amazing father that is completely adored by our children and 95% of the time set a good example for them :). I am thankful everyday that our Father in Heaven saw fit to bless me with you as my other half. Happy Birthday!

Family Pictures

2008-10-25T22:37:00.000-07:00

About a month ago we went with our family and my sister Amy to Hendricks Park to get our family pictures taken. John and I had been wanting to do this for quite some time, but I didn't want to be stuck in a studio. Amy had gotten a really nice camera for her birthday and offered to do a photo shoot for us. We had a great time. The weather was nice, the kids were in pretty good spirits and the park wasn't busy at all. Amy did an amazing job! Thanks Amy!!

One of the kids set up this first shot. The idea was to have our hands in our pockets but Trin was struggling.

"Hey Jaz, I think I finally got it..."

There we go....say cheese!

Dad and his minnions

Aren't they handsome!

3 little monkeys sitting in a tree...

One of my favorite pics of the girls ~ I found the most awesome frame for this to go in.

I loved this shot! We also turned the shot B&W except for Trins pink shoes.

Yay...we're done taking pictures!

Dance Class

2008-09-18T21:43:00.002-07:00

At the beginning of summer we signed Trin up for dance class. My sister signed Morgan up as well. All summer long Trin would ask when dance was starting. Last week it finally did. Trin was so excited!!

I am so glad that Morgan and Trin are so close in age. They are the best of friends!

Adventures in the Great Outdoors

2008-09-18T21:43:00.001-07:00

Last weekend Hunter wanted to have a sleepover with Tristen. For those of you who don't know, Tristen and his sister Tess have been hanging out with our family on Mondays and Fridays for the last three years. Tristen and Hunter are the same age and are the best of friends. They refer to each other as "the brother from another mother." So they are always staying the night either here or at Tristen's. This particular night they talked us into tenting it in the back yard ~ on the trampoline. John informed them of how cold it would be, but there was really no talking them out of it.

John getting the tent all set up. I think the boys pulled out every blanket and every extra set of sheets that we owned.

Armed with flashlights, sweats and long sleeved shirts.

Getting tucked in for the evening ~ Sweet Dreams!

I took this picture the third time I went outside to tell them to be quiet. They were so loud out there!

When we woke up the next morning I walked out to see the boys crashed out in the front room. Guess it got too cold for them out there! Hunter asked me at breakfast if the next time they decided to sleep in a tent, could they put it up in his bedroom...

Trin's First Day Of Pretty School

2008-09-18T21:43:00.000-07:00

Last week Trin started "Pretty School" aka pre-school. She was so excited that she barely slept the night before. I tried to get a few pictures, but she didn't want to hold still long enough for more than one picture.

She was all smiles until she saw John put one of her blankets and a small pillow into the car. She immediately teared up and asked what they were for. I told her that she had a rest time after lunch and she started sobbing. The whole way to school she cried that she wanted to stay home. Once we got to school she didn't want to stay. We were pretty early and so she was able to do a little exploring in her new classroom. As soon as she found the "housekeeping" area she was good to go. "Look Mom!!! Babies!!!"

Our little mother hen!

Trinity's Special Day!!

2008-09-10T13:47:00.000-07:00

The morning of the hearing was very stressful! Everyone needed showered and dressed nicely (Hunter's idea of nice is wearing a pair of basketball shorts that he has only wore one other time...nice try dude!). Because it was only the second day of school we didn't want the big kids to miss the whole day so we were trying to get them off to school. Once they were gone John went to get a haircut while Trin and I got ready. Trinity comes into my room as I am getting dressed and hands me my cell phone "Momma, I need to call grandma Lynn." So I dial my mom's number and this is what I hear "guess what grandma, it is my special day today! You are going to be there right??" This was the first of many times of tears. We went to get the big kids around 10:45 and then we were off. By this time my nerves were off the charts. I was nervous, anxious, excited, etc. We had been waiting for this day for so long that it was all kind of surreal. I kept thinking to myself "Is this really happening?"

Side note: John and I have known for a very long time that our family is not complete. We know that we are meant to have more than two kiddo's. When we started fostering we hoped that the experiences we gained would help prepare us for adoption, should an opportunity every arise. Well, 11 months ago when we got Trin we had a glimpse into the possibility of adopting her. The whole process is an emotional roller coaster, but we are so blessed to have the opportunity of having her in our lives forever!

We got to the courthouse and was joined by family to share in this amazing day! As we entered the courtroom our atty told us that Trin needed to go in first. She bent down and asked Trin if she would go into this big dark room and turn on the lights for her. As Trin walked in the lights automatically turned on. Trin whips around to us with this huge grin on her face and tells me "Look mama, I'm a princess. I made the lights turn on with magic!"

Judge Leonard was the judge to preside over the hearing and he really made it special for us. He spoke mostly to Trin and the big kids.

John and Trin waiting for things to start.

Judge Leonard told Trin that in order to make it official she needed to get hugs and kisses from everyone in the room. She started with me and made her way slowly around the room.

Showin' Pa a little love

Here you can see Trin placed between my Mom and Roger. She was done giving out hugs and hopped up on the bench and got cozy. The Judge asked her if she wanted to come back up to the front and her response was "um, no! I am just going to visit with my grandma Lynn and papa." We all got a good laugh, forever my social butterfly!

The fam with Judge Leonard

Just outside the courthouse ~ giving Morgan a little love

All the family

Kelly, Grams, Papa Rick and Pa (Kelly is an officer for the city of Eugene and was able to take some time off work to be there with us ~ hence her cool clothes!)

Grandma Joyce, Grandma Lynn and Papa Roger

All of the grandkids ~ I love this picture!

Me, Mindy & Trin

So after the hearing some of us went to Red Robin for lunch. We had this amazing server named Stu. As he came to take our drink order Trin looks at him and says "Guess what ~ its my special day today." He asks her if it is her birthday and she tells him "Nope, today I am a Sepulveda!" Seeing his confused look my mom explains what today was all about. As we finished our meal Stu comes up to the table with desserts ~ on the house he tells us, for the special day. About five min. after that the entire Red Robin staff comes out to the table shouts "Congratulations, Welcome to the Family!!" and hands Trin a huge bouquet of flowers and a card that was signed by all of the staff. Trin was on cloud nine and John and I were getting some watery eyes. It really was incredible. Trin carried her flowers everywhere with her when we got home. It wasn't until about four hours later that I convinced her to let me put them in water. "The flowers are thirsty honey, they need a drink."

The cherry was the most important part
Notice the cherry stem in her hand....The cherry was the first thing she ate and she refused to put down the stem. She held on to it until we got home :)
Little Miss Morgan

This was a great shot ~ the element of surprise!
Daddy and Jazzy

Mom and Rog ~ True love under the neon burger sign!

Trin with her flowers

Trin and her flowers watching the Care Bears because "Mom, it's my special day and I don't think I should take a nap...."

Thank you to all of our family and friends that have given their support through this looooong process. Trinity was immediately welcomed into everyone's lives with such loving arms, it was almost as if she was born part of the family. I know that our Father in Heaven has a plan for each and everyone of us. He knew that Trinity was meant to be with our family and he knew that with us she would have a loving home and be surrounded by family on all sides. So many of our family members have not had the opportunity to meet Trin face to face, but she knows who you are and she talks of you all with absolute love. We have talked about trying to get down there in the near future and she always gets a huge smile on her face and starts giggling. When you ask her whats up she will say with a smile ~ I will get to meet more of my family. She is very aware and we couldn't have asked for a more amazing kiddo. Thanks for making it to the end of this post and in a way sharing our special day with us! Much love to all! ~ The Sepulvedas

What Is With All Of These Posts???

2008-09-05T23:40:00.001-07:00

Some of you may be thinking....Geez what is with all of these random posts? Why hasn't she posted anything about the adoption?

Well, I went over to Amy's today to go through all of the pictures and pick the ones that I wanted to share with everyone. I put them all in a nice file and then was going to put them on my jump drive.

I sat down this evening to work on my adoption post and my pictures weren't there....duh....I never put them on my jump drive. They are still sitting on Amy's desktop.

John is on an overnight camping trip with his scouts (he is the 11-year-old scoutmaster) and I had all this time tonight to work on my post. Unfortunately he has my car because his is in the shop, so I am totally house bound.

I am going to try to get it all finished tomorrow, but until them I had to do something with my time ~ and it sure wasn't going to be laundry!!

Stay tuned ~ it was such an amazing day and I can't wait to share it!

First Day Of School

2008-09-05T23:11:00.000-07:00

This is what I woke up to at 7:00 on the first morning of school ~ everybody piled onto Hunter's bottom bunk. Yes Jazzy normally looks this beautiful in the morning.

Breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs, sausage, toast with a little coconut oil and agave and then hot chocolate (aka rice milk with a little Hershey syrup which is thankfully dairy free because no powdered hot cocoa is). Before bed the night before lunches had been packed, outfits laid out and backpacks set by the front door. They were all anxious to get to school and Trinity was crushed because her "pretty" school doesn't start until next week. She quickly recovered when Jazzy reminded her that she gets to stay the whole day with mama all by herself.

Here are the traditional "first day of school pictures at the house"

Jazzy had picked out this cute outfit and then walks out with her high top Converse on..."Hey Jaz, you have your cute white sandals that would go great with that." "No, my Converse are fine." She is no longer receptive to my futile attempts to help her pick out her clothes... oh well!

Jazzy at her classroom. This year she has Mr. Christner and is in a 4/5 blend. Mr. Christner is a first year teacher and totally high energy. Jaz was a little apprehensive about having a male teacher, but after meeting him the day before she was totally at ease. I look forward to this year~it's a little sad because it is her last day of elementary school, but I am excited for her, this will be a great experience!

This year Hunter has Mrs. Olson for his third grade teacher. Her classroom seemed really neat, but he is so uninterested in anything school related that I couldn't tell if he was excited or not. I tell ya, nothing changed my life more than being the mother to a boy!
I had to bribe this one with money in order to get these two pictures...sheesh!

That is a $2 smile right there....money well spent!

Both kiddo's had a great first day of school. Jazzy was quick to tell me about all of the academic stuff they had done that day "Mom, we have load of work, are you listening?? LOADS! This is going to be such a long year." ....Hunter.....oh, he played at recess. Anything else bud?..."nope, well I guess lunch was pretty cool. Daddy put marshmallows on my PB & J!" What!?! Note to self: don't let John help pack lunches.

Bottom line: They returned the next day, so it couldn't have been all bad. I long for the days gone by when the kids were little and school was so exciting and fun for them!

My Cousin, My Best Friend!

2008-09-05T22:53:00.000-07:00

I had always hoped that my kiddo's would have cousins their age. I myself was very close to my cousins growing up and there were three of us born within a year and a half. We loved hanging out and were always very close. My older two are very close to my little brother and sister ~ they are all two years apart. And Trinity has Morgan ~ Trin was 4 in July and Morgan will be 5 in October, and with the way that birthdays land they will both be in kindergarten together.

They often can fight like sisters, but it warms your heart to hear them say "she is my cousin and my best friend." This is a phrase that we all hear quite a lot and I love it!

Amy and I did some shopping this week after the big kids started school. We bribed the girls with time at the playground if they kept their cool during our shopping. We finally made it down to the playground and about 5 min later their other good friend Stella showed up (Stella's mom Emily is my sister's best friend, but she is also 4). I got some cute pictures of our time playing...

Trinity reached the top of the mountain and then started shouting "Hey mama, take my picture. I have a really pretty smile right now." Total goof-ball!

Morgan's facial expressions totally crack me up!

And we're down...

Stella joining the party on the canoe

This picture depicts Morgan and Trinity's attitudes perfectly!

You Know It's Football Season When...

2008-09-05T22:29:00.000-07:00

You know it's football season when even the animals are sporting Duck wear! We are die hard Oregon Duck fans in this family. We have season tickets to the games and we love getting dressed up to cheer for our ducks! After Trinity got her build-a-bear my mom bought her a little UO cheerleading outfit for Gracie to match Trinity's cheerleading outfit. Trin loves getting Gracie dressed up and was excited for the first football game and that her and Gracie were going to be "twins." She had lovingly laid out Gracie's cheerleading outfit the morning of the game right next to her own and was waiting until after her bath to get Gracie dressed. I was in the bathroom doing Jazzy's hair when I hear this 4 year old sassy pants yelling at the top of her lungs "Daddy, don't do that ~ those are mine! DAAAAADDDDDDYYYYYY ~ Those are for me and Gracie!!"

When I came out to see what the screaming was all about this is what I found...

Lola showing her team pride

Look at that face ~ it just screams "I am so humiliated, but Go Ducks!"

My husband is easily amused....

GO DUCKS!

A Trip To The State Fair

2008-09-02T13:18:00.000-07:00

So ~ for the record I HATE FAIRS! I know that is terribly negative, but it's the truth. They are dirty, creepy people work there, and I think it is the biggest rip-off! We have not gone to a fair since the kids were born. Often times when the fair comes to town we are able to avoid any talk about it ~ the kids don't even know it is here. This year we were not so lucky. It is getting harder and harder to pull a fast one on my kids ~ they are just too smart and too aware of life around them now. Every day they had a way to make us feel like the worst parents ever because they had never been to the fair.

In July I had received an email from the state (we get these all the time as foster parents) telling us that we can get free tickets to the state fair we just needed to email them how many we needed. I talked it over with John and we felt this may be a way to win our "cool" parenting status back.

My brother Jason and his girlfriend Erin were coming down from Portland the day we planned on going and we were able to talk them into going with us. Then Jason talked my Mom, Roger and Zachary into joining us as well. None of us had ever been to a state fair before. It wasn't too bad. We had eaten at home before we left (it is in Salem which is about an hour away) because we didn't want to spend too much money on the extremely overpriced fair food. It did get pretty hot that day, and by the end of the day we were spent!! Here are a bunch of pictures to capture bits and pieces of the day ~

Here we are in the beginning ~ we started out strong.... the plan was to take a pic at the end of the day to show how ragged we had become, but we didn't have the energy! By the end we were very hot and sweaty, tired and cranky and all three kids had basically fallen apart. Gotta love the fair!

We met up with Uncle Jason and Auntie Erin (Melissa's brother and girlfriend) after getting there.

Trying to get a picture of the three kids ~ surprise ~ Uncle Jason must be one of the kids!

Cheese!!

Some of my most favorite boys!

f you look at the religious booth behind Zack you will see that it is asking "Are you going to Heaven?" We asked Zack that question as he stumbled upon his next task on the path to becoming a man...

Behold ~ The quest to conquer the motorized bull **Spoiler** It doesn't end well for Zack!

This was right before he was flung off of the bull. He didn't stay on the ground long enough for me to get the picture ~ too many chicks around and he had to keep up his image.

Trin was on cloud nine at all of the animal exhibits. Every cage we came to was "oh mama, I think we should get a ________." Fill in the blank with bunny, chickens, goat, pig, cow, etc.

This picture cracks me up ~ the look on Hunter's face and then the goat with his snaggle tooth. A match made in heaven!

Then starts the rides...

Ready...

Set...

Go.... yes my children are upside down. My mother was freaking out ~ here was our conversation:

Mom ~ Melissa, do not let you children go on a ride that will take them upside down.

Melissa ~ Mom, I don't care what rides they go on, they meet the height restriction so it will be fine.

Mom ~ That doesn't mean anything, look Jazzy, maybe you should go on that one. (points to the spider/octopus ride)

Jazzy ~ Grandma, come on, that ride is boring.

Mom ~ I would prefer your bodies to stay upright that's all ~ upside down rides break down you know.

Jazzy ~ Will they crash? (her voice full of sarcasm)

Mom ~ Maybe...

Jazzy ~ I love you grandma (laughing and waving as she runs over and gets on the ride.

Melissa ~ Looks like she didn't fall for your bad attempts at scaring her out of it.

Mom ~ Well, this is only their first ride, I will get them on the next one.

Did it work for the next ride???

Ummm.....

Negative ~ You can only see the heads of Hunter and Zack ~ they were spinning around too fast.

Trin informed us that she was big enough to go on the rides by herself. Grandma Lynn was more comfortable with these rides :)

I think this was Trin's favorite part of the whole fair experience ~ measuring herself. She would do this several times at each ride "just checkin mama."

Daddy and Jazzy on the scrambler ~ of course metal was flashed.

Uncle Jason, Auntie Erin and Hunter

The day ended with a walk through the miles and miles of infomercials (fair booths) and a very cranky walk back to the car. We came, we saw, and we conquered. We have won back our cool parent status! Maybe next year we will go camping during fair week! :)

Oh How We Miss Our Dairy!!!

2008-08-28T09:06:00.000-07:00

Some of you may know that our dear Jasmine has been blessed with raging ADHD. This was discovered halfway into her second grade year when she still couldn't read and had behavior problems up the wazoo. As parents we were just taking it one day at a time, because hey, it's your kid. We had finally had enough when we realized just how much it was taking its toll on Jaz. She was distraught with what was happening in her life. She had no internal control over her actions and absolutely no focus. This was the beginning of a life on medication.

Jasmine had been taking 2 pills a day to help control herself. Let me tell you what a lifesaver they were. She quickly learned to read and then quickly became one of the top readers in her class. We went from huge behavior problems to none at all. And all of this made her feel successful and was a huge self esteem boost.

Well as Jazzy grew the meds didn't have quite the same effect. Soon she was on three pills and just a few months ago they bumped us up to four pills a day. The problem is that even with four pills it just isn't working that great anymore. I was fine with her taking meds as long as I could see that it was making her life easier, but I am not okay with it once I see they aren't working.

I talked with several friends from church and about ways to naturally help Jazzy with her issues. John and I looked for days and days over things that I had found on the Internet. This is the list of the changes we have made:

We cut dairy completely out of our diet - this means vegan "cheese" and margarine spread, tofu sour cream, rice milk, and non-dairy "ice cream" ~ this has all been very interesting!

New supplements for everyone but Trin - Cod liver oil with A & D, high dose of vitamin C, Super Nuthera (which is an extra strength B complex) and calcium magnesium.

Jazzy can't be cut cold turkey from her pills so we are down to 2 pills first thing in the morning and next month she will be down to one pill and so on.

One of the people we spoke with was a homeopathic doctor, so don't worry that we are shoving our kids full of vitamins. We have the correct amount of dosage for each of them.

The results......WOW!!! Because most of the supplements we take are liquid we have noticed a dramatic change in a short amount of time. I can't even explain through words how different things are. First and foremost Jazzy is a totally different person ~ rather she is under control without all of the prescription pills. No more crazy extreme mood swings, still totally focused and she has been amazingly loving and kind. Most of all she is happy once again.

John and I have also noticed a difference in our own moods with being on this new regime. It's crazy what some changes can do.

Although it has been difficult ~ We all LOVE dairy, we have found ways to make do with the changes. All in all it is worth it!!

This is our new favorite ice cream. And the great thing is that our close friends are the producers of the cookie dough (gluten and dairy free) that go into this ice cream.

Melissa's Graduation

2008-08-13T11:23:00.000-07:00

I graduated May 17th, which was several months ago, but I have had so many people ask me lately about it that I thought it would be easiest to post about it.

I started my long journey four years ago. My sister and I decided to both go back to school together. We have this great picture of the two of us on the first day of school with our backpacks on ~ nice and nostalgic! Two years at the community college prepared me to move on to Pacific University to get my degree in elementary education. My time at Pacific was an amazing experience. I gained some wonderful friends and the program really helped me look inside myself and to become the type of teacher that I wanted to be.

Student teaching was increadible! And before I knew it graduation was here. The ceremony was held in Forest Grove (about two hours north of Springfield) where Pacific's main campus is. It was a great weekend! All of my family was together and there to support me. And we spent the entire weekend together, which is always a blast!

I graduated with honors ~ summa cum laude ~ which means that my grade point average was over a 3.91 (mine was 3.96 ~ so close to a 4.0!). The ceremony was short and sweet and after that we headed off to an amazing lunch. My brother and his girlfriend Erin live in Portland and Erin planned this great party for after my graduation. We went the the Hall St. Grill which served amazing food, she had bought a cake from the Beaverton Bakery ( I don't think I had ever tasted anything so delicious!) and then decorated with gorgeous flowers. They went all out!

So here we are, almost at the start of the new school year. Do I have a job?? Sadly the answer is no, but I am fine with that. The Eugene/Springfield area is a really hard area to get a job. Schools can get up to 200 applicants per open position. I am actually excited to be subbing. I can work when I want to, the day is already planned out for me, and at four o'clock I leave for home to enjoy my family. Don't get me wrong...I will be great when I have my own classroom, but subbing will allow me to see so many different environments and work with different teaching strategies. It will also give me a year of experience under my belt ~

Here are a few pictures from my graduation weekend. *Disclaimer* There were tons of people taking pictures so often times we are looking at different places ~ sorry!

My parents Roger & Lynn ~ a huge thanks to them!! They were the ones that watched my kids a couple nights each week and every other Saturday for almost two years. And not just that, but all of the times when I thought I would pull my hair out ~ they took the kids so I could study.

Jason & Erin ~ Thanks for the great graduation party!

My sister Amy, my B-I-L Robert & my nephew Brody. A big thanks to their family who also helped me out with the kids during my crazy four years!
My dad Rick and his girlfriend Kelly

All of my mom's kids minus Ashley who was hanging out at my brother's place with our babysitter Tess. Tess (Ashley's friend) and Ash kept Hunter, Morgan and Trin for us. Thanks guys!

The Gang ~ Back Row: Pa, Robert, Brody, Amy Jason, Zack, Me, Mom, Roger, John.

Front Row: Grams, Erin, Kelly, Dad, Jazzy

The only time we may see Zack with honor cords :)

Flowers and Cake at the Hall St. Grill

Jasmine

2008-08-13T11:02:00.000-07:00

Our sweet Jasmine... This is the one that makes me feel really old! Jasmine is going into the fifth grade this year!! Next year she will be in middle school. I can't believe how quickly time passess. It seems as if it was just yesterday when she was born. She is very excited to start school this year. We have already gotten schools supplies and a few new outfits. And everytime we drive by the school (which is on the way to grandma Lynn's house) we have to slow down to see if the class lists are posted.

Jazzy has been my lifesaver this summer. She loves to hold and play with Brody, which enables me to get stuff done around the house. She is such a willing helper. Just last night I was trying to get things picked up around the house - which was a disaster! It was hot and I was cranky. Jazzy comes up to me and asks if she can give Trin her bath. So in go Trin and Jaz into the bathroom where Jaz bathes her, drys her hair, gets her in pj's, reads her two books and then tucks her into bed. WOW!! She is also the "cool" older person that willingly plays with the little girls. She creates such great games and imaginary stuff for them to do. Trin and Morgan love to be around her.

A day at Dorena Lake. I think Jasmine went into the water around 11:00 a.m. and didn't emerge until around 8:30 pm. She is a total waterbaby!

Her tenth birthday ~ our annual party celebration for her is held at Shoji's. This is her favorite place to go because they cook all the food in front of you and her along with her father and brother eat mad amounts of sushi!

A day at Oakway Park ~ a very cool park with sand and water. The kids love the idea of wearing their bathing suits to play.

Picking mad amounts of strawberries at Lone Pine Farm. She went on to help me make 4o quarts of strawberry freezer jam.

Sweet Jasmine!

Getting ready for camping

2008-08-06T10:07:00.000-07:00

John and I are frantically getting ready for camping today. We have totally procrastinated for this trip. With John working long days and doing homework, and I am home with five kids (of course the fact that I bought Breaking Dawn at midnight on Friday didn't help any either!) we have not gotten near as much together as I would have liked.

So here it is Wed. morning, I am only about half packed and we are leaving around 6 tonight. We are going to spend the next 4 days with our family at my dad's property over in La Pine. My brother Jason and his girlfriend Erin are coming from Portland. Then my sister Amy and her family, my mom and step-dad and then my dad and his girlfriend as well as our family ~ all getting together to camp. I am looking forward to some much needed R & R!!

My dad's property is 20 acres, but it doesn't have electricity or any kind of plumbing ~ so we are roughing it in some ways. The nice part is that the property is part of a gated community and they have a rec center that has a nice pool, shower and flushing toilet - yay!!

Trinity is so excited for the trip ~ we had just pulled into the driveway from shopping last night ~ she unbuckles her seat belt, gets right up in my face and tells me "Oh mom, we are going to have such and adventure camping!" If she only knew!!

Here are a few fun pictures that I took of Trin and Morgan (my niece) this morning as I was getting ready for the trip.

Nummy doughnuts for breakfast ~ what a treat!

Watching some cartoons in their "cars"

Cheese!!

And of course Roxy, doing what Roxy does best!

See ya when we get back!

Leave it to my Brother...

2008-08-06T09:53:00.000-07:00

So a few weeks ago we had a garage sale. Now I am not a huge fan of garage sales, but I am so sick of storing "stuff" that I had finally had it! Luckily I was able to get my mom and my sister on board because the more "stuff" the better the sale. We did the sale on a Friday and Saturday. At the heat of the day on Saturday my brother Zachary decided to mess around with some of the stuff that we were selling. My brother-in-law Robert was selling his snowboarding boots, helmet & goggles. John had a snowboard and a snowsuit that we had picked up somewhere for when Jazzy grew into it. Now, keep in mind that my brother Zachary will be fifteen this month ~ that should say it all!!

So, my family can never go without giving Zack a dare. So, in 90 degree weather John dares Zachary to walk like that down to the little market that is 3 blocks away and purchase a Popsicle. He has to carry the snowboard with him and no one is allowed to comment on his attire.

We sent Hunter along on his bike with Zack to make sure that it all worked like it was supposed to. Of course Zack took the dare and off he went.

Not long after he comes running back down our street, Popsicles in hand. By the time he got to the house he was pretty sure that he was dying of heat exhaustion. I can't remember the last time we all laughed so hard!! Way to go Zack for never letting us down!

Hunter

2008-07-31T16:07:00.000-07:00

What can I say about this kid....he totally keeps me on my toes. Hunter is eight and boy through and through! With this one the curse is definitely in effect...you know the one where your parents tell you that they hope when you have kids that they are ten times worse than you ever were. Thanks John...this is all because of you :)

But we really wouldn't take Hunter any other way. He is funny, loveable and a super hard worker. It's like having a mini-gardener around the house because Hunter mows the lawns at least twice a week as well as watering and taking care of the garden. Hunter will be starting the third grade this year. He is involved with his Cub Scouts troop and just finished a very tiring week at cub camp.

A day at Dorena Lake

After a very long day of swimming at Dorena Lake

Snoozing on the seahorse ~ taking a break from swimming at grandma & papa's house

This is the look we get when we have caught him in the act...

Chubby Bunny contest on the Fourth of July

Trinity

2008-07-31T13:27:00.000-07:00

Trinity came to our family in October. She was three and our family was her seventh move. She was legally free for adoption and was placed with our family in order to start looking for a permanent adoptive home. After about a week of having her with our family we knew that she was meant for us. We contacted her caseworker and with a crazy amount of work on our end we did what we needed to in order to be considered as an "option." In mid-Feb. we found out some pretty amazing news. Our family had been chosen as Trinity's adoptive family. Words can't even express how our family felt.

We are now very close to finalizing on the adoption and she will become part of our family forever! This has been an amazing blessing!

Here are some fun facts about Trinity~

She celebrated her 4th birthday on Monday (July 28th)
Her name given to her at birth was Trinity Lynn~We tease that she was named after Melissa's mom Lynn.

She absolutely swears that she is going to be a monkey when she grows up ~ no talking her out of it!

She starts full-time "pretty" school (pre-school) this fall and is super excited for it.

She loves to read

Her favorite food is yogurt with granola

Her favorite question to ask is "Hey _________ (fill in the blank with a name~grandma, auntie, papa, etc.) do you have my car seat with you?"

Cheese!

We've dubbed this the sheepdog look. We are at that awkward stage of growing out bangs.

Some gift opening...

This was her very special birthday cake that daddy made for her~Trin's own creation. For weeks we had been asking her what she wanted for her birthday (our line of thinking was to get some gift ideas). Trinity's answer everytime was a chocolate cake with whipped cream, strawberries and fudge. So that is exactly what daddy made her. A two layer chocolate cake with whipped cream and strawberries in the center and covered with fudge on the top. It tasted amazing!

Happy 4th Birthday Trin!

We're Back...

2008-07-30T21:04:00.000-07:00

So, here I am back in the world of blogging. I did give it a good go last time around, but things just got too crazy around here. Before I knew it a week went by without a post, then a month, then several months. So I have decided to quit being "lame" (that one's for you Kylene) and start things up again.

Much has changed with our family and I can't wait to fill everyone in on our daily happenings. Stay tuned....there is much to come!